Caught Unaware

Chapter 27

HOME OF COL. JOHN CASEY

ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES CA

Amelia sat on the couch after Sarah left, her mind a whirlwind. She half-expected them to try to take her, not Chuck. The guy in the kitchen was almost a stranger to her, but if Casey and Sarah trusted him with her life, there must be a reason for it.

"So, is Morgan your first or last name?" Amelia asked.

Morgan looked up from what he was doing.

"Oh, yeah, no... It's my first name. My last name is Grimes. I never thought of it being a last name," Morgan said, looking off for a minute and then shrugging.

"So how are you doing?" he asked Amelia as he handed her a half-filled glass of Casey's bourbon. Amelia sighed, looking into the glass.

"I'm alright," she answered. "I really thought they were going to get me. I think if they had been a few minutes later I would have been grabbed, I think."

Morgan nodded.

"Maybe," he said. "Then again, if they were trying to be strategic they would strip you of all your protection first. Starting with the only man who could identify them no matter what costume they wore or what they said."

"And that's Chuck?" Amelia asked.

Morgan nodded again, setting the bourbon bottle back into the cupboard.

"Chuck doesn't have the speed or strength of the other two, but, even without the Intersect wrapped up in his brain, the kid is a genius," Morgan sat down with Amelia on the sofa as she sipped at her glass he had handed her.

"Chuck is a special kind of guy, you know? I mean he and I, we've been best friends since we were kids. And then one day when we were working, talking about girls and whatnot, this gorgeous woman came walking into our store because her phone didn't work."

**

The car chase ended when Casey smashed his Crown Victoria into the black SUV, causing it to slam against the guardrail of the interstate and remain pinned between the two. Casey rose from his seat, slowly, as his door opened, his SIG-sauer P229 pointed directly at the vehicle as he watched the single man grab an unconscious Chuck and drag him from the seat, using him as a shield as he turned, pressing a small, but lethal hand gun to his head.

"And one day, this bulk of a man showed up at the store. I'm thinking he's our new security guy because why else would a man of that size with obvious military background be in a Buy More?"  Morgan chuckled.

"You see, I have upper hand," the bloody mouth of the assailant spoke. There were no distractions around him, there were no others in the world except his target and his team member. There was no wind, there was no sprinkle of rain falling from the sky, there was nothing but what he saw down the sight of his SIG-sauer. Casey slowed his breath and aimed for his target's head.

"Drop the boy," Casey said slowly and clearly.

"From that moment on, when these two came into our lives, magic happened all around the world. I think maybe even aliens from outer space could hear the echoes of the importance of these three."

The black-clad man laughed heartily at Casey's words.

"You think I grab first the boy and then the girl, I expect to live? You think I am only one who want this? You THINK I AM TOP DOG AND CALL SHOTS HERE?!" The bloody, broken man pointed his gun at Casey, yelling the words at him not with rage, but with a sense of irony.