OK, I promised this a few weeks ago, but between work and a severe case of writer's block, I had a hard time getting it started. I'm not sure why, either, given many of the items in this chapter were planned. I took the advice of a few people regarding the Ring leadership, and I hope this works. Again, thank you for your patience. And your reward is a longer chapter. (well, maybe you should read it first before I call it a reward)
As you know, this is the penultimate chapter. It all comes together in the next chapter, which should be filled with plenty of action and hopefully plenty of humor. I also tried to get back a bit to the original concept of the story in this chapter: Sarah and the team are both spies in real life while dealing with being famous for being on a TV show about spies. I took some "creative liberties" with a few things, but again, these events are now two years old. (That's what I get for writing such a long story and put dates and times in it.)
Again, hope you enjoy this, NBC/Fake Empire, and please leave reviews!
One chapter to go!
Tangerine Hotel – Burbank, CA
June 10, 2016
2:00 PM PDT
Chuck, Sarah, Ellie, Cole, and Ilsa entered the conference room where everyone was waiting for them. Both Chuck and Ellie looked exhausted. But the programming was finally done. Both Intersects were created, and they just needed to go through some final testing before they infiltrated the Ring facility they found in order to get the Intersect out of Chuck and the new one into Jimmy.
"Any update from Morgan?" Sarah asked.
Jimmy shook his head. "Not so far. That's a lot of video the three of them have to go through. But here's some good news: Beckman may have gotten a visit from Decker."
"How did you find out?"
"The drive I gave her had been sending me signals at random intervals. A signal came in a little while ago indicating the drive was used since the last report. I programmed a command to send out a signal to transmit its contents to us overnight tonight. Unfortunately, it'll take quite a while."
"Your nerd skills failing, Slade?" Casey asked in his traditional abrasive manner.
"I could get it in two minutes…if we wanted the whole world to know what we were doing. We have to keep the signal at a low bandwidth so it can't be detected at Langley or Fort Meade. Trouble is, that's like trying to download an HD movie with a dial-up modem."
"Don't worry, Jimmy," Sarah replied. "We have plenty on our plate already. Plus, if it really is video of Decker admitting to being with the Ring, we also have to find the right people to give it to. In the meantime, we have to map out our strategy for taking down the Ring leadership."
"To pull that off, we'd have to take all of them at practically the same time," Alex said. "If even one of them gets wind of what we're doing, we're sunk."
"Not to mention we still have to keep an eye out for Shaw," Chuck added. "He has to be out there."
Sarah nodded. "We can't predict Shaw's movements; we'll have to stay vigilant. The only advantage we have is he needs Chuck alive. Which means you will not leave my side until this is over."
"Gee, you're no fun," Chuck droned, giving Sarah an eyebrow dance in the process, which made her giggle.
"Moving on quickly…" Casey seethed.
"Jimmy, what did you find out about the Ring leadership?" Sarah asked
Jimmy turned on the projector that was attached to his laptop. "OK, let's start with who's here: Dr. Claire Phelps, the psychology professor at UCLA."
"I know her," Devon said. "She was the professor for my Psych 101 class freshman year." He shook his head. "Now I know why I got a C in that course."
"So much for getting a check-up from you," Casey quipped.
"It was a tough course," Ellie responded with an evil glare at Casey. "Half the freshmen at UCLA take the course every year. None of us ever met her face-to-face. She just recorded video lectures and we discussed them in class with the T.A.s."
"Carina was right: she's in charge of recruiting agents into the Ring," Jimmy continued. "She has a network of people under her at various universities and even a few selective enrollment high schools. To say nothing about finding kids on the street who might have been taking it on the chin their whole lives and would be amenable to getting payback."
He gritted his teeth, realizing he could have just as easily been one of them. "Getting personnel is not much of a problem. She's currently doing some "research," emphasis on the air quotes, for the school."
"Is anyone else here in Los Angeles?" Ilsa inquired.
"Maybe this person." Jimmy switched to a new image. "Hugo Zorin, the President's advisor on technology. Remember that computer virus you guys stopped in 2012? He set it up to scare Congress into more funds he was grabbing for the Ring. And that mission in Sunnyvale we made into the Silicon Valley ep? Also his. If the Ring is close to readying its own Intersect, I have to believe he's not far away making sure everything goes off without a hitch."
"What about the CEO on Wall Street?" Carina asked.
Jimmy switched images again. "Right here. Penelope Witherspoon."
"Penelope Witherspoon? As in Duke & Duke's Penelope Witherspoon?"
"The same. Grand-niece to the founders. She took over the company during a not-exactly-peaceful shakeup of the board of directors in the late 90s, right before the dot-com bust. Amazingly, they emerged from that in much better shape financially than the rest of us. They had an encore performance when the recession hit in 2007. The amount of money she funneled into the Ring under the table over the years? She'd make Warren Buffett look like a panhandler."
"Chuck mentioned an assistant director at MI-6," Cole said.
"My guess would be Fisher Dryden," Jimmy replied as he brought up the man's picture. "Not as much data on him, but here's a fun fact. Guess who served under him for eighteen months four years ago? Hint: his name rhymes with pecker."
Cole shook his head and exhaled angrily. "I should have guessed."
"He fed Decker a lot of pertinent data British Intelligence collects from the field that they don't share with anybody, not even us."
"And the head of the NSA, Jimmy?" Sarah asked, which resulted in a nasty growl from Casey. "Whom Casey is clearly familiar with?"
"James Keller," Jimmy replied as he brought up the final image. "Years ago, he recruited Case into that black ops team. Most of that team was ambushed by Colombian drug lords during an illegal operation. There were suspicions Keller was playing both sides, but nothing could ever be proven. Seems Keller never forgot about him, though. Remember running into Casey's former sensei? Keller leaked your whereabouts to Ty Bennett. He also supplied the funding for weapons to that al Qaeda-controlled town Case and I retook. Keller was trying to take him out; he just grossly underestimated Case's talent."
