Scene XXVIII - Casey's Apartment

Sarah drove Liniman's Porsche, its comatose owner buckled into the passenger seat. This Porsche was a more modern model than hers, so she was thoroughly enjoying the experience. She looked over at the passed-out Liniman; she was also enjoying the fact that Liniman had finally shut up. Shaking her head, she turned her eyes back to the road.

Something suddenly occurred to Sarah: how had Chien followed Liniman to the restaurant without alerting Agent Thompson? Suspicious, she parallel-parked in a long spot between a pair of cars and gave the car a quick once-over. Sure enough, she found a homing device magnetically attached to the underside of the car body; the rest of the car was clean.

She quickly attached the device to the bottom of the car parked behind her, climbed back into the Porsche and roared off, tires squealing. No telling if Chien was close behind or not, but there was no point in taking chances. She called Casey to brief him know about the GPS device, mentally plotting a longer route back to Casey's apartment as the phone rang.

Casey lounged in the passenger seat of the van, seat reclined. He shifted uncomfortably in order to pull his cell phone out of his back pocket, moving slowly to avoid aggravating the pain. After several rings, he finally put the phone to his ear. "Casey here." Noticing that ear still wasn't working too well, he switched the phone to his other ear with a wince.

"Walker here. I found a GPS device on Liniman's Porsche. I stuck it on another car."

"You know, he'll still be after Liniman. We could have used that to lure Quan to us."

"Doubtful. Since he's now aware of us, odds are good he would have just sent a sniper to clean things up."

Casey reassessed and agreed, "Roger that."

"I'm taking a longer route back to your place to make sure Quan didn't pick up my trail before I could remove the device."

"Please. You just want to take the Porsche for a spin."

Sarah laughed. "That too." She hung up and shifted into higher gear, a smile lighting up her face as the car took off.

Chuck guided the van back towards Casey's apartment, with Casey using the passenger seat mirror to watch that they weren't followed. Chuck kept waiting Casey to chew him out about the car horn, but Casey was in a strangely cheerful mood. As he told Chuck, they had achieved their objective and gotten confirmation that Minh was still after Liniman. Casey seemed to consider it a good night, all things considered.

Chuck parked the van outside their apartment complex. Casey immediately went inside while Chuck tidied up the inside of the van, hiding anything suspicious-looking from casual view. He assessed his work and quickly went inside, making sure he didn't run into any of his friends or family in the process.

Casey was already lounging on the couch. He was developing a nice bruise on his back from the bullet impact, but that would heal within a day or two. His ear was already recovering, although it would take a bit to regain full hearing. The pain didn't really seem to bother Casey: he seemed to treat the pain like an athlete would treat muscle soreness after a long but satisfying game.

Fifteen minutes later, Sarah parked Liniman's Porsche in the spot Casey had kept reserved for the Crown Vic. She ran inside, grabbing Chuck and borrowing the Crown Vic cover to hide the Porsche. She chose not to mention any of that to Casey; there was no need to spoil his good mood.

With Chuck's help, the two quickly transported the unconscious Liniman inside. Shawn looked like he had just had a few too many, so Chuck acted like the guy was one of his old frat buddies, making sardonic remarks about his passed-out friend and cracking up Sarah the entire way. One of their neighbors saw the three of them, but clearly thought nothing of it. He apparently had seen some of the casualties from Awesome's margaritas; this wasn't the first time Chuck helped carry somebody around the apartment complex.

They dumped Liniman into the bathtub, handcuffing him to the water spout just in case. Liniman likely wasn't going to wake up for a while: a stab from one hairpin would have been enough to knock him out for a good twelve hours; the double-dose meant Liniman likely wouldn't be stirring until the next night at the earliest. It couldn't be helped; in the heat of the moment, Sarah needed to use both hairpins to ensure Liniman was rendered unconscious quickly.

Stripping off Liniman's jacket and shirt, they taped gauze pads over the gouges in his shoulders where the hairpins had penetrated the skin. After a quick inspection, his head only had a minor bump from when he collapsed onto the sidewalk. Between the sedative and the head wound, Shawn was going to have a brutal headache when he woke.

Casey's good mood didn't prevent him from taking a strong painkiller to help dull the pain; he had trouble getting comfortable, and he kept playing with his ear, as if to somehow coax his hearing back more quickly.

