Chuck and Sarah Ch. 03

"Sarah..." He murmured in his sleep, smiling happily.

'He's so cute.' she mused.

"I love you Chuck, and I'll always get your back. Forgive me for being afraid, but I don't know if I could live one without you."

She had no idea whether he could hear her or even understand her words, but like a response he turned to her, put his arm around her and pulled her close, murmuring in a sleepy, almost dreamy voice.

"Come closer, darling... The bed's so cold without you."

While Chuck kept kissing her neck in his sleep – something he loved to do, was very good in and did often, even while being fast asleep – Sarah relaxed more and more, and when she drifted into nice dreams, she even smiled again.

Waking the team was an obligation, Casey assumed very willingly. Maybe a USMC-colonel had to be that strict, but Morgan was convinced, Casey in a sadistic way enjoyed throwing him to the floor together with the mattress.

When Morgan managed to pick himself up, he saw that Sarah must have woken Chuck in a more gentle way, because the tall Californian smiled blithely.

"Remember to be sparingly with the hot water." Morgan, who had memorized Casey's words from the night before, reminded the two lovebirds.

"That's why we are going to shower together."

Chuck's grin widened and Morgan said hastily: "No details!"

By and by, all of them went to the bathroom. Morgan did hurry up pretty much, but being a Marine, Casey managed to be ready in less then five minutes.

"Our ride has arrived." Sarah announced.

She returned, followed by Chuck, from the balcony and looked around.

"Perfect timing... I'm starving!" Morgan announced.

He was really curious about the famous breakfast in Belgrade, he had read in his tourist guide. It was no surprise, he left the apartment first.

Their driver spoke and understood English very good and talked shop about the sights with Morgan, while they left the quarter of Cerak, drove through pulsating quarter centers, crossed bridges and drove on past the river Sava and the World Trade Center of Belgrade towards downtown Belgrade.

To everyone's – but the driver's – surprise, the car stopped in front of some kind of diner, only feet away from the US-Embassy, at the corner Sarajevska Ulica and Ulica Vojvode Milenka. Ðorđe Orahovac was already waiting for them at the door.

"I've promised you a typical breakfast in Belgrade, didn't I?" he greeted them.

Especially Morgan was curios.

"You shouldn't start your day with an empty belly, isn't it?"

"You're right, Gospodine Grimes."

Morgan turned to his friends.

"Help yourself. I've read about it, and it has to be delicious."

Orahovac laughed and then nodded.

"That's right, but maybe still a little unfamiliar for tourists. I just thought, we wouldn't draw much attention in here."

"Looks almost like the stuff back in turkey, and I bet it tastes like that."

Casey mused and quite interested examined the goods behind the counter.

In the end, they sat, everyone with his breakfast of choice, at the table, and each of them tasted the food with curiosity and a healthy appetite.

Casey had chosen Pogačice, circular puff pastry cushions filled with feta, while Morgan gave the Burek sa mesom, a puff pastry pie filled with ground meat, a try and both Chuck and Sarah enjoyed their Burek sa sirom, a feta and Kajmak – Serbian cottage cheese – filled puff pastry pie. All of them had yoghurt with it, like it was custom with this kind of food... And they loved it.

„I think, I've found a good point to start from for you."

Orahovac dabbed some stray crumbs from his lips with a napkin.

"The compound of Volkoff's facility is protected by a local security company named "Beli Tigar", I still have some connections to. This could help gaining access. At least to the outer perimeter, but that's a start, isn't it?"

"Do you have any blueprints of the complex?" Casey wanted to know.

"I knew, you'd be asking, Pukovniće Casey." the Serb answered – this time using the NSA-agents rank in contrast to the civilian Grimes before. "I'll provide you with the original plan, they had to hand in, when they filed in the building application. You may also find more plans and details at the office of "Beli Tigar" that might help you."

Morgan had finished his breakfast and carefully licked the remains of the yoghurt from his lips, before he wiped his mouth clean with a napkin.

"You've mentioned this company, "White Tiger" already several times now, without telling us to which extend we can expect any help from there, Ðorđe. Are your connections strong enough to supply us with the necessary information?"

