The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.
People were screaming and running around like decapitated chickens. Kim was so shocked by the sudden eruption of gunfire that she froze where she was on the ground. Ingram turned his body over and drew his Smith & Wesson M&P and fired two .357 Sig caliber rounds at the fleeing shooter.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked as he jumped to his feet.
"I'm fine!" Ingram yelled as he rubbed his sore chest. "Just get that sonuvabitch!"
"Stay with my daughter!" Jack ordered as he took off in pursuit of Barry. Ingram crawled to his knees and helped the shocked Kim stand up, he then led her off to the nearest exit where LAPD would be waiting.
"LAPD, LAPD," he called into his collar mic, "this is Agent Fuchs, shots fired! Targets Big Fish and Strangelove are fleeing on foot. Call in your SWAT team ASAP. Agent Bauer is in pursuit of Strangelove. I'm injured and proceeding to the northeast entrance, out."
Meanwhile, Jack was darting through the halls and shops trying to catch Barry. He couldn't figure out why he had just shot at them. He did know that he would only get his answers if he caught the man. "Barry, stop!" He ordered as he chased Barry into a service corridor in the back of an L.L. Bean. As he approached the door to the corridor Barry poked his head from around the corner and fired two shots at head level. Jack ducked underneath them and returned fire. One round went through the wall and grazed Barry's shoulder forcing him to drop his pistol, a Russian Makarov.
Jack got back on his feet and continued the pursuit. He ran down the blank corridors and burst through a steel door that led into the parking lot. He scanned the lot but saw no sign of Barry. Squad cars and the armored SWAT van raced into the lot but Barry was gone. "Damnit!" Jack cursed as he kicked a trashcan. He got on his phone to CTU.
"O'Brian," Chloe answered her phone.
"Chloe its Jack," his voice rang through. "There's been a shooting at the mall."
"What?"
"Is that Jack?" Audrey asked as she came over and Chloe put it on speaker. "Jack, what's going on?"
"Audrey, my daughter's boyfriend just opened fire on us at the mall. Ingram's been hit, but not bad."
"Barry shot Ingram?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know why," he said as he approached the ambulance where Ingram was being looked at, it was close to their SUV. "But put an APB out on Barry Landes."
"Got it," Chloe answered. "I'll also see if there's anything we can find on him too. I'll get back to you."
"And I'll send a search team over to his residence to check it out," Audrey added.
"Thanks," he closed his phone and approached Kim who was standing alongside the ambulance. "Kim?"
"Dad," she whimpered and went into his arms. "What's going on? Why did Barry shoot at us?" Ingram came around the corner carrying the shot up vest he was wearing under his clothes. (A/N: Kevlar, baby. Never leave home without it.)
"I can answer that," Ingram said. "His real name is Ivan Sergey Arkadeyevich. He's ex-Russian intelligence but he got disavowed by them for lining his pockets with drug money. He then went on to work for the Russian Mafia. He stepped on the wrong toes and fled to the US. Last lead we got he was smuggling guns, explosives, and drugs across the border for the El Terrible Syndicate in San Diego."
"How do you know that?" Jack asked the new agent.
"Agents," the detective came over to them. "We've apprehended Mr. Rivers."
"Send him to CTU," Jack ordered. "I want answers."
"I'll explain on the way to CTU," Ingram said as they made for the car.
"You…you mean," Kim pouted, "Barry's…"
"I'm very sorry," Ingram apologized softly. He then helped Jack lead her to the car.
XXXXX
He ditched the car in the swelling waters of the Los Angeles River and got on his secured phone. "This is Tupolev," a voice answered.
"My cover has been blown," 'Barry' answered in a Russian accent. "I need pickup."
"Where?"
"Location 'B'."
"We'll be there in five minutes." He hung up and walked away from the area and headed for his pickup point. 'How did CTU find me?' He asked himself. 'It was him. Mac Fuchs led them to me. But how?'
XXXXX
Curtis Manning, the Special Agent in Charge of CTU Los Angeles, entered the briefing room and was greeted by Audrey. "What happened?" He asked.
"It seems Kim Bauer and her boyfriend, Barry Landes were both at the mall," Audrey explained. "Apparently he opened fire on Jack and Ingram…"
"Who's Ingram?" Manning asked confusingly.
"The new field agent? Jack was giving him a check out on this sting operation." Manning nodding recollection as they stepped into his office. "Anyways Landes opened fire on them and hit Ingram. He's not injured, his vest stopped the bullet."
