Don't own Chuck
Gina went to the vault and looked over the inventory list of the items taken from Abe's apartment until she found what she was looking for. She searched through the item numbers on the shelves until she found the bin she was looking for then reached in and took out a flash drive. After looking around to make sure no one was there she dropped it into a secret compartment she had in her purse that would also shielded the contents against x-ray devices.
"I hope he knows what he's asking me to do," said Gina. She didn't sign the checkout form for what she'd taken but instead walked straight back to her desk. It was late enough so that she could leave without anyone taking notice. She just gathered a few things then she headed for the elevator.
"There's no way around this now but I'm going to have to keep this thing with me tonight at home. Not cool, not cool at all and I don't know how he could ask me to do this for him," she mumbled to herself as she rode the elevator up to the ground floor.
"But he had and you have to do what you have to do," she reminded herself as the elevator doors opened up and she stepped out. She noticed a line of Embassy staff waiting in line near the exit but it hadn't register with her what was going on until she was called to by a Marine guard.
"I'm sorry Ma'am but no one can leave until we've search them and their belongings. Please, come over and place your bag on the table."
"Searched?" said Gina as her heart skipped a beat. Was she being set up and were they looking for what she had in her bag. But that was ridiculous because no one would know what she'd taken and they wouldn't know it was missing, not until tomorrow and maybe not ever if it got dropped off the inventory list.
"Sure, but when did this start?" Gina asked as she put her bag on the table. "I didn't have to go through this yesterday when I left."
"It started today when the Ambassador returned from a meeting. She walked in shortly before your boss but he didn't tell you anything?"
"I haven't seen him all afternoon. You know what it's like, I do all the work and he does all the partying... or making contacts as he would call it."
"Yeah, I get that," said the Lance Corporal as he passed a wand over her then gave a quick look in her bag. Gina watched him with eagle eyes and held her breath as he put his hands in it. But the flash drive was safely tucked away in the hidden compartment and in a few minutes he was handing her bag back to her. Once outside she made her way quickly to a taxi stand.
"Whoin, bitte," asked the taxi driver as he looked at her in the rearview then asked her in English. "Where to Miss?" She told the man her address then he sped away from the curb. She looked for a moment over her shoulder at the Embassy as it disappeared behind her and felt a knot tighten in her stomach.
"This knot isn't going to go away until I get rid of this thing," she said to herself as she looked down at her bag. "But like you said before orders are orders and if they weren't they'd be suggestions."
"Is something the matter," asked the taxi driver as he noticed the look on Gina's face in the rearview. But before Gina could answer a garbage truck rammed the side of the taxi. She saw broken glass and felt herself being tumbled around inside. She was barely conscious when a gloved hand reached inside the taxi and grabbed her purse.
"No, you can't have that," she yelled as she tried to take it back. The last thing she saw was a muzzle flash when she looked up at the man who was stealing her purse and the USB drive.
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Mary got into her Ford Escort with its diplomatic plates. She'd checked it out of the embassy motor pool that morning before she drove over to investigate Mark Talebort's untimely demise then over to his apartment. She sat in it afterwards and watched Jim Henson and the Ambassador leave. Jim had his own car while the Ambassador had a car and driver. There was nothing unusual there. Jim paused outside and look around like a spook making sure he was clean. After that German intelligence showed up and she went over to renew her friendship if that's what it could be called with Herr Detrick. She walked back after her friendly chat and got into her car thinking about her next move.
"You should take this car back to the Embassy then get ready for..." she stopped thinking as soon as she turned the key. She heard a clicking sound one she knew quite well and from then on it was pure muscle memory. Grabbing her purse, she bailed out of the Ford in the nick of time as it was enveloped in a ball of fire.
"You could've waited a few minutes to see if I was all right," said Mary as she batted out a sleeve that had caught on fire watching the two BND security vans sped off.
"If I didn't know better Detrick I'd think you'd planted that bomb," she said as she started to walk off. People were starting to fill the street and she needed to get out of there.
"But you know he's not to blame and you brought this on yourself. You wanted to play whack-a-mole well the mole just tried to whack back."