"Unfortunately not, Gospodine Grimes, and I once again have to make clear, that I officially will not know anything, if you decide to... Well... Go and get the needed information on your own..."

He leaned back in his chair, pushed the plate away and, after a inquiring look around, lit a cigarette. For a few drags they were all silent, and more than one mind was racing to plan the next steps. Just before the silence became awkward Orahovac spoke up.

"It's not up to me to speculate about you being ready and capable of breaking into the offices of "White Tiger" in the middle of the night to get the intelligence you want."

At once he seemed strangely uninvolved and didn't look at any of them.

"After all, we all do serve the law and work for public order, don't we?" He looked up again. "Zvezdara isn't the attentive neighborhood it used to be. I think, in such a quarter of the town, so dark and with nooks and crannies, you don't want to waste your time. Nowadays there is no life."

He smiled

"The life, that once was there, had disappeared a long time ago. All that's left, are office buildings and company premises – and after working hours no living soul to be found."

The SUP-agent wrote something on a napkin, folded it and handed it to Casey.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you officially..." and addressed to Chuck he added: "I'm also sorry for your loss and from the bottom of my heart hope, you'll not only find the evidences you need, but also your mother's trace. If I can help you, I'll do it, and when you find any proves of matter, my whole bureau will keep your back, take my word for it."

With a regretful sigh he rose from his chair.

"Although I'd love to stay and chat with you, I have to get back to my office now. The breakfast is on me, and my driver will bring you to the station, where you can rent a car. I believe you'd rather like to move freely all over the town. Let me know, if you need something, and I'll do my best to help you."

He left the diner, and when the door had closed behind him, Casey unfolded the napkin.

and the best access point is the western backdoor.

The door's magnetic contact is easy to bypass.

Good luck!

The Cyrillic signs on the napkin didn't seem to bother Casey, as he translated the words into English and then showed the others.

"He obviously thinks, it wouldn't be a good idea to tell us this loudly. I could be wrong, but I think, he's under a lot of pressure because he tries to help us."

He shredded the napkin into tiny pieces and burned them in the zinc ashtray on the table.

"We should get us wheels, like he said." Chuck suggested and took an unobtrusive look around. "It would certainly be way better for us to be mobile on our own, and if he's right, his bureau is keeping an eye on him because of us, his car would be to conspicuous... And the driver would be a security risk, we can't take. If Ðorđe is really under observation, he's a risk too. We can only rely on each other."

Sarah sent him a short look, and once again realized, how professional Chuck had become while he had searched for his mom on his own. It wasn't only him becoming an incredibly competent spy – what on it's own was a quite good thing – but even more him being determined to do anything possible to find his mother. With a heavy heart, Sarah asked herself how far Chuck was willing to go to save his mother.

"All right. Let's go. Let's get moving." Sarah commanded.

She had suggested to leave, partly to clear her mind and not to always think about the changes Chuck seems to go through. As long as they were occupied, she could convince herself to be overreacting.

Morgan gave the food on last longing look, but finally he also rose and they left the diner.

"Can I chose the car?" he asked, when they crossed the street before the US-embassy.

Without an answer, Casey entered the SUV, Orahovac had borrowed them. Sarah only shrug her shoulders absentminded and Chuck only murmured "We'll see.", and seconds later they had disappeared into the thick traffic of the metropolis – heading to the station.

The dark green Toyota Prius, chosen by Morgan and steered by Chuck, almost soundlessly and without lights rolled through the darkness in the Ulica 16. Oktobra. Morgan had suggested the car because of it's color – almost invisible in the dark – it's silence and the fact, it was eco-friendly, and now Sarah sat on the co-drivers seat and with a night vision equipment patiently searched the buildings for the company nameplate of the security company. After a few minutes she pointed into the dark.

"There it is... The utterly esthetic sign with the lunging white tiger."

She lowered the night vision glasses, and immediately the area sank back into a darkness, only weakly confined by a few streetlights.

"In this darkness, we really don't have to worry about being seen at all. Not a soul to be seen."

"You may be right, Morgan, but we should be careful... This is almost too perfect." Sarah answered.

