A/N: U menya net Chuck.
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In a lighted area deeper in the cavernous building, they found six men standing in a semi-circle. Among the men, from the pictures in the files, they recognized both Kozlov and Bondarev.
In the center of the semi-circle were two men bound to straight-backed chairs. Michael Souza and Jack Burton.
"What?" asked Jack with surprise. "What are..."
As shocked as she was to see him, Sarah reacted faster than Jack and barked out, angrily, "Shut your mouth, Burton. This is all your fault."
He shut his mouth. She moved directly to Souza and said, "Mike, are you alright?" She bent to give him a quick hug and whispered in his ear, "Play along."
"I'm ok," he said aloud. He was a handsome young man with a mane of thick black hair. He wore a dress shirt and tie, but no suit jacket.
Sarah turned to look at Jack. He showed signs of having been beaten. There was blood on his shirt from a split lip and his left eye was swollen almost closed. His upper lip was red with blood from his nose. With her back to the Russians, she gave him a soft look, which he understood, although he was still stunned at her unexpected arrival. Wisely, though, he stayed silent.
She turned to the Russian men behind her and said, "Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Rebecca Franco. This is my associate Desmond Llewelyn. I am a private investigator. Mike Souza is an old friend of mine and he hired me to look into his new client, Jack Burton. The fact that Burton had engaged him to help sell an office building seemed too good to be true. And it was. As we now know, Burton is a con artist. He scammed everyone, Mike included."
[FROM THIS POINT, THE CONVERSATION PROCEEDS IN RUSSIAN. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE TIRESOME FOR ALL OF US TO PRESENT IT IN THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN AND THEN TRANSLATE IT SO PLEASE USE YOUR IMAGINATIONS.]
Sarah continued. "As I would prefer that Burton not understand what I have to say to you, I propose we continue this discussion in Russian. Which one of you is Kozlov?"
A heavyset man with thick features moved his hand slightly. Although dressed in an expensive business suit (that seemed to be a size too small), he looked like a thug. He had a bullet head with a light stubble of hair, Slavic features, and small eyes.
"And which one of you is Bondarev?"
"I am, Ms. Franco." He was what the intelligence services would call a 'gray man.' Medium height and build. Brown hair kept in a neat businessman's cut. Expensive suit. Glasses. Not the man you would notice in a crowd. "Your Russian is excellent."
"Thank you. I had a teacher who used to … how do you say badger [she used the English word] in Russian?"
"Draznit," replied Bondarev, looking at her with new understanding in his eyes.
"Yes, that's it. Thank you. He made me study very hard."
He smiled, "Successfully, it seems."
Kozlov was quickly losing patience. "Enough of this nonsense. Why are you here?"
"Mr. Kozlov, you seem to be somewhat impatient. Perhaps had you been a little more controlled in your reactions we all could have avoided this unfortunate situation."
As she had expected, Kozlov didn't take her jibe well at all. "Listen to me, you stupid cow. I …"
She stepped towards him. "I'M STUPID? REALLY? WHO WIRED BURTON $650,000? I DIDN'T DO THAT, KOZLOV. YOU DID THAT. I THINK THAT'S PRETTY FUCKING STUPID."
Kozlov took a step forward with an arm raised to slap her, but Bondarev stepped between them, stopping his fellow countryman. "That won't get us anywhere," Bondarev said. "But my colleague has a fair question. What are you doing here?"
"Thank you. Good to see cooler heads prevail. So, you asked why I'm here. I'm here to get Mike out of this jam that Burton landed him in and to give you back some of your money," said Sarah.
"You have our money?" asked Kozlov, interested but surprised.
"I do not. But Dez," she gestured at Chuck, "is a bit of a computer genius. He managed to track the funds Burton stole from you to an account Burton has in Hong Kong. We think we can return it to you. At least the amount we found."
"It's not enough," said Kozlov. "We had expenses. Our own lawyers. Engineers we retained. We want Burton to cover those costs as well."
"All legitimate business expenses. Not much I can do about that," said Sarah.
Bondarev said, "You said some of the money. How much?"
"The other law firm, Coleman & Copley, took $25,000 as their fee before they sent him the money. So, he only collected $625,000. That's what we traced."
"Inadequate," growled Kozlov. "$700,000."
"I don't know who you think you are talking to here, Kozlov. I'm not negotiating with you with my own money. I'm telling you that I can return to you what Dez found."
"That's very helpful, Ms. Franco, but once again my colleague is correct and we did have expenses," said Bondarev.
"I understand and I sympathize, but that's going to be between you and Burton. I couldn't care less. I'm prepared to return to you what Burton got and we were able to find. In return, we walk out of here with Mike and you guys deal with Burton for the rest of your money. Not my business. He's a career criminal. I'm sure you'll have a lot to talk to him about."
