A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and PMs on this story. I love the fact that people find this AU interesting. Sorry to anyone that is finding Jack's hybrid British / American words hard to read.
Beta thanks to MarkeyDeSad again. He found a few holes in this one that needed patching.
This story is going to continue for a while, but I currently have only 15 chapters written and need to write more. To avoid running out, and leaving a long gap in publishing, I'm going to shift to weekly releases from this chapter, on Saturdays. I also have a new multi-chapter story called 'Linked' starting on Wednesday and will aim for that to be weekly too, although those chapters are harder to write, so I might find that a challenge. I haven't forgotten about my other stories, though, so will get back to them when I can.
For this story, in the last chapter, Chuck, Sarah and Zondra found and rescued Sarah's dad. So, what's next?
The Novelist
Chapter 12: Truck
Her dad had been silent on the ride in Zondra's SUV. Sarah had watched him all the way. He was, however, not withdrawn. He was observing Chuck and Zondra, the two of them sitting in the front with her and her dad in the rear.
The car was a dark gray color, which Zondra had previously told her was a more civilian color than their usual black, but she knew that blacked rear windows were less so in some areas. However, now, she was grateful for them. Still, having to keep down, out of sight, was difficult with the two of them doing it.
When they arrived back at the hotel parking, Sarah was glad it was underground, but Zondra made them walk a specific route and Chuck stood with them as Zondra called the elevator, popped in and then quickly ushered them to join her in the elevator. Before leaving the car, Zondra had said no talking until in their room, so another silent ride as they rose to their floor.
The same procedure of her going ahead like this continued, until they entered the room, Zondra's room, although the others saw her lift something and spray the camera just beyond the elevator before moving out.
The agent held a finger to her mouth and quickly checked the room with a device. Finally, she said, "All clear."
Chuck breathed out a sigh of relief.
Jake finally found his voice. "You're good," he complimented Zondra. "Take it, ya took out cameras when you went ahead of us."
Zondra shook her head. "Just masked them. Would draw attention if I took them out." She had talked to Sarah about this before, the spray she used to fog up the lenses. She noticed how the agent kept the details from her dad. Probably wise.
"So, what now?" Sarah asked. Her dad's eyes snapped to her.
"Now I report in to the general and probably get my ass chewed off," Zondra replied.
"I did say one of us should have stayed inside," Chuck mentioned.
Zondra glared at him. "If I had and someone approached from outside, what would you have done?" She didn't wait for an answer. "And if you went in, what would you have done against two armed men?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but realized she was right. He wasn't an agent, just a very resourceful analyst. He muttered, "Needed more agents."
"Yeah, well, you and I should have thought of that and asked for more, shouldn't we?" Zondra replied.
"I'll join you on the call," he replied. "Both of us got it wrong, not just you."
She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. She walked to the bedroom and opened the door, turning back to Sarah and her dad standing in the main area. "You two sit tight in here. We won't be long." She walked into the bedroom and Chuck followed her, closing the door behind him.
"Them a couple?" Jake asked, still looking at the bedroom door. "Or just argue like 'un?"
Sarah snorted. "No, not a couple, just partners. On edge." She then started to think what to tell her dad and, once again, decided to be completely open with him. "He's with me."
His eyes snapped back to her, pursed his lips and obviously decided not to say anything. He had no right to say anything, so his silence pleased her.
She was glad he asked no questions. If he'd asked how long she and Chuck had been together, and she'd answered truthfully, he would then question how she could trust Chuck so quickly. That would lead to how she trusted Zondra and things would start to unravel.
"Were you lying' 'bout you bein' in trouble?" His question brought her back to their current predicament.
She said, "Their boss thought I was hiding you from them. She wanted to take me into custody and get the information from me. Chuck persuaded her otherwise."
"'cos 'e wanted in yer pants?" he asked, then winced realizing that was not the right thing to say.
Her stormy eyes confirmed his thoughts. She hissed her reply, "No. We were already lovers before that!" In case he asked the follow-on question she answered it. "And it wasn't to stay that way, either. He knew I knew nothing about you."
