Read Online Noble Intentions: Season Four by L.T. Ryan - Free Book Online Page A

documents on him, not left behind.
    Bear placed the do-not-disturb sign on the knob, and a small piece of tape at the bottom of the door, connected to the frame. If someone entered while they
    were gone, the tape would break off from one side. Not foolproof, but good enough.
    Both scavenged at the complimentary breakfast bar, grabbing croissants and pastries. Bear grabbed two to-go cups. One he filled with coffee, the other
    orange juice. Mandy exclaimed when he handed her the hot cup.
    "Sorry, kid. Take this one."
    She scowled at him, but the look, like the pain, quickly faded.
    Inattention would get them killed if he didn't get it together.
    Outside, Mandy took a bite of croissant, then said, "Where're we going?"
    Bear glanced down and shook his head. "Swallow your food first."
    She rolled her eyes, swallowed. "OK?"
    "OK."
    "Where are we going?" she asked again.
    "Hospital."
    "All right." The words dragged out like she had a southern drawl, but without the accent.
    "Going to visit a friend."
    "Pierre?" she asked.
    Bear stared ahead, said nothing.
    "Shoot," Mandy said. "I'm sorry. No names. Ever."
    Sometimes training takes a while.
    A cab approached. Bear stepped into the road, taking up a third of the narrow street and blocking the driver's path. He and Mandy slid into the backseat,
    and Bear gave the driver the name of the hospital.
    No one spoke during the fifteen-minute trip. Better that way, of course. Mandy would too often let things slip she shouldn't reveal. He always tried not to
    chastise her in public for it. Bear supposed he was the same way at one time. Maybe. He hadn't been much of a talker at that age. Friends weren't easy to
    come by when you stood a head taller and scared the daylights out of the other kids, even if unintentionally. Wasn't until he dominated on the football
    field that he found a group to become part of.
    Of course, that hadn't lasted long.
    Then, down at Parris Island during Recruit Training, people liked him
because
they feared him. Even the drill instructor gave him less shit than
    the other maggots. The only one who didn't back down from him was Jack. And that became the basis of a lifelong friendship.
    Even if they didn't speak these days.
    The breakup was for Mandy's sake. At least, Bear told himself that. He knew that Jack feared he would be the cause of Bear's downfall one day. And frankly,
    Bear wouldn't argue the point.
    The driver pulled up to the curb in front of the hospital's main entrance. Two men hung out by the double doors, smoking. An elderly woman walked past and
    took one hand off her walker to wave the smoke away from her face. Bear exited, followed by Mandy on the same side of the vehicle. Together, they walked
    around the woman and past the men and through the automatic doors and continued toward the information desk.
    Bear walked up to the middle-aged woman manning the counter. A forced smile was plastered across her face. He spoke to her in French.
    "Can you tell me which room Pierre Allard is in?"
    She continued to smile. Her eyes, minimized by way of her thick glasses, shifted toward the computer screen. As she typed, her face drew tight. "Did you
    say Allard last name, Pierre first name?"
    "Yeah. His room?"
    "I'm sorry. It appears he checked out two weeks ago."
    "Give me his address."
    She leaned back as though he had tried to take a swing at her. When Bear placed an arm on the counter and started to lean over it, the woman, who couldn't
    have weighed more than a buck-ten, moved forward to block the screen.
    "Sir, we cannot divulge such information."
    Without taking his focus off the woman, Bear said, "Mandy, go wait outside."
    "What? No way."
    "Do it, Mandy."
    Her footsteps faded as she backed away, turned and headed toward the main entrance. She might have cursed under her breath. Bear made a mental note that he
    had to watch is own language around her. Not that she hadn't heard any of it before. And she'd hear plenty of it later.
    "Sir, I'm going to be forced