Noble Intentions: Season Three (17 page)

“All right,” he said. “You’re going
with me.”

He knew the girl didn’t have a
passport, so he’d have to reach out to a few acquaintances who owed him a
favor. It’d probably be a good idea for him to fly under a new identity as
well. Perhaps he could get a package deal put together. Father and daughter. He
glanced at their reflections in the mirror. Him, tall and massive. Her, short
and lithe.

Yeah
, he thought.
Father
and daughter. It’d look legit.

“Start packing your things,” he
said.

It took them less than ten minutes
to pack and wipe the room down. Mandy took to the process pretty quick. After
seven months with Bear she had gotten plenty of practice. Never leave a trace
behind, he told her on more than one occasion.

“What about your gun?” Mandy asked.

Bear walked to the back of the
room, split the blinds with his thumb and forefinger. The area behind the motel
looked deserted, but he felt hesitant to retrieve the weapon now.

“You think you can find it in the
dark?” he said.

Mandy shrugged. “I don’t know if I
could find it in the light.”

He knew she was bluffing. She
didn’t want to go back there alone again. “All right, let’s stash our gear in
the car and we’ll both go back there.”

Bear scooped up most of their
belongings. Mandy draped her backpack over her left shoulder. Her tattered
teddy bear, a relic from a past life, clutched tight in her hand. Bear opened
the door. The area outside the room was still covered in blood and roped off
with yellow police tape. Bear lifted Mandy, angled himself out the door, and
set her down clear of the carnage. Then he turned and hugged the wall and took
a large step to his right.

Halfway down the stairs he pulled
out his keys and held down the trunk lift button on the key fob. The black
Cadillac’s trunk lid popped up. He threw their bags inside. Mandy tossed her
backpack on the front passenger seat.

They walked to the north end of the
building, away from the office. From what the cops had told him, the owner had
placed most of the motel under surveillance. He figured that the video footage
would end near the woods, not in it. The easy solution was to walk a hundred
yards north of the building and enter the woods there.

Once behind the tree line, Mandy
led the way. It didn’t take her long to locate the place where she hid the gun.
No twists, turns or backtracking. She knew exactly where she had hid it. Bear
reached behind himself and tucked it in his waistband. He lifted his shirt and
pulled it down over the handle.

“All right, kid. Let’s get out of
here.”

They jogged back the way they came,
a hundred yards past the building, turned right, headed for the road. Then they
walked south, on a cracked and uneven sidewalk.

“Shit,” Bear said.

“Crap,” Mandy said.

Two police cars blocked in the
Cadillac.

Erin and Jack sat at the kitchen
table, opposite ends. Neither spoke. They alternated between looking at each
other and staring out the window. He assumed she was trying to absorb what he’d
said. The meaning had heavy implications. Rogue British Intelligence agents
were working with a terrorist group. Jack assumed so at least. But why? What
did they hope to accomplish? On the surface, the answer was an easy one. The
terrorists had money and the agents had intelligence and access to channels
that could get things accomplished quickly. There had to be more though. And
why would Jack have any bearing on what they were doing? They could have saved
some time and allowed Jack to carry out the hit on Thornton. Instead he
watched. Something didn’t add up.

And then there was this new dynamic
he had to deal with.

He leaned forward and, in a low
voice, said, “Who else knows?”

Erin turned her head and met his
stare. “What?”

“Mia,” he said. “Me being her
father.”

“Aunt Dottie.”

“Who else?”

“That’s it.”

“You think she ever told Leon, or
maybe her ex-husband?”

Erin shrugged. “I suppose she might
have, but I don’t see why. We can ask her.”

Jack thought it over for a moment.
“No. Not now.”

A minute of silence passed. Erin
said, “Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing,” Jack said. “Just
thinking out loud.”

Erin straightened, grabbed the edge
of the table with both hands. “Do you think she’s in danger?”

“Anyone close to me is in danger,”
Jack said point blank. He paused, then added, “I think you two should leave
now.”

“As soon as Aunt Dottie is ready.”

“No, go without her.”

