Thanks again to Poa for her help with this chapter.
Sorry for the delay in updating. Lots of travel and RL.
CHUCK VERSUS THE BUY MORE BOMBER
Chapter 29
Bearding the Lion
Moses walked confidently into the Buy More flagship store. Chuck hesitated a moment and then followed him, hurrying to catch up.
The normally pristine store was marred by signs of the hurried exit of customers and staff. Displays had been knocked over and CD's and DVD's were strewn across the floor. One of the standees of a Beverly Hills Buy More employee had been knocked over and its back was covered with footprints.
"I did not think you would come," a voice called from inside the store. Chuck looked over to the source of the voice.
Abdul al Fayed, dressed in formal Palestinian robes, stood just in front of the Nerd Herd desk. His arm was wrapped around Sarah's throat. Sarah looked pale and Chuck could see a small red stain on the front of her shirt.
"Sarah," Chuck gasped. He took a step forward, but Moses held out an arm, stopping him.
"Hello, Abdul," Moses said. He held out his hands to show he held no weapon. "I came as you asked. Let the girl go."
"Curious that you show so much interest in her," al Fayed said. "Who is she to you?" He tightened his grip around Sarah's neck. Sarah stifled a groan.
"I should have known that a piece of camel dung like you would never keep his word," Moses spat.
al Fayed's eyes narrowed.
"I, ah, don't think we should be making him mad," Chuck cautioned.
al Fayed looked over at Chuck. "And you. You are clearly not Mossad. CIA? FBI perhaps? This one," he shook Sarah, "would not tell me anything. A strong woman." He slid his eyes back toward Moses. "Like her mother."
Chuck furrowed his brows. al Fayed knew Sarah's mother?
"But who is her father?" al Fayed continued, speaking to Moses. "Ah, that is the question. At first, I thought, it might be you. You always wanted her. But she was not for you. It was my bed she shared."
Chuck looked over at Moses. Her? Then it dawned on him. al Fayed was talking about Rachel Schwartz! al Fayed thought Rachel was Sarah's mother? Of course she wasn't… was she? There was a striking resemblance between the two, Sarah and Rachel. But Jack Burton was Sarah's father. He looked to Sarah for some sign, but she was wincing in pain.
Moses shook his head in mock sadness. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Taking a woman hostage? It is beneath you, Abdul. Does not the Koran say that women are to be protected? And yet you hide behind a woman's skirts."
"Ah, but not just any woman," al Fayed countered. "You would not risk yourself if this was just some Mossad agent. It's because of her, isn't it? You could not face her if you allowed something to happen to her daughter."
"You always were a coward, Abdul," Moses continued, ignoring al Fayed's response. "You never had the guts to plant the bombs yourself, or to martyr yourself for the cause. Even now, after all these years, you didn't come after me directly. You bomb stores. You attack my things instead of confronting me."
al Fayed shifted his hold on Sarah, and she moaned in pain. Chuck tensed, glancing around for some way out of this standoff. Where was Casey?
"Does it bother you, Moses, that she shared my bed for over a year, while she spurned you? That it was I that tasted the sweet flower of her youth, while you could only dream of paradise? She was quite the lover, you know."
Chuck saw Moses tense, his hand twitching toward his coat. Moses stopped himself, and Chuck watched as he lowered his tight-fisted hand to his side.
There was a little more edge in Moses' voice as he continued. "How pathetic that you do not even recognize that this," he waved his hand to indicate the store, "means almost nothing to me. My true strength is beyond your reach."
al Fayed smiled, although his eyes remained cold. "Did you know that she was a virgin when you sent her to me? And even after that, even after she let me deflower her, she refused you. Was it you that debriefed her, after? Did you get her to tell you all the intimate details of our time together?""
"Just shut up," Moses said from between clenched teeth.
"Ah, so you did. I see it clearly. The only way you could have her was vicariously through what she had done for me."
In one fluid motion, Moses reached in his jacket, pulled out his Walther, and pointed it at al Fayed, who ducked behind Sarah. "Shut up!" Moses hissed. "Just shut the hell up."
"Ah, ah. Lower your weapon," al Fayed said, holding up his left hand. Chuck gasped. al Fayed had a small cylinder in his hand, his thumb pressed firmly on a button on top. Chuck's eyes rolled up in their sockets and images flashed through his head – a dolphin breaching the water, schematics, diagrams, tables and charts, a dolphin breaching the water. Chuck gasped again. al Fayed was holding a dead man's switch.
