I'll consider myself fortunate if anyone reads this tonight. After all, how psyched are you that Chuck will get a fourth season? OK, same timeslot, Ali Adler is moving to another show, and it may have to compete with The Big Bang Theory again. But still, I'll take at least 13 more episodes, won't you?
The first four chapters of the story pretty much laid out the groundwork for what will happen. In this chapter, things start to happen. It starts out slowly but builds up at the end. Chapter 6 will then ramp things up even more, and both chapters will answer a few things.
As always, please leave reviews. Write anything you want. It all costs the same, doesn't it?
Moscow, Russia
April 18, 2011
11:00 AM
Taytia Amasova kept her spot on the park bench across from the French Embassy for the fourth day in a row. She looked all over for other vantage points of the entrance, but there weren't any that gave as good of a view. Obviously, being incognito was Spy School 101 stuff, but sometimes you didn't have any choice. The best she could do was vary the times she was there and make it look like she worked nearby and simply needed to be outdoors for a while. Sometimes, she read a newspaper; other times, she brought a book with her. Today, she had a laptop computer.
It was amazing the things you could order online now. She guessed the DGSE…or whoever the traitor was in it…was attempting to find her quickly. Fortunately, a very passable wig converted her into a redhead, and she ordered color contact lenses to change her eyes to a greenish-blue hue that would probably get every guy's attention in a nightclub. She knew that wouldn't fool everybody, but at this point, she hoped they were simply scanning surveillance and traffic cameras in various cities, attempting to visually locate her. Perhaps she had some time before they stepped up the search on her.
Unfortunately, she had to concede the possibility they already knew where she was. Laurent was not a fool. She told him what she thought she saw in that picture, and he was smart enough to realize she would never just lay low. She needed proof, and she would go right to the source to obtain it. That was why she sat outside of the Embassy watching for anything out of the ordinary. She knew she was wearing a target on her back right now. But without finding out what was on those documents, that target would never come off.
She found her potential mark. He had a rather unusual schedule. She knew he was simply a courier, but some of the items he carried were not the sort of things Consulate Services issued their employees. His purportment indicated he had more money than he should have been making, and he tried to hide that fact, not too unlike rich executives dressing down to make themselves less of a target to kidnappers. There was something there that made her believe he was on the take.
She followed him from a distance. Some days, he walked to a restaurant nearby. Other days, it was his way home to an apartment a kilometer from the consulate. Today, he was heading for the Metro. It was a lead she couldn't afford to lose. Although she needed the evidence to get the killers off her back, she had to contemplate the possibility they would take her out simply because she knew too much.
But even if finding the proof still meant they would try to kill her, she couldn't give up. She needed to give him a reason to trust her. She hadn't thought much about him in three years. Certainly he was one of the best things that had ever come along in her life. They clicked in conversations at dinner, he always took an interest in what she liked, and their times in the bedroom…it certainly brought a smile to her face whenever she thought of it. But their lives were too different. He worked for the NSA, and she worked an entire ocean away. Their jobs would always interfere, and they realized that when they parted ways in California three years ago.
But she may very well be out of a job right now. And if he knew she would be around, perhaps he'd consider a change of career, too.
Unknown Location, California
April 20, 2011
3:00 PM
This was the mother of all headaches he had. But then, not a single person believed this would be an easy process, including him.
Stephen Bartowski just completed the latest test on Jimmy Slade. He had marks on his forehead from having leads attached to it a few dozen times since he arrived here to begin configuring the new Intersect. They had gone through many different tests already to see how his mind would react to certain images. Jimmy knew this would be a long process. But he felt a lot better about the Intersect this time around than he did 21 years ago at the University of Illinois. At least now, he wasn't just taken into a room and shown the images. There would be a lot of work to make sure everything went perfectly. And obviously there would be a few new tricks to this one, given what he had seen of Chuck's abilities.
