Don't own Chuck
A few hours later at Echo Park Casey pulled up with Chuck and Sarah after dropping Morgan and Alex off at their house. They tiptoed through the courtyard quietly as they made their way over to their front door. The room was dimly lit so Chuck didn't realize Kate had just dozed off and when he flipped the light switch Kate jumped up.
"I'm sorry if we startled you," said Chuck as they wheeled their trolleys inside. "Don't be mad with Casey because we didn't call. He... we were going to but one thing led to another and... well the long and the short of it here we are."
"My poor baby," said Sarah as she went over to Sam who was still asleep on the sofa with a blanket wrapped curled up in her pajamas.
"Sam, insisted she wanted to wait up for you guys. However, today was a long day for her but she did try she was just too tired," said Kate as Sarah sat down next to Sam. "I assume you know you've been called to go the Principal's Office tomorrow with her and Harry?"
"Yes, we got texted and we called but we don't know what exactly happened. Do you know where my Mom has disappeared to and who's this Harry?"
"Disappeared? I don't know anything about disappeared but it's a long story with your mother and I'm not sure what went on because Mary told me and I quote 'so you can have plausible deniability it's better if you don't know what I'm doing'. You see there was a dark SUV parked outside the school with four men inside. Sam noticed it and memorized the plate numbers then gave them to Mary who had numbers traced. That's as much as I know. Mary just said she'd handle it."
"What does that have to do with Sam and what happened in school? And who is this Harry? She didn't do a reflect test on him?" said Chuck as he looked over at Casey who was now standing behind Kate.
"No, where did you get an idea like that," laughed Kate as she held up a plastic box with Harry inside from under the blanket. "This is Harry. Someone brought him to school and a kid tried to put him in Sam's backpack but got bitten then he went into anaphylactic shook. If Sam hadn't gotten an antihistamine down him in time... well it's probably better not to think about that."
"So my...," Chuck started to say but caught Sarah's frown. "I mean our Sam is a hero," he said beaming, smiling from ear to ear. "I knew she wasn't in any trouble... not my little hero."
"Well, here father of the hero," said Sarah as she took the box with Harry inside and gave it to him. "I need to get 'our' little hero to bed and Kate needs to go home. Tomorrow will be here before you know it."
"What's wrong there, Chuck," said Casey as he patted Chuck on the shoulder as he was looking into the box causing Chuck to jump. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little spider?"
"Of course not... well as long as he stays in the box we won't have a problem. I hope this doesn't mean she wants a spider as a pet," said Chuck as he felt Harry looking back at him with his eight eyes.
"You mean tarantula, spiders are what you find under your sink. I've seen enough of them to know the difference. What's the matter Chuck are you afraid Sam is becoming a Wednesday?"
"Maybe under your sink you find them but under my sinks everything is clean and if by Wednesday you mean Wednesday Addams. Wednesday had black hair and always dressed in black besides she had a morbid sense of humor."
"I'd like to leave you with one last thought Gomez. 'She may not jump or twist or bend but a spider's a girl's best friend.' Think about it," said Casey as he took Kate by the hand then left.
"John, sometimes I hate you," said Chuck then he looked down at Harry looking back at him. It gave him shiver that ran up his spine. Suddenly Harry jumped against the side of the box making Chuck jumped back.
"What's the matter with you," said Sarah as she walked back into the living room. "Harry's in that box. He can't get out."
"I thought I saw Harry smile at me like he would at a fly. Here take this thing from me and if Sam says she wants one as pet the answer is a flat no. What's wrong with a dog or a cat even a hamster?
"You know tarantulas eat larger prey. A fly would be a light snack for Harry. But okay no spiders but what about a snake? I know what about a nice big boa constrictor. She could call her Huggee because she just wants to give you a nice big hug," said Sarah as she wrapped her arms around Chuck.
"You joke now until it eats you. Remember one of their favorite foods are bunnies."
"No snakes... definitely no snakes."
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Margo was having her own family crisis. Razhib had gone out on a date with a girl he'd met through a group of friends and was still out way past the time Margo had told him to be home. This resulted in Margo pacing back and forth down in the dungeon and the later it got without any news the direr the picture she painted for herself in her head.
"You know what I should do? I should triangulate his position using his cell phone... at least I'd know where he is," said Margo. "It's late and I should know where Raz is after all."
"How about repositioning a satellite and to check out his location. If he's inside building you could fly a drone overhead and do an IR scan to look for heat signals. But I don't know if you'd want to know what's going on inside."
"Shut up Mike," said Margo as he gave her a look. "You think I'm being foolish, don't you? I'm just concerned. Why couldn't I be the cool aunt that blows in and spoils the kid shamefully then blows out without having to worry about the consequences. My sister did this to me on purpose. I know she did."
"Somehow getting herself killed I don't think was what she'd intended. This is Raz's first date so cut him a little slack. It's not easy being a boy at his age."
"And you think it's easier being a girl? But I hear what you're saying so you think I should do what? I should just go up to the apartment and go to sleep. There's no way I'm going to be able to close an eye until he comes home."
