Don't own Chuck

Back on the International side of the airport an hour had past and Stan was still there covering for his agent, the man he'd sent off to cool down. It looked like to Stan that he hadn't cooled down and he was trying him to see if he'd go through with firing him. He wasn't the only other one who'd noticed an hour had come and gone. The other customs agents were looking at him. At first, they were discreet but now he caught a couple staring at him.

"Well I meant every word I said," Stan said as he took out his phone then called but his call went straight to voice mail. "Oh, if you're trying to piss me off you're doing a good job."

"Hey Stan is everything okay," a familiar voice said. He turned around and there was the guy's third cousin. "I just want to know what's going on."

"So, he did go whining to you. Well you can't protect him I want to fire him or if you want to put your neck on the line you can move him. But I don't want to ever see him again."

"Hold up I don't know what you're talking about. Who do you want fired or moved and why? I just came down here to find out why the watch supervisor was checking passports and baggage. Does this have to do with Marcel?"

"Yes Maurice. He got into a pissing contest with me and I told him to go take a break then come back with a different attitude in an hour…"

"And the hour has passed with no sign of Marcel?" Stan nodded. "That boy is going to be the death of me. I got him this gig and this is the way he repays me."

"I just tried to call him and the call went to voice mail. I don't know what else to do I told him what I would do if he came back late and he totally ignored me. I'm sorry but I've got to recommend we let him go."

"I hear you Stan and I do understand… believe me I do. He's going around telling everyone that I'm his cousin… well the truth is my wife is but if he goes crying to her then I'll be in the dog house for sure. Listen if I can find him and bring him here to you then get him to apologize would that be good enough for you."

"Yeah, I would be cool with that but it shouldn't be you going around and cleaning up his messes. The man needs to learn to take responsibility for his actions."

"Let's take this one lesson at a time. So, if he comes and apologizes you'll be okay and not write him up to get him fired."

"I said I would but this is for you not for him. I want you to realize that but don't tell him because every time he screws up he waves your name in front of me and threatens to call you."

"Then it's a deal," said Maurice. He took his radio and called up to TSA and asked them to locate Marcel. But another good hour passed by and nothing was heard. He was about to call Marcel's wife to see if she'd heard from him when he heard noise over the radio about a body being found in a bathroom.

"Crap," he said without thinking then he hurried to where the body was found. "Let me through," said Maurice. He got there by flashing his badge.

"Sir you need to stay back. This isn't a customs matter but TSA and Homeland," said one of the men in suits.

"No, you don't understand we're missing one of our agents. He disappeared a few hours ago and I was wonder if this could be him."

"Well the man didn't have any ID on him and we've got the boys from the crime lab inside processing the crime scene. One minute let me go in and see if I can bring you in or I can take a photo for you to look at."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. He got into a heated argument with his supervisor then was sent to cool off but never came back."

"Just stay there and I'll be right back," said the agent. A few minutes later he came back out carrying his phone in his hand.

"Here look at this and tell me if this is your missing man," said the Agent as he showed Maurice a photo he'd taken of the body.

"Geez, yes that's him for sure. His name is… was Marcel DuPain. What happened to him? Or can you tell me right now?"

"We're not sure but after I told them about the argument they think he went to the bar around the corner threw down a few too many then came here to heave. He might've been too drunk to realize he was going into the women's restroom or that it was out of order. Anyway, the theory is he bent over to pray to the porcelain god then lost his foot and slipped. There are scuff marks on the floor that match his shoes to confirm that theory. When he slipped, he bumped his head and was out like a light when his head went underwater."

"But that doesn't explain where his wallet, ID and phone ended up. How am I supposed to tell his wife that he died in a toilet bowl?"

"I never said we had everything worked out but some punk kid could've gone inside found the body and grabbed everything then ran."

"We're inside the airport. Do you see any punk kids running around? I think you need to run a BAC then a tox screen to make sure and if you don't do it I'll have our agency do it for you."

"Just take a chill pill we never said we wouldn't and in a case like this where the cause of death is uncertain it's required. We'll get back to you."

