Chapter 37

She was driving by Salt Lake City when her phone rang, again. She blindly reached over and picked it up. She didn't know if it was Ivan or Cole. She didn't care. She would talk to either of them. She needed to keep herself calm. She needed to be ready for anything.

"Benson?"

"I'm here, Cole," she answered.

"I am at Salt Lake International. Pick me up. Sanchez is already on his way to Tahoe. He is going to do recon while we drive."

"We don't have time to wait. We need to get there as soon as we can. Can't we charter a flight to take the Suburban to Tahoe? I don't want to leave it here," Liv told him.

"I am at the airport. I'll see what I can do. Head towards short term parking or better yet, head towards arrivals. I'll have an answer for you by the time you get here," he told her ringing off.

She slowed down and made her way through town to airport. She was following the signs to the arrivals platform. She saw Cole coming towards her and the Suburban. She slowed down and pulled up to the curb. He jumped in the back seat with a ruck sack and duffle.

"Are you armed?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Do I want to know how you did that and got on a plane?"

"Probably not," he replied.

"What about a flight?"

"Get out of the arrivals area and head towards the non-commercial charter hangers."

"You got a friend?"

"Nope, I got us a plane though."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not, Lewey, but then again, you never did."

"True. I never cared how you got the equipment as long as you got it. So, who am I looking for? What's the name of the company?"

"Just head north. The plane is meeting us. They aren't from around here."

Liv turned to look at him for a second. She shook her head and then realized that she really didn't care. All that mattered right now was Alex. She didn't care whose ass she had to kiss or pay. She was going to get Alex back, safely, and preferably without any pain caused to her.

Cole pointed to a hanger off the airport. He had her pull up to the hanger and he got out. She knew better than to get out. He grabbed his ruck and headed into the hanger's office. She began to twitch her leg in nervousness. She stared at her phone and tried to calm herself. When that didn't work, she grabbed the GPS tracker and watched the blip, unmoving still in Tahoe.

"We need to go that way," Cole told her as he got back into the Suburban in the front seat.

"Where?"

"That way. Our plane just landed at runway 14 and will be taxiing over towards runway 35. Once we get over there, we will be directed to drive into the back of the plane. We will then be tied down and the flight plane to Reno-Tahoe will be called in. While they are tying it down, the guys from the hanger over there will be filling the plane with fuel. Once we are fuelled up, they will taxi back to runway 35 and will take off towards Tahoe."

"How long will it take?"

"Prep or the flight?"

"Both," Liv replied.

"The prep should take about twenty to thirty minutes. The flight is about an hour and half. Sanchez is waiting for us at the KOA. He has secured us two cabins."

"Two?"

"Yeah, he figured that after we got Alex back that you would like some alone time."

Liv stared at him. She pulled out of the hanger's parking lot and took the non-public roads to the other side of the airport. She was waved through at security checkpoints and was amazed that she was allowed to drive across the tarmac at some points to get to the hanger by runway 35. She pulled up to a small hanger just off the runway.

A very large and bulky man came out of it. He was wiping his hands down with a shop cloth as they approached. Cole pointed at him and Liv came to a stop just in front of him. When she put the Suburban into park, she saw a tanker come out of the hanger and idle nearby.

"Cole, old friend, what brings you to the Salty goodness of the West?"

"I need a lift to Reno. I have an extraction to perform. I was told that you would help me."

"I will indeed. That your daughter? She going with you?"

"She is, Gareth. She is going, too. Thank you for your help."

"No worries, old friend. You brought my son back. Anything you need is at your disposal."

"Thank you, Gareth, but fuel is all I need right now. I'll call you later if I need anything else. I might need a flight back to Pennsylvania when this is over, but I'll let you know."

"Just call me, Cole. I'll have a plane ready for you. Now, let's get her loaded up and ready to fly," Gareth told them as the plane taxied up towards the hanger.

Cole pointed at Liv and told her to get the Suburban on the plane as soon as the back was open. Cole and Gareth went to talk with the tanker. Liv watched as more men came out of the hanger. Once she parked the Suburban, she got out and watched as they tied it down to the bulkhead of the plane. The other men came in and started loading crates around the SUV. Liv stood there, unsure of what to do, now.

Cole shook Gareth's hand and walked up the back of plane. It was then that she noticed the air force insignias on the inside of the plane. She knew that it had to be big enough to handle the SUV but she wasn't sure what size it was. Cole reached over and closed the back of the plane. He grabbed two headsets off the wall and handed one to Liv. He walked her up the plane to some seats and put Liv into one

Once she was seated, he made her buckle and showed her where to plug the jack for the headset. He waited until she gave him a thumbs-up. He went to the cockpit, leaned over and told the pilot something. Then he took up a seat next to her. He plugged his headset in and changed them to channel 3 and off the flight crew's channel.

"It'll be about an hour flight."

"I know."

