Don't own Chuck
Jack went to his office then poured himself a drink before sitting back in his chair and taking the call from Ševo. There was little reason to worry now. Margo had told him the wet team had cleared out and he'd even seen them out the door so he felt reasonable sure everything was back to normal. If normal ever had a home there. He put the call on speaker then leaned back in his chair.
"Ševo, you sure took your time getting back to me. I'm not sure I need your information anymore. The wet team that was here got recalled and they left the other days. So, the threat level here has dropped and we're almost back to business as usual."
"I haven't called before now because there was nothing to call about. I did some checking with gun runners I know in Montenegro and they all told me that they didn't know anything about any weapons being moved in your area..."
"We found their weapons trove. It seems that they came from our arsenal. An investigation is going on now to figure out how they were taken but the combinations as well as access has been changed."
"That's all good but you say those people left the other day? Well then this might be unrelated but a friend of mine just called me to say he sold some Semtex to a man in your neck of the woods. That would be..."
"I know what Semtex is. Hum... now you've gotten me nervous. Someone got them their weapons now this. It doesn't mean that whoever bought it plans on using it here. I mean they could use it somewhere else..."
"Can you take the risk? Listen I told you what I need to tell you now you can run with it. I'll keep my ear to the ground here but I've got some cigarettes to move before people here stop smoking. If they keep quitting like this soon I'm going to have to find another market."
"Have you given any thought to bottling and sell rakija with your picture on the label. Call if grandpa Ševo's private stock or reserve..."
"Are you trying to tell me I'm old? I've got my sons and grandsons who tell me that all the time. Okay, so I am grandfather but you don't have to be old to be grandfather just have stupid children who forget the word 'no' comes before 'yes' and make poor life choices. But I love all the little SOBs."
"I'm sure you do and no I wasn't implying you were old. I'm a granddad too you know and we have to stick together. These kids nowadays with the IPads, IPhone and I-don't-know-whats think they know everything. Well they don't know the half of what we know or have live through."
"That's for sure. You know you might have something there about the rakija. I'm going to look into it. Maybe I could put a picture of a beautiful young woman on it and call it mother's milk? I'd just have to interview prospective poster girls to find the right one."
"You don't have an HRO office in your organization, do you? Somehow I don't think your wife would appreciate that? Especially the part where you have to interview prospective candidates that could be a little too hand on.
"She probably wouldn't... well I guess we could go with a picture of me on the label and call it 'Serbian Sweat'. That's the translation for what we call it."
"Somehow I can't see something called bottled sweat selling... at least not here. You know we have an odd sense of taste and that would automatically exclude the people on a low sodium diet. Maybe if you leave it written in Serbian that would make people curious and might attract customers with a hint of mystery."
"Yes I like that. It was good talking to you. If I were you I'd do some looking around... if nothing else for your grandchild. Like I said I have some other leads I'm still pursing and if they pan out I'll let you know. Dobro veče."
"Thanks and Good afternoon to you too," said Jack as Ševo hung up. He looked up to see Margo standing in front of him. "You know you could knock or is that what they teach you in spy school sneak up on everyone and give them a heart attack."
"No, they teach us when someone receives a call from a certain Serbian of ill repute you go and check to see what's going on. Before the person receiving the call gets himself in trouble."
"I heard you grounded Sam," said Jack changing the subject. "I think you went a little overboard. From what I was told she was on her way down to see me and your fascist police intercepted her turning her around."
"There was no fascist police. She fell in the middle of the floor in the lobby because she was running. I helped her up then I took her up and put her in her room. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave her room yet she did it anyway. That girl needs to learn to obey before she gets into serious trouble."
"You want to make her into one of your drones answering your beck and call," said Jack. "If she wants to see me she can. Because unlike some people around here I listen to her."
"Jack, I don't have any drones here and I don't like what you're insinuating. The kid has no discipline and there were people around who would've liked to grab her. One of them was in the elevator as we went up…"
"But she wouldn't have been in the elevator with this thug if you hadn't taken her there. So, what you're telling me is you put her in harm's way or am I mistaken?"
"Jack, you're twisting what I said. I wouldn't have had to take her up in the elevator if she'd stayed where she was supposed to be in her room like I told her."
"And what was she supposed to do in there? Stare at four walls all day long. Good grief woman she's just five. When Sarah was her age she and I were going all over the country having a great time together."
"And what did that do for you and for her? I'll tell you what a rap sheet longer than my arm. It's a wonder Sarah didn't end up in foster care."
"Don't think they didn't try. I think you need to examine your own parenting skills instead of pointing the finger at others," said Jack. Mike wasn't the only one who noticed Razhib's comings and goings.
"What's that supposed to mean" said Margo. She was getting angrier and angrier with Jack. "Jack, I hate to point out to you but Sarah asked me to look after Sam and Bunny along with Emma not you."
"She didn't ask me only because she thought I was too busy but I'm never too busy for my granddaughter. Why did you even come in here? Other than to ruin my day?"
"I came because you were on the phone with a notorious Serbian smuggler… gangster and I wanted to make sure you weren't getting yourself into trouble again."