"And nobody raised a red flag with him when he became head of the NSA three years ago?"
Casey shook his head. "Beckman wanted concrete evidence regarding Colombia and I couldn't provide any. She kept an eye on him, but obviously he was good at covering his tracks if we've only just discovered all of this."
"This is…this is insane," Ellie said quietly. "I can't believe the Ring is this well-entrenched."
"Not as hard to do as you might think. Just need the planning and the patience to wait for the right moment to strike."
"And that's exactly how we'll take them down," Sarah replied, her eyes flashing some of that ice-cold demeanor from her rookie days. "Do we know where they are right now?"
"According to the data I got from Basta's mansion, they were supposed to have had a pow-wow recently, but it looks like they're already back at their respective workplaces," Jimmy answered.
Sarah walked over and sat next to Jimmy, pulling his laptop towards her. She began to sift through the summary Jimmy used during the meeting. She was quiet for several moments.
She then slid the laptop away. "OK. Jimmy, get comm gear and everything we need electronically to pull this off. Casey, draw weapons and tactical."
She took a look around the room. "Carina and Cole, you're heading to London to get Dryden. Jimmy, think you can take care of Witherspoon in New York?"
"Like dropping some files in her private server that'll call the SEC to battlestations?"
"Exactly."
"God, it's like you're not even trying to give me a challenge," he pouted in a jocular manner.
"Alex, you'll go with him and run point since you won't be as easily recognized. John?"
Casey glared at her with a growl that would make a charging rhino reverse course. "Keller's all yours," Sarah replied. "Ilsa, you join him. In the meantime, Chuck and I will apprehend Dr. Phelps. That way I can still keep an eye on him."
"Any way we can help?" Devon asked.
"We're not putting you in danger again," Sarah replied firmly.
"But how can you and Chuck walk around the UCLA campus?" Ellie countered.
Sarah stared momentarily before huffing in frustration. "You're right. We'd be all over the news in a second." She shook her head and gave a disbelieving chuckle. "Can't believe I still have to worry about things like that. Suggestions, anybody?"
"John, what did you call it when you lure someone in with what they think they're looking for and trap them?" Devon asked. "I'm trying to remember…"
"The magnet?" Casey said in surprise.
"Yeah, that. Ellie and I will walk around the campus near the Psych building and see if that lures her out, then Sarah and Chuck can catch her."
"Are you crazy!?" Chuck was livid. "Did you forget what happened the other day with the bank? We barely got you out of there!"
"It's dangerous, we get that," Ellie replied. "I freaked out after that was over. You can ask Sarah. But you got us out of there. You guys really are the best. And after everything you and your friends have done for us, Sarah, we'll do whatever it takes to make this work. You want Chuck out of this and to be with him. So do I."
Sarah stared at Ellie for a moment before a smile drew itself across her face. Despite her fears of putting the two of them in danger again after such a short time, she knew how resolute Ellie could be. Ellie told her she was the greatest thing to have ever happened to Chuck. Sarah could say the same thing about meeting the entire family.
"Jimmy, do you still have those RFID tags?" Sarah asked him.
"Yeah, but Fulcrum got burned twice by us using those," Jimmy replied. "If Ellie and Awesome are captured by Ring agents, scanning them will be their first order of business."
"What about the bio-tags?" Carina asked.
"Exactly what I was thinking." Jimmy pulled out a small kit containing two needles and several cartridges. "These work like biological tracers. You look for the specific DNA signature of the tag and you can locate anybody. The beauty part is, it's impossible for anyone else to scan for them. The CIA tried to make these work but could never calibrate satellites to pick them up accurately. But I made a few changes to the software so if you're in an area with decent wireless bandwidth…"
"Like a building on a major college campus," Devon interjected.
"Bingo. Then you can pick up the traces going through the data flying around."
"But couldn't that harm the person you inject, having incompatible DNA in their system?" Ellie asked.
"That's the downside. Your body attacks the tag just like attacking a cold virus. They're only good for about three or four hours. And you can't use them too often because your body would eventually build up a resistance to them and then they become useless. We reserve these for the more hardcore missions. But I think we'd all agree we passed the hardcore line ten battles ago."
"They're safe, right?" Devon asked.
"Basically. Just, you know, tell us if you get feverish, droopy eyes, dizziness, stroke-like symptoms, you get an erection lasting more than four hours…"
"If that happens, forget Phelps; go find a hotel," Casey quipped, which earned him a light smack upside the head from Ellie.
"You're as bad as Duke Forrester," Ellie said in irritation.
"OK, we'll go with that," Sarah said to get everyone back on task. "But we still need something they can have in case of trouble."
"I don't think a tricked-out briefcase will work this time," Cole said. "If they're ready for the RFID tags, they'd bloody well be ready for any James Bond tricks."
Casey looked at Ellie and Devon and got a little gleam in his eye. "I have just the thing," he said, practically drooling at this point.
Sarah, Carina, and Jimmy gave him a weird look. "Reminds me of how the fans reacted when you were talking to that one actress from the Fast and Furious movies in the hall at Comic Con two years ago," Carina said to Jimmy. "It was like hotness overload. The fans were fainting from how hot you two looked. What was her name again?"
"Um…I'm trying to remember," he replied. "Nice lady, very easy on the eyes, cool accent, very exotic name…I'm drawing a blank. But I think she's in that one superhero movie next year."
"Bet it's a flop," Casey scoffed.
Sarah shook her head clear as she suddenly longed for the days when Casey was much grumpier. "Let's make this work, everybody."
The team began to ready their plans.
Buy More – Burbank, CA
June 10, 2016
9:00 PM PDT
"This is getting us nowhere."
