A/N - Here is the nest chapter. The Curling is for one of my wonderful reviewers who requested it early on. You know who you are. Hope you like it. ;) I don't own Chuck, Olympics, Cutting Edge, etc... Please let me know what you think.
Chapter 31
Sarah was walking so fast toward the Ice Cube she was almost dragging Chuck with her.
"Will you slow down honey? They'll be safe as long as they are inside the arena."
Ignoring her husband, Sarah kept up the pace until they reached the entrance. Chuck pulled the tickets out of his pocket and handed them to the ticket taker. Once inside, they scanned the arena for the Dudeks but didn't see them.
"Let's check the bathrooms Chuck. Molly is with them. Maybe she needed a change."
"Good thinking Sarah." They headed off to the left for the nearest restrooms. Just as they arrived, the door flew open and Sarah almost crashed into Kasia as she exited the bathroom with Molly in her arms. Startled, Kasia and Sarah looked at each other but neither spoke. Finally Chuck said something.
"So sorry Kasia. My wife was in a hurry."
After getting over her surprise Kasia said "No harm done. I was just surprised to see you right then."
"I'm sorry for almost running into you and Molly, Kasia. I was in too much of a hurry."
"Go on in. We'll wait for you out here." Kasia said.
Sarah looked embarrassed for a moment. "What I meant was we were in a hurry to find you and Damian."
"Oh? We're always glad to see you two. Is this something important?"
"Yes. It's something Damian needs to hear too."
"He should be out in a minute. Is this something for us to worry about?"
As if on cue, Damian exited the men's room and walked up to the group. "Sarah, Chuck. What a nice surprise." They exchanged handshakes and hugs.
Kasia said, "Damian, honey. They have something they want to tell us. It sounds serious."
Damian raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Chuck motioned for them to follow them into a quieter corner of the walkway.
Sarah spoke up. "I'm not trying to alarm you, but Chuck and I were sitting by the Black Sea this morning and overheard two men talking. My Polish is a little rusty but I heard them mention your name and that you needed to be persuaded."
Kasia immediately put her hand to her mouth and Damian almost froze in place.
"What is it?" Sarah asked.
"We received a note under our door two nights ago and a phone call last night demanding that we sell Athos Inc., our company that owns our oil and gas interests in this area."
"Is this the first time they have contacted you?" Chuck asked.
"My father told me about a year ago that a company wanted to buy Athos. My father refused to sell…." Damian drifted off into thought.
"Are you OK Damian?"
Kasia said "We've had suspicions that Damian's father was killed because he refused to sell. Unfortunately we could never find any proof."
Damian added "About a month ago, we were approached by another company wanting to buy Athos. The Board of Directors determined that the price wasn't high enough and told them so. We expected a sweetened offer but never got one."
"Would you be willing to sell if the price was right?"
"Probably. We think this region is too volatile to want to expand operations here. If we got our price, we'd probably sell. The offer we received was ridiculously low."
"So, it sounds like they want to get the company at a bargain price and are willing to force you to sell."
"It sure seems that way. What should we do?"
"Well, enjoy the curling match. You'll be safe in here. My mother and father work for the US government. We told my mom about what Sarah heard. Maybe she has some ideas. Sarah and I will stay with you when we leave the arena."
"We don't want to put you in any danger."
Molly started to fuss a little and Kasia put her pacifier in her mouth. She calmed right down.
"The more people that are around you the safer you will be. We'll be sure to stay with you after the match until we can get back to the hotel and talk to my mom."
Kasia and Damian looked at each other. "OK, sounds like a plan. Thank you. Where are you sitting?"
"We're in row C, what about you?"
"We're in the same row." They compared seats. "We're just a few seats down from you. Maybe we can get the people next to you to switch with us."
When they got to their seats, they were able to switch with the other spectators so they could sit next to each other. Sarah was happy to sit next to Molly and held her in her lap. Chuck smiled knowing that in a few months she would be holding their baby. He could hardly wait.