"We'll find her."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Yes, Cole, I know. We have to find her. I have to believe that we will. I cannot fail her."

"You won't."

"I already have," Liv stated as she leaned back into the seat.

Cole realized that she had effectively shut down any more conversation. He nodded at her. Alex was her match. She completed Liv in a way that no one else ever had. If they didn't get Alex back, it would destroy her. And, Cole was not about to let that happen.

"I would ask who you are to that Suka, ma'am, but I can tell by your looks."

"And what would that be?" Alex asked him.

"She didn't tell you about Yulia? How interesting? You do know who your companion is, don't you, Miss? You do realize that I am going to kill her. And, I am really going to enjoy it."

"I know that you think you are."

"Ah, so you have a smart mouth, this is good for Ivan. I will use it against her. You are her new weakness. I will get her to come for you and then I will kill it. It is brilliant."

"It is overdone."

"You seem to have idea of what she is, then?"

"I know that she is going to kill you."

"She is going to try. She isn't going to find me. She thinks that she will, but she won't. Where she thinks I am and where I am are two different things. She will think that I am in back in Ukraine, when I am really here. I will be able to watch her suffering and delight in it."

"You are dumber than you look," Alex countered.

"Just because you are bait, doesn't mean that I won't hit you?"

"You haven't yet," Alex stated.

"Because, I, Ivan, don't believe in beating women. I will make an exception for Olivia. She killed my cousin and my uncle. She will pay for her crimes against the Plushenkos. Now, she has more than me to worry about. She has part of the Russian Mafia after her, now as well. She ended their trade agreements with the Ukraine."

"I am sure that they can find someone else to do it."

"Oh, they have. But, that doesn't change the fact that she delayed their business. They don't like it when people mess up their business. They'll come after her for that."

"She didn't attack them. She attacked a non-mafia associate. I am sure that if Sasha was part of the 'thieves' that the mafia would have already made sure that Olivia was dead by now. Since, she isn't. I doubt that they would come after her. If they were going to do it, they would have by now, don't you think? It has been over four years, Ivan," Alex taunted him.

"You might have a point with that thought, little miss. But, that doesn't change the fact that I could sell her to the 'thieves.' I am sure that they will pay handsomely for her."

"You really don't know who you are messing with do you?"

"I know that Olivia Benson is an elite assassin. That is all that matters. Your government will disavow her when I kill her. They won't come for her. She is a liability. She knows that. She gets herself in a position that she can't get out of, she knows what to do," Ivan told her.

"What is that?"

"End her life before they can get any intel from her."

Alex stared at him. She looked around. She finally decided that she needed to see what she was up against. She knew that Liv would track her. She knew that Liv knew she wasn't in the Ukraine. He just stood there smug as hell and preparing to kill the woman that would kill him.

She looked around the area she was. She was tied to a wooden chair. She was in the middle of a warehouse. Half of the windows were blacked over with film or garbage bags. It looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time. There was debris, office furniture and factory things strewn about haphazardly. Whoever had been using the place left in a hurry, it seemed.

It was all too cliché. He sat her in the middle of the area, under the one non dimmed light. He was putting her on display. It was like straight out of a movie. Alex needed to see if there was somewhere she could go if she got free. She glanced around again.

There was an office about sixty feet from her. If she could get in there, she could hide. She might even be able to make a phone call to Liv. There were places that she could hide between the chair and the office. Now, all she had to do was get loose.

"How long have we been here?" she asked, still surveying the building.

"About three hours, but don't worry. I have more men coming. If she does manage to figure out where you are, I won't be alone when she gets here," he told her.

He is stupid. How the hell did he find her? Who told him where she was? There was no way that Ivan did this all on his own. If Liv was walking into a trap, who was the one that was pulling the strings? Ivan couldn't handle something this complex on his own.

Just then his phone rang. She had to listen carefully, but she realized that it was someone else. They frightened him. She could only wonder who it was, but whoever it was, it was someone that wanted Liv dead. She pulled on the ropes that were tying her to the chair. She kept pulling and tugging. She felt them getting slack, but it still wasn't enough to get her free. She stopped moving as soon as he came back over to her.

"Well it seems we won't have to wait long. It seems that Olivia has figured out that I am in Tahoe with you. I need to make sure that we are ready for her when she gets here. Now, you sit tight, Miss. I wouldn't want you to miss the show. I know that I won't. It is too bad that Rudakov won't be here to see it."

"Rudakov?" Alex questioned quietly.

"Yes, Miss Cabot, Alexander Rudakov."

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Gregor wasn't the leak. It wasn't even in the Marshalls that were betraying her. It was the FBI. Rudakov had been the head investigator in many investigations that Alex helped prosecute. Now, he wanted Liv's head. Alex wanted to know why. There had to be an explanation as to why Rudakov was betraying the government he worked for some crazy hell-bent need for revenge.

"Hurry up, Liv. This guy is crazy. I need you…"