"Yes, Ševo may have had a checkered past but he did what he did to put food on his table and clothes on his children. We both are one thing granddads and we all can't be perfect."
"I can name some other things you two have in come from your rap sheets," said Margo. "But I guess grandpa is one thing you two share."
"Well I started this by calling he when the wet team landed and you mention that if we could find out where they were getting their weapons we'd be one step ahead of them. So I called him and asked him to check with his people to find out the who, what and when."
"But we know that they got their weapons from the armoury. I'm still trying to figure out how but I've changed all the codes and now only Mike or myself can issue weapons."
"Well, I told Ševo our wet team had left so I really didn't need his information. But come to think about his voice didn't sound like he was very surprised. Well anyway then we talked about him getting into a new line of work. It seems cigarette smuggling isn't as proficuous as it used to be. We talked about him getting into bottling rakija but he wanted to call it 'Bottled Sweat'. I think I convinced he that was a non-starter."
"Yuck, that sounds disgusting," said Margo as she made a face. "He's definitely going to have to change that if he's going to sell in the west. So, he didn't have any other intel?"
"So now you're interested," said Jack. "Okay he said he heard something about a guy who bought some Semtex today here in town. He thought it was odd but since the wet team was gone I don't think it was meant for us. You might want to drop a hint to the local police force. It sounds like something someone would use to make a heist."
"I could farm it out if I had a better I idea who the buyer was," said Margo as she went over and helped herself to a drink. "Thanks, I can use this after a day like today."
"I would tell you you're welcome. Getting back to Ševo he insisted we check the hotel. Your people are sure all our special guests are gone."
"Well I told you that there was that one that stayed behind… the man who rode up in the elevator with Sam and me and who she kicked in the shin. Before you start saying he had it coming. The man was armed. I was afraid he was going draw and fire but the elevator doors close before he could do anything. She didn't make a friend out of him."
"At least she knew who to kick and I willing to be she sized him up as soon as he got on board the elevator. You don't think she could've been trying to protect you? I can count on one hand the times Sam has used violence and each time the person did something to deserve it. She might only be five but she's a Burton through and through if that were my real last name."
"Only you would see what she did like this. What is it you always say," asked Margo as she took a sip from her glass.
"If you know all the cons you'll never be a sucker. I'm also willing to bet you never gave her a chance to explain why she did what she did because you already had your mind made up and for you she was guilty as charged. You've been carrying a badge too long."
"You mean innocent like you? You're teaching her how to twist the truth and someday this will come back and bite her like it's bitten you."
"How do you know what the truth is unless you listen to her side of the story too. There is no such thing as one truth. We could argue this for the rest of the evening but you won't let me change your mind and I have no desire to become one of your drones…"
"There you go again with that word. I have no drones," said Margo. But as they were talking there was a knock at the door then Mike stuck his head in.
"And there he is," said Jack as Mike walked into the room with a perplexed look on his face. "Never mind me. I think it's her you want to talk to. Do you hear that it almost sounds like there's a bee in here."
"A what? No I don't hear…" Mike started to say then caught Margo's look. "Well yes… I mean no I don't hear a bee and yes I need to talk to Margo. It's Langley they're on the horn looking for you. The General is back in her office and she's asking for a sitrep from the station chief which would be you."
"Yes it would be. Let me follow you down," said Margo as she sat her glass on his desk. "Sam is still confined to her room and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave her there."
"Dang that bee noise just got louder. I'd appreciate winning the lottery but I don't see that coming anytime soon," said Jack as he reached over picked up her glass and wiped the water ring then sat it down on a coaster.
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[Back in Serbia]
A covered truck pulled up outside an abandoned castle. Ševo walked outside just finishing his conversation with Jack. The driver and another man climbed out of the cab smiling. They looked at and nodded then helped him in the back. Inside line up against the wall were men bound with hoods over their heads. Ševo's men removed their hoods so they could see him.
"Welcome to the castle of Zelda. Your kind have been invading my country since the Ottomans and you haven't learned anything yet. You were supposed to be on your private charter heading for Bulgaria but as you can see you are now… well I'm not going to call you guests."
One man bit and chewed at the tape over his mouth as he tried to speak so Ševo obliged and tore it off his mouth.
"You want to speak so speak. I'm a fair man or so some say but there are as many who will disagree," he said as his men laughed. "What do you want to tell me?"
"We have no problem with you. We were headed back home after our mission in Montenegro was aborted. So, there is no reason for you to hold us. Just cut us loose and let us go no one needs to get hurt."
"Oh but I disagree. You people think you can come and go like this is your country. Well it's not and we proved that to the Turks. Now we have to teach you a lesson. Those people in Kotor are my friends and under my protection," said Ševo as he walked over and took a weapon from his man.
"You don't want to do this. You don't know who we are and who we work for. There will be payback for this. Don't go beyond the point of no return."
"I think you did that already when your friend bought Semtex. One of you is going to tell me what he plans on doing with it and where is he going to plant it."
