A/N1 Another short chapter. I am prepping to lecture in Milwaukee tomorrow and so don't have time for a longer one. (From 80 degrees-Bama to four degrees-Wisconsin. Gah.)
As I said, stuff is about to hit the fan. More when I get back home. (Oh, I slipped an extra chapter in yesterday, Chapter 16, "Follow the Leader". You should make sure you've read it. (And left a review.))
I really appreciate folks taking the time to leave a review or a PM. Views are nice but silent and uncommunicative. Always good to hear from you.
Don't own Chuck.
Chutes and Ladders
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Risk
They were dozing in a mutual delirium. Deliriously happy.
Sarah's face was against Chuck's chest but hidden under her mass of golden hair, fanned out. Chuck was tracing idle figures across her shoulders, not quite half-awake, not that aware of what he was doing.
He had turned on some music — on his phone — and it was playing softly in the background. Chuck wasn't really paying attention to it until he heard, but mostly felt Sarah laugh. He caught up with the words, the music.
She is watching the detectives
"Ooh, he's so cute"
She is watching the detectives
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart
Long shot at that jumping sign
Invisible shivers running down my spine
Cut to baby taking off her clothes
Close-up of the sign that says "We never close"
He snatches at you and you match his cigarette
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet
I don't know how much more of this I can take
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake
Sarah pressed her ear to Chuck's chest. "Well, you sure are cute - but you also definitely have a heart. And," Sarah continued, lifting the light sheet covering them, revealing herself, "it's a little late to cut to baby taking off her clothes." She looked at Chuck and they laughed together, then resumed listening to the song.
"Still, Watching the Detectives...a great Elvis Costello tune, huh?" Chuck asked drowsily as the song ended.
"Yeah, is that who it is?" Chuck nodded slightly in answer to her question.
Music began again. She started kissing his chest gently, soft pecks leading up to his lips. She levered herself up and kissed him on the mouth, her kiss overwhelming. They were about to lose themselves again when Chuck jerked slightly.
Sarah pulled back. "Did I hurt you?"
Chuck shook his head, looking away from her. "No, no, I just remembered something. I...I meant to tell you at dinner...you know, before…"
Sarah eyes hooded a bit but remained warm. "What is it, Chuck?"
"Jill came to see me. She wants to hire me, wants me to come up with dirt on Foxworth."
"The guy who was…"
"Yeah, that guy, the FARMA CEO. I got the impression that she's gotten herself into a jam. But I didn't take the case…"
Sarah opened her eyes fully. "No?"
"No, but I didn't not take the case. I thought it might let me help Casey and Rhonda with their case. I wanted to talk to you about what I should do. And I wanted to do that before...But then you answered the door in that dress and I lost all capacity for rationality, for coherent thought…"
Sarah smiled and leaned in to kiss the end of his nose. "It's ok, Chuck. I admit I intended your full discomposition…"
He put his hand behind her head and pulled her to him, imitating her kiss by kissing her nose. "Not to be confused with my full decomposition…?"
"Definitely not. I'm all for Detective, Discomposed, all against Detective, Decomposed. No filing my nails while they're dragging the lake, Chuck." She fake-punched his chin as she pulled her lips to one side of her face. "So, what do you think about Jill's request?"
Chuck frowned. "I honestly have no interest in helping her. She's in a jam, as I said, but it's of her own making, the result of her own choices. I owe her nothing. But I do wonder if this might give me access to more about FARMA, to things Casey and Rhonda can't get at."
"But how much can Jill really tell you? Isn't Foxworth her client - among other things."
Chuck snickered, shaking his head. "Yes, but Jill's all about Jill. The law is a means, not an end for her. She might bend it - no, she would bend it - if she thought it would help her, tell me things that legally she shouldn't, hoping I can make the jam go away and hoping I will be mum after it does."
Chuck's frown deepened. "Frankly, I just don't want to spend more time around Jill, learn more about her and Foxworth and Bryce."
"Speaking of Bryce," Sarah began cautiously, "Ellie told me a little about him, about you knowing him at college, about what happened there. I've seen a bit of the tension between you two. I take it that the tension is not all Jill. Was Bryce part of the story at Stanford?"
Chuck's phone rang as if to answer her question, ending They Might Be Giants' She was a Hotel Detective. Chuck reached for the phone. "Huh. It's Alex." Sarah nodded. He punched the screen with his thumb. "Hey, Alex."
ooOoo
Sarah watched Chuck listening. She could hear that the voice was Alex's, but could not make out many words. Alex's tone sounded anxious.
"Okay, Alex. Tell Rhonda to drop a GPS pin. I am on my way…"
Sarah grabbed Chuck's shoulder and pointed at herself. "Check that, Sarah and I are on the way."
"What's wrong, Chuck?"
"Casey was supposed to be running an errand last night. I was at Morgan's putt-putt course and Alex mentioned Casey was a little late. I didn't think anything of it. But now Rhonda's been searching. They found his car on a road out in the desert, but no Casey. I'm going to go meet Rhonda...and you are coming with me?"
Sarah gave Chuck a sharp nod. She got out of bed. Chuck groaned when she stood up. "Down, boy," she smiled, "There's more where that came from. So much more. But we have to help your friends...my friends." She added the last phrase a little tentatively, but Chuck gave her a look that told her she was right.