"Certainly, what you suggest is a superb start," said Bondarev.
"No," said Kozlov. "We want what we want. Nobody leaves until we get it."
"Listen to me, Kozlov. I don't know what you think is going to happen, but this is Los Angeles, not Moscow. You think you can muscle me, Dez and Mike because Burton ripped you off? Seriously? You think that's the way things work here? If you grab the folks you're pissed off at and beat the hell out of them, you go to prison, not them. And how would Mr. Semenov take to that, huh? His guys locked up for beating on some folks who were trying to return some money to them that some other guy stole? Now does that sound sensible to you, Kozlov? Doesn't sound sensible to me."
Bondarev said, "You are quite right, Ms. Franco. It is not sensible. Perhaps you can ask your colleague to transfer the money you found, and we can pursue alternate arrangements for the balance we feel is owed to us?"
"Thank you, Mr. Bondarev. I'm glad that someone here has some judgement," Sarah said with a scowl at Kozlov.
She noted that Kozlov looked unhappy, but he didn't seem eager to argue with Bondarev. Although only Kozlov and Bondarev had been talking, Sarah had been keeping an eye on the other Russians and watching their reactions. She was reasonably certain that Bondarev's calm and reasonable approach was meeting with the approval of the rest of the men.
[NOW THE CONVERSATION SWITCHES BACK TO ENGLISH]
"Dez, pull the trigger," she said to Chuck.
"Sure thing, Becca." Chuck took out his computer and put it on a nearby box. After a few minutes, he turned to Bondarev and asked for a bank and account number. When he was given the information, it was only a few moments later that he said, "Ok. Transfer complete. How quickly can you check with your bank?"
Bondarev said, "It's in Macau." Turning to one of the men he said, "Get Wo on the phone. Have him check that the money arrived. Make him do it while you wait."
The man Bondarev was talking to took out his phone and made a call, stepping away from the others for privacy.
Sarah went to Souza and stepped behind him. She looked at Bondarev and said, "Knife?"
Bondarev nodded to one of the other men, who opened a knife and cut the zip ties attaching Souza to the chair.
Souza stood up, rubbing his wrists, and said, "Thanks, Becca."
"You're welcome, Mike. You owe me a bottle of champagne, dude," said Sarah.
There was a slam as a door to the warehouse opened. A voice bellowed, "US TREASURY. NOBODY MOVE."
Casey, Zondra and Bryce, each wearing a windbreaker reading FEDERAL AGENT and carrying shotguns, rushed into the light.
Casey put the gun into Jack's face and said, "Burton. Can't run away this time, huh?" Jack didn't reply but looked suitably startled. Casey looked over his shoulder at the rest of the crowd. "Who are you people?"
"We had business dealings with Burton," said Kozlov.
Bondarev's man on the phone with Macau spoke in Bondarev's ear. Bondarev looked at Kozlov and nodded his head.
"Russians?" asked Casey, after hearing Kozlov's accent. "You must be Semenov's guys. Good. We'll need you to testify against this asshole. My boss is going to want to talk to Semenov himself personally. Is he in town?" He chuckled. "Talk about getting good press. You guys are going to be heroes for helping us take Burton down."
Looks were exchanged between Kozlov and Bondarev. Both men shook their heads negatively in agreement. Kozlov said, "No. We decline to press charges."
"What?" said Casey, seemingly stunned. "Why the hell not?"
"It was a misunderstanding," said Bondarev. "A business arrangement gone wrong. That's all."
"Hah. Well, that sucks. But we want him for a bunch of other stuff. Doesn't matter. And the lawyers he scammed are going to press charges anyway. Even without you guys we still have him," said Casey. "You hear that? We got you, Burton."
Bondarev said, "Good luck to you all. We will be going now." He led the other Russians out of the building.
Once the Russians were gone, Sarah said to Casey, "Thanks, Case."
"Don't mention it," replied Casey, cutting Jack free from the chair.
Both Jack and Souza stared at the assembled men and women with shock.
Souza said, "What in God's name is going on here?"
"Mr. Souza, please come with me. I'll explain everything," said Zondra, leading him away from the others and out of the warehouse.
Turning to Jack, Sarah said, "What are you doing here?"
"Aw, hell, Angel. I wasn't going to let the kid swing," said Jack.
"And you had a plan to get him out of trouble?"
"Sure. I was going to..."
There was the sound of a banging door and a loud voice yelled out. "FBI. NOBODY MOVE."
"What the hell?" said Casey. "What now?"
Jack murmured, "Not again."
A half dozen men and women with windbreakers announcing their affiliation with the FBI poured into the light with weapons in their hands.
"Aw crap," said Chuck. Speaking to Sarah out of the corner of his mouth, he said, "Get your dad out of here, Sweetie. I'll take care of these guys."