"So 'ow did they track me?"
Sarah wasn't going to tell him everything, but decided he should know how it started. "I found a photo of you from twenty years ago."
He looked surprised. "You still 'ad one?"
She held his gaze. "Yes, dad, I did. Hidden away so Mom would never find it."
He nodded. "Tracking' me with an old picture is impressive," he noted.
Sarah held back the look of pride, not wanting this man to know Chuck's skills, for some reason.
"So, 'e sucked you into their web of lies." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
"It's not a web of lies, as you saw today!" she snapped. Then she thought about the other part; more calmly she stated," I pushed to be part of this. Chuck didn't want me involved." She looked her dad in the eyes. "He worries about me."
He grunted. "Some'n needs to. You don't." He paused in thought for a while. "Why'd ya wanna be 'ere?"
She answered carefully, "I wanted to see how you were. I also thought I'd persuade you to help, others wouldn't bother trying that."
"They'd drag it out'a me." Again, another statement. He knew exactly what she meant.
She gripped his hand. "You have to help them, Dad. Those people are bad."
"Me'be," he replied.
"Tell them what you know and you'll go free," she implored.
That didn't impress him. "Ha! Free! Seems like tracking me is so easy, I'll never be free."
Sarah realized she needed to say more about the tracking, but before she did, the bedroom door opened and Zondra and Chuck emerged. Both had unreadable faces. Sarah did not know how to take that. They walked to the table and chairs and sat. Zondra indicated the other two should join them with just the use of her eyes. Sarah made a mental note of that. Rebecca would start doing that, too.
Once all were seated, Zondra started, "We're to stay here and find the cargo." She looked at Jake. "The cargo you delivered. We need what Sarah mentioned, the address, your contact names, any phone numbers and the truck registration. Plus anything else you think might help."
"Then you'll let me go?" Sarah could tell this was a test. He was worried now and knew being pushed out would not be good.
Chuck answered softly, his tone almost kind, "We can't straight away. They'd find and kill you. We will need to relocate you somewhere they can't find you."
Jake's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like some deep dark 'ole. Buryin' me."
"No," Chuck replied. "Somewhere above ground, with a new identity."
"Be able to see this 'un?" Jake asked, pointing at Sarah.
Chuck's eyes narrowed this time. "Only if she wants you to."
Jake looked at his daughter. "What ya say, Kid? Visit yer ol' dad?"
Sarah found she wanted to reconnect with him, in some way. She quietly replied, "I'd like that." Then she thought of what was needed here and straightened her back. "But only if you help."
Jake had grumbled throughout, but he'd supplied the address he'd taken the truck to, his contact in Arkwright & Sons, but couldn't give a telephone number as he'd deleted it in disgust when they left him in San Francisco.
"No problem," Chuck said. "Give me your phone and I'll find it from your phone history."
"Think I'm stupid or some'at?" Jake snapped. "I delete 'at regular."
Chuck sighed. "OK. Your phone number. I'll check your records online."
Jake looked shocked. "You c'n do 'at?" Chuck nodded and Jake recited the number in a daze. "Can 'ey?"
"Who?" Chuck asked.
"Arkwrights."
"If they have someone good enough, I guess, but unlikely," Chuck replied over his shoulder as he typed Jake's number into his laptop.
Looking at his daughter, Jake nodded to Chuck. "'e some kinda whiz?"
Sarah didn't know why she'd been reticent earlier, but Chuck made no attempt to hide his skills, so she realized there was no point in her doing that, either. "Yeah."
His next question was inevitable, "'e 'o tracked me?"
She nodded.
"Huh!" he muttered to himself.
"Got him," Chuck announced. "Albert Smith of Arkwright & Sons."
Jake snapped his fingers. "'ats 'im."
"All sounds too British. I'll find his photo," Chuck replied and dived back onto his laptop. He found a photo of the man, and kicked off a search for him in the NSA records.
Zondra meanwhile was on her phone, arranging back up for a raid on the location she'd been given.
"Thanks, Dad," Sarah said to Jake.
