A/N: Let's begin with a note on the previous chapter, regarding the chopper ride music. The Ride of the Valkyries is, of course, from Apocalypse Now. Long Tall Sally is from Predator and Paint It Black is from Tour of Duty. That said, I'd like to thank you once more for all your enthusiastic and unwavering support. It's heartening to see how much entertaining and interesting this story is to you. Now, as you might have been expecting, this is an action heavy chapter. Major thanks to Chkgun93, Lone Fury and UKChuckster for giving me the idea for some comic relief. Enjoy!
Completely unaware of the danger he and Sarah were in, Chuck kept on driving. A few blocks behind them, the RC helicopter was flying at an altitude that allowed its pilot to have a good view of the street below, i.e. at approximately one hundred and fifty feet, rapidly closing the distance to its target. The noise of the traffic effectively drowned out the droning buzz of its own engines and, since it had no navigation lights, it remained unobserved as well.
Shaw flew the helicopter from the passenger seat of his parked car, keeping one eye on the red blip indicating the location of Chuck's car while also watching the camera feed and the green blip that represented the helicopter. He didn't worry about it flying out of range of the remote control. He'd rigged the system to a cell phone, so he wouldn't lose contact with it, not as long as it remained within cell phone coverage. Right now he had another problem. The GPS planted on Chuck's car could give him a location with some precision, but he'd still have to confirm the target visually before locking on and allowing the engagement sequence to proceed automatically. He could have rigged it to be manually flown into Chuck's car, which he could still do at any time should he wish so, but he believed that automation would eliminate most of the margin for human error.
Chuck took a right into another street. The club he wanted go to with Sarah wasn't much farther. Traffic had thinned considerably. In fact, just another five cars were ahead of him with a couple more following behind. Stopping at a red light, he took the opportunity to fiddle with the radio a bit. Just then a passenger in the car stopped to his left called out to him.
"Dude, are you doing some kind of weird advertising gimmick?"
Naturally, Chuck was confused. His SportCombi wasn't a company car, so it wasn't emblazoned with the Orion logo. "No," he replied. "Why?"
"Look behind you, man. You've got a model helicopter in tow. I guess you forgot to turn its lights on."
"Excuse me?" Chuck turned and saw that it indeed was a model helicopter hovering not twenty feet directly behind his car. "What the frak?"
"Chuck, what is it?" Sarah asked.
"Look behind us."
"Hah. It's funny. Not to mention it looks exactly like the chopper I rode in today."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Chuck muttered, still keeping his eyes on the RC model. As if on cue, it flew backwards, gaining altitude at the same time and then dove towards the car. Shaw had confirmed the target and locked the system on to it.
"No shit!" Sarah exclaimed. "Step on it! Get us out of here!" Noticing that the light had turned green, she pushed down hard on Chuck's right knee with her hand. The wheels left twin trails of burnt rubber on the asphalt and the SAAB shot forward, with the helicopter in hot pursuit.
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," Chuck repeated. "I knew it wasn't good. It's just like…"
"Dead Pool," Sarah finished the phrase. Despite the direness of the situation, he gave her a smile. "My Dad is a Clint Eastwood fan. We must have watched the movie together at least a dozen times," she elaborated.
"Keep an eye on it. I need you to be my early warning when it comes to evasive action."
"Or I could just shoot it down." She pulled the gun out of her purse and cocked it. "I'm a good shot, even when firing at a moving target. I have the skeet shooting scores to prove it."
"NO! You could knock it off course and cause it to crash in a building, another car, or just people walking by!"
"We have to do something!"
"I'm calling 911! You do the talking! Ask for Detective White, as she's the one handling your case. How are we doing?" He made yet another turn into a side street.
"It's still behind us," she yelled, leaning out her window and craning her neck to get a better look.
"Get back inside. I'll open the sunroof. And take this." He handed her a Bluetooth headset. He could hear her running commentary to Detective White, punctuated by occasional commands for him to go even faster or turn left or right.
"White says she's sending some squad cars to clear the way for us."
Just then he had an idea. He groped one-handed into the center console, found the other Bluetooth headset he kept there and put it on. This way he could talk to both Sarah and Alexis more easily. "Detective, can you hear me?"
"Go ahead, Mr. Bartowski," Alexis replied.
"I'm gonna head to Griffith Park. Have your people get in front of us to clear the way. Once there, our options on how to deal with this thing widen considerably."
"Roger that. Can't you just take a direct route and outrun the thing?"
"Negative, it's too fast."
"Good luck. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you guys."
