Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles (15 page)

I crawled up into the motorboat next to the
sleeping men. Still holding onto the casualty, I tried to rearrange
arms and legs so I could eventually get to the motor. I didn’t dare
start it up until I could no longer see lights in the distance.
With one hand I repositioned the target and Mr. Black so I had full
access to the motor and then I sat watching the lights grow
smaller. I don’t know how long it had been or exactly when I
couldn’t see the lights anymore. I had been sitting in the boat
rolling with the waves and just realized they were gone. I pried my
fingers from the dead man’s shirt and left him floating at the side
of the boat.

The sky had begun to lighten and I wondered
how long I had sat oblivious to the world around me. I was worried
about Mr. Black. He had said that too much of the sedative could be
fatal and from what I could tell he had gotten more than one dose.
I started to move toward him to check his breathing when the target
grabbed for me. Instinctively I struck out and managed to hit him
in the nose. His head went back sharply but he brought it forward
again and lunged for me. Fighting in that small boat was awkward.
We grabbed at each other and punches landed randomly and rocked the
boat. He had me down on the floor of the boat and was choking me. I
had somehow slipped under Mr. Black’s legs and about all the target
could see of me was my face. My arms seemed pinned underneath the
hulking Mr. Black but I was able to get at the silver box on his
belt. I worked the syringe out of the box while I fought
unconsciousness from the strangle hold the target had on my neck. I
was frantically trying to get my arm up high enough to deliver the
remaining sedative to the target. Everything was going dark and I
saw little white lights dancing in and out of my vision. My eyes
started to roll into the back of my head involuntarily and I knew
that I had to get this over with or I was dead. With a burst of
adrenaline I pulled my arm free and stuck the needle in the
target’s back. He immediately let go of my neck and tried to reach
for the needle. I got myself free from Mr. Black’s limp body and
sat coughing. The target was still wrestling with himself trying to
get the needle out when he slowed and then slumped over Mr. Black’s
legs face down.

I reached for the syringe and noticed that
there was still some liquid left in it, so I pushed the plunger to
empty the remaining amount into the target. I didn’t want him
waking up again until the chopper arrived. After I was sure the
needle held no more, I pulled it from his back and replaced it in
the silver box that was still half attached to the utility
belt.

I sat back in the boat and wondered where the
chopper was and wanted to kick myself because I had forgotten the
homing device. I switched it on and waited. The dead man still
bobbed near the boat, but I didn’t notice much of anything until I
heard the sound of a helicopter. I scanned the horizon and saw a
small black dot. I turned the engine over and it caught on the
first try so I headed for the chopper.

A rope with a harness attached landed in the
water not far from the boat, almost hitting the dead man’s body
who, for some reason was still hanging around. I got myself back
into the water and pulled the boat in the direction of the waiting
rope. When I reached it I brought it back on board the motorboat
with me. First I hooked up the unconscious target and he was hauled
up. Then I hooked up Mr. Black. Finally I attached the rope to
myself and let myself be hauled to the chopper.

Mr. Brown was in the pilot’s seat once again,
but Mr. White had joined him. He had been the one hauling up all
the bodies, including mine.

He looked at me and said, “Good job. Who’s
that?” He gestured to the dead body floating near the boat.

“
He must have gotten tangled in the
rope.” I had forgotten to bring in the rope that had held the
motorboat to the back of the yacht.

The chopper had already headed back to land
and I sat watching for Mr. Black to make a move.

*****

The target regained consciousness just a
couple hours into the flight, but Mr. Black remained unresponsive.
My main attention was on Mr. Black, but it seemed odd the target
was submissive. When he awoke he just looked around and said
nothing. If I had found myself in a similar predicament I think I
would have been yelling and screaming for answers. He had wriggled
in his bonds for a few seconds but then his eyes met Mr. White’s.
The target didn’t move much after that. It had seemed as if
something passed between them. Maybe it was the stern look Mr.
White gave him.