He smiled slightly. "Let's 'ope 'ey c'n spirit me away safe. Some'ere you c'n visit."
So do I, she thought, while looking over at her friend on the phone.
Zondra had a team of six NSA agents with her. They had arrived in the two vans now parked next to her SUV. The expectation was that two of the men would travel back in each of the vans, with Fulcrum agents tied up and mostly likely unconscious in the back. The other four would remain on-site until the other living Fulcrum agents would be collected. Of course, that was assuming no fatalities.
Each of the team was wearing a camera, mike and earpieces. Chuck would be monitoring from the hotel and mostly feeding information to Zondra, but if he spotted a threat, he could talk directly to an agent.
Sarah and her dad were sitting quietly in the same room as Chuck, just watching him at work. They had both hidden when the NSA team had brought in the equipment he was using. Now, he had it all set up. Sarah had never seen anyone using so many computers or monitors. She was wondering how he would cope. Surely this is intended for multiple analysts.
As the team emerged from the vehicles, windows popped up on Chuck's monitors. "All cameras working," Chuck told Zondra. And they were indeed. Nine feeds from nine cameras.
Zondra had already gotten the team to check their mikes and earpieces, so they were good to go.
Chuck had detected no surveillance cameras, which was odd, but played in their favor.
They split into three teams of three. Zondra had given the lead of the other two teams instructions on where to get in. They wanted precision timing, so each got in position, with the lead telling Zondra they were ready.
"Now," she whispered.
Three sets of doors burst open and the teams swarmed in. To a totally empty warehouse.
"Shit! Why didn't I check for the truck leaving?" Chuck was admonishing himself.
Sarah walked to him and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You didn't know," she told him softly.
"My job is to think of all possibilities and check them out," he moaned. "I didn't do that."
"tort you said no cameras there," Jake spoke up for the first time.
Chuck turned to him. "They have no cameras being used for surveillance. I guess we know why now."
"So are there street cams in the area," Sarah asked.
"I'll check," he replied.
Sarah left her hand on his shoulder, hoping it would comfort him.
Chuck had been seething inside until Sarah first touched him. Just like on the plane, that calmed him, soothed him. Her continued touch helped as well. Now he had something to drive him forward. He checked for traffic cameras. None were pointing at the building itself, which wasn't surprising, but there were some on nearby junctions.
Hooking up to the traffic surveillance recording, he initiated a search for the license plate number of the truck. Then he initiated another just for the type of truck in case they'd changed the plates; that one was less specific, so would take longer, and would pick up a lot of trucks of that type. He then sat back, still frustrated, but had nothing else to do. He placed his hand on Sarah's and looked up at her. "Thanks," he uttered quietly, so that only she would hear. She squeezed the shoulder slightly, smiling down at him.
Neither realized Jake was quietly watching them, noting how they interacted.
"I'm heading back," a very frustrated Zondra was heard.
Chuck wasn't surprised when nothing came up on the first search. They'd be pretty stupid to leave the trunk unchanged at all.
He turned to Jake. They may well have covered any imperfections too, but it was still worth a try. "We may get many of these trucks come up on the main search," Chuck told him. "Anything different about yours?"
"Three foot longer," Jake instantly replied. When Chuck frowned, he added, "that's why I got it 'n why 'ey wanted me."
This would help as long as the length was obvious from the footage.
Chuck was still awaiting a response from his second search when Zondra opened the door and trudged in. She slumped down into a chair looking frustrated. but far less than Sarah had expected.
"Drink?" Sarah enquired.
Zondra nodded. "Just water." Sarah fetched her some. The seated woman smiled. "Could get used to this."
Sarah chuckled. "I'm not coming on your missions to be your waitress."
Zondra smiled wider. "Oh, I think you'd look good in the waitress gear I've see worn in some clubs. What do you think, Chuck?"
He turned to her and just said, "Dunno." That rather spoiled it for Zondra. She muttered something no one heard, so Chuck expanded. "I don't go in the clubs you do, Zondra."
Sarah was grinning listening to the two of them.