"We don't know anything about any Semtex. You said yourself it was purchased after we left so how are we supposed to know."
"No I never said when it was bought but yes we had you in the back of this lorry before the Semtex was bought. You know who bought it. I want his name."
"I don't know what you're ta…." Before the man could finish denying he knew the man's name Ševo pointed the pistol at the man's face and pulled the trigger but instead of bang it went snap.
"Now that is rather anticlimactic," he said as he inspected the weapon cocking the hammer back and looking inside. He started laughing. "Check the rest of their weapons… there aren't any firing pins I bet. You were sold a load of crap just imagine using these is a fire fight. Oh, look here I think this one needs a new pair of pants."
His men started laughing as they tried the wet team's weapons and not a one of them fired. Instead they all went snap like the pistol.
"I don't know why I'm still interested because your guy probably has sold your man a brick of Playdough. So what do you say now? Do you feel talkative?" said Ševo as he motioned for his man to hand him his weapon.
"No… well this pistol has a firing pin," said Ševo as he put a round into the man's knee cap. "See this one works. That will have you walking with a cane. You want to go for crutches or better you know what the Turks did to their prisoners. They called Vlad the Impaler but the truth is they impaled many more so it's about time to even up the score."
"No hold up a moment. Okay I'll give you his name. But that's all we know. He was to get Semtex for our man then he was to take care of the rest."
"What's the rest mean," asked Ševo. He didn't like the sound of that.
"Bring the hotel down."
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On the fifth floor the elevator opened and the bus boy wheeled out a chart. He headed down to room 505 knocking on the door. Soon a man appeared, opened the door and let the bus boy in with the chart. Down in the dungeon that was all they could see. Mike had gotten the hall cameras back up running after he replaced them. The old ones had obviously been tampered with which was no surprise. But they had been take out a few days before the team arrived which underlined the fact they had a mole.
"Get in here," said the man inside the room as the bus boy wheel the cart in. "Did you get what I asked for?"
"Yes," said the man as he lifted the cover on the serving plate and underneath was a brick marked Semtex. 'Danger explosive' was written on the side. "You don't know what I had to do to get this."
"Don't worry you'll be taken care of. Oh, and by the way if I were you I'd take a couple of days off," he said as he picked up the brick.
"Hey be careful with that thing. We don't want that going off before we want it to," said the bus boy as he took a deep breath when the man started juggling it.
"What? You can't set off plastic explosives like this. You need a detonator to act as a fuse and even if I drop this nothing will happen. I have a question for you that Arab looking boy who's living here what's his story?"
"You mean Razhib? He's living here with his step mother the station chief. They came here when they opened this station from Rome. From what I understand the boy's parents are dead. His mother was killed in Italy… she was the sister of the station chief..."
"You mean Margo. I met her in the elevator with that other brat but you know that. What else do you know?"
"Not much his father was killed in North Africa after which the boy worked there as some sort of household servant…"
"For the Toy Maker… yes I knew I knew him. That's why he answered me in Farsi. Well I never thought I'd see him again… at least not alive."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I held up my end of the bargin now I need to go before someone thinks it's suspicious me being here this long."
"Sure go and take the cart with you," said the man as he remembered back to the days he studied with the Toy Maker to hone his bomb making skills and the little boy who served them tea.
"So little brother I've found you and now what am I going to do about it. Do I let you die here with everyone else or do I take you with me? You'd make a good apprentice to the Watch Maker. To think of all the fun we had together while I was training and we could have that again. I know we can but I have to test you first. You have to show me you're worthy and living here hasn't made you soft."
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Chuck worked through the day on adapting the couplers which became a daunting task. Each circuit had to be matched and calibrated. The circuits didn't have to just match up but the voltage had to be tested. If they were under it risked not having enough energy to do what it was supposed to do but too much and the circuit would fry. The last thing he wanted was faulty equipment inside a nuke.
"We're dropping behind schedule. You need to pick up the pace," said Ettore as he looked at his watch. "We should be mounting the warhead by now."
"You know if you don't like how fast I'm going you can come up here and do it yourself," yelled Chuck back down to Ettore.
"Hurry up and stop trying to be cute. Stalling for time won't do you any good so but your back into and get this over with."
"This isn't a question of putting my back into it. It's about doing this properly. If you want me to do something slipshod with a nuke you are every much the idiot Abu said you were."
"I'm not an idiot. I'm just going by the time table he laid out and it says you should be mounting the warhead. Now who's the idiot?"
"Personally if you want my opinion I think you both are. Don't you see what he's doing? He's setting you up so you fail and when you do because no one can do what you want in that time span. He'll blame you then he'll have an excuse to get rid of you."
"We're partners in this. He told me so."
"And I'm telling you you're an idiot for believing him. If you were real partners he'd be here helping but where is he right now? I don't see him."
"He has other things to take care of."
"And of course as partners you know what they are?" Ettore was quiet. "Oh my poor fool I bet he's asleep in his nice soft bed while we slave away. I could use a bite to eat. Any chance of a Subway?"
"Let me see what I can do."