Reflections of Grey: Book Three of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by Phelps, J. C.

  “Hey,” Black’s voice was sharp in our ears, making us both jump. White slowly let his grip loosen and we turned to face the unwanted interruption.

  “This is practice time.” Black tried, but couldn’t fully hide the smile on his face.

  “You didn’t show her how to hold the bow correctly,” White accused with no hint of the embarrassment I felt.

  “Then, by all means,” Black gestured toward the bow.

  My composure had left me and I was visibly shaking when White regained his grip.

  “I can’t do this now.”

  “It’s okay. Take a deep breath and forget everything else until he leaves,” his voice was low in my ear, making it impossible to forget his advance or Black’s presence. I closed my eyes and let White use my arms to pull back the bowstring. He told me to keep my arms close to his and I felt him release the arrow and didn’t feel the burning of the string on my arm.

  “Now, try it on your own,” he backed away.

  I readied the bow and stood shaking while I sited in the arrow. I closed my eyes and remembered White’s hold and let my arms move to the proper place. After I opened my eyes again I made sure my arrow was still heading in the right direction and let it fly. Again, the bowstring didn’t touch my arm.

  “You see,” White directed at Black. “You’re methods are faulty.”

  “You could be right,” Black turned and left us alone, the smile still lingering at the edges of his mouth.

  “That’s two for two,” White said when Black was out of earshot. I had made my way to a lone hay bale and plopped down, my energy gone.

  White joined me and we sat in silence until I quit shaking.

  “You should practice some more,” he stood and held out his hand.

  I took it and gave him a grateful smile. The moment was gone, though the after effects still remained. He shrugged his shoulders as if he knew exactly what was going through my mind.

  I didn’t have any more trouble with the bowstring as long as I visualized White behind me, holding my arms. This vision interfered with my accuracy but at least I wasn’t going to be bruised.

  White and I retrieved the arrows I’d shot all around the target and started back to the cabin.

  “I wonder who’s paid him to be the protector of your virtue,” White said as we walked.

  “He’s good at it.” I gave a weak smile.

  After reaching the cabin we all packed up our things and started getting the cabin ready for our absence. I picked tasks that kept me away from White and Black. I didn’t want to talk about what had almost happened with either of them. I suspected Black wouldn’t mention anything but didn’t want to take any chances.

  Before long I found myself with nothing to do so I went for a walk down to the lake where I passed several hours walking along the shore. Brown came looking for me after the sun had disappeared behind the mountains.

  “Supper’s about ready. Not that you need it,” he teased.

  “Okay,” I walked toward him.

  “What’s going on?” He asked when I reached his side.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Black and White had an argument about something and you’ve been invisible,” his tone was curious.

  “I don’t know what’s going on with those two but I’ve been out here because I’m going to miss it.”

  “Yeah, I’m not buying it.”

  “Fine by me.”

  “See, you aren’t even fighting with me.” He stopped in the middle of the trail.

  I reached out and smacked his head and bolted for the cabin.

  “See! That’s more like it,” I heard his voice close behind me so I picked up my pace.

  I felt more like myself at dinner but things were obviously strained between Black and White until Brown and I got involved in a small food fight.

  “You two are on kitchen duty tonight,” Black ordered.

  Brown quickly stood from the table and saluted Black, “Yes, sir!”

  This made us all grin, except Black. He stood from the table with a serious look. Then when Brown and White weren’t looking he gave me a wink.

  This prompted me to get up and start cleaning up our mess. Brown was still in rigid formation but relaxed his stance and began to help me. We hadn’t made much of a mess so the clean up wasn’t too bad.

  “My job here is done,” Brown said when we finished. “I’m going to bed, we have an early day tomorrow.”

  After Brown and Black were safely in their rooms White asked me if I wanted to talk.

  “Nah. I think I’ll get to bed, too,” I said casually, angling my head toward Brown’s partially open bedroom door.

  *****

  Chapter Fourteen

  Things were back to normal the following morning as we boarded the chopper. The flight was uneventful and I spent the next couple of days readjusting to my apartment until White called me down to his.

  As soon as I stepped in he instructed me to take a seat on his couch. He went to the war room and came back with another sealed manila envelope.

  “I haven’t checked this out, but it’s another job outside of the company.”

  I opened the envelope and pulled out the material. This time White was curious about the contents and waited for me to hand him the paperwork.

  “This job comes from an entirely different source than before,” he explained his curiosity.

  “Who?”

  “The Russian government.”

  I was shocked. “Why would I work for the Russians?”

  “You don’t have to accept the job. Read through it and then hand it over.”

  I turned the pages over and was met with a picture of Dimitri Glaskov and a picture of the new and improved Dimitri as Mr. Prutko. I handed the photos to White and started to read the next page.