Stephen typed away furiously at his computer as the data from the latest scans compiled. He wanted to get this just right. There was a lot of information to program into the images Jimmy would need for the new Intersect. He had hoped he would only find himself in front of this computer one last time: to remove Chuck's Intersect. He never wanted Chuck to upload the Intersect meant for Bryce, but he knew Chuck did it to keep it from falling into enemy hands and to protect Sarah and Casey. Stephen spent years thinking he could never fix the mistakes of his past. But slowly the opportunities presented themselves, and he made sure they didn't pass him by. He reconciled with Chuck and Ellie, he was finally able to walk away from the government after helping in taking down Fulcrum, and he finally got the Intersect removed from the first person to receive it. He owed that to Jimmy. He didn't want to build a new Intersect, but he figured there would be no way the government would let Chuck and Sarah go without setting up some sort of successor to their work. Stephen figured an incredible amount of luck decided to fall his way. Not only did Jimmy survive the explosion that saved Chuck and Sarah 18 months ago, he was now an agent and willing to provide the way for Chuck and Sarah to live a happy life away from danger.
Jimmy got up from the chair and stretched.
"You need a break?" Stephen asked him.
Jimmy waved it off. "Nah. Just have to clear my head a bit. I signed up for this, right?"
Stephen shook his head and smiled. "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't want to knock my head off, much less even do this again. I thought I put you through enough already."
Jimmy shrugged. "As much as I want to be sometimes, I guess I'm not a vengeful person. Even if I was, I think you're safely off my list. You got the Intersect out, right?"
"But look what you had to go through because of it."
Jimmy's voice softened. "I think that would have happened, Project Goodwin or not. You didn't do that to me. I did it to myself."
"I read your file, Jimmy. We knew everything about you. You didn't exactly grow up in a loving, caring family. Not a lot of kids went through what you did. And the CIA knew that, too. They put you at the front of the line in the project because of it. Your test scores were through the roof, but anybody in that group could have gone first. The CIA figured you had nothing to lose if something went wrong."
Jimmy shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. I mean, what would I do anyway? Dig up my old man's corpse and beat the crap out of it? Organize a 25-year high school reunion and torch the place? All I can do is forget it and move forward. And that wouldn't have happened if I never met Chuck and Sarah. I owe this to them as much as I owe it to myself."
"Given everything you've been through and still did for my family, I really don't understand why you think you owe them."
Jimmy was silent for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe it's like someone who worked minimum wage all their life and suddenly they win the lottery. They'd appreciate the money a lot more than someone who was always rich."
Stephen smiled. To some degree, he still couldn't believe this was that same broken man who Chuck, Sarah, and Casey brought to him 18 months ago. A lot of old wounds opened up that day, not only because he found Jimmy alive, but he was unable at the time to remove the Intersect from him. He worked on trying to fix it until Chuck told him that Jimmy died in an explosion. It was the second time Stephen was devastated over Jimmy's death, even more so this time because he did it so Chuck and Sarah could escape. But for the second time, the rumors of Jimmy's death were highly exaggerated. Stephen was grateful to get the chance to fix what he did, and now he had been given the opportunity to get his son out of the spy business…or at least out of the field. He was going to see it through, no matter what.
Jimmy's mobile phone beeped. Stephen watched Jimmy read the message. Jimmy's face went ashen. Stephen became concerned.
"What's wrong?"
Jimmy's breathing became a bit labored. "Alex Forrest's father passed away."
Stephen slumped in his chair. "She's that agent from Las Vegas you told me about, right?"
"Yes. Alex and I have been…well…"
"Are you two in love?"
Jimmy stared at him and smiled. "What is with everybody asking me questions about my love life? I didn't even know I had one."
"It was only a matter of time with you. You just had to stop hating yourself and start trusting people. And you did."
Jimmy shrugged. "You're probably right. Chuck and Sarah knew Alex was attracted to me long before I did. We had sort of an emotional moment in San Diego. Things had been falling apart for her since her father had a stroke, and she needed someone. I guess I did a good job at being that someone. But she took time off to reconnect with her family. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from her since January."
"Maybe you should go out there. I won't need you for a while anyway. I have a lot of work to do with these readings, and I have to talk to Beckman about getting some of the items that are locked up in the DNI. Take your time. Alex might need you."
Jimmy was hesitant. "I don't know. I mean, wouldn't she have called by now if she wanted to see me?"
Stephen cut him off. "Hey, you're not going to make the same mistakes twice. You just said she needed you in San Diego. How would she not need you now? I can handle things here fine for a while. Go and be there for her."
Jimmy nodded. "OK, Mr. Bartowski."
