Reflections of Grey: Book Three of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by Phelps, J. C.

  With no hesitation this time I entered the elevator. As I rode it down I wondered what the hell I was going to do. I could hang out and wait until I saw Lacewell leave, but I needed a shower now. I could return to White’s apartment when I thought he’d be done with his shower, but I didn’t want to interrupt something else.

  Again my stomach protested with that thought. So what if White got himself a girlfriend I told myself. I could get a boyfriend if I wanted one and he can’t stop me, why would I be able to stop him. The elevator finally reached the lobby and I decided I didn’t want to know what was going on in White’s apartment.

  I swept past Phil and he called after me, “Did you get into your apartment?”

  “No, but that’s okay,” I called over my shoulder trying to keep my voice calm as I hurried toward the parking garage. The further I got from White’s apartment, the further I got from my keys. The further I got from my keys the more enraged I became. Who did she think she was? Despite the fact I wanted to whack her a good one and yell at White because he let her act this way, I couldn’t force myself back up to his apartment to try again.

  Instead, I got behind the wheel of my puke green mustang. One thought dominated all others. What if White were dating her? I didn’t know if I could ever forgive him. There was something about that woman, other than her lack of civility that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

  Thank goodness my car had the uncanny ability to drive me to where I needed to be. I hadn’t been to my parents’ guesthouse for several months but it looked exactly the same as when I used to call it home. After a hurried shower I plopped on the couch and continued to brood. The what if’s wouldn’t leave me alone and before long I was convinced White and Lacewell were sharing more than the air in his apartment. This made me angrier than Lacewell dismissing me like she did. But he’s been more attentive lately, I told myself. Why would he do that and have that floozy waiting for him in his apartment? Unless he wanted two for the price of one. I countered.

  I’d been considering returning now that I’d had a shower but I couldn’t go back to that apartment to ask for my keys with these thoughts in my head.

  Cold and uncomfortable I rolled off the couch at three-thirty in the morning. I had been looking forward to curling up in my own bed. The soreness in my neck was really nagging at me. Standing near the couch I stretched and reached back to rub my neck. The darkness was thick but I knew the guesthouse well enough I made my way to the front door without incident.

  I sighed inwardly when my hand touched the knob. I can just use extra blankets. It’s not like I haven’t slept through worse. I didn’t even finish my thought before my anger returned. But I shouldn’t have to! It’s my apartment. I should be able to get in when I feel like it.

  I was already in my car, speeding down the road before the vision of Lacewell reentered my mind. Though I’d convinced myself I didn’t care, I didn’t know if I could bear to see her in nothing but White’s t-shirt. Not just that, if she shut the door in my face again, I’d have to smack her. I’ll call ahead from the lobby. White shouldn’t allow her to answer a call from his building security.

  My excuse for not getting involved with White was because it could affect our working relationship. I couldn’t let White’s outside life affect me either. My job was more important than a fantasy. Besides, I could still have my fantasy even if White had an outside life.

  I stopped in the lobby. Phil was absent but the guard manning the desk looked relieved to see me.

  “Ms. Grey. Commander White told me to call as soon as you came in. He wanted me to tell you to wait here.” The phone was already in his hands.

  “Thanks,” I said ungratefully. I suppose he didn’t want me walking in on him and Lacewell. I felt nauseated.

  After a brief conversation the guard told me White would be back in about half an hour.

  “He said you could wait in his apartment if you’d like. He left it unlocked in case you came back.”

  “I’ll wait here, thanks.” I dropped heavily onto the nearest couch. I didn’t want to admit it but I felt deflated. A couple of minutes ticked by as I sat there feeling sorry for myself. I’d planned on sitting peacefully on that couch until White arrived but soon found myself wandering around the highly polished black marble floor. I wanted to give up on White and the prospect of an “us” but I just couldn’t yet. Maybe it would always remain a fantasy but I had to get past the manifestation of Lacewell into my little world. She didn’t belong there and all I had to do was not think of her. My pacing around was making the guard uneasy so I made my way to the elevator.

  “Can I tell White he’ll find you in his apartment then?” His voice was unsettled.

  “No. I’ll be around.” I was purposefully evasive. I’d worked myself up into a state of ill humor and was going to take every opportunity to be difficult.

  “White will want to know where to find you when he gets back,” the guard protested as the elevator doors shut.

  I pressed every button so they couldn’t go into the system to find out where I exited. It didn’t take as long as I thought to reach the roof and I pressed all the buttons again as I stepped out.

  I’d been to the roof a few times in the past to stare down at the city and had a favorite spot. I didn’t go to that spot this time. Though it gave me a great view of the surrounding city the view didn’t include the parking garage and I wanted to know the second White returned.

  I was contemplating learning to hang glide when White’s black Mustang tore into the garage. He was in a hurry.

  “He better be,” I said out loud. I’d been waiting all day for my keys. I had already decided to make him come look for me but knowing he was in the building and that he had my keys made me reconsider. I decided to appear without incident. The fact that I wanted to know exactly why Lacewell had been at his apartment influenced my decision a little. I pressed the button for the elevator.

