Noble Intentions: Season Two (Episodes 6-10) (26 page)

She lifted her head and locked eyes with him. Held his gaze for half a minute and said, “A group for ghosts.”

Boris sighed and turned to his man. “Take note of SIS and we’ll get someone back home to check on that.” He turned back to her. “Ms. Medina, who is your boss in the SIS?”

“There are no bosses.”

“Surely someone has to direct and decide what your assignments are.”

“Frank.”

“Frank what?”

She shrugged. “I never asked.”

Boris nodded at his man and looked back at Jasmine. “It’s come to my attention that when my men apprehended you in our house in Georgia, you had a partner with you that they left behind. What’s his name?”

“John,” she said.

“John what?”

“John Martin.” She smiled and winked.

“Is that his real name?”

“It’s a fake name because he really is a ghost.”

“You said you were a ghost. Is Jasmine Medina a fake name?”

She shrugged.

Boris slapped her across the face, not hard, not lightly.

“It’s my real name.”

“What’s John Martin’s real name?”

“Jack Noble.”

Boris stood and walked to the other end of the room. “Jack Noble? That name, so familiar.” He returned to his position in front of Jasmine and said, “Why do I recognize that name?”

“He’s probably the reason your teeth are so crooked.”

Boris ignored the last statement. “What were you two doing in my house in Georgia?”

“Closing in on you.” She paused, tilted her head back and forced a smile. “We’re going to bring you down.” She closed her eyes. Her head bobbed down, then back up. “There’s nothing you can do to stop us.” She licked her lips. Smiled. “Kill me. Kill Jack. Kill Frank. It won’t matter.” Her body twitched and she coughed. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. “We’ve got you and we are going to take you down one cell, one man, one life at a time.”

Boris stood. Brushed himself off. “That’s enough for now. Chain her wrists but leave her seated. Let her sleep it off. We’ll review the details with her in the morning. See if she comes around at all. Maybe after that I’ll contact Ivanov.”

13

Jack lay in the dark next to Pierre. He tried to remain motionless while holding the cord that kept the trunk lid closed, but not latched. The car slowed down. Muffled voices slipped through the sliver of a crack that split the rear seat. The car dipped low on the passenger side and then sprung up. Bear had just stepped out, Jack figured. That meant they were close.

Detective Larsen had returned with a cache of weapons. He wouldn’t admit it, but Jack guessed that the Detective had raided the SWAT team’s stock. For Bear, he brought two Heckler & Koch MSG90 semi-automatic sniper rifles. A good choice and popular with the police and military. He’d also brought each of them a Glock 17. And each received an H&K MP5 equipped with a 30-round magazine and a spare magazine, giving them sixty rounds, or twenty shots when setting the gun to its three-shot burst firing mode. Finally, he had handed them each a pair of ATN night vision goggles.

They had the fire power. They had Clarissa to get them next to the house. They would have the darkness of night and the element of surprise.

“You ready?” Jack said.

“Yes,” Pierre said. “And Jack, I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life in Russia.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I have to. That would have been it for me. It lifts my spirit that you are alive. I’m going to—”

“Pierre,” Jack interrupted. “Stop. We have a job to do. Help me complete this and then we are even. I don’t care about the agreement with the old man and Charles or anything else that happened in Russia. We’re here now, and we have a job to do.”

“OK.”

The car began moving again. Slowly. Made a sharp turn. The ride became bumpy. Gravel crushed under the weight of the car. The tires kicked up small stones, some of them hitting the car’s undercarriage. The noise would certainly be noticed by the guards Clarissa told them would be positioned in the courtyard.

A minute later the car stopped, then kicked in reverse. She was backing the car up, like they had planned. That would allow Pierre and Jack to slip out of the trunk undetected. The car rolled to a stop and jerked a tad when Clarissa threw it into park.

He heard boots on the pavement. More than one pair. Clarissa’s door opened, her feet hit the ground, took a few steps and then the door closed. The boots stopped. Clarissa walked away from the car and said something to the guards. The sound of their steps faded.