  Subject: Dimitri Glaskov; AKA Anatoli Prutko

  Mission: Target Elimination

  Location: Unknown

  The rest of the page was filled with more information about Dimitri that was relevant to his appearance and possible locations. For example, The Rave and Gigi’s were listed as assets and other businesses believed to belong to him. Even suspected places of residence.

  I handed this to White when I finished reading and was greeted with satellite photos of all the locations listed. I set these aside and found a sheet that listed a bank and an account number with the words: Half of the account balance is available if the mission is accepted, the other half will be released after mission completion.

  The next bundle of paper work read like a book report on Dimitri Glaskov. I learned his place of birth, parents’ names and current locations, which happened to be in a cemetery somewhere in St. Petersburg. The information seemed to go on and on, listing everything personal I could ever want to know about Dimitri Glaskov, AKA Anatoli Prutko.

  I sat on White’s couch, trying to take it all in. The Russian government was hiring me to take out Dimitri Glaskov. How did they know how to find me? What made them think I would do a job like this? How did they even know he was still alive? The last time I checked, no one knew he was still alive except White and Associates, Colin and my father.

  “So?” White interrupted my thoughts.

  “So, what? I don’t know why I would get asked to do a job like this.”

  “You’ve already done a job like this,” he reminded me.

  “Yeah, but that was for my father.”

  “I didn’t say it was,” White said.

  “It wasn’t for my father?” I was even more shocked.

  “Well, yeah, it was, but it could have been from anywhere. We weren’t supposed to know who it came from and we aren’t supposed to know where this job came from either. I found a way around that.”

  “But why me? How did anyone know that they could contact me?”

  “They don’t know who you are. They only know where to submit the requests,” he explained.

  “So, if I take this job, no one will know I did it?”
>
  “Just me.”

  I thought about it and considered calling my father.

  White read my mind and said, “You can’t ask advice on this. This is between you and I. You run the risk of exposure if you talk to anyone else about this.”

  I gathered the paperwork and headed into C.I.C. White followed me without a word. I went directly to a computer and signed onto the government database with my special password.

  Dimitri’s information had been updated and I discovered something new. They’d lost track of him. I noticed the date of his last known position and it was two days after my hit on Grigori.

  I started to put it together. I’d done the Grigori job, Dimitri had found the bug and then he fell off the map. I assumed the death of his son had led to the finding of the bug which in turn led to Dimitri going back into hiding.

  What made anyone think he could be found if he had successfully hidden himself for five years prior to his recent reappearance?

  White and I discussed all the ramifications of me taking the job and of me not taking the job. Provided I completed the mission and didn’t get caught, it was in everyone’s best interest to take out Dimitri before he could re-establish himself too firmly. I immediately started my search. White gave me permission to use my teams how I saw fit, but only to locate Dimitri, and he promised to help in any way he could.

  I spent the entire day and night researching the locations and known associates that had been given to me. Most of them weren’t worth looking into. The Rave and Gigi’s were two of the least likely places he’d be at right now. They were his most recent known locations and if he had any brains he wouldn’t show his face in either place ever again. Also, all known associates should already be under heavy surveillance.

  Still, I looked into them and found some interesting information. Both clubs were for sale. I filed this away for future research and started sending men out to other different locations to do some surveillance. Their instructions were to report to either White or myself and no one else.

  I gave each team a location and instructions to report all activity as well as taking pictures of all people in the vicinity. All the information and pictures were to be sent to us immediately.

  When the reports started coming in White and I spent hours going over the intelligence sent from each team and weren’t rewarded with any leads. This became a daily task.

  In between the reports and pictures sent by my teams I spent some time researching Dimitri’s history. This wasn’t as hard as I expected because all the information I could want was just waiting for me in the paperwork I’d received. I double checked most of it on the government database and found they had most but not all of his personal background. I took the time to enter what they didn’t have into the database, hoping this might help them to find Dimitri. I didn’t see any problem with getting unwitting outside help.

  The first time I’d logged onto the database with my new password I hadn’t covered my tracks but the nature of my searches inspired a new paranoia and I made sure my location could not be tracked.

  White and I worked closely together for two weeks with no positive results. I brought up my previous thought about not knowing how we’d find Dimitri when the entire government couldn’t find him.

  “We’re better than them. Plus we aren’t under the same restrictions.”

  I rolled my eyes and tried to think of new ideas. We’d almost exhausted all of the information given to us by the Russians and that I found on my own.

  “About all we have left are Gigi’s and The Rave.” I sighed.

  “He wouldn’t go back there,” White shook his head.

  “I know, but they are for sale. If they sold, the money would more than likely find its way back to Dimitri.”

  “Yeah,” he was thoughtful. “Do you want to invest in property?”

  “Not really. It’s a long shot and I don’t think I should go back to Gigi’s for anything.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” the two of us sat quietly. Before long White said, “We could let the government take the risk. They have more money to play with and I’m sure they’d like to find Dimitri too.”

