Sorry for the delay in updating, but the family and I were busy cruising through Alaska. What a wonderful trip. I highly recommend it. I know this is a short chapter, but I wanted to get it out there because it has a scene I've been planning from the start and I'm excited to finally get to use it. Never fear, I already have a draft of the next chapter and I'm hoping to update much quicker than I have been.
Thanks, as always, to my editor, Poa, she of the well-wielded red pen. Thanks, Poa, for all your suggestions and support.
CHUCK VERSUS THE BUY MORE BOMBER
Chapter 18
Here a Chinchilla, There a Chinchilla
"The bomb will take care of them'" Abdul al Fayed said to his two lieutenants, who were holding Chuck, Sarah, and Casey prisoner. "Find something to tie them up."
Hassan's eyes never left Sarah. "Let me shoot this one," he said, jerking his chin at her and then glancing down at his injured leg.
"No!" al Fayed shouted so forcefully that Hassan winced and jerked his attention back to his leader. al Fayed took a moment to compose himself before he turned to glare at Hassan. He looked down at the leg Hassan was clearly favoring. "You let a woman do this to you?" he sneered. "You have gone soft in my absence."
al Fayed's eyes drifted back over to Sarah, and Chuck saw that same, almost wistful expression cloud his features. Chuck frowned in thought for a moment and then his eyes widened. "Rachel," he muttered. He flinched, realizing that he had spoken aloud.
Chuck could practically feel Sarah and Casey's disapproving stares. al Fayed's eyes narrowed as his gaze snapped from Sarah to Chuck. "What did you say?" he growled.
"Nothing, nothing," Chuck insisted, raising his hands just a little higher for emphasis. "Um, I mean, I was just saying, um… Raphael! You know, Raphael, the archangel? He's kind of like, you know, my personal guardian angel and when I get a little stressed, you know, like now… well, I say a little prayer…"
"Silence!" al Fayed shouted.
Sarah sighed and Casey rolled his eyes.
al Fayed turned back to Ahmad. "What are you waiting for? I told you to find something to tie them up!"
Ahmad flinched and immediately scurried off through the dark store to find some rope.
al Fayed turned back to his three prisoners and leveled his gun at Chuck, who cringed. "Now, who are you?" he demanded.
Chuck glanced over at Sarah and Casey. Both were glaring defiantly at al Fayed.
"I said," al Fayed said more forcefully, lifting his gun just a little to emphasis his point, "tell me who you are, or I will shoot you now."
"Since you're going to blow us up anyway, what does it matter?" Casey snarled.
al Fayed smiled at him, but the tenor of his smile sent a shiver down Chuck's spine. "It is the difference between a quick death, and a slow one," al Fayed said calmly. He swung his gun over to Casey and lowered it to point at Casey's leg. "I can assure you, having your kneecaps shot away is quite painful."
Casey opened his mouth to speak, but Chuck, sensing that Casey was about to unleash one of his patented barbs at the true 'Buy More Bomber', interrupted him. "We're employees," Chuck said quickly. He swallowed hard as Casey glowered at him, but continued, "We were checking out the store because we got a call from security about some suspicious activity. In fact, they said that they were sending a team over right away to give us some backup. So, you know, you might want to go ahead and go because, well, they should be here any minute."
al Fayed fixed him with a dubious stare. "Do you think that I am stupid?" He shook his head. "Perhaps I should shoot you in the kneecap."
He lowered his gun towards Chuck's knee and Chuck cringed. Beside him, Sarah and Casey tensed. Fortunately, at that moment, Ahmad came back carrying a double handful of stereo cables. "I could not find rope," he said, holding up the mass of cables. "But we can use this."
al Fayed lowered his gun and looked at Ahmad. "It will have to do. Start with the large one, there," he said, gesturing toward Casey with his gun.
Ahmad grabbed the end of one of the cables and started to pull on it, but it was tangled with all the other cables. He pulled at it again, but it only seemed to make the tangle worse. He muttered a curse in Arabic and dropped the bundle of wires as he pulled at this wire and that, trying to get one free.
al Fayed watched him with growing exasperation and finally could take it no longer. "Give me that," he growled, sticking his gun in his pocket and reaching for the mass of wires.
