Since this entire story has been somewhat about the US political season, I thought I'd get this chapter out on election day. In addition to moving the story forward, I have a little fun in this chapter.
Since election day is about answering important questions, like Obama or Romney, I'll tackle an even more important question. My question might be the world's most unresolved and polarizing question, Ginger or Mary Ann? (For those not in tune with American pop culture, I am referring to a nerd – cult TV show named Gilligan's Island with the 'Ginger or Mary Ann' reference.)
DC political gridlock engulfs Beckman as partisan politics serves to muddy the waters regarding Black's plans. Will our country's politicians figure things out in time to stop Black or will Black remain a step ahead, as he has so far?
Black himself (along with sidekick White) has fled DC. Black has installed a highly trained doppleganger in his place to stonewall staff, Congress and the public.
Meanwhile, Chuck and Sarah's search is going poorly, until Chuck and Sarah change their approach. They meet a sixty something woman in a popular Mexican cafe who causes the story to heat up, in more ways than one.
Enjoy!
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POTUS Oversight, 12/13/2012, DC
The morning after Chuck and Sarah left to search the Mayan Ruins for Black's secret base, citizen and presumptive next President of the US Beckman convened the three member POTUS committee (one of the members was strongly in Black's camp, an ex president, unaware of Black's plans, but blindly supportive of Black, based on party politics), which was hastily assembled at her request.
The request was supposed to be secret, but one of the three members, a highly bipartisan member of Black's party, informed Black of the meeting, which caused Black to flee the country, along with his VP White, leaving a pair of dopplegangers in charge of running the country. This mattered little to Black, as he planned to destroy most of the world on December 21st, all his doppleganger had to do was stall, deny, smile, and fan the bipartisan DC fumes until then.
Black's operative was in stall mode with the committee, buck stops with Wallace. Whether or not President Black has any part of this is irrelevant, soon Beckman will be president and this will be all behind us.
Beckman was not allowed to speak yet, but she could not contain herself now, "Not if Black has a plan to end the world in the next wee ..."
Black's operative on the committee cut her off, "General Beckman, we haven't agreed to hear your case yet. You are not allowed to speak. We let you listen to this session as a courtesy to you, but frankly, you are not acting very presidential. You are acting more like a conspiracy theorist on a political blog. Now be still."
Just then, Secretary of State Neils came into the room. Neils and Black's operative were close, Neils had won Black's operative a war when Black's operative was President and Neils was in charge of the military. Neils was a member of Black's party. "Then may I speak on Beckman's behalf?"
The committee was surprised, as a second respected general from the opposite party seemingly thought this was an important issue. After a conference among themselves, the man in charge, a member of Beckman''s party, said to the two generals turned politicians, "We'd like to hear from both of you, since General Beckman came here first, we'll let her speak, then you General Neils."
Beckman presented all of her evidence to the committee. Then Neils spoke, Neils had far less information, and was not part of Black's plan, but had seen enough, that he was suspicious that the rumors of an event coming up were true.
At the conclusion the man in charge, the member of Beckman's party, lowered his glasses and responded, "Generals, my esteemed colleague from Mississippi would have preferred that we not meet at all, as this smells of a tabloid type story, beneath the highest office in the universe. That is true in both what you accuse our President of, as well as that you would think such a thing of him. Yet, you showed us all this evidence. This evidence has gotten our attention. The next step, as you know would be for us to take this to Congress, which would essentially take us on the brink of civil war I'm afraid. Black has very passionate support from half of our gridlocked Congress. We will take this under advisement, and give you our decision soon. We do realize, if you are right, God help us all, we don't have much time."
With that, the meeting adjourned.
Chuck's Isle,12/15/2012, Mexican wilderness
Sarah was frustrated as she and Chuck were talking through their lack of progress, "Chuck, we've been searching the Mayan Ruins under the radar out of sight for three days. We haven't gotten spotted and arrested as fugitives wanted for treason, but at this rate, we won't find Black's base in time."
Chuck was frustrated too, but he was suffering from tunnel vision, he thought he could hack his way into figuring out Black's location, and he was failing, "I know Sarah. Black is very good at this. Trying to find his base this way is like finding a needle in a haystack. We have to come up with a new plan."
Sarah changed the subject, "The good news, camping out in the wilderness is pretty awesome, and yet you managed to have a big screen TV out here with us with cable news and reruns of old nerd TV shows. What else could a girl want?"
