Fragments of Grey [Book Five of The Alexis Stanton Chronicles]

by Phelps, J. C.

  My nervousness at seeing Red was gone. I’d worked out exactly what I’d tell him if he tried to speak with me. I’d simply hear his opening statement, then tell him I had no interest in speaking to him ever again. I’d realized, after staying for a day at my apartment, I missed the men. Though I loved working with them, it was their company I missed the most. The attitude had changed. I was no longer a subordinate, I was a colleague. Okay, maybe not a colleague, but they’d treated me like a respected peer. I could handle that, as long as they didn’t ask too much about my comings and goings.

  Another decision I’d halfway made was my fate at Mesa. I would put them on the back burner for a time. Depending on how many jobs I could get on my own, I might never go back to working with them. However, I intended to keep Jake on my radar. Hopefully, I could do that without taking on jobs or promising sex.

  Colin was a worrisome prospect. We hadn’t spoken in months and that easy friendship we’d always had was harder and harder to access with long periods of time to distance us. Thinking of what I may have lost with Colin practically killed me. Our lives had taken different roads. The only thing I could do was get back in touch with him. Maybe I could work things out with him, too. It was time to put everything behind me. Hold onto nothing and start over. It was amazing what a person could think through in three months, if left to herself.

  Through all my worrying and wondering about my partners, White, and Colin, I’d also worked through several scenarios of attack. Jake had told us to be extra diligent because the owner would be here, so I ran through everything again.

  Figuring out a defense strategy was easier after I’d worked out how I would infiltrate.

  If the attackers had long-range rifles, those of us on the wall would be easy targets. I scanned the tallest trees, even though that was probably the least likely scenario.

  If I had the resources, I would never do a ground attack on this refinery. The refinery was protected by a thick swath of open area on all sides as well as the river on the south side. It would be safer to drop in from the sky.

  The dock was another touchy place, though a rougher entry than a night drop. Divers could easily make landfall on our side of the river before detection. However, getting to the gates untouched might be nearly impossible. Still, an attacking force could easily infiltrate the ships waiting to transport the oil and launch an attack from the ship. If they had some serious firepower, they could, more than likely, take the refinery. Still, more dangerous than a night drop into the middle of the refinery, where things weren’t well guarded. A couple well-placed snipers on top of the storage tanks could take out most of the opposition.

  There were ways. The question was, did our attackers have the resources and training to pull it off?

  I expected I’d go home with no more battle experience under my belt. A little excitement would have been all right, but it had been nice to work through all of my headaches without distraction.

  The first thing I’d do when I got home was go down and visit with Gabriella. I wondered how her reception had turned out.

  Movement inside the refinery caught my attention and made me drop all other thought.

  A group came into view with Bud and another man leading the pack. It looked like Bud was explaining things to the other man.

  He must be the owner.

  But, how had he gotten into the refinery? No boats had docked all day. I hadn’t heard a chopper land near the refinery. I was stumped.

  As they drew closer, I realized I recognized the man up front with Bud. At first I only knew he looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember from where. When I took a quick look at the group with my scope it came back to me. It was the cartel leader, Mateo Ruiz. The same man I’d taken pictures of in Jamaica, when White and I took a job as an excuse to get in some romance.

  This must be what Jake had told me to keep an eye out for. Mesa was working for a drug dealer we’d previously done surveillance on. This had to be what Jake wanted me to report back to White.

  Ruiz and the rest of the men made a quick sweep of the area near my post, then disappeared around a corner. I stewed on it for the rest of my shift, anxious to get back to my room and give White a call.

  The rest of my shift dragged on and I couldn’t concentrate on the surrounding jungle. Finally, it was over and I went straight to my room.

  Jake was in his room with our adjoining doors opened.

  “Were you going through my things?” I asked.

  “No. Just wanted to know the second you got back to your room. We need to talk.”

  “About what?”

  “Ruiz. His presence isn’t the whole story. You might want to wait and report directly to White.”

  “Why?” I didn’t try to hide my suspicion.

  “I don’t know. I just have a feeling.” He smiled at me, so I knew he had more than just a feeling.

  “Let’s watch some T.V. for a while,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  I switched on my television and flopped onto my bed. Jake took three steps and jumped onto the bed next to me and grabbed up the remote.

  While he flipped through the channels he asked, “Are you going to be staying at your apartment at White and Associates when you get home?”

  “That’s my current plan,” I said.

  “Good. I just want to know where I can find you when I get back.”

  “You aren’t coming back with me?”

  “No. I imagine I’m going to be here a couple extra days.”

  Nothing more was said because he’d found something on TV he was interested in. I couldn’t get into the show and told him I wanted to go to bed. He didn’t argue, but insisted we leave the adjoining doors open.

  I wondered what he was planning, so I didn’t argue with him, either. I shut off my television and watched him walk back to his room.

  He switched on his own television, but turned the volume down low enough I could barely hear it. Still, I couldn’t stay asleep. I dozed and then woke with a start several times.

  The last time I did this I actually woke up to Jake standing over my bed.

