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Teri receives a phone call from Alan York who says his daughter, Janet, is a friend of Kimberly's and is also missing, so the two parents join forces to try and find the girls. Even as Jack is secretly called out of the office and given an encrypted key card containing information on the Palmer hit that could lead him to a dirty agent within his organization, the explosion of a 747 over the Mojave Desert becomes yet another piece in the puzzle.

Kimberly and Janet realize they are in danger after it becomes clear that their two dates have kidnapped them. Despite the threat on his life, Senator Palmer sneaks out of his hotel to meet a reporter who has damaging information that could affect his campaign. Back at the office, Jack has Jamey, a member of his team, decrypt the key card.

Convinced Jack needs to be relieved of his command, one of his team members, Tony, calls George Mason who arrives and puts the CTU under lock-down. With the help of his second-in-command, Nina, Jack slips out and heads for an address listed on the key card. Once there he encounters a shooter who hints that Kimberly's disappearance is part of a bigger plan. Meanwhile, the two boys deliver Kimberly to a man named Ira Gaines.

Jack follows the arrested shooter to the police station in hopes of interrogating him only to find that Mason has arrived and taken control of the situation. But when the shooter says he will talk only to Jack, Jack learns he must break the shooter out of jail in order to learn who has kidnapped Kimberly. Back at the hotel, Senator Palmer learns more about the threatened news leak that could hurt his campaign.

Jack meets Teri and Alan York at the hospital where Janet has been admitted. But their reunion is cut short when Jack receives a phone call from Gaines telling him to follow his instructions if he ever wants to see his daughter again. Back at CTU, a dead body found in a car trunk is identified as that of Alan York. When Nina calls Teri and asks her to pass this information on to Jack, Teri suddenly realizes she is also in danger.

Now, under constant surveillance from Gaines, Jack goes back to CTU where Nina inadvertently gets in the way of Gains' plan. Teri tries to escape from York, but her call to CTU only brings more help for York. Meanwhile, Palmer tries to convince his family that they need to tell the press about a secret personal tragedy from their past before it's too late.

In order to save his wife and daughter, Jack is ordered to deliver a briefcase to a man at Senator Palmer's rally. Realizing this man must be the assassin, Jack struggles to find a way to protect both Palmer and his family. Back at the CTU, Nina and Tony think they have found the traitor within the midst.

Although he prevents Palmer's assassination, Jack is taken into custody where his story of his kidnapped wife and daughter is not believed. Knowing his family will only be kept alive if he is free to help Gaines, Jack knows he must escape. Back at Gaines' compound, Teri and Kimberly struggle to stay alive, while at CTU the traitor reveals that the whole unit has been wired so Gaines can watch their every move.

When a new boss, Alberta Green, takes over the CTU, Nina secretly continues to help Jack locate Teri and Kim while Jack tracks down investment banker Ted Cofell, a man who is mentioned on the decrypted key card. A shocked Senator Palmer learns that one of his associates may be willing to commit murder in order to protect his campaign.

A man named Andre Drazen contacts Gaines. Clearly disappointed that the morning's events did not go as planned he threatens to relieve Gaines of his assignment. Across town, Jack kidnaps Cofell and, after hearing Cofell's Serbian accent, has Nina break into an old case file profiling a secret mission Jack was on in Belgrade and Kosovo two years ago. Then Jack meets Cofell's contact: the man who claimed to be Alan York.