Noble Intentions: Season Two (Episodes 6-10) (28 page)

Kenneth stood to Jack’s right, looking down and laughing at him. He said, “Where’s that partner of yours? I want her to see me stomp your brains onto the floor.” The man lifted his right foot into the air and placed it over Jack’s face.

Jack reached up with both arms and wrapped them around Kenneth’s ankle. He rolled to his left, pulling the big man into a standing splits. Jack continued his roll until he butted up against the wall. He reassessed Kenneth’s location. The man was on the floor, sitting up with one leg draped over Jack.

Jack sat up and drove his fist into Kenneth’s solar plexus. The blow landed with a thud and forced the air from Kenneth’s lungs. The man fell forward over his outstretched leg.

Jack got to his feet. Grabbed Kenneth by the back of the head. He pulled the man’s head toward him. At the same time, he drove his right knee up and toward the man’s head. Knee and face met with a sickening crack. Jack let go of Kenneth’s head and the man fell onto his back, his nose split open at the bridge and bent to the right.

“Jasmine,” Jack said. “Find my gun.”

Jasmine stepped through the open doorway and knelt down. She picked up Jack’s gun and held it out for him.

“You want to do the honors?” he asked.

She shook her head.

Jack dropped his right hand to his side, fingers stretched open, palm facing out. He felt her press the Glock into his hand. He clenched the weapon tight. He brought his arm around in front of him. Aimed the gun at Kenneth’s head.

Kenneth rolled his head left to right. “Don’t,” he managed to say.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t.”

Kenneth didn’t answer.

Jack pulled the trigger. The bullet smashed into Kenneth’s forehead and the man ceased to exist. Just a shell. Lifeless eyes staring up at Jack.

Jack turned to face Jasmine and asked, “You alright?”

She nodded and reached up for his outstretched hand. He pulled her up and said, “Let’s go get the others and get the hell out of here.”

They walked to the end of the hallway. Jack stopped and scanned the great room. Still empty. He took his time walking the fifteen feet to the next hallway. The front door was open. He looked through the open doorway into the darkness. Saw nothing. Didn’t expect to. The front entrance was pretty well shielded from outside view. It worked in reverse as well. They stepped through the hallway, taking their time. He counted the doors, turned where Clarissa had said to, and stopped a few feet from the door to the room where they were to wait for him.

“What’s your gut tell you?” he said.

“I don’t think my senses can be trusted right now,” Jasmine said.

“Mine either.” Jack took two quick steps. “Door’s cracked open.” He looked through the opening and then stepped back.

“What is it?”

“Someone got the drop on them.” He looked at Jasmine and noticed she had the H&K MP5 strapped around her chest. He held out the pistol and said, “Switch weapons with me.”

She lifted the strap over her head and held out the MP5 for him and then snatched the pistol from his hand.

Jack said, “Three men in there. Two Russians and a bad cop. Bad cop has on body armor. I’m going to fire on him twice. You come in behind me and take out the Russian with blond hair. He’s wearing a black suit.”

Jasmine nodded.

“You sure you’re up for this?”

She nodded again.

“OK. On my count. Three, two, one…”

Jack lifted his gun to his chest and supported the barrel with his left hand. He kicked the door open. He scanned the room in a fraction of a second, quicker than the men in there could respond. The blond Russian stood to the left of the desk. He appeared to be unarmed. Looks could be deceiving, though. Jack knew that if he had a weapon on him, it would be at least three seconds before he fired. Jasmine should be able to neutralize him before those three seconds were up.

The man he assumed was Boris stood in front of the desk. He looked to be armed. Behind Boris, sitting on the desk, was Clarissa. He had to be careful if he fired in Boris’s direction so as not to hit her with an errant bullet.

To the right of the desk he saw Bear and Pierre. They were facing him. Both were unarmed. The cop stood a few feet in front of them, holding them at bay with his firearm. The cop’s back faced Jack. At least it did when Jack kicked open the door.

The cop spun. Jack aimed and squeezed the trigger. Three bullets slammed into the cop, one above the other. All three hit him in the vest. The cop fired wildly, his bullets spraying the room, crashing into the wall. The cop’s momentum, combined with the impact of the first three shots, kept him turning around. Jack squeezed the trigger again. The first bullet hit the cop in his shoulder. The next in his neck. And the third slammed into his helmet. The corrupt officer fell to the ground.

