24: Day 1.5

Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . .

CTU Agent MATT HARPER's mission to track down Marenkov is complicated when one of Lenkovich's men is revealed to be an undercover Russian Security officer named NIKOLAI TORUMOV. PRESIDENT DAVID PALMER consults with his Russian counterpart PRESIDENT ALEXANDER PETROV and reluctantly agrees to a joint operation to find Marenkov and Lenkovich. Matt and Nikolai quickly manage to obtain a possible location for Lenkovich. What Matt is unaware of is that Nikolai's contact from his office has instructed him to neutralize Marenkov at any cost, and, if necessary, to kill Matt as well...

The following takes place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.

3:00:00 . . . 3:00:01 . . . 3:00:02 . . . 3:00:03 . . .

The petite woman walking into CTU seemed to be the antithesis of the vision most people had of a Russian security agent. She had a polite yet pleasing look on her face as she walked by various agents, some of whom took a moment to glance up as she passed them. Her light gray suit jacket and skirt and the smile she gave George Mason as he trotted down the stairs from his office to meet her suggested more warmth to the woman than he'd expected when speaking to her on the phone.

Her smile broadened as he extended his hand, revealing a mouthful of perfectly white teeth. "Mr. Mason, I presume. Natalya Tenyakova."

George himself offered a rare smile as she took his hand. "Agent Tenyakova. Good, I just got a call from our people. Looks like that dealer your man gave us panned out."

"That is very good news." She answered, looking at George.

George's smile became slightly more awkward. "Ummm... I'll introduce you to the rest of the staff and we can get you up to speed."

As George walked Natalya over to another station, Lily turned her gaze from the two of them over to Michelle. Both women rolled their eyes for a moment before resuming their work.

3:06:05 . . . 3:06:06 . . . 3:06:07 . . . 3:06:08 . . .

"Yes, that's right. The address checked out on my end." Nikolai said, glancing at Ed Larson, handcuffed to the SUV, just out of earshot. "Turner and Eckland can take our friend back to CTU. Harper and I will head over to the house."

Nikolai turned back to the house to see the three CTU agents emerge from it. He looked back at Larson to see the predictable reaction when he saw Turner, the man Nikolai had appeared to kill in front of him.

"Wh...what the hell? What the hell is this?" He stammered, breathing heavily before looking back at Nikolai. "You...you son of a bitch! You set me up!" Larson lunged at Nikolai but only moved a few inches before the handcuffs caught him.

A faint trace of a smile appeared on Nikolai's face. "It was something I saw in a movie once, some gangster film with Sean Connery. Be grateful. Where I come from, the threat would have been real."

Matt snorted in amusement. "All right. You two can take him back to CTU. Nikolai and I'll check out the address he gave us."

Matt and Nikolai nodded at Turner and Eckland and walked over to the second SUV, ignoring the murderous glares Larson was directing at them.

3:10:27 . . . 3:10:28 . . . 3:10:29 . . . 3:10:30 . . .

Alexi Lenkovich stared at the occasional scanning lines running up the monitor. Normally Sergei was fairly good with electronics but there was only so much he could do on short notice. The image on the screen was being transmitted from a camera mounted on a telephone pole across the street from their safe house on Harmon Bay.

Alexi heard footsteps approaching. He swivelled his chair just enough to see Galina approaching. He took a moment to smile at her attire. The blouse and suit pants she'd worn for moments speaking with her father had been discarded in favor of a dark leather jack along with a denim miniskirt and knee-length boots. It was much more in keeping with what she'd been wearing that night he first saw her at that nightclub in Prague and several times since.

Galina frowned in thought at the image on the monitor. "You told him to go to the other safe house?"

Alexi nodded. "Just as a relay point. I still wanted him to take a detour or two before coming here. Don't worry, He should get there within the hour, then I'll have him come straight here."

Galina's frown remained. She squinted her eyes, as if trying to remember something.

"What?"

"Who did we get the safe house through? Marcus Reynolds or Ed Larson?" Galina asked.

"Larson, why?"

