Disclaimer: Okay, I'm on top of things now. I traveled to ancient Egypt and brought the Mummy, Imhotep, back from the dead. He'll help me squash Dick Wolf...
Now onto the Meat and Potatoes
Lizzie
A plan gone wrong
Mikhail entered Heathrow airport at three thirty that afternoon. He glanced at the screen and saw that the plane arriving from Latvia would be landing ten minutes behind schedule from gate C16. Grabbing a soda and a magazine, Mikhail headed for gate C16. He parked himself in a chair and looked around searching for anyone suspicious. No one stood out, so he buried himself in his magazine.
Mikhail had been ordered to follow the American cops, report to Lazar and Platon, who would follow. As soon as they were in position, Mikhail was to use any means necessary to cause a disturbance. He wasn't to kill anyone but it had to be violent enough to alert the detectives and cause them to intervene. Once in the line of fire, Lazar and Platon would take each one out. The three men were to report to Yaburov once all three detectives were dead and he would wrap up the other loose ends. Once that was done, Yaburov would call Kendal Evans and tell him to destroy the remaining evidence linking him to New York City. Once things had settled down, they'd open another brothel twice the size of the current one.
The door to the runway opened and the passengers of Flight 426 from Latvia began to exit. Mikhail got to his feet and began to scan the passengers.
Yaburov had spent the remainder of the afternoon showing him, Lazar and Platon pictures of Elliot Stabler, John Munch and Odafin Tutuola. He'd gotten them from the American bitch who had infiltrated their ranks.
Mikhail searched the crowd and was beginning to grow concerned when they didn't appear when he reminded himself that those exiting were first class passengers. Cops were of the working class and they'd probably be flying in coach.
People continued to pour out of the exit. Mikhail's heart pounded with more force as each person exited and they weren't Elliot Stabler, John Munch and Odafin Tutuola.
Mikhail felt his stomach turn over when the woman thanking people for flying closed the gate and walked away. There was no way he would have missed the three Americans. He had seen pictures of them in everything from the formal attire they had been wearing in one picture, to everyday clothes in another, to digitally added facial hair and sunglasses. He knew those men from every angle. They must have been alerted and waited on the plane. Mikhail approached woman.
"Are you sure everyone's off the plane?"
"Yes, sir," the woman, Janice Kincaid, was busy preparing for the next flight that would be boarding from that location. "If anyone's still on board, they'll be off soon when the clean up crew catches them. Who are you looking for?"
"Three American men." He pulled out the pictures and placed them in front of her. "I really need to find them. It's urgent."
The woman grabbed her phone and dialed a number. "Yes, I need two or three stewardesses please. One from each class preferably."
Mikhail breathed a sigh of relief. At least they would have conformation. Deciding to inform Lazar and Platon that he would be delayed, he stepped away.
The two men hadn't been happy to hear this.
"You remember what Yaburov said about fucking up? It'll be your ass if you've lost them."
Mikhail hung up without replying. Those words were reverberating in his head and he didn't want to be the one guilty of screwing up this operation. He pondered the situation for several minutes before Janice Kincaid called him over. She had three women standing beside, all of whom were wearing matching atire.
They must be the stewadesses, Maikhail thought.
Sure enough, Janice Kincaid gestured to the three women before introducing them.
"Sir, this is Anna, Susan and Michelle. They were all on that flight. Anna was in first class and Susan and Michelle were in coach."
Mikhail uttered his thanks before approaching the three women with the pictures of the three cops.
"Ladies, were any of these men on the flight?"
All three of the women looked at the pictures, each shaking her head negatively as she passed them to the next. Mikhail felt his temper rising.
"Are you sure? You might have missed them. Perhaps they weren't in your section."
Michelle, who seemed to be the most talkative of the three, spoke up. "No, I'm sure one of us would have gotten a glance of at least one of them. Anna was the one who stood up front when you first entered the plane and greeted everyone. She would remember."
Mikhail turned to the smallest of the three women. "Well?"
Anna's calm demeanor vanished. "Michelle said we hadn't seen them and we haven't. Is that enough for you?"
Mikhail wanted nothing more than to slap the bitch but remembered Yaburov's words. Stabler, Munch and Fin had either not been on the flight or escaped detection. Mikhail was certain he hadn't seen the men. There were three of them and the flight hadn't been large so the chances of him missing all three were small.
Why wouldn't they be on that flight? Mikhail couldn't answer his own question as he stormed away and headed for the exit, not even thanking Janice, Anna, Susan and Michelle as he left. Instead, he grabbed his phone and informed Platon and Lazar of the situation.
"I really hope you're mistaken, Mikhail. For your sake. When're you gonna report to Yaburov?"
Mikhail felt the need to vomit the moment Lazar had uttered those words. Yaburov would have to be informed but he didn't want to be the one to do it.