"I expect to be kept in the loop," said Maurice. Then he walked back to talk to Stan something here didn't add up and he was going to get to the bottom of this. He never really cared for the man but this had nothing to do with whether he liked him or not. His whole being was screaming homicide but no one investigating the incident was mentioning it.

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Sarah took Sam and Bunny back up to their room where she put Bunny back in her playpen so she could change Sam's clothes. Sam was still angling for a puppy but Sarah refused to pick up on the hints hoping Sam would eventually get the message or get tired. However, Sam like her was… determined was the word Sarah preferred although others might define it differently.

"Okay now your all changed. Please try not to get these dirty because we traveled light and you don't have many more dresses…"

"Don't worry Chuck told me he was going to run them to the dry cleaners to get the stains out," said Sam not thinking about what she was saying still thinking about how to get a puppy.

"He was… with or without my knowledge," asked Sarah as she looked at the stain wondering if she should put it in a pre-soak before washing.

"Oh… well I don't know. It doesn't really matter because you've already seen the stain. But it would be better to dry clean."

"I think I need to remind someone of a promise," said Sarah. "That promise also covers grass stains and other little girl problems. The half coyote is still a wild animal and I want you to be careful. You can't just run up to them and put your hand out. I don't want to scare you but one of these days you could get bit doing something like this."

"But Boss was really friendly and he liked me right from the beginning. I know if you meet him he'll like you too. I wonder if he has any puppies?"

"If Boss is a he then the answer is no. There has to me a Mrs. Boss if there are puppies but Sam we're back to the cabin again. Remember you agreed wild animals should stay where they live. It's not fair to them to remove them from their homes. You wouldn't like it if someone came here and took you or Bunny?"

"Hum they might try but even puppies have teeth and know how to use them," said Sam. It was all Sarah could do to hold a straight face.

"Okay my little wolf child we need to get downstairs and eat breakfast. There's a lot to do today. Where is that Carina and Jack? I need one of them to stay with you today."

"I can stay with Alicia and help her with the horses, if there's a problem. You just have to take Bunny with you."

"Before we do that I need to find our MIAs then we need to talk to Mr. Segwick and Alicia to make sure it's okay. I don't want you mentioning this to them before we talk to them. They have work to do here and they don't work for us."

"Okay, I was just making a suggestion is all," said Sam. As she was talking Sarah's phone rang she picked it up. Caller ID identified the incoming being the Major.

"Major," she said as she answered the call placing it on speaker. "You caught me are a bad time I'm still getting ready and Sam is with me. Carina and Jack have disappeared. Chuck is out looking for them and I haven't seen Casey or Morgan this morning."

"Carina called us for a vehicle this morning early so we sent one over. She said she had a lead she wanted to run down but didn't mention Mr. Burton being a part of the lead. She told us you and Chuck knew about it."

"She might've mentioned it but we've been very busy here and… and… Oh yes now I seem to remember her saying something about tracking down a lead but I thought she was going to do that this afternoon. We probably just got our wires crossed," said Sarah as Sam sat there and shook her head. Sarah held her finger up to her lips to tell her to be quiet.

"I'm sure but that's not why I called you. The General asked me to call you to let you know the Queen has departed and is en route to your location. Chief Barker and a task force from MI6 are with her. The Secret Service will meet then when they touch down then take them to the Morgan House."

"That's nice but we haven't seen hide nor hair of any of them here. I take it we're to guard the horses or do we need to divide our personnel and guard her corgis too?"

"No, she didn't bring them with her… something about too much stress, shots and veterinary certificates that would be required."

"I was joking… Since you've decided to be the motor pool for this love fest we're going to need a vehicle to go to the airport and pick up the jockey that's flying in this afternoon. That is unless one of the Secret Service can do it but somehow I think they'll be too busy."

"I'll check it out and get a vehicle to you. It's probably better that we pick the man up. The General and the Director have had a couple of less than friendly conversations already…"

"Which translates we're out in the cold, isn't that just lovely. Remind me again Major, why we're even here. Sorry, this isn't your fault. You can pass on to the General that Chuck has neutralized the mole here on the farm and he will be out of commission for the next couple of days."

