CHUCK VERSUS THE BUY MORE BOMBER
Chapter 2
More Mayhem
Chuck sat at the table, eating his Nuddy Buddies and frowning. Captain Awesome had gotten the toy out of the box. The only reason Chuck ate Nuddy Buddies was because it was one of the last cereals that still put a toy in the box. What was the point of eating Nuddy Buddies if you didn't get the toy?
Ellie sat down at the table across from him with her bowl of cereal and coffee cup. She looked at him and a look of concern flashed across her face. "You're worried about going into work today, aren't you?"
Chuck looked up at her, startled. He had been so wrapped up in his Nuddy Buddy funk that he hadn't even heard her sit down. "What? Oh, no, no, no," he said.
"Then what's wrong?"
Curse Ellie and her perceptiveness. But he couldn't admit that he was sulking because his sister's fiancé got the toy out of his cereal box. How childish was that? So, he lied. He never used to lie to Ellie. Well, sure, sometimes when they were kids. But what little brother doesn't lie to his big sister about how the heads were all missing from her Barbie dolls because the Orcs had used the catapult to throw them over the wall to rattle the defenders?
Lately… well, at least since he became the Intersect… lying was becoming easier. That bothered him. But not enough not to cover up the whole Nuddy Buddy affair. "Well, yeah. I must just be worried about work." Okay, that wasn't bad. That was true, sort of. Not a complete truth, but true as far as it went. He didn't specify which 'work' he was worried about to Ellie. And he was, he supposed, a little concerned about the whole explosion investigation and whether it meant Fulcrum was closing in again.
"Maybe you should call in sick," Ellie advised.
He couldn't do that. He needed to save his sick days for spy missions. Besides, Nuddy Buddy funk was not recognized as a legitimate illness. "It'll be fine, sis. I mean, we don't even know what caused the explosion at the other Buy More." Okay, that was a bald-faced lie. But he couldn't exactly tell Ellie that he had been poking around the ruined store disguised as an FBI agent. "Probably just a gas main or something."
"I don't know," Ellie said. "I was talking to some of the paramedics when they came by the hospital and they said the scuttlebutt around the fire department was that it was a bomb."
So the story was out, Chuck thought. He shrugged. "Even if it was," he said to Ellie, "it was one Buy More way over in Northridge."
"Northridge isn't that far away. And you don't deal with stress and danger very well, Chuck. Is the Buy More really worth it?"
"It's my job, sis." He looked down at his watch. "And I'm going to be late. I'll see you later."
Ellie watched him go. Maybe she worried about him too much. But he would always be her little brother and it was her job to protect him – from anything.
Chuck pulled the Nerd Herder into the parking lot and took his usual spot. He got out and noticed that the parking lot seemed emptier than usual. He shrugged it off and headed over to the Orange Orange. He knocked on the door and Sarah unlocked it. "Good morning, Chuck," she said and stepped aside so he could enter.
They went back into the freezer. Sarah turned the wall sconce and then entered her access code in the keypad that appeared. The door to the Castle opened and they went down the stairs. Casey was already there, sitting at the central conference table. He was looking through a file.
"Mornin', Casey," Chuck said, breaking into a grin. "Late night with your new lady friend?"
"Stuff it, Bartowski."
Chuck, however, couldn't let it go that easily. How often did he get to chide Casey about his love life? "Common, Casey, share with the class. How is Captain Anders?"
Casey stood and glared at Chuck. "Bartowski, I swear I…"
They heard a throat clearing and both turned to see General Beckman on the screen. Sarah smiled to see Chuck and Casey immediately put in their places with a simple look from the General. They both looked like schoolboys caught throwing spitwads. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Ahem. No General," Casey said. "I was just briefing Bartowski on my meeting with the police Captain last night."
"I see," said Beckman. And her tone indicated that she really did see. Chuck squirmed. Briefings with the General always reminded him of meetings with his high school principal (which were usually a result of one of Morgan's stunts.)
"Do we have any more information on the explosion, General?" Sarah asked.
A computer representation of a tiny bit of polymer appeared on the screen which then broke apart to show its chemical composition. "LAPD recovered taggants from the scene which allowed us to trace the explosives used. The explosives used were commercial grade explosives manufactured by the Tullerite Corporation."