  I was greeted with a curious look from White when the doors opened. I’d expected to walk into an empty car and be given more time to collect my thoughts. Seeing White waiting for me threw me off guard but I recovered before he noticed.

  “Keys?” I held out my hand.

  “In my apartment,” he held the elevator doors open with one hand and motioned me inside with the other.

  I gave him an exasperated look and a loud sigh as I walked past him.

  “Do you always have the lobby guard call to warn you when I show up?” I scoffed.

  He wrinkled his forehead. “Phil called me as soon as you left. I almost caught you in the garage but you pulled out of here pretty fast. I’ve been waiting all day for you to come back to get your keys. We’ve got a job. And,” he emphasized, “George Porter is missing. Where have you been?”

  “Who?” I didn’t know anyone named George Porter but White said it as if he were a good friend of mine.

  “Mike Evans.”

  “What happened?” Before now, I didn’t know Evans’ real name. His disappearance came as a jolt. I hope I had nothing to do with this.

  “We don’t know where he’s at. He could have left on his own accord or he could have been kidnapped or he could have been killed. That’s why I’ve been out looking for you. You need to let me know where you are until this blows over,” he lectured.

  “I tried!” I didn’t appreciate his fatherly tone. “That…” I wanted to say bitch but stopped myself and lowered my volume to normal. “I was here to get my keys once already. You’re girlfriend answered the door. She told me you were in the shower and shut the door in my face.” My nostrils flared. “I don’t care what you do with your private life, but when I can’t get the keys to my apartment because some woman doesn’t want to be bothered, I get a little pissed off. I was tempted to knock again,” I added, “but I didn’t think violence was the answer.” White was grinning.

  “I don’t find this the least bit funny.” I glared viciously at him. “I haven’t been to my apartment for more tha
n a month and you think this is funny?” He was in dangerous territory now and he knew it. It wasn’t just the fact I’d been deprived of my apartment but Evans vanishing was weighing on my mind.

  “No, it’s not funny and I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d been here and Lacewell was out of line.” He let me into his apartment. “I’ll speak with her. I’m just glad you’re okay. I drove to your parent’s house after I went past the Skylight but you weren’t at either place. So, where were you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I didn’t mind being a little mysterious even if he probably missed me by only a few minutes. “When will we find out what happened to Evans, I mean Porter?”

  “Take a seat,” he motioned me toward the couch as he made his way to C.I.C. “There’s quite a bit to tell.” His voice was louder than it needed to be. “I left the paperwork in here.” I started to get up to join him when he came back to the couch and handed me one of the large envelopes he held.

  After we both got comfortable he continued. “We’ve got several irons in the fire right now.”

  “Don’t we usually have more than one thing going on?”

  “Yes. But three of our current jobs involve you in some way or another. Well, two of them and one other if you take it.”

  “We’ve got a job for Team Grey from DeLange. I’d like you to do the briefing since it’ll be your team.” White explained it was a retrieval of goods for the government. I continued to read and discovered the stolen goods were expected to be traded or sold near our Alaskan compound in three days. “Lacewell is the one who brought these jobs to us.”

  “I wouldn’t want to disappoint your girlfriend.” I used the word again to see if I could get him to admit or deny it.

  “She,” he began then changed his tenor. “Lacewell works for DeLange and he works for the Admiral and I wouldn’t want to disappoint the Admiral. Your team is taking the job. I am asking you if you’d like to brief them.”

  “Yes, I’ll do it.”

  “Good. The other job that could involve you comes from Lacewell. She wants us to see what we can find out about Evans’ disappearance. I’ve got Red and Green on that one already.”

  “What am I supposed to do for that one?”

  “Nothing. We are trying to figure out where Evans is but also want to find out if Emma Robertson is in any danger. That’s how it involves you. The further away from this job you are the better. Then there is this,” he handed me a separate, sealed manila envelope. “I also have a job for you, outside the company.”

  “What do you mean, outside the company?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “White and Associates can not claim any connection to this job. Lacewell didn’t have any information on it so I took the liberty of contacting the Admiral. It’s for your eyes only.”

  I opened the envelope and noticed several bundles of cash in the bottom. I looked up at White who was watching me closely. I’d never been paid with cash up front before. This was not standard operating procedure so I started removing the paperwork. Pulling out a photo of Grigori I realized this would not be a test. Again I gave White a look. I was afraid I knew what this meant. I started removing the rest of the paperwork to find my objective. As I did this, a small slip of paper fluttered to the floor.

  I bent to retrieve it and read the single word written on it.

  “What’s this?”

  “This job comes with certain perks. You won’t have to hack your Dad’s password again.”

  “A password to the database?” I was mostly musing to myself.

  “We are all still limited in what we can look up with our passwords so if there’s more you want to know, you may still have to hack your Dad’s password.” He grinned.

  “I can do that.” I was so pleased with the password, the thoughts of the cash and my objective had moved to the back of my brain for a moment.

