Noble Intentions: Season Three (28 page)

Jack stopped. He went over his
story in his head again.

“What did you find over there?”

Jack turned toward the woman. Her
brown hair was pulled back tight in a ponytail. She lifted her glasses and
rested them on her head. She had gray eyes with bursts of green and brown. He
figured she stood about five-six. The wind caused her baggy jacket to hug her
torso, revealing her slender build.

“Well?” she said.

He held out the bear. “I’m hoping
there’s a child looking for this.”

“You’re American.”

“You’re kidding.”

She cocked her head, smiled. “What
are you doing here?”

“I’m with a counter-terrorism
organization. We’ve often worked hand in hand with MI5 and MI6. They sent me
over immediately.”

“Why do you have a police jacket
on?”

“Didn’t come prepared. An officer
had a spare, let me borrow it.”

“What was his name?”

“I should get going.” He turned and
started toward the front of the building.

She followed. “What’s your name?”

“Jack.”

“Jack what?”

“Jack is all I can tell you. The
rest is classified.”

“And you’d have to kill me to tell
me, right?”

“Only in the U.S., ma’am.”

“Then there shouldn’t be a problem
telling me in London. We won’t be breaking any treaties that I’m aware of.”

“It’s better that you don’t know,
Ms.?”

“Sasha.”

“Sasha what?”

“That’s classified, and if I told
you, I would have to kill you.”

Jack smiled. “Fair enough.”

“I’ll take that teddy bear, Jack.
They’ve got a little collection shrine type thing going on over there.”

Jack stopped, faced Sasha. He
extended the bear toward her. She reached for it. He didn’t immediately let go.

“Find me before you leave,” she
said.

“Why?” he said.

“I’d like to exchange notes.”

With that, she turned and jogged
away. Jack watched her for a minute, then continued toward the front of the
building. When he approached the corner, he noticed an uptick in the chatter
level. He kept moving forward. A large group of agents stood on the street in
front of the hotel. All but one of them ignored him.

Jack noticed the guy standing off
to the side. The man’s stare fell upon Jack and didn’t waver. Jack stopped,
knelt, pretended to investigate something on the ground. He kept the agent in
his peripheral vision. When the man started walking his way, Jack rose and
turned away.

“Jack Noble,” the man said.

Jack looked over his shoulder. The
man extended his hand above his shoulder as he got nearer. He waved, called out
for Jack again.

Jack turned to face the guy.

“Jon Hayes,” the man said. “We
worked together, maybe ten years ago when I was in the SAS and you were—”

“A Marine working with the CIA.”

Jon nodded. “What brings you here?”

Jack looked toward the group of
people in front of the building. “You with them?”

“Only one.”

“Who?”

“The only important one.”

“Which is?”

“The Prime Minister.”

Jack squinted and scanned the group
of agents until he saw another face he recognized. “Wait a minute. Your Alex
Parkin is Prime Minister Alex Parkin.”

Jon smiled. “Come on, old friend.
Let’s go have a chat.”

Alex pushed through the tangle of
agents, cops and reporters. He moved toward the rubble. A sea of voices called
for him, full of questions he had no answer for. Everything he had been
prepared to say to them had slipped his mind. All he could think of were the
hundreds who had perished in the attack. The children who’d lost a parent. The
parents who’d lost a child. Friends and neighbors, gone. He oversaw a nation
that feared they’d lost their might.

Alex spotted Jon talking to a man.
The guy looked familiar, but he couldn’t place him. Alex turned around, placed
his hand on his copper’s shoulder, and said, “Keep them back.”

As he approached, Jon nodded and
gestured for Alex to join them.

He walked toward the men, his gaze
alternated between Jon and the man, and the destruction that surrounded them.
It seemed surreal. He wondered why this had happened. No one credible had yet
stepped forth and claimed responsibility for the attack. Would they find clues
at the bottom of the rubble? Would they unearth important information inside
the restaurant?

As Alex neared, the familiar
looking man stepped forward, extended his hand and said, “Prime Minister, good
to see you again.”