Morgan sighed as he got up and stretched. He was very frustrated. Jeff, Lester, and he spent the entire day going over hours of video, but they hadn't found anything yet. He found it nothing short of crazy spy work went to such extremes. They had been driven to absolute boredom trying to find what the team needed, and yet he was in the middle of two insane shootouts…even saving the day…just a few weeks ago. He didn't know how Chuck managed to handle all of this while trying to keep Ellie, Devon, and him safe, but his admiration for his best friend was now off the charts…if it hadn't been already.
"How are you holding up?"
Morgan turned to see Jimmy behind him loaded down with computer equipment. He shook his head in frustration. "Wish I had something to report, man. But nothing. We can't find a thing wrong."
Jimmy glanced over at Jeff and Lester, who looked like extras from the set of The Walking Dead. "I see they're pretty burned out, too," he said quietly, feeling rare sympathy for the two morons. "Why don't you guys call it for tonight. Get back here in the morning and keep at it. You'll find it. That much I know."
Morgan tiredly nodded as the two of them watched Jeff and Lester slump out of the office. "I never knew spy work could be so tedious."
Jimmy gave a quiet laugh. "It's usually more like what you're doing now than the exciting stuff you've been part of a few times. Sarah told me once Bryce and she had to pose as servants for this rich jagoff and his nasty stuck-up wife a few years before the TV show. They were trying to track down some files linking him with an unfriendly government. Bryce handled landscaping and Sarah was a maid for three months. The wife insisted Bryce do the hedges shirtless and only when she was laying outside for a tan while the husband took every opportunity to grab Sarah's ass. Of course, neither of them could do anything about it without blowing their covers. That is, until they were able to find the files. After that…"
"Whoah, man. Sarah must have gone off the rails for what that sleazebag did to her."
"Yup. She ended his career and sex life at the same time."
"Wow, just when I thought she couldn't get any more badass…"
"That's just one small part of her, Morgan. The rest of it is being a really good friend who's caring and awesome and just wants to live a happy life with Chuck. We want to give that to them. And I don't doubt for one second you'll pull out all the stops to give that to them as well."
"True, you're right."
"Trust me, all of this work will pay off big dividends. You've done a great job for us."
"Thanks, buddy." Morgan looked behind Jimmy at the new equipment he laid out on the table. "What's all that?"
Jimmy turned and opened his laptop, gesturing for Morgan to sit down at the chair in front of it. "Remember the drive and contact lenses you and Big Mike gave to our boss to record the mole inside the government? It worked. Within the next hour, this laptop should start getting video downloaded to it. You just have to make sure it starts. Don't stay for the whole thing; it's coming in on a low bandwidth and will take half past forever to complete. But if it's what we think it is, it'll be the big win."
"And the other stuff?"
"Just a few items I thought would be safer here. Can you keep an eye on them while you're here? Most of us are heading out of town for a couple of days. We got the intel on the Ring's leaders Chuck discovered, and we're going to take them out. I'm off to New York with Alex bright and early."
He handed Morgan a smartphone similar to the one the team used. "Chuck and Sarah will still be in L.A., so call them if you guys have problems. Other than that, you still have Cole's people here. Give Big Mike an update when he gets here in the morning."
"You got it."
"Thanks for everything, Morgan. The finish line is in sight."
That put a smile on Morgan's face. "Yeah, it's like we're almost at the 8,000th level on Grand Theft Auto!" he beamed.
Jimmy gave him a weird look. "I'll…take your word for it. See you when we get back."
Jimmy left the store while Morgan watched the laptop and waited for the download to start.
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro – Irvine, CA
June 10, 2016
11:30 PM PDT
Daniel Shaw kept a close watch for any cameras or sensors as he walked along the grounds at the air station, following a schematic of the base on a tablet computer. He had found an access point through a sewer main that would be close enough to where he guessed they had set themselves up underneath. With the amount of C-4 he had available, he could level the entire area. The real trick was how to detonate it. He had a motion sensor attached to the C-4 that would set it off, but he had to place it at just the right spot to trip upon any movement inside the facility.
He wasn't sure where everyone was, but he was certain Walker and Bartowski weren't here. The explosion could take everyone else out for all he cared, but he had every intention to deliver on his promise to capture Bartowski. This time, however, he decided not to tell the Ring his plans. Every time he gave them assistance, they failed to take down the team. He had no intention of letting that happen again.
He found the correct sewer cover and pried it up with a crowbar. He attached a winch to his belt and descended into the sewer. He reached the bottom and set the C-4 in place, aiming the motion sensor into the facility through a small opening in the concrete. He returned to the surface, replaced the sewer cover, and took off into the darkness.
It wouldn't be long before he would have his opportunity to find Bartowski and kill Walker.
MI-6 Headquarters – London, UK
June 11, 2016
9:00 PM BST
Fisher Dryden parked his car in the lot at headquarters and exited the vehicle. He took a look around and noticed how quiet everything was. That was to be expected, as the majority of the people who worked here went home hours ago. He did not have that luxury, as he needed to communicate with one of the other Ring members regarding some new data British Intelligence had picked up.
He took the elevator to the sixth floor and walked down the hallway. He entered his darkened office and turned on his desk light. He was shocked to find his personal vault open and empty.
"C really doesn't mind you earning a little money on the side, Dryden," a calm voice said behind him. "He'd just prefer if it wasn't selling secrets."
Dryden turned to see Cole Barker sitting in the darkness.
"Ah, yes," Dryden replied, a little smile coming to his face. "I believe this is now the part where I say that if the theatrics aresupposed to scare me, you have the wrong man, Barker."
Dryden sat down at his desk. "And if you were able to find the evidence I've been feeding intel to the Ring, surely you also discovered there is no gun in the top drawer of my desk…"
Dryden immediately pulled his gun out from a holster. "…because I carry my weapon with me at all times."