"Couldn't you, Lazar…"
The laugh coming through the phone made Mikhail want to reach through and punch the bastard in the face.
"You gotta be kidding me, Miki? Yaburov'll wanna hear from you, personally."
Mikhail didn't want to put up with this so he hung up right as Lazar started laughing again.
Deciding that he had better get this over with, Mikhail entered Yaburov's number and waited.
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Meanwhile, as Yaburov was promising death to his spy, Elliot Stabler, John Munch and Odafin Tutuola climbed off the Eurostar. The flight to London only had enough room for two passengers and while Fin had offered to stay behind, Munch had discovered that a flight left for Paris France not long after.
"We can cross the Chunnel and be in London only a few hours later. We'd still be together."
Stabler, who had been skeptical at first, agreed that they should stick together. The seats on the plane had been close but the more spacious seats on the Eurostar had allowed the three men to catch up on their sleep. Now, they were in London with no idea where to go.
Grabbing a sandwich for the road, Munch suggested checking in with London Police. Stabler had agreed.
"Randy Ulmer would probably be the best. He seems to know what's going on."
As they were exiting the sandwich shop, Stabler's cell phone rang.
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Vasyl Yaburov hung up the phone and threw the glass of wine he had been enjoying against the wall. If Mikhail had screwed up, he wouldn't rest until he sure that bastard never fucked anything up again. The problem for Yaburov wasn't if Mikhail had messed up but if he hadn't. If Stabler hadn't been on that flight, then he had no idea where he was. He could be anywhere in the world right now. He might be in London or he might still be in Latvia. Hell, he might be in the air headed for the United States. He had to know where Stabler was.
Trying to clear his head, Yaburov tried to think how to get into contact with Elliot Stabler. Yaburov knew Stabler had a cell phone because he had seen it that night in the bar. Maybe Benson had called him. He immediately cursed when he realized that outlet wasn't available to him. While Yaburov had confiscated her phone before going to meet Stabler, their quick get away the next morning had made him forget to grab it off his nightstand. If she had called Stabler there was no way to reach him. There had to have been other people in contact with Stabler over the past few days who would know how to reach him. Then he remembered and his heart lightened a bit. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
"Yeah, Boss."
"Yegor, bring Detective Benson to my office. I'm going to need her for a few moments."
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Casey Novak sat at her desk trying to fight a headache. It was only a quarter until noon and she already wanted to go home. Sitting back for a moment and closing her eyes, Novak had no idea why she was even here. She had just recently found out that one of her closest friends was dead. The department was currently awaiting the return of their other three detectives. Cragen, since Benson had no living relatives except for a rapist of a brother who was currently missing, had been planning the funeral arrangements.
Novak had asked a very subdued Cragen how everything would be paid for since there was no next of kin and Benson had been far from rich.
"I'll take care of it," had been his reply. His voice sounded dead.
Novak had gone to Huang to see if he might be able to help Cragen. Huang had only voiced his hope that Stabler, Fin and Munch would return shortly.
"I think that'll do him some good. Plus he needs to just get away."
Novak knew how Cragen felt. They were all feeling the strain and she felt herself wondering if they'd be able to recover from this. Everyone in SVU was incredibly close and such a blow to the heart wouldn't pass easily. Mostly, Novak worried about Elliot Stabler. He cared more for Benson than he had for anyone with the exception of his wife and kids. Cragen had confided in her that he and Benson were too close for their own good. Their relationship went beyond that of a partnership and found its way into a strong friendship. Benson had been Stabler's best friend and Novak knew such a loss wouldn't pass with time. Would Stabler be able to remain with SVU, knowing he would get another partner? One that wouldn't be Benson.
There was a knock on her office door and George Huang walked in carrying two cups of coffee. He gave her a comforting smile while handing her the cup on the left.
"I heard you decided to come into work today. I thought you might need this before your afternoon sessions."
Novak barely thanked Huang before taking a long drink. Coffee was the elixir of life, Novak decided. She had no idea why anyone would want a fountain of youth over a fountain of coffee.
"How's Cragen?"
Huang shrugged. He also looked exhausted, Novak noticed.
"He took the day off today. Said he had a lot of work to do to prepare for Saturday."
The fact that a date had been set, hit Novak like a ton of bricks. While she knew they couldn't go on like this, she didn't want to sit through Olivia Benson's funeral.
"I should go and buy some flowers. Even if there isn't a coffin, a flowerless funeral is a horrid sight to behold."
Huang stood up when Novak did. "Casey, why don't we go together over the lunch break? You don't have to go through this alone."
Novak nodded and took her seat. She was grateful for the doctor and planned on expressing her appreciation but she had other things on her mind at the moment. "George, do you still think we could've gone after Kendal Evans? Our case isn't as strong without Liv but we shouldn't just forget about it."