"I don't expect you to go to your apartment and go to sleep but now you know what your parents did when you went out. Life is a big comic wheel and what goes around comes around."
"And what did you do? I bet you had your parents worried sick... hey wait a minute. I saw you talking to Raz before he went out. You didn't give him any of your sage advice, did you? You don't have to say a word I know you did. I hope you didn't tell him anything that will get him in trouble."
"He asked me how he should act around Miriam and I told him he should be himself. If she likes him she likes him but pretending to be something he wasn't won't work because sooner or later who we are always comes out."
"That's surprisingly good advice. I'm impressed but more than impressed I'd just like to know where he is right now and why he's not back home."
Before Mike could say anything, an agent ran over and informed them that the General was on the horn and she wanted to see them urgently.
"This is just what you need a nice distraction from what's going on," said Mike as they walked over to the conference room.
"That is unless she knows something about Razhib. Wait a minute you don't think he's been kidnapped and she's calling because she's received the ransom demand. I knew I should have run a full back ground check on Miriam and her family."
"A background check on whom," said Beckman looking at them from the monitor. "You can explain that to me later but for right now I need you to grab Jack Burton and put him in lock down."
"What has Jack done? Ma'am, he's been working on the plans for the tournament and running the casino. I can swear he hasn't had time to do anything."
"I didn't say he did. He needs to be put in protective custody until we can figure out what's going on. There are some very important and dangerous criminals who think he's short changed them..."
"Geez, that's not good for his health," said Mike. He hadn't realized he said what he was thinking out loud until Margo elbowed him.
"Golly gee, thank you agent for pointing that out for me. I'm glad you agree but my question is why are we still standing around here talking about this and you're not taking action?" Mike was saved by the bell from the General's sarcasm when they received Jack's distress signal.
"General, we're going to have to get back to you," said Margo as she cut the comms link. "Mike, I'm grabbing a team and going up. I want you to have a peek inside and tell me what I'm going to run into inside."
"I can grab a table and come with you," said Mike as he grabbed a table and logged in switching to a view to inside Jack's office. "I've got two shooters and both are armed but... that's strange."
"You can explain me what's strange as we ride the elevator up," said Margo. "You and you grab weapons then follow me," she said as she grabbed two more agents then they rode the elevator up. Mike briefed her on the way up.
"Are you sure about that," Margo asked as the elevator doors opened but before Mike could reply standing there waiting to ride it up was Razhib.
"You haven't been waiting up for me, have you," he said as he looked at Margo then at Mike. He saw behind them two other agents both recognized.
"Of course not... like I said before I trust you. Raz, I've got work to take care of so please do me a favor and take the elevator up. We'll talk tomorrow morning. I love you."
"I love you too... but wait a minute... what's going on?" said Razhib as he looked at Mike and the other two men. Growing up with his father in North Africa then being a servant to the Toy Maker before Chuck liberated him made him aware of things a normal kid his age wouldn't or shouldn't know like what the bulge of Glock nine looks like under a jacket.
"I don't have time to talk just now so please do as you're told," said Margo. Raz stood there and watched as she took the team across the hotel lobby. They disappeared inside as they cut through the casino to Jack's office.
"Mike, I want you to keep an eye on what's going on inside with your tablet but only come in if I signal you. I've got a plan I want to try that might keep everyone alive."
"Remember, you promised Raz you're going to talk to him tomorrow which means you can't go and get yourself killed tonight."
"Don't worry I know what I'm doing... or at least I think I do," Margo said as she knocked on Jack's door then walked inside.
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Outside of what used to be East Berlin a nondescript white van pulled up outside a modern high-rise building. Four men got out of the van dressed in white overalls they walked over to the building. One man took out lock picking tools while the other three kept a look out. In a matter of seconds, they were inside and quickly made their way over to the elevator.
"Why are we back here," complained one of the men. "Do you think it's a good idea for us to be back here so soon? You don't think someone might recognize us Omer and phone the police?"
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. Most of the people who live here are at work in the city and those who aren't won't want to get involved. Besides it's what the Turk wants and you don't want to piss him off. Now let's go," said Omer as he got everyone in the elevator then pushed the button to go up.
The doors closed and they rode the elevator up to the seventh floor then made their way down the hall to Abe's apartment. Abe could've afforded a much nicer place than this one but Abe had been a frugal man which made this betrayal and what he'd done that much more difficult to understand. Omer opened the door and they were inside.
"Okay, we're inside now will you tell us what we're looking for?" said the same man as they fanned out inside the apartment.
"Shush," said Omer as he directed a quick scan of the apartment to see if there had been any bugs placed since their last visit. The three men went into separate rooms with bug detection deviced then met back up. All held up their thumps.
"Okay, we're clear. Let me call the Boss and tell him we're in then we can see what he wants," said Omer as he took out his phone and called the Turk. "Boss, we're in now what are we supposed to be looking for that we didn't find before? ... I didn't mean anything by that I was just. ... Okay, I got that. I'll call you back," he said as he hung up and put away his phone.
