Chapter 14 – Sarah Strikes Alone

Disclaimer: Still don't own Chuck.

Sunset somewhere on the Northern California Coastline…

I'm not making the mistake of wearing all black during the day again. I have got to smell like a locker room by now. Adjusting her binoculars again, Sarah wiped sweat from around her eyes before making one final survey of the facility. Five armed males dressed in matching paramilitary style clothing had entered through a door near the freight dock area. No other entrances to the building were visible besides the single door and a pair of freight doors for trucks to unload or load.

Not smart. Unless they have an underground means of entering the building, those three doors are the only way in or out of the building. Whoever controls those doors controls access to the entire building. No way in or out.

Slowly Sarah moved back from the edge of the ridge. Once out of the line of sight from the building she stood and walked to the small trees growing near the steep cliff. Taking shelter from setting sun, she drank a bottle of water and repeatedly wiped sweat from her face and forehead. Opening one of her bags she withdrew a clean black outer shirt and undershirt. Quickly removing the sweat drenched clothing, Sarah slipped on the dry clothing.

As soon as the sun set and the night was dark enough, Sarah would begin her approach.

Castle…

Casey stood watching. Verbanski had been sitting at the armory's repair table for over half an hour, staring in silence at the wall before her. Since the news of the collapse of her empire, her life in many ways, Gertrude had withdrawn from the others in Castle.

Of all the different reactions to the news her empire, Verbanski Industries, being destroyed, this reaction was not one Casey would have anticipated. Nor was it a reaction he understood.

Casey wanted to strike out, to punish, no kill the individual responsible. Everyone who helped would also receive the same punishment. Frustrated at the lack of intel to identify the guilty individual and the need to remain in Castle until more was known was making Casey's trigger feel the proverbial "itch."

Now this. If Gertrude had been in a blind rage, breaking things, shooting things, attacking him physically even, Casey could have dealt with any of these behaviors. He understood anger, rage.

Gertrude reached up to her eye and wiped something from her face. The movement heightened Casey's senses as he sought to understand what he was seeing. And then it happened. Silent tears flowed from her eyes and she let them fall.

Fear, an emotion Casey seldom felt, began to settle in his stomach then slowly spread throughout his body. This was a side of Gertrude he had never seen before and it was one that surprised him. Lady feelings on display and she wasn't even fighting to control her emotions.

Man up. Deal with it. She's no worse than Bartowski and you've learned to deal with him. Have to be there for Gertrude.

Casey moved in complete silence into the armory. Without drawing attention to himself he sat next to Verbanski. After several minutes passed he reached over and gently touched her arm. Slowly her lips formed the faintest trace of a smile.

"John."

"Yes."

"It's not the money."

"I know."

"It's not the buildings."

"I know."

"It's my people. They hurt my people."

"We'll make them pay, just as soon as we know who did this, we'll make them pay."

"Yes, John, we will."

Nightfall in Northern California…

The wind blew across the empty parking lot. Sarah used her night vision glasses for one final visual sweep before beginning her approach to the building. Nothing moved other than grass swaying in the wind. A final examination of her equipment calmed her nerves as she focused on the route Sarah had planned for her approach. Just like old times before you came to Burbank. Nobody to help. Nobody to cause problems. In. Out. You can do this Walker.

Emerging from the scrub brush, staying in the shadows, Sarah stood and listened. Hearing only the sounds of the wind, she began her approach.

Five minutes later Sarah had covered the twenty-five yards and knelt before the door, examining the lock and security system. Minutes later her equipment packed back in her backpack, Sarah soundlessly opened the door and entered, closing the door behind her.

Sitting around a card table between the two freight entrances, Sarah could see three of the five men were laughing and drinking as they played cards under the entrance light.. The other two men were nowhere to be seen.