“That makes no sense, Jack. We’re
safest with her and Leon, not alone.”

“But alone you two can disappear.
There’s no baggage holding you down. You two are mother and daughter. Dottie
and Leon are former spies and SAS. You’ll be scrutinized everywhere you go with
them. You might feel safe, but you won’t be safe.”

“And then what? Can you tell me
that? What am I supposed to do? Where should I go?”

Jack had no answer. Being targeted
by a bomb had rattled him. It wasn’t the first time someone tried to carry out
a hit on him. But no one had gone to such dramatic lengths before. Perhaps his
biggest concern was that he’d never checked into the hotel. Anyone with access
to somebody with the right credentials could have verified that. They did,
though. He was sure of that. The implications were frightening. He feared that
they’d go after any place he might be, and anyone he might know.

What, or who, would be next?

He felt the slight vibration of
footsteps. The faint sound they produced grew louder. Jack and Erin leaned back
in their chairs, looked away from each other. Dottie stopped in the entryway.
She cleared her throat. When no one said anything, she entered the kitchen and
sat down at the table in between Jack and Erin. She said nothing, stared out
the window. Her face was pale, solemn.

“What is it?” Erin asked.

“The agent who picked you up,
Jack.”

“Mason,” Jack said.

Dottie nodded, said, “Yes, him.
Well, I just found out that they’ve had him under surveillance for the past six
months.”

“Who?”

“Who do you think?”

The news did not come as a shock to
Jack. “Any idea why?”

Dottie nodded slowly. “They
believed him to be associated with known terrorist organizations.”

“What kind of evidence do they
have?” Jack said.

“Nothing solid. That’s why they’ve
been watching him.”

“And the results of the
surveillance?”

Dottie shook her head. “Nothing
yet. He covers his tracks well.”

“We’re sure there’s tracks,
though?”

She nodded, looked away, said
nothing.

“How much does this guy know about
you, Dottie?”

“Me? Nothing. He was coming in
while I was on my way out. Our paths never crossed. Even the people I know
don’t know him personally. He has a reputation of getting the job done. They
say he always seems a step ahead.”

“Well, now we know why that is,”
Jack said.

Dottie nodded.

Jack said, “What else?”

Dottie said, “You tell me.”

“He showed up shortly after I
started my stakeout. Followed me when I left. He knew the reason for my visit
to London. He mentioned your name, specifically. He made what some might
consider a threat toward you.”

Erin looked at Jack, then Dottie.
“Why would he?”

“It’s nothing, Erin,” Dottie said.
She turned to Jack. “I’m sure he’s seen my files and put two and two together.”

“Only in this case that equals
five. I don’t see how he would deduce that.”

Dottie held out her hands. “Like
you said, now we know why.”

Jack nodded then glanced at Erin.
“Erin and Mia need to go away.”

“We’re leaving in an hour,” Dottie
said.

“No,” Jack said. “Without you, and
without Leon. They go alone. Hannah goes with them.”

“Why Hannah?”

“She’s part of your life. Anyone
who is associated with you needs to go away for a while.”

Dottie said nothing.

“You and Leon have to go away too.
But someplace away from them.”

Dottie rose. Her look turned
defiant. She aimed a finger in his direction.

“I’m not letting them out of my
sight,” Dottie said.

“If they’re in your sights then
they could be in his sights,” Jack said.

“I don’t like this, Jack. Erin and
Mia should be with me and Leon so that Leon can protect them.”

“That’s precisely why they need to
be somewhere else. Don’t you see that, Dottie?”

Dottie said nothing.

“They aren’t the target. If you
bring them along, they turn into collateral damage should something happen. And
Leon will do his job better if he’s only concerned about your safety. I don’t
care how good he is.”

“I’m the best,” Leon said from the
doorway.

“Well, whatever,” Jack said. “Those
three will be better off someplace like Tenerife than hiding out in the English
countryside or wherever you had planned.”

Dottie stepped away from the table.
She glared at Jack, nodded, said, “Leon, make arrangements for the girls.
Tenerife is too far. I don’t want them more than a few hours away, Jack.”

