Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Victor confirms by telephone that Alexis is alive and offers to exchange Jack for him. CTU's superiors reject the deal because acknowledging Victor's detention would expose the secret operation. Nina contacts Palmer, who pressures Mason to proceed and promises him a senior job if he becomes president. At CTU, Tony discovers that Kim has been abducted again. Nina cannot bring herself to tell Teri, who is waiting for both her husband and daughter to return.
The Drazens take Jack to a restaurant run by Victor's old friend Nikola. Jack seizes a knife and holds Nikola's daughter Mila at knifepoint in an attempt to force his captors to disarm. Victor shoots her rather than release him. When the grieving Nikola confronts him, Victor kills him too. Kim is brought into the basement, but Jack is hooded and removed before he can reach her. His attempt to escape has left him with no control over either hostage's release.
Mason delivers the badly wounded Alexis to a waiting vehicle, but the driver finds and destroys CTU's tracker. Jack is left restrained at an oil field until a distant shot breaks his handcuffs. Andre orders him into a nearby car and toward Century City, using Kim's captivity to demand his obedience. At Palmer's celebration, Patty flirts with David while helping prepare answers about Keith's case. Her later conversation with Sherry reveals that Sherry encouraged her to gain his confidence.