He sat back and relaxed, knowing he had the advantage since Cole did not have his weapon out. "Shame. You were such a good agent. But then you had to get involved with that American team. Tell me, is Agent Miller the same in real life as she is on the show?" The smile on Dryden's face increased in sleaziness by a factor of ten. "She must have been a lot of fun. And then to bail you out on that setup with Tennant…"
Cole's look went ice cold. "Yes, that was a setup," Dryden continued. "I had to have you eliminated. We didn't know if you were still in contact with Walker and her team, so the Ring decided to not take any chances."
Dryden cocked his gun. "Well, the result will be the same. And after I kill you, wouldn't you like to know the things I'll do to that whore before I take her life."
"You shouldn't say something like that," Cole replied calmly.
"And why not?"
A silenced gun fired. Dryden was hit in the chest and fell backwards, flipping over his chair and to the ground.
"That's why," Cole answered.
Carina emerged from the shadows with smoke still coming out of her gun. Cole stood and faced her.
"Miller…Carina Miller," he teased.
Carina shook her head in annoyance. "You've hung around the guys way too much," she droned. "Do you have the recording?"
Cole took out the contacts he was wearing and extracted the drive from his pocket. "Everything we need. I'll make sure Hawk gives this to the right people."
He gave Carina a quick kiss. "But for now…"
"Agreed."
The two quickly left Dryden's office.
Duke & Duke, LLC – New York, NY
June 11, 2016
4:00 PM EDT
Alex stepped off of the elevator on the executive level of Duke and Duke's luxurious offices on the 64th floor of their building on West Street. As she walked down the corridor, she noticed the floor-to-ceiling windows with breathtaking views. She had visited the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings as a child, and certainly the arrival of the new World Trade Center added to the picturesque skyline. But her fondest memory of New York still remained Times Square, where John O'Shea got down on one knee and proposed to her at exactly 11:59PM on New Year's Eve, 2000. She could barely hear what he was saying with the screaming crowds surrounding them, but the beautiful diamond on the engagement ring did all the talking that was needed. He got up and she jumped into his arms, kissing him like there was no tomorrow, right as the clock struck midnight. That memory came back to her from time to time. During the majority of her post-9/11 years, it made her feel even more pain than she already did. But in the last few months, it had been putting a smile on her face again.
"OK, I can't lie: that is a DAMN good view. And I'm from Chicago, so I KNOW what I'm talking about."
She gave a little smile, remembering she was wearing a camera that was sending a feed to Jimmy. And now she knew why the memory of John put a smile on her face these days. I might get to do this twice, she thought to herself.
She quickly cleared her head of those feelings. WAY too early, Forrest.
"I would have thought you'd hate Chicago, given how you grew up and what happened to you."
"You would think, yeah. And maybe if I was still on my own, I'd hate everything and everyone. Amazing how things change in this business."
Alex gave a little laugh. "You have no idea," she said with a grin.
She made it to the office of Penelope Witherspoon. "She'll be ready for you in a few moments, Miss Valentine," Witherspoon's executive assistant said. "Please have a seat."
Alex walked over to the couch the assistant gestured towards as she went inside to talk to Witherspoon. Alex took a magazine from the table in front of her and began to flip through it.
"The latest issue of People," she said quietly. "This place MUST be nice."
"Tell me you're not into gossipy magazines," Jimmy muttered in disbelief.
"Only on occasion. And why are you bitching, Mr. 2015's Sexiest Man Alive?"
"I was NOT the Sexiest Man Alive. David Beckham won that; I was just in the top ten."
"You might be getting another call soon." Alex continued to flip through the pages until she found a particular article which made her grin. "Especially after I'm reading this."
"What?"
"It's an article about Comic Con. Rumors are they might release information on the next Bond film there. People gave a ranking of the actors who could replace Daniel Craig if he doesn't come back. Guess who's just behind Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston?"
"Oh, give me a break," Jimmy droned in frustration.
"We know what you're thinking: an American couldn't possibly play James Bond," Alex said, reading from the article like a giddy schoolgirl. "But if Gwyneth Paltrow and Renée Zellweger can give us very serviceable British accents, schooling the ultra-sexy co-star of Jen Burton: Spy Girl in old-country manners could give us a Bond film that would push the franchise even further into the stratosphere. Imagine a Bond that could combine the physical traits of Daniel Craig, the tongue-in-cheek humor of Roger Moore, and the suaveness of Pierce Brosnan. You could have the best choice to play 007 since Connery himself."
"For crying out loud…" Jimmy banged his head against the pipe behind him as he sat in the duct work in the basement with a laptop and a connection into Duke and Duke's network. "We can't do anything except the show or anything that promotes the show. And I seriously doubt that will change after I become the new Intersect."
"Hey, you know how many women fantasize about sleeping with James Bond? Guess what? I actually get to do it. Quit being such a wet noodle and let me get my thrills."
"Try something with batteries," Jimmy snarked.
"You keep whining like a little bitch and that's exactly what I'll do." Alex heard movement behind the doors. "We're on. Let's get to work."
Jimmy checked the time. "Hope this goes fast. We only have about five minutes before the shit hits the fan."
Witherspoon's assistant emerged from her office. "She'll see you now, Miss Valentine."
Alex nodded in appreciation and walked into Witherspoon's office. It was clear this was a Ring leader who liked the finer things, given the solid oak desk, the antique lamps on either side of it, her Louboutin shoes, her Michael Kors business suit, and the Rolex on her wrist.
"Have a seat, Miss Valentine," Witherspoon said. "I appreciate you taking the time to discuss your merger proposal with our firm. And quite honestly, I'm a little disappointed."
"Disappointed?" Alex asked, attempting to stay in character.
Witherspoon pressed a button under her desk. "I'm disappointed you would think the Ring wasn't keeping tabs on you...Agent Forrest. After all, someone who has ended as many careers as you warrants close scrutiny."
Two very intimidating men entered from a side door and stood on either side of Witherspoon's desk. "We have important plans coming together, and we certainly don't need you interfering with those." Witherspoon turned to the two men. "Find a nice quiet room downstairs and kill her. Let's not make too much noise."
