Noble Intentions: Season Two (Episodes 6-10) (29 page)

After some time, Jack looked at his watch. “Four a.m. We really should get some sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.”

She nodded and stood. Grabbed his hand and pulled him up. They walked hand-in-hand through the lobby, to the elevator. They split up, Jack going right and Clarissa going left, when they stepped onto their floor.

19

“Jack, Jasmine,” Frank said. “How was the flight?”

Jack nodded and Jasmine said, “Good.”

Jack looked around the gray painted room. Over his shoulder at the city street. The building was inconspicuous. Had to be since it was in the middle of D.C.

Frank walked past the empty receptionist desk and stopped in front of the group.

“Think you know most of them,” Jack said.

Frank nodded. “Logan, how are you?”

Bear smiled. Said nothing.

“Clarissa, I understand you’re going to be helping us with this, uh, operation.” Frank’s eyes stopped on Mandy and he smiled and winked. Then he looked at Larsen and said, “Don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Detective Larsen, Knoxville, Iowa, P.D. Was, at least.”

“He stepped up for us, Frank,” Jack said. “That department’s corrupt. Larsen needs our help now.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Shouldn’t be tough. I’ll put him and the girl up in a safe place until this is over and then we’ll talk.” Frank then looked at Pierre and smiled. “Been a long time, Pierre.”

Pierre stood and reached his hand out. Frank grabbed it. There was a knowing look shared between the men.

Frank said, “Glad you’re back on our side, Pierre.”

Pierre looked at Jack, who shrugged.

“We know everything, Pierre,” Frank said. “You made the right choice. I want to talk to you and Bear about doing a job for us. We want to tie up all the loose ends that exist regarding this situation.” Frank paused and nodded toward the briefcase that Jack held. “A certain old man was responsible for delivering some highly classified material into the wrong hands.”

“Not to mention the bastard wanted me dead,” Bear said.

Frank nodded. Then he pointed at Jack and Jasmine and said, “You two come with me.”

Jack stood and waited for Jasmine to do the same. He smiled at Clarissa. Squeezed her shoulder. Then he followed Frank past the empty receptionist desk to a well-lit hallway. The passage contained no doors except for a single one at the end.

Frank stopped, swiped a card through a card reader and then opened the door, which led to an elevator lobby. There were three elevators. One on the right, on the left, and straight ahead. Frank continued forward, swiped his card again and pressed the down arrow next to the elevator in the middle. A moment passed and the elevator opened. Frank stuck his arm in the opening and gestured Jack and Jasmine through with the other.

Jasmine entered, then Jack. There were five buttons on the right side of the doors. Two were for opening and closing the doors. A third had an alarm symbol on it. The fourth was labeled with an “L” and the fifth with a “B.” Jack watched as Frank pressed the “B” button.

The elevator dropped and the lights dimmed. They descended for approximately thirty seconds. Jack worked it out in his head that they had traveled close to two hundred feet when the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

“New headquarters?” Jack asked.

Frank lifted a single eyebrow into his forehead and nodded. He then led them through two security doors and finally into his office. He took a seat behind his desk. The surface area held nothing more than a keyboard, widescreen monitor and a pad of yellow legal paper. On top of the pad was a black ball point pen.

“The documents, Jack.” Frank held out his hand.

Jack lifted the briefcase and sat it on top of the desk.

Frank placed the briefcase on his lap. Pulled the documents out and sat them down in front of him. He went through them one by one. He nodded. He shook his head. He grunted. He groaned.

Jasmine leaned forward and followed along.

Frank looked at Jack and said, “You had no idea?”

Jack shook his head. “Never would have done it if I had.”

“That business you’re in—”

“I’m done with it,” Jack interrupted. “No more.”

“You’ll come back to work for me?”

“Not saying that.” He looked at Jasmine who appeared to watch the conversation with great interest. Jack added, “At least, not yet.”

“So what do you think?” Frank asked.

“Let’s finish this.”

“Ivanov?”

“Yeah.”

“How do we get to him?”

“Clarissa,” Jack said. “She impersonated some Russian agent. Well enough to fool Ivanov’s number one guy over here.”

“So you think she can get to Ivanov then? Maybe lead him somewhere where you two can get to him?”