Jack slipped his night vision goggles over his head and switched them on. He lifted his head and saw Pierre do the same. Jack then gave Pierre a signal that they would go in thirty seconds. Based on the layout of the property that Clarissa had provided, it should take Bear less than a minute to cross the wooded area between the compound and the road. It would take less than thirty seconds for Clarissa to cross the parking lot and make her way into the compound. Once inside, she was to find Boris and convince him that she needed to speak with him in private.

An internal clock counted down the seconds. The countdown was interrupted by the sound of music. An old song. Jack couldn’t place it. Sounded French.

“Shit,” Pierre said.

Jack heard the Frenchman fumbling around and then the music stopped. He had forgotten to silence his cell phone. Jack shook his head and said nothing. Tension filled the trunk. They waited, but heard nothing to indicate that any of the guards had heard the cell phone’s ring tone.

“Let’s get out,” Jack said. He inched the trunk lid up and checked behind them. Another inch and he checked to the side. “Clear over here.”

“Here too,” Pierre said.

They lifted the trunk as high as necessary for them to slip out. They got flat on the ground. Crawled twenty yards to the left and found a clearing. Time to wait for the three guards positioned on the roof to cluster together. Then the attack would begin.

14

“I got it,” Clarissa said, shaking her arm free from the man’s grasp. She looked around the foyer and caught another man’s eye. “Where is Boris?”

“Where have you been?” the man asked.

“That is not for you to know. Where is Boris?”

The man twitched his head to the right, toward the hallway.

Clarissa walked through the foyer and down the hall. Stopped at the door to Boris’s office. She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair in an effort make herself look disheveled. She tugged and pulled on her dress to give the effect that it had been torn. Finally, she knocked on the door.

The door opened and Boris stood in front of her. His eyes were dark with anger. He only glanced at her before spinning around and walking back to his desk. He held up a hand and gestured for her to follow.

“Boris—”

“Silence.”

She said nothing. Crossed the room and took a seat in front of his desk.

“Where were you?”

“That’s why I came in here. I was attacked.”

“You? Attacked?”

“Yes.” She cast her eyes down toward the floor and folded her hands in her lap.

“Where?”

“Outside the gallery. I went out to get some fresh air. Decided to get a drink at the bar next door.”

“You did what?”

“I know I shouldn’t have. I just had to get out of that gallery for a while. I didn’t feel comfortable around those people.”

Boris shrugged. He seemed to be buying the story. “Then what happened?”

“I was in the bar. Took a seat near the back and ordered a drink. I went to the lady’s room and this man followed me.”

“What did he look like?”

“I never really got a good look at him.”

Boris narrowed his eyes and watched her as she spoke.

“I was looking in the mirror and he burst in, the door blocked my view. Then he came up behind me and tried to attack me. Had my by the hair and tried to pull my dress off.”

“And you just let him?”

“Of course not. I attacked him. Left him a bloody mess in the bathroom. And then I fled.”

“So why didn’t you come back here?”

“I wanted to. But there was only one way out of the bar and that was through the front. I ran through the place, but everyone saw me and they must have heard what had happened in the back.”

“No one went back there?”

“They had started to, I guess, but I finished him off too fast. I might have finished him off too well. I don’t know if he lived. They all saw me. Everyone in the bar saw me. I took off down the street and hid for a while, but I could still see the bar. The cops came, and I waited and then they left.”

Boris held up a finger. “Wait a minute, I can place a call and get this taken care of with the police.” He reached for the phone. Clarissa leaned forward and placed her hand on his. He stopped and looked up at her. “What?”

“Not tonight, Boris,” she said. “Wait till morning. After all, I was able to get to the car and drive back here. If the cops show up you can deal with them in person, right?”

“That’s true. Probably better that way. You’ll go nowhere for a few days. Got it?” He leaned back in his chair. Opened a drawer and pulled out a cigar. Offered it to Clarissa, who declined. He struck a wooden match and lit the cigar.

The smell of the cigar quickly filled the room. Reminded her of her father. She studied Boris for a few minutes and wondered if he planned to send a few of his men in the middle of the night to question her further.