The blond Russian had his weapon out and was starting to swing it toward Jack.

Jack dropped to his knee. He saw Jasmine’s arm stretch out over his shoulder. She fired three shots. The first hit the Russian in the chest. The next two hit him in the face.

Boris had also begun turning around. Clarissa tried to jump him, but he managed to evade her and then wrap his free arm around her neck. He pressed the barrel of his pistol to her head.

“You,” Boris said. “Drop your weapon. Who the hell are you?”

Jack lowered his weapon and dropped it on the floor. He looked at each person standing in the room. His eyes went from Pierre to Bear to Clarissa. Then he locked eyes with Boris. Said, “Jack Noble.”

Boris smiled and a hint of recognition flashed across his face. “My boss can’t wait to see you again.”

“Who’s your boss?”

“General Ivanov.”

“You two will have something to talk about in Hell then.”

“You’ll have been there years before us, Noble.”

Jack stuck his hand behind his back. He wrapped his hand around his pistol as Jasmine placed it in his palm.

Jack said, “Would you like me to give him a message for you?”

“That won’t be necessary, Jack. I’ll be seeing him in a few days.” Boris motioned with his head. “You two, move against the wall, near the door.”

Jack took his eyes off Boris for a second and saw Bear and Pierre move to the wall next to him. What was Boris’s plan? Did he have more men en route? Was he planning on killing everyone in the room except for Clarissa? He replayed the last minute in his head. He had to stall Boris, if only for a few more moments.

“When are you going?” Jack asked. “Or is he coming here?”

“Not for you to worry about.”

“How are you going to get all of us there?”

Boris smiled. He slid the hand wrapped around Clarissa’s neck down a few inches. He motioned with the gun as he spoke. “There will only be two of us, Jack. The rest of you are staying in Iowa. Your place of rest, so to speak.”

“Only person resting here is gonna be you, Boris,” Jack said.

Boris laughed. His eyes scrunched up as he did so. His left hand fell a bit more, down and away. The gun moved away from Clarissa’s head and pointed toward an area of the room that had nothing but books.

Jack whipped his left hand around, and brought the gun up, and stretched his arm out. He quickly aimed and squeezed the trigger. Being right-handed, aiming and firing in the span of less than a second with his left hand was not ideal. The bullet missed and smashed into the window behind the desk instead of into Boris’s head.

Boris froze for a second. His smile still etched into his face. Fear in his eyes. He brought his left hand around and grabbed at the fabric surrounding Clarissa’s chest. She pulled to the left, twisting and turning and forcing herself away from Boris. Away from being his human shield.

Boris brought his other hand forward and pointed the gun in Jack’s direction. He didn’t take time to aim, just fired. The bullet traveled over Jack’s head and slammed into the wall behind him and Jasmine. He felt small chunks of drywall pelt the back of his head.

Jack brought his right hand up, steadied his left, and fired two more shots. Both connected with Boris. One in the chest, the other right between the eyes.

The gun fell from Boris’s hand and hit the floor. Clarissa wrenched herself from his grip and ran to Jack.

Jack hugged her. Took a moment to clear his head and then said, “The documents? Where are they?”

Bear said, “The desk.”

Jack went to the desk and grabbed a stack of papers. Now wasn’t the time to review them. They had to get out.

“That’s them,” Bear said.

Jack looked over his shoulder and nodded. He looked around for something to place the papers in. Saw a briefcase behind the desk, against the wall. Grabbed it and dropped the papers inside.

“We need to get out of here,” Bear said. “Might have more cops coming.”

“OK,” Jack said.

They grouped up, armed themselves and left the office. Down the hall, into the foyer and through the front door. They located a passenger van in the courtyard. Easy to find as it stood out against the luxury vehicles. Pierre hotwired the van and Bear drove. They sped through the lot and down the gravel driveway. Turned right on Kennedy Street and left on Highway 14.

“We need to get Mandy,” Bear said.

Jack nodded. Said nothing. One more stop. Hopefully one with no gunfire.

Bear pulled out his cell phone and called Larsen. Larsen told Bear he’d be waiting in the hotel lobby with Mandy.