"Why don't we take the Porsche," Sarah offered, pulling a pair of more ordinary panties from her drawer and slipping them on. She grabbed a bra.
Chuck was pulling on his pants. "Okay. I'm always worried about taking the Vic out of town. She's an LA girl. Not much for life outside the city."
Sarah laughed as she pulled a CSUN sweatshirt over her head. Chuck noticed it. "Wait, CSUN? Northridge? You're a Matador?"
Sarah fluffed her hair out. "Yeah, olé!" She made a sweeping motion with an imaginary cape. "An education and English double major. I wrote an English honors thesis there...Fast Talk and Femme Fatales in Noir Films."
"Oh, so that's why…" Chuck said, realization dawning.
"Yeah, that's why. Well, that and Dad leaving me alone at all hours as a lonely kid in motel rooms. All I had were the late- and late-late-shows to keep me company. You?"
"After Mom and Dad...I sorta just escaped into the television set and video games and comics. Other Worlds. Better worlds than this one. Until now."
Flashing him a huge smile, she pulled up one pants leg. She had grabbed her holster of knives from the closet as she and Chuck spoke, and she strapped it to her calf. When finished, she looked up. Chuck was staring at the holster as if it were an object in hypnotherapy. Sarah snapped her fingers: once, twice, three times. "Chuck? Chuck?"
He came back to reality, a sheen of perspiration visible on his forehead. He rubbed his palms on his pants legs. "Knives?"
Sarah pulled her pants leg down, concealing them. "I'll explain in the car. Can't hurt."
Chuck gulped. "The knives or the explanation?"
Sarah grabbed his arm and led him quickly out of the bedroom.
ooOoo
Chuck gave Sarah directions. His office was on the way toward the desert and he wanted to stop and get his gun.
Sarah stopped near the curb; it was late and no one was likely to object. They would only be there for a few minutes at most.
Chuck opened the office and went in. Sarah followed, looking around, a small smile of pleasure on her face. "Wow, if you had your name on frosted door glass, it'd be just like the movies, Chuck." She turned her head and saw Sasha's frog. "Well, except for the pissy frog." She ended the comment with a low chuckle.
Chuck smiled at her and the frog then opened the file cabinet and got his gun and holster. He put it on. He noticed that Sarah watched him intently, after a moment crossing her arms over her chest and hugging herself. Chuck grabbed a sports coat from a hook on the wall. He threw it on over the holster and Sarah pushed him against the file cabinet, giving him a sudden, very wet but very short kiss.
He grinned at her. "Somebody likes my gun."
She licked her lips shamelessly. "Absolutely." But then her look grew immediately sober. "Okay, let's go find Rhonda and see if we can help. Are there other officers there?"
"Not yet. Rhonda's evidently looked around the immediate vicinity of the car on foot, but she's waiting there for us, hoping maybe Casey will show in the meantime."
Chuck turned off the light and they left the office. Billy Powell, enveloped in smoke, was standing by Sarah's car, giving it an extended once-over. When they stepped out, Billy turned and looked at Sarah, then looked back at the car. He whistled at one or both. Sarah shot Chuck a grin and they both started laughing.
"What?" Billy asked, throwing his cigarette on the concrete and grinding it out with his foot.
"Nothing, Billy. We were just...whistling...earlier ourselves."
Billy gave Sarah a look. "I like this one, Chuck."
Chuck was more or less sure Billy meant Sarah. "Me, too, Billy. Me, too."
"Time for her to make an honest man out of you, doncha think, Chuck? Leave the PI-ing and start the AI-ing, eh?"
Sarah had gotten in the car and started it. Chuck gave Billy a look. "Maybe you are right, Billy. But I have a couple of final cases to finish first."
As Chuck shut the door, he thought he heard Billy say something about it being bad luck to talk about final cases.
ooOoo
Darkness had collected like a pool of India ink on the desert floor. The Porsche's lights splashed the ink aside. Ahead, they saw Casey's car. But they did not see Rhonda. Her car was there, but not her. Sarah stopped the Porsche and shut it off but left the headlights on.
They got out, Chuck drawing his gun as they did. They searched both cars. Rhonda was nowhere to be found. They did find her phone, face down in the dirt a couple of yards from the car. They picked it up.
Chuck kicked at the dirt, hunching his shoulders in annoyance. "Shit. What happened?"
Sarah put her hand on one shoulder, giving it a squeeze. He slipped his gun back in the holster and started fiddling with Rhonda's phone, trying to figure out her password. He did. 'Casey': that was her password.
"Look, she sent Alex a text thirty minutes ago. 'C and S should be here soon. No sign of your dad'."
Chuck and Sarah were both staring at the screen when they heard a noise behind them. Before either could react, a voice spoke in a harsh whisper. "Turn around slowly."
They did.
Even there, even without his mirrored sunglasses, Chuck knew Perry.
Perry had a gun and an evil smile both pointed at them.
A/N2 Ah, baggy-suited Perry. What the hell is he doing in the desert? More next time. Chapter 18, "Stratego".
Back to work on MisEd when I return too.