Reflections of Grey: Book Three of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by Phelps, J. C.

  “Of course, Admiral. He will receive his cut. He’s one of us now.” Surprisingly, White didn’t seem all that concerned.

  Then my father asked White if there would be any problems taking jobs from Colin.

  “No, Admiral. I am actually looking forward to working with DeLange as well as I’m sure Ms. Grey is.” I had to fight against a compelling urge to roll my eyes, but I succeeded. Maybe they’d already gotten past whatever had caused the past friction.

  The Admiral gave me a strange look but continued, “Good because he has a job proposal for you.”

  Colin took over the meeting and explained the job he wanted White and Associates to accept. “The job is for information. There will be no contact with the targets. As you know, five years ago Dimitri Glaskov passed away.” White nodded his head and so did I. Dimitri was the head of one branch of the Russian mafia. His death was in all the newspapers because it was especially gruesome. A wood chipper was found dismantled and scattered along the highway. Inside they found a couple of human teeth that turned out to belong to the notorious mafia boss.

  “Dimitri’s son, Grigori, is now believed to have taken Dimitri’s place at the head of this branch,” he paused briefly.

  “Grigori has a reputation for extravagance but toned down his act shortly after the news of his father’s death. According to some of our sources, Grigori has engaged in several meetings with an older man these past months. These meetings have all been very private until recently. They have taken to meeting at a local club that Grigori owns called The Rave. We’ve been unable to find out anything substantial because the club is so loud. I thought Grey’s ability to read lips could come in handy here.” Colin’s mother was deaf so, in trade for special training from Master Chief Slade, he’d tutored me in sign language and lip reading for as long as I could remember. I’d gotten much better at lip reading over the past year because I knew it had other applications besides hearing about the neighborhood gossip.

  “Sounds easy enough,” White told Colin. Of course it sounded easy enough, he wasn’t the one going to be working the job. I knew I could do it though so I kept my mouth shut. White and Colin worked out all the details including White and Associates compensation for this particular job.

  “Good enough,” my father stood from the table, signaling the end of the meeting. After he shook hands with both men he scolded me for not coming home to keep Mom up to date. According to him, she was constantly speculating on what I was doing. I promised to give her a call as soon as I could and reached over to give him a kiss.

  After the Admiral left us, White stood and stuck his hand out at Colin,

  “I’m happy for you and look forward to our first job together. Be seeing you, Commander. As for you, Grey, I expect to see you in the office later today.”

  Colin stood and shook White’s hand, said thank you and then told me he needed to get back as well. Within seconds I was left alone in the restaurant with no lunch, a glass of water, a menu and my thoughts.

  I really didn’t want to eat lunch alone, but I was hungry and was left with no other choice. When the waitress returned to take our orders she only received mine. I felt like everyone was watching me so I ate quickly and left.

  I was back at the office in record time and found Gabriella at her desk.

  “Is White in?”

  “Yep, he said to let you in whenever you showed.” She smiled.

  “Thanks,” I said as I opened White’s office door. He was sitting at his desk looking intently at some paperwork. I shut the door behind me and he looked up.

  “Hi. I didn’t expect you here so soon.”

  “I really don’t have anything else to do.” I sulked.

  “Really? Well, I can fix that.” He grinned at me. “First, what do you think of Colin ‘taking over’?” Just as quickly as the smile appeared it disappeared.

  “See? I knew you’d have a problem with this.”

  “I don’t have any problems with it… Okay, that’s not true, I don’t know exactly how to handle DeLange being my boss.” He sighed.

  “My father isn’t really your boss so why would Colin be? Once, you told me when the Admiral brought you jobs you could refuse them.”

  “But, I also told you that I probably shouldn’t refuse to take them.”

  “So, you think Colin will be able to tell you what to do? That’s what bothers you?”

  “Yes and no,” he frowned. “I shouldn’t be talking to you about this.”

  “Why not? Who else are you going to talk to about it? Do any of the guys know the deal you struck with my dad and Colin?”

  “No, but Colin is your best friend.”

  “So, you think I’m going to run to him and tell him all about this conversation?”

  “I don’t know. Are you?” He questioned me.

  “White, you’re a jerk. You just don’t get it yet, do you?” I was offended by his comment. Did he really think I would run to Colin with company business? I don’t know if I would hide anything from Colin, if asked, but if it came from White, I probably would.

  “Get what?”

  “I am part of this company and I don’t see that changing any time soon. When it comes to this kind of thing, my first obligation is to White and Associates.” I put special emphasis on the White and he raised his eyebrows.

  “I guess you’re right. I can be a jerk. I’m sorry, I suppose it’s because of the job I hold. It’s hard to trust people.”

  “Do you trust Black?”

  “With my life.”

  “Then why can’t you trust me?”

  “I do, but...”

  “But what?” Now I was getting aggravated.

  “Your father is pretty much my boss and your best friend is going to take his place. Actually, you probably have more pull in this company than I do.”

  “Now you’re just feeling sorry for yourself. You know better than all that. My father has less faith in me than you do and Colin still sees me as his friend, who’s a girl. Do you think part of your problem is he’s going to outrank you in the military.”

