Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles (31 page)

“
Yes, sir,” I replied.

“
We should be there in about half an
hour,” he said and then it was quiet.

I watched the house, alternating between the
infrared and normal video. Nothing changed until after Mr. White
contacted me to tell me they were arriving. I watched Mr. White
exit the van we had used the other night. I was surveying the
entire area and saw there were three warm bodies just across the
street in another run-down house. I would have reported it to Mr.
White, but I also saw The Lion’s signal in the same building. Ok, I
know where the good guys are. I have to keep track of them. I made
a mental note of the body shapes and positions.

Mr. White was escorted inside the house by
the man who had been standing on the porch. I watched them walk to
the back of the house. Two of the three men that had been seated
stood. I assumed the one still seated was my father.

Mr. White handed one of the men something that looked like a
briefcase. I couldn’t hear anything, but it seemed the man was
agitated.

Just about then another vehicle pulled up and
three other men got out. I notified Mr. White of the situation but
he didn’t acknowledge. I heard one of the men say, “I don’t care
what you have here. You won’t get Stanton until I have The Lion!”
He was angry and yelling.

“
I have him available.” Mr. White
calmly informed the man.

“
I want him now, White,” the man
replied.

“
You’ll get him. My word is good. I
just want you to watch that tape first,” Mr. White said.

I saw the two of them go to another room in
the house where the man opened the briefcase. I heard The Lion
ranting and then heard him admitting proudly he had murdered
several different people. The Lion went into detail about how he
had killed every one of them and how the victims had reacted. It
was sickening.

This took a little time and I had been
surveying the area and reporting as expected. One of the three men
had begun snooping around at the van, another was walking around
the house and another was on his way to the house across the
street. I reported every movement. I didn’t get any verbal response
and was afraid they weren’t hearing me, so I started to give the
exact positions of every person starting with the three men
snooping outside. Finally I saw The Lion’s signal moving inside the
other house. I looked back to the infrared screen and saw one of my
guys, either Mr. Blue or Mr. Red escorting The Lion away.

Mr. White then said, “Now, do you still want
The Lion for the same reasons?”

“
I’m going to beat him to death,” the
man replied softly.

“
Good, as long as we’re clear,” Mr.
White said. “When I get the Admiral safely out of here, I will call
with The Lion’s location.”

“
That doesn’t work for me,” the man
said.

“
You either give me the Admiral or I
take him,” then added, “
we all just want to know our positions
in life.
” I assumed the last was meant for me so I gave his
position first and then the other man’s position again. Just then a
gunshot sounded from a distance and I saw the man fall to the
floor.

Mr. White walked over to him and helped him
up. “That was a warning, the next time will be fatal. My man
never
misses,” he emphasized. He helped the man, who was
cursing, back to the room that contained my dad.

I was scanning the area and had seen the shot
being fired through the infrared camera. It had come from where the
Lion had been just moments ago. Then the shooter moved away
quickly.

One of the men reached down and helped up my
father. Mr. White turned and led them all outside. The three men
that had come in another vehicle were placed at different intervals
around the van and house.

“
When I get the Admiral safely in the
van I will hand over The Lion,” Mr. White explained.

“
You better not screw me, White,” the
man said as Mr. White helped my father into the van and drove
away.

“
Is my dad okay?” I said into my
microphone.

“
Stay focused,” Mr. White’s voice was
firm. Then I heard my dad’s voice.

“
What?” He said.

“
I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t speaking to
you,” Mr. White replied.

It was quiet except for my voice reporting
the positions every thirty seconds. Then I heard Mr. White tell my
dad, “I need you to call in the whereabouts of The Lion to your
people. Tell them to hurry or they might not get him back alive.
You may want to have the local police pick them up because they
have people in the area.”

Then my father’s voice came over the
microphone. He was barking orders like he was a drill sergeant.
When he was finished, Mr. White’s voice came on again.

“
Ms. Grey, don’t lose The Lion’s
signal. Mr. Blue, Mr. Red, you can release the dog,” then I heard
him call the man at the house.

“
Company’s on the way,” he said. I
didn’t know if he was warning the guy or telling him to expect The
Lion. I watched The Lion walk out of the house and Mr. Blue and Mr.
Red started to leave through the back door. A couple of the men had
circled around the house that contained our guys and The Lion. I
almost missed telling Mr. Red and Mr. Blue about the two men making
their way to the back door because I was watching The Lion emerge
from the front of the house. Quickly I gave the positions of the
two men coming at them. They stopped in their tracks and waited for
them to come. I was torn between watching the tension unfold at the
back of the house and the violence directed toward The Lion in the
front.