The painkiller and hearing problems meant Sarah was on tap for babysitting duty, as Chuck wasn't exactly equipped to deal with Minh's henchmen if they came calling. Even though she was reasonably confident that she hadn't been followed and a quick search of Shawn had revealed no tracking devices on his person, the team couldn't afford to take any chances.

Casey lay on the couch, not quite comfortable enough to sleep. He would doze lightly for a few minutes before waking up with a start, and would try to re-adjust himself to get comfortable.

With Casey basically out of commission, Sarah and Chuck sat on the floor playing cards on the coffee table, their backs leaning against the couch. Sarah explained that Chuck shouldn't feel too bad about the car horn: it was an instinctive reaction to put his hands out to protect himself. The trick was not forgetting where you were so that you remembered to check for hazards while shadowing a target.

Chuck talked about the surveillance software, and what it could and couldn't do. Sarah couldn't help but tease him about the Monty Python movie. Chuck offered to put it on, and made a comment about how the General and certain agents could really afford to find a sense of humor one of these days.

Sarah talked about some of the ridiculous blandishments Liniman had whispered in her ear. Sarah wasn't mean; she was just stunned that anyone could think those types of comments would actually work.

Chuck was dumbfounded to learn that Sarah didn't know how to play gin rummy, so he taught her. He handed her defeat after defeat. Sarah's competitive side started to emerge, culminating with Sarah throwing her cards at Chuck after he won the eighth consecutive game in a row.

The talk of the missions faded and the conversation shifted to nothing in particular. Casey's starts were becoming less and less frequent, so the two tried to keep their voices low.

Eventually, Chuck checked his watch and noticed it was 1:45 am; he had to be up in a little over five hours so he could open up the Buy More. Chuck wasn't ready to let the evening end, but reluctantly, he told Sarah he needed to leave. Sarah covered up her disappointment fairly well, so well that Chuck didn't notice.

The two paused at Casey's door, Sarah leaning against the jam for support and looking up at him, a slightly shy smile on her face. Words were difficult for Chuck to come by; his breath seemed to catch in his throat. He could only return her smile with a shy smile of his own.

The scene seemed so normal. The ludicrousness of the other world dropped away; for a long, wonderful moment, they were just a man and a woman who spent a quiet evening playing cards and talking.

Inside, Casey groaned and shifted on the couch, breaking the spell. Chuck lost where his feelings had been taking him. All Chuck could think to do was wish her good night, with a melancholy little smile. Sarah did the same; she gently closed the door.

Chuck stood staring at the door for over a minute. The scene at the door had been magical. He corrected himself; the last couple of hours had been magical.

He couldn't help but wonder: could moments like that happen if only one person had feelings for the other?

Scene XXIX - Casey's Apartment

Saturday passed uneventfully. Chuck worked his normal shift, with the only real challenge being finding somebody to cover for Casey. He ended up spending a fair bit of his day as a salesperson. The day passed slowly.

Casey and Liniman slept all morning, which left Sarah playing a version of gin rummy solitaire she invented; her only interruption came when she took some time to call in a mission report.

After Casey woke up, she stepped out to grab some take-out for the three of them. However, Liniman remained unconscious all afternoon. Sarah finally packed it in around 4:00; she was dead exhausted from her all-nighter, and Casey was sufficiently recovered to handle things.

Chuck tried to call Sarah after work, but her phone went straight to voice mail. He then called Casey, who told him Sarah would likely be sleeping all night, and that Liniman was still unconscious. With no distractions, Chuck had a nice, quiet dinner with Ellie and Devon and spent a rare private evening alone in his room. At least, a truly private evening was rare enough these days.

He had to admit, as much as he wanted to see Sarah and figure out some things, it was nice to hang out by himself for a bit. Between the excitement, emotion, and lack of sleep the previous night, he found himself dozing off by 8:30.

Liniman didn't awaken until after Chuck fell asleep, and was too groggy and weak to do much the first couple of hours. After he became coherent, Casey spent a fair part of the night interrogating his subject, but had surprisingly little success. Liniman wasn't talking.

On Sunday morning, Casey let Sarah and Chuck into his apartment. They expected to see Liniman in the living room; however, the room was empty. "Where is he?" Chuck asked.

Casey nodded towards the hallway. "I moved him back in the bedroom. Couldn't risk having him spotted through the door, and it's further from the courtyard in case he decides to yell again."