"And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Stephen? You've earned that right a thousand times over."
Jimmy got up to get his jacket. "Sorry, Mr. Bartowski."
Stephen shook his head and quietly growled. He was starting to wonder if Jimmy did that on purpose just to annoy him. It was hard to tell.
Interstate 10, Arizona
April 21, 2011
3:00 PM
Jill Roberts was tired, angry, and was still in considerable pain from the extreme sunburn over her face, arms, and legs. She looked and felt as bad as she ever had in her life. Worst of all, she felt violated.
Who the hell was that bastard? Why did he play nice with her for an entire week, only to do what he did? She woke up in the middle of the day, the spring sun still beating down on her, on the side of a road she didn't recognize. She woke up with no wallet, no ID, no money, and no mobile phone. She was as stranded as one could be. She considered it nothing short of a miracle that she made it this far.
She managed to hitchhike her way to Hermosillo once she figured out she was somewhere in Mexico. From there, she was able to call her bosses at Fullerton's. They were happy to hear from her, and they called off the search for her around town. She had to wait a couple of days, but they were able to get her transport back to Tempe. The police questioned her about her kidnapper, but she wasn't able to provide much information. Most of what happened to her was still a blur. She remembered talking to Michael, and then the next thing she knew, she awoke by the side of the road. She tried to recall more, but she couldn't. It didn't make any sense. She never had more than one drink after a shift. It was merely to take the edge off after a long day.
Suddenly, she got into her car and took off, telling her bosses this time she would be gone for a few days. She figured out what happened but was afraid to tell the police. This Michael drugged her. One drink couldn't have made her pass out like that; he had to have done something to the drink. Didn't he hand it to her at one point? That was it, she thought. He slipped something in while handing her the drink.
Did he rape her? The police ran some tests to see if that was the case, but the results wouldn't be back for a day or two. It was possible, but why dump her off in Mexico? Why drive her all that way? It didn't make sense. There was little point in robbing her. She had $20 and an ATM card. She was living paycheck to paycheck, and he didn't look like the type that needed to rob someone of what little they had.
She tried to recall something. She concentrated on what they had talked about. She knew little about him, and it wouldn't surprise her that he made up all that crap about being in real estate. Did he ask her about anything? She remembered complaining about some of the more raucous students in the crowd, and she thought she had mentioned going to school herself. But after that…
A sense of urgency made her go 100 miles per hour down Interstate 10, tickets be damned. She must have said something about Stanford. That's what he wanted. He might have been wondering about her past, or what she knew about Bryce Larkin. Unfortunately, there was one other possibility she dreaded. She must have said something about Chuck.
She knew this was risky. Almost certainly Agent Walker or Major Casey would slap the handcuffs on her…if not kill her outright…for what she did to Chuck and then escaping. Jill could hardly blame them if they did. But she betrayed Chuck before. She refused to ever do it again. If this meant going back to jail for the rest of her life, she would take that over someone bringing harm to Chuck because of something she did. She had to tell him about what happened to her.
Buy More
April 22, 2011
11:00 AM
Ellie walked into the Buy More looking for Chuck. She was starting to worry because she hadn't heard much from Chuck and Sarah regarding their wedding. The ceremony was in five months, and it was almost impossible to book great locations for a wedding and reception in less time than that. She didn't know how much planning they had done, and she thought taking the time at lunch to talk to them might be a good place to start.
She didn't see Chuck on the floor, so she had no choice. She walked up to the Nerd Herd desk, where Jeff and Lester watched her entire approach.
"Guys, do you know where I can find Chuck?"
Jeff and Lester didn't say a word. They kept staring at her breasts, which were starting to show in her third month of pregnancy.
"Guys, I'm up here," Ellie spit out, more than a little annoyed.
"Sure, we can help you with those…THAT, help you with that," Lester replied, attempting to regain his dignity. He quickly went to the back to get Chuck. Jeff's eyes never left Ellie's chest. A small trail of drool was starting to trickle down the side of his mouth.
"I'm…just going to check on a birthday gift for Devon," Ellie said with great caution. The only thing creepier than Jeff with Lester was an unsupervised Jeff. She slowly backed away, hoping and praying it was morning sickness she was starting to feel.