Each of the two men pulled out guns and walked around to either side of Alex. "Get up," one of them ordered.
Alex exhaled slowly and stood. "I can see where working for the Ring has its perks," she said causally as the second man took her gun. Her hand slid towards her watch. "Beautiful view of New York, big house in the Hamptons, fly around the world on your own private jet…"
"I even get to take two-hour lunches," Witherspoon teased.
"Yeah, that's the perk I like the most."
Alex hit two buttons on her watch and shielded her face. The bulbs on the desk lamps exploded, sending glass everywhere. She took advantage of the distraction, sending a high kick at one of Witherspoon's assistants. She drew her telescoping batons out of her jacket sleeves and swung hard to knock the gun away of the other man. He tried to attack, but she spun out of the way and nailed him in the back of the head with a baton as he went past, crashing into the first man as he attempted to get up. Alex held the two batons like a baseball bat and swung hard, knocking both men out.
"Don't…"
Alex turned to see the gun she knocked away being pointed at her by Witherspoon.
"Move over there," Witherspoon ordered as she cocked the gun. "I don't need blood getting on the Matisse hanging on the wall behind you."
Alex slowly moved towards the windows, and Witherspoon matched her step for step. "My only regret is that you won't get to see what we do with the rest of Walker's team," Witherspoon snarled.
"FREEZE!"
The doors burst open, and four NYPD officers trained their guns on Witherspoon. Three people in business suits followed directly behind them as one of the officers confiscated Witherspoon's gun.
"Miss Witherspoon, I'm Special Agent Withorp, these are Agents Coleman and Beeks of the Securities and Exchange Commission," the leader of the trio said. "We have a warrant for your arrest for violations of SEC rules regarding a series of transactions involving your personal accounts and their links to a foreign government currently under sanction by the United States."
"You may contact my lawyer about anything having to do with the firm," Witherspoon spat. "In the meantime, I caught this woman breaking and entering into our offices to commit computer fraud. She then assaulted the security I brought in to escort her out. She tried to kill me, but I took her gun. I want her placed under arrest right now."
Two of the police officers walked over to Alex. Before they could handcuff her, four more NYPD officers and two more agents in suits entered.
"Just a moment," one of the new agents said as she took out her ID. "I'm Agent Hughes and this is Agent Costanzo. We're with the DEA, and we have a warrant for Miss Witherspoon's arrest for arranging the sale of heroin to a group of street gangs in New York with an estimated value of $20 million. We get her first."
"That's ridiculous! I don't deal in heroin!" Witherspoon protested. "You can search my files if you want!"
"We already have," Costanzo replied, holding up a flash drive.
Two more agents entered the room. "Busy day, Miss Witherspoon?" one of them asked at seeing so many agents and officers inside.
"No wait," she said tiredly. "Don't tell me; you're with the IRS."
"Not exactly," the agent replied, showing his ID. "Doug Quaid, ATF. I'm Section Chief for the New York district, and this is Special Agent Hauser. We'd like to ask you a few questions regarding a shipment of automatic weapons paid for with funds from one of your accounts."
"OK, all of you are insane. None of those things happened. If anything, you should be charging this woman for assaulting my security and threatening to kill me!"
All of the agents and officers looked towards Alex. Suddenly, everyone's smartphones began to beep. Everyone looked on their screens at the video file that was downloaded to them.
"We have important plans coming together, and we certainly don't need you interfering with those. Find a nice quiet room downstairs and kill her. Let's not make too much noise."
All of the agents and officers turned their guns on Witherspoon. "You are also being charged with conspiracy to commit murder," Winthorp said coldly.
Two officers grabbed Witherspoon and pushed her against the wall, frisking her and putting her in handcuffs. Four others handcuffed her two assistants. Alex took the opportunity to slip away and head for the elevator.
"OK, that worked a lot better than we thought," she said quietly to Jimmy as she descended towards the lobby.
"Just wanted to make it airtight," he replied. "By the time the Feds are done fighting over who gets to put her on trial first, the Ring will be gone."
"You were able to set all of that up in just two hours?"
"Yeah. And if I had known we'd have that much time, I wouldn't have skipped lunch."
Alex exited the elevator and walked out of the building. "We only have an hour and change to get to our jet. I'm afraid you'll have to settle for whatever they have on board."
"Screw that." Jimmy replied, appearing on the sidewalk in front of Alex. He then turned and hailed a cab. "After all of that work, I ain't settling for a bag of pretzels!"
A taxi pulled up, and he held the door open for Alex to enter, quickly following in behind her.
"Katz's Deli, and step on it!" he said to the driver.
Buy More – Burbank, CA
June 11, 2016
12:45 PM PDT
Morgan got up and stretched. The second day of looking at the files was going about as well as the first day. They still couldn't find the evidence any of the video files were doctored. He walked over to the laptop Jimmy left behind. The progress there was better but not by much. The file being downloaded was about two-thirds done. Morgan hoped it would be done before the end of the day.
"How's it going?"
Big Mike walked into the office loaded down with submarine sandwiches and drinks for everybody.
"Still no luck," Morgan replied tiredly. "We can't find anything to prove the video was doctored."
"I'm starting to think Sarah really killed that woman," Lester said dejectedly.
"No, no way," Big Mike boomed. "That lady isn't capable of cold-blooded murder. Not a chance in hell."
Lester slunk back in his seat and turned back to the computer, rewinding the piece of footage they had been going over for the past two hours. It showed the image of Sarah firing her gun.
"What's with him?" Big Mike asked, pointing at the barely-moving Jeff.
"He's…he's checked out of the hotel," Morgan said wearily.
Big Mike continued to look at Jeff, who was staring at the video but showing no other signs of life.
"Does he do that a lot?" Big Mike asked.
"What do you mean?"
"That twitch."
"Who knows with him," Lester droned as he rewound the same footage and ran it again.
"He just twitched again," Big Mike said.