Slowly the two men advanced and I reported
every step. Eventually the two men reached my guys. It was quick.
Mr. Red and Mr. Blue had them down before they even knew what hit
them. As far as I could tell it was painless, but fatal. They made
a quick escape after that. I continued to report the scene until
the police showed up. The Lion was beaten severely, but he wasn’t
dead. The men scattered, but they did manage to catch two of the
three still standing along with The Lion.

Mr. White’s voice came through the earpiece
again telling me I could stop my reports. He told me he was taking
my dad to get my mom and he was going to take them both home. He
said I should wait for him there and then he would take me home to
see them both.

I was grateful and exhausted. The pain
killers had worn off quite some time ago and if it hadn’t been for
the excitement, I would have been asleep long ago.

It was about two hours before Mr. White
returned to pick me up. I had fallen asleep and he woke me
gently.

“
Are you ready to go?”

“
Yeah. Do you need anything, or can we
just go?”

He shook his head no and we headed for the
outside world. I shut the door to his apartment and was inside the
elevator ready to get home.

“
How are they?” I asked as we rode down
to the garage.

“
They’re both just fine,” he
replied.

We were quiet the rest of the ride to my
house. Mr. White dropped me off at my parents’ door and waited
until I got inside before he left.

My Mom and Dad were sitting close together on
the couch watching TV; neither of them looked any different. Mom
stood from the couch when I walked in and Dad looked away from the
TV in my direction.

“
I knew you could do it,” my mom said
as she walked up to me and gave me a huge hug. “I knew you wouldn’t
let us down.”

I hugged her back, realizing how much I had
missed her and Dad. The tears welled up in my eyes. I didn’t need
to be in control around them. They were, after all, my parents. The
people I could go to if I had problems, the people I tell all my
joys and sorrows to.

Mom, shhsh’d me and Dad came to our side. We
all had a group hug with Mom and I crying and Dad holding us
together.

“
I missed you guys,” I said after the
extended hug. We all felt a bit uncomfortable, but I didn’t care.
“I didn’t realize how scared I was until I saw both of you sitting
there,” I sniffled.

“
We’re all okay now,” Dad said while
Mom went to get her and I some tissues.

The next few days were spent at each other’s
sides. I think we were all just a little afraid to let a family
member out of our sites. We didn’t do much, just hung out and
talked. I found out Abdullah Salah, A.K.A Mr. Jones, had been an
informant for my father for years. My dad had helped him find a
place to live in the United States and helped him set up his own
business in exchange for information.

I told them about the time I had spent at the
cabin and about my buck. I was becoming more proud of that darn
thing as the days passed. My mother strutted around with pride and
Dad tried to talk me out of working for White & Associates. I
seriously considered it for a few minutes, but told him I had never
been happier in my life. I was doing things I loved and learning to
love new things.

“
Well, if you want to do it, then I
guess you better do it,” was his final comment on the
subject.

We talked more about White & Associates
and I learned quite a lot more about the people I was working with.
My dad was full of information on all of them. Some of it he
willingly gave up, other things he said he’d save for another day.
I certainly didn’t get any names out of him, just personality
descriptions. He seemed somewhat fond of Mr. White, but tried to
hide it.

A couple days into our bonding, dad began to
work again. The government had let it be known The Lion was in
their custody and he was to stand trial for his crimes. In which
country he would stand trial first was an ongoing discussion. I
didn’t really care.

Things had begun to get back to normal. Mom
was back to her woodworking projects and Dad was back on his
computer. I had been sleeping at the main house on the couch and
decided it was time for me to return to the guesthouse.

I walked home and flopped on my couch. I sat
there for about an hour, just taking in the secure feeling I had
when the phone rang. I jumped off the couch at the sound and
realized I really didn’t feel all that secure.

“
Hello?” I said into the
receiver.

“
How are things?” It was Mr.
White.

“
Good,” I said.

“
Are you ready to come back to work?”
he asked.

“
Yeah,” I said. “I think I
am.”

*****

Discover other titles by
J.C.
Phelps
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Shades of Grey: Book
Two of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

Reflections of Grey:
Book Three of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

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