A/N - Wow - based on the reviews and PMs I've been getting you like Chuck and Sarah to play spies. I've been trading PMs with charahkids and we've come up with a basic framework for a sequel to this story. We are getting very close to the end, probably one more chapter and an epilogue. The sequel will follow after I finish my other story which has two more chapters to go. I don't like leaving things unfinished. Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, followed and PM'd me on this story. Please let me know what you think. Standard disclaimers apply - I don't own Chuck, the Olympics, Cutting Edge, etc.
Chapter 32
Dr. Zarnow slammed the phone down on the receiver. How did I get such worthless help. Now what am I going to tell the boss? There was a knock on the door to his room. Ryker walked slowly to the door and looked through the peep hole. He opened the door.
The Turk walked in the room. "Where's Jana?" he demanded.
"What do I care about your stupid dog. They failed their mission." Ryker said.
"What happened to Jana?"
"The police took your dog when the Poles got captured. If you try to get your dog you'll get captured."
"I told you I didn't want to use Jana as bait and now she's gone. You're going to pay for this Ryker."
"ENOUGH!" shouted Dr. Zarnow. "Your dog is the least of our worries. You should worry more about yourself when Dragan gets here."
"Dragan is coming here?" The Turk sounded frightened in his question.
"Yeah, and he's going to be royally pissed off. You better hope he's in a forgiving mood. I hear he almost set off an atomic bomb once."
"What should we do now?"
"He's going to call here in an hour for an update. You better hope he still wants your help. What went wrong?"
"Everything was going according to plan until they got involved."
"Who are they?"
"The figure skaters. They were walking with the target when the grab was made. The man jumped on the front of the getaway car and the woman went after them on a motorcycle. They somehow managed to stop the car before they got away."
"Who are these figure skaters?"
"The Bartowskis."
Dr. Zarnow's face turned white. Ryker said "I warned you about them, or at least their family. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree."
"I don't need to be reminded of what you told me." Dr. Zarnow snapped. "Security is going to be increased around the baby. We're going to need a new plan to persuade the Dudeks to sell without using their baby."
xxxxx
A few hours later, Stephen, Mary and Bryce knocked on the door Chuck and Sarah's suite. Chuck invited them in and offered them something to drink. "I saw all of the new security in the lobby, at the elevators, stairwells and on this floor. It has the feeling of Fort Knox up here." Stephen said.
Damian, who was sitting next to his wife on the sofa holding Molly said "We told them it was too much but they wouldn't take no for an answer. We're going to be surrounded be security until we leave for home at the end of the games."
"After what's happened they're just trying to protect you and prevent any bad publicity." Sarah said.
"What is it that you wanted to tell us, mom?"
"Earlier today we learned some disturbing news. Dragan Pichushkin, the Russian mobster who is out to control all of the energy supply in this area, is arriving tomorrow afternoon. We believe he is behind the attempt to kidnap Molly."
Damian spoke up. "That makes sense. They have been after us to sell our company that owns our rights to this area and don't want to pay fair market value."
Sarah said "The kidnappers said that the Dudeks needed persuading."
"That confirms the chatter we've been hearing." Bryce said. "Now we've got to figure out how to stop him."
The group was silent for a few moments before Chuck spoke up. "You told me you'd be willing to sell for the right price. Does that still stand?"
Damian and Kasia looked at each other and nodded. "Yes," they said in unison.
Chuck looked over at Sarah who smiled and nodded. "Then we sell it to them at a more than fair price."
The group looked stunned at Chuck for a moment. "Just how would we do that?" Damian asked.
"Simple." Chuck said as he laid out the plan. "I'm going to need some thinkin' juice.
xxxxx
After tucking their wives in bed, Stephen and Chuck set about to put the plan in motion. Stephen used his technology skills and Chuck his hacking skills to gain access to Dragan's network. Orion and Piranha pulled an all-nighter but managed to put everything in place. At five am, a weary Stephen headed back to his room and a slightly tipsy Chuck brushed his teeth, stripped off his clothes and crawled into bed with his beautiful wife. Sarah instinctively shifted in her sleep to get in her favorite position with her head on his shoulder and left leg draped across his body. She was still wearing his T-shirt since he didn't want her to get cold all alone in bed. Chuck kissed Sarah on top of her head and fell instantly asleep.
A few hours later Sarah woke up snuggled up to her Chuck. She still didn't feel any different being pregnant but she still was in her first few weeks. I wonder what time Chuck came to bed. She propped herself on an elbow and watched him sleep, his chest rising and falling with each breath. After watching him for a few minutes she got up and went into the bathroom. It was 9am and she decided to take a shower. Sarah stripped off Chuck's T-shirt and her knickers and stepped into the hot steaming water. I wish Chuck was in here with me. After washing her hair and body, she stepped out to dry off. Much to her surprise a towel was being held open wide for her and she gladly stepped into it. Chuck wrapped his wife in his arms, holding her close.