Chuck came running out from the back of the store. "El, how many times did I warn you?"
"I know, I know, avoid the Nerd Herd desk until my stomach starts really showing. But could we go and talk with Sarah?"
"Sure, no problem. What's going on?"
"I just wanted to ask you and Sarah a few things about the wedding."
Chuck tried not to show it, but it was the last thing he wanted to do. "That's fine."
Chuck and Ellie walked over to the Orange Orange. Out of Ellie's sight, Chuck sent a text to Sarah's phone, sending out the warning. Inside the yogurt shop, Sarah looked at her iPhone when it beeped and sighed when she saw the message. She knew this would happen, but it didn't mean she wanted to deal with it. She did have to talk to Ellie at some point. They had to tell her they were moving to Washington D.C. after the wedding and something that was sure to make Ellie very happy. Certainly Sarah couldn't think of anyone more deserving.
The door chimed, and the two siblings walked in.
"Hi, Ellie. What brings you over here?"
"I just wanted to see how you and Chuck were doing with the plans for the wedding."
Sarah gave a tired smile. "I thought you might. We already booked the beach where you had your wedding at, because we thought it was so beautiful. There is a banquet hall about 10 miles from there that we liked, but we need your opinion on some of the entrees they have. That is, if the baby is up to it."
Ellie smiled. "Not to worry, Sarah. He can take it."
Chuck sat back in his chair. "He? You can't know if it's a boy or girl yet, can you?"
Ellie shrugged. "It's a maternal thing. I think it'll be a boy. Do you know who you are inviting?"
"It'll probably be a small wedding. Not a lot of people. No more than 50, I would say," Chuck told her with a bit of caution.
Ellie turned to Sarah. "Who are you inviting?"
"I only have one or two people to invite. I sent a letter to my father. I'm sure he'll be happy to walk me down the aisle."
Chuck watched Sarah put her best fake smile on. It was a bit of contention with her. Other than Carina, Sarah really didn't have anybody she could invite that she considered a friend. Chuck let her list Casey and Jimmy on her side of the invite list just so she could have people to invite. They had to remember to talk to Jimmy to see if he'd be coming with Alex Forrest or if Alex needed her own invite. Contacting her father would take considerable effort.
"And I'm inviting Morgan and Anna, of course," Chuck quickly interjected. "I also thought it would be good manners to invite Big Mike. Besides, he'd be responsible enough to bring a nice gift."
"What about…" Ellie looked at Chuck cautiously.
"Uh, Jeff and Lester…we'll just play that by ear."
Ellie sighed in relief. "OK. I'm so sorry to keep nagging about this, but I want the two of you to have the best wedding, and these things aren't easy to do. And if there's anything you need…you're short a few dollars for the good flowers, need someone to handle the invites, whatever…you can always come to me for help."
Chuck and Sarah smiled. "Actually, we need one very important thing from you, Ellie," Sarah said.
"Anything."
"Would you be my matron of honor for the wedding?"
Chuck was already reaching for the napkin holder at the next table in preparation. Sure enough, Ellie smiled as the tears came down. She hugged Sarah tightly.
"I would be so honored to stand up at your wedding. How could I not do that for one of the best things to ever happen to our family?"
Sarah had a huge grin on her face, despite the fact Ellie had a bear hug on her tighter than anything Mr. Colt inflicted when she fought him. "I can't think of anyone else I want standing beside me."
Chuck tried to get Sarah's attention. "Should we tell her about…the other thing?"
Ellie's head swung back and forth between Chuck and Sarah. "What? What other thing? You're not pregnant, too, are you?"
Sarah put her hands up. "No, Ellie. Slow down. I'm not pregnant. I had been putting out my resume just as a precaution because we've been getting some signs from corporate that the stores aren't doing well. A retail store in northern Virginia needs a floor manager, and they're interested in me. I would make more than twice as much as I do here. I talked to Chuck about it, and he thinks I should take the job."
Ellie was in shock. "Wait. You and Chuck are moving out east?"
"I've been looking for job openings around the D.C. area since Sarah found out about this, and I've sent out a few resumes. Nothing solid yet, but with what Sarah would make on this job, we'd have enough to live on for a while. Maybe I can find some engineering firm that could use my Stanford degree."
