Right Place At The Right Time

Right Place At The Right Time

Author’s Note

Every story has moments when the pieces begin to move, even when we don’t yet know where they’re going.

This chapter is one of those moments.

Sometimes the smallest details can become important later, and sometimes the people closest to us know more than we realize.

I hope you enjoy the chapter. As always, your comments and reviews are greatly appreciated. They let me know what you’re enjoying and what you think of the story as it unfolds.

Chapter 16

The Note

Chuck merged onto the highway and headed toward Encino, his mind already moving ahead to the next problem. He needed answers, and there was only one person he could think of who might be able to give them to him. His mother.

It wasn’t something Chuck was used to doing. He had agreed to his mother’s training because he trusted her. He had allowed her to teach him awareness and endured the martial arts training, even though none of it seemed necessary for the life he thought he was going to have. He had gone along with it because he believed there had to be a reason behind it.

Now he needed her.

He wasn’t sure what she could do for him, or even exactly what he was going to ask her for, but he knew he couldn’t figure this out alone.

He hadn’t asked for any of this. He hadn’t asked to be pushed into years of training and knowledge that had little to do with the life he thought he wanted. He was supposed to be a software developer. That was what he had always believed his future would be.

Then he had sold his first piece of software, and instead of easing up, his mother’s lessons had only intensified. More training. More things he was expected to learn. More knowledge that seemed completely unnecessary for the life he thought he was building.

Looking back, Chuck should have realized that his mother was preparing him for something much bigger than writing software.

He just hadn’t wanted to see it.

At least his father had always tried to make time for him and Ellie. Not as much as Chuck would have liked, but the time he did give them had meant more than his father probably realized.

Chuck wasn’t sure what his mother could actually do to help him now. He wasn’t even completely sure what he was going to ask her for.

But he had to try.

There was one person he couldn’t tell.

Ellie.

He knew his sister too well. If she learned even a fraction of what was happening, she would throw herself into the middle of it, convinced she could somehow help. The last thing Chuck wanted was to give anyone another reason to come after his family.

His parents might have been unconventional, and they had certainly spent much of his life away from him, but there was one thing Chuck had never doubted. They were exceptionally good at what they did. If anyone could help him make sense of the tangled web he was beginning to uncover, it was them.

For the first time since leaving the warehouse, Chuck felt as though he had somewhere to turn.

His thoughts raced throughout the drive. He kept rehearsing possible explanations, trying to decide what he could tell his mother without sounding paranoid or completely out of his depth. He still wasn’t entirely sure what she actually did for the government, but he knew her work was important. She could disappear on assignment with almost no warning and return days later without offering much of an explanation.

Whatever her role was, it carried enough weight that Chuck hoped she might recognize something in what he was seeing that he couldn’t.

Before he realized it, he was on the Ventura Freeway, heading toward the house where he had grown up, the place where his parents and Ellie still lived. The miles slipped by while his mind remained somewhere else entirely, turning over everything that had happened and searching for something he couldn’t quite identify.

Then a nagging sensation crept up the back of his neck.

His mother’s voice came back to him, repeating one of the lessons she had drilled into him during his awareness training.

Pay attention. Don’t become so focused on what’s in front of you that you forget to notice what’s around you.

Chuck glanced at the side mirror, then checked the rearview mirror.

Traffic.

Cars filled the lanes behind him, but nothing stood out. Nobody appeared to be keeping pace with him, and he couldn’t identify a vehicle that had been following him for any length of time.

He looked again.

Nothing.

Chuck shook off the feeling and returned his attention to the road. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe his mother’s training was simply making him notice things he would have ignored before.

Eventually, the familiar streets brought him back to reality.

He turned onto his parents’ street, pulled into the driveway, and shut off the engine. For several seconds, he simply sat there with both hands resting on the steering wheel.

Then he released a long breath.

He had faced Stavros Demetrios without knowing whether the conversation would turn violent. He had discovered that someone had taken photographs inside an FBI facility.