The three walked back towards Casey's bedroom; the door was shut. Casey cracked the door. Liniman was handcuffed to the bed frame, his head slumped down as if sleeping. His mouth was gagged, and he was stripped down to his T-shirt, boxers and dress socks. A chair sat facing him.

Sarah and Chuck worked hard to suppress smirks. Sarah turned to Chuck. "This looks familiar to me for some reason. But I can't put my finger on it. You?"

"Handcuffed to a bed? Left all alone in his boxers? I know I've seen this somewhere before."

Casey turned towards them with a vicious look. "One more Carina joke, and I use you to show Casanova over there exactly what I'll do to him if he doesn't talk."

Chuck retorted, "Because your threats have worked wonders so far."

"This guy doesn't have enough imagination to be scared."

Sarah thought for a moment. "He's going to be pretty ticked off at me, too. Why don't we let Chuck take a try?"

Casey's tone mocked Chuck's, "Because his interrogation of Larkin went so well."

"Chuck knows the guy. Maybe he can get him to let his shield down."

"Bad cop – annoying cop." Casey shrugged. "Sure, why not." Facing Chuck, he added, "God knows he needs the practice."

Sarah pulled Chuck aside. In a reassuring tone, she said, "Look; you can do this. Just go in there and try to figure out where his head is. If you can convince him you understand what he's going through, he'll be willing to work with you."

Chuck sighed. He really had no desire to go in there and try to empathize with Shawn, but every job had parts that people didn't like.

He asked her, "You sure about this?"

Sarah nodded encouragingly. Chuck sighed again. "All right," he acceded.

Sarah and Casey moved back so Liniman wouldn't see them when Chuck entered. Chuck slipped through the door, leaving it cracked so Casey and Sarah could watch.

Liniman didn't move until Chuck sat in a chair by the bed; he took one look at Chuck before looking away. Chuck arranged himself so he leaned towards Liniman, resting his elbows on his knees. He reached over and pulled the gag from Shawn's mouth. Shawn stretched his jaw and tried to clear some of the fabric residue in his mouth with his tongue. Apparently Casey had finally convinced him it was a bad idea to call for help.

Chuck didn't say anything for a moment. He gave an ironic little laugh. "Never thought we'd end up here when we were back in high school. You?"

Liniman stared him down. "Don't think I'm going to buy any type of buddy-buddy routine out of you."

Looking Shawn directly in the eye, Chuck said, "I don't expect you to. We were never friends; now probably isn't the time to start."

Outside, Casey whispered. "Once again, off to a terrific start." Sarah shushed him.

"I'm not going to help you, 'Agent Bartowski', is it?"

"I'm not an agent. Ask Casey; he'll happily tell you."

Shawn's face was a mask.

"Do I really strike you as the agent type?

A disdainful expression provided the answer.

Chuck paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He needed some way to connect with Shawn, some type of common ground to connect the two. Suddenly, an idea clicked into place. "We're both here for the same reason. I was just going about living my normal life, and one day, I found out some things. Suddenly, everything changed. Sound familiar?"

Liniman hesitated a moment, before looking away and obviously lying, "No."

"I've been there. I've been through the shock of finding out that things weren't what they seemed. I've been through the uncertainty of finding out that the guy I thought was my best friend in the world screwed me over. You do know that Turley was setting you up for a fall, right?"

Liniman angrily looked at Chuck, defending his mentor. "Jonathon wouldn't do that to me."

"C'mon, Shawn, you're smarter than that. Why would Turley print three pages to bring you one sheet of data, unless he didn't want his fingerprints on the page? Why would he omit the details from the spreadsheet, unless he wanted the details on the page in your handwriting? Why did he so often hand you things without any kind of audit trail? Why would he keep you in the dark about all of this? Those are just the things I know. I'm betting there are other things that don't add up as well."

Liniman's protest died on his lips. He was obviously running previous dealings with Turley through his mind, running the past couple of years through his mind. Chuck let him think things through until his eyes widened with the realization that Chuck was telling him the truth. Shawn looked down, his anguished eyes staring blankly down at the bed.

"I've been there, Shawn. My best friend in the world framed me for stealing a key to a test and got me kicked out of Stanford. Years later, I found out that friend lived in an entirely different world from me, one full of spies and betrayal and danger. That was Turley's world, too. That's why Turley is dead."

Shawn's eyes were suddenly alert and focused on Chuck. "You mean…"

"Andon Minh had him killed to cover his trail. And Minh plans to do the same to you, too."