"Why didn't you join me in the shower?" Sarah asked.
"I didn't wake up in time to get in here before you were finished." Chuck responded.
Sarah looked coyly at her husband. "Well, we could always get back in there. I'm sure there are some places on my body that you would give a lot more attention to than I did. What time did you come to bed anyway?"
Chuck kissed her on the lips. "About 5am. But we finished setting everything up."
"That's good. But you should go back to bed. You need your sleep."
"You know I don't sleep well without you. Besides, I need to take a shower too."
Sarah reached up behind Chuck's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Chuck put his hands on each side of her face and the towel dropped to the floor. Once they came up for air Sarah gently guided Chuck into the shower and turned on the water before stepping in with him. Chuck raised an eyebrow. "What? Sarah asked.
Chuck smirked "Didn't you already take a shower?"
Sarah picked up the soap and handed it to her husband. She turned to face away from him. "I need you to wash my back….and other areas."
Chuck grinned at his wife as he began run the soap over her back and kiss her neck, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. It was a very long shower.
xxxxx
Since the only thing left to do for the plan that day was to make a phone call, Chuck and Sarah headed over to the arena to watch team USA play ice hockey against Switzerland. It was going to be a tough game as they were going to face Jonas Hiller in goal, Chuck's teammate on the Ducks. They met Carina before the game for lunch and took their seats near the USA bench. When Casey took his spot behind the bench while the players were warming up, he spotted Chuck and Sarah. He walked down the bench close to where they were sitting. "Are you ready to quit pussy footing around the ice and start playing hockey like a real man Bartowski?" Sarah looked aghast at Casey for a moment before she realized he was kidding, the grin evidenced on his face. "Seriously, congrats on winning the gold medal you two. Great job. I still don't know how in the hell you're able to do that Pamwhato."
"Pamchenko," Chuck corrected.
"Whatever. How's the eye coming along Chuck?"
"Slowly improving. I'm hoping to get back before the playoffs."
"We sure wish you were out her playing with us. Although I can't say I blame you for wanting to skate with your wife."
Sarah chuckled. "Aw, Casey. Are you getting soft?"
Casey gave Sarah a mock glare before grinning. "Don't tell anyone, you hear me?"
Chuck and Sarah just smiled. "Not a word." They said in unison. "Good luck out there today."
"Thanks," Casey said. He looked over at Carina. "You didn't wear out Thompson last night did you?"
Carina started laughing. "Don't worry Casey. I didn't wear him out last night."
"Good," he said.
"I wore him out this morning." Carina teased.
xxxxx
As the players came to the bench, they were happy to see Chuck and Sarah, especially his teammates on the Ducks. They nodded and smiled to him and Sarah as they sat down and Chuck and Sarah smiled and waved back. "Good luck." They shouted to them. Crash had the biggest smile as he was really happy to see not only Carina sitting there, but also his best friend and his wife.
The game was a tight checking affair with not many scoring chances. Hiller was playing great in goal and Chuck was happy for his teammate, but still wanted Team USA to win. Finally, early in the third period, the breakthrough came on a power play. Crash carried the puck into the zone and instead of setting up the power play, decided to take a shot as Hiller was barking orders to his defense. Crash's blast from just inside the blue line caught everyone by surprise and beat Hiller stick side right under the crossbar. Carina jumped up and cheered along with Chuck and Sarah and the entire Team USA bench.
The score remained 1 – 0 for the remainder of the game with Crash going down on the ice to make an important block late in the game to preserve the shutout. Crash was named the number 2 star of the game after the Team USA goalie Smith. Hiller was named the number 3 star.
Chuck and Sarah went with Carina to wait outside the locker room for Crash. While they were waiting Chuck received a phone call. He excused himself and went where he could talk in private. Sarah knew what the call was about as he showed her his phone display so she stayed with Carina.
"Hello." Chuck answered.
"Dragan has landed and arrived at his hotel." Mary said. "Damian will make the call to his lawyer in one hour."
"Good." Chuck said. "Make sure Damian insists that the meet takes place tomorrow night at 5pm."
"Why is that time so important Chuck?"
"Timing is critical for the plan to work. That gives us plenty of time to make sure all the previous transactions have taken place and gives us a firm cut-off time."
"When are you and Sarah coming back to the hotel?"
"After we have dinner with Crash and Carina. Morgan and Alex are also going to join us."