He suspected someone within the Bureau might be feeding information to the people hunting Sarah.

Yet somehow, sitting in his parents’ driveway felt more intimidating than any of it.

His mother had become a little intimidating over the years.

Chuck wasn’t entirely sure whether it was her confidence, the mystery surrounding her work, or the unsettling feeling that she always knew more than she was willing to say. Whatever the reason, serious conversations with his mother had a way of making him feel like a kid again.

Chuck stared at the house through the windshield for another moment, gathering himself. Whatever answers he was hoping to find, he knew the conversation with his mother wasn’t going to be easy. He took one more deep breath, opened the car door, and stepped into the driveway.

It wasn’t that his mother was mean. She could be incredibly caring when she wanted to be. The problem was that, somewhere along the way, she had stopped smiling as much. Everything about her seemed more serious now. Even ordinary conversations had a way of turning into lessons, and sooner or later she would remind him, “Chuck, you’re the man of the house,” despite the fact that his father still lived there and Chuck no longer did.

She had always pushed him to be better. His education, his problem-solving skills, even the way he approached ordinary situations, she expected more from him than anyone else ever seemed to. Sometimes Chuck felt as though she were trying to squeeze every last bit of potential out of him before he had the chance to waste it.

More than once, he had caught himself wondering what she saw in him that he couldn’t see in himself. What was it about him that made his mother so certain he was capable of more?

Things had always been different with Ellie. Their parents were proud of everything she accomplished, but they never seemed to push her with the same relentless determination they directed toward Chuck.

Ellie worked hard for everything she achieved, while certain things seemed to come naturally to him. He could grasp complicated ideas almost instinctively, as though some part of his mind had already understood them before anyone bothered to explain. His parents had recognized that ability early on, and his mother, more than anyone, had refused to let him waste it.

Chuck climbed out of the car, hopped over the hedge bordering the front walk, and headed toward the house. He walked through the front door without knocking, just as he had countless times before, twirling his keys around one finger before dropping them onto the small table beside the entrance.

“Mom?” he called as he stepped inside. “Mom, are you home? It’s Chuck. Your son. The one you raised. The one who occasionally still comes by without an appointment.”

He listened to the silence.

“Okay, that sounded better in my head.”

Chuck looked around the quiet house.

“Mom?”

The house answered with silence.

He was beginning to wonder if his mother was home when movement caught his attention farther down the hallway. The sound seemed to be coming from Ellie’s bedroom.

A moment later, his sister hurried into view, frantically tying the sash of a thin robe around herself as she walked. Her hair was completely disheveled, her cheeks were flushed, and the expression on her face made it painfully obvious that Chuck had arrived at exactly the wrong moment.

“Chuck!” she blurted out. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you.”

She instinctively pulled the robe tighter around herself. Chuck stared at her for a second before the situation finally registered. Between her appearance and the look of embarrassment on her face, he didn’t need much imagination to understand what he had interrupted.

Before either of them could say anything else, a deep male voice came from inside Ellie’s bedroom.

“Hey, babe… who is it?”

Chuck’s eyebrows rose.

Ellie closed her eyes for a moment and released a long, defeated sigh.

“Do you need any help?” the man called from the bedroom.

“It’s just Chuck. I’ll be back in a second. Stay there. Don’t come out,” Ellie called back.

“Too late, babe. I’m on my way.”

Chuck barely had time to process that before a tall, muscular blond man with shoulder-length hair stepped out of Ellie’s bedroom, adjusting the waistband of his surfer shorts as he walked. He looked to be in his early twenties, and the instant he spotted Chuck, his face broke into an enormous grin.

“Chuckster! How’s it going, dude?”

Chuck opened his mouth to answer, but Devon was already moving.

He wrapped both arms around Chuck, lifted him completely off the floor in a crushing bear hug, and let out a satisfied grunt before finally setting him down.

Chuck stood there for a moment, trying to get his breath back.