Still near the Echo Park boathouse, Shaw laughed as he watched Chuck attempt to dodge the model Chinook over the feed. "You can run, but you'll only die tired. HAHAHAHAHA!"
Chuck and Sarah knew that only their frequent turns kept this thing from crashing into them, as after each turn it had to search and reacquire its target. But now things were looking up a notch. Two LAPD squad cars were ahead of them, lights flashing and sirens screaming, clearing the way to Griffith Park.
"Detective, other than your people, is there anyone else following us?" Chuck asked suddenly.
"No, all other vehicles are going at normal speeds. Only cop cars are keeping up with you, why?"
"Because whoever is controlling this thing should be out of range of any remote, if what you're saying is true."
"Left now!" Sarah yelled. She continued speaking after Chuck finished the turn. "You're the Nerd. How would you do it? How would you rig the controls?"
He checked the side view mirror and jinked hard to the right before replying. "I'd use a phone to receive the control commands and relay them to the servos."
"A phone?" White echoed.
"Yes, a cell phone or a satellite phone. It's probably a late model smartphone, because whoever's out for us is probably getting a visual feed from a camera in the model, too."
"We don't have the equipment to find, isolate and jam the signal," Alexis said. "And it'll take too long to get it on site."
"Nah, we won't need it," Chuck said confidently and floored the gas pedal. "All we need to do was get into Zoo Drive in one piece."
"You have several alternative routes to get to Zoo Drive."
"It has to be a winding one. If we go straight, this thing can catch up."
"I'll get you a direct line to the squad cars in front of you. It'll make it easier to coordinate." Until then, Chuck had been communicating his intentions to the cops by using his indicators. They had caught on after a couple of times he'd done it.
"Much appreciated, Detective," he said gratefully. Soon, he could talk directly to the cops helping him. "Guys, I'm planning to go right into Winchester Av… now."
"Copy that," the familiar voice of Al Powell said. "Hang in there, kid, you're almost there."
"Thanks Al. I'm taking a left on Garden, a right on Ruberta and another right on Victory."
"Okay, got it. What next?"
"We'll see." He was speeding on Victory Boulevard heading northwest, when he saw another chance. "Go left on Justin! Now! I'll be right behind you guys!" He cranked the wheel hard to the left, following the black and whites.
"I think he lost us," Sarah said from the passenger seat, not seeing the helicopter anymore.
"We're sticking to the plan, just in case. Left on Riverside!"
Shaw had indeed lost them, since once again the turns had taken them out of the camera's field of view. Each time it happened, he'd retake manual control, find the target on the GPS and redirect the chopper. At least he wouldn't have to worry about running out of fuel, as he'd fitted extra tanks to the model. The last place he'd seen them was when they'd turned into Victory Blvd. When he realized that they'd doubled back again, Chuck was already breezing past the intersection with Sonora Avenue, continuing down Riverside and was about to cross the bridge over the LA River. Knowing where Chuck would go next, Shaw pointed the helicopter at the intersection of Riverside and Zoo, put it in a shallow dive to gather up more speed and opened the throttle again.
"Fuck!" Sarah exclaimed. "There he is again!"
"Air unit reports Zoo is clear," Alexis informed them.
"Sarah?" Chuck said. "Do you still see him?"
"I see him."
"Take him out. There is zero potential for collateral damage here. Detective, have the fire department send a crew over. There may be a small fire."
"Fire department units are already on alert. There must be at least one near your location."
"Thanks. Sarah, stop dawdling and shoot the damn thing."
"My pleasure," she said, snapped the gun's safety off and popped up in the sunroof. "Too bad we don't have a shotgun, but my Smith & Wesson will do." She squeezed off two shots. The chopper had come so close that she couldn't miss. The first shot clipped off one of the landing gear wheels and a corner of the left sponson. The second hit the right hand engine dead on, knocking it off its mounting, leaving it hanging by just a fuel line and a control cable and setting it on fire as well. "Take that, you sonofabitch!" Sarah crowed.
With one engine out, the helicopter could no longer keep up with the speeding car. The fire also soon ate through the wires to the servos in the tail and the model veered out of control to the right, flying right into a tree before bouncing off a branch, shedding its rotor blades and dropping like a rock to the ground, where it exploded in a small but impressive fireball.
Sarah dropped back down in her seat with a yell of triumph. Chuck had been looking at the fireball in the rear view mirror when he realized that the squad cars in front of them had stopped. He stood on the brakes, swerved the wheel hard to the right and yanked at the parking brake. The SAAB screeched to a stop only a few feet from the police cars and he banged the side of his head on his rolled up window in the process. He was rubbing it when Sarah turned to face him.
