Noble Intentions: Season Two (Episodes 6-10)

by L. T. Ryan

  They reached the parking garage and Jack navigated through the cavernous structure, winding upward several stories before he found an empty space.

  Jack cut the engine and turned in his seat to face McCarthy. “Here’s the plan. You’re going to show me where the office is, and then you’re going in there alone. I’m going to wait out of sight. I’ll enter shortly after. From there I take over.”

  “Then I can go?”

  “No. Can’t trust you. You’ll stay.”

  “I’ll be a witness. Do you want that?”

  Jack narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “You ever threaten me again and you’ll watch what I do to your family.”

  McCarthy’s eyes watered over and he shook his head. “I should be armed. Bragg’s a dangerous man, and I know he has weapons in that office. I think… I think he conducts alternate business there. Give me a weapon.”

  “Not a chance,” Jack said. “Don’t say anything stupid. You’ll only be alone for a minute. If Bragg tries anything when I enter I’ll neutralize him.”

  “You’ll kill him.”

  “Not until I have everything I want.”

  McCarthy lowered his head and shook it. “How did we ever get into this mess? Why would Bragg do something so stupid? Endanger his country like this?”

  “For the same reason most men betray their morals and ethics,” Jack said. “Money.”

  Jack stepped out of the car and waited for McCarthy to join him. “You stay close. I better not lose sight of you.”

  McCarthy practically hugged Jack, he stood so close. They found the stairs and made their way to the street. Navigated their way to the office building where Bragg kept his unofficial office. They entered the building and made their way to the floor above Bragg’s.

  They had thirty minutes to kill before the meeting. The time passed slowly, leaving Jack to focus on the second hand of a cheap clock hanging on the wall in the floor’s lobby. He barely looked in McCarthy’s direction and the men said nothing to each other until twenty-five minutes in when McCarthy spoke.

  “That’s him,” McCarthy said. “Entering the building.”

  Jack walked over to the window and looked down at the street.

  “He’s inside already,” McCarthy said.

  “Get ready to go,” Jack said.

  17

  “We missed,” Bear said into his cell phone. “And to make it worse, Pierre was wounded badly. Might not make it.”

  “I see,” Frank said. “Look, you need to get back to the U.S. at once. We can discuss further steps once you are here.”

  Bear stared up at the sky. Clouds had rolled in and were blocking the setting sun. The orange glow filtered through but did little to warm the cool breeze that blew into his face. He had no intention of doing anything for Frank when he got back to the States. But he wasn’t going to say that now. He might never make it to his plane if he did.

  “OK,” Bear said. “I’ll call you after I land.”

  He ended the call and immediately dialed Kat’s number. No answer. He walked until he reached her apartment building. The gate was locked. He paced the area in front of the entrance for half an hour. Then she appeared. Stepped off a bus and walked toward him. He stood next to the gate and waited for her.

  “Bear,” she said. “Where’s Pierre?”

  “We should go inside,” he said.

  She unlocked the gate and they hurried to her apartment without saying a word. By the time they reached the door, tears stained her cheeks.

  “Is he dead?” she asked as she pushed the door open.

  “Maybe.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “I had to leave him with the medics. Charles was coming after us.”

  She pressed her palms into her eyes and let out a sob. She took a deep quivering breath and said, “Where did they take him?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “Where were you?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “To tell you about Pierre.”

  “Tell me why you’re really here.”

  “Come to America with me.”

  Kat shook her head and turned away. “You should leave.”

  Bear lifted his hands. Wanted to reach out and grab her. Pull her close. Hug her. Convince her to come with him. Instead he turned and left the apartment without another word.

  He made his way out of the compound and hailed the first taxi he saw.

  “Take me to the airport,” he said.

  18

  A minute passed, then two, then three. Finally, at the four minute mark Jack said, “It’s time.”

  He led McCarthy down the hall to the stairwell. They walked down a flight of stairs and stopped next to the reinforced door that served as a barrier against the heat and cold and noise between the hall and the stairs.

  “Ready?” Jack said.

  McCarthy nodded.

  “Remember,” Jack said. “Don’t play hero. Things get out of hand, you run.”

  “OK.”

  “Once I enter, you don’t have to say a thing. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

  “OK.”

  “Any final questions?”

  “Are you going to kill him?”

  Jack shrugged as a slight grin formed on his face. The feeling was there, he only needed an excuse. “Only if he tries to kill one of us.”

  McCarthy stood there, eyes wide, and said nothing.

  “Now go,” Jack said while pulling the door open.

  McCarthy stepped through the opening and walked toward the office. Jack left the door cracked just enough so that he could see down the hall. McCarthy stopped and knocked on Bragg’s office door. Jack didn’t see the door open, but he did see Bragg stick his head out and check both ends of the hall. Jack instinctively pulled back but was careful to leave the door cracked in the same position. Letting it close and bang shut would set off a red flag, and surely Bragg was on high enough alert to notice.

  Jack prepared to move. The walk would be one of the longest he ever took. The scenarios played in his mind. Would McCarthy double cross him and tell Bragg that Jack was on the way? McCarthy could have been playing him the whole time and be a lot more involved in the plot than Jack knew. What if Bragg had the hallway covered with surveillance? He’d be a sitting duck if that were the case.