Chuck smiled at Sarah as he had a surprise, "How about live video of babies on the island, compliments of Jeff's creepy, yet genius spy software."
Sarah was excited, being so far away, it didn't always work, but they did get glimpses of the babies off and on, "I never get tired of them. I wish we could contact them. But watching them on their remote desert island, is better than any TV. They are on their own Gilligan's Island. Maybe we should call the island Chuck's Island. "
"Very funny." Chuck said as they both were getting sleepy.
"Chuck, so much thunder. Sounds like a huge storm is coming our way. I'm sleepy now, I think I'd going to fall asleep now." Sarah said as she dozed off, Chuck didn't respond, as he already was asleep.
As Sarah fell asleep, with thunder and lightening overhead, she began to dream ….
Just sit right back
And you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.
The nerd was a mighty hackin' man,
The General brave and sure,
Five passengers set off that day,
For a three hour tour,
A three hour tour.
'Crack of thunder heard'
The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
The world would be lost.
The world would be lost.
The ship set ground on the shore
Of this uncharted desert isle.
With Chu-uck,
The General too.
The awesome hunk
And his wife,
The super spy,
With Morgan Grimes and Alex Casey.
Here on Chu-uck's Isle
The Gilligan music cue played as the dream began with Casey, dressed exactly like the 'Skipper' on Gilligan's Island, coming up on Chuck gazing out into the lagoon,"Chuck, what you doing?" Chuck was dressed in a red shirt, white pants, and a goofy white hat, just like Gilligan.
Chuck replied in an earnest manner, "General, I'm scanning the ocean waves with my super secret spy hackin skills for any sign of the secret base."
Casey shook his head at Chuck, "Chuck, little buddy. You've been scanning the ocean waves for almost two months now. It isn't working. Black is beating you. I think we should try something else."
Chuck was all ears as he replied, "Sure General. I'll do whatever it takes. Do you have any ideas?"
Casey nodded his head with a sly grin, "Yea, I thought I'd throw you out into the lagoon, so you'd be closer to the secret base, instead of hiding away here on the island."
Chuck didn't like that idea, "But General. Sir. The lagoon is dangerous. There are sharks and crocodiles in the lagoon, I don't want to go in."
The Ginger music cue played in the dream, and for some reason Carina not Sarah walked up in a sexy night club dress. Carina dipped a bit to show off her cleavage, and put her index finger to her lips. "Go ahead, toss him in, that's the only way to save the world."
"Sorry little buddy. It's the only way." With that, the General picked Chuck up and tried to throw him into the dangerous waters. Chuck resisted. As they comically struggled, they both fell in the lagoon.
Luckily, they were only knee deep in, and both scrambled over each other to get out.
"Chu-ucck. You got me all wet." The General was angry at Chuck and he hit Chuck repeatedly with his captain's hat.
"Don't you hit him. You big bully." Carina was no longer in the Ginger dress, but Sarah was. She pushed Casey away from Chuck.
"I was doing it for his own good. Don't you want to save the world Sarah?" Casey replied.
"Throwing Chuck into the lagoon full of sharks and crocodiles won't do it. Are you OK Chuck?" Sarah got down on one knee, displaying a great deal of 'Ginger' cleavage and sexiness, as she helped Chuck up.
"What's going on here?" Awesome asked as he walked up to Casey, Chuck and Sarah. Awesome had a dumbbell in each hand and was doing reps as he spoke.
Sarah answered, "We're trying to save the world, Casey wants Chuck to dive into the lagoon to save us."
Ellie replied, "Oh that's nice. Go ahead Chuck, jump in. Isn't Devon Awesome?" Ellie was happy anywhere with her man. Suddenly Devon wasn't pressing dumbbells, but Ellie was hanging on to his biceps and Devon was pressing her up and down.
Then, to complete the island miscasts, Morgan and Alex arrived on the beach scene.
"Morgan, Alex. I'm so glad you're here. Casey wants me to jump into the lagoon. Look at the lagoon, it's full of crocodiles and sharks." Chuck said to his friends.
"Chuck, I don't know. You have to do something. The world's going to end soon. You and Sarah, you can do it, you are Mr and Mrs B, the world's best spies." Morgan answered as he was dressed in all white, much like the professor on Gilligan's Island.
Alex, dressed up in Mary Ann attire, short pants and a shirt tied at the midriff added in, "You guys can do anything, go ahead Mr and Mrs B."