They pulled up to the hotel ten minutes later. Larsen came out with the girl. Jack and Bear got out of the car.

Bear rushed over to Mandy. Picked her up off the ground and squeezed her to his chest.

“I trust everything went well?” Larsen said.

“Yeah,” Jack said. “Most of them are dead.”

“You should come with us, Larsen,” Bear said. “At least for tonight. It’s not be safe for you here.”

Larsen agreed to join them.

They drove east on I-80 for four hours, crossing into Illinois. Found a hotel forty miles from Chicago. They rented three rooms for the night. Jasmine contacted Frank, and he arranged for a private jet to fly them to D.C. in the morning.

18

Clarissa walked across the hotel parking lot. The night air was cool and damp and carried the sweet fragrance of dogwoods in bloom. A hazy ring surrounded the moon and streams of thin clouds floated across the dark sky.

She continued thirty yards and then pulled out her cell phone. Placed a call to Sinclair. He answered midway through the fourth ring.

“Sinclair, it’s Clarissa.”

“What happened?”

“Things got out of control. We weren’t the only ones in town.”

Sinclair remained silent for a moment. “Did you get your assignment from Melikov?”

“Melikov won’t be giving anymore assignments.”

“Who was there?”

“I can’t really say.”

“Why not?”

“He’d prefer I didn’t.”

“I can find out, Clarissa. You don’t want me to find out on my own.”

“It’s Jack.”

“Noble?”

“Yes.”

“I thought he was dead.”

“So did I.”

“Who is he working for?”

“I think the S.I.S. again.”

Sinclair said nothing.

“And I think we should team up with them to bring down the man Melikov worked for.”

“Do we know who that is?”

“Boris said a name. Jack knew who it was.”

“Did you get it?”

“There was so much going on.”

Sinclair paused and it sounded like he scratched at the stubble on his face. “Will Jack agree to work with us?”

“I’m sure he will.”

“You haven’t asked? He hasn’t offered?”

“Correct.”

“If you can sell it to him, I’m in.”

“Thanks, Sinclair.”

“Call me tomorrow with an update.”

The line went silent and she stuffed her phone in her coat pocket. She pulled the zippered edges of her jacket close together and turned around. Saw Jack standing ten feet away. She froze.

“How long have you been there?” Clarissa said.

“Long enough.”

She bit her lip and let go of her coat, letting her hands fall to her side. “Can we work together?”

“Sure, but that’s not why I’m standing here.”

She stood motionless while Jack approached her. He stopped six inches away and reached for her. His hands felt cool to the touch, warm to her soul, and electric to her heart. He drew her close and leaned forward. Her heart rate doubled. Their lips met. He grabbed her by the waist. She brought a hand up and slipped it behind his head, running her hands through his hair.

Jack pulled away and said, “I thought about you every day. In that dungeon cell waiting for my bogus trial. In Black Dolphin. Your face is the last thing I remember thinking about before I took my last breath when they gave me that paralytic agent to fake my death. Every day in Greece, when I watched the sun rise and set, I thought of you. I saw you in everything.”

Clarissa melted at the words she had longed to hear from Jack for so long. She said, “Same here.”

Jack smiled, and leaned in, and kissed her again.

“Let’s go to your room,” she said.

“OK,” he said. Then he added, “Wait. I’m sharing with Bear.”

She stepped back. “I’m sharing with Jasmine.”

Jack looked around as if the answer was waiting for him on a billboard.

Clarissa said, “We could get another room.”

Jack nodded. Grabbed her hand and led her inside the hotel lobby. They approached an older man who stood behind the counter. He had thinning gray hair, a full mustache and brown eyes.

“Help you folks?”

“One room,” Jack said.

“Sorry, no vacancy.”

“No vacancy?” Jack repeated.

“Yup.”

“How is that possible? We’re forty miles from Chicago.”

“Guess it’s that convention,” the man said.

“What convention?” Jack said.

“Oh, some sci-fi slash fantasy convention they’re having right now.”

Jack turned to Clarissa and said, “Guess that explains the elves I saw earlier.”

Her disappointment momentarily lifted and she burst out laughing.

Jack looked back at the old man and said, “Thanks anyway, pal.”

Clarissa grabbed his hand and led him through the lobby. They went back outside and found a bench near the building where they sat and talked and kissed and relaxed.