Mary heard sirens coming in her direction and she knew she needed to get out of there and in a hurry. The last thing she needed was to get bogged down trying to explain to some cop why someone had tried to launch her into orbit. Which she couldn't do even if she wanted to. The first thing she did was to take off her charred overcoat and toss it in a trash can.
"I liked that coat," said Mary as she heaved a sigh then flagged down a cab. The cabby slowed down and picked her up. The man looked back at Mary in the rearview with her hair in a mess and soot on her face as well as her on hands. He then saw the blue lights of the fire brigade along with the police drive past him both with sirens blaring.
"I need to get to Potsdamer Platz on the double. I'm going to be late meeting a friend so there's an extra fifty euro if you get me there in a hurry."
"The man just nodded then pulled out. He started to reach for his radio but looked in the back through his mirror to see Mary shake her head. The cabby began to sweat and put his hand back on the steering wheel. Mary took towelettes from her purse she kept for Bunny and used them to clean herself up as they drove across Berlin.
"You can pull over there," said Mary as she pointed to the curb. "Yes, right over there will be fine," she said as the taxi driver eased over. "How much do I owe you?"
"Lady, I don't want any trouble. I have a family to feed so just get out. There's no charge just get out of my cab so please just go."
"That's ridiculous you need get paid or how are you going to feed your family Johann," said Mary reading the man's license posted in the cab. "Now, I'm not going to ask you not to report me. I just ask you give me an hour after that you can do your duty. Do you understand Johann?" said Mary. She intentionally mentioned him by name twice so he'd understand she'd be able to find him and his family if he didn't do as he was told.
"Ja, ich verstehe," he said as sweat rolled off his forehead. Mary tossed the man two fifties which he grabbed and pocketed then sped away as fast as he could once she got out. The man wasn't stupid when he told the authorities where he dropped her off he'd omit the part about her paying for the ride. If he told them that she'd paid him they wouldn't confiscate the two fifties now safely tucked away and that would be the last he'd see of his money. Civic duty yes but after the family gets fed.
Mary got off in Potsdamer Platz where she hopped on a passing bus avoiding cameras. She rode the bus over to Leipziger Platz which was nearby. After getting off the bus she did a walk around the square to make sure she was clean then made a beeline for her hotel. She went straight up to her room and got cleaned up. Once she got out of the shower she poured herself a stiff drink.
"Just what the doctor ordered," she said as she took a sip. She rotated her arm trying to get the chinks out of her shoulder. "You're getting too old for this crap," she said as took another sip.
"I guess I should check in," said Mary. She pulled out her comms device, set it up then contacted Langley.
[Back in Virginia]
Beckman was sitting behind her desk wondering why Mary hadn't called in yet. She'd touched bases with Montenegro and Chief Silverman told her the two would be assassins were now cooperating. But with the Turk out of the picture their intel was only marginally importance.
"Ma'am," said Connie her secretary as she stuck her head in the door. "Roan just called in and said his plane was on schedule. He should be wheels down in Berlin by ten in the morning their time."
"Good, relay the update to Jim Pearson. You can tell him from me that I expect him to meet Roan and to bring him up to speed. Once you get that done you can go home."
"I can stay here if you need me. I don't mind," she said. Beckman started shaking her head but before she could say anything her Major came running in.
"Ma'am, I just got called from down below. Mary Bartowski is trying to report in. It seems someone tried to take her out."
"Then why am I talking to you and not to her? Thanks Connie, finish what I asked then got home. We can pick it up tomorrow. Major have her patched through right now."
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Omer holstered his weapon then pocketed the flash drive as he ran away from the accident scene. He'd already had his escape route planned out and scoped out to avoid CCTV cameras. Rounding a corner and running down an alleyway he found the Mercedes he'd left. For a moment he sat behind the wheel catching his breath then he reached over and pulled a phone out from the gloves box.
"She was where you said she'd be and I've got the drive in my pocket. I'll be at the rendezvous tonight at two like we agreed. … Yes, I'm clean of course I am. This isn't my first rodeo cowboy. … Okay, I'll make sure but you make sure you've got my money. … No, I can't wait. I want to get paid up front. I can't afford to wait around here, not with the Turk gone. It won't be long before someone figures out I'm still alive and comes looking to tie up loose ends. I need to disappear before someone makes me disappear. … See that wasn't so difficult now was it. … Yes, I'm leaving now and of course I'll be careful. Are you worried about me or what I've got in my pocket? … Just be on time tonight or I might have to put this up on the market. … No, need to get angry and moderate your language I was just joking. I'll wait an hour for you but no more," said Omer then he hung up.