Ellie was speechless. She had always hoped Chuck would move on to bigger and better things than the Buy More, but to see it now staring her in the face was beyond comprehension.
"That is…that's…I am so proud of you Chuck," Ellie finally replied, embracing her younger brother. "I can't believe how quickly things are happening. But I always hoped you would find someone special."
Chuck took Sarah's hand. "You're right. Sometimes, it just takes the right person to tell you that you're so much more than you think you are."
Sarah smiled at that but resisted the temptation to give him a passionate kiss right in front of Ellie. It was so funny that Chuck talked about her changing his life. She protected him from harm, of course. But it was nothing compared to what he gave back to her. She never felt so at home, so comfortable, so loved, as she did since being in Burbank. She used to keep people at a distance, and now she wanted to have even more friends. It was a feeling she never thought she deserved or would ever achieve. And it was all because of the guy who thought she was the amazing one.
Moscow, Russia
April 22, 2011
12:00 PM
Taytia followed the courier onto the Metro for the third time this week. His pattern indicated he was the man carrying the smoking gun, the information that started her surveillance in Paris weeks ago. The same person who caused her to be in this situation in the first place. And she had every intention of finding out what he was doing.
He quickly exited the train, and Taytia followed twenty feet behind. This station was a bit on the uncrowded side for midday, and she tried to maintain a low profile. She then saw the man the courier was attempting to meet. She had never seen the man before. She set her mobile phone to record video and walked nearby them, pretending to talk on it.
The courier met with his contact. Taytia passed by, pretending to be wrapped up in her phone call. The contact looked through the documents in the folder the French courier handed him before closing it quickly. He started to walk away, but a noise stopped him in his tracks.
The noise was his assistant grabbing Taytia and dragging her back to them. The contact pulled his gun out and was ready to open fire at Taytia. But the man who held her was neither larger than her nor more skilled. She whirled around and chopped him in the throat. She pushed him forward as the contact fired, hitting the man instead. The French courier ran as the contact stepped forward to fire at her. She pulled her gun out and fired twice. He took one bullet in the chest and one in the head. He fell to the ground.
Taytia ran towards the stairwell, but the French courier was long gone. She should have shot him as well. Now they'll be after her. However, at least she would know what was going on. She grabbed the ID's of the two men, and she retrieved the folder of documents. She started reading through them
Mother of God, she thought.
The folder of documents contained information on troop strength in several NATO countries, including countries of the former Soviet Republics who were seeking inclusion. There were also locations of American nuclear missile bases and a directory of processing plants for nuclear materials.
The ID's the men carried were written in Korean. Judging by some of the glyphs and symbols, they were from North Korea.
Unknown Location, Pennsylvania
April 22, 2011
1:00 PM
Mr. Diaz checked to make sure the connection was encrypted and secure. This would be quite the conference call.
The image that displayed on his monitor was less than impressive. He never understood why the leadership of The Ring felt it so necessary to obscure themselves in the darkness when meeting with someone. Someone resourceful enough could figure out who these five were. But Mr. Diaz was hardly in an inquisitive mood. He was in the mood to negotiate.
"I believe I can deliver you more than what you asked for. However, I will want $20 million to deliver it to you."
"We are not in the habit of renegotiating contracts, Mr. Diaz," a male voice from the person on the right end of the group said with some displeasure.
"If you wish me to stop now, I will have no problem with it. My services are quite valuable to a lot of people. And I am certain they would pay me even more for the information that I possess."
"Very well," a female voice just to the left of the middle replied. "Tell us what information you have."
"What if I were to tell you there were two human Intersects, alive and well, and working for the CIA?"
"There is only one," the first man countered. "The other one is dead."
"No, you missed him. And he's flourishing quite nicely in his second life. However, I can deliver him to you, along with what you didn't get from Daniel Shaw last year: the plans for the Cipher computer."
"How do you expect to find James Slade?"
Mr. Diaz smiled. "That is a piece of good news. I actually expect him to come to me. It is a little weakness he has: he is very protective of people in trouble. I believe he would walk through your doors if he thought he was protecting the life of someone else."
"And what of the Cipher? How do you expect to take it from the government when they have it securely tucked away?"
Mr. Diaz gave a quiet chuckle. "It's funny you should mention that…"
Washington, D.C.