She decided to try to feel him out with conversation. “How did the gala go tonight?”

Boris shrugged. “It’s always a waste of my time. I hate kissing up to those fools. I hate Iowa. Hate the U.S.”

There was a knock at the door and Boris placed his cigar down on the edge of the glass ashtray on the corner of his desk. “Excuse me for a moment.” He stood and stepped out from behind the desk. Walked across the room and opened the door.

Clarissa remained seated and listened to the conversation.

“Sir, the girl is missing.”

“The agent? She’s locked up downstairs. How is she—”

“Not the agent, sir. The little girl.”

“She was at the party. Anastasiya was supposed to be watching her.”

Clarissa felt the heat of his stare through the back of her chair.

“Leave me,” Boris said.

The door closed shut and then she heard the distinctive click of the lock. He took his time turning around. She watched his reflection in the window. He reached inside his jacket. Was he going for a gun? She felt like a fool for coming in unarmed. Jack had argued that she needed a weapon on her, but she feared being searched on her way to see Boris or after she came in. Walking in armed would have been a death sentence if he had checked.

He dropped his hand to his side and she didn’t see a weapon. He walked slowly across the room. Stopped behind her. Placed his hands on her shoulders.

Clarissa glanced at her watch. Enough time had passed and the attack would start soon.

“Anastasiya, my most promising assistant, where the hell were you tonight, and where is the little girl?”

She said nothing. Felt his hands closing in around her neck. She stared at the window, at him and then beyond him. She saw the muzzle flash across the parking lot, from the woods. The attack had started. Now was the time to strike. She twisted in her seat and slammed her elbow into his crotch and he let go of her neck. She leapt from the chair. Grabbed the heavy glass ashtray off the desk. She cradled it against her forearm and twisted her body to the right, then spun to the left. Her right arm stretched out behind her and whipped around with great force. The heavy glass ashtray connected with Boris on the left side of his forehead. He immediately collapsed to the ground. She held the ashtray above her head and slammed it down one more time, ensuring that he was unconscious.

Clarissa turned Boris over on his back. Blood poured from a deep gash on his forehead. She ignored it and pulled his jacket opened. Grabbed the pistol he had holstered there. She moved behind the desk and opened the drawers and rifled through the files and papers. She found another pistol. Continued to search for something to restrain Boris with. She found a roll of duct tape and decided that was her best option. She wrapped his ankles together, then his knees, then his hands behind his back. Then she connected the three shackles together. She dragged him behind the desk and walked to the door.

The plan called for her to wait for Jack or Pierre or Bear to arrive.

15

Jack watched Bear’s position in the woods. Pierre kept an eye on the courtyard, making sure no one approached them.

“It’s almost time,” Jack said.

“OK.”

Three quick muffled shots were each followed by a quick burst of muzzle flash. Jack turned his head and saw the three guards on top of the roof drop dead. Two more appeared. Two more shots were fired from the woods. The men fell. That left one more guard on the roof. Chances are he wouldn’t make himself visible, which meant that the units on the ground would soon be aware of the attack.

“Now,” Jack said. He looked over his shoulder and saw Bear approaching. Bear had ditched one of the MSG90s and aimed the other at the roof. He signaled to Jack that he was going to skirt the perimeter to the west. Jack hoped that the big man would get a shot on the last remaining roof guard.

Pierre moved first, staying low to the ground and behind a car for cover. He rose up and fired four three-round bursts into the dark. Jack looked over, saw three men drop. He spotted a team approaching from the area near the front door. Jack fired once and took out the man in the middle. The other two stopped. He fired several more times, and hit the man on his right. The guy on the left turned and started to run. Jack fired again, hitting him in the back near the base of his neck. Each shot hit an inch above the previous one. The final bullet penetrated the man’s skull, and as he fell a cloud of blood hovered in the air.

Jack and Pierre started to move toward the house. They crossed the courtyard quickly. Pressed back against the wall. Headed west. Based on Clarissa’s description, that was where the alternate entrances were located, as well as rooftop access.