Standing before the building, they saw that the entrance to the inner courtyard was only closed by a simple steel gate with only two lock bars, they could easily open. Only minutes later, the gate closed behind the rented car, and Morgan, who had opened it, followed the vehicle.

The head office of "Beli Tigar" turned out to be an old two story factory building in a U-shape. The ground floor consisted only of vehicle halls and garages, framing the big two-winged entrance door in the middle. Between the ends of the two wings of the building and the surrounding wall, a 7ft. wide path led around the former factory – and therefore to the backdoor.

"The backdoor must be over here." Casey declared and went first.

The office's back was dark and surrounded by darkness, so the four of them put on their night vision devices. A flashlight's shine would be way to telling. Although the area seemed deserted, they didn't want to take the risk, someone could see any telltale light.

Despite the darkness, the backdoor couldn't be missed, and like Orahovac had said, opening the door was a piece of cake, after the magnetic contact was bypassed.

The door lead straight into a locker room, reeking of sweat, deodorant, cigarettes and weapon oil, with a shower room to the right, and a stairway on the left side on it's distant end.

This time, Chuck took the lead, and Casey covered their back, so Morgan followed Sarah upstairs, being fascinated by wearing a real night vision equipment and not only having the illusion in one of his computer games.

The stair's end widened to a small vestibule leading into a narrow hallway with two doors on each side. Right next to the stairway they found a floor plan with all escape routes, fire doors, vents and – most important – a list of all rooms of the floor with their labeling. The archive, the computers and the server rooms were in a windowless storage room at the other end of the hallway.

"Today is either our lucky day, or they're just damn neglectful with their data security."

To their surprise, the room was illuminated by the flat screens in it, so they could take of the night vision devices.

"Neither the one nor the other, Casey. I guess this is the regular update and scanning sequence running. They probably run this sequence every night, because they don't need the computers at night and the resources are free, while the firewall..." Chuck explained, but was cut off by Casey.

"The both of you take care of the computers, while Walker and I check the floor."

He turned around and put the night vision back on, more than only slightly irritated and gritting his teeth, while Chuck and Morgan stayed back and started their work on the computers.

When Sarah and Casey returned about fifteen minutes later, Chuck could see the frustration in Casey's face even before the NSA-agent put down the night vision.

"Just great! This is a paperless office, and the only pieces of paper we've found were flyer from several food deliveries and the inevitable porn magazines in some drawers."

He grumpily eyed up first Chuck, who was standing behind Morgan, and then Morgan, who was still working on the computer.

"Did you at least find something, or was the whole action in vain?"

Chuck held up an USB-stick, showing a very content face.

"All data transferred."

Morgan leaned back in his chair, obviously relaxed and with a broad grin, holding up eight plastic cards and explaining in a tone sounding like "Q" from the James Bond movies:

"This are the keycards to Volkoff's facility. We have access to pretty much all security areas. We are now officially members of staff at "Beli Tigar". As soon as we know, when we'll go in, Chuck only has to include us into the official rota."

"I already implemented a backdoor into the system." Chuck explained – with audible pride.

Smiling and snickering, Sarah watched from Chuck's and Morgan's happy faces to Casey's grumpy one and back.

"So we're done here... Let's get out!" she ordered.

On their way downstairs, Casey and Morgan as vanguards and Chuck and Sarah covering the rear, she whispered to Chuck:

"You're getting better and better... I'm deeply impressed."

She bend forward and kissed him softly.

"I love you and I'm very proud of you."

In night vision, Chuck's face looked funny, but his smile was highly visible.

"I've learned from CIA's best agent..."

"Would you two love birds finally shut up, and wait till we get to the car?" Casey's growl was heard from downstairs. "We wanted to stay beneath the radar, didn't we?"

When they got to the car, some minutes later, a note stuck beneath the wiper.

"Apparently we hadn't been that inconspicuous you thought, Grimes." Casey mentioned, a bitchy tone in his voice.

After they had checked the area, Chuck took the note and read out loud:

in the facility of Volkoff Industries.

May be, I could help you with that.

Meet me at the "Café Željeznik",

at the corner Ulica Karađorđeva and

Milovana Milovanovića

tomorrow at noon.