“Excuse me,” Erin said. “I am a
grown woman capable of making my own decisions.”

“Not now you’re not,” Dottie said.
“OK, Jack. They go one place, me and Leon another.”

“Where then?” Jack said.

Leon said, “Brussels. They can take
the train. It’ll be less conspicuous than flying. I can accompany them.” He
glanced at Erin as he said this.

Jack said, “No. You need to stay
with Dottie. I have a contact in France who can meet them in Brussels.”

“Who?” Dottie said.

Jack shook his head. “Let me worry
about that.”

“If you think I’m going to let one
of your associates—”

“Look Dottie, my guys are solid and
will do whatever I need them to. You know the code. If you don’t want to use
them, I can disappear and leave you to deal with this mess on your own.”

Dottie crossed the kitchen. Her
feet shuffled along the tile. She stopped in front of the coffee maker. “What
about you, Jack? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to stay right here. Got
a feeling someone’s going to pay a visit to the house soon. I’ll be here when
they do. And I’ll get to the bottom of this and end it.”

The foursome stayed silent for a
few minutes. Jack knew better than to speak first if he wanted to close the
deal. When it came down to it, he planned to do whatever he had to in order to
end this whether or not Dottie complied with his request.

Finally, Dottie nodded, looked at
Erin and said, “Get your things together. Mia’s too. You leave from here and go
straight to the train station. Tell Hannah that we’ll cover any expenses she
incurs. She won’t be able to go by her apartment, so she can purchase an
adequate wardrobe in Brussels.”

Jack felt relieved and more
concerned at the same time. This group that he could watch over now would soon
be split up and in two different places. He would have to rely on others to
keep them safe. He could only hope the nagging feeling in his gut that told him
Dottie held something back was nothing more than a false alarm. He thought
there were gaps in her words. Was it to hide something from him, or to keep
Erin out of the loop? The less Erin knew, the better. She had heard too much as
it was.

Erin left the room. She placed a
hand on Jack’s shoulder and squeezed as she passed him. The gesture reminded
him of the relationship they shared seven years ago. He heard her call for Mia
and Hannah after she slipped through the door. He wondered if he’d ever see her
again.

“They probably know about her, you
know,” Dottie said.

“Erin?”

“And you. Your past together.”

“I figured. Part of the reason why
I wanted you separated.”

“You don’t worry about them being
alone?”

“Not with the guy I’m going to send
out to meet them.”

Dottie shook her head. “I’m not
comfortable with this.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to be. But
you have to trust me, Dottie. I’ve trusted you up to this point.” He decided to
take a chance and lean on her. “A lot of this doesn’t add up. Someone else
might be inclined to believe that you had a hand in all of this. That you
orchestrated it all.”

“Jack, I’d never—”

“That’s what everyone says right
before they pull the trigger, before they plunge the blade in the back.”

“You can trust me, Jack. You know
that. After all these years?”

“I trust myself, that’s about it.”

“Is that why you want them
somewhere else? You think once I get them out of your sight, I’m going to do
something?”

Jack leaned back, crossed his arms.
Dottie’s words did not seem forced. Her shock appeared genuine. “No. I mean,
maybe in the back of my head. But it’s mostly because I have a feeling you are
going to be followed. Someone is a step ahead of us. When the time comes, I
know that you and Leon can handle yourselves. But you don’t need the extra
baggage of two women and a little girl.”

Dottie said, “She still talks about
you, you know.”

Jack leaned forward. “How so?”

Dottie looked toward Leon, who
excused himself and left the room.

She said, “Erin never stopped
loving you.”

Jack said, “She’s a fool then.”

“I still feel bad, Jack. I
shouldn’t have interfered. I wish I’d never told her your secret.”

“She would have found out
eventually. Probably better it happened when it did. A few more months and I
might not have given up so easily.”

“I wanted to tell you, but she
forbade it. That’s why…” Dottie turned her head and stared out the window.

“That’s why you never contracted
with me again. I get it. Don’t feel bad.”