Galina shrugged. "CTU found the warehouse, which means Marcus was probably compromised."

Alexi stood up. "You think they could find Larson as well?"

Galina nodded. "It's possible. Who did you take with you when you met with Larson?"

Alexi lowered his head for a moment, collecting his thoughts, then looked up at her again. "Dimitri."

Galina's jaw dropped as she rolled her eyes. "Dimitri! Dimitri, who you left behind with Yuri to risk capture so we could escape!"

Alexi's eyes narrowed. "Dimitri and Yuri are dead." He grumbled.

Galina continued, raising her arms. "We don't know that! They could have been captured alive. If that is the case, CTU will interrogate them until they break and tell them everything. You should call him now and tell him not to go near the house. Have him come straight here."

"I can't do that." Alexi replied coldly. "I can't get a signal though right now. Sergei's working on it but it will take time."

Galina stared at him in disbelief. "Unbelievable. You never should have let Dimitri stay behind. In fact, we never should have listened to Paxton and come here. You were so blinded by greed, you never considered the risks. All the money he offered will do us no good if we are arrested or killed!"

"I don't remember hearing any objections from you when we first learned of the offer." Alexi responded though his teeth. "As I recall, you were excited at any opportunity to get back at your father."

"I would never have agreed if I had known you would be so careless! You have no idea what you're doing or how–" Galina's rant was cut short as Alexi's hand clamped down on her left arm.

"I warned you, do not lecture on my business or how I do this." Alexi's voice came out as a snarl, but his voice sounded dangerously close to breaking. "You know nothing of either."

Galina brought her right hand up to Alexi's, trying to pry it from her arm. Instead, he only tightened his grip. "Ah! You're hurting me!" She rasped.

"Don't ever speak to me like that again." Alexi hissed, released his grasp on her arm and storming off.

Galina massaged her arm where Alexi had grabbed it, certain she'd have some bruising there for a day or so. She glared in the direction he had stormed off in, hoping he at least had the good sense to call Paxton and inform him of their situation. I don't even care about the money anymore. When this is all over, I'm making some changes.

Paxton was not expecting any calls, least of all from Alexi. Clearly the man was better at giving instructions than following them. He made no attempt to hide this when he answered.

"Do you remember what I said about not calling me?" Paxton said, curtly.

"I think we might have a problem." Alexi whispered.

"Is that right?"

"Two of my men where lost dealing with a CTU agent when we evacuated the warehouse. I'm not sure if they were captured or killed, but one of them knows the location of the second safe house."

Paxton sighed. "Well, now that is a problem, one that might have been prevented if you'd been good enough to inform me you were working with more than one real estate dealer."

There was a pause, no doubt the realization that he knew much more about Alexi's operation than Alexi thought. "I told you about Marcus Reynolds and look what happened to him. Larson was useful. I didn't want to lose him."

Paxton nodded. "And that's just the kind of irresponsible behavior that can unravel a plan. Fortunately, I'm dealing with our problem now. Do not call me again until you have the information."

Paxton hung up sharply, then picked up the receiver and pressed one of the numbers on speed dial. "Willem, we were right about Larson. Get over to his place. Find out if he's talked."

"I'm on it." Willem answered before hanging up.

Paxton leaned back in his office chair and shook his head. It was partly his fault, he supposed. Alexi simply wasn't cut out for a venture this complicated. He'd seemed like the perfect candidate when he hooked up with Marenkov's daughter. Paxton should have known it was too good to be true. I should have found someone whose judgement wasn't so impaired by greed.

That last thought made him chuckle, in spite of himself. After all, it was his own greed and carelessness that had forced him into this situation, wasn't it? Hopefully he'd be able to set Alexi straight and warn him about the danger of underestimating a CTU agent.

3:18:12 . . . 3:18:13 . . . 3:18:14 . . . 3:18:15 . . .

Larson slumped in the back seat, his hands cuffed, glaring at the field agent in the driver's seat, while the other one sat next to Larson.