"OK. We'll keep you posted." Mary hung up the phone and went to the Dudeks suite to help with the call.
xxxxx
One hour later, Damian picked up the phone and dialed his lawyer. He answered on the second ring.
"Hallo."
"Franz, Damian here. I want you to contact those buyers who wanted Athos. We want to sell."
"But the price is way too low."
"I know. But they tried to kidnap Molly. No price is worth her safety."
"Those bastards!"
"You got that right. Tell them to meet me in conference room 5 at the Raddison Blu hotel at 5pm tomorrow night or the deal is off."
"How do you know they can make the meeting?"
"Let's just say I know that the head of the company that wants to buy is here in Sochi. Tell them that I will only deal with him."
The plan was set in motion.
xxxxx
After a very enjoyable dinner with their friends, Chuck and Sarah returned to their suite. Sarah was in the mood for some hot chocolate so she started to boil some water. Chuck logged on to his computer and started scanning his emails. Sarah had rejoined Chuck on the couch, snuggling up to him. Finding the one he was looking for he opened it. After scanning it he looked up at his beautiful wife with a big smile on his face.
"I like the look of that smile sweetheart. I take it everything is proceeding as planned?
"Absolutely. We need to come up with a name for this plan though."
Sarah gave his a kiss on the cheek before putting her head back on his shoulder. "I saw this great TV show awhile back. They pulled a con called the Lichtenstein. Why don't we call it that?"
"I remember that episode. It was great but our plan isn't exactly like the one they did."
"True, it does have a different twist to it, but there are similarities."
"The Lichtenstein. I like it. And we don't even need to speak German."
Chuck lifted up his wife's chin before planting a kiss on her lips. After they came up for air Chuck gave Sarah the Bartowski eyebrow dance. Sarah chuckled. "This spy stuff is kind of fun. I think this is where James Bond takes the girl into the bedroom for some nocturnal activities. What do you say Mr. Bond?"
"Yeah, you could be like an Octopussy or something like that."
Sarah stood up, grabbed Chuck's hand and led him to the bedroom. "Just as long as I don't have to get one of those ugly tattoos."
xxxxx
Dragan didn't like it but he agreed to meet with Damian at 5pm in the conference room. He was going to get what he has wanted for two years at a fraction of what it was worth. Even though the plot to kidnap the baby didn't work, it put enough fear in him that he was getting what he wanted anyway. His town car pulled up to the hotel lobby entrance where Dragan, Dr. Zarnow and Ryker got out. They headed to the conference room.
They arrived at the conference room at precisely 5pm before knocking on the door. Inside the room, Chuck, Damian, Sarah and Kasia were sitting on the far side of the two meter by six meter mahogany conference table. Stephen, Mary and Bryce were in the adjoining conference room watching and listening to the entire meeting through cameras and listening devices placed in the ceiling. Chuck got up to let them in. Dragan was surprised to see him and Sarah there.
After taking their seats, Dragan said "What are two figure skaters doing here at this meeting?"
Damian answered "They saved our daughter's life yesterday, no thanks to you. I bet you're angry that your kidnapping plan failed. I asked them to be here for support. We don't want any trouble. We'll sell you the business at the price you last offered."
Dragan sneered at Damian. "Maybe that price was too high and I don't want to pay that much now."
"Well, you can fight us on the price. Know this, if you do, you at best will delay in getting what you want and chances are you will pay a lot more."
Dragan pondered what he said for a few moments and nodded. "Or I could arrange another kidnapping. You have a point. We are agreed on the price, 100 million Euros."
"The company is worth five times that amount."
"Could be, but you must admit I drive a hard bargain." Dragan chuckled at his own poor joke.
"The price is agreed, but I want payment as follows: 10 million Euros in cash plus your ship the Contessa that is docked in Trieste, your dock and warehouse there and everything in those places as of 5pm today."
Dragan raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want those things?"
Damian looked Dragan in the eye and said "By selling you Athos, I'm losing access to two key ports. This will replace one of them. The Contessa? My wife wanted a new ship to cruise around in. It's better than buying on Craig's List Dubai."
Dragan pulled out his laptop from his briefcase and accessed his network. He double checked that the warehouse was empty and the cargo that was held in the ship was removed on schedule two days earlier. He even checked the security cameras which showed that nothing was there. This is even a better deal than I thought. These two items are worth far less than 90 million Euros.
"I believe we have a deal Mr. Dudek."
Damian gave Dragan a thin smile. Kasia, Sarah and Chuck remained poker faced. Damian pulled the papers drawn up by Chuck and Stephen with the help of their lawyers and brought in a Notary to witness the signatures. After the paperwork was signed and notarized, the sale was closed effective immediately. Dragan stood up and smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Dudek." He turned and left the room with his team.
