24 Episode 7.15 10:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M.

As the FBI continue their search for Jack, Larry calls Ethan and tells him that Senator Mayer is dead. They believe that Jack murdered him. Ethan is angry with Larry for letting Jack get away, but Larry reminds him that he advised Ethan against using Jack in the first place. This sobers Ethan, who subsequently tenders his resignation to the President.

With her husband on the mend, the President was hoping the day would end on a more positive note. She tries to persuade Ethan not to resign, but he feels that his poor decisions will tarnish her administration if he does not resign immediately.

Jack calls Tony and explains about the bioweapon that Starkwood is about to get a hold of in order to fight their congressional order to be dismantled. U.S. civilians will be killed to prove that Starkwood is needed as a secondary security force. Jack believes the weapon is still at the port. There's only one Port Authority Officer on duty, named Carl Gadsen. As Gadsen gets off the phone with his very pregnant wife while working double shifts to make ends meet, Jack and Tony grab him. They disarm him and force him at gunpoint to get the port manifest.

At Starkwood, Hodges is informed that Quinn hasn't checked in. He then addresses Starkwood's board, exhorting them to stop cooperating with the government subcommittee. They are not to answer any more subpoenas. Starkwood can be a vital tool in protecting an America that has an army stretched to the breaking point and the draft off the table. After the meeting, Douglas Knowles, the Board's chairman, tells Hodges he thinks it's folly to fight Senator Mayer. Hodges informs him that Mayer has been killed by a rogue federal agent. Knowles is horrified, and asks for Hodges' assurance that he wasn't involved. Hodges feigns offense, but coolly suggests that while Starkwood is not in the business of political assassinations, it's certainly a growth market they could look into.

At the port, Gadsen tells Jack and Tony that he was trying to make extra cash to support his impending twins conceived with expensive fertility treatments. He had planned to aid men that he thought were simple electronics smugglers. They haven't arrived yet. Jack tries to call in the FBI, but communication is jammed. The men arrive at the gate. Jack tells Gadsen to let them in. He and Tony will follow them and call for help once they're out of jamming range. Gadsen is reluctant, but Jack promises that they have his back. Gadsen opens the gate to find a small army waiting, led by Stokes, who is suspicious of how nervous Gadsen is. He forces Gadsen to come along with them to the pickup site. Tony whispers to Jack that he knew Gadsen was a dead man the moment he walked out that door.

Olivia tells Ethan that she is personally sorry for his resignation, though she still think it's what's best for her mother. Ethan apologizes for accusing her of leaking his role in Jack's escape to the press. He advises her that running the country isn't like running a campaign -- you need to do what's right for the people, not just whatever it takes to win. Olivia responds that sometimes those things aren't mutually exclusive. Once he's gone, she calls network White House reporter Ken Dellao to inform him that he can now run with the story about Ethan and Jack. She was the leak.

At Senator Mayer's home, evidence is found that points to a third person being involved with the murder. Larry calls Renee to say that he is prepared to entertain the idea that Jack is innocent. He wants her to tell him what she knows. She's reluctant to blow Jack's cover, but finally discloses what she knows about Quinn and Starkwood, and the fact that Jack was trying to prove that Starkwood was behind today's attacks.

At the port, Tony wants to move out, but Jack can't abandon Gadsen. He already promised one person today that he'd protect them, and now they are dead. He can't let that happen again. When a thug is dispatched to lead Gadsen off to be executed, Jack takes aim. Tony exhorts him not to do it because it will blow the whole mission, causing so many more innocents to die. Jack pulls the trigger, saving Gadsen, who runs away to safety.

Jack and Tony come up with a fallback plan: hijack the truck. The dead man is found in short order, and Tony and Jack open fire. In the course of the gunfire, Jack manages to leap aboard the truck and throw the driver out of the cab while Tony keeps them distracted. However, Tony gets captured. As Jack prepares to drive away with the bioweapon, he hears over the walkie-talkie about Tony getting caught. Stokes recognizes him. Jack calls Larry and asks him to scramble together teams to meet him at a weigh station.

Just as Jack gets off the phone, a flashing light alerts him to a breach. He stops the truck and checks in the truck's pallet to find a gash in one of the containers causing bioweapon gas to leak out. Unfortunately, he's stopped near a suburban area. Jack desperately manages to hammer the leak closed.

Moments later, the Starkwood team arrives with gunmen and a helicopter. Jack is forced to take cover while the gunmen airlift the bioweapon away. Stokes calls Hodges and reports he'll be there in ten minutes. Meanwhile, Jack calls Larry and tells him that Starkwood recovered the weapon and headed due west from his position. Larry says there's a large military facility in that area, but he can't assault a private compound without evidence that a weapon exists. Jack tells him to send his CDC men to him and they'll have all the proof they need -- Jack was exposed to the bioweapon chemical.