"Hey, drive carefully." Larson sneered. "I'd hate for us to get in an accident n' have you die for real. "

"Shut up!" Agent Turner snapped, glancing at Larson in the rearview mirror. "You can talk all you like when we get to CTU."

"And believe me, you will." added Agent Eckland, tapping Larson's arm with his elbow.

The SUV slowed to a stop at an intersection. The black van in front of them wasn't moving despite having a green light. Turner tapped on the horn but the van didn't budge. After glancing back at Eckland, he stepped out and walked toward the van. Larson couldn't see him has he walked around the back corner of the van, but a second after he did, he heard what could only be two muffled gunshots and a pained grunt.

Eckland heard it too. He unholstered his gun and turned to Larson. "Stay here." He said, opening the door. He only made it a few steps before Larson heard two more gunshots. When he turned toward the agent, he was now laying on the ground, not moving.

Aw hell, this for real! I gotta get outta here! Trying to keep his head down, he moved toward the open door. When he looked up a menacing-looking man with jet-black hair and goatee and walking toward him, a handgun raised.

"Don't move." The man said to the now trembling Larson.

Larson raised his hands, still cuffed together. "Wh- what do you want?"

"What did you tell them?" The man leaned inside the SUV, his gun pointed at Larson.

"Who are you? You workin' with Lenkovich?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "What did you tell them?" he continued slowly. "I won't ask you again."

Larson's hands began to shake. "Wait, wait, wait! Look, I'll tell ya whatever you wanna know." He smiled and gestured with his head at the dead agent lying outside the SUV behind the man. "You wanna screw these guys? Fine. I can help. I'm a little pissed at 'em right now myself. C'mon, we can make a deal. What do you say?"

The man paused for a moment, then a slight smile crept over his face. "Sure," he said. "We can make a deal. I know my boss is always looking for new talent. But first I need to know what you told them."

Larson chuckled and leaned back against the seat. "No problem." As he began to explain to the man what he'd told them and where the third agent and his Russian friend were going, he noticed his heartbeat slowing to a normal pace. And here I thought I was lookin' at goin' back to prison or something. I guess today's my lucky day after all.

3:22:50 . . . 3:22:51. . . 3:22:52 . . . 3:22:53 . . .

Matt looked down at his watch, then up at Nikolai in the passenger seat. "Should be about another half-hour until we get there. McKinley's team is about five minutes behind us."

Nikolai glanced at Matt. "We should not wait for them. If we have a chance to catch Marenkov ourselves, we must do it."

"I agree." Matt responded, nodding solemnly. "I'd like to try to take Lenkovich alive as well. I want to find out who he's working for."

"I'm not sure." Nikolai shook his head in thought. "Who would be trying to acquire a nuclear weapon this way? There are easier ways."

"Probably someone who doesn't want it traced back to them."

"Who could that be? Most terrorists would be happy to claim responsibility for an attack on the scale a nuclear weapon would cause."

Matt shrugged. "Then it's probably not for terrorists. Hopefully, we'll find out when we get there."

Nikolai sighed. "Marenkov's not going to come peacefully as long as he thinks his daughter is in danger."

"Yeah, well I don't want to tell him she's working with Lenkovich until we've got him secure. His state of mind's fragile enough as it is."

"What I mean is, Marenkov has shown himself willing to kill to accomplish his objective. We have a responsibility to make sure he does not reach Lenkovich at any cost."

Matt's eyes narrowed. "Our orders were to bring him in alive."

Nikolai nodded. "Of course that is what we will try to do but with Marenkov that may not be possible. You need to accept the possibility that there may only one way to end this."

Matt leaned in close to Nikolai, barely speaking louder than a whisper. "Let get one thing straight: when I first arrived at CTU today, my orders were to bring Andrei Marenkov in alive. The situation may be a hell of a lot more complicated and the stakes may be higher but my orders are still the same, and I will carry them out. Now are we going to have a problem with that?"

Nikolai leaned away from Matt. He said nothing.

Satisfied, Matt turned his gaze back to the road.