Sarah, seeing the look on Chuck's face, looked up at him and mumbled "C-4."
"Silence!" al Fayed barked.
Chuck looked more closely at al Fayed and suddenly recognized the lumps under the terrorist's robes. If al Fayed's thumb left the button of the dead man's switch, the explosives strapped to his chest would immediately explode.
Moses clearly recognized the switch as well. His gun wavered for a moment, as if he was contemplating shooting anyway. Then, slowly, he lowered the gun.
"Did you know she was in the city?" al Fayed asked calmly. "I was watching the hospital after Agent Walker here was injured. I saw her going inside."
Chuck glanced over at Moses. The ex-Mossad agent was breathing hard through gritted teeth.
"I thought about taking her. I knew if I had her you would be forced to come. But she is still the same clever Rachel. She eluded me. But I have been watching. Yes. I have been watching you and this corporation of yours. This corporation that you built with my money." He motioned at Chuck with the dead man's switch. "This one means something to you. And she means something to him. I knew if I had her, he would bring you to me."
"This is between you and me, Abdul," Moses said. "Let them go. That was the agreement."
"One must have honor to demand honor in return. You have no honor. You are a parasite. You believe in nothing but yourself."
Moses raised his gun again. "Shut Up!"
al Fayed laughed. "You always thought yourself so clever. You tracked me down. You stole my funds. But it was never you. It was Rachel."
Moses' hand was shaking and his finger tightened on the trigger.
"I know now that Rachel was feeding you information while she was sharing my bed. I only wonder why it took her so long. Perhaps because she was enjoying the assignment too much? Perhaps I gave her what you could not?"
Sarah moaned.
Moses was breathing hard. Chuck saw the muscles in Moses' forearm twitch and he leapt at Moses, knocking his arm down. Moses' gun went off, a bullet tearing into the floor and ricocheting into a display behind al Fayed and Sarah. Chuck winced, expecting the blast at any moment.
The door to the back room flew open and Casey barged in, his gun pointed at al Fayed.
"Casey wait!" Chuck screamed. "He's got a dead man's switch!"
Casey froze, his laser sight painting a red dot on the back of al Fayed's head.
"Let's all calm down here," Chuck pleaded. "Everybody just calm down."
Moses inhaled sharply, but held his gun down by his side.
"Back off, Casey," Chuck said.
"Do as he says," al Fayed demanded.
Casey slowly lowered his gun and backed toward the door.
"We came as you asked," Chuck said. "Let Sarah go. She's hurt. She needs medical attention."
When al Fayed didn't move, Chuck reached slowly in and lifted the guns Moses had given him out of their holsters. Gingerly, he set them down on the floor. "See? I'm unarmed. I'll trade myself for her. You said I meant something to Moses. Doesn't that make me a better hostage?"
"No," Sarah said, her voice barely a whisper. "Chuck, you can't."
"Sarah, please," Chuck said. "I can't…" He took a deep breath and looked at al Fayed. "Rachel once meant something to you. Let her daughter go. Let Sarah go."
al Fayed seemed to consider for a moment, then he pushed Sarah away from him. "Go!" he barked. "Tell your mother that despite her betrayal, Abdul al Fayed has taken pity upon our daughter."
Sarah staggered forward and eyed the guns on the ground at Chuck's feet-- Smith & Wesson 459 – her weapon of choice. Chuck saw the direction of her gaze and gave a small shake of his head. "Sarah, please," he whispered. She swayed and he ran to her, supporting her in his arms.
"Take her out of here, Charles," Moses said, suddenly very, very calm.
"No!" al Fayed snapped. "She may leave. The boy stays."
"Let them go," Moses said softly. He crouched down and placed his gun on the floor. He straightened and looked over al Fayed's shoulder. "Thank you for your assistance, Agent Casey, but I think it's time for you to go as well."
Casey hesitated, but Moses nodded and he started backing out the door.
"Charles, get Rachel out of here," Moses said.
Chuck looked over at Moses. That strange light was in his eyes again. Moses opened his arms wide and started toward Abdul al Fayed. "Come, my brother," he said.
"Moses, no," Chuck gasped.
"Chuck." Sarah pulled at his arm. Chuck looked down at her, then back at Moses who was walking slowly toward al Fayed, then back down at Sarah. He slipped a hand around her waist and started to pull her from the store.
They were almost out the door when the explosion hit.