That woke Morgan up. "Run it again, Lester," he said.
Lester reran the same footage, and Jeff twitched yet again. "Again. But at one-quarter speed and pause when we tell you to," Morgan told him.
Lester slowed the playback to one-quarter speed and restarted. Morgan and Big Mike looked intently at Jeff.
"Pause it!" they both yelled when they saw Jeff twitch once again. The adrenaline was starting to flow as the three turned to the monitor.
"He twitched when Sarah fired her gun," Lester said. "Why would he do that?"
"Zoom in on her gun and run frame-by-frame," Big Mike ordered.
Lester made the appropriate adjustments as Jeff moved up as well. They watched the gun carefully. They stopped and studied the image of the muzzle flash from Sarah's gun.
"What's that?" Morgan asked, pointing to a spot just above where Sarah's hand was on the gun.
Lester moved forward a few frames, but the object was gone. He then wound it back to the original frame and zoomed in to maximum resolution on the spot they found.
"Whatever that was, it was very small and moving very fast," Big Mike said.
"And moving in the same direction Sarah was firing," Morgan added.
The four looked at each other, and the same conclusion went through their minds.
"Someone else shot that agent?" Lester asked.
"Could be." Morgan grabbed the keyboard and mouse and started going through the files. "We have to look at what happened to Evelyn when she was shot."
"Oooh, those videos were so cool," Jeff slurred.
National Security Agency – Fort Meade, MD
June 11, 2016
5:00 PM EDT
James Keller exited his office at Fort Meade and proceeded to his car. Although they were available to him, he eschewed the armed escort all the higher-ups who worked in intelligence were provided. He knew from personal experience to keep things as simple and as unobtrusive as possible. After all, making a big splash also made you a big target.
He got on Maryland Route 175 to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to head to his small home in Ellicott City, Maryland. It was exactly the type of place he liked: upscale but where you could easily blend in. He drove up to his house and pulled the car into the garage. He exited the car and opened the door to his house. He grabbed the mail and a bottle of whiskey, pouring himself a shot. He headed towards his favorite chair.
"Tic Tac?"
Keller spun and drew his weapon. Casey was sitting at the dining room table holding up a box of Tic Tacs.
"Here," Casey said, tossing the box to Keller. "Never paid you back for these in Honduras."
"Coburn." Keller regarded him for a minute before putting his gun down. "I could shoot you right now, but I assume you'd be ready for such a weak tactic. Don't tell me; I have a laser sight aimed at me right now."
Keller looked down and saw the laser beam lighting up his chest. "Ah, there it is. Who did you bring? Walker? Miller? Slade? Maybe your girlfriend? At least you remembered what I told you about having someone watch your back."
He pulled out the chair at the opposite end of the table from Casey and sat down. The laser beam turned off. "There are few things I regret in life, John. But I underestimated you far too often. So, congratulations. You made the list."
"Discovered a few things about you. Some I already knew, some that shouldn't have surprised me," Casey said in as venomous of a voice as anyone had ever heard from him.
Keller nodded. "Hence my regret in not taking you more seriously. You were supposed to die in Colombia. I didn't expect you to escape…not to mention saving the lives of those other three. I realized you were a wildcard I had to take care of. Ty Bennett should have killed you, but he failed. Then I figured you'd be stubborn enough to go on your own to free that al Qaeda-controlled village where I sent the weapons. I didn't think you'd bring Slade with you. And then Lankaran…"
Casey sat up in his chair, and his already angry façade delved into something far more vicious. "Who do you think bankrolled Victor Federov's escape from prison?" Keller continued, a tiny smile coming to his face. "Not to mention providing the data Decker sent me from Dryden at British Intelligence."
"So how long have you worked for the Ring?" Casey spat.
"Long enough to know this country is heading in the wrong direction. Long enough to know a little rebellion every now and then is a good thing. And these days, very necessary."
"Ironic you quote one of the builders of our country to justify destroying it."
"The Ring knows what needs to be done. And that's exactly what we will do. As soon as you and your meddlesome little team are out of the way, we'll see how Bartowski can fit in with our plans."
Casey gave a tiny smile and extracted a drive out of his shirt pocket. "One of the advantages of working with nerds: they know the bad guys like to talk too much."
"Recorded everything, did you?" Keller sat up straight. "I guess you have learned a few things over the years. You never used to look at the bigger picture. For you, everything was just point and shoot."
Keller glanced to his right. "Although I'm sure you remember the benefits of having a home-court advantage. And knowing you always have your curtains fully drawn."
Keller grabbed his gun and fired into the curtains. Ilsa dove to the floor, the shot missing her by inches. Casey sprung forward with a primal growl as Keller tried to turn the gun in his direction. Casey tackled him over the chair, and the two hit the floor, the gun falling out of Keller's hands.
Casey got on top of him and planted a knee on Keller's chest, landing two punches at his chin. Keller reached behind him to grab a small lamp on the end table and smashed it across Casey's head. Casey fell off of him, and Keller rolled to land shot after shot on him as Ilsa got up and tried to grab Keller's gun. Keller tripped her, which gave Casey the chance to use his half-foot height advantage to throw Keller off of him. The two got up and faced each other, charging forward and exchanging punches and elbows. Keller managed to knock Casey's arms up and threw him into the wall, quickly kicking out his knees and wrapping his arm around Casey's neck, attempting to break it. He turned Casey towards Ilsa and used him as a human shield.
"Shoot him!" Casey garbled to Ilsa, who had retrieved Keller's gun.
"Then get out of the way!" Ilsa shouted back, who couldn't get a clean shot.
Keller pulled Casey back towards the kitchen, still keeping him between Ilsa and himself. He reached for a knife.
Casey snapped his head back, making contact with Keller's face. It distracted Keller long enough for Casey to rise and grab Keller's forearm. He took two steps forward and planted his feet on the wall, walking up it and backflipping over Keller. Keller dove to his left just as Ilsa fired, taking a round in his right shoulder. He fell to the ground and found Ilsa's gun lying next to him. He sat up and took aim at her.