"So, what is it we're looking for? Omer, If you look around someone else has already turned this place too so I don't know what the Turk expects us to find that hasn't already been found."
"Yeah, how about a little hint," said another man. Omer could see dissention was beginning to spreadi. "Is it bigger than a bread box but smaller than an elephant."
"We're looking for Abe's ledgers... his books. Just grab anything that looks financial and that also means anything electronic like computers, pen drives and the like..."
"But we grabbed all that last time," grumbled the man from before. "This is beginning to sound more and more like a wild goose chase."
"To answer your question before about what's bigger a .357 makes a bigger exit wound than a .38 and if you guys keep up complaining I'm going to give you a live demonstration. So shut up, get to work and try to act professional for once. You guys don't want to join Abe, do you?"
They went off each taking a room and tossing it again. But there was little that hadn't been tossed before so they spent a little over an hour breaking what hadn't been broken before until finally Omer called off the search.
"This is going nowhere. Let me call the Boss and tell him there was nothing to be found," said Omer as he pulled out his phone. He dreaded this call because he could tell from his call before Emin was in one of his moods but it had to me made.
"Boss, it's me. ... no, we didn't find anything but someone was in here after we left the last time. ... I'm sorry can you repeat that. What did you say you wanted us to do? I think I miss heard," he said. Omer had to hold the phone away from his head as loudly as the Turk screamed into his ear.
"Yes Boss, I heard you loud and clear now. Don't worry you can consider it done," said Omer then he hung up and put away his phone. The men were silent and waited for Omer to speak but when he didn't they asked.
"So what's the matter? You should see the look on your face right now. So spit it out what does the Boss want us to do? Can't be anything we haven't already done."
"Did we bring that Semtex with us? The boss wants to make sure if we overlooked something no one else will find it or be able to use it."
"Yeah, we brought it and it's downstairs in the van but the bad news is that the blasting caps and the detonators are back at our safe house."
"Crap, then why did we bring the Semtex? Were you guys planning on going into sculpting? Okay, one of you needs to run back to the safe house while the rest of us hang around here."
"We could rig something inside with the gas and make it look it look like an accident. I'm just saying besides running back to the safe house then coming back here is going to take at least a couple of hours."
"Then I suggest you get a move on it. The Boss wants a guarantee that nothing will be left in here and a faulty gas line might cause damage but we can't guarantee that the local fire brigade won't arrive in time to put out the fire or that because of the fire something might be found we overlooked. I'm getting tired of explaining myself and when I do we're going to have a little hole big hole demonstration," said Omar as he patted his shoulder holster.
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Mary was in the air on her way to Montenegro when her flight was detoured to Schönefield International airport in Berlin. The General wanted Mary to have a look at Abe's apartment thinking that something might've been overlooked and to have a chat with the man who had turned Abe away at the embassy. They both agreed something wasn't right with the way it had gone down.
"Here is the file you asked for on the guy from the embassy. His name is Mark Talebort and just on a quick glance there doesn't that seems to raise any flags. He's been with the State Department since he graduated from university and other than this one incident his career has been spotless."
"That's the way moles operate," said Mary as she start thumbing through it on the screen. "They burrow their way in then when the time comes they go active. Major, I need you to dig a little deeper and check into his financials. Also, I'm looking at what you sent me and there doesn't seem to be a Mrs. Talebort. I need to know if there's a significant other and if there is who this person is..."
"Then you want me to run a background check on them and get back with you. I'll start digging as soon as we get off the line."
"Good you know what I need then," said Mary as the fasten seat belt sign came on in the overhead. "It looks like we're about to make our approach so you can tell the General I'm going straight over to apartment. I'll check in with the station chief afterwards and that would be Jim Henson. He's still the chief there, right?"
"Yes, and to give you a little heads up he's a little pissed you're coming. He was asking the General if she thought he didn't think he knew how to run his station. The General wanted me to warn you that he might've poisoned the water with the Ambassador."
"I've had dealing with him before and I know how he can be. I hope the General realize that I don't have time for prima ballerinas so she should be standing by because this could get ugly."
"You have her full support," said the Major then he signed off. Mary handed the flight attendant her glass then brought her chair up thinking about what the Major had said.
"That's nice of her to tell you to tell me that but it would've been better if it had come straight from her or was she thinking about plausible deniability," thought Mary as she felt the plane begin its descent.
"Whatever the reason I just hope she was able to get Jack secured. I bought him a little time with that phone call," she said to herself as she smiled wonder what Gustav's face looked like when he she told him what she knew.
"Yes, I might've bought him a little time but I don't know how much," she mumbled to herself as she felt the wheels touch down. "I hope Silverman is as good as Chuck thinks she is. Okay, time to get your head in the game," she said as the plane started taxing over to an isolated area of the airport.
"Oh, Jim I don't have time for your shenanigans," said Mary as she looked out the window and saw the lights from the main terminal getting father away. "Looks like I'm going to have to put you in your place... which could be a body bag if you really piss me off."