Suddenly, Sarah was now Mary Anne or Alex and Jack Burton had turned into the professor or Morgan. "Dad, you always have the answers? Is there anyway to save the world without Chuck jumping into the lagoon?" Sarah asked her dad as she was now clad in a Mary Ann attire, rather than the cocktail dress she'd been in just a moment ago.
"Angel. You and Chuck. You can do anything. But to find the right mark, you have to talk to thousands of people. You can't do that from a desert isle, or in your case a computer terminal. You have to jump into the fray. It'll be OK. You are Mr and Mrs B the world's best spy couple. Go ahead, jump in, together."
"Thanks daddy. You're right. Chuck. Let's go. Crocodiles and sharks beware, we're going in." Sarah said.
"OK Sarah, anything you say." Chuck said as he took Sarah's hand.
Suddenly, they were not on the island, but they were on top of a cliff, looking into a monstrous crater filled with water. In unison they called out "Jump …"
Sarah woke up with a huge exhale, "Aaauuuggghhh".
The exhale startled Chuck, "Are you OK baby. You had a bad dream."
"No Chuck, I had a good dream. I have a new plan. Mr and Mrs B are going to go site seeing tomorrow and find some marks. Someone in this country has to know where the secret base is, we just need to ask enough people."
"Sounds good baby. Playing it safe so we won't get spotted or arrested has not gotten us anywhere. We're running out of time. Where did the Mr and Mrs B come from? I like that?"
"From my dream, come here, put your head on my chest, and I'll tell you all about it. You'll like it. But when I'm done, you have to promise me something."
"Sure, anything." Chuck replied.
"Sarah Bartowski, Ginger or Mary Ann. Which one do you like me better as?"
"Oh boy. This is going to be fun." Chuck had a sly grin on his face, as suddenly, the dream took the back seat to the passion Sarah stirred in Chuck.
Moments later, Sarah laughingly said, "Oh Gilligan!" as Mr and Mrs B began to make sweet passionate love.
Beckman vs POTUS Oversight, Round 2, 12/162012, DC
It had been three days since Neils and Beckman addressed the POTUS oversight committee.
They called Beckman and Neils back in.
"Generals, we called in Black in to testify yesterday. We were disappointed that he more or less refused to answer any questions. He had a prepared statement he read to us, saying he was wrong in arresting General Casey, and that Director Wallace had orchestrated the whole mess. He dismissed the end of the world stuff as partisan politics, trying to harm him as payback. He also made a great point that if he was going to destroy the world, what is he doing calmly going about his business in the Office? That was about it. Based on the evidence we have, after some long soul searching, we've recommended that Congress reconvene on December 17th to hear this case. I hope you both realize, this will create anarchy throughout this land we all love. Still, God help us if you are right."
With that the committee left the room, leaving Generals Neils and Beckman stunned by the enormity of what was in front of them.
What Sarah Bartowski's Most Afraid Of, 12/17/2012, Mexico
As result of the new plan, Chuck and Sarah went on every tour they could find, visited every dive bar, and struck up a conversation with every person they ran across. Still two more days passed, and they made no progress. As the 17th of December was nearing the end of daylight, they were on a tour of a Mayan site, that had a crocodile farm attached, which is where this story picks up.
"Chuck, I hate crocodiles. They scare me." Sarah pulled Chuck close to her as they watched the big creatures being fed.
Chuck smiled at his bride, "I didn't think anything scared you Sarah."
Sarah looked at Chuck with wide eyes, "Oh. Plenty scares me Chuck. In my old job, I couldn't let you see that. I had to be brave."
"Yea. I suppose I looked scared enough most times for both of us. Other than Crocodiles, what else scare you Sarah?"
Sarah was serious, more than usual, "I try to keep it out of my mind. But I'm terrified of losing my memory again. Having so many friends, family, our kids, and you, I have a normal happy life. I'm terrified of losing it all, and going back to being what I was, with no place and nobody. Kind of like Elliot."
Chuck snugged up his hug, "I won't let that happen. I have your back Sarah. Always."
"Thanks Sweetie." Sarah gave Chuck a loving smile, but she shifted gears as she spotted a person they hadn't talked to, "Let's try that man over there. I got it."
"Good luck baby." Chuck replied, largely Sarah took the men and young girls, Chuck took the woman.
