Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles (14 page)

“
It’s her. You know how he is with
women,”

“
Not like this,”

“
I guess, but he’s been acting weird
since the day she showed up in the office. That’s why I think it’s
her. I think he’s dying to get in her pants but doesn’t dare
because she’s not just another woman,” Mr. Brown said.

“
He better not even think about it,”
Mr. Black said.

“
Oh, someone is testy about the Ms.
Grey subject,” Mr. Brown said.

“
We
need
a woman on the squad
and I don’t think we could have found a better one,” Mr. Black
explained.

“
Is that why you’re so protective of
her?” Mr. Brown asked with sarcasm in his voice.

“
Yes. Believe what you want, but I
think she has the potential to be better at this job than even
Malone,” Mr. Black said.

There was silence after that, so I showered
for real and thought about what was said. So Mr. White might be
attracted to me. That was good, at least for my fantasy life. I had
never thought of him in terms of real life. It would be
complicated. Oh well, I just won’t think about real life with Mr.
White. As for Mr. Black, I knew what he said were his intentions
were
his intentions. We had a big brother-little sister
thing going, kind of. I just couldn’t imagine myself with as much
potential that he thought I had. I always thought I could do
anything, but I’d never been confronted with these kinds of
challenges. Lately though, my biggest fear had been disappointing
Mr. Black. That was something I didn’t want to do.

I stepped out of the shower, dried off and
put my clothes back on. Then I went back into the room with the
beds and men. Mr. Brown said, “About time.”

I got under the blankets and threw the bright
orange bedspread to the foot of the bed and watched TV for a while
before I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke the next morning Mr. Black was
sitting on his and Mr. Brown’s bed watching a show on fishing. I
got myself out of the bed and pulled up the blankets and outdated
bedspread and went straight to the bathroom to do my morning
brushing of the hair and teeth.

When I came out of the bathroom the
television was off and Mr. Black was sitting on my bed along with
the little silver box that Mr. White had handed to him the day
before. He said, “Mr. White called last night and we are to head
out around 10:00 tonight. When we get on the chopper we will change
into our gear. We are not using tanks, but snorkels. Do not put
your fins or face mask on until we’re in the water. First of all,
you need to know how to get into the water safely from the
helicopter. We’ll be dropping from the air and it’s very important
you cross your arms in front of yourself.” He demonstrated by
putting each of his hands on the opposite shoulder.

My eyes cut to the box and he said, “I’ll get
to that in a minute. Don’t forget the arm placement and point your
toes down or you’ll break your feet, ankles and possibly legs.
After we hit the water we’ll put on the rest of our gear. We may
encounter some large swells. If this happens, ride them up and swim
down them otherwise you’ll tire yourself out. Okay, the box. It
contains
Phenobarbital
, which is a
sedative. We’ll use it to put the target to sleep so he’ll be
easier to handle. Any questions?”

“
Not right now,” I replied.

Mr. Brown showed up with breakfast and a deck
of cards not long after I had received my instructions. We ate and
played poker. I was the only one without a dime, so they each
fronted me a few dollars. We played poker until around 6:00 PM and
then the pizza we had ordered showed up. I bought because I had won
the most money. I even paid back what had been fronted to me. After
we ate we lounged around and waited for the right time to leave for
the helicopter.

“
It’s time,” Mr. Black’s voice woke me.
I had fallen asleep while waiting. Mr. Brown was gone again. Mr.
Black explained he had gone to check us out of the room and he’d be
back soon. We sat in the rented car and waited and I began to get
nervous again. This was something I had pictured myself doing, but
only in the fantasy aspect of my world.