Mr. Black was still under the influence of
the sedative when we landed at an obscure helipad somewhere in the
desert. I didn’t know where we were but it looked like a small
military base. A high chain link fence was topped with rolled
barbed wire, surrounded the installation. There were a few large
buildings that looked like hangers for aircraft, but no runways
visible.

As soon as the helicopter touched down, Mr.
Brown cut the engine and three men in black fatigues ran up to us.
Mr. White escorted the target out the door of the helicopter and
the three men saluted him. He just nodded at each of them and
marched the target toward a building not too far from us with the
three men in tow.

The building was built from brick and
unmarked. It looked somewhat like a convenience store without the
large glass windows and doors in front. Instead of the glass it had
a heavy metal gray door.

Mr. White disappeared into the building with
the target and one of his escorts. The other two men in black
fatigues planted themselves on either side of the heavy door.

I looked down at Mr. Black and his eyes were
open and he was studying my expression.

“
Did you get the target?” he asked in
his normal voice.

I just nodded.

“
Good,” he said and sat up. I could
tell he was somewhat light-headed by the way he swayed while
sitting there. He looked to Mr. Brown who had moved to the back of
the chopper next to me.

“
What happened to the guy?” Mr. Black
asked me, meaning the man who had stuck him with the needle. I
didn’t say anything and Mr. Brown picked up the question for
me.

“
I don’t know what happened, but when
we got the signal from Ms. Grey’s homing beacon and not yours too,
Mr. White thought he’d better ride shotgun,” Mr. Brown explained.
“Mr. White is usually close by when we do a job like this one,” he
directed at me. Then he looked to Mr. Black again and said, “When
we got to the little boat there you were snoring and drooling and
so was the target and there was a man floating around the boat face
down in the water.” They both looked at me.

“
The guy somehow got a hold of the
syringe and got you in the leg,” I told Mr. Black.

“
Well, what then?” Mr. Brown said
wanting to hear all the details.

“
So I broke his neck,” I said with a
sick sound in my voice. All conversation stopped there until Mr.
White returned to the chopper.

“
I see you’re awake,” he said to Mr.
Black. “You can tell me about it when we get back.” He looked at me
to let me know I would have to explain too. Seconds later we lifted
off the ground and headed for home.

The flight home took the rest of the day and
most of the evening. I wasn’t paying attention to the time. I was
worried about how to explain what had happened. I didn’t want to
make Mr. Black sound incompetent because it was a fluke
.
It was pure luck that the guy got to the syringe. I
know if he hadn’t, everything would have been ok and I wouldn’t
have been the one who killed someone.

We finally reached the office and Mr. White
told Mr. Brown that he’d be in touch. Mr. Black and I followed him
down to the office and each took a seat while he eased himself
behind his desk. There was silence for some time and I became even
more uncomfortable. I didn’t let it show though. I knew I had to
keep a tight control on my emotions right now because if I didn’t I
would just fall to the floor and cry.

“
So, what happened?” he asked Mr.
Black.

“
I dropped the syringe on the deck
while trying to subdue a threat. The threat retrieved the syringe
and stuck me with it,” he said and then stopped.

Mr. White looked to me and said, “You’re
going to have to fill in the blanks for me. I want it from the
beginning. From when you hit the water,” he added.

I started with the story being sure not to
miss a single detail. I told him how we saw the boat and swam to it
and how the plan went perfectly until the man was pulling the
motorboat back onto the deck of the yacht. How Mr. Black went after
him and wasn’t seen. How the guy had knocked the box to the deck
and retrieved the syringe. How Mr. Black continued to fight until
the sedative took hold. Then I paused. I was having a hard time
with this. Mr. White came around the desk and sat on it right in
front of me. He said in an uncharacteristically gentle voice. “Then
what? I need to know.”

