GreenEyedGirl32 Please: Read the A/N's at the end of the chapter. ALSO, a review or three would be nice. Nik reads them and most times they make her happy. APR
Charah House
Lantana, FL
6:30am
Chuck was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the local excuse for a newspaper when Director Graham called. He knew it couldn't be good news since they'd been given a few days to adjust and reorganize the team around the absence of his wife. Carina was organizing the remainder of the team to go over the Talley 'scow' for bugs, surprises and traps.
She'd been very blunt. "Chuck, Amelia is here and we're gone. We'll be back shortly before dinner. You know the rules. Do not leave the house. Sleep if you can. Amelia goes with you if you leave the structure, even to swim. Graham's invoked stringent protocols and you know why."
She'd leaned over and kissed his cheek, letting her lips remain a bit longer than necessary for a friendly smooch and then left. He hadn't bothered to acknowledge anything she'd said since she was simply repeating what he'd already heard a zillion times. It was 'stay in the van, Chuck' all over again.
"Talley, secure."
"Chuck, it's Art. Are you alone?" Not the best indicator of a friendly contact. His senses went on full alert.
"Yeah. The team's going over the boat for anything not up to specs and I'm basically under house arrest. Amelia's here. What's on your mind, Director?"
"Chuck, the NSC and Combine have issued a sanction order on Sarah. The idiots think she's defected and since she has knowledge of the intersect, well, you get my drift. I've got you a 5-day delay. Make contact if you can and get her back. If she's in place again within the 5-day period then it's as if it never happened. Find my baby girl, son, and get her home and keep her there."
Graham hung up and Chuck stared at the phone in disbelief. A sanction order against his wife! After all she'd done and despite her record, the fat cats in their corner offices decided she had to die to protect something that was hardly in need of protection. Someone was not thinking. All they'd have to do was pull the team out of Florida and relocate them to someplace else with new identities. It happened all the time.
No. Someone wanted Sarah dead and probably him and his team along with her. He was pretty sure it wasn't Graham but he wasn't 100% certain. In the spy game, nothing was certain except death.
He ran up to his room, keyed in his new combination to his gun safe, pulled up the false bottom and took out one of several one-time cell phones.
"Hello?" He heard her hesitant voice answering the phone. He forgot the time difference. She sounded sleepy and he regretted waking her but put those feelings aside and spoke slowly and carefully.
"Baby, it's Mike. I'm sorry we argued. Your family is driving me crazy. Your Dad has threatened to disown you if you don't come home. He's blaming you for everything, including the competition."
Translation: I'm under close surveillance. Graham warns of sanction if you don't come back. He thinks you're defecting and someone in power wants you dead. If he had used Roger or David as his name it would have meant 'Run, there is danger!' 'Mike' meant just an update call.
"Michael, I understand how this puts you in the middle but you work for my Dad and it's his business. The competition has always been tough, he's just getting old and won't adapt to new times. We both know you run the business, just behind the scenes. I didn't want to leave but I needed time to think, to reassess. I don't need his money. We don't need his money. Quit your job, Mike, and join me. I miss you."
Translation: You're in deep and he's up to something. The other agencies must be pressuring him to retire because of this. They want control of the intersect. Should I come back? I'm fine. We're going to be fine. I want you to follow your plan. I miss you.
"Come back? Whatever for? Nothing's changed. You're still determined to do it your own way and he won't budge. I'll – I'll talk to you later. I got things to do. I still love you, Beth. That won't change. Listen, I have to go."
Translation: Stay put. I'm coming but have to make some changes to my schedule. I'll be in touch. I'm leaving soon and have preparations to make. I love you.
She rubbed the place she called the 'baby bump' even though there was little evidence of anything other than her taut abdomen. 'Daddy's coming, little one!' and she rolled over and fell back to sleep.
He was worried. He hadn't been prepared for Sarah's abrupt decision to go off the grid and he wasn't prepared to join her this soon. He had to make life-changing and life-ending decisions and they had to be right. There would be no opportunities for a 'do-over'.