"What kind of idiot tries to barter when he hasn't got anything to barter with," said Omer as he pulled out of the alley and onto the street merging with traffic. "Maybe I should ask for more or sell it to the highest bidder."
"You told your friend that was a joke," he said to himself as he glanced up in the rearview. "You don't even know what's on it."
"Well, that's easy enough to solve. I just have to find a computer and see what's on it," he said to himself. "There that looks like to place that ought to have a computer," he said as he signaled he was going to turn off at the sign for the Berlin Buy More.
A few minutes late...
"Excuse me, excuse me," said Omer as he tried to flag down a Buy More shop assistant. But ended up chasing after him. "Can you help me?"
"Yes, go shop at some other store," said the tall thin red-headed man. "I work in after sales and installations. You need someone with a green shirt like that guy over there. His name is Fernando and he'll... well I'd like to say help you but I wouldn't count on it."
"Maybe, I should've brought in my piece," thought Omer as he approached the man in the green shirt. "Excuse me but I need some help."
"Don't we all brother," said Fernando as he continued to stock the shelves. "Can you come back... say next year about this time. I should be free but I'm not promising anything."
"You don't sound very German. What kind of name is Fernando for a German anyway? Never mind I don't care I just need..."
"Everyone needs something and that was Euthymic and as far as my name. My parents said they were listening to Abba when the dirty deed was done."
"I guess you were lucky they weren't listening to 'Dancing Queen'," said Omer as he laughed but Fernando just looked at him. "Right, well I need to see a computer."
"Well they're on the shelf over there," said Fernando pointing to the row in front of them. "You can knock yourself out."
"Wait where are you going?" said Omer as Fernando started to walk away. "Hold up, aren't you going to show me what you've got?"
"Entschuldigung, sorry but I'm on break. Here's Großen Michael, the store manager. You can ask him," said Fernando as he quickly disappeared.
"Entschuldigung, can you help me, bitte," said Omer as he tried to flag down the store manger who was obviously on the trail of Fernando who had quickly escaped capture.
"Was ist los... I'm sorry I'm having some staff problems. You bring these people in from the east and give them a job but they just don't know how to work. You'd think they'd be grateful. There are a lot of people in the unemployment line who' love their opportunity..."
"Opportunity to be a slave for the man," yelled a voice from the back followed by the sound of someone giving Großen Michael the raspberry.
"I heard that and you're going to push me too far one of these days and I'll fire the lot of you," he yelled and in reply he got another raspberry.
"Can we get back to my problem? I need to see what's on this pen drive," said Omer holding up the stick. "Which one of these can do what I need?"
"They all can," said the tall red-headed white shirt. "I'll show you," he said and before Omer could say no the white shirt had the pen drive in a laptop trying to open it.
"That's strange it's not opening. Where did you say you got this drive," said the man as he typed code on the screen. "Just as I thought. This pen is heavily encrypted with something that's military equivalent."
"Just give it back to me. You're not supposed to see this," said Omer as he pulled the pen out of the computer and shoved it into his pocket.
"Hey, you shouldn't do that. There are steps you need to follow. What are you going to say now? You're going to have to kill us because we saw what was on it?" said the red-head then laughed. They all laughed except Omer who was contemplating how to make it look like an accident.
"I get it. You've got a friend in the gaming world and he got you a copy of a new release. You need to tell your buddy if he doesn't give you the encryption key it's almost impossible to open. I said almost but if you let me see it and give me a little time I can hack it."
"No! ... No, this was a bad idea. I'll just go and do like you said. I'll call by friend and get the key then I'll come back for a computer."
"Cool, but tell me is it something like Call to Duty or some other first-person shooter? Just professional curiosity I need to know."
"Yeah, first person shooter," said Omer as he was thinking about getting his weapon from his car and doing some first-person shooting.
