A birthday treat to myself. Another chapter of 'Bomber.'

My faithful editor Poa ably assisted me yet again (and is, I am sure, getting tired of me spelling everything like a lawyer (waive instead of wave) but she continues to put up with me for some strange and unknown reason). Thanks P!

So, my birthday gift to y'all:

CHUCK VERSUS THE BUY MORE BOMBER

Chapter 28

Dancing Teddybears

Sarah's head was pounding and her mouth felt like it was packed with cotton. It wasn't the first time she had been drugged, but it was the first time she had let someone simply walk up to her and jab her with a needle.

How could she have been so stupid? How could she have been so careless?

What more proof did she need that her feelings for Chuck compromised her ability to do her job? Except it wasn't her job anymore. She just prayed that Forrest would keep Chuck safe. He couldn't fall into the same trap. He just couldn't.

Not that it really mattered now whether it was her job or not. She had recognized her assailant just as he was sticking her with the needle – Abdul al Fayed. She was in the hands of a ruthless terrorist. She was a pawn, no doubt, in his private war against Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More and the Mossad agent who had sent al Fayed to prison for nearly 30 years.

Sarah opened her eyes to mere slits and waited for them to adjust to the light. She scanned her surroundings as best she could without moving her head, pretending to still be unconscious.

"You are awake," an accented voice said. Sarah sat very still.

"Do not insult me by pretending. I know you are awake."

Sarah opened her eyes and turned her head toward the voice. Even that simple movement was difficult. al Fayed had showered and changed out of the filthy clothes. He was dressed in traditional Palestinian robes and keffiyeh. He was sitting in a chair, facing Sarah. Sarah was in a metal chair, her hands cuffed behind her. Pain shot through her wounded shoulder, but she tried to ignore it.

"You look just like her," al Fayed said. His voice was soft, the kindly uncle and not the ruthless interrogator. "Are you her daughter?"

Sarah slipped into her 'innocent victim' persona. "Who… who are you?" she asked. "What do you want with me? Am I who's daughter?"

al Fayed stood, walked over to her and casually pressed a thumb against her wound. Pain shot through her arm and she fought to keep from passing out.

His voice turned hard. "Do not play games with me. You are an agent. You were the one who shot Hassan. Are you Mossad?"

Well, it had been worth a shot. Sarah simply glared at him.

al Fayed walked around behind her. It was an old interrogation trick. People got more nervous if they couldn't see you. Fortunately, she had been well trained by her CIA instructors. When he spoke, Sarah imagined a giant teddy bear in front of her.

"I know that she was with you at the hospital. So who is your father? Ari Schwartz or Moses Finkelstein?"

Sarah watched the teddy bear do a little dance as he questioned her.

"Or perhaps someone else? You are, what, twenty-nine, thirty years old? That would be about right. Did she tell you about me? Did she tell you she shared my bed thirty years ago?"

The teddy bear was standing on its head.

Suddenly, al Fayed appeared in front of her, his face inches from hers. His bearded face was contorted in anger. "I must know," he hissed. "Are you the daughter of Rachel Schwartz?"

Sarah tried to peer past al Fayed at the teddy bear.

al Fayed straightened and turned his back on her. He was clearly struggling to control his emotions. "No matter. You are the bait to catch a bigger fish."

He turned around and held up Sarah's iPhone with Chuck's picture on it. "Very helpful, these new phones with pictures to go along with the names. I have spoken to your partner, Chuck Bartowski. He is bringing Moses Finkelstein to me in exchange for you."

He smiled and opened the front of his robes. Numerous blocks of C-4 were concealed under his robes, connected to a series of detonators.

"Today," al Fayed said, "you, your partner Chuck Bartowski, and Moses Finkelstein are going to join me in Hell."

***

Moses Finkelstein (etc.) touched a button. "Mrs. Johnston, you may send in Warwick and Westmoreland now." Two huge security guards came in, guns drawn. They glared at Casey.

Moses nodded to the still form of Agent Forrest. The two guards smiled. Evidently Forrest had been her usual charming self when she had barged into Moses Finkelstein (etc.)'s office and had made two more new friends. "Hold her in the security office. Keep her comfortable, but do not allow her to leave."

The two guards bent to start to pick her up.

"Wait," Casey said. The two looked over at Moses, who nodded. Casey reached in his pocket and pulled out a spray bottle filled with a bluish green liquid. He leaned over, opened Forrest's mouth, and pumped twice.