Lantana Marina
Two Georges Dock
Boynton Beach, FL
5:30pm
They were finally finished. The 63' yacht, and that's what it was, a yacht, was elegant and decadent. It was like a floating bordello. Art had outdone himself. Whoever the drug lord who'd owned it was, he'd been into every sybaritic pleasure known to man or woman. Carina couldn't wait to see the look on Chuck's face when he saw the ceiling of the master suite for the first time.
"Carina, there's a bidet in the master bath! And video cameras that record every stateroom. The owner was a total perv!" Faith was scandalized by ostentatious displays of sex. She didn't mind her partner's occasional PDA but really preferred it in private.
Art being Art, they'd found 3 tracking devices, 5 sets of bugs used by the DEA, 2 NSA GPS repeaters and a host of smaller 'sound units' that relayed their pick-ups to one of the NSA units for rebroadcast. They'd removed them all and ran a huge magnet over each one before rendering each one into inert pieces of metal and plastic with a sledgehammer.
She figured the DEA units were relics of a sting operation that brought the boat into government hands but knew that Art or someone else in 'government' had placed the trackers and repeaters. 'Trust but verify' seemed to be the order of the day where Team Talley was concerned.
Grimes Residence
Boynton Beach, FL
Morgan was in his garage, fiddling with his weed trimmer. Since he and his wife became homeowners he'd become obsessed with having the best lawn on the block. His wife tolerated it for quite a few reasons: it kept him out of her hair, it kept him busy and happy and finally, she'd basked in the congratulatory comments when the local garden club had published the 'Top Ten Landscapes' and they'd been #2. She was a social climber of the most transparent kind.
Morgan put down his toy and greeted his life-long friend with a beer and a smile. "What's up, Chuck? Need to unload?" He knew about Sarah but Anna didn't. No sense offering her opportunities to 'console' Chuck with a 'pity fuck' like she'd offered in Burbank.
"I need to unload, yeah. All of it. Pull the file off this flash drive. Download 'Armageddon'. It's time, Morg. I can't hang around any more. Things are just too damned dangerous. You and Anna will be fine, Morgan. Just follow the steps we set up when you first got here. I'll contact you like I did in Mexico. Take care of yourself. Keep Anna in the dark. You can't trust her around this much money. I told you I'd make you rich and I always keep my promises."
Morgan nodded, saddened. He knew this might happen one day but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he'd actually be doing it. She'd never know about the money. He knew his wife better than Chuck gave him credit for. He knew about her affairs, her dalliances, her love, no, her lust, for money. She'd only married him for his potential earnings, not love. It didn't matter, though, because Morgan Grimes was in love and a man can overlook a lot when he's in love.
Morgan gave Chuck an awkward 'man hug' and then stepped back and looked at his best and probably only friend in the world. "Chuck, you know you can always count on me. No matter what. Just don't forget about 'us', Chuck and Morgan, Han and Chewie, OK?"
The drive back to Lantana normally only took 10 minutes but he'd taken the 'long' way and got caught by the drawbridge and spent 10 minutes waiting for the thing to cycle. It would be the last time he'd cross this bridge.
Charah House
Lantana, FL
The team got back, hit the showers and then started peppering Amelia with dinner requests, pleas and out-right begging. She loved this part of her job the most.
Carina stormed back downstairs and buttonholed Amelia.
"Where's Chuck, Amelia? You were supposed to be watching him! He's gone!" She was totally pissed at the smaller woman.
"He went over to Morgan's to get something and he called and is at the drawbridge. He said '10 minutes'. He's the jefe and I do not tell him what to do."
'Well, I, the puta del Diablo, told you he wasn't supposed to be without one of us with him. He's not supposed to be alone. You know that!"
Chuck walked into the kitchen and caught the last part of the dressing-down.
