Edge of Grey

by Phelps, J. C.

  “Well? What is it?”

  “We aren’t taking it. I told the Admiral no thanks,” he said.

  How could he turn down jobs without talking to me first? These were my jobs.

  “Why?”

  I didn’t hide the irritation I felt.

  “It’s Posner.”

  He shrugged.

  “He knows Posner is holding Will and we’re trying to locate him. Why the hell would he even think we’d be interested in that job?” Blue’s voice startled me. The rest of the men had been very quiet throughout this entire exchange.

  “I don’t know. It could be he’s testing us. I imagine he’d want Penumbra doing jobs despite what her partners at White and Associates think. Penumbra doesn’t work for us but for the Admiral.” Green said with a conspiratorial look on his face.

  I let out a loud sigh. “I suppose that’s the job we have to do before I’ll be reinstated.”

  “You got it. Nothing until Posner is out of the picture.”

  I took a moment to think about this. Posner’s story had seemed a little farfetched before. I didn’t fully believe my father wanted to take out Posner to gain control of Mesa. He had almost full control of White and Associates so why would he need Mesa? This contract, however, made me question my thinking. If Stanton really did have something to do with White’s death then why would it be so surprising that he was interested in Mesa? I decided to take a big risk.

  “The job Posner has contracted me for is to take out the Admiral,” I said.

  All eyes were on me, but everyone remained quiet.

  “Posner said the Admiral was looking for any way to get to him, get him out of Mesa. He said the Admiral wants to own Mesa so he could push White and Associates out of business. He said that’s why he had White killed; to kill White and Associates. This seems a little convenient. I know my father. He’s not stupid enough to think if he gains control of Mesa he can recover Will. He knows Will’s only worth something to Posner and would probably be killed as soon as Posner hits the floor,” I said.

  I sat down hard and put my head in my hands for a second as the men digested this.

  “I suppose I could take out both of the lying bastards,” I said. “But then who’d pay me? In any case, I have two days to complete the job for Posner or he’s going to make the contract public. First to complete the job gets the payday.”

  “Were you seriously considering this?” Red asked.

  I looked him straight in the face and said, “Yes.”

  Again, the room went stagnant until Red recovered from his shock.

  “That’s your father, Alex. Why would you even entertain this?”

  “If he killed White—”

  “We have no solid proof,” Brown said.

  “Why do you think I need my access? I have to know for sure. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it, even if I had definitive proof. But I need to know if my father had anything to do with this,” I said.

  “So you have today and tomorrow to complete the job?” Green asked.

  “If I’m lucky. Posner might already have people on it.”

  “We need to warn the Admiral,” Red said.

  “Posner told me that you all had stopped investigating White’s death because you suspected the Admiral. That seems to be the case. I know he painted Alan as an innocent in all of this and he’s far from it, but what if he’s right. What if the Admiral does want to take control of Mesa? What does that mean for White and Associates? I hate to say it, but maybe the Admiral isn’t on our side anymore.” I said.

  “If we can prove that Stanton lured White in to be killed, then I might be up for a little retribution. But that’s something we may never know,” Blue said.

  “Posner also suggested that Colin would be easily groomed to our liking, or his if the Admiral was out of the picture.” I said. “He might tell us what happened to White. And I can probably talk him into giving me back my limitless access. Plus, if I take out Stanton, maybe Posner will tell me where he’s keeping Will. And, if I can’t manage that, then maybe Colin will relax the security they have on Alan.”

  “Maybe we should let her take the hit,” Black said.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I HAD HIM IN MY SIGHTS. All I had to do was pull the trigger.

  The Admiral was walking to his car to go home for the night. He passed a man on the sidewalk and returned a slight nod in greeting. I'd set up in a building several blocks away off the military base. From this distance he was a small target.

  My emotions were thick. I’d always been able to distance myself from the person I was about to take out. Justify the kill. If my father had anything to do with White’s death this was completely justified as well as what I needed. I needed to know I’d done everything I could to get justice for White. Still, I couldn’t pretend I knew what had happened, and this was my father.

  Just take the shot like you’re supposed to.

  I touched the trigger to activate the laser. I played with it. Letting it dance on the hood of his car until he noticed it. Then I brought it up to his forehead. He looked genuinely worried and that made me smile. I’d normally go for the head shot but this time, I didn’t. My heart beat faster. I pushed everything except White out of my mind. The Admiral slid into the vehicle and I moved the laser to his chest, exhaled, and pulled the trigger.

  The windshield blew out and the inside of the car was covered in blood.

  I watched as the man standing on the sidewalk called someone from his cell phone. Then I waited until the emergency vehicles arrived. Finally, an ambulance arrived and carted him off.

  I took in a breath. I didn’t realize I’d stopped breathing as soon as I’d exhaled to take the shot. Thankfully the emergency vehicles arrived in record time or I might have passed out. My lungs burned as I pulled in air.

  I took my rifle apart and made my way out of the building with the pieces in a large duffel bag. Black was waiting for me on the street and drove me away from the scene and back to White and Associates.

