Chapter 26

Alex had been sleeping peacefully as the road went by unnoticed. She still wasn't sure that Liv had slept at all. It seemed like they had barely been to bed when Liv was waking her up to leave Saint Joseph. It couldn't have even been seven AM when they left. She felt like she had every right to be tired. She chanced a glance at Liv. Her stoicism was infuriatingly tiring.

The trip up Interstate 29 was uneventful. It was a short trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was only about four hours or so. She was glad for that. She need that time to prepare for what she was about to face.

She knew that everything was at stake now. The real world had caught up to them and now there were precautions and safeties that she would have to follow and deal with. She had been naïve enough to think that Liv would just them all at bay. She knew that it wasn't a realistic expectation to how things should be, but she felt safe with Liv. There was just something about her simple and quiet stances that gave Alex pause.

"What?" Liv asked.

"Hmm…" Alex stated as she realized that she really was awake.

"Are you okay?"

"I guess."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? You haven't done anything and you certainly didn't get me into this mess. I did that all on my own. So you can quit apologizing for something that you had no part of," Alex told her, as she silently reached over and squeezed Liv's right hand that was resting on her thigh.

"I wasn't."

"You weren't, what?"

"I wasn't apologizing for that," Liv stated, never wavering her eyes from the road ahead.

"Then what were you apologizing for?"

"The fact that I haven't done what I was supposed to do."

"Which would be?"

"I am supposed to be protecting you."

"And you aren't?" Alex asked dumbfounded, but never let Liv's hand go.

"I am not doing a good enough job of it."

"I am still alive. I would say that you are doing very well. I haven't tried to run from you. I would say that you are doing something right. I haven't tried to break cover since I've been with you. That would be another check in the doing something right column. Do you want me to keep going? Because I am sure that I can think of some more," Alex told her.

"No," Liv said with a slight laugh.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to believe that we have been compromised."

"Then, don't."

"It isn't that simple, Alex. It is hard enough for me to trust anyone and to believe that Cole might have been…I can't do that. I just can't."

"Then don't. He did tell you. He was upfront about it. He warned you."

"He did."

"Then, don't worry about it."

"I can't."

"I know that you can't forget about all of it, but don't let it get to you. We'll figure this out. It is what we do. We'll go get the SUV. We'll leave the sedan. We'll keep moving. It will all work out. I promise. Everything will be okay. You'll get to retire to wherever you are going to retire to and I'll be back in New York trying cases. I doubt that we'll be on the road much longer. They told me six months tops," Alex told her.

"That was also three years ago. You know firsthand how quickly the wheels of justice turn. We don't even know when your court date is, Alex. I don't know how long we are going to be out here, on our own. I have to get us off the grid. We have to find a way to survive without them being about to find us. We'll have to change our appearances, the way we think, everything."

"I understand."

"Alex…"

"Liv, don't stress out. You need to remain calm. One of us needs to stay calm. Let me be the one that freaks out. It isn't your life on the line. It's mine. I need you to remain calm so you can protect me. Can you do that? Can you be my white knight?" Alex asked her.

"I will do my best, milady," Liv answered her and kissed her hand.

Liv went back into whatever trance she normally did while they were travelling. Alex watched as signs for the Sioux Falls Regional Airport rushed passed them on the highway. It couldn't be a large airport, but it was big enough for their needs. She watched as Liv maneuvered her way through the long term parking areas.

Alex wasn't sure what they were looking for besides it was a similar SUV to the one they had fled New York in weeks ago. Surely, Cole would have painted it and changed the plates. How would they know which one was the one they were supposed to get?

Liv pulled into a space next to a white Suburban. Alex studied it while Liv started to get out. Liv stopped with one foot on the payment and one still in the sedan.

"Move over into the driver's seat after I get out. If something seems off, just go. I'll find you. I'll get back to you. But, your safety is more important than mine," Liv told her as she pulled down a GPS device.

Alex watched her as she plugged some information into it. She then reached behind her and grabbed the daypack. She pulled out some papers and handed them to Alex.

"These are for you, Emily. Keep them on you. There is money and cards in there. They won't know who to be looking for if you use them, so you'll be safe. They don't know your new name. Cole erased everything that he did for us before we left. You don't exist anymore except on paper. Do you understand me?" Liv asked her.

"Yes."

"If something happens, leave."

"I am not going to…"

"Leave! That isn't a choice. It is an order, Emily. You have to leave. If I tell you to go, go."

