Chapter 2
Callen at the boat house.
"Nell, track Sidorov's, Vaziri's, and Michael Zirov's cell phones. Let's find out where they all are."
"We've found Sidorov's location."
"He's there now?"
"Well, let me rephrase that. We've found another property of Sidorov's. Kensi and Michelle are heading over there now."
"Let's hope Sam and Deeks are there."
"Yeah." Nell's voice trails off.
Callen closes his eyes and gives a deep sigh trying to stay focused only on Janvier and the nukes, but having very little success. "Okay . . . Eric, get Kaleidoscope up and running and locate the white van that was in front of Sidorov's hotel. Also, check with NEST and see if they've detected any unusual radioactive activity near or around LA or the desert. Those nukes can't be too far away if Sidorov is planning to meet with Vaziri for the exchange today."
"You got it."
"I'll get Janvier to set up a meet." Callen says with anger. Then changing his tone, " And Eric?"
"What?"
"Let me know as soon as Kensi and Michelle have Sam and Deeks. And . . ." Callen's throat tightens.
"Callen?"
Callen clears his throat, "and what condition they are in."
Eric looks over at Nell, nods his head, and whispers, "I will."
Outside Sidorov's warehouse.
Michelle parks the SUV a block away from Sidorov's warehouse. Kensi looks at the building through a pair of binoculars. She hands them to Michelle for her to take a look. They see Kensi's car and another car parked near one of the doors leading into the warehouse. Kensi, using the comm . . .
"Eric?"
Eric turns on his earwig so Kensi can hear him."Yo!"
"We need floor plans."
"On it." says Nell.
Nell, with fingers flying over her tablet, begins looking for information.
Kensi nods to Michelle and says anxiously, "Hurry, Nell, we don't know how much time we have left."
"Do you think they're in there." Michelle says as she looks at the building through the binoculars.
"Yes, I do." Kensi says without hesitation.
"Okay, got it, Kens. Sending building plans to your phone." Nell says sounding hopeful.
Hetty and Granger at Hetty's desk.
"This mission is about retrieving the nukes. It's unfortunate that Deeks and Sam hav -"
Hetty holds her hand up and cuts him off midsentence, "My agents are out there and we need to find them before it's too late."
"Their welfare is secondary to the mission, Hetty. You know that. We must proceed with the plan of getting those nukes out of Sidorov's hands. The whole world depends on it!"
"Don't you think I know that Owen? We must give Kensi and Michelle time to not only find Sam and Mr. Deeks, but to get them away from Sidorov and his men. If they get wind that they are being played this whole thing is over, and I'm afraid Sam and Mr. Deeks will be killed not to mention the disappearance of the nukes."
"Any attempt to rescue them will look suspicious and Sidorov will go into hiding along with the nukes and 5 million in gold."
"Agent Callen is in the process of having Janvier set up the meet as we speak. We may be able to get Sidorov and his men away from where they are holding Detective Deeks and Agent Hannah. Then Ms. Blye and Mrs. Hannah can go in and get them."
"It may already be too late." Granger states solemnly.
Hetty looks at Granger for a moment and nods.
Sidorov's warehouse
Michelle is standing outside the warehouse door. Kensi has positioned herself on the 3rd floor of the adjacent building with her sniper rifle that she got from her car's hidden compartment behind the back seats. Kensi, using the sniper scope, is looking into the warehouse's dirty windows. She scans from one end of the warehouse to another trying to find Deeks and Sam. After a few seconds she spots Deeks and Sam both tied to their respective chairs.
"Michelle, Deeks is in a chair slumped over. He appears unconscious. Sam is in the next room. He's tied to a chair, too." Looking at the cable connecting Sam to the generator . . . "Oh my God, they electrocuted him."
"Are they moving?" Michelle says near panic.
"I don't see, wait . . . wait. Yes, they are both moving." Kensi shouts in her comm.
Michelle closes her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief, "Thank God!"
Kensi continues to scan and finds Sidorov and his men.
"Sidorov is talking to Michael and Andros."
"Alright, Kensi, are you ready to do this?"
"Good luck, Michelle."
"Yeah, you too. Here goes nothing."
Michelle walks angrily into the warehouse without any concern of being quiet and looks around. She hears footsteps in the distance and sees Sidorov rounding the corner of the room within the warehouse.
Kensi, from her perch across the way, watches and listens to the exchange.
Walking up to a surprised Sidorov Michelle says angrily, "What the hell do you think you're doing siccing those Russians on me? They almost killed me."
"Quinn, I'm sorry, that was not my intention."
"What exactly was your intent?"
"I wanted them to hold you there until I could be sure you weren't an agent."
"An agent? What makes you think I'm an agent?
"I found out that David was an agent."
"David? Impossible."
"Why, why is that impossible?"
"Because we've eliminated targets together. - - An agent wouldn't do that. Not to mention I haven't been arrested and charged with anything." Michelle pauses trying to regain her composure. "Didn't I make MY intentions clear earlier today?"
"Yes, but I wanted to be sure." Taking a step forward, invading Michelle's space, taking her by the hands, and lowering his voice, "How did you know where to find me?"
Kensi, sensing that Michelle's next comment will either make or break the ruse, lines up the cross hairs of her scope to Sidorov's head.
"Let's just say I persuaded Veronica, is it, to help me find you," Michelle says in a no nonsense tone. She looks into Sidorov's eyes and whispering seductively she steps in even closer,"You asked me to go away with you. You asked me if you could trust me. I SHOWED you that you could. And now, now you pull this. How can we start a life together if you don't trust me?"
The sound of footsteps and the sight of the Sidorov's body guards approaching stop their conversation.
"It is time," says Michael putting his phone away and glancing over at Michelle.
Sidorov nods, "Come." Taking Michelle by the arm. "We need to finish the deal with Naseem Vaziri."
Michelle wants to kill all three of them and save Sam and Deeks, but that's not the plan. She must trust Kensi to rescue Sam and Deeks, and she must go with Sidorov to finish this threat once and for all.
Turning to Michael, Sidorov says, "you come with us and you," looking at Andros, "take care of our 'friends,' but first try talking to the LAPD Detective one more time. If he changes his story let me know."
Andros nods and turns to go back into the room from which he came. Sidorov leads Michelle out the door with Michael following.
The warehouse door closes with neither Sidorov nor Michael ever knowing they were within seconds of being dead.