“That’s right.”

“OK.” Frank leaned over and Jack heard a drawer being opened. Frank reappeared a moment later with two blue passport folders. He tossed them on the desk. “Your identities for this trip. Fly to Athens. Go down and check on Alik and see if you think he can be of any use to us on this. He knows the layout, right?”

“He knew Black Dolphin.”

“We got him in there for you.”

“You ever gonna tell exactly how you pulled that off?”

“No.”

Jack shook his head. Said nothing.

“Once you meet up with Alik, I’ll arrange transport into Russia.”

Jack grabbed his passport without looking inside.

“Does Clarissa need our help getting over there?” Frank said.

“No, I’m sure her team can arrange it,” Jack said.

“She’s squared away then?”

“Yeah.”

“Who’s she working for?”

“Sinclair.”

“Christ,” Frank said.

“You gotta let it go, Frank. We need their help on this.”

Jasmine said, “What’s this about?”

“Nothing,” Jack and Frank said at the same time.

“Before your time,” Frank added.

Jasmine held up her hands in a “back off” gesture and stood. “We should get going. Need to get to the airport.”

“I’ll arrange your flights while you head over.”

He led them out of the office. Through two security doors. He swiped his card next to the elevator and the doors opened. They returned to the lobby. Mandy and Detective Larsen were gone.

“Where’d they go?” Jack asked.

“They’re safe, Jack,” Frank said.

Jack looked at Bear, who nodded while his lips thinned.

“Gotta trust me, Jack,” Frank said. He pointed at Bear and Pierre. “Come with me for a minute.”

He walked them to a corner and they spoke in hushed tones. Three minutes later they returned.

Everyone stood.

Frank said, “Clarissa, get on the next flight to Russia. Coordinate it with Sinclair.” He handed her a card. “Memorize that number. No matter what phone I’m near, you can reach me at that number. Call me when you get settled in and we’ll figure out where Ivanov is and the best way to get to him.”

“OK,” Clarissa said.

“You two.” Frank pointed at Bear and Pierre. “Book the first flight to New York.” He handed Bear a card. “Call me as soon as you land. I have a safe place you can stay.”

“OK,” Bear said.

“Jack,” Frank said.

“Frank,” Jack said.

“Take care of my girl.”

“He’s the one that got clubbed in that house,” Jasmine said.

Frank smiled for a moment and then looked through the glass door and to the street. He pointed a stretch limousine. “Your ride’s out there.”

The group of five filed through the double glass doors and onto the sidewalk. They got inside the limo and headed to Dulles Airport.

20

“What is the damage?” Ivanov said.

Julij looked up from the report in his lap. He wiped a thin layer of sweat from his brow. “All the players are dead, except for Anastasiya.”

“Where is she?”

“Missing.”

Ivanov drummed the edge of his desk with his fingers. He stared at Julij. His young ward averted his eyes and focused at a blank spot on the desk. Ivanov followed his stare. How had this happened? They had everything in place. Then New Jersey fell apart. Atlanta ran into the feds. And now Iowa and, more importantly, Boris and Chernov had been incapacitated. Everything had been ruined. He lifted his hands and balled them into a fist. Drove his fists down onto the desk.

Julij flinched and looked up at Ivanov.

“How did this happen?”

Julij hesitated and then said, “Sir, I, uh, we don’t know.”

Ivanov stood and turned his back on the younger man. He stared out the window. The setting sun cast an orange glow over the normally brown and dreary courtyard behind his office. How would they recover? Who did he have, in Russia, that he could send and pick up where the others had left off? Where the others had failed.

“Any more bad news?” Ivanov asked.

“Yes,” Julij said.

Ivanov looked over his shoulder. “What?”

“The documents, sir. They’re gone.”

Ivanov clenched his jaw. “Who do we think has them now?”

“CIA maybe. Possibly Homeland Security. Whoever it is, there’s no getting them back. Our guy in the government probably doesn’t have the resources.”

Ivanov dropped his chin to his chest. Shook his head. “It’s over then?”

“Nothing is ever over, sir. But, it might take a while for us to recover. We’ve had so many losses these past six months.”

“Who is behind this?”

“We don’t know.”

“Who is behind this?”