Sarah passed Molly over to Chuck. She reached up with her little hand and grabbed his nose. Chuck started to talk funny to Molly which got her to giggle. Sarah watched her husband knowing that he was going to be a great dad to their baby. It made her feel warm inside.
The teams came out on the ice. Cole Barker, the Skip of the United Kingdom team, saw Chuck and Sarah and waved to them. Damian looked over at Chuck. "How do you know him?"
"We met in Vancouver. He tried to pick up Sarah at a place called Patel's."
Sarah spoke up. "In all fairness, he didn't know Chuck and I were together. He backed off as soon as he found out. He has a thing for figure skaters."
Looking down to row A, Chuck saw Karolina Costner. "Look Sarah," he said. "I guess Karolina and Cole have hit it off. She's here."
Sarah smirked. "Don't read too much into it sweetie. What, I introduced them three days ago? Let' see if it lasts until the end of the games before we begin to think Cole has been tamed."
Kasia looked over at Chuck and noticed Molly had fallen asleep in his arms. "I take it that Cole thinks of himself as quite the ladies' man."
"That he does Kasia. But deep down, he really is a nice guy."
Karolina turned around in her seat and spotted Sarah. She waved and Sarah waved back. She looked quite happy.
"Don't look now sweetheart, but it's starting to look like the Sarah Bartowski matchmaking service has struck again." Chuck teased.
Sarah bumped Chuck's shoulder with hers. "Hey, you'll wake Molly up."
Kasia chuckled. "She's introduced a few couples to each other?"
"Not just anyone Kasia. She's helped tame the most ardent bachelors and bachelorettes. Her former partner Bryce Larkin for one and her friend Carina Miller has found a steady relationship with my teammate Crash Thompson."
Sarah said "You're equally to blame for Crash and Carina getting together."
"Maybe, but you're the one who encouraged them."
Damian said "Well, we all know who to call when it's time for Molly to find a husband."
That got them all laughing.
xxxxx
The curling match started with Poland going first and the UK had the hammer which is a huge advantage as you deliver the last stone in that end. The hammer switches to the team that did not score in the previous end. After the eighth stone was delivered, the UK had knocked away the closest Polish stone with a stone that stopped on the button to lead 1 – 0 after the first end. Since the Polish team then had the hammer for the next end, they won the point. The next six ends finished the same way so that the score was tied 4 – 4 heading into the ninth end with the UK having the hammer. There are ten ends in all.
Poland was outstanding in the ninth end and when Cole delivered the eighth and final stone for the UK, he was forced to try two squeeze his stone between two others to become the closest. The sweepers attempted to work their magic, but there just wasn't enough room for Cole's stone to squeeze through stealing the point for Poland. Heading into the tenth and final end, Poland was ahead 5 – 4. Since the UK retained the hammer, it looked like the match was heading into extra ends.
Chuck and Sarah didn't know much about curling, so Damian and Kasia explained the strategy and scoring. Molly took turns sitting on the four adult laps and reveled in all the attention she was getting, but didn't pay much attention to the match. Her pram was left near the exit with all the other prams. Little did they know, but someone placed a small object in Molly's pram while the match was going on.
The tenth and normally final end was a tense affair with well delivered stones being placed around the button. Cole delivered the seventh stone for the UK, knocking away the Polish stone and leaving his on the middle of the button. The Polish skip needed to knock Cole's stone away from the button but delivered a poor throw that missed everything. This gave Cole the opportunity to deliver another stone close to the button that would give his team two points and the victory. Poland had two stones close by so that Cole had to be very careful to not hit his stone and knock it away, giving Poland the victory. At first, Cole's delivery looked to be a little short but his sweepers swept furiously to bring the stone closer and closer to the button. When it stopped it was unclear whether it was closer than the nearest Polish stone. The crowd stood to watch the measurement. After double checking, the judges ruled that Cole's stone was indeed 2 centimeters closer, giving the UK two points and the match 6 – 5.
"That was a very exciting match, especially since it is the first one you have ever seen." Damian said.
"That was pretty exciting. There is a lot more strategy to it than I thought. I never knew you could curve the stone like they did. It's pretty amazing." Chuck said.
"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Kasia asked.