"You did it, Chuck!"
"No, we did it. We worked together as a team and won."
She unbuckled her seatbelt and threw herself over him, hugging him hard. Then she grabbed his head and was about to pull him in for a kiss when he winced and hissed in pain.
"Chuck?"
"I just banged my head a little. It'll be fine in a few minutes."
"Turn around and let me see." She flicked the overhead light on and carefully examined Chuck's head. He had barely a bump, but she was still concerned.
"Sarah, I'm fine. After all, Ellie always said that I have a pretty thick skull."
"At least put an ice pack on it. Do it for me, please. I'll ask the paramedics for one."
"There should be one in the first aid kit. It's in the trunk. Ellie and Devon packed it for me, so it's pretty comprehensive."
Sarah reached over, popped the trunk open and then got out to retrieve the kit. Opening it, she rummaged through the contents until she found what she was looking for. "You weren't kidding. Casey gave us good field medicine instruction. I know how to use almost everything." She activated the chemical ice pack and gave it to him.
Al Powell approached them. "That was some driving, kid. How on earth did you know exactly where to tell us to turn?"
"My car has an awesome navigation system with a windscreen projection function as well as giving traffic condition reports. Plus, you know I've worked at Big Mike's store as a Nerd Herder. I know Burbank like the back of my hand."
"I'm still impressed. So, what was that all about?"
"Well, it's complicated. I think we should wait until Detective White gets here."
"Tell me something. Is it related to the break-in at Ms. Walker's apartment?"
"We believe so, Al… unfortunately."
Alexis White arrived soon afterwards and she was relieved to find everyone OK. The crews of two patrol cars had already put out the fire from the RC helicopter's crash using their fire extinguishers, and CSU was there, sifting through the wreckage for evidence.
"Looks like you were right after all, Mr. Bartowski," she said. "It appears that we are indeed dealing with a psycho stalker."
"I can't say I'm happy to have been proven right, Detective." Then he had an idea. "Would you mind if I took a look at the evidence you recovered?"
"Chuck knows his electronics," Sarah butted in. "He might be able to help your people by pointing them in the right direction."
"I'm aware of Orion Computers and their reputation, as well as your friend's abilities, Ms. Walker. I've done my homework. Go ahead, Mr. Bartowski, but put on some gloves first."
"Certainly," Chuck said. He grabbed a pair of gloves offered to him by a crime scene tech, pulled them on and went to examine the burnt out pieces of electronic equipment. "I was right," he announced a few minutes later, and pointed to the warped and charred remnants of a plastic casing. "He was using a cell phone as a control relay."
"With luck, we might be able to pull a serial number and trace it," White said.
"He probably purchased a prepaid phone and paid cash," Sarah interjected. "He's too careful. Remember, he left no trace when he broke into my apartment." She paused when she saw a few cops looking at her in wonder. Chuck, on the other hand, was smiling. "What? I like police procedurals. I want to get a part in one someday, too."
"Guys!" Chuck exclaimed suddenly. "Take a look at this! It's one of ours."
"Define ours," White demanded.
He picked something up with a pair of tweezers. "It's what's left of an Orion pan and scan miniature remotely accessible gimbal mounted camera. I guess he used it as an optical homing device, while employing a man-in-the-loop target engagement technique. Our guy may be seriously disturbed, but he is smart, I'll give him that."
Sarah was thinking. Something Chuck had said had given her an idea. "Chuck, given how many evasive maneuvers we took, he should have never been able to find us and direct his drone back to its target. In fact, short of launching it while driving behind us, something we would have definitely seen, it should have been damn near impossible to know where exactly we were while he was preparing to launch his toy."
"Detective, Sarah is on to something here."
"He bugged your car," Alexis deduced.
"Yep. But why go to the trouble of bugging it? Why the elaborate setup? He could have just planted a bomb and called it a day."
"Luckily for us, he didn't. Maybe he didn't want to be seen planting the bomb. A bug on the other hand, is much easier to place unnoticed," Sarah said.
"I'll have my people sweep your car, Mr. Bartowski."
"Thank you Detective." He looked at Sarah. She appeared almost nonchalant, but she had to have freaked out at least as much as he had. "No matter how hard he tries, he can't hurt you."
"How do you know?"
"Wile E. Coyote never managed to get the Roadrunner, and not for lack of trying."