  As soon as we stepped into the building I dialed Posner from my Mesa phone.

  “It’s done,” I said.

  “I heard about it already. They’ve not pronounced him dead yet,” he said.

  “He won’t live through it. I used a .50 cal.,” I said.

  Posner chuckled.

  “When I receive confirmation I’ll transfer your payment.”

  He hung up.

  As I spoke with Posner, I’d walked to the elevator and pushed the button for the eighth floor and C.I.C.

  “And?” Black asked as we rode the elevator up.

  “He’ll transfer payment as soon as he receives confirmation,” I said.

  “Why not seven?” he asked as he hiked his head toward the numbers on the wall of the elevator.

  “I have work to do, Black. We need to find out where Will is and I still haven’t gone through all of the paperwork. It’s time to focus on the living instead of the dead.”

  “You don’t want to talk to the Admiral?”

  “I’ll leave that up to Red or whoever is talking to him,” I said. “I just hope he gives out the information we need. I suspect it’s going to be a long night.”

  We’d told the Admiral about the threat to his life and decided to use our practice equipment to make it look like I’d taken him out. Of course, we didn’t tell him that we’d be holding him for as long as it took to find Will.

  I smiled. If my father had anything to do with White’s death, I was certain he’d never divulge that to us, but if I couldn’t take him out, at least my partners would hold him captive until I had some kind of proof or until we’d found Will. I didn’t want to believe he’d had anything to do with it. What would I do if I found out my father had the man I love killed? My father had always been my hero.

  Black called out from White’s kitchen as I started gathering up the paperwork I’d been going over earlier that day.

  “Coffee?”

  “Yes, pleas
e,” I called back.

  He brought in a cup and told me he was going down to the office to find out what was going on. I nodded and sipped at the coffee until I heard him leave.

  I finished going through Garcia’s paperwork and pulled the next one from the pile. The photo that I looked at as soon as I opened the file made me gasp. It was Mayhaffy. They hadn’t told me he was involved.

  I flipped through his information. He’d never married so the hit for the insurance had been a lie. Where did that money come from then? More importantly, had I taken the contract if I’d have had the information provided here? I scoured it and was relieved to find out Mayhaffy was suspected of treason in several cases. He wasn’t an innocent, but why was he in this pile and did the men know I took out another one of their possible informants?

  My thoughts were moving in a hundred different directions.

  Reading through Mayhaffy’s information told me Garcia had given up his name in his first interview. Only a couple days after Mayhaffy’s name had been given to my partners he’d gone missing. Less than a week later I was given, and fulfilled, my contract. I felt sick.

  I laid out all the files on the floor before I opened any more. I’d been told Garcia was their first and only lead. He’d given out names, but all of those people were either dead or missing and now Garcia was gone, so they were back to having nothing. If I’d been used to silence the people who knew where Will was being held maybe I had information to lead me to him.

  I systematically opened each file. The next four men were unfamiliar to me. My anxious feeling was starting to subside. Then I opened the next file and was met with Lance’s face. Another lead I’d squashed. This was more than a coincidence. It had to be. Posner had been using me to hinder the investigation into finding Will.

  How were they all connected? I looked through the four men who were unfamiliar to me and I realized they were some of the men who’d been killed in Sudan before we went down to help extract them. How convenient for Posner.

  “You’re really getting into it.” Brown’s voice came from behind me.

  I jumped slightly.

  “How’s it going down there?” I asked.

  “They haven’t started questioning him yet. Red wants him to feel comfortable before they begin. I think he wants to catch him off guard. The Admiral’s been asking about you, though.”

  “Huh,” I said. “I’m busy.”

  “I told them you’d say that,” Brown said. “You want some help?”

  “I could use some help actually.”

  Brown sat on the floor next to me.

  I pointed at Garcia’s file.

  “You found out about Garcia by finding the fishermen who’d picked Will up?”

  “Yep,” he confirmed.

  “Tell me about your first meeting with him,” I said.

  Brown said he hadn’t actually met Garcia, but Red and Green came back with Clint Mayhaffy’s name. Garcia said Ruiz had no interest in the serviceman he’d recovered and after he’d yelled at him for making the acquisition he told him to call Mayhaffy. Maybe Mayhaffy would know what to do with him.

  “What was Mayhaffy’s role?” I asked.

  “All we know is that Garcia named him as a consultant to Posner and the man he called about selling Will. He was found dead in his cabin in Montana before we were able to confirm the connection.”

  “I’d say the connection is confirmed. What about the rest of the guys?”

  I pointed at Lance’s file lying open on the floor.

  “How is it confirmed? We didn’t get a chance to talk with him,” Brown said.

  “I have inside information that says Posner contracted the hit on Mayhaffy. These other men?” I brought the subject away from Mayhaffy. “Were they the team who transported Will?”

  “Yes. Garcia gave these names and if you’re sure about Mayhaffy, then I imagine we can trust this intel as well.”