  “That doesn’t bother me. I’m not in the military anymore. I see your point about DeLange not really being my boss too. It’s not always been this way. We used to be pretty good friends but several years ago…” he let it hang there.

  “What happened?” I asked after a long pause.

  “We’ve talked about this before and I used to think it was because of my quick elevation. But, I’m not really sure. We’ll see how things progress now that he’s actually getting somewhere with his career.” he shrugged it off. “First things first. We’ll complete this job and see how it goes,” then he changed the subject. “Have you decided on any teams?”

  “Actually, I have. I just don’t know if they’ll work well together until I talk to them, or see them in action.”

  “I figured we’d have to do interviews anyway. Inspections are going on right now and I planned on sending you to visit the compounds. It’ll be good for the men to see you and for you to familiarize yourself with the company. Go over your list and let me know which compound you want to visit first.” He concluded our meeting by telling me to go get ready for Colin’s job and stressed that he wanted me to decide on a compound as quickly as possible so he could make arrangements.

  *****

  Chapter Four

  Later that afternoon, Black showed up for coffee. I told him I was going to be leaving soon to start interviews and I needed to tell White which compound I wanted to go to.

  “And?” he asked.

  “There aren’t too many candidates at the Alaskan compound but I’ve always wanted to see Alaska.” I shrugged.

  “I have to tell you, the average temperature for this time of year is only 40 degrees at our Alaskan compound. But it beats the rest of the year,” he took a sip of his coffee.

  I really wanted to see Alaska so I made my decision final by calling White at the office.

  “Damn it! I didn’t want to g
o there,” he complained.

  “I have a couple of picks at that compound I’d like to interview.”

  “Well, if you make any team picks I’ll want to review them. Besides, I won’t send you off to the compounds alone until the men know you. I think you should have a senior partner with you at each compound you visit. It could be a disaster to drop you off at a compound without one of us to back you up.”

  “What do you mean, back me up? Don’t you think I can take care of myself?” I resented his attitude.

  “That’s not it. It will just be easier for everyone involved if you have one of us with you on your first visit to each compound.”

  “All right. I can see your point,” I conceded. “What time are we leaving to do the job for Colin?”

  “In a few hours, so be ready.” White hung up without a good-bye.

  “So?” Black asked as I replaced the receiver.

  When I told Black that White wasn’t all that happy about having to go to Alaska, he grinned. Then I quickly outlined our previous conversation with the Admiral and Colin. I told him I was to meet White at the office in a few hours. He gave me a nod and said he’d see me at the office later.

  The rest of my day was occupied with finding an appropriate clubbing outfit. I wanted to fit into the crowd but still be comfortable enough in my clothes that I could do anything… just in case.

  Black collected me a few hours later and we made our way to the office.

  “I’m glad you’re both here.” White waved us to our seats. “Let’s begin the briefing.”

  White told us that we were going to a club called The Rave. Grigori was expected to have a meeting with the elusive man again. Of course, my job was to read their lips and White and Black would be there to make sure I stayed out of trouble.

  We walked into the Rave and the music hit me like a wall. It made my body tremble and my heart flutter. It had a deepness that you could feel to your toes and all I wanted to do was dance. It was trancelike. The people closed in around us. I didn’t know how we were supposed to spot our target in this mess of moving bodies and flashing lights. I fought the urge to let the music take me and started scanning the room, looking back to make sure White and Black were still right behind me. Both of them were exactly where they should be, if they were bodyguards, and I had a small opening around me because of it. I should go everywhere with these two, I thought.

  “I could get into this,” I yelled to White over the music. This was somewhat like a massive house party and much bigger than anything I had ever experienced.

  He grabbed his ear with the earpiece in it and grimaced. “They can be fun.” He yelled back at me after he regained his composure.

  As I scanned the crowd I caught sight of a balcony. I pointed to it and Black took my arm and led the way. White took my other arm and trailed behind me. As we moved, the crowd squeezed in on us, threatening to break us apart. We reached the top and I watched as Black looked over the crowd on the balcony and White looked out over the sea of people below us. I did the same and found it hard to pick a face out of the crowd. Before long, Black nudged me and discretely pointed toward the back wall. Then he and White moved away from me to watch out over the crowd below.

  I turned and noticed the back wall was lined with cubicles of different sizes and bathed in soft pink lights. To make the picture perfect, the rooms were curtained with sheer drapes. Near Grigori was a bottle of brandy, an ice bucket, and one glass. It must have been meant for a guest because he sipped a martini.

  He held his drink in one hand and a large cigar in the other. There was a woman rubbing his shoulders and another was under his arm with the cigar. She was secretly trying to blow the smoke far away. I found it comical. One minute she was smiling and the next she was blowing air out the side of her face. Four other large men stood scattered about. Their eyes constantly roamed the room and the crowd outside.