"Why did he open fire on CTU agents in broad daylight?" At that moment the phone rang.
"We don't know yet," Audrey explained as Manning answered the phone.
"Manning."
"It's Jack," Jack answered from the driver's seat as they were on their way back to CTU. "Search the database for an Ivan Sergey Arkadeyevich. He's ex-Russian intelligence who went rogue about five years ago. He may be involved in illicit arms trafficking."
"Who is this Ivan?" Manning asked.
"It's the real identity of Barry Landes," he dropped the shoe as Kim played with the ring on her finger. Ingram looked over his shoulder and took note of her sour expression. He felt sorry for her, now more than ever after noticing the ring. She just learned that her fiancée was involved in illegal activities involving smuggling and was not who he said he was. "He's a smuggler/arms dealer who used to work for Russian Intelligence. Get back to me when you can." Jack looked over at Ingram who shot him a glance that said they might have to keep an eye on Kim. "How do you know this 'Ivan Arkadeyevich'?" Jack asked Ingram in a whisper.
"When I was still with Border Patrol I went undercover working in junction with BATFE posing as a client to purchase a shipment of plastic explosives," Ingram explained in whisper as well. "Somehow, during the deal Ivan got wind of me being a Fed and the operation went south. A firefight ensued between one of our SRT teams and other clients at the train yard. I was this close to getting him," he held his thumb and index an inch apart, "when he shot me and escaped back across the border. He's been in hiding ever since. The rest we can figure out later." They pulled up and parked at CTU.
As the agents got out Kim paused in the back seat, staring at the ring on her finger. "Listen, Jack," Ingram said as he stopped him from opening the door. "I'm not a shrink but I think we need to give Kim some space with this and go easy on her. I doubt she knows what he's been up to but may be able to help us bag him. But, listen…she's just been dealt a really bad hand." 'More than you may know.' "The last thing she needs is a suit questioning her in an eight by ten room with a two-way mirror."
"I know," Jack shot back, "she's my daughter. I appreciate the concern though." Ingram released Jack's arm and they helped Kim out of the car. They lead her to the elevator but let her set the pace. Jack held her close to make her feel more at ease with CTU. She never really got used to the place after her mother, Teri Bauer, was murdered by the traitor Nina Myers. She was almost paranoid about it when she thought Jack was dead. He was afraid of what she might feel after what just happened at the mall.
XXXXX
The refinery had been long since abandoned. It sat on almost five acres surrounded by industrial buildings, mostly abandoned on the south side of the city. A tan four door truck pulled up into one of the storage containers and four men exited. The driver stayed with the vehicle, holding his Uzi submachine gun along his waist. The other three headed off for the train yard nearby. As they entered the silo cream colored vans and SUVs pulled up along the front of the main control building and armed men got out and began setting up shop inside.
One of the three men stayed at the door to the yard with his own Uzi standing ready. The other two, wearing thick protective HAZMAT gloves, proceeded inside a bricked up closet and after a minute exited with a heavy metal crate. Over the next fifteen minutes they transferred the crate and others like it from the yard to where a tin shed was being erected and men with heavy work tools were preparing for some kind of work.
Inside the control building a man in a brown suit received a phone call as he sat his suitcase down on a bare bed. "Marks," he answered.
"My cover is blown," a distorted voice reported. "CTU identified me an hour ago."
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know. But I'm cut off from my contact."
"Restore it."
"She was there when I was identified. She'll no longer trust me. I have to get out of the country."
"You listen to me, Ivan Arkadeyevich," Marks growled. "Yeah, I know who you are. And I know the Russians, and more specifically the mafia would love to get their hands on you. You run and they will find you, I'll make sure of that. You are my agent and you will follow my orders."
"I understand," Ivan said after removing the distortion device from the phone. "But Kim Bauer has been taken to CTU. There is no way for me to get to her."
"Precisely who identified you? Jack Bauer?"
"No another agent. I know him as 'Mac Fuchs' he used to be Border Patrol but now he's CTU."
"I want you just make sure this 'Fuchs' and CTU is focused on you. Do what you must to keep their focus on you. You seem to know Agent Fuchs, use that but whatever you do you must keep their attention on you." He hung up abruptly. 'We may have to modify the schedule.' He exited the room and went to check the shed where a large device was being built.
12:59:59