  “These four,” I said. “were killed in Sudan and Lance was shot in a botched robbery that really wasn’t a robbery.”

  Brown’s eyebrows went up.

  “Inside information?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “I have to go back to Mesa,” I said.

  “Wait. Are you telling me you—” He stopped talking because I was already up and leaving the war room.

  “Wait a minute, Alex. You can’t just leave.”

  He scrambled to get up and follow me.

  “I have to figure out where Lance and his crew were when Will went missing. I’ve been in the computers at Mesa before and Posner doesn’t keep any records on them. But, I’ve never been on the computer in his office or been in his room inside Mesa. He might have records there.”

  “He might not,” Brown said.

  He had his phone out.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “Texting.” He held up the phone to show me. Then said, “Our inside guy.”

  “Joe,” I said.

  Brown asked me to wait until he heard back from Joe. I agreed to wait a few minutes.

  Within two minutes, all of my partners had filled White’s apartment.

  “Anything from the Admiral?” I asked.

  “No,” Red said. “He just finished getting cleaned up. His dinner is on its way. I’ll let him eat before I start asking questions. What’s this about you leaving?”

  “I have to get back to Mesa,” I glared at Brown. His inside man hadn’t been who he was texting. No wonder all my partners showed up so soon.

  “I’ll be in touch with any information I get,” I said as I walked toward the door.

  Black hadn’t come any further into the apartment like the rest of the men. He stood in front of the door in an unmovable stance with his arms crossed. As I approached his stance became more rigid.

  “The Admiral isn’t the only one you’re holding against his will,” I said.

  “No. He’s not,” Blue said. “No matter what Red says we aren’t convinced Posner hasn’t screwed with your head.”

  “We want to be sure you’re committed to staying before we let you go anywhere,” Green said.

  I glared at Brown again.

  “Sorry, Alex. We need you with us and if you go back to Mesa you might never come back,” he said.

  “You’re too valuable to us,” Blue added.

  “Me or my all-inclusive database access? Because if it’s the access I don’t have it anymore.”

  I started to pace like a caged animal because that’s what I felt like. My breathing became heavier as I sized up all the men. I might be able to get out if I was willing to kill a couple of them. But, it wouldn’t be playacting, like I’d done with my father. The only reason I was able to pull that trigger was because I knew it wasn’t forever. I also knew I wasn’t getting out of that apartment with force. Five well-trained men I wasn’t willing to kill would be sufficient to hold me.

  All of the men had tensed and I saw Blue eyeballing my pistols I wore. I smiled at him and raised my eyebrows in a challenge. His stance became more stiff but other than that, he didn’t take the bait. I was glad. He would have tackled me because I wouldn’t have drawn them. But everything inside me was telling me to.

  “How’s this going to go down, Alex?” Red asked.

  Of all the men he was the only one who was relaxed.

  “You know how this is going down and it pisses me off,” I said.

  “Good,” he said. “Let’s find something to do until this feeling subsides.”

  He beckoned me back into the war room and pointed at my mess on the floor.

  “Any progress?”

  His tone reflected the exact opposite of what I felt. He was unconcerned and laid-back.

  “Some,” I said as I paced.

  “Tell me about it.”

  The rest of the men remained outside of the war room and I caught myself making sure I knew where everyone was.

  “Alex,” Red said. “I need you to tell me what you figured out.”

  He
walked over to the door and shut us in.

  “Son of a bitch,” I said. “Knock it off, Red.”

  “Someone needs to remain calm,” he said. “You’ve got everyone ready to pounce with your stance. I told you I understand these feelings. Just stay with me and don’t let your panic take over. You wouldn’t be able to fight very well with that hurt shoulder, anyway.”

  I rolled my shoulder and winced when he said that. I’d forgotten about it.

  “I wouldn’t have even noticed if you wouldn’t have reminded me,” I complained.

  “I suspected as much.” He grinned.

  “You really are an asshole,” I said.

  I wanted to get over to Mesa and start searching, but I didn’t know where I’d start. I’d been running on instinct and emotion for so long it was easier to just jump into it and do it. I hadn’t had any planning partners to make sure my plans would work out. I’d been getting lucky these past months.

  Red was quiet as I paced.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “Nothing.” He shrugged. “Let me know when you’re ready to tell me about this.” He pointed at the mess on the floor again.

  I didn’t want to tell him I’d taken out all their leads.

  I focused on my breathing. I’d never had this much trouble with them telling me I couldn’t go somewhere before. Why was I freaking out this time?

  I couldn’t form any real reason why I was having troubles trusting them other than they wouldn’t let me leave. This wasn’t the first time they’d told me to stay put. But it was the first time they’d told me this since I’d left the company. Even if they acted as if nothing had ever changed I knew different. I reminded myself they’d pushed me out and then reminded myself I walked out without giving them a chance to ask their questions. We were all at fault.

  Red had taken a seat on the floor near the files as if I wasn’t even in the room.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

  “Trying to see what you saw,” he said. “You work through your stuff and then we’ll talk.”