Poa is still off grid, so you're stuck with my poor typing and grammar.

CHUCK VERSUS THE BUY MORE BOMBER

Chapter 6

Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More

Chuck was still cursing Casey's entrance into Castle as he trudged up the stairs to head back to the Buy More. With Big Mike and Emmett both AWOL, he was in charge. Morgan was holding the fort to allow his dinner with Sarah but no one in their right mind left Morgan in charge for too long.

Fortunately, several people from the evening shift had actually shown up, so he was able to send Jeff, Lester, and Anna home. 'Home' being a relative term since he was sure that Jeff and Lester were over at Bennigans and so far Anna had refused to leave Morgan's side. "Hey, Buddy," Chuck said to Morgan when he entered the store. "Any customers while I was gone?"

"No," Morgan replied. "But the phone has been ringing off the hook. Caller i.d. said Buy More Corporate so I didn't answer."

Chuck nodded. It was probably best if Morgan didn't talk to the Buy More brass. "Listen, Morgan, no need for you to stay," Chuck said. "I appreciate your holding down the fort while I got dinner."

"And how is Sarah?" Morgan asked. "She's not too freaked out by this whole bombing thing, is she? I mean, no offense Chuck, but sometimes Sarah seems like kind of a shrinking violet, if you know what I mean. She got really freaked out by the whole armed gunman at Christmas thing."

"Yeah Morgan, she's okay. Thanks for asking. I mean, she's a little nervous, but she understands the need for me to man the store. I think she appreciated dinner, though. She's working on some paperwork or something over at the Orange Orange, so she's working late, too."

"You sure you don't want me to stick around? You know, keep an eye out for any suspicious looking characters? Large Mart goons?"

"No, buddy," Chuck said slapping Morgan on the shoulder. "You and Anna go on. I've got it covered."

"Hey Anna!" Morgan called. Anna came out of the Home Theater Room, yawning. Apparently she had been napping while waiting for Morgan.

"Hey Morgan," she said. "You ready to go?"

Morgan nodded. "Tomorrow, Chuckles," Anna said as she and Morgan left the store.

Chuck did a walk-around of the store. Skip and Terrance, the two Nerd Herders on duty, were manning the Nerd Herd desk while they played World of Warcraft on the Herder computers. The two Green Shirts he had left, Barry and Roxanne, were playing Wii bowling using the video wall. Both were breaches of Buy More corporate policy, but Chuck was happy enough to have warm bodies that he wasn't going to complain. He wandered into the back and checked on the chinchillas. They were happily gnawing on some carrots. Chuck made a mental note to talk to Jeff and Lester about cleaning their cage. It was starting to stink. Okay, stink worse.

Rounds complete, he made his way back to the front of the store and looked longingly over at the Orange Orange. He was just about to make another round of the store, from shear boredom rather than any real need, when a long, black limousine slowed to a stop in front of the store. The driver got out and jogged around to the back door. He pulled it open and stood at a posture resembling attention.

A man climbed out of the back of the limo. He looked to be in his sixties, with a high forehead and white hair. He had a stern face and wore a dark green suit with a white shirt and yellow tie. Even without the suit, Chuck would have recognized him immediately. After all, his face graced the Buy More Employee of the Month Board and, before Harry Tang made assistant manager and ended the Employee of the Month program, Chuck had been pretty much the uncontested Employee of the Month every month.

"Oh my gosh," Chuck gasped. He ran back to the back of the store and yelled at the other employees. "Code Red. Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More is here! Skip, act like you're working on something important. Terrance, go hide the chinchillas. He looked over at his green shirts. "Get Wii bowling off the video wall and act like you're restocking the shelves."

Chuck hurried back to the front of the store just as the doors open and The Man himself walked into the store. He was trailed by a rather dour looking young woman in a severe business suit, her hair in a very tight bun.

"Mr. Finkelstein," Chuck said. "Welcome to the Burbank Buy More. I'm Chuck Bartowski, Nerd Herd Supervisor. How can I help you?" He was a little disappointed that his voice cracked when he said 'help', making him sound like he was twelve, but Mr. Finkelstein didn't seem to notice.

Mr. Finkelstein held out his hand. "Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More. A pleasure to meet you, young man. You're the one I spoke to on the phone, correct?"

Chuck nodded. "Yes sir. I had the honor." 'Great,' Chuck thought. 'You sound like a kiss-ass. That's Emmett's job.' "What, can I do for you, sir?"

Mr. Finkelstein glanced around the store. "You know, you're one of the few stores that is even open today. Most couldn't field enough employees to even open the doors. I'm impressed, young man, and I'm not a man easily impressed."