Extending his arms wide, Chuck began to walk towards the newcomers. "Ok. Ok. Who's the agent in charge?"
"I am. Who the hell are you?" said the older looking agent.
"I'm Carmichael."
"Carmichael?" There was a noticeable ripple among the agents, looking amongst each other and back at Chuck. Surprise and respect dominated the looks on their faces.
Chuck said, in a loud commanding voice, "Get your guys over here. I have to talk to you all."
With his arms wide, Chuck began to herd the newly arrived agents away from Jack and Team B, talking all the while.
Sarah turned to her dad and said, gesturing at the other members of Team B, "These are my friends, and not Treasury. But the FBI are for real. You've got to get out of here, dad."
He walked with her a little away from the others and said, "You had me fooled with Cop-face coming in first." He started to chuckle lightly. "Now I know why Graham was so passionate about my getting involved with you again, about my coming back. The life of a grifter isn't all that different from spying, after all. Same skill set. You handled those Russians like a pro. And now Chuck can control a half dozen FBI agents with only a cover name. Now I got it. You guys are spies, Angel."
Sarah considered denying the truth of his realization, but decided there were more urgent matters at hand. "You be careful, dad. Chuck can distract these agents for a little while, but let's not push it. You've got to get out of here."
"I will. Bye, Angel. Be careful yourself."
"You too, Dad. I love you."
"Love you too, Darlin'."
With that, Jack Burton walked into the gloom of the large warehouse and disappeared from Sarah's view.
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Some time later that evening, Team B made their way into O'Malley's and took a table.
Sarah said, "Thanks, guys. Appreciate the unofficial help."
"Sure," said Bryce.
"No worries, Sar," said Zondra. Casey merely grunted.
"Finding your dad there was unexpected, huh, Sar?" asked Zondra.
"Yeah. I thought he'd been in the wind. But, when I was getting him away from the FBI he told me he had a plan to get Souza out," said Sarah.
"Any idea what it was?" asked Bryce.
"Nope. Probably risky and hair-brained, but …" Sarah's voice trailed off.
"But he put himself at risk for someone he barely knew. That's got to mean something, Sweetie. Maybe he's changed?" said Chuck.
Sarah wrinkled her lips, "I'd like to think you are right, but experience tells me otherwise."
Kelly came by the table and took their drink orders.
Zondra turned to Chuck and said, "Why were the FBI there anyway?"
"Combination of things. The other law firm, Coleman & Copley, they pressed charges against Jack when they found out what happened. So Jack was already on their radar for the fraud. Add that to the fact that Averbuck, from Warsaw, decided to alert the local FBI office in case we needed back-up with the Russians. We hadn't told him about the connection to Jack, just the need to get Souza out of trouble. He was just trying to help," said Chuck. "But the result is that Jack's on the run again and the FBI is pissed that Team B let him get away. But, big picture, behind their grumbling, they think there's some other intelligence angle with Semenov, which there is."
Morgan came out from the kitchen dressed in his chef's whites and with a large plate of coconut shrimp and a couple of dipping sauces in bowls.
"Hey guys," Morgan said. "On the house. I'm trying new sauces for the shrimp and I'm looking for reviews. "This one," he said, pointing, "is a chili sauce with orange flavor. This one is the standard pineapple one. After you try them, let me know what you think."
"Thanks, Morgs," said Chuck. "Will do." Once Morgan left the table to head back into the kitchen, they began to eat. Kelly arrived with their drinks. Morgan's sauces were both delicious.
"What did Souza have to say?" Sarah asked Zondra.
"Pissed off. Not too sure what he'd just seen. Smart guy though. He thought we were with your dad...working with your dad. He was happy to be out of danger, but pissed that your dad had involved him in his bullshit."
"Even though we weren't really there for your dad. It just worked out that way," said Bryce.
"Yeah, but he wouldn't know that," said Chuck. "Anyway, he'll have no way to know anything about us. Just that Sarah negotiated with the Russians to get him out and that we had fake Feds show up afterwards and chase the Russians away."
"Good job with that, Casey. The bit about the Russians being famous for helping to convict my dad. The very idea that Semenov would be happy to admit having been defrauded? That was an inspired idea."
"Thanks. I know Russians. They won't admit to anyone that they made a mistake and someone got one over on them. Be like blood in the water and all the other sharks will rip them apart," he said. "No way they'd participate in anything like that."
"So what happens to your dad now?" asked Bryce.
"As Chuck said, he goes on the run. Changes his name. Finds that island to sit on the beach with the stolen Russian money."
Zondra said, "Don't worry. He'll be back."
"No, he won't," said Sarah with sad resignation.
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A/N2: Jack is in the wind again. Seems to be the way he's lived most of his life. What do you guys think? One more chapter in this arc, as Ellie hears about Jack's visit and it impels her to seek out her own dad.