by J. C. Phelps
“When and where?” I asked.
“The government has him in custody and they won’t give him up,” he looked back to the table.
“What do you mean? They won’t trade? Why not?” I asked.
“Your father is very important, but the government doesn’t give in to terrorists. Not to mention they won’t even claim they have The Lion,” he explained.
“Well, what are we going to do?” I asked with terror in my voice.
“I’m not sure. Your father is why I’m doing what I’m doing now. He’s the reason I turned out to be a good guy instead of a villain. I will figure something out.”
I started pacing and we were both quiet for a long time. Finally Mr. White said, “You should get some sleep.”
“You’re kidding right? There’s no way I could sleep,” I said, still pacing.
“Then sit down. That really bothers me.”
I took a seat on the couch. While I was there I was wondering what was going to happen to my father. He was the one man I truly loved. I didn’t know if I could live without him. Thoughts like these and all my fond memories flooded in on me. I felt a tear hit my cheek and quickly wiped it away. I couldn’t let Mr. White see me cry.
*****
Chapter Fourteen
The sun came up and we both were still sitting around doing nothing. I stood up and asked Mr. White what he was doing about this right now. Was Mr. Black starting the search? Was he interrogating the guy that Mom shot? I received a yes to both of my questions and was told to sit down again.
“I can’t just sit down. There has to be something I can do,” I said.
“You can calm down and keep yourself safe,” he replied.
“I’m not the one who matters,” I said. “My dad is the important one!”
“You’re worth more than you think,” he said. “The original threat was against you and not your father. They’re using Admiral Stanton to get to you.”
“Because I helped to retrieve The Lion,” I said.
“No, because you are the daughter of Admiral Stanton. I don’t think they knew you were involved in the retrieval,” he said. “Believe it or not, but you are a better bargaining chip because your dad controls the strings attached to The Lion. They know the government won’t negotiate with them, but your dad might, if they had you.”
“How do you know all this stuff?” I asked.
“It’s my job,” he said in a matter of fact tone.
I wasn’t getting anywhere with this so I went to take a shower. Maybe that would make me feel better.
When I got into the bathroom I had second thoughts about getting undressed. I always had trouble showering and changing clothes in a new place. The first time I was up here it was hard, but Mr. Black was in the other room, not Mr. White. Just get over it, I told myself. I finished my shower and was brushing my hair when Mr. White knocked at the door.
“What are you doing in there?” he said.
“Brushing my hair,” I said as I opened the door. I walked to my room to finish putting my hair up. I saw him watching me and it was making me uncomfortable. So I said, “Don’t you need the bathroom?” He wasn’t making any effort to go into the room he had just disturbed me away from.
“No. I just wanted to make sure you were still in there,” he said.
“Well, I was,” I said snottily. He went to the couch and picked up a book and sat down. I felt a bit bad for being such a jerk, but the circumstances were such that I couldn’t help it. I was a nervous wreck and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I roamed around the cabin for a while. I thought about reading but I couldn’t sit still long enough to read a whole sentence. Finally I started to bake. There were quite a few recipes I could choose from that I could substitute our dry ingredients for the wet ones, like eggs. The cupboards were stocked well with things like spices and flavorings that had a long shelf life. I made pies with the canned fruit. I made oatmeal cookies and molasses cookies. I had been at it for several hours when Mr. White came up behind me. He stood closer than he needed to and asked if he could have a cookie.
“Help yourself,” I said as I took in his scent. Knock it off, I said to myself. Your dad has been kidnapped and you’re smelling some guy. Well, I can’t do much of anything else. I threw back at my inner voice.
He reached over and took a handful of cookies and went back to the couch and his book. I finished up my baking and cleaned up my mess and said, “I’ll be back later.” I headed for the door and Mr. White jumped up.
“No you don’t. You don’t leave this building without me.”
“I’m just going for a run around the lake,” I said.
“Well, I’ll come with you then,” he said as he opened the door for me.
I sighed and took off at a jog for the lake. He kept up with me into several laps then he fell behind and watched from the shore. Eventually he pulled up a log and sat there waiting. I continued to run. I didn’t have any intention of stopping even after it started getting dark. Mr. White had stepped in my path the last couple of laps and I had just dodged him. I didn’t want to have to deal with my situation. At least not the way I was being forced to deal with it. I wanted to get out there and do something. Just hanging out was beginning to eat away at me. If I had to stay up here it would have been better for me to have not known what was going on.
I was coming up on Mr. White again. I was prepared to dodge him but he fell into step with me instead of trying to stop me.
“We have to get back to the cabin,” he said. “It’s getting dark and I can’t protect you out here if I can’t see.”
“It’s not dark yet,” I said even though the light was fading fast.
“This is your last lap,” he told me.
“Really?” I retorted and sprinted on ahead. He stayed right behind me until we got back to the side of the lake where the path to the cabin began. Then he sprinted on ahead of me and quickly turned around. I didn’t see it coming. It all happened so fast. The next thing I knew I was being carried back to the cabin over his shoulder. I don’t even know how he did that.