The dim light allowed her to make out the scared features of the tallest of the three who sat leaning his chair back against the wall. To his left sat the smaller of the other two men, smoking a cigarette as he looked at his cards. The third man sat with his back to her, his long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, hanging from under the same cap she had earlier seen all five men wearing.

Taking a drag on his cigarette, the small guard looked around the dim, silent facility before speaking to his companions, "I will be glad when we get outta here tonight."

"Yep. This job gives me the creeps. Makes me regret signing on."

Putting out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table, the smoker looked at the larger of the three men, pausing for a moment before asking, "Big John, what do you think they plan on using these for?"

Leaning his chair forward the largest of the three men looked at the other two, scratching his scared face. "I don't know and to be honest, I don't care. It's creepy, and if you ask me, nothing good can come of this. The one in that fourth box really gives me the willies."

Sarah reached into a pocket on her utility pants and withdrew a small camera. Using infrared it was capable of taking excellent photos in dimly lit surroundings. After taking photos of the three men the camera was returned to the pocket.

Moving deeper into the building, Sarah began her search for the other two men. On the far side of the facility she noticed what appeared to be an office area. The blinds to the windows were drawn but a light appeared to be on. Moving along the east wall, staying in the shadows, Sarah began making her way towards the office.

With no warning the door opened and two men walked out, the second turning the light off. Both walked at an easy pace towards the three playing cards. One of the three appeared to be wearing an insignia of some sort on his shoulder, indicating he was the leader of the group.

As the pair approached the three men playing cards, the leader spoke calmly. "We just got the call. Time to load up and deliver these to the coordinates they gave us. As far as I am concerned, we can't get this job done soon enough so lets get these loaded and get out of here."

The second of the pair from the office looked at the blonde haired man. "Is everything wired?"

Blondie responded, "yes. I made sure I used more C-4 than necessary. I don't ever want to come back to this place. All the machinery in the underground bunker will be destroyed, the bunker collapsed and this entire building will collapse. Thermite will set it all on fire. There will be no trace of what went on here."

Sarah moved closer to the five men, retrieving the camera from her pocket as she advanced. All five moved towards the five large containers behind the eighteen-wheeler's trailer. The cigarette smoker walked to a nearby forklift and started the engine while the large man opened the rear door of the trailer.

One by one, each of the coffin-sized containers was lifted by the forklift and placed in the trailer. The other men moved the containers inside the trailer and secured them to prevent movement during transport.

The entire process took only minutes and Sarah captured everything on the camera. Good images of the faces of all five of the men were now stored on the camera's disc. The large man climbed up into the cab of the truck and started the engine. The leader spoke to the other men. Sarah, unable to hear what was said over the engine noise, used the opportunity to move undetected in the direction of the office.

From the shadows she saw the other three men make their way to the vehicle they had arrived in. Both freight doors opened and the two vehicles exited, the doors closing automatically behind them.

Knowing she had minutes to act, Sarah sprinted to the office and kicked the door open. Flicking on the light she quickly scanned the office. Empty except for two desks, she grabbed the trashcan, dumping the few pieces of paper it contained on the desk closest to the door. Moving with as much speed as possible, Sarah rifled the two desks, removing every paper, pad and object, placing all of them on the first desk.

When both desks were empty, she removed her backpack, opened it and brushed all of the items on the desktop into her pack with one fluid sweep of her arm. Closing her pack she dashed from the room, leaving the lights on, sprinting to the exit.

Pulling her Glock-17 from her belt, Sarah burst through the door, slowing enough to visually sweep the area before continuing her sprint towards the ridge where her vantage point was. In the distance she saw the truck followed by a black SUV stopping at the point where the secondary road entered the highway.

Behind her the sound of explosions began to deafen her as flames shot into the sky. The blast wave lifted Sarah off her feet and threw her to the foot of the ridge. Landing on her side, she could see the towering flames as they lifted towards the night sky. Lifting her head, Sarah struggled to focus. It was a losing battle as the darkness seemed to swallow her.