Shawn was processing everything, but very slowly. "I don't get it. Why would he be after me? I didn't know anything. Like you said, Turley kept me in the dark."

Chuck had put together a few things while working at Buy More the previous day. He was assuming a couple of things, but it all made too much sense.

"Turley was selling classified documents to Minh. In order to get more access to information, Minh would send money to the company under falsified accounts while sending kickbacks to Turley. Turley's operations looked successful, so he got promoted, which gave him more access to more classified information. Which meant more money. Which meant more promotions.

"You helped to hide Turley's dealings, which means you can find them again if you want. Minh knows you can be just as dangerous to him as Turley was."

The explanation clearly stunned Shawn.

Chuck wore a rueful smile. "I recognize that look. I wore it for about a month straight. Still get it pretty often, actually."

Liniman didn't respond, staring off into space, trying to reconcile everything he had just learned.

"The rules have changed, Shawn. Whether you like me or not doesn't matter. What matters is that Minh is trying to kill you, and the only way to stop that from happening is to help us catch him."

Shawn looked back at Chuck. He was ready to help them.

Scene XXX - DCI Enterprises

Casey, Sarah and Shawn headed out to the DCI Enterprises campus Sunday afternoon in the Suburban. After agreeing to help, Liniman told them as much of what he could remember about hiding Minh's dealings with his company, which was a surprising amount. Shawn was clearly good at his job.

Shawn's office held two key things the team needed: hard evidence of how DCI Enterprises accounted for some of the transactions, and more importantly, the cache of classified documents Liniman had stashed in his desk on Friday. Casey pulled the car into a slot towards the front of the parking lot. He pretended to look through some papers, giving Sarah time to climb into the back and activate the surveillance equipment again.

Liniman's office was empty. She quickly compared the image on the screen to a screen shot that Chuck had printed from Friday's surveillance footage. There was no sign that anything had been disturbed.

"Everything looks clear," she reported, a bit uneasily. "Shawn, any thoughts?"

Sarah turned the monitor around so Liniman could see. "Yep, they've been there." Even that innocent comment somehow seemed obnoxious.

"How can you tell?" She looked unconvinced.

"See the award on the hutch there, the one on the bottom shelf? It's been turned at an angle. You can't see the plaque like that."

Sarah looked at the picture again. Sure enough, the award was askew. "You sure you didn't move it before you left?"

A bullet pierced the window next to Shawn, who involuntarily let out a high-pitched cry. Sarah tackled him. "Get down, and stay down!"

"And I thought Chuck screamed like a girl," Casey muttered. He threw the Suburban into reverse to pull out of the parking spot. A bullet shattered the back window and pierced Casey's coffee cup. His scowl deepened; he slammed the car into drive and drove off as more shots rang out.

Scene XXXI - Buy More

Chuck sat at the Nerd Herd desk. The store was mostly empty today; what few customers were there spent their time digging through the bargain bins or buying accessories for their new iPods. There wasn't much call for his services.

Actually, Chuck was glad he had the Buy More as an excuse today. Despite his success in persuading Liniman to help them, heading out to the DCI campus and watching Shawn get to go along while he waited in the car … he wasn't devoid of a competitive spirit, and that would have struck a bit close to home.

Chuck's cell phone rang; a picture from Sarah on Christmas day came up on the monitor. Were they really done already? "Hey; that was quick."

Sarah's voice was tense. "Yeah, Minh's thugs were waiting for us."

"Is everyone OK?"

"Yes, but they've accessed Shawn's office. They'll have the classified documents and the accounting records."

"That's not good."

"No, it's not. I'll be there in five minutes. Keep your eyes peeled, just in case." She hung up.

Chuck took a slow survey of the store, turning as he scanned. There was nothing suspicious.

The Nerd Herd phone rang behind him, startling him. He took a breath and picked up. "Nerd Herd, Chuck Bartowski speaking. How can I help you?"

"If I told you I had a computer to fix at DCI Enterprises, could you be persuaded to stop by?"

Chuck's heart froze. "Tha-at would depend who is calling."

"It is Andon Minh, Mr. Bartowski. Our meeting is overdue."

Just then Morgan walked up; Chuck realized he had no convenient way to get rid of him. The timing was not good.

"And what's the nature of your emergency, sir?"

"Ah, covers can be so tedious, do you not agree? Although my man was most impressed with your acting job the other night; he was fully convinced you had lost the love of your life over appetizers."