  I sat up stiffly and demanded he tell me what he was doing.

  “I was coming in to wake you. Are you going to be upset if I make you leave most of your stuff behind?”

  “What do you mean? Leave my stuff behind? What’s going on?”

  Jake didn’t answer me, but he didn’t need to. Less than three seconds after I asked my question I heard a huge explosion.

  “You have your weapons, right?” Jake asked.

  “Yes. I’ve been sleeping with them,” I answered. “What the hell was that?”

  “We are under attack.” He smiled. “I need you to get Ruiz to safety. Joe will go with you. You’ll need this, too.”

  Jake handed me the rifle that had been sitting near my door since the day I broke out of the cell.

  Someone pounded on Jake’s door.

  “It’s open,” Jake called out.

  Joe stormed in. “Jake?”

  “In here, Joe,” Jake said as Joe walked further into the room.

  “We’ve got to evacuate Ruiz,” Joe said. He also held a rifle.

  “Yep. You and Alex will get him the hell out of here. I have to stay here and keep control of the refinery.”

  “Okay. Let’s go, Alex,” Joe said.

  The two men shook hands briskly.

  “We’ll see you back at home in a few days. Watch your ass, buddy,” Joe said.

  “Get going.”

  I followed Joe out the door and down the hall. He pounded on another door and announced himself. Ruiz answered it immediately.

  “We have to get you out of here, Mr. Ruiz,” Joe said.

  Ruiz only nodded and stepped out of his room.

  “We don’t have time to wait for your regular detail. I’ll take the lead, you stay between me and Ms. Grey. Understood?” Joe asked him.

  “Let’s go,” Ruiz said.

  The three of us took the
one flight of stairs to the first floor and made our way outside.

  I heard scattered gunfire as Joe led us deeper into the refinery. He led us directly to the building I’d been denied access to earlier in my stay.

  The guards hadn’t budged from their posts and didn’t offer any objections when we raced past them into the building.

  Once inside, I couldn’t understand why I’d been denied access. It was nothing more than a storage building, with not a whole lot stored in it.

  Joe continued further into the building and down some stairs I hadn’t seen. We ended up going down five flights before ever reaching a door. Another pair of guards stood at the foot of the stairs, guns at the ready. When they saw Joe, they relaxed and allowed us passage.

  We hurried into a huge, underground setup. I immediately realized this was where they refined the drugs. The place was huge and doused in bright white lights. There were at least a hundred workers doing various things. I wouldn’t have had any idea of what was going on if I hadn’t seen some of them packing a white powder into bags and then stacking them onto pallets. That, and knowing Ruiz’s true occupation, made the deduction an easy one. This was a drug factory.

  After we’d walked into the factory a few hundred feet, Joe took a sharp right turn and led us toward another guarded door.

  We were allowed entry without hesitation once again. The scene on the other side of the door was a shock to me. We were in an underground garage filled with different kinds of ATVs.

  Joe ushered Ruiz into a side-by-side and instructed me to get into the back. As soon as I was in, he took off down a tunnel that could have held a full sized SUV.

  We drove at top speed for at least half an hour. None of us said anything until Joe slowed down and spoke into his radio.

  “It’s Joe. We had some trouble at the refinery. Open the gate. We’re evacuating Ruiz.”

  Within seconds of his call, I saw a light up ahead. A garage door of sorts was lifting up. It was fully open by the time we reached it and we drove up a steep ramp into an airplane hangar.

  The hangar held two small planes and several armed men. Two of them escorted us onto one of the planes as the hangar doors opened up. As we strapped into our seats, the airplane taxied out onto the runway and was in the air before I could ask where we were going.

  Joe had been on his phone since we entered the plane.

  “What the hell happened back there?” Ruiz demanded of Joe after we’d been in the air for a few minutes.

  Joe held up his finger at Ruiz and took a few seconds to end his phone call.

  I’d been staring out one of the windows at the stars, wondering how our guys were faring in the gun battle.

  “I’m not sure,” Joe said.

  “I can’t afford to lose that refinery,” Ruiz said.

  “I was just talking with Jake and our men already have the situation under control.” Joe said. “He’ll have a full report for Posner when he wraps things up. I’m sure Mark will fill you in.”

  Ruiz’s temper had already calmed and he thanked Joe for acting so fast to get him out of there. He clapped a hand on Joe’s shoulder and gave me a nod of thanks before he moved toward the back of the plane.

  After a couple minutes, I asked Joe where we were going.

  “We’ll land soon at Ruiz’s private airstrip. He’ll disembark and then we’ll head home.”

  “Do you know what happened back there? Is everyone okay?”

  “Jake said it was the barge. Someone placed charges on the barge and walked away from it. There was no further attack.”

  He shrugged.

  I was too tired to ask any more questions. After we dropped Ruiz off at his private airstrip, Joe went to the back of the plane to get some sleep, and I napped in my seat.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Joe offered me a ride after we landed. When we got on the road he asked where he should drop me off.

  “White and Associates.”

  “You going back to them?”