  Jack shook the thoughts from his mind. The time for worrying had passed. He pushed the door open and started down the hall. As he approached the door, he retrieved the Glock Frank had given him and held it in his right hand. Grabbed the Sig Sauer pistol he took from Jasmine’s apartment with his left hand. He stopped in front of the door and listened. The men were shouting at each other.

  “I know what you did, Don,” McCarthy said.

  “What’s that?” Bragg said.

  McCarthy lowered his voice and Jack couldn’t make out his response. Then he heard Bragg start to laugh. It was time. Jack took two steps back and lunged forward, kicking the door open with his right foot. He held both guns at arm’s length. Aimed one at McCarthy and the other at Bragg.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” Jack said.

  McCarthy threw his hands in the air and backed up until he pressed against the wall, next to a window.

  “What the hell is this?” Bragg said. “Do you have any idea who we are?”

  Jack used his foot to kick the door into a closed position. It didn’t latch, but he managed to get it stuck shut.

  “Step out from behind the desk, Bragg,” Jack said.

  Bragg didn’t move. “Get the hell out of my office.”

  “You’re not the one in charge here,” Jack said. “Be a good boy like McCarthy and join him next to the window.”

  Bragg shook his head and reached down toward his desk.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Jack said. “Considering all the lives that have already been lost, one more won’t make a difference. Especially not the life of a traitor.”

  Bragg lifted his
head and stared at Jack for a moment. Then he straightened up and took a step back. He narrowed his eyes and lifted his hand. Pointed at Jack.

  “Wait a minute,” Bragg said. “I know you. You’re that Noble guy. You’re the one that screwed up my operation to test our security.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw McCarthy turn his head toward him.

  “You mean I stopped you from placing sensitive documents into the hands of terrorists in North Korea,” Jack said.

  “Koreans? You handed them over to the Russians.”

  “And I got them back,” Jack said. “Only to have them stolen again.”

  Bragg shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that.”

  “I didn’t ask if you did.”

  “Are you really Jack Noble?” McCarthy asked.

  “Jack Noble is dead,” Jack said.

  “So what do you want, Jack?” Bragg said.

  “I want you to go to the President and tell him what you did. Maybe if you beg loudly enough he’ll let you disappear instead of having you killed for treason.”

  Bragg laughed. “If anyone here is guilty of treason, it’s you, Jack. I was only trying to make our country a safer place.”

  “Where are the documents now?” Jack said.

  “I should ask you that,” Bragg said. “You’re probably the one that stole them from the NSA.”

  Jack took a step forward. “Where are they?”

  Bragg stood defiant. “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.”

  Jack took another step forward, taking care to keep both men in his sight. “Your life means nothing to me, Bragg. I’m a ghost. I’ll just disappear. You better friggin’ tell me.”

  “Screw you, Jack.”

  Jack closed the distance between himself and Bragg’s desk. He held both guns inches from the man’s head. “Dammit, Bragg. Tell me where the documents are.”

  “They’re right here, Jack,” a familiar female voice said from behind.

  Bragg smiled.

  Jack had let his emotions get the best of him, and in doing so, he missed the sound of a door within the office opening from behind. Not the main office door, but a closet door or one that led to another room. He chastised himself for being so careless.

  “Place your weapons on the desk and turn around,” she said.

  Jack held the guns with only his thumbs and index fingers. Slowly he lowered the weapons and set them on the desk. Then he turned around and saw Jasmine standing at the back of the room with an H&K MP7 equipped with a silencer, aimed in his direction. She held it loosely in her right hand. A briefcase dangled from her left.

  “Jasmine,” Jack said. “What the—”

  “You couldn’t leave it alone, could you, Jack?” she said.

  “Why?” Jack said.

  “I told you from the beginning this wasn’t for us to worry about. There are agencies that are made for this kind of thing. You should have listened to me and let me convince you, like Frank, that this had nothing to do with us.”

  Jack shook his head in disbelief and said nothing.

  “But no, you had this redemption thing stuck in your head. Then I tried to steer things in another direction and push the terrorist theory. Even had Frank convinced. But once again,” she took a step forward, “Jack Noble argues and gets his way.”

  “You stole the documents from the NSA,” Jack said.

  She nodded and gestured with the briefcase.

  “How? How did you know where and how?”

  “Remember when I told you that I interviewed with different agencies before going to work for the SIS?”

  Jack nodded.

  “I made a contact in the NSA during that time,” she said. “We stayed close and became more than friends. You knew him as Rico.”

  “He was involved in the theft?” Jack said. “He’s the one that put me onto the Pentagon, though.”

  “He was only involved in a roundabout way. He told me enough. Then he turned out to help you despite my attempts at misleading him.”

  Jack realized at that moment that the car bomb was Jasmine’s doing. “You killed him?”

  “And I meant to kill you at the same time, but you stood outside the garage.”

  Jack reached up and ran his hands through his hair. He grabbed fistfuls of hair in the back and pulled. “This whole time, you’ve been working against me.”

