Noble Intentions: Season Two (Episodes 6-10) (44 page)

Jack took the paper and stuffed it in his pocket. “Thank you, sir. I’ll be in touch.” He started down the stairs of the back patio. Stopped and turned. “One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Frank Skinner. He involved?”

Marlowe shook his head. “Don’t think so, but I’ll double check.”

Jack thanked him once more, then left the property. He hurried to his car and started driving toward the outskirts of the city. On the way, he called a taxi company to send a cab for Jasmine with instructions to drive her to the gas station next to the fire department on the other side of the Beltway. He added that the driver was not to tell her where he was taking her.

Jack drove ahead and waited across the street from the fire station. Half an hour later a cab pulled up and Jasmine stepped out, alone. He waited another five minutes to make sure she hadn’t been followed and then got out of his car, crossed the street and got her attention.

“Thanks a lot, Jack,” she said.

“It was worth it.”

“It better have been.”

“Wait till you hear what I found out.”

9

Charles leaned over the wrought iron black railing that surrounded his balcony. The lights of the city created a soft haze that lit the sky hundreds of feet above him before melting into the darkness of night.

He threw back another shot. His twelfth, he estimated. Or maybe his thirteenth. He’d lost track. The alcohol was doing little to distract him. He had the cocaine to thank for that. He figured if he kept drinking, eventually the booze would do its job. He didn’t care how much it took. No hangover could dampen the celebration he was having. The old man was dead and the empire was his.

“Alonso,” Charles said. “Another drink.”

Alonso stepped out onto the balcony empty handed. “Maybe you should take it easy, Charles.”

“Why? Afraid I’m going to piss off our neighbors? What do we care? We’re out of here in a couple days. Back to New York to take over.”

Alonso pulled out a cigar and lit it. Took a few puffs and then joined Charles by the railing. “I was thinking that I’d like to stay here. Take over Europe.”

Charles reached for the cigar and took it from Alonso’s hand. “You’re my right hand man. I need you in New York.”

“You’ll have plenty of people to choose from there. And with your eye on them, they’ll do what you tell them to. Do you really want to send someone here that you don’t trust completely?”

“I see your point,” Charles said. “But at the same time, I really don’t want someone I don’t trust within stabbing distance of me.”

“You’re going to have that whether I’m there or not.”

Charles looked up at the sky. Dead center above him it was nothing more than a mass of black. The spot where the lights didn’t meet. He knew that he’d have a situation on his hands in New York. There were people in the organization that probably figured he was behind the killing of the old man. Although he was happy about it, it wasn’t something that he ever had intentions of organizing. Perhaps at one time, but all that had been smoothed over when Feng put him in charge of Europe and given him free reign to run it as he saw fit. Plus, Feng was old and nearing retirement. Charles was poised to take over soon no matter what.

“What do you think?” Alonso said.

“OK,” Charles said. “Only thing is I need you to come with me for the first week or two. Just to watch my back until I get control of things.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“Kill the first one that stands up to me.”

“Good plan. Machiavellian.”

Charles nodded once and said nothing.

“I’ll get us those drinks now.” Alonso stepped into the apartment and disappeared into the kitchen.

Charles turned around and looked over the railing, down at the street. Despite the late hour, there were several people out. Were they celebrating as he was? Were they all full of hope and inspiration like him? Or were they, just like him, trying to get drunk?

“Here you go,” Alonso said.

Charles sat down at the bistro table near the door. Alonso sat across from him.

“Arrange our flights before you go to bed. I’d like to leave tomorrow if possible.”

“Won’t happen. But I’m sure we can get out the day after.”

“That’ll work.”

10

Jasmine stared at Jack in disbelief as he recounted the information Marlowe passed on to him.

“The Pentagon?” she said. “Someone in power? You really think this goes that high?”

“Rico shared the same thoughts.”

“First of all, we really don’t know much about this Rico character.”

Her words rang true. The only saving grace Rico had was that Frank arranged the meeting. If Frank turned out to be on the up and up, then so was Rico as far as Jack was concerned.

