Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles (22 page)

Once we reached the point at which we could
go no further Mr. Black said, “We better get back. It’s getting
late.”

“
We just got here,” I said.

“
It’ll be just about dark when we get
out if we leave now,” he replied.

“
That can’t be,” I said.

“
The swim to this room takes about
three hours and we’ve been in this room a long time too,” he
replied.

I was stunned. Once we were inside the cave,
time had ceased to exist for me.

“
I must have been really involved,” I
said out loud. I surprised myself with my voice. That comment had
meant to be an inner thought.

“
That happens to the best of us,” Mr.
Black said as he headed back for the water.

I followed, and after we had both put our
fins on we dropped back into the water. We swam to the back wall
and plunged beneath the surface. We made pretty good time, I
thought. I started to notice how long it took to get through the
tight spots and was convinced Mr. Black must have been right.

When we reached the surface of the
above-ground lake it was dark. I noticed something very large and
black on the shore. My eyes adjusted to the dim light and I
realized it was the company helicopter.

“
Hell.” Mr. Black said and I could tell
that his vacation ended at that very moment, which meant mine did
too.

“
Well, Mr. Black,” I said, “It’s back
to work.”

We swam reluctantly back to shore and slowly
walked back to the cabin. The light from the windows looked cheery
but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. At first I
thought it was nervousness about maybe going out on another job.
Then we walked inside and I saw the faces of the two men in the
room.

Mr. White was at the table with Mr. Brown.
The smile that Mr. Brown usually carried around on his face wasn’t
there and Mr. White was frowning.

“
Get dressed,” Mr. White ordered to
us.

We complied and each went to our rooms. I
quickly changed out of my wetsuit and then packed quickly. When I
came back out Mr. Black was still in his room and the other two men
were still at the table. They had made coffee so I helped myself.
The mood at the table was dangerous. I wanted to ask questions but
I didn’t dare.

Mr. Black was still in his room when I got
half way through my cup of coffee. I had been cold from the swim
and the hot liquid hit the spot. The three of us had been sitting
in silence and then Mr. White broke it by saying, “You must have
been to the caves.” He turned in my direction. “So, what’d you
think?”

“
I loved it,” I answered. His forehead
had worry lines but the rest of his expression had softened. When
we had first walked into the cabin his look had been one of anger
and now it seemed to be one of concern and relief.

He asked me a few more questions about what
Mr. Black and I had been doing up here. I told him about the
camping trip and my buck. This made him raise his eyebrows.

“
A buck?” he asked. I could tell he was
skeptical so I offered to prove it to him. I had left the head and
skin hanging out back. Mr. Black had told me I should save it when
I had asked where I should take it to get rid of it. Now I
understood why. He knew I would need to show it to people for them
to believe it.

Mr. White and I went outside with a
flashlight and I brought him to the deerskin. He swung the
flashlight up and down the skin and then looked at me.

“
This is yours?” he asked.

“
Yep,” I said with pride.

He examined it closer and then asked me for
the details of the hunt. I gave him the brief version. I wanted to
get back inside and hear why they had come up here. They surely had
a
reason
. Something was going on, I could tell by the looks
they had given us when we had come in from outside.

“
Shouldn’t we get back inside?” I
asked.

“
Sure,” he said and we began to walk
back to the front of the cabin.

When we walked in Mr. Black was sitting at
the table with the same look the other two men were carrying
around. He walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. What
was this? Did someone die? I felt a streak of panic rise from my
stomach to my throat with the last thought.

“
What?” I said with an urgent
tone.

“
I’ve got to go. Mr. White will stay
here with you,” Mr. Black said.

“
What’s going on?” I asked Mr.
White.

“
Nothing that we can’t handle. Mr.
Black is needed on a job and you and I are going to stay here for a
few days,” he replied.

I looked at Mr. Brown and he was standing
sober-faced and ready to get going. Then I looked at Mr. Black. He
had a look of concern on his face and it was directed toward me. I
didn’t get this. Why were they all looking at me like I had some
terrible disease and I would die at any moment. I knew I would get
a straight answer from Mr. Black so I said, “What’s going on, Mr.
Black?”

“
Mr. White will fill you in after we
leave,” he replied, then he walked for the door. Right before he
walked out the door he added with a look at Mr. White, “Watch
yourself.”

“
What was that about?” I asked Mr.
White.

He avoided the question and said, “So, have
you learned a lot up here?”

“
What is going on?” I asked
again.

“
Have you had dinner?” he asked
me.

I was getting angry. I wanted to know what
was going on. Why hadn’t I been invited along? Why didn’t Mr. Black
push to have me along like he did the last time? Why was I left
here with Mr. White? That thought made me nervous. As I was
thinking these thoughts I heard the chopper fly over us and into
the distance.

“
No. I haven’t had dinner,” I replied
sharply.

“
I’ll make us something,” he said as he
went to work in the kitchen. It was apparent I wasn’t going to get
anything out of him. It could be some sort of top-secret mission
they were on, I guess. That didn’t explain the looks of concern
though. I don’t know why I’m even getting bent out of shape, I told
myself as I sat at the table. I’ve been left out of the loop more
often than I’ve been included. I couldn’t shake the feeling it had
something to do with me though.

Mr. White was cooking something on the stove
when I turned to him and asked, “Why are you avoiding my questions
and not telling me anything?”

“
I’m not prepared to answer your
questions at the moment,” he replied.

“
What do you mean, you’re not
prepared,
” I said with disdain for the word.

“
Just that,” he replied.