Casey threw the knife Keller tried to get, nailing him in the middle of the chest. Keller looked at it in shock before he collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.
"Life is full of regrets," Casey said quietly.
Ilsa walked over to Casey and checked him for injuries. "Everything OK?"
"Yeah. You?"
She nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen you do something like that before."
"What?"
"That walk up the wall and the backflip. They were very impressive."
Casey shrugged. "Well, I have to confess. I practice that every now and again."
"Really?" Ilsa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I think I've been hanging around Walker, Miller, and Slade too long. They're just as good in combat and…can't believe I'm saying this…they make it look so cool."
Ilsa smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "Don't sell yourself short, John. I'll bet if I asked any one of them, they'd say how lucky they were that you're part of the team."
He gave her a kiss. "Thanks."
The two exited Keller's house.
Buy More – Burbank, CA
June 11, 2016
1:15 PM PDT
Morgan, Big Mike, Jeff, and Lester were far from bored or frustrated. As far as they could be, in fact. Morgan was feeling the rush of the impending finish line. It was a feeling not too unlike the adrenaline rush of the shootout in the Buy More against those six Ring agents…without the inconvenience of his life being in danger.
"OK, here we go." Lester found the closeup shot of Evelyn Shaw. He skipped right to the moment when she was actually killed and zoomed in on the picture, running it at one-eighth speed.
"Oh, I love this part," Jeff said, more enthusiastic than he normally was. Which, admittedly, wasn't an improvement.
Big Mike watched the footage. He then frowned. "Run it again. Keep repeating it, Lester."
Lester rewound the footage as Big Mike requested. They looked at the bullet hitting Evelyn over and over.
"Wow, it's like a Quentin Tarantino blooper reel," Jeff said, his focus fading a bit.
"Something doesn't look right," Big Mike said.
"What?" Morgan asked.
"Tell me that bullet doesn't go on a downward angle."
Morgan kept looking at the footage. "You're right." He quickly did some research. "Sarah is 5'9" and so is Evelyn. If they're nearby each other and on level ground, how could the bullet have a downward trajectory? It should be a straight shot."
Big Mike straightened up. "Whoever fired this is taller than both of them. By at least half a foot."
Morgan sat in silence. He then did some more research on the data the team had. His face blanched.
"I think I know who it might be."
He quickly called Sarah. "Right to voicemail," he said, his fear rising quickly. "Chuck's does the same. I thought they'd pick up right away."
He frantically started calling the rest of the team. "Nobody's picking up! Carina, Casey, Jimmy, Cole, Alex, Ilsa, none of them!"
"Didn't Jimmy tell you they have missions today?" Big Mike asked, who was calmer than Morgan…but not by much. "Maybe they're working on those and can't take a call."
"Maybe they were captured," Lester said with fright that was off the scales.
"Or killed," Jeff said darkly. The three turned to him in shock. "Does that mean we get to do the cool stuff now?"
Franz Hall, UCLA Campus – Los Angeles, CA
June 11, 2016
1:00 PM PDT
Chuck pulled the car into the visitor's parking lot across the street from the building while Sarah readied her weapons. Devon opened the case containing the bio-tag vials and the injector.
"OK, I don't want you two taking any chances," Sarah said with the same tone a mother would use when their child was about to go on their first date. "Wait until we verify the bio-tags are tracking your location and then start walking near the psychology building. Most importantly, don't try to make anything happen. If I'm right, they won't think it's a coincidence you're here. Hopefully, that will convince Phelps to deal with you personally. Chuck and I will make our way into the building through the tunnels."
"We understand," Ellie said as Devon loaded a bio-tag cartridge into the gun and injected her with it. She took the gun, swapped out the needle, and put in a new bio-tag cartridge. "Just…try to be there as fast as you can." She injected Devon with his bio-tag.
"How about Casey's little backup plan?" Chuck asked.
Devon checked. "It's ready."
Sarah exhaled. Time for the kids to go out on the date. "Be careful."
Ellie put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Promise."
She exited the car followed by Devon. They walked across the street and entered the quad. Devon checked his phone to see the strength of the wireless bandwidth in the area.
"Chuck, can you track us?" he asked.
Back in the car, Chuck opened the app he programmed into his mobile phone. "You just passed Boyer Hall and you're still walking north?"
"I guess these tags work."
"Great," Sarah replied. "Keep your eyes open."
"I can't believe I'm able to say this, but this isn't our first time," Ellie said, which elicited a tiny smile from Sarah. Chuck was a different, far more nervous story.
"Just wish we could have used one of Jimmy's mini-drones to help us," he said dejectedly.
Sarah shook her head. "Having a drone follow them would be too conspicuous, no matter how small they are. Like I told them, act naturally and let the Ring show their cards first."
"I think someone broke out the deck," Devon said quietly as he saw four people approach. "Little old for that group to be wearing hoodies and shorts."
"You're Devon Woodcomb!" one of them said. "I was just reading your biography for one of my classes! Can't believe you've done so much important work in such a short time!"
"Well, thanks," Devon replied humbly. Ellie glanced at the other three, who were slowly moving to surround them.
"Oh, do you have some time? I'd love to ask you a few questions."
"Sorry. We have a very busy day, and…"
The other three drew weapons and pointed them at Ellie and Devon, keeping them low to not attract attention.
"Comm gear, you two," the person said, pulling out their gun as well.
Devon exhaled in anger as he took out his earpiece and handed it to him. Ellie did the same. The other three then frisked them, one of them confiscating the small purse Ellie was carrying. He aimed it in their direction and opened it twice.
"What are you doing?" Ellie asked in annoyance.
"Making sure we don't fall for the same trick again," the man replied. He then searched it. "Clean," he told the leader.
