The men were still out of breath but White didn’t allow a break. Immediately he led us all back at a faster pace than we’d come to the obstacle course. His uncompromising stance with these men helped me to understand what he’d meant when he said I wouldn’t like training under him.
His training methods were different than Black’s because Black expected you to do your best but White demanded that you do his best. I was step for step with White on the hard run back but the men were falling further behind with each stride.
It only took a few minutes to run back to the compound but the men straggled back in groups of no more than two or three. White’s demeanor became more agitated with each small group that trailed in.
When all the men finally arrived White told them that they would be on a forced run after breakfast. The men all stood at attention and not one of them showed any signs of complaint.
“How long do you plan on running us?”
“You aren’t invited this time.”
“What? What if I want to run?”
“Then run, just not with us.” His tone was matter of fact.
My nostrils flared before I could stop them so I added a glare for emphasis. He smiled his evil smile and I knew his enraged attitude was mostly for show. He still had his sense of humor, but was suppressing it to whip the men into shape.
White and the men were still gone when a plane arrived. Walking toward the lake to greet the new C.O. I saw Brown disembark from the plane too.
“Commander Brown,” I greeted him.
“Commander Grey. I’ve heard this compound is in a shambles,” he grinned. He introduced me to Johns’ replacement and the three of us walked back to the officer’s barracks.
When White finally returned I was already packed. He promptly instructed my team to pack and be at the plane in thirty minutes. As they scurried away, White went to brief the new C.O.
The flight home was tedious and seemed to take forever. I had always thought of the little guesthouse and my parents’ house as home but now I caught myself missing my apartment at the offices of White and Associates and I was aching to get back.
When we finally set down on the roof of the office I practically jumped out of the chopper. I was excited to see my apartment. As we stepped into the elevator White told Brown to get Stevens and the other men situated and meet us in the office for a brief meeting. I was going to have to wait to see my apartment.
White and I sat in his office, talking about insignificant things until Brown arrived.
“So, where will we be flying off to next?” He slid past me and took a seat in front of White’s desk.
“Do you want to chose?”
“Do I? You know it, girl.” He was excited to tell me that we’d be going to Nevada next. It was where most of the people in his team were stationed. He explained to me that Nevada was a perfect place to do flight training and demolitions work. White seemed bothered that Brown had chosen that particular compound.
“Is that okay with you?” I wasn’t in the mood to be defiant today.
“It’s fine,” his tone suggested otherwise.
“If you don’t want…”
“I said it’s fine,” he cut me off.
“It’s settled then. Get your bags packed, chicky. We leave in the morning.” Brown stood and clapped his hands together.
I went to my apartment and was lounging on the couch when there was a knock at my door. I opened the door to reveal Colin and White standing in the hallway.
“Come in.” I walked back to the couch.
Colin sat next to me while White stood behind us. “Here you go.” Colin handed me an envelope.
Inside I found an identity packet. The woman’s name was Emma Robertson, born and raised in the Midwest. The paperwork revealed her parents had died in a car accident a year ago and some minor details such as the name of her High School and some past job references. Then I saw the driver’s license and it was me.
“What’s this?”
“That could be you,” Colin said in a game show host voice.
“So, you have another job for me?” I turned to look at White who just nodded in Colin’s direction.
“Not yet. I just want you to be familiar with that identity, should the need arise.”
“I’m going out of town for a couple of weeks,” I told him.
“You didn’t mention that,” Colin said to White.
“She can be back here in a matter of hours, if need be.”
“Well, I’m not even sure when we’ll need you anyway.” With that he stood and left White and I in my apartment.
“What job?” I asked White.
He shrugged his shoulders. “He just showed up at the office asking to meet with us. I have no idea what he’s up to.”
*****
Chapter Eight
The next morning I awoke in a great mood. I was actually excited to see the next compound. I wasn’t feeling any anxiety like I had for the Alaskan trip. I think having Stevens to help with the paperwork made me more at ease. Having Brown with me instead of White didn’t hurt either. No matter how hard I tried to control it, White always made me nervous.
I met everyone at the office half way through the morning and we all rode the elevator to the roof. Stevens and the other men I’d enlisted to be part of my teams were going to be transferred to the Nevada compound to begin their training.
Brown flew us away from the office but about fifteen minutes into the flight, he handed the controls over to me.
“You can use the practice,” he said when I gave him a questioning look. I didn’t argue. I liked flying the chopper. I didn’t have much experience in either helicopter or planes, but I found I enjoyed the choppers more.
Brown took control once we neared the compound. He set us down, saying he was more comfortable if he did it. This was probably true, but he only did it to be ornery. Brown loved to pick on me or anyone else for that matter. He was perpetually happy and when he became sober faced you knew something was very serious. I had only witnessed it a couple of times in the past.