Morgan was obviously trying to get his attention. Chuck put on an annoyed expression and held up a finger to hold him off.

"Well, I'm glad he was satisfied. Can I ask who referred you to the Nerd Herd?"

"Clever. My employee overheard you talking of 'the Buy More wage'. The rest was rather easy to put together."

Morgan was getting antsy. Chuck shot him an angry look while keeping his voice level.

"And how can we be of service today?"

"I will make this brief: I have need of Mr. Liniman. I know you, and Agent John Casey, and Agent Sarah Walker have him.

"You, no doubt, have an interest in the bundle of documents Mr. Turley compiled before his untimely demise. Bring Mr. Liniman to the DCI Enterprises campus tomorrow evening at 6 pm, outside Building 5E. Make sure all four of you, and only the four of you, are there. This is a non-negotiable, one-time offer. If you do not show up, those documents will be sold to the highest bidder by next Friday.

"If you would, please say something in your cover persona to confirm."

Chuck fought to keep any emotion from creeping into his voice. "There's nothing I would rather do on New Year's Eve, sir. I will be there promptly at 6 pm."

"Nicely done. I look forward to meeting you." Minh hung up. Chuck slowly put the phone down.

Morgan gave Chuck a stunned look. "Dude, you have to be kidding me. You're working New Year's Eve?"

"I'm on call. So, yes."

"That bites."

Chuck shook his head as he looked down despondently. "You have no idea."

Just then Sarah walked up. She was dressed in a casual black outfit and matching black pants, a fairly standard choice for her when she wasn't sure if she would be called into action.

Morgan shifted to face her, leaning against the counter. "Did you know your boyfriend is working tomorrow night?"

Sarah's face went from surprised to irritated in short order. "Oh, really?" She turned from Morgan to Chuck. "Can I have a word with you in private?" she asked rather harshly. She took his hand and dragged him towards the home theater room. Chuck wondered if he was about to get chewed out.

Lester and Jeff walked up to Morgan. Lester commented, "Uh oh. Trouble in paradise?"

"Chuck just got a service call tomorrow night, and Sarah is not happy." Morgan emphasized the 'not' with his arms.

Lester grinned. "Well, maybe they'll break up again, and I can help Sarah ring in the New Year." He straightened his tie in what he obviously thought was a suave manner.

Morgan turned to Lester. "Yeah, how did that work out for you the last time they broke up?"

Lester's face went flat. "I gotta go." He walked away at a fast pace.

Jeff and Morgan looked awkwardly uncertain of what to do with Lester gone. Morgan leaned against the counter, facing away from Jeff, while Jeff stood facing Morgan. Jeff broke the silence, "So, I've got a date tomorrow."

Morgan shook his head. "No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Jeff, it's not a date if you're paying her."

"Yes, it is. It's anything I want it to be … if you know what I mean. I'll be giving her the Auld Lang Syne." His hand movements were fairly graphic.

Morgan gave Jeff a disgusted look. Jeff's cockiness faded to nervousness; he took the hint and walked away.

Scene XXXII - Home Theatre Room

Chuck and Sarah walked into the home theater room. A pimply-faced Buy More drone was lounging on the couch, eating popcorn and watching Star Trek: Voyager. Without preamble, Sarah gave him a fierce look and commanded, "Out." The green-shirt took one look at Sarah, grabbed his popcorn and scurried away.

Sarah walked over and shut the door and the curtains.

Chuck stared uncertainly at her. "You're not really mad at me, are you?"

Sarah said reassuringly, "Of course not. But if you're working tomorrow night, I'm betting I am, too, and I'll need an excuse not to be waiting for you at Ellie's party. What happened?"

"Minh called me. He wants the four of us on the DCI campus tomorrow night at 6 pm. He wants to swap the packet of confidential documents for Liniman."

"What's the meeting point?"

"The entrance to building 5E, whatever that is."

"Anything else?"

"If we don't show, he's gone and the documents are as good as sold. And he specifically said the four of us, and only the four of us."

"I'm guessing he didn't put any limits on the number of men he was bringing. OK, I'll go phone this in from Casey's; he's there with Liniman. We've got some serious planning to do. Come by after work."

Chuck added, "Hey, if at all possible, we need to be at my sister's at midnight. She'll kill me if I'm not there to sing 'Auld Lang Syne' and share a midnight hug."