"Well, sir, the credit goes to our manager, Big Mike. He inspires loyalty and dedication among his staff," Chuck said.

"Bullshit," Mr. Finkelstein replied.

"Um, excuse me?" Chuck asked.

"Bullshit," Mr. Finkelstein repeated. "Michael's a hell of a guy but he couldn't inspire a bunch of Boy Scouts to raid a Girl Scout Camp. Still, despite it all and for reasons I can't explain, this branch seems to do better than any of my other stores… except of course Beverly Hills, the flagship store."

"I, ah, see sir," Chuck replied. He found that hard to believe and secretly wondered whether the CIA was cooking the Buy More books to keep someone in charge who wouldn't ask too many question. Well, actually, in Big Mike's case any questions at all.

Mr. Finkelstein slapped Chuck on the back. "First rule of management, son. Always take credit." Chuck winced at the slap and thought, 'Well I'll be damned. Big Mike didn't make that up on his own after all. Must be in the Buy More manager handbook.' "Where is Michael?" Mr. Finkelstein asked.

"Um, he had a family emergency in Cleveland," Chuck replied.

"I see. I didn't know Michael had family in Cleveland," Mr. Finkelstein replied. "Oh well, where's that toady, Everette Millbarge?"

Chuck managed not to grin. Emmett would be devastated to know that Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More, didn't even know his name. "His, ah, mother was sick."

Mr. Finkelstein slapped Chuck on the back again. "Well, bully for you for stepping up and manning the gates," he said. He looked around. "Any customers today?"

Chuck shook his head sadly. "Well, we had one elderly lady wander in, but it turned out she was just looking for a rest room. Once she realized where she was, she shrieked and ran back out."

Mr. Finkelstein sighed. "I can't say I'm surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised. Ah well, we'll just have to implement Operation Even More."

Chuck thought about that for a moment. "Cut prices thirty percent and do a media blitz?" Chuck asked.

Mr. Finkelstein smiled and nodded. "Smart boy. But we'll only cut prices twenty percent. Don't want to cut too far into the profit margin. How long have you worked here?"

"About seven years, sir," Chuck replied.

"Why aren't you in management?" Mr. Finkelstein asked. "You've got a good head on your shoulders."

Chuck thought about it for a moment. Finally, he decided that honesty – at least partial honesty – was the best policy. "To be honest, sir, and I hope you won't take offense, but it's because I can't see spending the rest of my life here at the Buy More. I recently finished my degree at Stanford and…"

"Say no more, say no more," Mr. Finkelstein said, holding up a hand. "A man with ambitions. I like that. I like that very much. And I like your initiative, taking care of the store when the manager and assistant manager are AWOL."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm going to be keeping my eye on you, Bartowski is it?"

"Yes sir. Chuck Bartowski."

Moses Finkelstein. CEO and Founder of Buy More turned to the woman standing a step behind him. "Make a note of that, Amelia. Chuck Bartowski. Nerd Herd Supervisor. Burbank Store."

"Yes sir," the severe young woman said. Chuck turned to really look at the woman. The sleeve of her blouse had pulled up a little and he saw a zigzag shaped scar on her wrist. Suddenly, he felt that familiar nausea. His eyes went slack and he saw a flash of images. A fig tree. A woman in a U.S. Army uniform. That same woman in a karate gi taking down four assailants. The woman shooting a pistol on a firing range. A file marked 'honorable discharge.' A fig tree.

"Are you all right, son?" Mr. Finkelstein asked.

"Oh, ah, yes sir. Burrito for dinner." He tapped the side of his fist against his stomach. "Kind of repeats on you."

Mr. Finkelstein nodded. "Better to lay off the burritos. The body is a temple, Mr. Bartowski. Best to remember that."

"Yes, sir," Chuck nodded.

"Anyway," Mr. Finkelstein continued. "On to business. I'm looking for David Cohen, our security consultant. He was on his way to this store to check it out and pull the security footage and now he's disappeared."

Chuck winced again. David Cohen a/k/a Ari Schwartz was currently about twenty feet directly below Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More. "He, ah, was here earlier, but he left and said something about checking perimeter security or something like that. I really didn't understand what he was talking about."

Mr. Finkelstein frowned. "Hmm. Very strange. He's not answering his cell phone." He half-turned his head to his assistant. "Contact Competition Security. Have them send a detail here to the Burbank store."

"Yes sir," Amelia answered.

"Mr. Bartowski, I am having my security consultants send a detail to watch this store. Please extend them every courtesy."

Chuck nodded. "Of course, sir. It will be my pleasure."

"And if you see Mr. Cohen, have him contact me immediately."