Ahmad, with a shrug, started to hand the tangle of wires to al Fayed. In doing so, he took a step forward and got in the line of fire from Hassan to Casey. Hassan, wincing, started to take a step to his left in order to keep his gun trained on Casey. He grimaced and stepped to the left with his good leg, only to have his foot come down on something soft and squishy. There was a terrible sound, something between a scream and a squeal.
Everything seemed to happen at once. Ahmad and al Fayed looked over at Hassan to see what had caused the strange noise. Hassan, his right leg already crippled from the gunshot wound, lost his balance and started to topple over. Casey and Sarah, who had been watching carefully for an opening, jumped immediately into action. Sarah pushed Chuck to the right, spun to deliver a kick to the startled Ahmad's head, and in the same motion swept down to pick up her discarded gun.
Casey lashed out to plant his heel on Hassan's injured leg to ensure that he went down and then spun to deliver a roundhouse kick at al Fayed. The old terrorist, however, was too fast. He dodged the blow and fell back, clawing for his gun.
From behind the falling Hassan, a little furry creature went skittering under the nearest display rack.
Sarah, gun in hand, spun and snapped off a shot at Ahmad, but the shot went wide and Ahmad likewise scrambled for his gun.
al Fayed pulled his weapon, but Casey followed his initial attack with a vicious kick to al Fayed's elbow, sending his gun spinning out of his hand and down the aisle. Ahmad charged at Sarah, who snapped off a shot which caught him in the upper arm, but his momentum carried him into her, knocking her off her feet.
Chuck dodged behind a stack of boxes to watch Sarah and Casey deal with the terrorists, silently rooting for 'his team.' Casey and al Fayed continued to trade blows as Sarah and Ahmad disentangled themselves from one another. Suddenly, on the perimeter of the fighting, Hassan struggled to one knee and aimed his gun at Sarah.
"No!" Chuck cried and, rising from his hiding place, threw himself at Hassan. As Chuck crashed into Hassan, what seemed like a tremendous explosion sounded mere inches from his left ear, and he was suddenly blinded by a brilliant flash of light. He vaguely heard, at least in his right ear, a cry from Sarah. His arms and legs tangled with Hassan's and he pushed against Hassan to separate himself from the terrorist, only to have the heel of his palm press down hard on something wet and squishy.
Hassan screamed in pain as Chuck accidently pressed down on his injured leg in order to lever himself up. Between Casey's kick and the new abuse from Chuck, it was too much. Hassan passed out. He collapsed upon Chuck's legs, pinning him to the floor.
Chuck cursed and tried to slide out from under Hassan. Hearing Ahmad grunt, Chuck looked up to check on Sarah. A darkening patch was spreading from a wound on her shoulder. Oblivious to the pain, she continued to match Ahmad blow for blow.
"Casey!" Chuck cried, "Sarah's been shot!"
Bellowing his rage, Casey drew his arm back and delivered a tremendous blow to al Fayed's face, sending him skidding down one of the aisles. Turning quickly, he charged at Ahmad and body-slammed him into a display of digital cameras, sending cameras flying in every direction. Ahmad tried to struggle away, but a quick left-right combination caused him to stagger and then drop to the ground.
Casey spun quickly to face al Fayed, but the terrorist leader was not to be seen.
Chuck managed to pull himself out from under Hassan's dead weight and scrambled over to Sarah. "You've been shot!" he cried.
Sarah tilted her head and looked questioningly at Chuck as she puzzled over his words. Then she looked down at the scarlet stain which was continuing to spread across her shirt. "Oh," she murmured, slumping against Chuck.
"Where's al Fayed?" Casey bellowed.
"Casey!" Chuck yelled. "Help me with Sarah. She's been shot."
Casey glanced at Chuck and the tottering Sarah, then back toward the entrance to the store, and then back at Chuck. "Damn!" he muttered. In one fluid motion, he scooped Sarah into his arms and started toward the employee breakroom and the entrance to Castle. "Watch them!" he yelled over his shoulder as he kicked the door open and exited.
Chuck looked around, bewildered, before spotting a gun on the floor. He reached for it as if sticking his hand in a rattlesnake den and picked it up with shaking hands. He looked from the unconscious Hassan to the unconscious Ahmad, trying to decide which one to point it at, when the front doors banged open. Three men in black tactical gear burst in and leveled submachine guns at Chuck.
Slowly, he raised his hands.