"Carina, that's enough! Put a sock in it. I'm back. Took a whole hour to just talk to my friend, y'know, the one who doesn't judge? The one friend I have who has no agenda? I told her I'd be fine and I was and I am. Now tell me about the scow."
The conversation at dinner dealt with the opulent yacht that the Director had to replace the Sarah's Smile.
"What's the top end, Carina? Faster than the Smile was? Fuel capacity? C'mon, surely you went down my checklist?"
"Nope. Went down my checklist. Found and deactivated bugs and transponders and trackers. The floating palace is clean. You'll need to read the manual about the other stuff. The Master Stateroom has a frikkin' bidet in it, boss. A bidet! Talk about high class."
Belize City
Belize
Sarah spent the day gathering her sundries for her time in Ambergris Caye. She'd taken care of everything on her 'Chuck list' and was trying to stay busy so she'd avoid thinking about her missing husband and the sanction order on her. When she did think about it, she felt remorseful for pressing the decision to go off the grid on Chuck with such a short timeframe.
She got the concierge to load the small crates in her jeep once more and then took off for Ambergris Caye and the 'way station' that Chuck had set up while he'd been an asset in Burbank.
She chuckled at the impression she'd gotten initially on meeting him. If she'd been told that she'd end up marrying her mark and having a child together she'd have had a stroke but here she was…married and pregnant. And happy.
She loved the drive up the coast to the ferry station. It helped her put things in perspective. She wondered if this had been Chuck's plan all along – to use the 2-hour drive to center him. It certainly helped her.
The first thing she noticed about San Pedro Town was that there were none of the high-rise tourist hotels. No building was higher than the closest palm tree – about 3 stories. The second thing she noted was the colors – no blah colors, all striking pastels and the entire place reeked of 'laid-back coolness'. No wonder he'd selected this place as his initial bolthole. Chuck would have felt immediately at home.
She stopped at a bar to ask directions to her new vacation home and was greeted like a lost relative. The motto of Ambergris Caye was apparently 'come in a stranger and leave a friend'. She spent more time in introductions here than in the past 5 years.
Finally accepting a non-alcoholic drink and the congratulations of all the patrons who pelted her with best wishes and suggestions for a baby name, she slipped off her sandals and relaxed. She had to explain why she was refusing the free offers of booze with 'I'm pregnant and waiting for my husband to join me'. No more talk of divorce. No need.
She glanced at the clock above the bar and made her way to the door. The streets were all sand and her jeep had no problems dodging the bikes and golf carts that made up the principal modes of transportation in San Pedro Town. It was charming, picturesque and would only be perfect when she her husband joined her.
She found her house near the end of Elizabeth Street. It was a small 2-story cement structure with verandahs and a tiled roof. It was painted a garish pink and green but seemed 'normal' in comparison to its companions.
A brick and cement wall surrounded the property with a 'moon' gate entry at the street and a vehicle entry port in the rear. He'd thought of everything. God, how she missed him.
Sarah parked the jeep in the back lot and locked the steel door. She used a crowbar she found in the tool shed to open the crates rather than unload the heavy crates she'd picked up at the storage warehouse.
She found two Mini-Uzi 9mm submachine guns, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and night vision goggles and sound suppressors in the first crate plus 2 9mm Beretta pistols. She couldn't contain her brief laugh. The pacifist Chuck of Burbank had morphed into the agent. She knew he'd done this before Sand Springs and was surprised to find two of everything.
'Was it redundancy or had he planned on bringing along a companion? Was it me or Carina he planned on running with?'
The second crate was a shocker. Money. A lot of money. And documents. And passport photographs suitable for substituting for originals on forged or stolen passports. There were several of him with various hair styles and beards (obviously photoshopped but not so a customs official would notice and then an envelope containing [gasp] passport-suitable photos of her!
Her breath hitched and her eyes watered. 'Yes! It was me he'd planned on running with'. There was a single sheet of notepaper with a note scrawled in Chuck's looping script.