Sarah gave the young man a long looking over as she approached, "Cute hat. You speak English?"
"Yes ma'am. I went to Princeton to school, that's where I got the hat." The young man eagerly answered.
"What's your name?" Sarah asked.
"My name is Juan Gomez." the young man answered.
"Juan Gomez, I like that. So Juan, where's the hottest place to have dinner tonight?" Sarah asked in her old spy mode, trying to put the mark in an uncomfortable place.
"Ah ah ah." The man stuttered as he was sure Sarah was flirting with him. "Downtown, the 'Mejor Comida'. After the restaurant closes, a band plays, if you want to dance. But the food is the best in Mexico."
Sarah rubbed the young man's shoulder with a subtle lack of affection and said, "Thanks Juan, my husband and I will give it a try. Maybe we'll see you there. Why don't you bring a date, we'll buy you dinner."
The dumbfounded man, who was ten years younger than Sarah and had a steady girlfriend, only said "Sure," as he was part flattered, part flustered, part relieved, and part disappointed about hearing Sarah was married.
But by then, Sarah was already meeting Chuck and grabbing his arm as she said, "You up for some great food and dancing Mr B?"
"I thought you'd never ask Mrs B." With that Chuck and Sarah headed for the 'Mejor Comida'.
Mama Gomez, 12/17/2012, Mexico
Chuck and Sarah entered the restaurant.
"Table for two." Chuck asked.
"Do you have a reservation?" The old Mexican man asked.
"No." Chuck answered.
"I'm sorry, we don't have any openings." The Mexican man looked disinterested and started to walk away.
Chuck reached into his pocket, and pulled out some money, "Maybe this will help?"
"You know. My reservation clerk just signaled to me we had a cancellation, follow me." Still, the man showed no interest in the couple.
"Oh, and you see the couple seated by the bar. Put them on our tab please." Sarah added in as she pointed.
The waiter looked surprised, "You know Juan?"
"We do." Sarah answered as she sat at the table, tucked in the middle of a dozen other tables, with barely enough room to move.
The waiter broke out in a big smile, "Why didn't you say so. Friends of Juan don't sit here, come, come, you'll sit at the finest table in the house."
Two hours later, Chuck and Sarah finished eating.
"Ah – ah – ah. Sarah, I can't recall eating a better meal." Chuck said as he downed his fifth bottle of water.
"Isn't it a little too hot for you liking?" Sarah asked. "I love hot spicy food from all my travels down here, but it takes a little getting used to."
"No – no. I'm fine. This is really good." Chuck was fanning his mouth as he spoke.
"We've been avoiding public places, so we really haven't had a good meal in a long, long time. " Sarah answered.
"Sarah, let's walk back into the kitchen and thank the cook."
"Chuck, these people are so poor, slip the cook a big tip."
"Sounds like a plan Mrs B."
Chuck and Sarah walked into the kitchen hand in hand. Chuck spoke up, hoping someone would understand English, "Who is the person responsible for making my meal?"
A demure, sixty something, yet strikingly pretty Mexican woman looked up and made eye contact. She was hoping this wasn't a complaint, as her food was too hot and spicy for most Americans. She sheepishly answered, in broken English, "I am."
Chuck enthusiastically responded, "That was wonderful, "What's your name."
"Everyone calls me Mama Gomez. Are you the American couple that Juan invited?"
Chuck answered back, "We are, how do you know Juan?"
Mama Gomez replied, "He's my nephew."
Chuck continued, "Well thank you. I'm Chuck Bartowski, this is my wife Sarah. That was the best food we've eaten in a long, long time. Here, take this as a token of our appreciation.
"So much? No Mr Bartowski, this is more than I make in a month. Really, this is too much." Mama Gomez spoke softly, as she did not want to create too much attention, as many bad people worked in the bar and restaurant.
Chuck also started to speak softer, "Take it, I hope it makes a difference in your life. A quick question for you, do you know of any abnormal activity going on in the Mayan Ruins?"
Chuck and Sarah asked this question hundreds of times since they took their mission public two days ago. They never had one positive response, until now.
Mama Gomez shook her head no. She was all of a sudden real scared. "Do either of you speak Spanish?" She asked in a hushed voice.
Sarah answered, "Si".
Mama Gomez put her arm around the couple walked them away from everyone else to the back of the kitchen. She began to talk to Sarah in Spanish. Tears were running down her face as she got into her story.