"I knew it," said Sam. But Sarah frowned at her and put her finger back up to tell her to keep quiet. She just smiled back.

"I'll make sure she gets the word," said the Major. "Well if there's nothing else I need to make a call to get you that second vehicle."

"Thanks," said Sarah then the line dropped. Sam gave her a look. "What? I couldn't tell on aunt Carina it would've gotten her in trouble."

"Like Chuck didn't want to tell you about my grass stain so I wouldn't get in trouble," said Sam. "Isn't it the same thing?"

"No, it's not. I'm married to your father and that take's… take's like the trump card. It beats out all the rest. You'll find out one of these days."

"Not me, I don't have time for that silly stuff. I'm going to be a doctor and take care of people who need me. That other stuff is just a distraction."

"I'm going to remind you that you said that when you get older," said Sarah as she went over picked Bunny back up then started for the door with Sam. "Let's go back downstairs and get something for breakfast before Roscoe gives everything to Boss."

"Yes, we need to hurry up," said Sam as she started to run for the door.

"Hold up a moment. Afterwards I'm going to check your pockets you can take a couple of biscuits for Boss but only after everyone else has eaten."

"Oh, Mommy that's not fair. You've should seen him he was so hungry. Let me grab three… just three is all I'm asking for. You should see his sad face," said Sam as she made one.

"You're terrible. Okay three but only after everyone else has eaten. Now come on or we won't have anything to eat."

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Jack went up the clubhouse with Carina. It was early but that didn't stop everyone who was someone from meeting. They had coffee, brunch and talked horses. Billy Bob was in the thick of them chatting with people who'd just as soon shove a knife in his back as slice a piece of the Virginia baked ham on the buffet table. Billy Bob looked up and saw Jack standing there. At first he frowned, then he saw Carina and his frown turned upside down.

"Jack," yelled Billy Bob as he waved for him to come over. Come here and grab a plate. Help yourselves you're my guests. Be careful the coffee is spiked with bourbon and I can recommend the Mimosas. You need to get your vitamin C someway. So this is your daughter… little Jenny Burton. Your hair is darker than I remember in the photos Jack showed me."

"I'm not so little anymore," said Carina. "And I've been thinking about changing my hair color as well as my husband… just he doesn't know it yet."

"That's very interesting indeed. We need to talk I have something we need to discuss. Grab your plates then LeRoy will escort you to a room where we can chat," said Billy Bob. He looked one more time at Carina. "Well I can see you take a lot after your old man."

"My mother did too… mainly frying pans and rolling pins," said Carina. Billy Bob busted out laughing almost spilling his Mimosa.

"I have no doubts," he said. "I like you. Let's have that talk. Right now, I have to finish something here then I'll be right with you."

They got their plates then each grabbed a Mimosa and as if by magic LeRoy appeared to escort down to a small conference room.

"You can stay here and eat Billy Bob will be right with you," said LeRoy but he stopped on his way out. "Oh Jack, you forgot your newspaper," he said as he turned back dropping it on the table. "You should give your condolences to Billy Bob since you helped cause this."

"Who me? I think you've gotten me confused with someone else there friend. Me? How'd I cause this," said Jack as he pointed to himself.

"Friends… we're not and I don't want to discuss this anymore. Bon Appetite as the French say as well as j'accuse," said LeRoy then he left shutting the door behind him.

"Well you've made a new friend there Jack," said Carina as she looked around at all the video cameras hidden around the room. Jack saw them too so he turned his attention to his food.

"Billy Bob was right the Mimosa is good but the ham is a little too salty for my taste and the eggs are too liquidity. They almost taste like they were made from powdered eggs. You eat enough jailhouse food and you can tell the difference."

"That's why I stuck with the biscuits and black berry jam."

[Meanwhile outside]

"We should adjourn for now," said one of the men. "I don't know about the rest of you but I don't like meeting when we've got strangers around."

"I agree," said another one. "We shouldn't be seen together. Billy Bob, I thought you promised us anonymity here."