3:34:48 . . . 3:34:49 . . . 3:34:50 . . . 3:34:51 . . .

"Mr. President," President Petrov voice emerged through the phone's speaker. "I have just spoken with our agent assigned to your intelligence office. She reports that we may be apprehending General Marenkov shortly."

President Palmer nodded. "That's very good news."

Petrov was silent for a moment, then resumed. "As this crisis may soon be passing, there is another matter I would like to discuss with you, something of a more sensitive nature."

Palmer furrowed his brow. "Certainly." What could this be about? He wondered.

"I would rather not go into details over the phone, but I will tell you this much: I believe certain individuals in my government may have been involved in what has been happening today."

Palmer managed to maintain his composure. "That's a very serious allegation, Mr. President. In all honesty, I'm surprised you're telling me this."

"I realize that but I feel you may be of help. With your permission, I have asked our ambassador to meet with you. He will give you the whole story. I hope you will receive him."

Palmer folded his arms and looked at the phone. "Of course, Mr. President. Would one hour from now be acceptable?"

"Perfectly. Thank you, Mr. President."

A puzzled Mike Novick looked at Palmer. "What do you suppose that was about?"

Palmer shook his head. "I'm not sure, but meeting with the Ambassador is good place to start finding out."

Petrov's hand rested on the phone for a moment after he'd hung it up. He only moved it when the voice of one of his secretaries chimed in on the intercom.

"Mr. President?"

Petrov heaved a sigh before pressing the reply button. "Yes?"

"The Prime Minister has arrived."

Petrov felt a growing weight on his chest. "Very good." he said, without any inflection. "Send him in." A second later an aide whose name Petrov couldn't remember opened the door and in walked the Prime Minister.

Physically, Leonid Rudenko and Petrov seemed opposites in almost every way. Decades of struggle to survive in the Kremlin had left Petrov perpetually tired-looking, while his noticeably receded hairline, round face, and slightly heavy figure didn't help. In recent years, he had begun to delegate more and more public appearances to others in his administration.

Rudenko, on the other hand, appeared the picture of health and strength and seemed to seek out the spotlight at every opportunity. Tall and handsome, he was one of the youngest men to ever hold his position and was considered quite desirable among the female population. Not surprisingly, this lead to numerous rumors of mistresses all over Russia. Petrov, however, suspected Rudenko was smart enough not to keep more than one or two at a time, as Petrov did.

Petrov had actually seen Rudenko as something of a protégée early in his career, though their relationship had become less personable as Rudenko's star rose. He'd been reluctant to appoint Rudenko as prime minister, particularly after the sudden and untimely death of Rudenko's predecessor. He'd finally relented after continuous urging from his advisors. Apparently they felt being associated with the young and popular Rudenko would be good for Petrov's image, especially since, as prime minister, he would be the one to assume the presidency if anything happened to Petrov.

"Mr. President," Even Rudenko's voice sounded more vigorous than Petrov's. "I've just heard about the situation with Marenkov in America."

"Da." Petrov nodded slowly, gesturing for the younger man to sit. "If all goes well, we should have him in custody shortly."

Rudenko took a seat in one of the chairs in from of Petrov's desk. Even sitting, he maintained a good amount of height over Petrov. "If what our agent says about Marenkov having a nuclear device is true, perhaps we should allow the Americans to interrogate him, for the sake of time."

Petrov leaned in closer, a serious look on his face. "If he allows himself to be taken alive, of course."

Rudenko nodded solemnly. "Of course."

"I'll mention that the next time I speak to President Palmer."

Rudenko looked puzzled. "You've been speaking with Palmer yourself?"

Petrov crossed his fingers and smiled. "You find that odd?"

A slight smile crept over Rudenko's face. "Not at all, sir. I simply assumed you would have left this matter in the hands of the diplomats."

"I simply felt the possible threat was too great not to be involved personally. Don't worry. Our embassy staff will earn their pay before this is over. Is that all right with you?"

Rudenko shrugged. "That is entirely your prerogative, Mr. President. Was there anything else you and Palmer discussed?"