When she finished, Sarah put her hand on Mama Gomez's shoulder and drew her close. Sarah gave her a big hug. "Thanks. We'll help."
Mama Gomez replied in English to Sarah, "But how. You are just a little girl, and your husband is sort of frail looking. El Tiburon is the most ruthless man in all of the land."
Sarah smiled at the woman, "My husband and I can surprise people. Thank you. Here is our card, if you think of anything else, call us. We have to be going now."
"Leave the back way. I think you might have drawn some attention." Mama pointed to the back door.
Chuck and Sarah quietly slipped away, but not without being seen.
The old man who seated Chuck and Sarah was on the phone to someone, "They just left. We already have the boy. What are our orders?"
The man on the other end of the line, the crime king pin of Belize, known as El Tiburon answered, "Bring the boy to me yourself, and have your men kill the Americans."
Chase Scene, 12/17/2012, Mexico
Chuck and Sarah headed away from Mejor Comida on their motorcycle.
"Chuck, you wouldn't believe Mama's story. But other than her own misery, it sounds like the base is in the Mayan mountain range, in Belize."
"Sarah, you can tell me all about it later, we have trouble behind us. Someone is following us."
Bam. Bam. Bam. Hand gun shots were whizzing by.
"Hang on Sarah." Chuck began swerving to make them a harder target.
"Chuck, I got this." With that, Sarah spun around on the passenger seat of the bike, and drew out both of her hand guns.
She squeezed off a dozen shots in rapid succession, killing both the men in the front seat, then blowing out both the front tires of the chase vehicle, sending the car off the road into a tree.
Sarah smirked as she repositioned herself behind Chuck, "That wasn't very impressive. I hope El Tibruon has more game than that."
Chuck pulled up a little later to the Enterprise. They packed their gear and headed to Belize. Only three days remained before the end of the world. Time was running out.
While in the air, Sarah told Chuck Mama Gomez's story, "El Tiburon killed her son, and took her daughter in law Miranda as his mistress along with Mama Gomez's restaurant. In exchange he let Mama Gomez and the rest of her family go. He changed the name from Cocina de Mama to El Tiburon's."
"What did he want the restaurant for?" Chuck asked.
Sarah replied, "The reason he wanted the restaurant, is he recruited a big staff for a US government base in the Mayan mountains, the restaurant was a perfect cover to bring in workers. Plus, he was the local crime kingpin, so he helped keep everyone away from the base."
Chuck voiced a quick plan of attack, "We need to find him and make him tell us where the secret base is. What do you think?"
Sarah raised her jaw, "Finding him and getting him to talk, piece of cake. I promised Mama Gomez we'd help her. I'm afraid I might have to kill him Chuck."
Chuck looked down. Although Chuck and Sarah were becoming more and more alike each day, and Chuck himself had shot and killed mercenaries only a few days prior, this issue was still a tough issue for the couple, "I understand Sarah. Let's see what happens. El Tiburon may not leave US a choice."
As Chuck's words came out, Sarah's phone rang, Sarah's demeanor became grave as she listened, then she replied in Spanish.
When the call was over, Sarah looked up to Chuck, "Chuck, that was Mama. We have a problem. El Tiburon has Juan and is taking him to Belize. She thinks they will kill him."
"Luckily, we will get to Belize before they will. The Enterprise gives us a big advantage."
Chuck pulled out his burner phone.
"Who are you calling Chuck?" Sarah asked.
"Beckman." Chuck replied. Chuck told Beckman everything they had found out. Chuck then listened to Beckman's response. Sarah could not hear any of it. Chuck was shaking his head as the call ended.
"Chuck, what's wrong?" Sarah could tell the call had not gone well.
Chuck dejectedly responded, "Beckman was able to assemble Congress today to hear the case against Black. But Black's operatives stopped her cold. Beckman doubts the government will be any help at all. It's going to be all up to us Mrs B."
"Well, then we have to be enough. We saved the world before, we will do it again Mr B." Sarah replied as she cuddled in close to Chuck and tried to catch a little nap while Chuck navigated the Enterprise toward Belize, and the next leg of the adventure.
El Tiburon, 12/18/2012, Belize
The next day, around lunch, the action moves to El Tiburon's Restaurant. El Tiburon stood up and met Juan in the middle of the restaurant. "Juan. Take a seat."