  “No,” she said. “Not entirely. We had a few common goals. Stop the Russians from pulling off the attacks, for one. Not because I care, but because I got nothing out of it. No money. We were also on the same page as far as getting the documents back. But, again for different reasons.”

  Jack heard a drawer slide open behind him and then the sounds of metal clanking against wood. Bragg stepped out from the behind the desk and walked past him. Joined Jasmine at the other side of the room. He lifted his arm and aimed his gun at Jack.

  “What was that you called yourself, Mr. Noble?” Bragg said. “A ghost, right?”

  Jack said nothing. He clenched his jaw and inched backward. His weapons were barely a foot away. Maybe he’d get shot while reaching for them. Maybe not. But it’d be better than dying like a chump with his hands up.

  “No, no, no,” Jasmine said. “Not another inch.”

  “Should we kill him here?” Bragg asked.

  “Yeah,” Jasmine said. “But first you and I have to complete our transaction. After I fire, we need to bolt.”

  “OK.” Bragg walked toward his desk and retrieved a bag. He held up the bag and said, “It’s all unmarked.”

  “What about him?” Jasmine asked as she nodded toward McCarthy.

  “He knows too much. Kill him, too. I think we can frame some of this on him. I’ll say that he and Jack approached me to do a deal, then things got messy and Jack’s partner attacked us.” He handed the bag to Jasmine.

  She took it from him, then said, “I’ll need to make it look real.”

  Bragg shrugged and lifted his chin, perhaps expecting her to hit him. Instead, she aimed her gun toward the ground and fired a shot into his lower leg. Bragg collapsed and hit the floor with a thud. He cried out in pain and managed to scoot himself toward the wall.

  “What the hell?” he said.

  “Shut up,” Jasmine said.

  Bragg groaned and moaned and yelled a half dozen obscenities at her. Jasmine lifted her weapon once again and fired three shots into Bragg’s chest. The man fell back and rolled over on his side, silenced.

  Jack scooted back and placed his hands on the desk.

  Jasmine whipped the weapon around and aimed at Jack, this time with both hands supporting the gun. “Not so fast, Jack.”

  He brought his hands forward and kept them just above waist level.

  She turned slightly and fired another shot, this time hitting McCarthy in the center of his forehead. A cloud of blood hung in the air as the man’s lifeless body slumped down the wall to the floor, leaving a river of red in his wake.

  “Just you and me now,” she said as she turned her attention back to Jack.

  Jack said nothing. His mind raced for the correct words to turn the situation around. Nothing came to mind. How had he missed this? How had Frank missed this? Was Frank involved? He decided to ask.

  “How long have you and Frank been planning this?”

  She laughed. “Frank? He’s clueless, Jack. Even more so since he went inside to sit behind a desk all day.”

  He had to keep her talking. That was the only thing that would keep him alive. And if he could keep it going, he’d eventually get a chance to take her down.

  “Why, Jasmine?” he said. “Just tell me why.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Jack. You don’t need to know. Not where you’re going.” She turned slightly, perhaps to brace herself against the emotional impact of killing someone she’d been close to for the past few weeks.

  “You don’t have to do this, Jasmine. You can disappear. Take the money and the documents and leave.”

  �
�I plan to do all that. And I have to do this, otherwise you’ll chase me. And I know you’ll eventually find me.”

  “Jasmine—”

  She shook her head and said, “Any last words you want me to relay for you?”

  Jack knew that was it. She had made up her mind and nothing he could do was going to change it. He took a deep breath and quickly tensed and relaxed his arms. He had to be faster than her. His arms needed to be quicker than her trigger finger. Chances are he wouldn’t be successful. Against a thug who had little weapons experience, sure. But against a trained killer, he was as good as dead in this situation.

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “Tell Bear I said thanks for all the years he stood by my side.”

  “OK.”

  “Tell Frank I said screw you for getting me into this mess.”

  She smiled and nodded.

  “And I need you to tell Clarissa that I’m sorry I didn’t work harder in the past to make things work. I had every intention of finding her after this and trying to settle down into a life with her.”

  “You two would have been good together.” Jasmine’s smile faded. “Now get your hands up and behind your head.”

  He had to act. He feigned a step forward and swung his hands and body back. At that same time the door to the office crashed open. Shots were fired. Jack felt the sting of a bullet penetrating his flesh. The pain radiated through his chest and shoulder and arm, and he couldn’t tell where he had been hit. He fell with his back flat against the desk. Managed to get one of the weapons in his grasp. Rolled backward and fell off the desk.

  He glanced to his right and saw blood on his shoulder. He tore at the ripped fabric and saw that he had only been nicked by the bullet.

  The room was quiet. He rose up and looked over the desk. Jasmine rested against the back wall, eyes open, gun in her lap. Blood poured down her neck from a bullet hole in the side of her head.

  He shifted gaze toward the door and saw Clarissa standing just inside the office.

  “Are you OK?” she said.

  Jack nodded, then shook his head. He stood and walked around the desk. She met him halfway.

  “What are you doing here?” he said. “How did you know?”

  She smiled. “You’re getting careless in your old age, Jack.”