The guards frowned, confused.

"Mint flavored knockout spray," Casey explained. "She'll be less trouble if she's out."

Chuck looked at Casey, mouth agape. "What?" Casey said. "You haven't had to listen to her lecture on proper protocol for the last twelve hours."

The two guards dragged the unconscious Forrest away.

Amelia turned to Moses. "Do we have a plan?" she asked.

Moses handed her a sniper rifle. "You will be covering our back," he said. "If you get a shot…"

Amelia shook her head. "I'm going in with you," she said.

Moses shook his head. "Not this time, Amelia. That is non-negotiable. Charles and I will go in."

Amelia opened her mouth to protest. Moses waved her off. "This is a negotiation," he said. "It is what I do best. Charles and I will go in and he will bring out Agent Walker. I will take care of Abdul al Fayed."

Casey cleared his throat. Chuck, Moses and Amelia turned to look at him. "And me?" Casey asked. Chuck started to say something. Casey glared at him. "And if you say, 'stay in the car,' I will end you."

Moses turned to a cabinet and removed a set of keys and a card with numbers written on it. "These are the keys to the Beverly Hill store's loading dock and the override codes for the security system. You go in the back of the store and work your way in. Once you're in position…"

"Take out the bad guy and rescue the girl. Got it," Casey said.

Moses looked from Amelia, to Chuck, to Casey. All three nodded. "Let's go," he said.

Amelia led the way, followed by Moses.

Chuck sidled up to Casey and smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell Sarah about that 'rescue the girl' crack," he said.

Casey grunted.

The smile faded from Chuck's face. "Sarah's going to be okay, right?"

Casey's face was hard as stone. He held up his gun, checked it, and said, "Don't worry, Romeo. We'll save your girlfriend." But his voice lacked its usual sarcastic edge.

Chuck looked over at Casey and nodded. "Yeah, I'm worried about her, too."

When they reached the lobby, Casey and Amelia hurried to Casey's suburban. They would go ahead to scout the location and set up in their positions.

Moses led Chuck out the front door, toward Chuck's Nerd Herder. "We'll take your car," he said. "Less conspicuous."

Chuck nodded and the two headed toward the Herder, still parked in front of the building.

"I'll drive," Moses said. Chuck started to lodge his standard protest that it was a company car, but caught himself. He shrugged and handed Moses the keys. Who had more right to driver the Herder than Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More?

Moses walked around to the driver's door. Someone had apparently stopped to close the door Chuck had left open when he ran into the building. He opened the door and paused before getting in. Chuck looked at him questioningly. Moses looked up at the Buy More corporate headquarters. "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain," Moses whispered, "he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer."

Chuck frowned. He wasn't sure he had heard correctly. "What was that?" he asked.

Moses shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing."

Chuck and Moses rode in silence. Moses was unusually quiet, not his usual boisterous self. Chuck glanced over at him. He seemed much older as he piloted the Nerd Herder quickly but carefully toward Beverly Hills.

Not one given to enduring long silences, Chuck finally couldn't take it anymore. "Why are you doing this?" he asked softly.

"Hmm? What?" Moses asked.

"Why are you doing this?" Chuck repeated. "Putting yourself at risk for me. For Sarah. You barely know us, and here you are risking your life for us."

"For you? No," Moses said, shaking his head. "Well, perhaps somewhat. Your Sarah. She reminds me of someone. Someone…" His voice trailed off. After a pause, he shook his head, as if shaking away a memory.

"No offense to you, my boy," he said, suddenly his normal animated self, "but this is clearly beyond your abilities." He held up a hand. "No reflection on you or your team, but al Fayed is too good for you. Too good, apparently, for Ari Schwartz and his Mossad team. Oh, you came close. Closer than I would have thought. But clearly it's up to me. Just like thirty years ago. I was fooling myself to think that anyone else could do this for me. This is between me and al Fayed."

He slapped the steering wheel and smiled. "In a way, I should be grateful to the old bastard. I haven't felt this alive in years."

Moses looked over at him. There seemed to be an odd light shining in his eyes. "Do you know how Patton died?" Moses asked. Chuck shook his head. "A car accident. The greatest general of World War II and he died in a car wreck."

Chuck frowned, confused. "I'm… I'm not sure I understand…" Chuck began.

Chuck's cell phone rang. It was Casey. "Yeah, Casey?"