There was no welcoming committee when we stepped out of the vehicle so Brown drove us to our living quarters. The helipad was on the other side of the compound than the Officers Barracks so I tried to take in as much as I could on the way there. Our rooms were almost identical to the Alaskan compound, but I found a couple differences between the two buildings. This one was three stories instead of two and Headquarters and C.I.C. were housed on the first floor. Brown showed us which room he would be in and then we left Stevens at his room while Brown walked me to mine. He came in briefly to tell me that he’d be back later. He seemed really excited to be here so I didn’t question anything. I managed to hang out in my room for almost forty-five minutes before I went to Stevens’ room.
He allowed me in and offered me a seat at his small table. “I’ve never stayed in the Officers Barracks before.” He had a big grin on his face.
“Just have to make the right friends,” I chided him. “I hope I’m not bugging you, I’m just bored. Did you want to take a walk with me?” I hoped he would because I didn’t want to wander around alone. This compound was much busier than the one in Alaska and I felt a bit out of place.
“Sure, I can show you around.” He said.
“That’s right. You were stationed here before you went to Alaska.” I remembered from his file.
“Yeah, I started out here. I’m team Brown and had to undergo EOD training here to be accepted.” Explosive Ordnance Disposal was training I hadn’t undergone yet and didn’t know if they’d get around to it.
“So, shall we?” I stood.
“It’s a bigger compound than Alaska, do you think you could get us a vehicle? If not, we can walk.”
“I can try.”
We walked down to Headquarters together and I asked the cadets standing guard where we might find a vehicle to do some looking around. Immediately one of them was on the phone. Soon another cadet presented himself t
o us.
“Commander Grey.” He said as he walked into the building. Then, he saluted me. I was caught off guard but returned the salute.
“At ease,” I replied. “I just want to go look around before dinner.”
“I’d be happy to drive you around, Ma’am,” he sounded too eager, but I went along with it.
“Lets get going then.” I had intended to follow him out the door but he and Stevens both waited for me to lead the way.
When we were all seated in the jeep I asked where Commander Brown had gone. The cadet driving us said that he didn’t know and started with a tour guide tone, telling us all about the compound. Guard towers, sensors and cameras protected the fences. The compound contained a mock town for urban fighting training and explosives training. They had to rebuild the town about once a week because of the explosives. Eventually we made our way to the hangers. He started to talk about what they housed but continued to drive on by. I finally cut him and his tour guide tone off and told him to stop at the hangers. I thought I might find Brown there and I really wanted to let him know how I felt about being ditched.
“Yes, Ma’am.” The cadet pulled up to the hangers, jumped out and ran to open my door.
“That’s not necessary, cadet,” I said as I got out.
“Only following orders, Ma’am,” he replied.
“Whose orders?”
“Commander Brown, Ma’am.” He looked ashamed to say it.
“He told you that you had to open doors for me?” I wanted to get to the bottom of this.
“Well…” he was obviously torn.
“Spit it out, cadet.” I ordered.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he seemed truly scared. “Commander Brown told us to treat you with the utmost respect because…” again he stammered.
“Because?” I asked.
“Because you are difficult otherwise.” He didn’t look me in the eye when he said this and gave special emphasis to the word difficult.
“Is that so?” I looked at Stevens who was grinning. “Do you think I’m difficult?” I asked him.
“I’m pleading the fifth,” he teased. It hadn’t taken long for Stevens to become comfortable with us. I suspected Brown had words with him as well.
I rolled my eyes and demanded that the cadet take me to find Brown. He moved as fast as he could and I began to find it funny. We quickly walked into the hanger and the cadet moved off to talk to some men standing near a jet. I didn’t know we had a jet, I found myself thinking. Get back on track, I told myself. You’re mad at Brown and you have to let him know. With the way the men were scurrying, I wondered what Brown had really told them. Soon Brown stepped around from behind the jet with a massive grin on his face.
“You found me,” he raised his hands in surrender. They were covered in black grease.
I just shook my head and said, “What did you tell these poor guys? They are deathly afraid of me.” I kept a stern look but was fighting to do it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he played dumb, then successfully changed the subject. “You’ve met Sam?” I nodded my hello to Sam who’d been standing at attention this whole time. He’d shaved his beard and I may not have recognized him if it hadn’t been for Brown. “And, Commander Grey, this is Lt. Will Malone.”
I had been walking in Browns direction with Stevens trailing behind me until Will Malone made his appearance. My breath caught in my throat and I stopped dead in my tracks. Immediately I caught my mistake and made sure to keep my disapproving look trained on Brown. Then I looked back toward Will and said, “Nice to meet you.” Only one other man had affected me like this and his last name was also Malone. I looked back to Brown and asked, “Any relation?” I already knew the answer but I thought I’d ask anyway.
“Not to me.” He said with a sly look on his face.
“Not you, you dummy.” I was flustered.
“Yep, brothers. Isn’t that amazing?”
Will started to wipe his hands on his overalls then reached out to shake mine. I hesitated, but finally took his hand. “So, you know Rick?” he asked. I wanted to say, ‘Duh, I’m a partner in HIS company.’ But Will beat me to it, “I suppose you would,” he gave me a smile that could make any woman melt but I held it together.