We had been in the air for about fifteen
minutes when Mr. Black handed me my equipment and suit. Along with
the normal attire he handed me a wristband that looked a bit like a
large watch. He explained that it was a GPS tracking device that
also included a homing beacon. He showed me how to use it and which
buttons were for what. Mr. Black secured it to my wrist and then
put his own on. I waited for him to turn his head before I started
to get the suit on. It didn’t take me long because I was afraid he
might turn his head back or worse yet, Mr. Brown might sneak a
peak. Only Anthony had seen me without clothes since I had become a
woman and I wished he hadn’t. I wasn’t ashamed of my body. I
thought it was actually rather nice, but there was always the
chance that someone would find some flaw and broadcast it.

We flew low over the water. Sometimes close
enough that I was afraid that we might hit it. It took less than
two hours for us to reach a spot where Mr. Brown began to
hover.

“
This is it!” he yelled over the
noise.

“
Remember what I told you!” Mr. Black
yelled and jumped from the helicopter.

I followed right after him, no reason to
stand and think about it. I crossed my arms and pointed my toes and
still hit the water hard. It was cold and black. When I surfaced I
was disoriented and confused. Mr. Brown had already piloted the
helicopter away and I didn’t see Mr. Black in the darkness. I
pulled on my mask and began to pull on my fins when I saw a faint
green light a little ways off. I swam toward it and before long I
saw Mr. Black bobbing in the water. When I reached him he said,
“I’m going to drop this light now.” And he let go of what looked
like one of the glow sticks kids carried on Halloween.

“
From now on we’ll use red chem. lights
instead of green. It’s harder to see red light at night unless
you’re looking for it,” he explained. He reached over and attached
a line to my waist securing us together. He started to swim away
and I matched him stroke for stroke. We swam for about an hour
without a break, and then Mr. Black stopped and checked his
wristband. I saw a small green light shining from his arm even
though he was trying to shield it.

“
Start watching for the boat’s running
lights. We should be there anytime now.” With that he resumed his
repetitive strokes.

I had been keeping my head down and not
paying much attention, but now I swam with my head above the water,
watching for any light. There were thick, rolling clouds in the
sky, but the moon peeked out once in a while. About another half an
hour of swimming and I spotted lights on the horizon to my right. I
tugged on the line that was attached to my waist and Mr. Black
stopped his advancement. He turned and looked at me and I pointed
to the distant lights. He nodded once and adjusted his direction. I
fell into the rhythm of his strokes once again.

When the lights were considerably closer he
stopped and said, “No talking. We don’t want to alert anyone to our
presence. Grab and go and stick close.”

“
What happens if we get caught?” I
asked.

“
We’ll have to take care of it, so
don’t get caught,” he replied.

We’d have to ‘take care of it’? I figured
that meant we would have to kill someone. I most definitely didn’t
want to have to do that. Don’t get caught, I told myself.

They say crime doesn’t pay, but this criminal
owned an eighty-four foot yacht. We boarded the ship at the rear as
planned and found the small motorboat in its place at the back of
the boat. Mr. Black motioned me to one side of the boat and we
lifted it to the edge of the yacht and were beginning to set it
gently into the water when I dropped my end making a rather large
splash.
Mr. Black ushered me around the side of the yacht
and we stood in the darkness for a moment straining our ears to
hear if anyone would come to investigate. No one did, thank
goodness.

We continued on with the rest of the plan by
quietly walking through the empty rooms making our way to the
stateroom where the target should be sleeping. Our plot hinged on
the hopes that everyone would be sleeping or at the helm at this
time of the morning. Our luck held as we crept through the first
deck, which held the living quarters such as the dining room. We
got to the stairs leading to the birthing floor and heard a
bathroom being used. We stood at the top of the stairs and waited
until we heard some doors open and shut.

Slowly Mr. Black started down the stairs with
me right behind him. At the bottom of the stairs it was quiet, but
light filtered out from a nightlight in the bathroom.

Mr. Black reached to his utility belt and
pulled out the little silver box. He opened it up and inside was a
syringe and a small vile of a clear liquid. Using the little light
filtering out from the nightlight he filled the syringe. He
replaced the vile back to the box but not the needle. We resumed
our slow pace to the stateroom at the back of the ship.