"We're picking up chatter on the police band," Casey said. "I guess al Fayed didn't trust you to bring Finkelstein to him. They're reporting that a man and a woman walked into the Beverly Hills Buy More. The guy said that he had a bomb and ordered everyone out. He's demanding that Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More, be brought to him."

"Where are you?" Chuck asked.

"We're just pulling in," Casey said. "The local police have the place surrounded."

"We're right behind you," Chuck said.

Chuck lowered the phone and turned to Moses. "al Fayed is in the store," he said. "He has a bomb and he's demanding that you come."

Moses nodded. "Abdul, ever the impatient one," he said. "You would think that thirty years in prison would have taught him something." He shrugged. "No matter. We will give him what he wants."

A police officer was standing at the entrance to the parking lot. He waved the Nerd Herder to a stop and came around to the driver's side window. "Sorry, folks," the officer said. "We have a little situation here. I'm afraid you're going to have to turn back around."

"I believe that your superior will want to see me," Moses said, smiling. "I am Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More. I believe that the bomber is asking for me."

Chuck leaned over to speak to the officer. "Charles Carmichael, FBI. Mr. Finkelstein is with me. Is that Captain Anders over there, running this operation? I think she'll want to talk to us."

The officer shrugged and motioned them through.

The parking lot was full of squad cars, fire trucks, a SWAT van and an ambulance. The police had cordoned off the store and moved the onlookers back to the far side of the lot.

Moses Finkelstein (etc.) stepped out of the car and tugged at his suit jacket to straighten it. He turned to Chuck. "Captain Anders, you say?"

Chuck nodded. "The woman over there talking to Casey."

They walked over to where Casey was arguing with Anders. Amelia was standing just behind him, glaring menacingly at Anders. Anders was glaring back.

"… and that hostage is an FBI agent, so we're taking over this operation," Casey was saying.

"Well I'm sorry, sweet cheeks," Anders rasped, "but this is my jurisdiction and my operation and you can't just come in here and bat your eyes at me and expect me to hand it over to you."

"Excuse me," Moses said, stepping between Casey and Anders. "Captain Anders? I am Moses Finkelstein, Founder and CEO of Buy More. I understand that my presence has been requested?"

Anders took a half step back and looked Moses over. "So you're the big cheese, huh? Yeah, the nutbar inside has asked for you."

"Well, then I would hate to disappoint him," Moses said. He turned toward the store.

"Whoa there, big fella," Anders said, grabbing Moses' arm. "You aren't just walking in there."

Moses turned back to her. "Of course. I should wait for Agents Casey," he nodded at Casey, "and Smith," he nodded at Amelia, "to get into place. Five minutes?" he asked Casey. He turned and looked over his shoulder. "There, I think, Agent Smith," he said, pointing to a rooftop across from the front of the Buy More.

Casey smiled and jogged away. Amelia pulled a long, black case from the back of the car and walked toward the perch Moses had pointed out.

"Now look here…" Anders started.

"I do thank you so much for your assistance," Moses said, smiling at Anders. "You have done a tremendous job, what with capturing the Buy More Bomber's associates. I have already expressed my gratitude to Police Commissioner Ramirez. And now you have lured Abdul al Fayed out into the open. Brilliant police work, Captain. Simply brilliant. And now we can end this."

Anders frowned and started to say something, but Moses continued quickly.

"You remember Agent Carmichael, don't you? Of course you do. He's become something of a legend around here lately, I understand. He'll be accompanying me into the store to confront al Fayed. We couldn't have done it without you, Captain, and I intend to make that clear to Commissioner Ramirez, when I have dinner with him next week. Now, I suppose that Agents Casey and Smith are in position. We should be going. Come along, Agent Carmichael."

"Now just a minute," Anders stammered.

"Oh, no need to thank me," Moses said, waving a hand as he turned toward the building. "Always happy to assist Los Angeles' finest whenever I can."

He started walking toward the store. Chuck had to jog the first couple steps to keep up with him, and then settled into step beside him.

Anders blinked in confusion, but didn't move to stop them.

"Are you really having dinner with the Police Commissioner next week?" Chuck asked quietly.

"Of course not," Moses said. "The man's a bore. But Captain Anders doesn't know that. That's your first lesson, Charles. Just take charge. People, especially those in a hierarchical organization, are used to following orders. So give them orders."

They reached the front of the store and Moses stopped. He turned to Chuck and smiled. He didn't appear nervous in the least. "Are you ready, my boy?" he asked.

Chuck swallowed hard and nodded.

Moses stepped forward and the doors opened.