"Excuse me, General, what are taggants?" Chuck asked.
"By law, all explosives manufactured in the United States, and most other countries, are required to contain a small polymer particle called a taggant. The taggants are specially designed to survive the explosion and act as a marker so that we can trace the manufacturer and even the particular lot of a batch of explosives." Beckman touch a button and the image of a police report appeared on the screen. "The explosives used in this particular bomb were from lot 337AB, manufactured by the Tullerite Corporation in 2006. The explosives were stolen from the Deserado Mine in Colorado in April, 2007. ATF investigated and were unable to apprehend the perpetrators. The explosives were never recovered and no trace of them has appeared until now."
"What about the bomb signature?" Casey asked. "Any clues there?"
"We are working with the ATF and the FBI to profile the bomb to see if it matches any known groups, but nothing so far."
"So at this point, there's not much to go on," Sarah said.
"That's correct, Agent Walker," the General said. "I am afraid we don't even have any leads yet that we can follow up using the Intersect. I'm uploading to you all of the information we have. Have Mr. Bartowski look it over and see if he flashes on anything. It's worth a try."
"I'm going to break into the police lockup and grab the surviving security footage from the Buy More that was hit," Casey said.
"Why?" General Beckman asked.
"So we can see if there are any…"
"I mean," the General cut him off, "Why are you going to break in? I understand that you have developed a rapport with Captain Anders, the investigating officer from the LAPD. Simply approach her and ask her for a copy of the footage."
"I'd rather break in," Casey muttered.
"That's an order, Major," the General said flatly. "At this point, until we know more, we will have to piggyback off of their investigation. If we took over, it would be a red flag that we have an interest in the Buy More."
"Yes, General," Casey said in a tone that made clear his thoughts on the matter.
"I'm putting a clock on this one," General Beckman said. "If we can't get any leads in 72 hours, I am going to have Mr. Bartowski moved to a secure location for his safety."
"What about my friends, my co-workers at the Buy More?" Chuck asked.
"I appreciate your concerns, Mr. Bartowski, but my only concern has to be the security of the Intersect." With that, she cut the connection.
"But… but…" Chuck said to the DNI logo that filled the screen.
"Don't worry, Chuck," Sarah said. "We have 72 hours. We'll come up with something."
Chuck walked into the Buy More. As usual, a number of employees were huddled around the Nerd Herd desk.
"I think it was those Large Mart goons," Morgan was saying. "They've had it in for Buymoria for years. I wouldn't put past them to try to put us out of business with a little wet work. I mean, they probably sell explosives, don't they?"
"No, no, no, no, no," Lester said. "I think it was a mob hit. The bomb was probably in an appliance that was supposed to be shipped to some mob boss and it simply went off prematurely." Chuck raised an eyebrow. That actually wasn't bad. He might have to suggest that one to Sarah and Casey as a possibility.
"You're both wrong," Jeff said. "I think that the bomb was planted by a secret cabal within the government in an attempt to get an important government asset hiding out at the Buy More to expose him… or her… self." He gave Anna a meaningful look.
"Grow up, Jeff," Anna huffed and then stalked off.
"Hey, Jeff," Morgan said. "Not cool. No ogling Anna while talking about anybody exposing themselves."
Lester looked at Chuck and made a drinking motion from behind Jeff.
"I've gotta clock in," Chuck said. He did and then went back to the back room to check on the backlog of work orders. As soon as he entered the door, he heard a scratching sound. He frowned and looked around. He heard the scratching again and followed it until he came to 'the Cage', the chain-link enclosure where the Nerd Herd worked on the electronics brought in for repairs. There, on a shelf in the back of the Cage, was an actual cage. Chuck leaned down to peer into the cage and saw two small furry creatures with the head of a mouse, the body of a rabbit and a tail kind of like a squirrel. He rubbed a hand over his eyes while shaking his head.
He went back to the door out to the sales floor and called out, "Jeff, Lester, can I see you back here a moment?"
The terrible twosome came walking/stumbling back to the Cage where Chuck waited.