Zondra nodded. "I was gonna say I bet you could imagine her in it, but good response, Chuck." He smiled at her and was going to turn around, when she added. "But just try to imagine it, with her long legs on show and a top that shows just a bit too much."
Chuck froze and Sarah blushed. This had gone far enough. "Zondra, my dad's here!"
Zondra looked over at Jake who was sitting back shaking his head, but not looking offended at all. "So he is," she replied.
Sarah looked at her dad and saw how he looked. "Aren't you going to defend my honor?"
"'gainst wha'? Teasin'?"
She shook her head with a smile.
Chuck was back looking at the monitor he was using. Good timing, as it happened. "Search complete," he told them.
Zondra asked what the search was for, and Sarah briefly explained. The agent looked at her. "Nice. Concise. You'd do well in the NSA."
"NO!" shouted the two men, simultaneously.
Sarah chuckled. "Don't think they like the idea," she quipped to her friend.
Zondra laughed. "Maybe for different reasons, though."
Sarah was going to ask, but Zondra turned to Chuck. "Watcha found?"
Everyone grouped behind Chuck, looking at the monitor. He tapped on the keyboard in front of him and pictures of trucks appeared on all six monitors. "This is just the first twelve, but bringing them up like this helps, I think."
Sarah saw that most were just the backs of trucks moving away, but some were of trucks turning. This didn't bode well if the one they wanted was in the first group. Chuck looked at Jake. "Anything?"
"Nah. Might be one a them going forward."
Chuck huffed and moved the images forward to the next twelve.
"These all since he arrived there?" Zondra asked.
"Yup. There's another… seven more after these," Chuck replied.
"Shesh, lotta trucks," she commented.
There was nothing in this set either. They all started getting despondent. Chuck flipped on to the last set.
"There!" Jake cried, pointing at one of the images. The truck did look longer than the others. It was painted white with no other markings on it.
"Huh. Looks betta than when I 'ad it," Jake commented.
They couldn't see the new number plates, but Chuck noted the date and time. "Looks like it only left a day before you 'stormed the castle,'" he noted to Zondra.
His fingers flew over the keyboard. Sarah guessed he was finding the recording that the image had come from. Then several shots of that truck appeared on the screen confirming that was what he'd done. The one two frames before the one they'd seen was less clear, but the license plate was there. Chuck homed in on that and somehow enhanced the image. They now knew what to look for. "Yes!" Chuck cried, fist pumping.
He then kicked off a search for these plates to see where it went. Then he sat back. "Another wait, I'm afraid."
Sarah didn't hold back and leaned down and kissed him soundly. "You're amazing," she uttered as the kiss ended.
He grinned at her. "Course I am."
"I'm impressed," Jake commented. "Nice goin', kid."
Zondra just commented, "It's what he does." Sarah did, however, notice the look of pride on her face. Her next words were, "I'm ordering a pizza while we wait."
Jake had just picked up the last slice of pizza, when the computer beeped. Chuck leaped up and soon had a map on the screen showing the route taken by the truck. "Looks like they ended up just beyond Freemont. Last shot was there." He unnecessarily pointed to the end of the line.
"So, how do we find the final destination?" Sarah asked.
"We look locally," Zondra replied. "Or maybe loose lips in the bars?"
This didn't sound like a quick approach to Sarah.
"I'll check to see where the next cameras are in all directions from there, to help narrow down the search," Chuck commented and started immediately.
Zondra stood and let him do that and went to clear the table. Sarah joined her, helping her. "Is this what it's normally like?"
Zondra looked at her and stopped what she was doing. "Before I joined Chuck and Casey, I often lost tails. Your boyfriend is a whizz at this."
Once the table was cleared, Sarah made coffee for them all, placing Chuck's next to him. Sitting with her friend and her dad, she looked at the latter. "You were never tempted to look at what you were carrying?"
"Nah. Learnt ta just carry 'n not look."
Zondra hadn't asked and berated herself. "What did it look like? What was the packaging?"