April 22, 2011
1:00 PM
Dana Browning walked down to the laboratory. She set her stopwatch to three minutes. That would be the amount of time she would have before it was discovered the cameras and sensors had been disabled and before anybody was able to set off an alarm. She would have to make it to the roof four floors up before that time expired.
She checked the harness on her belt and made sure her weapons were all in easy accessible locations. She looked at her watch. Five seconds, four seconds, three, two, one…
She hit the Start button and the clock counted down. The cameras and sensors were disabled, thanks to a program she dropped in the system two hours ago from a receptionist's computer who was out at lunch. She used a generic keycard programmed as a skeleton key. She opened the room. A technician looked at her in surprise. It would be the last thing he did as a knife thrown by Browning found the middle of his chest. A woman on her right tried to scream and reach for the alarm button. Browning gave a roundhouse kick to the face. The woman fell into the wall, where Browning wrapped her arm around the woman's neck and snapped it.
One more nerd is here, one more. Where is he? She thought as she went to the safe. She placed an electronic device on the safe to scan for the correct code. The third technician came at her with a baseball bat. She ducked down and spread-eagled as the bat missed her head. She sent a hard jab into the man's groin, and he doubled-over in pain. She grabbed the bat and swung it full-force at the man's head. He stopped moving.
The electronic device obtained the correct code. Browning punched it in and removed a large leather-bound folder from the safe. She tucked the folder inside of her suit as she took out a piton gun. She fired near a vent in the ceiling of the lab. An electronic winch connected to her belt pulled he up quickly. She opened the vent and aimed her piton gun again. The piton embedded itself at the top of the vent. She set the winch for a slower speed, since she barely fit inside the 18 inch-by-18 inch vent. She made it to the top of the vent and crawled the remaining 20 yards to the fan that led to the roof. She stuck the gun in the fan blades to stop them, and she crawled through the fan. She scaled the final 5 feet to the roof. By now, the disabled fan was almost certainly setting off alarms throughout the building. She quickly ran to the roof of the DNI in the rear of the building, near the parking lot. She dove off, and her harness arrested her descent two feet before she hit the ground. She ducked behind some bushes and shed her black leather catsuit. Underneath she wore a pair of dress slacks and a white blouse. She put on the coat she hid inside the catsuit and quietly slipped to the entrance where some people were leaving early for Easter Weekend. She casually walked to her car in the parking lot and drove out with the crowd.
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
April 22, 2011
2:30 PM
Jimmy Slade walked through West Laurel Hill Cemetery to look for the grave of Michael Forrest II. He never met the man, but he thought it was in his obligations to pay his respects to the father of the woman everyone seemed to think he should be with. He didn't know how to feel. Obviously, nobody ever comes to a cemetery in a good mood. He had only visited a cemetery twice: once to bury his mother and sister, and once to bury his father. The gravestones that marked their graves at a cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois reflected how he felt about them. For his mother and sister, their headstones indicated they were loving, kind individuals. His father's headstone, on the other hand, simply listed his name and the years he lived. He felt he had to put that at the minimum, but certainly Burton Slade didn't deserve anything more. Certainly not given the fact he was responsible for the two people lying next to him. As a final insult to the son he didn't bother trying to raise, he left the house where he lived in such shambles, it took Jimmy thousands of dollars to repair it to the point where he could sell it. Jimmy was well into his thirties by the time he paid all of the money back just to get rid of the house he never really lived in to begin with. They could have turned it into an Ultimart, like they did with Martin Blank's house in that John Cusack movie and he wouldn't have cared one bit.
Jimmy walked along a row of graves. It ended up being an easy search. Michael's grave still had two flags sticking out of it: an American flag and the flag for the city of Philadelphia. The item he found in the local paper indicated that Michael Forrest II was given a full burial with honors by the Philadelphia Police Department. It was unusual for a retired officer to receive it, as those were typically reserved for officers who died in the line of duty. Clearly Michael II made quite an impact on the people of Philadelphia. If it was anything like the impact his daughter made on Jimmy, it was little wonder why they gave him the full ceremony.
Jimmy placed the bouquet of flowers he brought with him next to the headstone. He was never more nervous in his life.