Juan was pleading, "Please. I only was being polite. The couple asked for a good place to eat, I answered them. I had no idea they were secret agents or would talk to Mama."
Juan was pushed down into a seat with his back to the room in a small chair pulled up to a booth, while El Tiburon seated himself in the booth facing both Juan and the room. Many of El Tiburon's gang were in the room, as well as some of the regular staff, who really were slaves more or less. "Juan you disappointed me. The Americans met with Mama. That might lead them to me. You put me in danger. Juan, I really like you. But if I don't punish you for this, what will the others think. I'm really sorry."
The men in the room began to chant, "El Tib-u-ron. El Tib-u-ron."
El Tiburon smiled at his men, then raised his hands upward, as if he was conducting a choir, as the men continued to chant. Most of the staff disgustedly looked down, powerless to stop the violence. El Tiburon reached below his table and hit a remote switch as his men roared their approval.
The floor opened up, and Juan fell downward. A splash was heard.
The men in the room cheered, as they moved to gather around the floor's edge to watch. Sharks were swarming and blood could be seen in the water.
Take a seat Mrs Bartowski, 12/18/2012, Belize
An hour later, Sarah Bartowski walked into El Tiburon's. The place was back looking normal, El Tiburon was seated in his booth, paying attention to a few of his lady friends.
As Sarah walked in, the men in the bar mad a few catcalls and such, but mostly just pointed her toward their boss. They were expected her.
"Mrs Bartowski." El Tiburon got up and kissed her hand.
Sarah made no attempt to look happy or gracious as she despised this man based on the story Mama Gomez told her, "You know who I am?"
The man pointed toward his booth as he replied, "I do. You were given some bad information about me I'm afraid. I'm a law abiding citizen, and a friend of the US government."
"I beg to differ. I think you are a coward, a rapist, and a complete sociopath." Sarah raised her chin as she spoke. If El Tiburon only knew what that meant, he probably would run away right now.
El Tiburon was unfazed, "No need for such unpleasant language. Please, take a seat. Right here. Let's talk this over. But first, could I get you something wet?"
El Tiburon's men chuckled, anticipating what was next. Even so, they were warned that Sarah was lethal, and near everyone in the room was ready for a gunfight.
"Nothing wet just yet. I'd love to be seated, but I prefer booths." With that, Sarah flipped a pair of tranq darts at the two body guards closest to her. She jumped around El Tiburon, and ended up seated behind him in his spot in the booth as she forced him forward, with him shielding her from gunfire, and her trusty Bowie knife at his throat. "Now, I'm ready, let's talk."
All the men in the room had their guns drawn. "Put your weapons down men. The lady wants to talk."
"Where is President Black's secret base?" Sarah asked as she firmed her hold on the man, the blade of the knife already had drawn a little blood, it was that close.
"Even if I knew and told you. You won't make it out of here alive. But you'd probably kill me before my men killed you, so sure. I'll tell you. He has a bunker, deep below the mountains, somewhere below Victoria Peak. Nobody knows exactly where he is, the system of caves, underground rivers, and excavated bunkers are massive. But that is where he's at. Now, how do you propose getting out of here while keeping us both alive?"
As El Tiburon's words finished, a voice was heard from the staircase above, "How about she walks straight out." With that a powerful chain gun blast rocketed through the floor where El Tibruon's favorite guest chair was. "Or we could shoot it out if you want?"
"Her walking away works for me." El Tiburon declared.
Sarah got up and walked away while holding her knife to El Tiburon's throat and using him to shield her from gunfire, while Chuck had Sarah's backup chain gun ready to let loose.
"Everyone stay seated and nobody will get hurt," Sarah said as she walked out the door and stopped. Sarah held El Tiburon in the doorway knife to throat, which bought Chuck time to hurry down the stairs, get the motorcycle, and pick Sarah up. At the last minute, Sarah was going to push El Tiburon back into his bar. The only thing Sarah wasn't sure of yet, was if she was going to slit the man's throat before tossing him back.
As Chuck was getting on to start the bike, something went wrong. Chuck heard a shot. A shot gun blast to El Tiburon's chest be exact.
Sarah, finished the job, as she slit El Tiburon's throat, while she pulled both of her hand guns out to take on the room full of armed men. Before she could fire, the room filled with the sound of gun blasts. A couple dozen shots were fired before Sarah even got one off. Sarah instinctively ducked away, thinking she was a goner. When she got up, all the shooting has stopped, and she was not hit. An eerie silence replaced the noise.