Petrov leaned back in his chair, his smile widening. "Nothing that would concern you."

3:47:40 . . . 3:47:41 . . . 3:47:42 . . . 3:47:43 . . .

George let out a quiet sigh as he walked through the hallway back toward his office and saw his father approaching him. Apparently, not even a trip to the bathroom meant a moment's respite.

"You know, I guess the terms 'I'm busy' and 'not a good time' weren't really common use in your day, were they, Dad?"

Doug put his hands up. "Look. You're right, okay? You're right. I picked a pretty lousy day to show up uninvited."

George rolled his head around. Laying on the guilt seemed to be the one skill all parents, good and bad, seemed to have. "Two minutes." He said, holding up two fingers.

"Thanks." Doug answered, scratching at the sides of his beard.

"You know that probably wouldn't itch so much if you finally got around to shaving it off."

Doug chuckled. "I've had this for twenty-five years. It's not going anywhere now." He looked closely at his son's clean-shaven face. "You know you'd probably look good with one of these yourself."

"Yeah, right."

"So, uh, how's John?"

"How should I know? I haven't seen him in . . . I don't even know how long. Last I heard, he wasn't doing too bad. He was working at one of those kiosks by the bay."

Doug forced an awkward smile. "I guess I'm the last person who should be talking to you about seeing your son."

The slight smile on George's face dropped away. "Yeah, that's about right."

"Doesn't mean it's not true, though. I mean, you really want your son looking at you the way you look at me?"

"Trust me, Dad. That ship sailed a long time ago." George looked down at his watch. "And I know I said two minutes but I just remembered that father-son bonding moments tend to take a back seat to national security. So If you'll excuse me, I need to--"

"I'm dying, George."

It took a second for George to make sure he'd heard that right. The look on his father's face said he had.

For perhaps the first time in his life, George Mason was at a loss for words. All but one. "What?"

Doug took a long breath. "I've been having some memory problems lately; missing appointments, forgetting where I put something, going out somewhere and forgetting why. Between that and some other stuff, the doc says it's pretty consistent with early stage Alzheimer's."

George was still fairly speechless but managed to get the words out. "Wh- are you sure? I mean, have you gotten a second opinion or anything."

Doug shrugged. "Of course I got a second opinion. You think I'm gonna let a doctor scare me like that and not make sure he's not a quack?"

George leaned back against the wall, thinking back to their brief phone conversation earlier in the day. That's why he thought he was still living in Ventura.

George looked down at his shoes, trying to think of something to say. "Look, Dad, I-" George hadn't actually figured out yet what he was going to say, but whatever it was, it was interrupted by the familiar voice of Patrick Hennessy.

"Mr. Mason, there you are!" Patrick said, rushing over to George, slightly out of breath. "I just got a call from LAPD. One of their patrol cars found Turner and Eckland's car stopped at an intersection. Turner and Eckland were both dead, Larson too. They'd all been shot at medium to close-range."

George didn't even look at his father as he rushed back toward his office with Patrick in tow. "Get Harper on the phone now! Then put me through to McKinley's team!"

3:49:02 . . . 3:49:03 . . . 3:49:04 . . . 3:49:05 . . .

"Yes, I understand, but we might not get another chance to grab up Marenkov before they do. We're just pulling up now."

Nikolai looked over at Matt, turning off his phone as they parked a few houses over from the address Larson had given them. "What is it?" He asked.

Matt gave Nikolai a worried look. "Someone caught up with Turner and Eckland on their way back to CTU. They're both dead, along with Larson, which means our location's probably compromised."

"We still have to try to get to him."

Matt nodded. "That's what I told them. Fortunately, Mason and that woman your office sent over agrees."

"Our backup's still five minutes behind us?"

Matt sighed. "Yeah. They said they-"

"Shh!" Nikolai shushed and pointed toward a grey, slightly rusted jeep pulling into the driveway of the house they'd been given. Matt could just make out the driver from the distance as he turned off the engine. "Marenkov."