"Mr. Forrest…hello. You don't know me, but I know your daughter, Alexandra. My name is Roger Murdock."
Jimmy stopped and wondered what the hell he was thinking.
"Sorry, Mr. Forrest. I mean, you weren't going to tell anybody anyway, so why should I lie? My name is Jimmy Slade. I work for the CIA, as does your daughter. We met seven months ago in Las Vegas when we were working on a case. We successfully completed the mission and…I guess…things started to click with us. I have to be honest; I don't have any experience in relationships or love. One minute we were in danger, about to be killed by the Russian mob. And the next we're kissing and…well, I'll spare you the rest. I'm sure you always thought of her as Daddy's Little Girl or something.
"But the important thing is, we've become really close in the last seven months. At least it feels that way to me. I…I worry about her, I can't stop thinking about her, and it feels like we need each other. I guess things were going bad here when you had your stroke, and she needed someone to talk to. In a way, it's both comforting and scary that I was her choice. I mean, here's someone relying on me to be there for her and I can't even take care of myself.
"But these last three months without her have been tough. She left the CIA to be here with you. I can understand that. I mean, family is family, right? I can't exactly say I grew up in a pleasant environment. My dad drank all the time, I was that kid in school everybody picked on, and I've been alone trying to survive pretty much all of my life. But now…I don't know. It feels so weird after all that has happened to me, now I want to actually be with someone. And that someone is Alexandra."
Jimmy shook his head and looked at the sky. He started to pace back and forth. "I don't know, is that love? Like I said, I don't have any experience in this. I've asked one person about it, and they only told me you'll know when it happens. Maybe I am. I mean, I'm standing here talking to a grave about it. And it's the grave of someone I never met before. Hell, part of me keeps thinking you'll actually rise up and give me an answer. Which would be both really cool and really creepy, by the way."
Jimmy stopped pacing and looked intently at Michael's grave. "I don't know if there's anything past this life…angels, heaven and hell, reincarnation, whatever…but if you could let me know…or let her know somehow…if you think we should be together. I don't want to make her life more complicated than it is. I'm still trying to figure out life myself. But if I was to finally ask myself what I really wanted, I don't think the answer would matter, as long as Alexandra was there with me. I was used to living and being alone, and I guess I probably could for the rest of my life if I had to. But I don't want that anymore. I want more out of life. And I think she could provide it.
"Look, I'll…I'll let you be. I'm sure your first days in the next life didn't want to be spent listening to me ramble on. But at least know that you raised a smart, beautiful, amazing daughter. And I'd give anything to be with her."
Jimmy slowly walked away and went to his car. Twenty feet away, a tree rustled as someone stepped out from behind it, hiding from Jimmy.
Alex Forrest heard every word he said.
She looked towards Jimmy with her mouth dropped open in shock. He felt the same way about her as she felt about him. She felt a bit weak and had to hold onto the tree to keep her bearings. She vowed never to let him get away if she got another chance, and she was just granted the opportunity. She started running towards his car.
She made it four steps before a tranquilizer dart hit her in the back of the neck. She fell forward onto the ground. Mr. Diaz approached with his gun out and started to walk towards Alex. He saw Jimmy's car drive away, but that did not matter. He looked down at the unconscious woman in front of him.
"In order to get him, I need you."
Moscow, Russia
April 22, 2011
10:30 PM
Taytia kept her eye on the local news and various local Websites. Perhaps she had no shot of capturing the French courier who handed off the documents, but that didn't stop her from thinking she made a huge mistake.
Her face was plastered all over every newscast and Website, as she was wanted for two murders.
Obviously the courier talked to someone, and they decided to spin this in their favor. Why go after her when they can have every law enforcement agency do the work while they maintained a low profile? Even with the incriminating evidence, she was a dead woman now. Most of her avenues had been cut off. She couldn't walk around town, and taking the train would almost certainly get her caught at this point. She had to leave Moscow and get the files to someone she could trust.
In the world of espionage, however, the list of people you could trust was woefully short.
She didn't have much time left before this Internet connection would be traced. She compiled the message quickly.
SB, let us meet at Rick's place. We'll watch the parade two days early. Vous aime.
She sent the message quickly and shut down. She could only hope John Casey would respond. He was her last chance.