  He took his eyes off the road to stare wide-eyed at me for a few seconds.

  “No.” I shook my head. “I have an apartment there. It’s cleaner than hotel rooms and it’s a nice central location.”

  “Ah. Makes sense. Might not be the best choice, though. I don’t think you should go back there right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Posner. If he finds out you’re staying there, he’ll probably cut you off. Or worse,” he said.

  “I’m taking a break from Mesa. I don’t like doing jobs I know so little about.”

  “What’re you going to do?” he asked.

  “Not sure.” I shrugged.

  I wondered if Joe knew more details about what happened at the refinery. How much did he know about Mesa? How much did he know about Jake? Was I the only one without a clue?

  “Joe?” I asked. “What do you know about the job we did with Danny?”

  “Ah. Pretty much everything. I was there,” he said.

  “Were you in on the plan for me to shoot Danny?”

  “Yep.” His tone was blasé.

  I shook my head.

  “What?” he asked with innocence in his voice. “We all needed to know if you’d step up. We couldn’t have taken you with us to Sudan if we didn’t know.”

  “Yeah. I suppose my word isn’t good enough.”

  “Come on, Alex. You’d told Posner you wouldn’t shoot anyone. He had to know if you would in a pinch. You did great.”

  “Except I shot an unarmed man,” I said.

  “Danny was a punk and if you hadn’t done it, someone else would have. Me, in fact.”

  “Did you know we were doing the hit for Ruiz?” I was prodding. I had no idea if Ruiz had paid for the hit, but I knew he would be in a position to ask for the action.

  “Of course. Why so many questions, Alex?” He narrowed his eyes at me.

  “Just curious about how much everyone knew. I must have been the only one in the dark on all our jobs. Makes me wonder what the catch was with each of them.”

  “That was the only one that had any hidden agenda. Promise.”

  “What about the refinery? I had no idea it wasn’t just an oil refinery. And, that explosion seemed more than a little convenient.”

  “Well, the refinery is what it is. We don’t tell anyone what goes on underground. And, the explosion—” He shrugged and smiled. “If Jake has an opportunity to gain control over Mesa, I’ll be his second in command.”

  “You’re saying Jake planted those explosives?”

  “Nope. Not saying that—out loud.”

  “This is why I’m going to try and do things on my own for a while. I can’t stand all this bullshit. I say, pick a side and defend it,” I said.

  “What do you mean? I’ve picked a side.”

  “Really?” I was unconvinced.

  “Yep. I’m on Jake’s side. You should know, he’s taking a huge risk so you can get this information to White. That’s why I don’t think you staying there is such a good idea. If Posner finds out you’re there, he’s going to take it out on Jake first.”

  “I’m not going to be working with them, I’m just going to live in my apartment.”

  “Try explaining that to Posner. You were Jake’s pet project. He backed you. If you go back to that apartment, Posner is going to assume you were nothing but a spy and Jake was either duped or in on it. Either way, it’s not good for Jake.”

  “Why didn’t Jake tell me this? He knew I planned on going back to my apartment.”

  “Maybe he really was duped?”

  This statement made me scowl. I’d never once been unclear of my feelings. Mesa was a place for me to kill time. I’d even made that clear to Posner.

  Damn it. I had no doubts Posner would take things to the extreme if he thought someone was selling information about his company. But, it wasn’t my plan to put me in a position to get information for White. Technically, I wasn’t the spy. Jake was.

  These men only d
id things for their own benefit. Yet, Mark Posner had some very nasty habits, and maybe this was the best way these men could take a stand. I might not approve of hiding in the shadows, but—hiding in the shadows was what I did best. Who did I think I was kidding? If anyone ever had a questionable job, it was me. Who was I to judge?

  “So, you think I should go back to hotel rooms?”

  “No. I think you need to go back to Mesa. At least for a while.”

  My stomach dropped. If I cared what happened to him and Jake, I should, at least, consider going back to Mesa for a time. Or, I could opt to keep the refinery information to myself.

  “I can take you to White and Associates and then back to Mesa with me,” Joe said.

  “I didn’t ask for this. All I wanted was a job outside of White and Associates. One that did the right thing, without breaking the law. I’m never going to get what I want.”

  “So, is that a yes?”

  “Let me talk to White, first. But, probably.”

  Joe was quiet for the remainder of the drive, giving me a chance to work through it in my mind. Going back to Mesa was my only choice, unless I could talk Jake into skipping the country with me. That was something I’d never ask of him. I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea, but I felt compelled to protect him. Even if he did get himself into this position.

  Joe parked on the street outside White and Associates.

  “I’ll come in with you? Help you get what you need from your apartment?”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  “Okay. But, I might only stay until Jake gets back from the refinery.”

  “You’re doing the right thing, Alex.”

  Phil was on duty. He picked up his phone as soon as he saw Joe and me walk in.

  “Ms. Grey,” he greeted me with a somber voice.

  “Everything okay, Phil?”

  He held up his hand and spoke into the phone. “She’s here.”

  He hung up the phone before he redirected his attention back to me.