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Chuck and Casey were looking at the monitor when Sarah walked back in from her talk with Molly. She saw them huddled over the screen staring and wondered what they were up to so she walked up behind them to take a peek.
"What are you boys doing? This is no time to be playing video games. Chuck I can sort of understand but you John, this isn't very professional."
"What are you talking... oh you think we're playing... no look again that's our herder from this morning and that woman isn't Carmen Sandiego even though she looks like her. Casey's buddy at Fort Meade came through and this is what the bird overhead captured."
"So let me get this clear, what you're saying is the note on our car was left by a fictional character? This could only happen to us. I guess I need to apologize John."
"Don't worry about it. I'm trying to get my head around this too and you're right this could only happen to you two. I blame it on our close proximity to Hollywood where no one is who they say they are."
"That's it John. You're absolutely right," said Chuck as he pushed John aside from the keyboard and started typing.
"Most people say excuse me before they butt in and if I'm right I'd like to know what I'm right about or is that too much to ask?"
"John's right," said Sarah as she stood behind Chuck as he typed rapidly and different screens passed on the monitor. "Chuck, what are you doing?"
"Hopefully, I'll be able to show you in a few seconds but in the meantime what did you find out from Molly? Do she have any idea what's going on with Jack?"
"Yeah, how was it to interrogate a family member? What are you going to do at Christmas administer truth serum and play truth or dare? I bet you'd always assumed it would be dear old dad on the other side of the bright light."
"I didn't interrogate Molly I'd have you to know. She and I simply had a conversation sister to sister and part of that conversation was about Jack. She thinks something is going on. Jack didn't sleep in his bed last night which probably means he slept in the Dungeon where Margo could keep an eye on him."
"Just because he didn't sleep in his bed doesn't mean he slept down in the dungeon. He could've gone out for some reason and spent the night out..." said Chuck but Sarah cut him off.
"And whatever that reason is it's probably illegal or dishonest or both. I pinged his phone and he is in the casino now. I can't tell where in the casino not without people finding out that I'd prefer not knowing what's going on until I do."
"And you think Beckman doesn't know? This has got her signature all over it and she's probably the person who ordered Jack to he held on ice. I think you've been pussy footing around with this thing for too long. If I were you I'd go straight for the jugglers..."
"John, that is a figure of speech, isn't it? Or do you expect Sarah to rip someone's throat out and if you have in the past I'd prefer not to know if you don't mind."
"John's right, I need to go to Beckman and see what she knows then go from there. Because I don't see anyone coming forward."
"Well, let me finish here first. When I'm done I should be able to give us a possible name for our Carmen Sandiego."
"You haven't explained to us what you're doing or how what you're doing is going to help identify this person who looks like... well we know who she looks like."
"It's easy and Casey's the one who had the right idea. We live in a place where no one is who they seem to be. This woman can't be this fictional character, or can she? What if she is Carmen Sandiego."
"Now, you've lost me. Do I need to break out the straight jacket and make an appoint with Dr. Leo," said Casey. "We just all agreed that Carmen Sandiego was or is a fictional character with the stress on 'fictional'. Now, you're trying to tell me she really does exist? Chuck, how long were you out in the sun today?"
"When I said what if she were Carmen Sandiego I meant what if she'd played the role of Carmen before? You said it we live near Hollywood. What if the person we saw in the photo was an actress who has signed up to play the role of Carmen Sandiego and placed that note on our windshield as some sort of screen test?"
"That seems a little farfetched to me," said John as he scratched his head. "Are you trying to say some idiot is dumb enough to dress up like Carmen Sandiego then put a note on your windshield? I know there are some stupid people in this world and one of them is upstairs right now in the manager's office but even he wouldn't fall for a load of crap like that."
"John, Chuck is right. You tell someone this is a screen test for some big Hollywood production and that you need them in a costume. They'll be lined up around the block for the chance thinking this could be their big break through."
"And here's my proof," said Chuck as the computer printed out information on an actress from the Screen Actors Guild.
"Eileen Von Spassenmacherimessen aka Eileen Jones," read Sarah.
"I wonder why she changed her name," said Chuck as Sarah and Casey gave him a look.