  “But how do we get them to do the work for us? I’ve already tried by adding all the info I got from the Russian’s into their database.”

  “I could give the Admiral a call to ask him about Dimitri? Hey…” his face lit up. “What about Sal? We could ask the Admiral if we could interrogate him.”

  “Do you think Sal would know anything? And if he did, don’t you think my father would already have gotten it out of him?”

  “Search him on the database,” he pointed to the computer beside me.

  White’s order made me think of something else. I hadn’t researched any of Dimitri’s contacts that were locked up or being held in secret detainment facilities. What if there were contacts out there that weren’t listed in the paperwork I’d gotten from the Russians or from the database?

  I swiveled in my chair and started my search. I knew Sal was a long shot but searched him first to placate White. My prediction that Sal wouldn’t know anything important was proven true so I continued to cross reference the name Dimitri Glaskov with all names in the database. I knew this would take some time so I rose to get coffee.

  “What are you doing now?” White followed me to his kitchen.

  I explained the idea he’d inspired and he gave me an approving nod.

  We sat quietly in his kitchen while we waited for the computers to find anything we might be able to use. The quiet didn’t last long before there was a knock at White’s door.

  He opened it to Black.

  “The two of you have been spending a lot of time together lately,” he pressed. If he only knew, I thought.

  “Yeah, we’ve been working on something for the Admiral,” White explained it away.

  “Ah,” Black sounded disappointed. “You look tired,” he told me.

  “I am.”

  “Must be pretty important?” He was fishing for information that I couldn’t give him.

  “Yes, it is,” White cut in, letting Black know the conversation was over. I hated doing this. I didn’t like keeping secrets and had never been good at lying, especially to people I cared for.

  “Excuse me,” I went back into C.I.C. to check the computer. I heard Black and White talking in the kitchen.

  “Don’t forget our conversation,” Black sounded ominous.

  “Don’t worry and believe me, I wouldn’t expect any less from you. We really are working on something. Nothing has happened and if it does, she’ll be in good hands.”

  “I know your track record. She’s good for the company and if you screw that up…”

  “I know. I’ve given this a lot of thought and my intentions are honorable. But, like I said, we are working on something right now. Those feelings haven’t even surfaced.” I heard footsteps coming toward C.I.C.

  “Alex,” I turned at the sound of Black’s voice.

  “Yes?” I couldn’t hide my feelings of guilt for the outside job and my feelings for White.

  “I apologize for being insensitive at the cabin.” He was having a hard time looking at me. His gaze wandered from my face to the floor and back to my face.

  I walked past him and shut the door so White wouldn’t over hear our conversation. I knew this was going to be hard for me but even worse for Black.

  “Absolutely no hard feelings,” I smiled.

  “Good. If things get too intense, let me know.” He’d become more confident after I’d shut the door. I’d never seen Black this way.

  “I think we all work well together and am afraid to make any changes that could jeopardize that, but…” I struggled for words to explain.

  “If you take that step, make sure it works. And if it doesn’t work, you make sure that works. Understand?”

  “Yes.” I understood and agreed with him.

  “Good.” He let the door to C.I.C. hang open when he left.


  White rejoined me. “What was that about?” He didn’t realize I’d overheard their conversation.

  “The same thing he talked to you about,” I blushed.

  “Alex, I’m not as bad as he says,” White tried to explain.

  “He didn’t say anything about you. He’s looking out for the company.” We stood for a few seconds, contemplating each other, before I turned back to the computer.

  It had compiled some names from its search and I pressed print. The printer near White started to spit out pages and when it was done he brought them over to me.

  There were only three pages but they were full of names. I estimated we had close to one hundred to search through. I was skimming through them when White asked me for a page so he could help me. I handed over the first page and moved my eyes quickly over the second page and laid it on the table for him when he was ready.

  I took more time with the third page, knowing he’d be busy with the first two. I reached the R’s and recognized a name. James Ruben. My father used to have a close acquaintance with that name. I’d not seen him or heard my father speak of him for years. Then again, I’d been out of the house and most day-to-day conversations since I went to college.

  Curiosity got the better of me and I turned back to the database and looked him up. My stomach plummeted to the floor when his picture loaded. It was the man I used to know. He and my father worked together and I knew my father held him in close confidence. I poured over the information in the database and hoped he’d been investigating Dimitri and that was why his name was brought up. However, as I read, I knew this wouldn’t be the case because I’d searched only names listed as incarcerated or detained.

  James Ruben was listed as a threat to national security and a flight risk. He’d been selling secrets to several factions, the Russian Mafia being only one outlet for his treason. He’d never been brought to trial because of lack of evidence but instead was detained until a case could be brought against him. The authorizing signature was Robert S. Stanton.