  My little moment didn’t last long as I continued to look through the paperwork. Grigori’s specifics like his age, height and weight were listed. Another sheet showed a younger man. Airman Drummond was of slight build and had a dull look to his eyes. Airman. He was Air Force. I didn’t know about this.

  “Did you go through this?” I indicated the envelope.

  “No. I won’t either. The decision is yours to make. However, I’ve been given a few details. I know where and when this is to take place.”

  I kept going through the packet and found my objective. A stark white sheet of paper simply read:

  Elimination of targets and all associates at assigned location.

  “You’ve been hired outside of White and Associates but we will be working in concert with you on this one,” White interrupted my reading.

  “How can we work together if no one is to know about my involvement,” I was dubious.

  “I’m sure you have at least one target to take down.” I nodded. “This mission coincides with the job I want you to debrief your team for. When you have completed your mission, Team Grey will move in, mop up and recover the goods. Your presence will be explained by your briefing. No one but I will know about your side job and no one can ever know about it. Is that understood?”

  “Yes,” I said with a lump in my throat.

  “So, do you accept?”

  All of a sudden this felt like my first job I’d ever done. I knew we could never be associated with the government and they would never claim hiring White & Associates, but for White to tell me that he and my partners wouldn’t claim this job was almost a slap in the face. If it weren’t for the eager look White had I would have refused on that basis alone.

  It took me a few seconds to wrap my head around it all but I made my decision.

  “Yes. I accept.” I replied and the lump moved from my throat into the pit of my stomach. “However, this is an unprepared acceptance and I may change my mind. I want to do a little research first.”

  White told me to make it quick and meet him in the office by six. This gave me less than an hour to do any research so I hurriedly took my keys he dug from a kitchen drawer.

  I’d been aching to get back to the world of technology so I went directly to my computer and tried out my password. Sure enough, I was granted access to the government database. First things first, I told myself, resisting the urge to test my limits.

  I looked up Airman Drummond and was rewarded with his service record as well as the current investigation on him. He’d been caught stealing weapons but had eluded arrest. The details of his escape were nothing special. He knew he was under investigation and quietly disappeared before the investigation was complete. It was later discovered, because of the bug I’d planted in Dimitri’s office, that Drummond was to make an exchange with Grigori. I was hired to put a stop to this transfer but my name wasn’t listed and neither was White and Associates.

  A familiar name caught my eye as I skimmed the transcript of what the bug captured. With the recognition of this name my mind was made up. If I didn’t do this it wouldn’t only affect our government negatively, it could possibly affect White and Associates. I realized at that very moment where my loyalties were. I was fiercely proud of my government, but if White and Associates were hurt in anyway, life as I knew it, would end.

  With my decision firm I took a few minutes to search around the database a little more. I wanted to see what kind of information I’d be restricted from so I did some general searches. The access denied screen didn’t rear it’s ugly head with any of my searches so I purposefully started searching things I knew would be restricted, even to my father, and I was granted full access to everything.

  I looked over my shoulder, expecting to be busted by the computer police. This was too much for me to be trusted with. What was I going to do? This could be fun, but I knew I’d better let my dad know what kind of access he’d given me. I toyed with the idea of calling him immediately but decided I’d wait. Having this kind of access could be helpful, not to mention fun.

  After I searched around a little more I packed only what
I needed. I included my .50 cal. when I reached the office. I did a quick inspection and was happy with the job Blue had done on it. I double-checked everything to make sure I wasn’t being duped again into thinking this was a real mission when it was training and was disappointed to find nothing was out of place. This was real.

  The flight to the compound didn’t take long enough. Before I was ready, I found myself briefing my team. White stood at my side at attention, making me a little uncomfortable. When I finished the briefing he led the team out the door to prepare for tomorrow’s action and I made my way to my quarters.

  *****

  Chapter Eleven

  White came to my door and found me ready to go. He told me the men were still making their preparations. He’d told them we were going to go scout the area in the chopper.

  “You’re quiet,” White noticed when we were more than fifteen minutes out.

  “Thinking,” I lied. My brain had shut itself off and I was in a stupor. I was watching a movie with myself as the main character and no matter how loudly I screamed at the screen the actor just couldn’t hear me. I was following a script that I could not deviate from.

  “Well, your team has a sniper, too, so you have to make sure you aren’t seen or leave a trail to be found. When we get closer I’ll describe the playing field a little more.”

  He did just that as we flew over the designated area. I already knew where I was going to spend the night. I knew it was going to be cold and miserable but I’d accepted the job.

  White set the chopper down and I jumped out and headed for my hiding spot.

  “Good luck!” I heard him say as I moved away but I didn’t look back.

  I made my way to my chosen place of concealment and I checked the surroundings with my scope. The only movement were the waves on the Arctic Ocean. The air was brisk and intensely quiet. This only added to my dreamlike state. Eventually I settled in for the night and my uncanny calm settled in deeper. My brain started to allow thoughts a few hours into the mission. However, my thoughts weren’t filled with any emotion at all.