She said, "We'll find a way." He smiled his thanks to her.

With an answering smile, she started to walk out; Chuck stopped her. "Wait. Aren't you supposed to be ticked off at me?"

"Oh, good call." She stared off into space, and her expression gradually grew angrier. When she felt ready, she furiously threw open the door and stiffly stormed out, a livid expression on her face. Even though he knew she wasn't really angry, Chuck shuddered a bit. He never wanted to be on the business end of that.

Morgan watched Sarah exit, and turned back to see Chuck leave the theater room, staring after her. "Man, that room is like the kiss of death for Chuck and Sarah."

Scene XXXIII - Outside Buy More

When Sarah got outside the store, her 'anger' melted away and was replaced by an intensely focused expression. As she crossed the parking lot, she thought about what they needed to consider in order to plan for tomorrow night. They were lucky Minh didn't want to meet that night; there was no way they would have been ready.

Sarah was climbing into her car when her phone rang; it was Director Graham. Sarah, with a bit of a sense of humor, had programmed a picture of daisies to come up when he called. She closed the car door and answered.

"Yes, Director?"

The director's gravelly voice came through clearly. "Walker, can you talk?"

"Yes, sir. I'm alone in my car."

Director Graham picked his words carefully. "I have some critical information that I need to pass along to you."

Sarah was surprised at his circumspect words; normally Graham was right to the point. "What is it?"

"The beta version of the Intersect was tested a couple of weeks ago. We need to start preparing for what needs to happen when it comes online."

Sarah's face became ashen as she listened to the Director's update and instructions, staring blankly at the dashboard. The briefing took a full five minutes, with the director doing all of the talking. "Yes, sir. I understand." The line went dead; she set the phone down, but other than that she remained perfectly still. This had not been a good day.

Scene XXXIV - Casey's apartment

Casey and Sarah sat in the living room of Casey's apartment, messing with various gear for the next night's mission. Chuck entered without knocking; Casey gave him a dirty look, while Sarah gave him a quick smile as she headed back to grab something from the hall closet.

Chuck crossed the room and plopped into the chair next to Casey. Casey was pulling some equipment out of a black bag, arranging the items on the floor in front of him. Chuck idly watched him for a second, his expression growing more confused as he sat there and considered. He leaned forward to ask a question.

"Casey, there's one thing I don't understand."

"Just one thing?"

Chuck let the comment slide. "What does Minh have to gain from our meeting tomorrow?"

Casey shrugged. "He gets Liniman. Probably wants to kill him."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Not really. When I go fishing, I don't mind using a worm for bait."

Chuck collapsed back in the chair. He wasn't particularly happy about Casey's uncaring attitude towards Shawn's fate, but that wasn't what puzzled him at the moment. He tried another tack.

"Why is it worth Minh's while to risk capture to acquire Liniman?"

Casey looked annoyed that Chuck was still asking questions on the subject, but gradually his expression turned more thoughtful. "It isn't. Minh has to know that Shawn may have already told us what he knows." Casey looked at Chuck. "He wants something else."

"And on the same note, he has to know that the documents don't concern us. He probably has copied them and shipped them off already."

Casey looked upset with himself. "He's using himself as bait. He expects us to come after him."

Chuck nodded, relieved that he wasn't off base with his thinking.

Casey stood up. "He's picked the turf, so he's minimizing the risk. Still, what's the payoff?"

Sarah had come back into the room, listening to their conversation with interest. She laid a pair of handguns on the coffee table. "Revenge for blowing up his operations?" She plopped down onto the couch.

"Maybe. Seems like a bit of a stretch. Besides, he obviously knows where to find Chuck. He could have just hunted us down." Casey walked to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

The three thought for a second, giving time for Casey to make his way back into the sitting area. He collapsed into his leather chair. Sarah said, "OK, so he wants the four of us to come to him, alive. Why?"

Casey suggested, "Professional interest? Curiosity?" Even Casey looked like he didn't believe that.

Chuck quipped, "What, like the criminal mastermind inviting James Bond to dinner before he drops him into the shark tank?"

Again the group fell silent. They had hit another wall.

Sarah suggested, "Let's go through it one more time, from the beginning, putting ourselves in Minh's shoes. Minh is in town meeting with Turley. Suddenly he has him killed. Why?"

Silence permeated the room.

Chuck volunteered, "Coincidence? He was planning to kill him any way?"