“Well,” he managed, “it’s good to see you too, Devon. But maybe next time we could try something a little less… enthusiastic. A handshake, a fist bump, maybe even just asking how I’m doing like normal people.”

He rolled one shoulder and rubbed his back.

“At least you cracked my back for me, so thanks for that.”

Devon laughed.

“No problem, little man.”

He grabbed Chuck’s arm and gave his bicep an approving squeeze.

“Have you been working out? You feel a little tighter than the last time I saw you. Looks like you’ve been putting in some effort.”

Chuck chuckled.

“Here and there. Nothing like you, Captain Awesome.”

Ellie groaned from the hallway and folded her arms.

“Oh, great. Now the two of you are comparing muscles.”

Chuck and Devon exchanged amused looks before both breaking into laughter.

“Yeah, I can never get enough workouts in,” Devon said.

Devon gave Chuck a friendly smack on the chest. “I just came from the ocean. I was out surfing with some friends. The waves were incredible today. I caught this one awesome wave that must have launched me thirty feet into the air.”

Chuck laughed.

“That is awesome, Devon. Cool, cool.”

“Yeah, I still have to get you out there on a board. I’m telling you, Chuckster, you’re going to be a natural.”

“I can’t wait,” Chuck replied with a smile.

Ellie finally stepped in before Devon could launch into another story.

“Okay, Devon. Either sit down on the couch or go wait for me in the bedroom.”

Devon looked at Chuck and flashed a mischievous grin.

“Woman just can’t get enough of me.”

Ellie rolled her eyes.

“Oh, brother.”

“I’ll wait in the bedroom,” Devon said cheerfully. “See you in a minute, babe.”

As he started down the hallway, he pointed back at Chuck.

“Don’t keep putting it off, bro. We’re hitting the gym together soon. What do you say?”

Chuck smiled.

“That would be awesome, Captain. I’m a little busy right now, but I’ll see if I can squeeze in some time.”

“That would be totally awesome.”

Devon flashed him a shaka before turning toward the bedroom.

“Later, dude.”

He disappeared down the hallway. A moment later, Chuck and Ellie heard the unmistakable squeak of bedsprings coming from the bedroom.

Chuck slowly turned toward his sister.

Ellie stared back at him.

Neither of them said a word.

Chuck raised one eyebrow and tried very hard not to laugh. Ellie buried her face in her hands, completely mortified.

Chuck immediately lifted both hands in surrender.

“Ellie, I am so, so sorry. If I had known you were… you know… doing whatever it was you were doing, I would’ve…” He rubbed the back of his neck, searching for the right words. “Oh, man. I’m really sorry. I’ll just go. I’ll leave now.”

Despite her embarrassment, Ellie couldn’t help smiling at how thoroughly flustered her younger brother looked.

“No, Chuck. It’s okay. This is still your house. You know you can come and go whenever you want.”

She gave him a warm smile.

“Devon and I have plenty of time together. We see each other all the time. It’s really not a big deal that you interrupted us, especially if you came all this way because you needed to see me.”

Chuck shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked awkwardly on his heels.

“Yeah… Ellie, that might have been a little more information than I needed.”

He gave her an apologetic look.

“Maybe next time you could leave out some of the details. You know what I mean?”

Ellie laughed and gave his arm a playful swat.

“Oh, stop it, Chuck. There was nothing going on back there.”

Chuck raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, Ellie. If you say so.”

He shook his head with a grin.

“I still feel bad about interrupting your ‘nothing was going on’ moment.”

Ellie laughed again, but she knew exactly where the conversation was headed if she allowed Chuck to continue.

“So,” she said, deliberately changing the subject, “what brings you over here? You sounded like you were looking for Mom when you came through the door.”

Chuck’s smile faded slightly.

“I was.”

Ellie studied him for a moment.

“You were just here yesterday. It’s not like you to show up two days in a row without calling. Do you miss your sister that much, or is something wrong? If there’s something you need, Chuck, all you have to do is ask.”

Chuck hesitated.

