Noble Beginnings: A Jack Noble Thriller (Jack Noble #1)

by L.T. Ryan

  * * *

  We stood on the front porch for five minutes staring at the red door. Bear leaned back against a post running floor to ceiling, clutching his shoulder, a look of pain spread across his face.

  “Knock on the damn door, Jack.” His breath formed mist in the air, rising up, enveloping his head before disappearing. “C’mon.”

  I leaned forward and rapped on the door with my knuckles. A moment later a light flicked on inside. I heard hands tap against the door, the way they would if someone leaned up against it perhaps to listen for a moment. The porch light turned on and the door cracked open as far as the security chain lock would allow it.

  “Who’s there?” Jessie asked.

  I took a step back and moved over so she could see me through the crack in the door. Our eyes met and locked in a stare that only two former lovers could share.

  “Jack?”

  “Hey, Jess.”

  “What’re you doing…? Is everything OK?”

  “Yeah. No. Can we come in?” I turned sideways and nodded toward Bear. “He’s hurt.”

  “Riley?”

  “Heya, Jessie,” Bear said.

  Jessie closed the door. I heard the sound of the security chain sliding in its lock, and then the door reopened. She stepped back. She wore a white t-shirt and blue sweatpants. She smiled and tucked strands of her dark brown hair behind her ear while extending her other arm in a “come on in” gesture.

  I took a step in and stopped in front of her and stared into her dark brown eyes. Opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I had no idea what to say.

  She was the first to break off the stare.

  “Oh my God,” she said. “Riley, what happened to your shoulder?”

  “That something you can take care of?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, we get a few gunshot wounds into the ER. I’ve assisted with enough of them to know what to do.” She started toward the other side of the room. “Come to the kitchen.”

  We followed her through the foyer and living room to the back of the house. Bear entered the kitchen first. The room was painted off white, with a tan tile floor and stainless steel appliances. Dark wood cabinets stretched along three walls and a decorative blue tile back splash stretched between the cabinets and dark granite counter tops.

  “Sit,” Jessie said, pointing toward the kitchen table. She turned and rifled through a couple drawers under the countertop.

  Bear took a seat. I leaned back against the fridge.

  “Jack,” she said. “Above the fridge, in the cabinet, grab a bottle of whiskey. Put it on the table.”

  I did as she said, taking a pull from the bottle before setting it down in front of Bear. He let go of his arm, grabbed the bottle and took a pull himself.

  Jessie turned in time to witness Bear taking a drink. Her lips stretched into a frown. “That’s for your arm.”

  “You don’t have anything else?” Bear asked.

  She nodded. “Of course I do. This will numb it a bit, though.” She lifted a pair of scissors and cut his sleeve off. She dabbed peroxide onto a hand towel and wiped the blood away from the wound area, then poured peroxide into the hole in Bear’s arm.

  Bear flinched at first. His face twisted. A moment later he eased up.

  Jessie waited until the white fizz from the peroxide settled down, then opened the bottle of whiskey and poured it into the wound.

  Bear grimaced and groaned.

  “Works fast,” Jessie said.

  He nodded and sighed.

  I reached for the bottle to take another drink. My hand was met by Jessie’s as she slapped it away.

  “I’m not done,” she said.

  She grabbed a pair of small forceps off the table. “Riley, grab hold of the table and your chair. Squeeze tight.”

  He did. His large knuckles turned white.

  “Don’t break her chair,” I said.

  Neither of them said anything.

  She placed the forceps against the open wound and Bear jumped an inch.

  “Steady, Riley, steady.” Her voice was low, breathy, soothing.

  A shiver of remembrance traveled down my spine. Why I hadn’t tried to call or reach out to her during the past five years?

  “Now I’m going to extract the bullet,” she said. “You ready?” She looked up at Bear.

  Bear nodded and forced a loud exhale. He rolled his head to the side and then sat up straight.

  She expertly guided the forceps into the wound and grabbed hold of the slug buried in Bear’s shoulder, eliciting a groan from the big man as she gripped and pulled the bullet out.

  “All done,” she said as she dropped the bullet into a glass tumbler. “OK, now I’m going to clean this out and stitch you up.”

  I stepped out back while she stitched Bear’s arm. The cold air hit me with more force than earlier, perhaps an effect of the whiskey, not that I’d had all that much. But it had been such a long couple days that the warming effect of the alcohol gripped me much sooner than it normally would have. I glanced up at the sky, figuring I would get a great view of the stars out here in the country. No such luck though, as gray clouds had overtaken the sky.

  The door opened behind me and Jessie poked her head out. “All done in there. Want to come back in?” She smiled. The gesture relaxed me.

  I followed her back inside, through the kitchen and into the den. She clicked a black remote and the TV turned on, tuned to one of the twenty-four hour news stations. The sound was low and I couldn’t make out what was being said. I didn’t need to hear it, though. A familiar face appeared on the screen in the form of a picture.

  Delaney.

  “Christ,” Bear said.

  I shook my head, knowing what was coming next.

  The picture of Delaney shrunk and moved diagonally down to the side of the screen. My picture was shown next with the words “Armed and Dangerous” flashing underneath and the words “Person of Interest” in a smaller font below.

  “Well, at least they got part of it right,” I said, turning to Jessie and Bear. “I am a pretty interesting guy.”

  Bear laughed, Jessie didn’t.

  “Jack,” Jessie said, her voice trailing off at the end. “What’s going on?”

  I reached out to her. “Jess, you know what I do, right? The whole reason we split up is because...”

  The remote dangled from her hand. Her mouth opened, a stutter escaping every few seconds in place of a response.

  “Jess, I’m being…we’re being set up. That man, Delaney, he was trying to help us. We met at a park. He had information.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the carbineer with the key hanging from it. “This key, Jess, whatever this key unlocks will give me the information I need to clear us.”

  She shook her head. “Get out.” She rose. “Get out. Now. Both of you. Leave.”

  I got up and placed my hands on her shoulders. She tried to squirm away.

  “Look at me, Jess. Look in my eyes.”

  She stopped shaking her head and lifted her chin, her eyes meeting mine. We engaged in that familiar stare again that said too much had been left unsaid, left undone.

  “It’s me, Jess. Jack. Look at me and tell me if I’m lying.” I looked between her eyes. “I didn’t kill Delaney. I’m being set up. The last seventy-two hours have been a cat and mouse game and I’m the mouse.” I paused. “Believe me?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t…I don’t know, Jack. You come in here. Bear’s all shot up—”

  “What happened to ‘Riley’?” Bear said.

  “— and now this? I just…” She sat back down and curled one foot under her, looked up at me. “I believe you, Jack.”

  I pulled the wooden coffee table closer and sat on the edge and took her hands in mine. “Thank you.” I squeezed her hands. “I’m sorry to have dragged you into this. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re—”

  Her phone rang and I shut up and we all turned toward it.

  “I be
tter get that.” She stood, grabbed the portable phone and disappeared into the kitchen.