Alex nodded, shot Jon a look.

Jon said, “This is Jack Noble,
Alex. We ran a few missions with him some ten years ago.”

Alex thought back. So much had
happened since then that a lot of the details had faded into some recess in his
mind.

“You were partners with the big
guy, right? What was his name? Moose?”

“Bear,” Jack said with a smile.

“Ah, that’s right, Bear. What is he
up to these days? How have you been? What are you doing here?”

Jack glanced around. “I have information
that might help you get to the bottom of this attack.”

Alex glanced at Jon and lifted an
eyebrow. Jon shrugged as if this were news to him, too.

“Do go on, Jack,” Alex said.

“Can’t. Not here, out in the open.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not safe.”

Alex held out his hands and looked
back over his shoulder. “All those men serve me. I assure you, it is safe
here.”

“And the reporters, too?” Jack
said. “They have your best interest at heart?”

Alex said nothing.

“What about those agents over
there?” Jack said, gesturing toward a group that had gathered on the other side
of the street and watched the meeting with interest. “How do you know one of
them isn’t involved in this?”

“That’s enough, Jack,” Jon said.

“I share your concerns,” Alex said.
“But if you have information, I need to hear it. Jon needs to hear it. For the
love of God, everyone that can help needs to hear it.”

Jack nodded, said nothing.

“Let’s go to the car,” Jon said.

“And travel through that mess,”
Jack said, his eyes on the reporters.

“They’ve already snapped your
picture. You can expect to be in the papers.”

The guy grimaced, something that
Alex understood well. He’d never gotten used to the idea of the paparazzi
always in his face. Even legitimate reporters stayed too close these days.

“Well, have you any ideas?” Alex
said.

Jack glanced around, his eyes
settled on a spot over Alex’s shoulder.

“How about in there?” Jack said.

Alex turned, saw a shop with its
door open. A woman appeared with a garage broom in hand. She pushed a large
pile of dust and debris out of the store. It erupted into a cloud as it slid
over the curb.

“Think it’s safe in there?” Alex
said.

“I was in there the other day. It’s
safe.”

Alex and Jon looked at each other.

“Which day?” Jon said.

“Did you see the attack happen?”
Alex said.

“No,” Jack said. “It was before
that.”

“Let’s go,” Alex said.

“Prime Minister,” a woman called
out.

Alex stopped, turned, saw Sasha
Kirby headed his way. The woman had been a fast riser within the ranks of MI6.
She’d earned Alex’s and Jon’s trust along the way, and now personally advised
Alex on matters of national security. He’d yet to speak with her since the
attacks.

She came over, nodded at each man.

“Agent Kirby, this is Jack Noble.”
Alex extended his hand toward Jack.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Noble,” she
said.

“Likewise, Ms. Kirby.”

The two shared a smile.

“Right,” Alex said. “Well, Agent
Kirby, Mr. Noble has information about the attack. We were about to go talk in
private. I’d like you to join us. He might have some information that will help
your investigation.”

She nodded and they started toward
the shop. Jack and Jon led the way. Agent Kirby walked next to Alex. No one
spoke. Jon wagged a finger at the reporters who came toward them, and at the
cameramen who raised their devices over their heads like submarine periscopes.
There would be no prying eyes or ears invited to this discussion.

The paper thin barrier that blocked
off the attack site would do little to stop Bear from crossing. The police ten
feet away with HK MP5s draped over their chests were a different story. He
approached the yellow police tape with Mandy hanging on to the back of his
shirt. The sight of the collapsed hotel made his heart sink. If Jack had been
inside, there was no way he was still alive. Bear had to accept that now and be
prepared in case he never found his friend.

They’d come straight from the
airport. He hadn’t arranged accommodations and had no idea where they’d go
next. The black taxi expertly navigated traffic filled roads and let them off a
couple blocks away. They’d walk the rest. Crossing the street had been an
adventure. Some drivers had no respect for a pedestrian in the street, it
seemed. He’d witnessed traffic in most major cities in the U.S., but the
drivers in London, and many European cities for that matter, took aggressive
driving to a whole new level.