I looked to Mr. Black and he had a
sympathetic look on his face too. I should have been grateful but
it pissed me off
.
What was I, a sissy
girl? The looks and the tone in Mr. White’s voice snapped me right
out of the funk I was in. I straightened my spine and said with no
feeling at all, “So I got up behind him and broke his neck. Then I
loaded Mr. Black and the target into the motorboat.” I continued
with my story all the way up to the chopper retrieval. I even left
in the part about the dead guy getting caught up in the rope I had
left hanging off the boat. It was the truth and they wanted
all
the little details.

When I had finished Mr. White stood up and
returned to his seat at the desk. He said, “I am not happy with the
way this turned out you two. However, Ms. Grey you did the right
thing by toting that body away from the yacht. Mr. Black…” Mr.
White looked at him and continued. “I am aware some things can’t be
controlled and this seems to have been one of those situations. I’m
glad you held out to have Ms. Grey be your backup. I don’t think
you could have chosen a better partner. All this said, I am putting
you two on the back burner for now.” He folded his hands in front
of himself and said, “Mr. Black, you are to return to your training
of Ms. Grey. She still has things to learn before I can trust the
two of you on another mission.”

Mr. Black looked perturbed at being
put on
the back burner.
But I was relieved. I needed a break from the
real world for a while. I seemed to do better in fantasy
anyway.

Mr. White added as we got up to leave, “Mr.
Black, I will give Ms. Grey a ride home tonight.”

Mr. Black looked a bit shocked at this but
just left me there without another word. I was horrified. Why would
Mr. White want to take me home? Many thoughts entered my brain, the
first of which was sexual, but that was shot down immediately when
I remembered how we had botched the mission. The next thought was
the one that seemed more reasonable. I was going to get into more
trouble. If it had been anyone else besides Mr. White or Mr. Black
that I was going to get into
trouble
from I would have just
blown it off, but I didn’t want to come off as inept to these men.
I wanted to fit in. I had never wanted to fit in more in my life! I
had tried everything to become a part of this and it seemed to be
the most suitable to my true self.

“
Ready?” Mr. White asked.

“
Sure,” I said, unable to hide my
nervousness.

He led me out of the building and actually
opened the door on his Mustang to let me in. He climbed in behind
the wheel and the sound of the engine was reassuring. It reminded
me of my car and I realized I actually missed it.

We left the lot but he didn’t take me home.
He drove to a spot known to teenagers for necking. It had a
beautiful view of the city below and a steep drop at the edge of
the parking lot. He got out of the car and came around to my door.
I was distressed and hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet.

He opened the door and said, “Come on
out.”

I stepped out with caution and he laughed. It
was a sound that I had never heard before. It was quite pleasant
and reassuring. He said, “Don’t worry. My intentions are
honorable.” He flashed his rare smile at me. After he shut the door
to the car he went to the hood and laid back on it. I followed suit
and lay back next to him. We sat for a long time gazing at the
stars not saying anything.

Finally he spoke up. “Ms. Grey, the reason I
brought you out here was so we could talk like people and not like
boss to employee. The men and I are very good friends and this
wouldn’t work if we weren’t. I would like to set up a similar
relationship with you.” I had no reply; I was caught entirely off
guard.

“
Do I make you nervous?” he asked
through his smile.

Rarely could I pull off a lie so I said,
“Kind of.”

“
Well, that’s good.”

Where was he going with this? It gave the
impression of flirting but I had a hard time believing it. Maybe
Mr. Brown was right and Mr. White was about to try his luck. Well
his luck with women was about to turn. I was certain if this
evolved into a sexual relationship I would be out of a job very
quickly and also without a boyfriend. Speaking of jobs, I had NEVER
been paid for anything. Money wasn’t that big of a deal for me
because everything I needed was paid for by Mommy and Daddy, but I
didn’t relish the idea of working for free.

With a bit of an attitude I said, “Am I ever
going to get paid? Or do you not pay for training?”