"Perhaps we should see if he bought the components for his deadly little toy from ACME Corporation," Sarah added. They looked at each other and started laughing, hard. The tension had finally been released.
"Maybe his next plan will blow up in his face," Chuck said between laughs.
"What's with them?" Carina, who'd just arrived having received a call from the LAPD, asked Alexis.
"I think they're just glad to be alive right now. And we found this behind Mr. Bartowski's rear bumper." She held up an evidence bag containing a cell phone. "The GPS tracking function is active."
"Thank you Detective. If you don't mind, I'd like to see my sister now. We'll talk more about the case later."
"Come by my office anytime and I'll bring you up to speed on everything, Agent Miller. By the way, as soon as the techs pull the SIM cards from the phones, we'll be able to trace where the drone was being controlled from… hopefully."
"Again, thanks."
"Don't mention it. I'm just trying to do my job. This wacko endangered scores of lives today. All I want to do is put him behind bars… or in a straightjacket… preferably both." The two cop ladies shared a laugh over the last part.
Carina went straight to her baby sister, noting that Chuck had draped his light jacket over her shoulders and had an arm around her as they both stood leaning against his car. "Hey sis, how are you guys?"
"We're fine, really," Sarah replied.
"Take her home, Chuck. She looks like she needs a stiff drink. So do you, by the way."
"Shouldn't we give statements to Detective White first?"
"I'd say statements are pretty much superfluous right now. Everything is covered. Go, get some rest. I'll take care of things here."
-o-
"NO! No, no, no and no! They got away! Again!" Shaw was furious. So furious, that he slammed his fist into his iPad, breaking the screen and drawing blood in the process. Throwing the now ruined gadget into his car, he got in and drove away. Nothing was going his way lately. His wife had gone to visit her parents for their anniversary and would be gone for a few days, so he couldn't even take it out on her. He didn't notice that a few shards of bloody glass lay on the ground.
-o-
"Here," Chuck said, handing Sarah a glass of Jack Daniels neat. He then poured one for himself and they sat down by the big window of her apartment. "Here's to dodging another bullet."
"You must be tired, Chuck. I know I am. Why don't we call it a night?"
"I don't want to leave you here all by yourself."
"Chuck, you've already done more than enough. The new… well, multi-band jammer thing you just installed… You didn't have to go to Orion and get it just for my sake. I seriously doubt that he has another RC flying model just lying around."
"It's a broadband multi-spectral jammer," he corrected. "It can hijack and render any kind of remotely controlled device useless. What if he gets it in his head to try again tonight?"
"Like I said, you don't have to worry. I still have my gun."
"Maybe, but I'll feel better if you let me stick around. Where's your sleeping bag?"
"What do you want my sleeping bag for?"
"I was thinking about staying here all night. I'll sleep on the floor. Your couch is too short for me."
"No. You're most definitely not sleeping on the floor. You're not Robert Rath, not by a long shot. And I'm not Electra."
"So what do you suggest?"
"My bed is big enough for two people to sleep comfortably in it. We'll share it," Sarah decreed. "I'll go change." She got up after finishing her drink, took some stuff from her dresser and went into the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later, having washed the makeup off her face and put on a black t-shirt and snug fitting pink boy shorts.
Chuck's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when he saw her. While staying in the RV, she'd mostly been partial to oversized t-shirts and boxer shorts for sleepwear. He chugged down the rest of his whiskey, suppressing the urge to cough as it burned its way down his throat and practically ran to the bathroom to change. If she wasn't under the covers when he got back, he wouldn't be held accountable for his actions.
Luckily, perhaps sensing his discomfort and not wanting to push too hard, she'd already crawled under the covers. He rejoined her in the bedroom wearing his undershirt and shorts. Pausing to check the jammer and the alarm system, he went around to his side of the bed and got in.
"Goodnight Sarah."
"Goodnight Chuck." She turned off the lights, leaving a small one on in the kitchenette, mostly for his benefit. He wasn't familiar with her apartment's layout, so he'd need it if he got up for something in the middle of the night.
Soon, Sarah's breathing evened out, indicating that she was asleep. Chuck just couldn't turn his brain off. Logically, he knew they were perfectly safe in the apartment. But he couldn't help worrying a little. He stayed awake for another half hour, when Sarah shifted in her sleep and bumped into him. Instead of turning away, she snuggled closer, pillowing her head on his chest and draping one of her magnificent long legs over his. Carefully, not wanting to wake her up, he moved his arm to hold her and on impulse gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Finally, feeling her heartbeat against his body, he relaxed and fell asleep, having very pleasant dreams – just like her.