“It smells funny,” Mandy said.

He squeezed her hand, looked down
at her, nodded. He’d noticed the odor before he stepped out of the cab. He
imagined that most of the apartments and offices in the surrounding area were
steeped in it. He presumed that the locals had probably started to become used
to the mixture of lingering dust and smoke by now. The odor at least. The
physical effects were a different story. Those with a predisposition likely
struggled with dry eyes, itchy throats, burning lungs.

Behind the tape were tight faces,
questioning eyes, men and women wearing blue windbreakers.

Bear approached the tape, veered
toward a female agent who stood about five feet behind the line. He caught her
attention. The woman looked at him, then down at Mandy. She gave the girl a
smile.

“I’m trying to find information on
someone.”

The woman pointed. “There is a
table over there. Those people can help you.”

Bear shook his head. “No, this is
different. I need to get past this line.”

The woman took a step back, pulled
her pistol.

Mandy grabbed hold of Bear’s shirt
and scooted behind him.

Bear lifted his hands. “It’s not
like that.”

“I need you to back away, sir.”

The crowd surrounding them shifted back.
All eyes fell upon Bear. He’d also attracted the attention of several other
agents and police officers. They approached from both sides, guns drawn.

“I said back away,” the woman’s
voice rose.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Bear
said.

“Sir,” a man shouted. “You need to
turn around and leave or else we’ll be forced to detain you.”

“You want to detain me?” Bear
shouted back. He’d lost his patience, and perhaps his sanity. “Fine, you do
that. Maybe then I’ll end up in front of someone with half a brain who’ll help
me out instead of trying to send me away.”

Three male officers ducked under
the tape and came toward him, weapons extended. Two holstered their weapons and
reached for Bear’s arms. He stepped forward to create some distance between
them and Mandy, but the girl held onto his shirt and stayed close.

The officers grabbed his arm. He
resisted, shouted. They shouted back. The third officer threatened to shoot.

“Bear.” The shout came from behind
the yellow line.

Bear shifted his focus from the
cops to the groups of people surrounding the attack site. He didn’t see anyone
he recognized. Again, someone shouted his name.

“Who’s calling your name, Bear?”
Mandy said.

The cops eased off as Bear let them
have control of his arms. He continued to scan the faces behind the line. The
warm breeze carried his name to him a third time. It echoed off the buildings.
He saw arms waving and a face he’d recognize anywhere.

“Son of a bitch,” he said. “It’s
Jack, sweetie.”

Jack started toward Bear at a quick
pace. “Tell those men to let go of him,” he said to Jon.

Jon rushed to Jack’s side. They
jogged toward the gathering near the perimeter. “Is that Logan?”

“Yeah.”

“You there, officers,” Jon shouted.
“Let that man go. He’s with us.”

Jack and Jon slowed to a walk as
the officers escorted Bear and Mandy past the police line. A minute later the
two friends embraced.

“Christ, Jack, I thought you were
dead.”

Jack pulled back, looked at Bear.
“You know me better than that. Takes more than blowing up a building to take me
down.” He took a step back, smiled at Mandy. “How is it possible you’ve grown
so much in just a few days?”

She said nothing, stepped forward
with her arms wide. Jack scooped her up and hugged her. Although Bear had been
the one to assume responsibility for the child, Jack would never forget the
impact she’d had on his life. Without her, the Jack Noble redemption tour would
have never begun.

“Jack,” Jon said. “We need to get
back to the Prime Minister.”

Bear pointed toward Alex. “I’ll be
damned. Parkin is Prime Minister Parkin?”

Jon nodded.

“Man, he got old looking.”

“Politics can do that to you,” Jon
said.

“So can women,” Jack said.

“And drinking,” Jon said.

“And kids,” Bear said as he nudged
Mandy.

“Hey,” Mandy said. She elbowed Bear
in the stomach. He pretended to buckle forward.

They walked toward the Prime
Minister. A couple of agents followed a dozen feet behind.