Take the table in the back,

so we can talk undisturbed."

It was up to Morgan to utter what everyone of them thought.

"This could be a set up. Volkoff knows, we're after him..."

"Tell me about it, you..." Casey wanted to rebuke him, but he didn't come that far.

"But we can't avoid it." Sarah retorted. "Our covers might be blown up, and we have to assess the damage."

Casey laid on the ground and checked the vehicles bottom.

"Can't find any bugs, but it's not said that there aren't any. If the one, who left the note, had found us here, he might follow us to the apartment as well. We have to get rid of the car."

Snarling, he added: "Grimes could have waited in the car, and this wouldn't had happened."

"Maybe, Casey... But a single man in a parked car in a dark neighborhood like this would have drawn attention too, don't you think?"

Casey just snorted indignantly and entered the car. Although Morgan was right, he wouldn't confess this to this bearded troll.

Chuck, who due to the Intersect didn't need any maps or navigation system, guided the car through the area, getting more and more relaxed as the traffic grew more busy as they approached the city's historic core. In the nightly traffic jam on Savska Ulica towards the central station they soon were molten into the night's rush and a tracing quite unlikely.

Near the station, Chuck pointed at a building to their right.

"There at the corner, about 200 feet away, that's the "Café Željeznik". Look closely. I can't stop, because it might be monitored. We also have to get rid of the car. As long as we don't know, where the note is from, we have to stay really under the radar."

Casey mused aloud: "We don't have the time for a thorough checking, as long as we don't know whether we were tracked..."

"It's Morgan Grimes speaking."

Morgan had took his cell phone and was telling someone at the other end his security clearance code.

"... need to talk immediately to your intelligence officer..."

He listened for a moment, closed his eyes and uttered in a stern tone:

"Then get him out of bed! This has top priority, you got me? Good... I'll wait."

When his words faded without his counterpart objecting, he dared to open his eyes again. He found himself being in the center of attention, shrugged his shoulders and plainly said:

"Just because we can't have a look ourselves, it doesn't mean, no one else can check it out."

A voice came from his cell phone, and Morgan took a deep breath.

"Good evening, Mister Carter. Morgan Grimes, Central Intelligence Agency... I apologize for disturbing you so late, but I have to ask a few favors..."

Within a short time, Morgan organized that three employees from the embassy check the café before dawn and report directly to him. A forth one will pick up the Prius and deliver a new car at their door, also before dawn. When he terminated the line, especially Casey's face showed pure amazement and a sort of shock.

"When the hell did you grow yourself a pair, Grimes?" he asked with mild scorn.

"I don't know... Maybe when you discovered your sense of family?"

Morgan couldn't avoid realizing, that his relationship with Alex – Casey's daughter – set free unexpected potentials – including courage.

Casey's murmured answer "Don't get bold at me, punk!" was drown out by Sarah's sudden laugh, but it was obvious anyway, that Morgan had levered Casey out.

Meanwhile Chuck had turned the car on the central coach terminal, and drove along the central station on Savska Ulica looking for a parking space. Instinctively he drove from Savska Ulica into Nemanjina Ulica, followed his intuition into Balkanska Ulica – a pretty steep street for a metropolis like Belgrade – and finally found a big parking lot at the end of it's crossroad Ulica Kraljice Natalije, right next to the farmers market Zeleni Venac.

"Well... I think we can leave the car here. You'll just have to inform the embassy, where to pick the car up, Morgan."

"And how will we get back to the apartment from here? Do you think, we'll find a cab at this late hour?" Morgan wanted to know, but Sarah put her hand on his shoulder.

"It wont be necessary... Just look, where Chuck has dropped us off."

Less than sixty feet away two buses stood at a big bus station – labeled with signs in Serbian, both Latin and Cyrillic, French, English and German and identifying itself as "Central junction" of the metropolitan public transport.

"Great job, Chuck... You've found the perfect spot to park. Now we just have to catch the right bus."

Sarah kissed his cheek and chuckled.

"I thought, you don't know where we are and where to drive to."

"In fact, I didn't. I only followed my intuition. Seems like the Intersect has a will on it's own."