Sarah:
If you're alone when you read this it means I made a mistake somewhere along the way and won't be joining you. What ever happened, I'm sure it was my fault – as usual. Take what you need from this. Be safe and happy.
CB
It took quite a few trips to ferry all the stuff from the crates into the house but it was fairly cool and she wanted the exercise. His note had rattled her as had his selection of materials and weapons in the crates. He'd even packed several bottles of her shampoo and conditioner knowing she probably wouldn't have the time or money to buy any.
Inside the bottom of the last crate was a small fabric roll of tools. She laid it down on the butcher block island in the small kitchen and untied and rolled it out.
There was a complete set of knives exactly like she'd left behind at Charah House. A thigh holster was carefully folded into the roll along with a note.
Sarah:
Thanks for everything. I think the thigh holster is hot!
C
She laughed and then went to put away her things and make a shopping list. She'd need 'Belize' clothes. Her wardrobe was geared more for day-to-day Florida life. She was supposed to be on vacation here. She also needed to find a doctor to handle her maternity needs.
Grimes Residence
Boynton Beach, FL
When Chuck had first hired Anna Wu he thought she was a felon with a conviction for hacking. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Her job was a cover for her long-term surveillance of one Charles Bartowski and his 'handler', Lynn. As soon as Lynn exhibited signs of emotional instability she would be 'retired' and it was planned that Anna would take her place in Chuck's life until another agent was detailed to handle him or he was eliminated.
Lynn's marriage to Bartowski came as an unpleasant surprise but the Agency had adapted. Then she was killed. Ann Wu had tried to get close to him after Lynn's funeral at the beach but knew the instant she'd hinted that she was available to console him in 'any way' that she'd made a mistake. Graham had told her to 'back off and maintain surveillance only' when Walker proved more able to worm her way into his confidences.
In order to maintain a close surveillance, she'd allowed Morgan Grimes to bed her and eventually they wed. When Bartowski was killed at the Museum, she expected to be reassigned, believing her mission blown by circumstances.
She was told to 'maintain her cover' pending resolution of some 'issues' and steeled herself for months of 'Morganness'. He was a decent lover, caring more for her pleasures than his own and that alone made things tolerable for her. When Bartowski 'resurrected' as 'Talley' and they'd moved to Florida, her mission was reactivated.
She hated playing the skank wife of Talley's only friend but she was dedicated to her profession and just sucked it up and continued on so when she'd been informed of the sanction on Sarah Walker Talley, she'd almost jumped for joy because it meant that she'd be the one to put a cap in her ass but then she disappeared and it wasn't until today that she had any idea of just how complex a web of lies and deceit the Talleys had spun.
Chuck Talley had met with her husband for an hour and immediately after he left, Morgan had loaded a flash drive into his laptop and downloaded instructions. He'd then sent emails, made a few phone calls and finally deleted all the information from the laptop and destroyed the flash drive.
She was a hacker although that was just a skill set she'd been trained in after the Farm. It took her more than two hours to reconstruct a portion of the data remaining on the laptop's hard drive. What she read shocked her but also impressed her. His planning was impressive as was his logic. His actions could never be traced back to a single point. She was about to become rich.
"Hello, baby girl. Haven't heard from you in quite a while. Report."
"Talley is planning on going off the grid as soon as certain conditions are met. He has no idea where his wife is but is concerned about the sanction being 'expanded' to include him and his team as well."
"Details, please. No such action has been contemplated. Perhaps later but not in the immediate future. Continue your report, agent."
Twenty minutes later she hung up the phone, smiling broadly. She was finally being put into play. After nearly five years of grunge work, she was going big time. Not only was she about to be rich but she was pretty sure she was also about to become a widow. She stomped down on her feelings of guilt and remorse. Spies did not fall in love. She did not love Morgan Grimes. She was sure of that fact, wasn't she?
A/N: This is it for a bit. Got a full schedule for a week or so. Enjoy it.
APR