"We were going to go to the USA Ice Hockey game tonight. What about you?"
"Molly needs a nap so we're going to head back to the hotel right now, but the hockey game sounds like fun."
"We have a couple of extra tickets if you would like to join us. Ellie and Awesome were going to join us but Ellie wanted to go see the men's figure skating instead."
Kasia and Damian looked at each other and nodded. "Sounds like fun."
"We'll go with you back to the hotel and talk to my mom. Do you want to have dinner with us before we go to the game?"
"Perfect." Damian said. "Our treat."
xxxxx
Chuck, Sarah, Damian and Kasia exited the Ice Cube with Molly in her pram and they headed toward their hotel. After they had traveled about fifty meters, a little dog wearing a pink sweater came running up to Molly's pram and started barking furiously. On the sweater was the name Jana. After a few more meters, they all stopped as the dog kept on following them, barking all the time. Molly sat up and looked over the edge of her pram, pointing at the dog and laughing. She also held out a small toy that Kasia had never seen before.
"Where did you find that Molly?"
Since Molly was so young, she couldn't answer. Instead she continued to look over the side and wave the toy at Jana. Jana tried to jump up and grab the toy,, making Molly laugh louder and louder.
Sarah reached down and picked up the dog. Jana licked Sarah in the face causing another giggle from Molly. Sarah brought Jana over to Molly and she held out the toy for Jana. Gently, Jana took the toy from Molly and then Jana dropped it into Molly's pram. Molly picked up the toy and handed it back to Jana where she proceeded to drop it back into the pram. "I wonder who the dog belongs to?" Chuck asked. "She sure is friendly."
Just then, two men walked up to the group. They spoke with strong eastern European accents.
"You found my dog. Thank you."
Everyone looked at the two men. Chuck thought he recognized one of them from earlier that day by the Black Sea but wasn't sure. Before he could say anything, the two men came close to the pram. One of the men reached out and Jana licked his hand. Molly held out Jana's toy to her and she took it and dropped it back into the pram. The other man said "Let me get that for you," and reached into the pram. The other man took Jana from Sarah and turned to go. Instead of picking up the toy, the other man grabbed Molly and began to run down the footpath toward a waiting black four door sedan along with the man holding Jana.
Kasia screamed "My baby! My baby! Help! Help!"
Chuck and Sarah, after recovering from a moment of shock, took off running after the kidnappers, quickly closing the gap. The car doors were open, waiting for the culprits. Chuck arrived just as the kidnappers jumped in the car and closed the door with Sarah a few steps behind. Sarah and Chuck tried in vain to open the doors but they were locked. They pounded on the outside of the door to no avail as the car pulled away from the curb. The car was parked at the end of a roundabout area and had to turn around. Sensing an opportunity, Chuck ran to the other side of the road and jumped on the front of the car. "Get the license and call my mom." Chuck called out.
Sarah screamed "What are you doing!"
"I'm stopping them!"
The car started to speed up and Sarah frantically dialed the number. By this time, a security agent had reached the Dudeks who told him what happened. The agent radioed ahead to have the security gate lowered but when the car got there, it just sped up and drove right through the single armed wooden bar. Sarah reached Mary in a panic as her husband was in extreme danger. Fortunately, Mary was meeting with Bryce outside of the security office about 100 meters past the front gate. She looked up in time to see the car speed by with her son lying prone on the bonnet of the car holding on for dear life with his hands near the windscreen. The car was weaving back and forth trying to throw Chuck of the car.
Sarah was almost beside herself in fear. What in the hell did Chuck think he was doing? Our baby is never going to know his father. Sarah looked around and spotted a motorcycle. She hadn't ridden one in years but she had to try something. She jumped on and kick started the bike. At least I remembered how to do that. Sarah thought about the road out of the Olympic Park and remembered there was only one way to go. She also remembered that the footpath in front of their hotel led to the road. If she hurried she could cut them off before they got to the main highway. Sarah sped off down the footpath dodging the pedestrians enjoying a late afternoon stroll.