“Put me down!” I yelled trying to wriggle from his grasp.
“Not until we’re inside,” he said.
I fought for a little longer but his grip was firm so I calmed down and said, “Let me down.” My voice was much more even. “I’ll walk.”
He set me on my feet and we walked side by side to the cabin.
When we reached the cabin he went straight for the cookies.
“You’re going to get fat,” I said.
“You made ‘em.” Like it was my fault he was going to get fat.
“Did anyone call today?” I asked. He had brought the phone with him to the lake but I hadn’t seen him use it.
“No. They should check in this evening,” he replied. “Do you want to play cards or something?”
“I suppose.” We got out the cards and sat at the table. We passed a couple of hours that way. Then Mr. White said he was done for a while. He was hungry and was going to find something to eat. He got up from the table and asked if I wanted anything. I told him no. I looked to the satellite phone that had been sitting on the table next to Mr. White. It didn’t ring, no matter how hard I pushed my thoughts through the air at it.
“You should get some sleep,” he said when he came back to the table. He had settled for more cookies.
“I’m not tired,” I said.
“Well, I am and if you don’t sleep, neither do I,” he explained.
“Why? Do you think I’m going to take off?” I smiled. The thought had occurred to me, but I was too tired to go running off into the woods alone.
“Yes, actually, I do,” he said.
“Oh, go get some sleep,” I said tiredly. “I won’t leave tonight. I promise,” I said.
“Right,” he said and put a cookie into his mouth. “These are really good, by the way,” he added.
“Thanks,” I said and I walked to the couch and
sat down. I picked up a book for show, but didn’t read anything.
Sometime later Mr. White came and sat on the couch next to me. “Are you ever going to turn the page?” he asked.
“When I’m done reading it,” I said defensively. Just then the phone rang. He jumped up to get it.
“Yes?” he said. A pause and then, “I see.” More talking on the other end, then Mr. White replied, “Rough.” I was getting nothing out of this and was about to ask who it was when he said, “No problem,” and disconnected.
“So?” I asked with enthusiasm.
“Nothing yet,” he said.
“I can’t stand this,” I said.
“I know. You have got to calm down. A lot of what we do is wait,” he explained.
“This is my DAD,” I said. “We have to do something.”
“We are,” he said. “Everything we can right now,” he stated.
I had gotten up and moved to the table while Mr. White was on the phone, so I returned to my position on the couch and so did Mr. White. I sat with the book in my lap for a while, then wondered if I slept if it would make it go away. I rested my head on the back of the couch and fell asleep.
When I woke up the next day it was well into the afternoon. Mr. White was asleep on the floor in front of the couch. His hand was up on the couch so if I moved I was sure he’d feel it. I lay there for a good hour so he could get some rest too. I didn’t know how long he had been asleep on the floor but I knew if I got up so would he and he could use some sleep.
Finally, I had to use the bathroom. I slowly lifted my body so I could crawl over the back of the couch and hopefully not disturb Mr. White’s slumber. I had been watching him sleep and he was so peaceful looking. His features weren’t as sharp while he slept. He actually looked relaxed. When he was awake he was very alert. I don’t think he missed much of anything going on around him.
I rolled over the back of the couch and quietly walked to the bathroom. I locked the door in case he woke up while I was gone. I didn’t want him barging in on me.
When I got out of the bathroom Mr. White was making some coffee.
“So you’re awake finally,” I said.
“Yep. I needed that,” he had his coffee cup where the pot belonged and the machine was happily filling it for him.
I went to the cupboard and got myself a cup. I sat at the table waiting for his to get full so I could do what he was doing.
“What do you want to do today?” I asked.
“I thought we could go to the shore and practice hand-to-hand maneuvers,” he replied. “My style is a bit different than Mr. Black’s and I think you could benefit from it.”
“Okay,” I said, but I wasn’t really all that okay with the idea. I would have to get close to him and then I would think about things that I shouldn’t, especially with my dad being in trouble. I knew today was going to be a day of guilt for me. I just won’t let him get to me, I told myself. Besides, I’m not drunk this time; maybe he won’t get the best of me so quickly like he did in the parking lot of the Skylight.
We sat across the table from each other. The satellite phone was sitting beside Mr. White and that’s where my eyes strayed. I just couldn’t get rid of the feeling there had to be something I could do. I had been racking my brain but I hadn’t come up with a solution.
“How did my dad know that the target was going to be on his yacht in that particular place and time?” I asked.
“I’m sure he had an informant of sorts,” Mr. White said.
“But who? Maybe they could help,” I said with hope.
“I don’t know who. Admiral Stanton is the only one who knows that. It’s possible that they could help but…” he left it hanging.
“Well, are you trying to find out who this person is?” I asked.
“We have no way of finding out,” he replied getting a bit irritated.
“Did you have someone go through my dad’s files at home and his computer?” I asked.
“Yes and there was nothing there. We are doing everything to find him Alex,” he said.