"What," Chuck asked, pointing to the creatures in the cage, "are those?"
"That's Romeo and Juliette, our chinchillas," Jeff said. "Little suckers are going to breed like rabbits and then we'll be rolling in fur… er… dough. We'll be rolling in dough."
"But why are they here?" Chuck asked.
"My apartment doesn't allow pets," Lester said.
"They were freaking out Roscoe, my ferret," Jeff said.
"You can't keep them here," Chuck said. "What are you going to do if Big Mike finds out?"
"Please, Charles," Lester said with a snort. "When's the last time Big Mike came back here?"
"Well, what about Emmett?" Chuck asked. "Do you think Emmett's going to condone a chinchilla farm here in the Cage?"
"You have to keep them in cages," Jeff said. "Otherwise they'll be running all over the store."
"Jeff, that's not what I… ooh… Never mind," Chuck stammered. "Listen, they can't stay here. You have to find somewhere else to keep them. And don't let Emmett see them."
"Perhaps we could cut you in for a percentage," Lester offered.
Chuck just walked out, shaking his head.
The rest of the day was anticlimactic. Chuck had never seen the store so dead. There were a bare handful of customers all day. Chuck stopped by the Orange Orange for lunch, but Sarah was too busy following up leads to have lunch with him so he grabbed a sandwich from Subway and ate with Morgan in the Buy More breakroom.
Once his shift ended and he clocked out, he headed back to the Orange Orange, then down to the Castle.
Sarah was sitting at the conference table, a stack of files in front of her. "Hey, Chuck," she said when she saw him coming down the stairs. "How was work?"
"Boring," Chuck said. "Hardly any customers at all. I guess people are spooked. Although the chinchillas in the back were a high point."
"The what?" Sarah asked.
"Chinchillas. I mentioned it yesterday. Jeff and Lester have decided to get rich as chinchilla breeders. So, if you want a fur coat, I can probably get you one in, oh, eight to ten years."
"That's okay," Sarah laughed.
"So, any leads?" Chuck asked.
"Casey got the video feeds from the Buy More surveillance cameras and we've isolated and enhanced everyone entering the store. The footage was damaged, so we don't have all of it, but we'd like you to look them over and see if you flash on anyone."
Chuck sighed. This was the least glamorous part of being the Intersect: looking through pictures to see if he flashed. "Is there any coffee?" he asked Sarah.
"I just put on a fresh pot," Sarah said. "I'm going back over the police and ATF records regarding the theft of the explosives to see if they missed anything. I figured it was going to be a long night."
Chuck went over and poured himself a cup of coffee in his Buy More mug and then held up the pot to Sarah.
"Sure," she shrugged and Chuck refilled her 'My work is so secret even I don't know what I'm doing' mug that Chuck had bought her. Then Chuck sat down next to her and pulled up a monitor. Sarah reached over his shoulder to hit some commands on the keyboard and Chuck felt her brush against him. She didn't seem to notice and Chuck tried hard not to react. He did take a deep breath to draw in her scent. In some ways, this was the hardest part of his spy work: being so close to Sarah while being simultaneously so far away.
"We've also accessed the employment records for Buy More, so we'll see if you flash on any employees."
"Okay," Chuck answered, trying to get his mind on his work.
The images started to pop up on the screen. Chuck sighed and tried to concentrate on them.
Just shy of an hour later, Chuck absent-mindedly reached for his coffee cup and raised it to his lips. The cool ceramic jolted him a bit and he realized the coffee had grown cold long ago. He stretched and stood. Sarah looked up at him. "You okay?" she asked.
"Just taking a break," he said. "You wanna order some dinner?"
"What did you have…" Sarah started to say. She was interrupted by Casey bursting into the room from somewhere further back in Castle. He grabbed the remote and hit several buttons. The main monitor changed from the NSA logo to a video feed from a helicopter showing a burning store.
"Is this the footage from yesterday?" Sarah asked. "Did you find something?"
Casey shook his head and Sarah and Chuck both noticed the scrawl across the bottom of the screen. 'Pasadena: Second Southern California Buy More Explosion.'
"Oh my God," Chuck and Sarah whispered at the same time.