Damian and Kasia were scared out of their minds. Someone had kidnapped their baby and their friends were trying to stop them. The security agent took them to his electric cart and drove them to the security office.
Mary ran into the security office to ask them to set up a roadblock while Bryce and another security agent jumped in a car and sped after the kidnappers. The driver of the kidnapper's car swerved back and forth but was unable to throw off Chuck. The swerving slowed down the vehicle giving Sarah a chance to get ahead of the car. Sarah sped down the pathway and was approaching the road. She was glad she decided to wear her black leather pants, black jacket and black boots and had her blonde hair in a ponytail.
The car was coming around the bend in the road when Sarah's motorcycle jumped the curb and landed in the road right in front of the car. Chuck's legs had swung around on the curve so that they flung up on the windscreen. That, along with Sarah landing in the road right in front of them distracted the driver so much that he lost control of the car. The car spun out and jumped the curb into some dense bushes, stopping the car. The right side of the car was pinned against the very dense bushes, trapping the occupants on that side. The driver hit his head on the steering wheel, knocking him unconscious. Chuck slid off the car and tried to open the driver's door but it was still locked. By this time, Sarah turned the motorcycle around before driving right up to her husband. Jumping off the motorcycle, she leapt into Chuck's arms and clung to him, crying hysterically. "It's OK Sarah. I'm alright. Are you OK?" Sarah left the motorcycle leaning against the left rear door preventing it from being opened.
After Sarah calmed down, she looked up at him and asked "What were you thinking? You could have been killed! Do you want our baby to grow up without his father?"
Chuck hugged his wife tighter and said "I'm sorry Sarah. I just couldn't let them take Molly like that. I'm sorry for scaring you. Hey, where did you learn to ride a motorcycle?"
Sarah grabbed both sides of his face and said "Don't change the subject. Promise me you'll never do anything like that again."
Just then they heard Molly starting to cry through the window of the car. They turned to look inside. One of the men said "Let us out. We don't want to hurt a baby."
Chuck rolled the motorcycle away from the rear door. They started to hear sirens in the distance getting closer. The man inside nearest the door opened it a little while Chuck stood just outside. Sarah said "Hand me Molly before you get out of the car." The man reached up with Molly and Sarah took her into her arms. As soon as Molly was safe, Chuck slammed the door shut with his hip before rolling the motorcycle back in place. "Hey, let us out! We gave you the baby."
"Not until the police get here. They're on their way. I can hear them." Chuck said. Jana was surprisingly quiet during the whole ordeal in the car.
A few minutes later, several police and security cars pulled up. Out of one jumped Kasia and Damian who ran to Chuck, Sarah and Molly. Overcome with relief, Kasia hugged Sarah and Molly together while Damian wrapped his arms around all four of them, tears streaming down his face. "Thank God you're all OK. Thank you for saving our daughter." Damian said.
The security agents and police came up to the car to take away the kidnappers and Jana. By now the driver had regained consciousness and they took him away too. Mr. Mueller had arrived on the scene as well in one of the cars and came up to the Bartowskis and Dudeks. "Mr. and Mrs. Bartowski, we meet again. Trouble sure seems to find a way into your lives."
Damian spoke up. "They saved our daughter's life."
Mr. Mueller said "We know Mr. Dudek. It's just that the Bartowskis were attacked earlier this week."
"What?" Kasia exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"We didn't want to worry you. There was someone who didn't want Chuck and I to compete. That was completely unrelated to what happened to you and Molly."
"Please come back with us to the security office where we can take your statements. Then we'll drive you back to your hotel."
Damian and Kasia climbed into the car with Molly. Before getting in Damian said "Will you be coming back to the security office too?"
Chuck nodded. "We'll be there in a few minutes. We're taking a different car."
Damian nodded. "Thank you Chuck and Sarah Bartowski. You're the best friends anyone can ever have."
Sarah and Chuck just smiled at them as they drove off in the car.
"Chuck, Sarah," Mary called out as she approached her son and daughter-in-law. "We need to talk. This isn't over."
A/N 2 - The top bad guys are still out there. Will Chuck and Sarah help apprehend them?