"Clean of any bugs, too," another one said, having used an electronic scanner on Ellie and Devon. The fourth agent confiscated their phones.
"Move," the leader said, motioning with their gun towards Franz Hall.
~/^\~
"Ellie, Devon, come in," Sarah said with rising fear when they got silence. "Come in!"
She turned to Chuck. "The Ring must have them. Let's go."
The two exited the car and quickly made their way towards the outside of the quad. "Do you have them?"
Chuck nodded as he looked at the app for Ellie's and Devon's location. "They're going into Franz Hall alright." He then stopped. "Wait, they're not going upstairs to Phelps' office. What's going on?"
"Where are they going?"
"It looks like the basement. The signal has stopped moving. They're in what looks like an old storage room at the southwest corner." Chuck paused, and his eyes widened. "You don't think the Ring will…"
"Let's get them before they do!"
The two sprinted into Young Hall and quickly found the entry way for the tunnel system. They made their way north through the tunnel until they were underneath Franz Hall.
Chuck pulled up the documentation he had on the UCLA campus. "OK, we should be right under them," he said.
"Give me a foothold," Sarah told him. He put his hands out, and she braced herself against the ceiling, placing four small blocks of C-4 against the concrete, creating a four-foot circle. Both of them readied harnesses and piton guns. Sarah also readied her Smith & Wesson.
"OK, moment of truth," she said quietly as she hit a button on her watch.
~/^\~
Ellie and Devon were led to chairs in a storage room in the basement of Franz Hall. The four Ring agents kept them surrounded as Claire Phelps entered the room and sat on the desk in front of them.
"That wasn't a smart idea," Phelps said. "You just walk around the campus, thinking the Ring doesn't remember what you two did the other day? I thought you two were a lot smarter."
She looked at them for a moment. "Ah, of course. Agent Walker and her team are about to swoop in here any second because they're here to get me. They'll have to find you first. After all, they can't use satellite to track you. And we're far enough inside the concrete where your cell phones are useless."
Phelps paced back and forth, a tiny smile coming to her face. "She is the best, I'll give her that. We were interested in her all the way back to Wisconsin, back when she was Katie O'Connell. Shame Langston Graham got to her first. We also tried to get Miller during her DEA days, but we underestimated how crafty she was. And how Jimmy Slade evaded all of our attempts to kill him is beyond me. Some of us thought of trying to turn him, but back then he was more interested in being dead. Pity he wasn't very good at it."
Ellie and Devon looked at each other in shock. "It's amazing how much we know about her little team and everyone associated with it. Including the two of you. So, trying to hold you hostage is a waste of time. We'll just burn this trail right now and move on."
Two of Phelps' agents aimed their weapons at Ellie and Devon. Ellie's watch vibrated. She glanced down at it and saw it count down from ten seconds.
"There is one mistake you did make," Ellie told Phelps.
"What's that?"
"You CAN fall for the same trick twice."
As the countdown hit three seconds, Ellie twisted the bezel on her watch. Her purse and their smartphones released an electric charge of 50,000 volts, knocking out the two agents holding them. Devon dove for Ellie, kicking the desk into the third agent as an explosion took out a large portion of the floor. Two pitons fired into the ceiling, and Chuck and Sarah came up on cables. Sarah gave a roundhouse kick to the agent still standing as Chuck flashed. He winced in pain but recovered. The agent Devon knocked down tried to get up, but Chuck leaped onto the desk and took him out with a hard kick to the head.
"Don't," Sarah growled as she drew her weapon and aimed it at Phelps. "Now we'll head to your office and get every last thing you have on your files and computers."
Phelps shook her head. "I can do the watch trick, too."
She hit two buttons on her watch. "You should hear the fire alarms going off any second. Any files related to the Ring in my office were either erased off the computers or burned in my file cabinets."
"Then I guess everything that's in your head will be a nice consolation prize. Casey hasn't gotten to interrogate anybody in a long while, and I'll bet he's hungry."
"Tell him to eat a Snicker's."
Phelps flipped off the nail on her index finger, revealing a needle underneath. She plunged it into her neck. She began to convulse and fell to the ground. Ellie and Devon ran to her and checked.
"Fastest poison I've ever seen," Ellie said quietly. "She's dead."
Sarah exhaled in frustration. "Let's hope the others had more success."
The four quickly exited as the fire alarms began to ring.
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro – Irvine, CA
June 11, 2016
2:00 PM PDT
"OK, Morgan, OK."
Chuck shook his head and smiled. He thought HE had a bad day. But apparently Morgan could top it. Not knowing really was the worst part.
"How long before the file from Beckman is downloaded? OK, thanks. We'll see you soon."
Chuck turned to Sarah. "Beckman's file should be done in a few hours, and he says he may have figured out who actually killed Evelyn. Poor guy was going out of his mind when he couldn't reach anybody."
"I guess he needed more details about what we were doing. I should have had Jimmy tell him more," Sarah replied.
"It certainly didn't help Jeff and Lester acting like they did."
"Well, technically, Lester wasn't wrong. Three of us were captured. Fortunately, Alex managed to escape in New York, and we took care of Phelps."
"Thanks to you two," Ellie said with a smile.
"And that's twice you've sold yourself short," Sarah mildly admonished her. "You two were incredible in there. Are you sure you want to stay doctors?"
Devon laughed. "I think the last few weeks were enough excitement for us. I just don't know how to top that. Maybe my next skydive, I'll try it without a parachute."
"Not…happening," Ellie gritted with an evil glare.
The four drove down the ramp and exited their vehicle. They began to walk towards the surveillance van when Chuck glanced to his left. He spotted something near one of the sewer mains. He then flashed, seeing images of ivy, electrical drawings, and large rooms filled to the brim with explosives.
He doubled over in pain. "RUN!" he screamed.
Sarah grabbed him and ran towards the opposite end of the base with Ellie and Devon in hot pursuit. A massive explosion ripped through the entire area.