Sarah shook her head. "Maybe, but that's a pretty big coincidence. Let's rule that out for a minute." She set her elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her hand.

More silence.

Casey's face became more intense as an idea occurred to him. "Because he found out we were monitoring DCI Enterprises? Minh is about secrecy and covering his tracks. We've tried to nail the guy several times, but come up with absolutely nothing. The guy is a ghost. He must know how to sense danger, and avoid it."

Sarah leaned forward. "That's not bad. So, we start monitoring Liniman, and Minh finds out about it. He could have done that easily enough by sweeping the parking lot. Maybe that's part of what he does when he visits his sources – verifies that they are still in the clear."

With Sarah and Casey making progress, Chuck sat back in his chair, not wanting to interrupt. Casey continued, "Assume that for the time being. So, Minh has Turley killed. He either already knows about Shawn or finds out from Turley before he's killed, and tries to take him out, too."

"But we're already there. So Minh has to be wondering: how did we know about Liniman? Why were we focused on Liniman, and not Turley?"

Chuck interrupted, "Would he know we were focused on Liniman?"

Sarah and Casey frowned for a moment before Sarah figured it out. "Yes, we never did get the bugs out of Shawn's office, and there are none in Turley's office."

Casey agreed, "That makes sense. If he could find the receiver in the parking lot, he certainly could find the transmitters in the office."

"So the question remains for Minh: how were we focused on Liniman, and not Turley?"

"That type of question must drive an information broker nuts, especially one as concerned with covering his tracks."

Chuck had another thought. "What about Quan?"

Sarah looked completely confused. "What about him?"

Chuck stood up, pacing as he talked, trying to put his thoughts together. "We ID'd him immediately. But there are no records on the guy in the CIA, FBI, or NSA systems that would lead us to him; only the Intersect put that together." General Beckman had confirmed that in the morning's meeting to report Liniman's cooperation. "If Minh expected his guy to be off the radar, maybe Minh is wondering how we spotted his guy so quickly. He certainly didn't do anything to attract suspicion when he left the restaurant, yet Casey was tailing him immediately, gun in hand."

Sarah looked puzzled. "But would he know that there are no records on the guy?"

Casey said, "He's an information broker. Maybe he's got contacts that feed him information from our systems."

Chuck suggested, "If that's the case, we might be able to smoke out the sources. See if anyone in the various agencies pulled query lists recently. Do you guys audit the searches on your systems?"

Sarah nodded. "We can check if anyone searched on Minh, Quan, Turley or Liniman in the past week or so."

Chuck snapped his fingers, and pointed at Casey. "Or 'Casey'. Minh knew his full name."

Casey looked confused, "So what?"

"On the phone, Minh identified each one of us by our full names. He found me using 'Chuck' and 'Buy More', both picked up from the dinner with Shawn. It was easy enough to track down my last name." He pointed at Sarah. "I introduced Sarah to Shawn at the restaurant, using her full name. But all he had on you, Casey, was your last name. I shouted your last name when I saw Quan leaping from the ledge, but I never used your first name."

The three looked at each other. Sarah said what they were all thinking, "He's got a mole."

Casey looked at Sarah, "Or moles."

"We need to check on this immediately."

Chuck asked, "How long would that take?"

Sarah said, "I'm betting the agencies can get it done tonight."

Casey still looked concerned. "Well, that's part of the puzzle, and a big one. But the question remains: what does Minh hope to gain by meeting us?"

The conversation skidded to a stop. Chuck sat down, stumped. Casey and Sarah leaned back, lost in thought. Several minutes passed.

Sarah's face slowly lit up with a horrified realization. "He's figured out that the Intersect exists."

Chills shot up and down Chuck's spine. Casey squinted. "What?"

"OK, not the Intersect per se, but he's figured out there's another system out there."

The other two sat in stunned silence. Chuck tried to form a question, "How…?"

"He's probably suspicious about why we were tracking Liniman. He's probably suspicious about how we ID'd Quan. He looked up your name, Casey, so he has access to at least some of the systems.

"If Minh has sources with access to each agency's computer system, he can verify that Quan and Liniman aren't in any system. What's the logical conclusion?"

Casey grimaced. "That there's another system somewhere."

Sarah's face grew pale. "One other thing. He won't be able to find anything on Chuck in any of the systems, either. Everything about him has been kept under the radar. Guess who Minh might believe is the link to the other computer system?"

Chuck looked at the two agents helplessly.