Sarah carefully peered around the corner. To her surprise she saw the employees of Cocina de Mama standing, and all the bad guys shot down. Miranda Gomez, who had suffered so much abuse at the hands of El Tiburon, was standing by the door, shot gun in hand, as she fired the first shot at her tormentor's chest. The rest of the employees were leaning against the rail overlooking the restaurant, shot guns drawn, ready to fire at anything else moving.
A few moments later, one of the men pressed the button on the table, opening up the floor. Then the people of Belize deposited their tormentor's bodies into the water. El Tiburon's pets were to feast on their last meal, before being released into the ocean.
As things settled down, Sarah talked to Miranda, who was about the only person around not happy. "Miranda. That was very brave. You know, I killed him, not you. So don't feel so bad."
Miranda answered, "No. You don't understand. I'm not crying because I killed him. I'm crying because there will be more to replace him, I'm a dead woman soon. We all are. Plus, they killed Juan."
Chuck emerged, as he often does, with a big grin on his face. "Not exactly, we got here early, before Juan. We managed to have him drop in a net and pulled him out of the way just in time, then we threw in a side of beef from the kitchen freezer into the water. So it looked like the sharks were feeding on Juan."
Juan was with Chuck and he ran to reunite with his relieved family and friends.
Miranda's mood suddenly brightened, "Sarah, Chuck, I could kiss both of you. You are like angels sent from above."
Sarah looked at Chuck, who nodded at Sarah, as they had a plan for Miranda's safety.
Sarah looked at Miranda, "As far as others, we have a friend who is looking for a job, would you be willing to let him stay here? He's a good man, but he's made some mistakes and has a tough past. But he can be counted on, and he's looking for a new start. He'll protect you and your family, better than anyone in the world could."
"Sarah, that sounds like a dream come true. Has anyone every told you that you and Chuck are magical people. Good springs out around you, like it's part of nature." Miranda was over joyed.
"Thanks Miranda. We try. Is that a yes?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. Yes. Yes. Anyone who you vouch for is a good man in my book." Miranda for the first time since her husband was killed, felt hopeful.
Sarah got on her phone, "Elliot. Sarah Bartowski. Were you serious about wanting to be a hero? I have a job offer for you. I'm standing in the middle of the best Mexican restaurant in Belize. They need someone to protect them. Would you be willing? Chuck and I sort of got them in a mess."
Elliot answered, in a somewhat sober tone, "Where?"
Srah responded, "In Belize, at a place called El Tiburon's"
Elliot quickly responded, "You mean the old Cocina de Mama. Taken over by some scumbag. You helped those people. Nice."
Sarah continued to press Elliot, "Could you come help? They're afraid, and we have this other little project going on."
Elliot laughed at Sarah, "You mean that save the world thing hanging over your heads. Sure. I'll help. I'm out the door on my bike as we speak. I have a jet at the local airport. I'll be there in a couple of hours."
"Thanks Elliot." Sarah hung up.
Miranda volunteered, "I heard you asking about the US base. Juan can lead you into the mountains to a secret entrance to the base we know of. There is a way in that nobody knows about."
Juan broke into the conversation as he said with a foreboding voice, "Miranda. No. Not Cocodrilo Cenote?"
Chuck, whose lack of Spanish didn't stop him from getting the message, "What? That doesn't sound good."
Sarah added in, "Crocodiles. Ewww. I hate crocodiles."
Miranda scolded Juan, "Juan. That's an old wives tale. Crocodiles can't live there, too high up. Chuck, Sarah, you'll be fine. Even if there were crocodiles, they hardly ever attack.
So Chuck and Sarah, along with their new found friend and guide Juan, headed high up into the Mayan Mountains, in order to gain entrance into Black's secret base and to stop Black from destroying the world on Doomsday.
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Ginger or Mary Ann? No way I pick one or the other. Chuck knows the answer, the answer is Sarah, who encompasses the best of both.
My hope, in the other picking process going on today, is that the USA finds their Sarah (best of both sides of the question), and elects a man who turns out to be a great president (either one, I just want him to be a good one!)
The story has made it to the evening of December 18th, leaving only a few days to doomsday. Chuck and Sarah have a long way to go in order to stop Black, and more than one adventure remains in front of them.
This has been fun to write, hope you are enjoying it!