Noble Beginnings

Noble Beginnings Read Free Page A

Book: Noble Beginnings Read Free
Author: L.T. Ryan
Tags: Mystery & Thrillers
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reached the
car. Both of us were ready to smash in the windows. I checked the door handle
and found it to be unlocked. We got inside just before white light flooded the
street. I looked back and saw a police car at the end of the road with its
spotlight pointing in our direction. Bear pulled at the cheap plastic
underneath the steering column and ripped it free. He touched the ignition
wires together and the little car buzzed to life. He put it in first gear and
we rolled to the end of the street. Anticipation and anxiety filled the front
of the car. We stopped at the end of the road. The floodlight still illuminated
the street. It didn’t get closer, didn’t fade away.
    “Turn left,” I
said.
    “We need to go
right.”
    “I’m sure we
can pick it back up, Bear. But let’s go left, circle back and see what these
guys are doing.”
    He nodded,
eased the car forward and made a left turn. The shift from bright light to
darkness messed with our vision and we almost didn’t notice the group of men in
the road.
    Bear hit the
brakes. “Really?” He pounded on the horn. Short bursts of high pitched honks
filled the air. “Doesn’t anybody hang out in a bar in this damn country?”
    “Flash your
highs and move slow, Bear.”
    He did.
    The group of
men split in the middle, just enough for us to pass between the divided group.
They leaned over and peered through the window. A few pushed against the small
car, rocking it on its chassis.
    “I got a bad
feeling, Jack.”
    “Just keep
going.”
    I clutched my
Beretta M9 tight against my chest, ready to fire on the first man to punch
through the window. The M16s were lying across the back seat. A chill washed
over me at the thought of one or two of the men getting into the back of the
car and getting their hands on the fully automatic weapons. One squeeze of the
trigger and they could take us and half their group out before they realized
they had fired.
    The car slowed
to a stop.
    “What the hell,
Bear?”
    “Want me to run
him over?” He flung his arms forward.
    I opened my
mouth to say yes and turned my head to look out the windshield. A small kid,
maybe seven or eight years old, stood directly in our path.
    “Put it in
reverse.”
    Bear’s eyes
darted to the rear-view mirror.
    “They’re
blocking the path.”
    I turned in my
seat to get a look at the gathering of men behind us. Three silhouettes blocked
the moonlit view of the street.
    “Run them
over.”
    “What?”
    “They put
themselves there,” I said. “They have a choice. That kid didn’t.”
    Bear’s hand
moved to the shifter. He slid it over then down, into reverse. Hit the gas.
Three quick thuds filled the car. Two men fell to the side. The car bounced as
we rolled over the third.
    The rest of the
men separated and we sped backward. They regrouped and huddled around their
injured friend. A few turned their attention toward us and then bottles and
rocks rained down on the little car.
    Bear whipped
the car around in a tight circle. Threw it into first then sped away in the
opposite direction. I kept my head turned and watched through the back window
for nearly five minutes.
    “I think we’re
good.”
    Bear nodded,
checking the rear-view mirror every three to five seconds. “It’s getting too
hot, Jack.”
    “I know. I
don’t like this any more than you.”
    I leaned back
in my undersized seat, rubbed my eyes with my thumbs, then turned my head and
stared out the window. We were outside the city, past the suburbs. The barren
landscape was a welcome respite from the hordes of roaming vigilantes and
anti-American Iraqis we encountered on a daily basis.
    “I’ll call
Abbot and Keller after we get back. See about getting us out of here.”
    Bear didn’t say
anything. His big hands wrapped around the steering wheel, his eyes focused on
the empty road. We rode in silence the remaining twenty miles back to base.
    *
* *
    We shared a
single room on base. Two single beds, a small kitchenette with a

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