Mr. Black stood at the door for a moment
listening and then quietly opened the door. There, lying in the bed
was the target. This is too easy, I thought with glee.

Mr. Black and I went to the side of the bed
and he motioned for me to get ready to cover the target’s mouth so
he couldn’t scream out when he felt the needle stick him. I
motioned I was ready.

He grabbed the target’s wrist just as I
leaped onto the bed. I put my knees onto the man's arms and
shoulders and my hands over his mouth and held on tight. He put up
a bit of a fight but was soon quiet again, breathing evenly.

I looked to Mr. Black and he was replacing
the syringe back into the silver case. I crawled off the man in the
bed and went to the door. Looking out carefully, I noticed
everything seemed right. I turned and nodded to Mr. Black, who now
had the man on his shoulder.

Slowly I opened the door and made my way back
to the stairs, making sure Mr. Black was still right behind me. My
heart was bursting from fear and excitement and it was all I could
do to control my breathing. We slipped up the stairs and back out
on the deck. Cautiously we started to make our way back to the
awaiting motorboat when we heard noises coming from our
destination. Mr. Black set the target down and motioned me to stay
put. My eyes had become readjusted to the outside light and I saw a
man trying to pull the small motorboat back onto the stern of the
boat.

Mr. Black was on top of him before the guy
knew it, but somehow he managed to slip from the grasp of death and
knocked the silver box out of Mr. Black’s belt at the same time. I
saw the box fall and open on impact and the syringe rolled across
the deck. The man had it in his hands before Mr. Black knew it was
gone. The man came at Mr. Black with the syringe. He stuck the
needle into Mr. Black’s leg and scurried away from him. Mr. Black
was on his way to finish the job when he faltered and went down on
one knee. The next thing I knew he was lying motionless on the
deck.

What the hell was I supposed to do now? I
thought. The man was inspecting Mr. Black by the time I got up
behind him. I had been quiet and he didn’t know I was there. I
reached out and grabbed him around the neck, cradling it in the
crook of my arm. I grabbed onto my forearm with my free hand to
secure my grip. Mr. Black had just recently taught me this maneuver
and it had the choice of several outcomes. The man could either be
choked into unconsciousness or death or I could move my arms just a
bit and I would break his neck.

The man wriggled under my grasp and clawed at
my arms. His feet were kicking wildly and I knew choking was not an
option. He was making too much noise. I squeezed just a little
tighter and not only heard the crunch and crack of breaking bones
but felt it in my arms and chest.

I was immediately nauseous but repressed the
urge to run to the back of the boat and empty my stomach. Instead,
I set the limp body down on the deck and went to look at Mr. Black.
I was worried when I reached his side that he may no longer be
alive because he had told me the syringe held at least three doses
and too much would be lethal. But was relieved to hear a smooth
stream of air going in and out of his lungs. The syringe was still
in his leg and there was a little of the clear liquid left in it. I
pulled it out of his leg and retrieved the silver box and its
spilled contents and replaced them all into Mr. Black’s utility
belt.

This took me a little while and I became
aware of the time I was wasting so I hurried and dragged Mr. Black
to the waiting motorboat. Somehow I managed to get him inside. Then
I returned to where I had left our target and dragged him to the
motorboat. I had to fight with his and Mr. Black’s limp bodies to
get them both in the boat and not spill either one of them out but
I handled it.

Next I had to get rid of the body, but I was
afraid it would float and the rest of the inhabitants of the yacht
might find it. I decided to bring it with us. I slid into the
water. Grabbing the dead man by the shirt I pulled him off the deck
as quietly as I could. I kept a hold of the man’s shirt as he
floated next to me, and then untied the motorboat. Then I began to
push the boat forward and pull the man behind me. I did this for
what seemed like a very long time until I felt I was far enough
away from the yacht to stop for a rest. I could still see the
running lights in the distance but I figured it was a good sign
that no new lights had appeared in the darkness.