  Within minutes another man somewhere between forty something and sixty something appeared outside the room. He brought with him his own bodyguards. He waited impatiently as Grigori dismissed his girls. Soon both men were seated in heavily pillowed couches surrounding the small table. Grigori poured the man a glass of brandy.

  Before we came inside, White had fitted me with a choker necklace that had a microphone and transmitter in it. He said it would work well because it was directly on my throat so my voice would come through better than the background music.

  I started repeating everything I saw the men say and hoped it was getting through to Colin and Red outside in the van. It was a challenge to see their lips clearly through the drapes but I managed. Both White and Black were wearing earphones and Black gave me confirmation from across the room that it was getting through with a nod of his head.

  “Grigori,” the older gentleman said as they shook hands and accepted the glass offered him. It seemed oddly bold that he’d speak to the head of the Russian Mafia so informally. “You know I’m not happy meeting here. What is so important?”

  “Yes, ah chets.” I didn’t know what Grigori had said and repeated what I thought I’d seen. As soon as I said it, I felt foolish. It didn’t make any sense. My mind was taken off my mistake for a split second as I watched Grigori scoot deeper into the couch with a look of horror. The older gentleman’s reflexes were spectacular. He reached over and slapped Grigori across the face hard enough to make his nose bleed. Grigori’s men flinched at the contact and started making their way to the other man. Grigori waved them away and took a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket to wipe away the blood. I was kicking myself for not catching what was really said. This was important and I’d screwed it up.

  “Never again, you careless…” the man stopped, his face red.

  “Yes, Mr. Prutko. Please, forgive me.” Grigori looked crushed but continued. “I was hoping to show you what you could expect in the near future. I have acquired Gigi’s for you.”

  The men didn’t speak again for several minutes and I was beginning to get restless.

  I glanced at White. He mouthed, “Watch.”

  “If you are unable to control your tongue we will no longer be able to meet in public.” Mr. Prutko spoke up, his composure completely restored.

  “Of course,” Grigori agreed. “I have all the paperwork for you to sign right here,” one of the bodyguards handed him a folder. Mr. Prutko seemed unashamed of his lack of civility while he signed the paperwork.

  White interrupted my view.

  “I think we should reposition you for a little while.”

  “Why? What if I miss something?”

  “We don’t want you to be noticed any further,” he indicated one of the bodyguards. “He’s been watching you watch Grigori for a while now. We need to move along or risk a problem.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and followed him back down the stairs.

  Since I couldn’t do my job right now, I focused my attention on the crowd and the music. I was thoroughly enjoying myself when Black poked me in the side. It startled me because he had come up beside me when I wasn’t looking.

  “Quit singing. It’s all I can hear.” He hollered.

  I was instantly embarrassed and shot White a guilty look and he was openly grinning. I hadn’t given any thought to the choker and didn’t realize Black and White would be hearing me too. That must be why White grabbed his ear earlier when I screamed at him that I liked this place. I didn’t sing anymore, but I couldn’t stop myself from moving, just the tiniest bit, to the entrancing music.

  It wasn’t too long before I got antsy and I asked quietly, “Can we go back?” The thought of the missed words was starting to weigh heavily on me and I wasn’t enjoying the music as much as before.

  White’s lips moved, “No need, Prutko’s on his way out.”

  He turned his head and I followed his gaze. Prutko walked importantly toward the exit.

  After he exited the building White walked away only to come back five minutes later with a drink.

  “What are y
ou doing?” I was shocked he’d go get himself a drink while we were on a job.

  “I was asked to retrieve this for Colin,” he held up the glass and pointed at his earpiece. “Cost me three-hundred dollars,” he said loudly into my necklace. The combination of his breath on my neck, his smell, and the music was enough to make my knees wobble. I pushed him away from me and gave him the best disapproving look I could manage in my state.

  The three of us piled into the van and Red promptly had me backed into a corner asking me about the words I’d missed.

  “Watch my lips. Could it have been Отец?” He said it slowly and it sounded like atyets.

  “Say it faster. You’re exaggerating your mouth, just say it like you normally would.” I ordered and Red complied. “Yes. I think that’s what it was. What does it mean?”

  “It’s Russian for ‘father’,” he glanced at Colin who was beaming at our discovery.

  “Here,” Colin handed a wad of cash over to White. “That’s out of pocket expenses. You’ll receive the rest of the payment in the usual manner. Now, give me that glass.”

  I’d seen pictures of Dimitri Glaskov and Mr. Prutko shared a small resemblance, but could it really be him.

  “Does this mean that was really Dimitri in there?” I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

  “We won’t be sure until we get this glass tested for DNA but I’ve suspected it for months now,” Colin was still grinning happily.

  The remainder of the drive back to the office was uneventful and I felt much better that I hadn’t really screwed anything up.

  I awoke early the next morning and Black was at my door before the coffee was done brewing. He immediately went to the coffee pot and started to pour himself a cup.

  “You’re spilling.” I pointed to the puddle on the counter.

  Black put the pot back into its place with a quick motion and grabbed a towel.

  “Sorry.”

  “What are we going to do about Dimitri?” I asked, taking a seat next to him at my kitchen bar.