"Mostly a light load. Two pallets. Different boxes on 'em. Some large, some not so… And two long crates, one stacked on otha."
None of which helped, but the long crates were a worry. "Any labeling?" Zondra asked.
"Nah. Nutin' like 'splosives or flammable, if 'at's wot yer thinkin'" he replied.
"That's good, isn't it?" Sarah asked.
"Just means he wasn't carrying anything dangerous. They could receive things from other places and assemble after."
Sarah got a chill up her spine. "A bomb or bombs?"
"More likely a missile of some sort. If it was just bombs, they wouldn't have gone after Jake. It's what's in those long crates that's significant," Zondra explained.
"Missile?" Sarah and her dad exclaimed.
"Just in case, I'll contact the general." Zondra stood and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The two seated opposite each other, sat in stunned silence.
When the agent emerged, she looked pale. It was obviously bad news. She sat in the chair she'd left earlier.
She looked at each of them before saying, "If it was them taking what's missing they could be building a nuclear missile. Why remain in California, is anyone's guess."
There was silence around the room after that.
Ten minutes later, the silence was broken. "Well, there's no cameras beyond the last one in the direction it was going," Chuck told them. Sarah's heart sank. "At least not for quite a distance, and nothing came up there, anyway. Must have stopped somewhere between the two."
Zondra, rose, I guess that's my ticket."
"Straight out?" Sarah asked.
"Time may be of the essence. We need to find it. I won't go in without the tactical team, but I want to see what's out there." She turned to Chuck. "Ping me the route taken."
Zondra was out of the door before anyone could say anything else.
An hour later, Zondra called Chuck, who put it on speaker. "Well, I've seen the nuclear research place from the main road and I've taken the back roads to get there."
"You didn't say things were taken locally," Sarah mentioned.
The remote agent answered, "Yeah, well, it seems it was. I suspect they won't have wanted to carry it far, so I think it's in one of the buildings nearby. Gonna drive around a bit and eye up prospective locations. Probably some run-down place no one would expect."
"Okay, Zondra. Let us know what you find," Chuck replied.
One minutes later she was back on the call. "Found it, or rather a location with armed guards patrolling the grounds, which must be it."
"Did they see you?" Sarah asked nervously.
"If they did, they ignored the dirty blue SUV that raced passed them."
"Dirty?" Sarah questioned.
"Amazing what some water and dirt mixed together then splashed over it can do," Zondra said, sounding amused.
"You heading back now?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah. Regroup and plan our attack. We'll need a much bigger team this time."
Eighty minutes later, Chuck ushered Sarah and her dad into Zondra's bedroom, so that he and Zondra, who'd recently returned, could take a video call with General Beckman. The two in the room were facing her on the monitor.
"So, how many do you need?" Beckman asked.
"As many as you can spare, General, but at least twenty." Zondra paused for a second. "We should expect casualties, General."
"Goes without saying," was the reply followed by a sigh. "I'll arrange it. Major Casey will join you too. In fact, a number of them will arrive with him."
If it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation, Chuck would have smiled. Casey wouldn't want to miss this. However, he had to ask, "Has he recovered enough, General?"
"Apparently," she replied and obviously did not want to discuss further.
Beckman added. "I'll let you know when they're coming and where to meet, Agent Rizzo. In the meantime, we'll extend your bookings at the hotel for a few more days and…" The corners of her mouth twitched then. "… you keep an eye on your charges." She then ended the call.
Zondra wasn't sure if the general meant Sarah and her dad or all three of the people with her. She suspected it could even have focused specifically on Sarah and Chuck. She shook her head.
They hadn't talked about sleeping arrangements, but she already knew she would be sleeping on the couch in her main room, while Jake slept in her bed. That way she could protect him best.
Chuck and Sarah would hopefully be quiet in the next bedroom, or at least quiet enough for her to sleep through it.
A/N: I'm sure the number of cameras I have in this story probably exceeds reality, but, hey, it's fiction. I also know the whole location at the end was complete fiction too. Sorry, story comes first.
Drop me a line and let me know if you're still with me on this ride.