Alex? He had never called me anything other than Ms. Stanton or Ms. Grey.
“Well, Malone,” I threw it back at him. “I bet he has it listed somewhere. He’s meticulous with that kind of thing. It might not be listed as ‘The Lion informant’.” I was getting irritated myself.
“Fine. Have it your way. I’ll call Black and have him double check,” he said after a short stare down. I liked getting my way.
He picked up the phone and punched in some numbers. After a bit of a wait he started talking to someone. The conversation lasted a few seconds. Then he turned to me and said, “Mr. Black is on his way to your parent’s house right now. He’ll call us back when he gets there.”
Finally, I was doing something to help my father. I just hoped it wasn’t a waste of time. Mr. White must have thought it was a good enough idea to actually have Mr. Black go check it out. I was pretty pleased with myself.
We both sat at the table and waited for the call back. The wait was only about half an hour but seemed like a lifetime.
Mr. White answered the phone and told Mr. Black to look through all the filing cabinets for something that seemed to be linked to The Lion in any way. Mr. White was quiet for a second then looked to me and said,
“Gabriella’s with him. He’s just telling her what to look for.” Then he looked back down at the table and said into the phone, “Okay, now I need you to get back onto the computer and start looking there.” He paused. “That’s fine, here you go,” and he handed the phone to me. “Hello?” I said.
“Ms. Grey.” it was Mr. Black. “How are things up there?” he asked.
“Nerve racking, but fine. Have you gotten anywhere yet?” I questioned him.
“Not really. The guy your mom shot doesn’t speak English. Mr. Red is fluent in several different languages and until today we were trying to have him translate by phone. But he got into town a few hours ago. It’s hard to intimidate a person over the phone so I think we should make progress with him now,” he explained. “I’m going to look through the files. I’m going to let Gabriella get on the computer. She has more experience with them than I do. Just a sec.” He must have handed the phone to Gabriella because next thing I knew she was on the line.
“Ms. Grey?” I heard her ask.
“Yes,” I said.
“What am I looking for?” she asked.
“I need you to get into my dad’s personal files. They are password protected so I’ll walk you through it,” I said.
“Okay,” she replied. “Ready whenever you are.”
I told her to turn on the computer. Then I gave her my dad’s password to open up the main screen. She had no problem with that. I had her bring up the files on the screen and had her read them to me. There had been a few I made her open and they turned out to be nothing. Then she found one labeled ‘Friends’. I had her click on it. The computer asked for a password. I told her to use my dad’s password for starting the main computer. It was denied. If only I could have been the one there, I might be able to get into it. I could usually figure out my dad’s passwords but this one I had no idea about. It helped me when I was sitting in his chair, thinking about what I would put down if I were him. I closed my eyes and tried to put myself in his place. I rubbed my eyes with my free hand and told myself to think.
Soon Gabriella said, “Ms. Grey?”
“I’m still here,” I replied. “Just give me a second.” I needed to work on my concentration skills. Her voice brought me right back to the real world and I lost my train of thought.
“What other kinds of work does my dad have you do?” I asked Mr. White.
“All kinds of things,” he said. “He’s had us go overseas to retrieve people and parcels. We’ve been a delivery service, we’ve even taken high profile people off his list,” he said.
This caught me off guard. They killed people for my dad? Is that what he meant by taking them off the list? I cam
e back to my senses and said, “What kinds of things does he have you do that could use the help of informers?” I asked, trying to stay on track in my mind. “Specific jobs.”
“Let me see…” He paused and then began to tell me about separate jobs that my dad could have used some outside help. None of the descriptions were helpful though and he didn’t know for sure where my dad got his information for most of them.
“Okay, Gabriella? Are you still there?” I asked.
“Yep,” she said.
“Okay. Let me see. That file is labeled ‘Friends’.” I thought on it some more. “What’s another name for friend?” I said out loud. “Try acquaintance for the password.”
“Okay.” I heard her typing. “Not it.”
“Try ‘advisor’.” But that didn’t work either. We went through several different words and then Gabriella said, “Uh-oh. I think the computer just crashed.”
“What?” I said. “What happened?”
“It just shut itself off and now I can’t get it to come back on,” she said.
I tried to figure out what was going on through the phone. I gave her several different things to try including totally unplugging the computer from the wall and letting it sit for a couple of minutes. She had even made sure the electricity in the house was still on. Nothing helped. The computer had shut down. I gave the phone back to Mr. White who spoke with Mr. Black for a few moments. While he was still talking to him I was in the background saying I thought we should go back and maybe I could do something with the computer.
He disconnected and said, “I’ve arranged for Mr. Brown to come get us. He should be here sometime this evening.”
“Finally,” I said. I began to pace again and kept it up until Mr. White said, “That’s it. We’re going to go get rid of some of your energy.”
We walked to the lake where Mr. White proceeded to teach me a few new moves. They were similar to ones I already knew but he had different little tricks to add. His movements were more fluid than of any other person I had sparred with. It was like it was second nature to him to fight.