“The second thing,” Jasmine said, “is that it doesn’t make sense. Why would someone that high up in the government risk treason?”

Jack shrugged. “People do crazy things for money, Jazz.”

“I know that. And will you please stop calling me Jazz.”

“Too late,” he said with a laugh. “We’ve been through too much together. It’s permanent.”

She sighed and shook her head and smiled at him. Her dark eyes reflected the oncoming headlights, giving off the impression that they were aglow. Her expression turned serious and she said, “So what now?”

“Gotta call my contact back in a bit. He’s checking on Frank for me. If he says he’s clear then you’re going to arrange a meeting with Frank. Someplace public, though. I’m not going to his office.”

She lifted her hand and pursed her lips like she was about to scold him for his distrust in Frank. If she had, he’d be able to see her point. Jack and Frank had a history together, and Jasmine herself had seven years in the SIS working alongside and for Frank. But it was Jack’s history with Frank that taught him to distrust the man.

“OK,” she said reluctantly. “I’m on board, for the most part. I’ll go on record now as saying that I don’t think Frank has anything to do with this. And I think we are wasting time looking at people in the Pentagon. This has double agent written all over it.”

Jack started the car and drove aimlessly for half an hour. They spoke little, and when they did it was about nothing important. In the background his mind worked overtime on the puzzle. There had been a time when he brazenly accused a high ranking government official of being involved in a conspiracy. He had been wrong. Fortunately, the man offered up what he knew at the time, just as the same man had done earlier in the day.

He noted how naive Jasmine acted regarding the possibility that someone they trusted could be involved in the disappearance of the documents. In some ways, he wished he shared her simplistic thinking on the issue. If that were the case, though, then another group would get their hands on the documents and the whereabouts of the information might escape the intelligence community completely.

“You got five minutes,” Jasmine said.

Jack broke free from his thoughts as her words echoed in his ears. He began to look for a place to park.

“So who is this contact?” she asked.

Jack shook his head. Said nothing.

“Why won’t you trust me?”

“It’s not about me trusting you. It’s about protecting him. No one needs to know but me. His name gets out there, it puts him at risk.”

“So in other words, you don’t trust me.”

“Jazz,” Jack reached out and grabbed her hand. “It’s not like that. I trust you with my life. You’re my partner. I need you to trust me on this. OK?”

“Whatever.” She aimed a finger toward the clock on the dashboard. “Make your call.”

Jack turned into an empty restaurant parking lot. Pulled around the rear of the building and stopped the car. He reached for the keys but decided to leave the ignition running. A sign of trust. He got out and walked into the field behind the restaurant, fifty feet past the parking lot. Grabbed his cell and placed a call to Marlowe.

Marlowe answered and sounded as if he had been awoken. “Hello?”

“It’s Jack. Sorry to wake you.”

“I wasn’t asleep.”He yawned, then added, “Almost.”

“What have you got for me?”

“Skinner is clear. He’s on your side.”

Jack felt a wave of relief flow through his body. “That’s good to hear. I’m still going to keep him at arm’s length until I feel him out.”

“Probably a good idea.” Marlowe cleared his throat. “Whoever stole the documents this go around, well, by all appearances that was an inside job.”

“We figured that much, sir. But who?”

“Every camera went on the fritz, Jack. Every single one. Out for fifteen minutes. Guys in the security room who were watching the live feeds noticed nothing at all. Not a single thing. Said the place was desolate. One of them called it a ghost town.”

“Have they been questioned further?”

“The NSA is in the process of doing that right now.”

“What’s the feeling? They in on it?”

“I don’t know any more than I’ve told you.”

Either the guards were involved or someone highly skilled manipulated the feed into the guard room of one of the most secure buildings in the world. How many people had that ability? That much skill? A handful at most, Jack figured.

“What about the Pentagon?” Jack said.

“That’s where things get troubling.”

This was the information that Jack anticipated and dreaded at the same time. “How so?”

“I don’t know how much I should say over the phone.”

“This is a generic line, sir. No one knows about it.”