The four of them breathed sighs of relief before Stephen, Mary and Bryce came into the room. They watched the hotel security monitors as the three men got in the town car and drove straight to the airport where the Turk met them, still upset about Jana.
As soon as the car drove away, the seven people in the room grinned at each other while giving out high fives. Chuck faxed the agreement to Damian's lawyer Franz who was waiting in Trieste. He immediately went to the dock and warehouse with copies of the documents to show title has been transferred and that everyone there now worked for the Dudeks. They were not to speak with anyone from the former owners under penalty of immediate termination. They were also told that everyone would receive raises. Bryce wheeled in the ice bucket filled several bottles of Cristal champagne. After pouring each person a glass, except for Sarah who declined, Damian proposed a toast. "To the Bartowskis, the smartest, bravest and best friends anyone could have." They all took a drink.
Kasia looked up at Chuck and said "Exactly how did you come up with this plan?"
"Actually it was Sarah's and my plan. We were talking a few months ago about a story we read about a conman who sold buildings he didn't own. He would take a deposit on the sale and skip town. That strategy was rather risky and dangerous but we kicked around ideas for fun on how to improve that strategy. We came up with the idea of selling something we did own for more than it was worth by accepting something other than just cash. The trick is making sure the person buying what you're selling doesn't know what they are really giving up."
"OK," Bryce asked "How did you know what Dragan really had in the warehouse?"
"Dad and I spent most of the night hacking into Dragan's network and discovered he liked hard assets, like diamonds and gold. We also discovered that he liked to move those assets around and that his diamonds and gold were on the Contessa ready to be moved to one of his other ships and that the ship was in Trieste."
"What would have happened if the ship was at a different port?" Mary asked.
"We would have offered to buy that dock and warehouse. Dragon owns these types of facilities all over Europe." Stephen added.
Chuck continued. "We hacked into the security system at the warehouse and created a loop showing the warehouse empty while it was actually full. We changed shipping documents to show the goods were all transferred as scheduled to the other ship. But instead of the gold and diamonds, it got barrels and barrels of fish. The gold and diamonds actually stayed on the Contessa and in the warehouse in disguised containers. Franz should be contacting us shortly to make sure everything is there."
As if on cue, Damian's phone rang. "Yes?" He listened for a few moments before a grin formed on his face. "Good. Make sure everything is secure and head out to sea on the Contessa. Meet us in the Grand Caymans in two weeks."
Everyone looked at Damian expectantly. "All the gold was left on board. The diamonds were moved into the warehouse but Franz took them back on board ship. Diamonds are a lot easier to move."
Kasia asked "Won't Dragan come after us when he discovers his gold and diamonds are missing?"
"That's the beauty of the plan," Sarah added. "Dragan will think one of his suppliers or trading partners took the diamonds. All the paperwork, security tapes and telephone calls we planted with show that the transfer was made two days before the meeting. It also won't hurt that we left a few diamonds and a little gold in the fish barrels. Besides, if he tries to question the deal he will lose the energy rights. Damian has all the legal documents supporting the sale and he practically admitted on tape that he ordered the kidnapping."
"How much are we talking about here?" Bryce asked.
Damian spoke up "We'll have to do a complete inventory, but we estimate the gold and diamonds to be worth over one billion Euros."
Bryce's mouth dropped open.
Chuck said "Great. You wanted $500 million Euros for Athos and you're actually getting twice that much."
Sarah said "Yeah. Dragan was bragging about how good a negotiator he is. He has nothing on us."
"Here, here" was shouted in the room as they all took another sip of champagne.
Damian looked at Sarah and asked "You sure you don't want any champagne Sarah? I got the good stuff."
Sarah chuckled and said "Yes you did, but no thanks. I'll pass."
Chuck put his arm around his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Are you feeling OK Sarah," asked Mary.
"I'm fine." Sarah answered.
Kasia looked at Sarah and the proverbial light bulb went on. "You're pregnant Sarah, aren't you?"
Sarah and Chuck both turned red.
"I knew it." Kasia got up and gave Sarah a big hug. "Congratulations."
Stephen and Mary both looked shocked at Chuck and Sarah before coming over and congratulating them. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I just took the test a few days ago and told Chuck right after the long program. We were planning on waiting a little while before announcing it to make sure everything was fine. Now that you know will make everything easier."
Chuck squeezed his wife's shoulders. "We better tell your parents at dinner tonight."
Sarah nodded.
Stephen said "I know they'll be excited. We sure are."
Bryce came over and congratulated the couple. "Don't worry. I won't say anything about this on the air unless you give me the OK."
"We want to wait until I'm about three months along."
"OK," said Bryce. "My lips are sealed."