"Don't worry about Big Jack, he's crookeder than any of you and I've got some business to take care of with him. Besides he doesn't know it but he's living on borrowed time. So, the latest is Sir Bishop is in the air and should be here late this evening. Tomorrow I'll try to arrange this conference call and let him talk to you all. May I suggest you all meet at one of our locations on the other side of town then I connect you directly to Sir Bishop at the farm."

"You want us all together under one roof? Are we sure that's such a good idea? We never agreed to all of us being together to make this call."

"No, but you never disagreed either. You just didn't want to meet Bishop face to face for the first meeting. Look this is the problem we have to set up twelve different locations with high speed Wi-Fi and make sure the connection is good then connect you all to the farmhouse. It will take longer than the Queen's visit to finish. We simply don't have the time for that luxury."

"So, you're suggesting a peer to peer connection from one location. If we do this via audio and not video… Sir Bishop won't even know we are all together."

"That's exactly what I was suggesting," said Billy Bob. "I have techs working right now to get it ready for us. I will meet Sir Bishop when he arrives escort him to their farm and inform him about the teleconference, that is if everyone agrees?" There was general head nod from everyone.

"Okay Billy Bob, make it happen but just because we're going along with this doesn't mean we automatically agree to join forces with this Sir Bishop…"

"That's right," said another person. "If he wants to join forces with us he's going to have to show that it is in our best interest. Of course it is in his but we could all care less about that. The English sold us out in Yorktown we're not going to let them do the same thing in Lexington."

"Now just calm down. Remember you promised to hear the man out and that's what you'll be able to do tomorrow."

"Okay until tomorrow… Sic semper evello mortem tyrannis," said one of the men as he raised his glass and the others joined in.

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Sarah came down with Sam and Bunny into the kitchen. There she found Chuck working on his tablet with Morgan and Casey. Sam ran over to where the tray of biscuits were stacked and grabbed three shoving them in her pocket. Sarah sat down with Bunny next to Chuck who was engrossed with what he was doing.

"Morgan, can you get me a cup of coffee," said Sarah as she sat down. "I've got my hands full. But first rinse the cup out." He gave her a look.

"I'll do it. Morgan, can you get Sam some juice from the fridge," said Chuck as he sat down the tablet. He got her a cup of coffee then prepared a breakfast plate for her and Sam.

"The Major called a little while ago to let us know the Queen is en route," said Sarah as she sipped on her coffee. "I told him that you were going to need a vehicle. It seems Carina had one delivered earlier…"

"I know. John saw them pull up. Jack and Carina left together that was what I was doing on the tablet. I hacked into the onboard GPS transponder to find its current location," said Chuck as he sat down and started buttering her biscuit for her.

"Have you had any luck finding it," asked Sarah as she took the biscuit from him. "Can you do me another on with jam, please?"

"Sure, no problem," he said as he pushed the tablet over so she could see the image. "I've got them on New Circle road then they go dark. The signal just went dead."

"Bring up the eye in the sky and look at Keeneland horse track. It's in that direction if Jack went straight and is true to form that's where they'll be," she said as she took the second biscuit.

"Let me look," said Chuck as he zoomed in from above. "There's the SUV. Those two are going to have some explaining to do when they get back."

"Excuse me," said Sam. "But how do you neutralize a mole? I mean I've play whack-o-mole but I don't think that's the same kind of mole."

"That's why you wanted me to rinse your cup," said Morgan. "That's why Mr. Green Jeans went running out of here this morning. You pulled an Emmett on him."

"I think you all are very silly," said Sam in a wise voice as she sipped her juice. "Yes, very, very silly indeed."

"I do too," said John. "When that vehicle gets here I think we need to go next door and say hello before we go to the airport and pick this guy up."

"I agree," said Sarah. "You guys can go. Morgan and I can hold down the fort here. I want to have a nice long talk with Jack and Carina when they get back. And it will be a long talk."

"As long as it is only a talk," said Chuck looking over at her.

"I'll try not to get carried away gesticulating but I'm not promising anything."