Alex stared at her wide-eyed. She took the papers, cards, and the new identity. She watched as Liv handed her a new burner cell phone. As the rest were, it had her numbers and Cole's programmed in it, along with the FBI and the rest if she needed help. She remembered the order she was supposed to call if something happened. She looked into Liv's eyes, frightened, because who was she supposed to call since Liv was already with her.

Liv got out of the sedan fully. She kept her daypack on her. She pulled out two of the cell phones and began hooking up some wires and other things up to it. She gave Alex a look and Alex finally moved to the driver's seat. Once she was happy that Alex was where she was supposed to be and the device she made were how she wanted, she went to the tailgate of the Suburban. She ran the device over the lock and it popped.

Once she was inside the hatch, she found the keys and a new day pack. Inside the new pack there were five new cells, a new GPS, a GPS tracker, and a GPS tag detector. She was glad that Cole had warned her. He had even prepared her for the devices that he was giving her. He really was looking out for her. She knew that. She wondered what other goodies he left for her in the hides that the Alphabets wouldn't have known to look for because they didn't know them as well as their files told them that they did.

She took the GPS tracker and the detector and began to comb through the bags in the vehicle. She found several tags in obvious places. She laughed. They couldn't even think of anywhere original to hide them. She quickly pulled them all out and was about to stomp them, destroy them, but then she realized that they would have figured out that she knew. She needed to dispose of them in a way that would give her enough time to get away without them being able to figure out where they were.

She grabbed the new burners, the GPS device and the tags. She walked back to the sedan. She reached inside the driver's side and snatched the GPS device. She placed the new one in the sedan. She dropped the tags and the new burners into her old day pack. Then, she popped the trunk of the Sedan. She threw the old daypack into the trunk as she got out their bags and the cooler. She then transported their bags and the cooler to the Suburban. When she was done with that, she went back to the driver's side of the sedan and looked down at Alex.

"What?"

"They thought that they were smarter than me."

"You found them all?"

"Not yet, but enough. Idiots. Who do they think they sent out on this case? A rookie?"

"Don't take it personally."

"Oh, I am. I can't believe that they are insulting my intelligence this bad. This stinks of the CIA and NSA. The FBI isn't this bright. Did I ever tell you how much I hate the Alphabets?"

"Occasionally," Alex replied as she giggled.

"Let me sweep the truck and then you can get in. I want to get away from here. They don't know when we were coming."

"What about the tags?" Alex asked.

Liv reached into the daypack. She tore open the back of the largest pocket and pulled out a false lining. She pulled out a fresh plate from the state of Arizona. Alex just smiled.

"He really did think of everything, didn't he?"

"That is why I kept him on my team for so many years. He would think of things that I wouldn't and somehow we also ended up needing them, too. I think that this is for you," Liv said handing her a small bag from within the day pack.

"What is it?" Alex asked taking it

"I don't know."

Alex gave her a quizzical look until her own curiosity got the best of her and she opened it. She pulled out some dark auburn hair dye and sat it down on the seat next to her. She grabbed a comb and scissors, too. She gave Liv a questioning look before she pulled out the last thing inside the bag. It was a new passport for Emily Sullivan. She looked at Liv.

"He is a smart man," Liv stated.

"Why would I need this?"

"I might have said something to him about taking you to Canada."

"Wouldn't that be considered treason?"

"Only if I didn't bring you back, Alex. I am not going to keep you there. That is my last ditch effort. Like a consolation prize, you know? I don't want to use it. What else you got in there? I am sure that he gave you lots of goodies to play with. What else is there? I am sure that if you dig deeper in there you'll find a Canadian set too, along with other papers. He wanted to make sure that you were okay. He doesn't leave anything to chance. He has never had the luxury of it. Why start now?"

"Canadian papers?" Alex questions as she dug in the bag and found them.

"Yup."

"What about you?"

Liv reached into the bag and pulled out the Russian, Ukrainian, Canadian, US and British passports. She just smiled at Alex. Once she put the passports back, she showed Alex the various denominations that she had in foreign currency. She closed the bag and threw it in the back of the Suburban. Then she went back for Alex.

"We're good. Let's go. I don't want to stay here anymore."

"Where are we going?"

"West."

"I got that."

"I don't know yet. I'll figure it out on the way. I am just going to head down I 90 for a while. I was thinking that we could head towards Wyoming. It is starting to get cooler. Summer is almost over and I don't want to be anywhere near snow when it hits."

"Don't do cold well, Lieutenant?" Alex teased.

"It isn't that I don't do cold well. It is more of others don't do it well. I don't have time to be worried about them when I have to worry about you."

"So you are worried about me?"

"Always…"