That man irritated me every time I was around
him. But he was so sexy. If I had met him at the Skylight or on the
street, I would have done every thing in my power just to get him
to notice me. But the situation I was in right now made me afraid
of my feelings. This simple crush was too complicated. It was based
entirely on physical attraction too. I didn’t know him at all.

When Mr. Black and I resurfaced to see the
helicopter my stomach had jumped at the thought and hope that it
was Mr. White. Then when we stepped into the cabin and I saw him,
my breath had caught in my throat. Even though I knew there was
something wrong I still lusted after him and my thoughts wandered
into fantasy mode.

I turned to watch him at the stove. His jeans
fit perfectly. His shirt was a bit too tight but that was to his
credit. He had very nice arms. I had been swiveled in my chair
admiring him for a while when he started to turn around. I made
sure my mouth was closed and I remembered I was mad at him. I
couldn’t remember exactly why right off hand. I was tempted to turn
around quickly so he wouldn’t catch me looking but I kept my gaze
straight for fear of him seeing me turn away. I put a mad look on
my face and looked him straight in the eye.

“
I’ll tell you all about it when I
receive confirmation myself” he said.

“
When will that be?” I asked
remembering why I was angry.

“
Sometime tonight,” he said and brought
dinner to the table.

He had cooked some kind of concoction of
venison, eggs and cheese. It looked suspect but I took a bite.

“
This is good,” I said. We sat in
silence and ate. The worry lines still creased his
forehead.

We were still eating when there was a noise
out back and Mr. White jumped up. He said, “Go to your room.” He
waited until I got there then said, “Shut the door.”

“
It’s probably a raccoon,” I said.
“There’s been one hanging around and we’ve heard him rummaging
around at night.”

“
Shut the door,” he
repeated.

“
Fine,” I said and did as I was
told.

I heard Mr. White open the front door but
then I didn’t hear anything else. There were no windows in my room
so I couldn’t even look out to see what he was doing. I hoped it
was a skunk. No I don’t. I retracted my thought. If it were a skunk
Mr. White would come back into the cabin and stink the whole place
up.

I heard a noise in the front of the cabin and
opened my door a crack. I wasn’t frightened but I was cautious. Mr.
White seemed too much on edge. When I looked through the crack I
saw Mr. White shutting the door. I walked out of the room and said,
“What was it?”

“
You were right, raccoon,” he
replied.

“
Are you always this jumpy?” I
asked.

“
Do you always have a bad attitude?” he
asked back.

“
Only when I’m frustrated,”

We both had sat back down at the table to
finish our dinner and he said, “Mr. Black says that you follow
orders without questions or comments. What makes you act
differently around me?”

“
You frustrate me,” I said.

“
Why do I frustrate you?” he
asked.

“
Because,” I said. Now that was a good
answer. I knew why he frustrated me but I didn’t want him to know
the real reason. I tried to come up with something to add to it but
I couldn’t think of anything. See, I told myself, I can’t even
think when he’s around. What the hell is wrong with me? Mr. Black
is buff, sexy
and
he doesn’t frustrate me. Why can’t I like
him instead? I didn’t think Mr. Black harbored any sexual feelings
for me. I don’t think I could get involved with him even if he
did.

Mr. White eyed me from time to time, but it
felt purely sexual and I didn’t want that. Eventually, I wanted a
man to love me more than the rest of the world and that included
himself. I didn’t think Mr. White could love me at all, not to
mention more than he loved himself.

I thought now would be a good time to change
the subject.

“
What time tonight will you receive
confirmation, so you can tell me what’s going on?” I
asked.

“
You never give up,” he said while
picking up our empty plates from the table. “Okay, I’ll tell you
what I know.” He set the dirty dishes in the sink and returned to
the table.

“
One of our clients has been
threatened. I am up here so Mr. Black can confirm the client is
safe,” he said.

“
Is that all?” I asked.

“
Until I get a report back, yes that’s
all.” He got up and moved to the living room. “If you hurry and get
the dishes done, we can play some cards.”

I did the dishes and we played several card
games. Then Mr. White said he was going to read and I should go to
bed. I told him that I might like to read too. I didn’t want to get
too far away from him and the satellite phone. I wanted all the
details as soon as I could get them. I still had that gnawing
feeling that this had
something
to do with me.

We both picked books to read and sat on
opposite sides of the couch. It wasn’t long before I wasn’t
comprehending what I was reading. I was so tired I was just going
through the motions.

I woke up when Mr. White was trying to
straighten me out on the couch. I pretended like I was still asleep
though, just to see what he would do. His touch was gentle and
comforting. After he got me laid down he came to where my head was
and lifted it so he could sit there. He put my head back down on a
pillow in his lap.

Physically it was amazingly comfortable, but
emotionally I was very uncomfortable. He could have woke me up and
told me to go to bed or moved somewhere else after he had me
situated on the couch. I decided it was okay as long as he thought
I was asleep. I stayed awake for a long time after that but
eventually fell back to sleep.

The phone was ringing. I sat straight up on
the couch in time to see Mr. White pick the phone up from the table
to answer it. He hadn’t been on the couch. He must have gotten up
after I fell back to sleep. It was a brief conversation filled with
yes’s and no’s and I see’s. He put the phone back down on the table
and just sat there.

I said, “Well?”

“
Well,” he said back to me. “The client
is not safe. He’s been kidnapped.”

“
What do we do?” I asked.

“
We set up a recovery team and pull him
out,” he said.

“
Are they on their way to pick us up
then?” I asked.

“
No. You and I will stay here until
this is over,” he replied.

“
Why? Don’t they need your help?” I was
about to offer my help when he said, “No. You do.” He looked up
from the table at me.