“They know about mine though.”

“Can you tell me without naming names?”

Marlowe exhaled heavily and paused for a few moments. “All signs point toward my successor.”

“Christ.”

“Now Jack, I don’t have anything concrete. There’s no proof yet. You can’t go into the Pentagon guns blazing, or break into his house at four in the morning.”

A smile briefly formed on Jack’s face, then the gravity of the situation resurfaced. “The Pentagon is the last place I should walk into. And I’ll stay away from his house. For now. Keep working it, and I’ll check with you in the morning.”

Jack ended the call and stuck the phone in his pocket. On his way back to the car, he pulled the phone out, removed the battery and SIM card and proceeded to throw the phone and battery into the woods, then destroyed the card. He’d pick up another cell next time they passed a convenience store.

“What did your contact say?” Jasmine asked as Jack ducked inside the car.

“Frank’s clear. NSA is an inside job. Pentagon is legit.”

“Good. I believe it. We’re wasting our time.”

If it weren’t for the direness of the situation, he’d have laughed at her ability to be as succinct as himself.

“Call Frank,” he said. “Have him meet us at the first place open on F Street between 15th and 3rd.”

“Why there?”

“Because I don’t want him choosing the location.”

“You’re paranoid.”

Jack said nothing. He didn’t have to and Jasmine, of all people, should understand that.

Half an hour later Jack and Jasmine sat on a vinyl bench seat against the back wall of a twenty-four hour diner on F Street. Jack watched the door. A trickle of diners entered and exited. None of them Frank. None of them agents, as far as he could tell. For the most part the crowd was young. People in between bars or filling up before heading home. Friends and strangers. Strangers and friends. Mixed up and intertwined thanks to the false bravado that alcohol afforded them. After a while, Jack began to wonder if Frank would bother to show.

“There he is,” Jasmine said, her arm pointing beyond the door.

Jack nodded as Frank entered. The man’s eyes scanned the room before finally settling on their table. Jack kept his eyes on the door while Frank walked toward them. He didn’t want any surprises entering after Frank sat down.

“Relax,” Frank said. “I’m alone.”

Jack glanced and him and then returned to watching the door.

“Christ, Jack,” Frank said. “You can trust me. What else do you want me to say or do to prove that?”

“Tell me everything,” Jack said without taking his gaze off the door.

“It’s not an inside job,” Frank said. “The theft at the NSA.”

Jack lowered his line of sight and made eye contact with Frank. He wanted to watch the man’s eye and facial movements as he spoke. “Then who was it?”

“Rogue agent.” Frank’s eyes were locked on Jack’s. His face gave away nothing.

“From the NSA?”

“At least someone familiar with them.”

“What else?”

“The leak is inside the Pentagon.”

Jack’s trust in Frank slowly started to grow. He decided to hold off on divulging the information Marlowe passed on to him.

“Guys,” Jasmine said. “We are wasting our time with this Pentagon angle.”

“Why’s that?” Frank said.

“She’s got a conspiracy theory,” Jack said.

Frank shifted his gaze to Jasmine and smiled. “I’d at least like to hear it.”

Jasmine leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. “If whoever leaked the first time is actually in the Pentagon, and as high up as you seem to believe, why would they do this again if they nearly got popped the first time?”

Frank lifted a single eyebrow and shrugged and turned up his hands. “He’s got balls.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t it make more sense that the original buyer has found a way to turn an agent and has convinced them to procure the information for them?”

“Or maybe had an agent on the inside all this time,” Frank said. “No turning needed.”

“Ah, c’mon Frank,” Jack said. “You’re not entertaining this.”

Frank whipped his arm around and pointed at Jack. “Jack, we don’t have anything to work with. We need to explore all ideas. This is plausible. Think about it. Say North Korea, or someone there, or maybe even someone in the Middle East was involved with the initial purchase. Things happened and they didn’t get their hands on what they wanted. But they’ve been kept up to date on developments and found out that the intel had found its way home. So they contract someone who would turn for money and then issued the command to steal and deliver the documents.”