“We’re not sure.”

Ivanov turned. Placed his hands on his desk and leaned forward. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Who is behind this?”

“There’s a chance that it’s… That it’s Jack Noble.”

Ivanov backed up until he reached the wall. He felt the color drain from his face and his stomach knot up. “Jack Noble,” he paused a beat, “is dead.”

“That’s what we thought. But a man at the house in Iowa, he, well, he hid and he heard the name. He saw him. We sent a photo and it was close enough. Noble has a beard now, and his hair is a bit longer. But he said it was him.”

“Impossible. He died in Black Dolphin.”

“No, sir. He’s alive. He killed our men. He took the documents. And we have reason to believe he knows it’s us behind it all.”

Ivanov didn’t respond. He stared at his desk in disbelief.

“Sir?”

Ivanov slowly looked up. Met Julij’s stare and held it for a moment. Then he exploded in a fit of rage. He started in the center of his desk and with his right hand, knocked everything off of it and then did the same to the left. Papers, pens, keyboard, mouse and monitor. All fell and crashed to the floor. Afterward, he stood in front of his desk, breathing heavily. He spoke slowly and said, “See if we can get a location on Noble. And see about getting a security team here.”

Julij nodded. Said nothing.

“God help us if Jack Noble arrives here first.”

Episode 9

1

Bear and Pierre sat side by side on a bench, facing Rat Rock in Central Park. The sun hid behind thick clouds that held the promise of a spring storm. The large rock cropping in front of them was as gray as the clouds, and if not for the budding trees and skyscrapers in the background, it would have blended into the sky behind it.

The rock shielded the men from the cold wind. The area was quiet and calm. The climbers who typically scaled the rock were absent today. Too cold and too early. The playground behind them was empty, as all the kids were back in school.

Walkers and joggers and bikers passed at sporadic intervals. Thin white cords dangled from their ears. Sunglasses shielded their eyes. They largely ignored the two men who appeared to be enjoying the morning sun on a brisk thirty-five degree New York City morning.

“You were inside the old man’s compound, right?” Bear asked.

“I remember the layout pretty well,” Pierre replied.

Bear nodded. Although he’d never been inside the old man’s house, he’d seen it from the outside. Heard stories about the inside. Mandy had been in there. So had Clarissa, but she’d be hard pressed to remember the layout. Didn’t matter. She wasn’t around to help.

“If we can get inside, pretty sure I can locate his office,” Pierre said.

Bear thought for a moment. “No way we get inside. That place is guarded like the White House. Roving security teams on the outside. Always a team on all four sides. A team at the front entrance and one at the back. Besides that, everything is electronic access controlled.”

Pierre nodded. “It is.”

Neither man spoke for a few minutes. All Frank had told them was to take out the old man. Didn’t provide any further instruction or offer any additional help. Kill him. Plain and simple. Bear didn’t hesitate to accept. The old man took out a contract on his life. Now he would pay.

“Any ideas?” Pierre said.

“We need to stalk him. Figure out his routine.” Bear paused while two women jogged past. “That day you spent with him, did anything seem habitual? Breakfast at a specific place? Coffee at a certain cafe?”

Pierre leaned back and took a sip from a disposable coffee cup. Steam escaped through the narrow slit in the lid. “Not that I saw. He picked me up around 10 a.m. and we drove to his place. We waited there until I left. If he has any routines, he didn’t make me privy to them.”

“OK. That’s the first thing we need to establish.”

“We’ll have to tail him for a while then. Can we get close to the compound in order to do so?”

Bear shook his head. “It’ll be a stretch. This is going to be a pain. We can’t rely on luck, though, so we have to figure out a way.”

“Should we call Frank?”

“No,” Bear said. “I’ve got someone who might be able to help us.”

“Who?”

Bear glanced sideways at Pierre. He still wasn’t sure how much he could trust the Frenchman. Better to keep the name close to the vest. “I’ll let you know when you need to know.”

Pierre nodded. “I understand.”

A group of small children approached from the west. Bear estimated there were twenty kids. They followed a woman dressed in khaki pants and a blue sweater covered by a black vest. He figured she was their teacher. They filed past Bear and Pierre, following the wrap around walkway to the park behind the bench.