Brown cut in, “Rick and Will have been brothers for years.” He said it as a joke, but I caught on. The people who knew White as White didn’t always know that he was Rick Malone, brother to Will Malone.
“So, what do you do here?” I asked him.
“I’m a pilot but I don’t actually work for White and Associates. I’m on loan from the government.” I nodded but didn’t know what else to say so the quiet quickly became uncomfortable.
“I suppose it’s time for us to get cleaned up for dinner,” Brown put in, catching the awkwardness. However, he was still grinning as if he’d done something crafty.
Brown commandeered the jeep the cadet had been chauffeuring us around in. He and I sat in the front and Stevens and Will sat in the back. There was no conversation all the way to the barracks. The four of us got out and Will walked across the street to his room while we walked into the Officers Barracks.
“What did you tell these guys?” I asked Brown when one of the cadets scrambled to open the door for us.
“Not much, just hinted at a few things.” He smiled at me.
Brown was always doing something that he shouldn’t be and I wondered what he was up to now. Yes, he’d told the men something about me that made them cringe when I walked by, but the Will angle was more interesting to me. The look he had when he introduced us told me he was up to something. Why else would he go out of his way to take me to this compound? He obviously knew Will Malone would be here. It was plain to see that he enjoyed presenting Will to me. Almost like a gift. Oh, shut up, I told myself. That’s ridiculous. I’ll just ask him, when we’re alone. After we left Stevens at his door I asked Brown how long he’d be.
“Come on in, I’m just going to wash up,” he held his room door open for me. When we both got inside he went to the bathroom and I sat at his table and waited for him to come back out.
“Are you going to yell at me some more?” He yelled from the bathroom.
“No,” I didn’t raise my voice as much as he had so he came out of the bathroom with a towel in his hands.
“I just want to know if Will Malone is the reason we came to this compound.” I figured I’d come right to the point. Brown and I had become good friends and I was more than comfortable talking to him.
“Part of it. He’s a friend of mine and I knew he’d be here. He’s training some of my guys for me. Part of the reason I chose this compound was because it’s kind of,” he paused for a second, “mine.”
“Yours?” I smiled.
“Yeah, most of my guys train here.” He said.
“Then why didn’t we come here when you were training me before?”
“It’s too busy here. I needed to give you my full attention.” He added a suggestive look for emphasis.
“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “I think you have an ulterior motive here.”
“All I’m going to say is, go with the flow.” He got that sly look again.
Dinner came and went and I didn’t see Will but I looked for him. I felt guilty but he most certainly was pleasing to the eyes. I reminded the feelings of guilt that I’d decided I was going to start dating. Then, they reminded me, I’d decided to start dating to prepare myself for White, and this was his little brother, after all. This could make things very awkward.
Brown caught me looking around more than once, so I quit and kept my eyes on my plate. It was pointless anyway because the mess hall was full of men. We finished dinner and Brown showed us where my office was.
After the brief tour, Stevens went off to do his thing and Brown and I went back to my room. Eventually Brown left me alone and I made my way to bed.
I awoke to loud voices outside. This was exactly what I’d expected at the Alaskan Compo
und. They must already be up and about for their morning drills and I had overslept. I hurried out of bed, started coffee and before I could get into the shower, Brown was at my door wearing a scowl.
“Did that awful racket wake you?” I feigned sympathy as I patted him on the back.
“Yes. This is another reason I trained you somewhere else.” He pouted.
“It’s good for you. Actually, you should be out there doing drills with them.”
“Yeah… NO,” he was emphatic. “What time do you want to start interviewing?”
“Probably as soon as they finish morning drills. You should get out there and get some exercise.” I tried to take his coffee away from him but he wouldn’t let me. Eventually I was able to kick him out so I could get ready.
I spent the next forty-five minutes alone with my thoughts, which circled around Will. I didn’t even know him and yet I wanted to see him again. I kicked myself inwardly. Then another thought came to mind. White hadn’t told me he had a brother. Did he have more than one, maybe a sister? I didn’t even know if he had a mother. I guess I didn’t know White that well after all.
Brown and I sat with Stevens during lunch and Brown was telling Grey stories. We’d heard planes all morning but it was quiet now and several men came walking into the mess hall. Their heads were held high and their attitude reminded me a lot of Red.
Will was in the front of the pack and looking good. My breath caught in my throat again and then our eyes met. He nodded his head in our direction and proceeded to get his lunch. I fought the urge to look away quickly and smiled at him, not knowing if his acknowledgment was directed at Brown or me or both of us.
“He’s just training our guys but you could always add him to your team.” Brown told me with raised eyebrows and a sly look.
“He’s not a member of White and Associates. I can’t add him. And, if I did, I’d have Stevens interview him.”
“Great,” Stevens cut in with an exasperated tone.
“What?” Brown asked him.
“Pilots are always so cocky.” He said.
Reflections of Grey: Book Three of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles Page 10