“Easy, Ellie. I didn’t actually come here to see you. I was hoping Mom was home. I need to talk to her about something.”

Ellie nodded.

“Well, Mom and Dad left on another one of their emergency trips. I’m not really sure where they went. Before they left, Mom gave me a phone number and told me to use it only if there was an emergency.”

She continued, “And she made sure I understood what she meant by ‘only.’ She said it more than once.”

Chuck released a quiet sigh.

“Right. One of those trips.”

He thought for a moment.

“Do you have any idea how long they’ll be gone?”

“I’m guessing about a week.”

Chuck dragged a hand through his curly hair, frustration settling across his face.

“Could I have the number Mom left you? I really need to talk to her. I think she’ll understand once I explain what’s going on.”

“No problem, Chuck. Just remember, Mom said ‘extreme emergency,’” Ellie teased, raising both hands to make quotation marks with her fingers.

Ellie glanced around the room.

“I think I left the number Mom gave me on the counter. Hold on, I’ll get it for you.”

Ellie started toward the kitchen, then stopped and turned around.

“Dad wanted me to tell you something. Some kind of mystery.” Ellie shrugged. “You know Dad. Sometimes he can be pretty vague about things.”

She turned back toward the hallway, then stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“He said there’s a note in his office, right on top of his desk. He wants you to read it as soon as you can.”

Chuck looked up.

“A note?”

“Yeah. He actually told me I probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out, so there was no reason for me to try and snoop around.”

Ellie smiled.

“Not that I would ever snoop around Mom or Dad’s stuff.”

Chuck gave her a skeptical look.

“Anyway,” Ellie continued, “when I went to look at it, I couldn’t read it, so I left it right where it was.”

She smiled faintly at her brother.

“Hey, whenever Dad says something mysterious like that, you can’t blame me for getting curious. It must be in the Bartowski blood.”

Chuck’s eyebrows rose.

“He said you’re the only one who’ll be able to understand it. Apparently, it’s written in some kind of coded language the two of you worked on together.”

Ellie added, “Sounds like something out of a Cracker Jack box. You know, one of those decoder rings?”

Chuck’s eyebrows lifted again. He had barely heard anything after the words note and coded message.

“Really?”

The request immediately caught his attention. His gaze drifted down the hallway toward his father’s private office and workshop. Whatever his father had left for him suddenly seemed just as important as the phone call he had come to make with the FBI.

Without another word, Chuck headed down the hallway.

“Ellie, could you forward Mom’s emergency number to my phone?”

“I already did.”

Chuck stopped at the entrance to the workshop and looked inside.

The familiar room was exactly as he remembered it, although the years had added even more clutter to the collection of his father’s work. Gadgets covered the workbenches alongside neatly organized tools, stacks of spreadsheets, half-finished inventions, and detailed schematics. To anyone else, it might have looked like an overwhelming collection of junk and unfinished projects. To Chuck, it was a language he had learned to understand long ago.

Ellie appeared in the doorway behind him.

“Listen, Chuck, Devon and I are probably going to be busy for a while. If you don’t need anything else after you’re finished in here, could you lock the front door when you leave?”

Chuck was already studying the workbench.

“Yeah, yeah. No problem.”

He barely looked up.

“Have a good night. Love you, Sis.”

Ellie’s expression softened.

“Love you too. Be careful, little brother.”

She watched him for a moment with a small smile on her face. There was something about him in that moment that reminded her of the little boy he used to be, back when he lived here and spent hours in their father’s workshop, surrounded by their father’s little gadgets and inventions.

Ellie let out a quiet, happy sigh. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed seeing that side of her brother.

She pulled the door mostly closed and headed back down the hallway.

Chuck never noticed.

His attention had already been captured by the workshop. Whatever message his father had left behind, whatever secret was hidden inside the coded language they had once developed together, it had suddenly become the next piece of the puzzle.

He stepped farther into the room and reached for the first sheet of paper lying on the workbench.

The search for answers had just taken him somewhere he hadn’t expected to go.