"Yes sir. Immediately, sir," Chuck replied.

Moses Finkelstein, CEO and Founder of Buy More held out his hand. "Mr. Bartowski, keep up the good work. I've got my eye on you, young man."

'Great,' Chuck thought. 'Just what I need. Another set of eyes on me.' "Yes sir. Thank you, sir," he said, noting the very firm grip of Mr. Finkelstein's handshake. Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More, turned and strode back out of the store, his assistant Amelia trailing a step behind.

"Oh boy," Chuck muttered. He turned to see Skip staring wide-eyed after the departing figure and noticed Skip's eyes shift to the assistant and then track down to her rather shapely calves. Chuck shook his head. "Skip, watch the store for a minute. I, ah, feel the need for some frozen yogurt."

Skip nodded knowingly. "Gotcha," he said with a grin. "Frozen yogurt."

Chuck rolled his eyes and hurried out of the store. The limo, fortunately, was gone. He dashed over to the Orange Orange and practically ran back into the freezer and down into Castle.

Sarah was sitting at the conference table. "Sarah!" he started.

"I saw," Sarah said. "You handled that well, Chuck. I have a call into General Beckman to report this."

"But did you know that Finkelstein's assistant is Amelia Forbes, former U.S. Army Special Forces? Honorably discharged in 2006?"

"Really?" Sarah said. "Interesting. She must be his bodyguard. It's not unusual for former Special Forces or black ops to go into private security and wealthy individuals often have a security detail. Interesting that his is disguised as his personal assistant, though. I'll run a check on her."

"Sarah," Chuck said, changing the subject slightly. "If they send a security team…"

"Relax, Bartowski," Casey said, emerging from the weapons locker. "We'll just have to be more careful."

"And maybe quit assaulting and kidnapping agents of friendly foreign governments?" Chuck asked sarcastically.

"Listen, you little twit…"

"Ahem, gentlemen!" Chuck and Casey turned and looked sheepishly at the screen where General Beckman's stern face frowned out at them. "Am I interrupting something important?"

'How does she always show up at exactly the wrong time?' Chuck wondered.

Sarah jumped in. "No, General. We were just discussing recent developments in the case."

"I see," the General said, unconvinced but not willing to delve any deeper. "You had an update?"

"General, Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More, stopped by the store a few minutes ago. He was looking for Agent Schwartz and now he's sending a security detail to keep an eye on our store. They apparently got concerned when Agent Schwartz quit answering his cell phone."

"Damn," Casey said.

"What's that, Major?" Beckman asked.

"We didn't find a cell phone on Schwartz," Casey said. "He must have left it in his car."

"This is getting out of control," Beckman said. "Agent Walker, you are acquainted with Agent Schwartz. Do you think he can be trusted?"

Sarah nodded. "I believe so, Ma'am. He is a highly decorated member of the Israeli Defense Force and his reputation at the Academy was exemplary. I can't see him going rogue."

"Very well," Beckman said. "I'm getting a lot of pressure from Mossad."

"But General," Sarah cut in. "You need to be aware. There's clearly still something Ari… Agent Schwartz… isn't telling us."

"Your job is to find out what that is," Beckman said. "Bring him into the operation, but he is not to be told about the Intersect. As far as he's concerned, the Castle is a special CIA substation to track activity in the Los Angeles area."

"And Chuck?" Sarah asked. "He's been part of this investigation and FBI Agent Carmichael is known by the local authorities to be working the case."

Beckman's frown deepened. She clearly knew that it would be impossible to keep Chuck out of this one; not because of his prior work on the investigation, but because Chuck Bartowski couldn't keep his nose out of where it didn't belong. "Very well," she said. "Mr. Bartowski, you can remain a part of this investigation. A very small part. But as far as Agent Schwartz is concerned, you are an analyst assisting Agents Walker and Casey because of your expertise in computers and retail. Under no circumstances is Agent Schwartz to discover the real nature of Operation Bartowski."

"Understood, General," Sarah said as Chuck nodded.

The General signed off and Sarah turned to Casey. "Maybe you better leave while I let Ari out of lockup."

Casey grunted but turned and headed back to the Buy More. "Should I stay?" Chuck asked, hopefully.

"Don't you have to close up the store?" Sarah asked.

Chuck sighed. "Yeah."

"Come over when you're done," Sarah said, "and I'll introduce you to Ari."

"Great," Chuck said, brightening. He turned to leave.

"And Chuck," Sarah said. Chuck turned around with a quizzical look on his face. "I didn't get to tell you earlier. Thanks for the massage."

"Anytime," Chuck replied with a grin. There was a bounce in his step as he headed back to the Buy More.