Both men pulled out their guns. Quietly stepping out of their car, Matt and Nikolai began slowly sneaking toward the jeep, while crouching behind the row of parked cars lining their side of the street. Reaching the last car, there was nothing they could do at this point but run exposed up to the jeep. Matt hurried up on the left while Nikolai took the right. Matt rushed up to the door and was rewarded with a surprised look on Marenkov's face.

"Put your hands on the steering wheel!" Matt yelled, his gun raised. Marenkov looked over and saw Nikolai on the other side, gun also raised. "Andrei, put your hands on the steering wheel now!" Both men opened the doors on the jeep and kept their gun trained on Marenkov while he frantically looked around, apparently trying to find some way out of this. "Get out of the car!" Matt ordered.

Marenkov hesitated for a few more seconds before tentatively pulling himself out of the jeep. Nikolai rushed over, pulled Marenkov's wrists back and handcuffed them.

"You do not understand!" Marenkov pleaded, his voice faltering. "They have my daughter. They will kill her if I do not surrender to them!"

Matt gave Nikolai a quick look, then turned back to Marenkov. "I know," he said softly, "and I promise we'll to everything we can to help her but you-"

The sound glass cracking caused all three men to duck as a bullet tore through the windshield of the jeep. "Get behind the jeep!" Matt yelled as they rushed around, dodging two more shots along the way.

Crouching behind the jeep, Nikolai stuck his neck out for a second before pulling back. "Looks like just one shooter."

Matt looked around at the fragile-looking old vehicle they were hiding behind and shook his head. "This thing's no good for cover. We've got to make a run for the car."

Nikolai looked down, appearing lost in thought for a moment, then looked up, a determined look on his face. "Go. I'll cover you."

"Right." Matt nodded nervously before grabbing Marenkov's arm. "Come on!"

Matt and Marenkov stood up and made a mad dash for the SUV. Matt could hear shots coming from Nikolai's position and more from further away. Halfway from the driveway to the car, Marenkov grunted in pain and nearly lost his footing. Matt looked over and saw a dark patch of color growing on Marenkov's sleeve as blood spilled from a wound in his arm.

What the hell? This guy's shooting at Marenkov! Putting his hand on Marenkov's back, Matt pushed the older man the rest of the way.

Matt had his hand on the door when he saw Marenkov fall to the ground with another wound, this one in his chest. Matt yelled for Nikolai to come over, which he did, squeezing off three more rounds on the way. Nikolai pulled the groaning Marenkov up and shoved him into the back seat of the SUV before jumping in himself, while Matt hopped in the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Tony, it's Matt!" Matt yelled into the phone as the SUV sped off. "We have Marenkov but he's been wounded. Somebody was trying to kill him. Have the doctors prepare for an incoming patient."

"Wait. Somebody was trying to kill Marenkov?" Tony asked.

"That's what it looked like. There was a shooter and they were definitely aiming for him. I don't think it was one of Lenkovich's people. It wouldn't make any sense. It wouldn't do them any good."

"Who else could it be?"

Matt sighed. "I'm not sure but we'll deal with that later. I've got to get him back to CTU before he bleeds to death." He turned back to Nikolai. "Keep pressure on the wound!" He yelled.

Matt's grip on the steering wheel tightened. I can't lose this guy now, not after all this!

"You were right. Torumov couldn't do it. They managed to get Marenkov away but his wound was fatal."

"You're sure of that?" Natalya whispered, leaning into the phone.

"I saw for myself. He won't make it back."

"That's not good enough!" Natalya hissed. "As long as Marenkov is alive, he's a threat. Follow them and make sure the job is finished before they get back here. If Torumov or the American interfere, kill them both as well." She turned off the phone and headed back up the hallway toward George's office.

When he was sure she'd left, Doug peered out from behind the doorway she'd been standing next to, still stunned by what he'd heard.

3:59:57 . . . 3:59:58 . . . 3:59:59 . . . 4:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As doctors struggle to save Marenkov's life, the stakes become very personal for Matt as his family becomes involved.