Huang had to admit that those thoughts had been plaguing him for the past few hours. "It certainly seems like something Liv would have wanted."
Novak nodded and finished the last of her coffee. "I know but I just can't right now."
Novak's phone began to ring and she groaned loudly. This was the last thing she needed right now, a whiny client wondering why she had remanded him to the court. After putting on her best performance face, she picked up the phone.
"DA's office, this is ADA Casey Novak, SVU."
Huang watched Novak while she listened to whoever was on the phone. Suddenly her jaw dropped and her eyes became wide.
"How'd you get this number?" Her voice was shaky but cold. Huang waved to get her attention and pointed to the speaker phone button. Novak nodded and Huang pushed it.
"… Stabler's number now, Ms. Novak."
Huang stood up at the mentioning of Stabler's name.
"I don't have that information, Mr. Yaburov."
Now it was Huang's turn for a jaw drop. Why the hell was he calling Novak's office?
"Ms. Novak, I know you've been in contact with Detective Stabler and it's paramount that I speak with him immediately."
Novak's voice had lost its shakiness and was now cold and angry.
"You son of a bitch, why the hell would I care if you can't find Detective Stabler? You killed his partner so I'm sure you're the last person he'd want to speak with."
"I haven't killed Detective Benson…yet."
Novak and Huang exchanged looks. Neither of them knew how to react to this. Was it possible that Benson was still alive? If they didn't give Yaburov what he wanted, would he kill Benson? Deciding to err on the side of caution, Novak continued the discussion.
"Mr. Yaburov, I can't trust someone like you. If you want Elliot Stabler's cell phone number, I need proof that Detective Benson's still alive."
"That can be arranged. She's right here beside me."
Huang stepped closer to the phone. Novak eyed him, trying to decide what he was thinking.
"Just so you know, Mr. Yaburov, I have an FBI trained psychiatrist standing here with me. He knows Detective Benson as well as I do and he'll know if it's her or if you're lying. If you're lying, this conversation is over and I'm hanging up. I don't have time to put up with you."
"That's fine." There was silence for several minutes before, "would you like to speak with her now?"
Novak tried, and failed, to keep the urgency out of her voice.
"Yes!"
There was more silence and while neither Novak nor Huang knew what was being said, they could hear Yaburov speaking to someone, presumably Benson, harshly.
Probably threatening her or instructing her in what to say, Novak thought angrily. Yaburov's voice pulled her back to earth.
"Ms. Novak, Detective Benson can't answer any of your questions. She knows what to say so keep it brief."
Novak and Huang both leaned closer and they heard Yaburov snarl, "here."
Novak held her breath and kept her eyes on Huang. He would know if this was Benson or not. Novak's chest hurt from the pounding of her heart and she was sure even Yaburov could hear it. She was about to find out what her Saturday afternoon plans would include.
"Casey, George, are you listening?"
Novak's eyes flew to Huang. Every part of her was saying this was Olivia Benson. Huang didn't look completely sure but he nodded for Novak to speak.
"I'm here, Liv."
"Me too," Huang joined the conversation.
"We have to keep this short but I need Elliot's phone number. It's just a phone number, Yabuorv doesn't have a way to track it."
Novak couldn't help herself.
"Liv, are you okay?"
"She's fine," Yaburov's voice cut into the conversation like a cold knife. "Now stop with the questions and give her the phone number."
Novak was almost grateful there was an ocean between them because right now the ADA wanted nothing more than to kick the man so hard his unborn children would feel it.
Huang seemed to have taken over for her.
"Liv, Elliot's phone number is country code 011, area code 753 965-3722."
"Thanks, George," came Benson's voice.
"Yes, thank you, George." Yaburov was back and in charge of the conversation once again. Novak's anger got the best of her.
"Put Liv back on, you miserable son of a bitch!"
The phone went dead and Novak screamed loudly. "NO!!! Come back!"
She grabbed the phone and began to push the button listening for anything. Instead, all she heard was dial tone. She looked up at Huang, fighting back tears.
"What've I done?"
Huang put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You didn't do anything, Casey. That conversation was over."
Novak wanted to believe him but her guilt was getting the better of her.
"What's next?"
Huang stepped around her and picked up the phone. "I'm calling Cragen. I'll let him know that he can stop spending his money on a not needed headstone."
Despite the situation, Novak had to smile. She had no idea what was going to happen but Benson was alive at the moment and that made her world looked brighter than it had five minutes prior.
"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."
Woodrow Wilson
Author's Notes: Not much to say that I haven't already said so I'll repeat: Thanks for the reviews and for reading. I'll see you tomorrow night with another chapter. It'll probably come a bit early since my friends and I are going out to celebrate my birthday since I don't have class on Friday.