Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles (6 page)

“
Look, Army Boy,” I said. “I told you
I’m drunk and I just stood up too quick.”

“
How did you know I was in the Army?
Who the hell are you?” He reached for me and I ducked out of the
way. While I’m down here, I thought, I’ll just knock him off his
feet. I struck out with a sweep of my leg and brought him down
hard. I was back on my feet and almost sober. I was quite a lot
slower than I normally would be and that pissed me off. I should
give up drinking all together.

I wonder if Colin knew this guy too. How else
would he know that he was from the Army in a town full of Navy men?
What a creep, he could have told me.

Army Boy was back on his feet and he was
acting like a boxer, jumping around with his fists covering his
face.

Boxing was never one of my interests. He
jabbed at me and I sidestepped. He almost missed me. I wasn’t fast
enough and he caught me in the shoulder. I went down to the
pavement, but hey, here I was again. I struck out again and again
he went down hard. Some people never learn.

I got back up and so did he. Now he was
really pissed. I think I could see steam coming from his ears and
nose. I laughed in spite of what I was facing. I put him at about
230 pounds. That meant he outweighed me close to 125 pounds. This
guy could NOT hit me anywhere substantial.

I gave my head a shake while he danced
around. I bet we looked like a pair of idiots. I was trying to
clear my head of the whiskey but it wasn’t working. How the hell
was I going to take this guy down? If I hit him square in the jaw I
think I might break my hand and he would squash me.

“
What’s wrong with you man?” I asked,
trying to buy myself some time to think. He had another coming at
me before I could think of anything so I dropped and he missed me
again. Guess what, I’m back. Down he went again. Didn’t his mother
teach him to think ahead?

I was up and on top of him before he could
get back up. I had both of his arms behind him and pulling for all
I was worth. He was a brute and I couldn’t get him exactly where I
wanted him. He stood up and I was getting a piggyback ride. Being
the cocky person I am and drunker than a skunk, I hollered, “Giddy
up, bitch!”

Army Boy was turning around in circles so I
checked out the scenery. No crowd yet, thank goodness, but standing
against a black 1969 Mustang, with his arms folded and a
disapproving look on his face, was Mr. White. All right, now I’d
had enough. I released my captive and jumped down.

“
Time to get down to business,” I said
quietly.

Army Boy had resumed his fight position as
well as I. He was jumping around, doing some elaborate dance and I
stood there completely relaxed on the outside and a ball of energy
inside, waiting for his next move.

“
Are you serious about hurting me?” I
asked him while he skipped around like a fool.

“
You’re damn right.” Then he took a
wide swing at my head. I ducked and thought, ‘this is too easy’. I
didn’t take the opportunity to knock his feet out from under him
this time but instead I ended up behind him.

He twirled around. I could see Mr. White
behind him still with his arms folded in front of him but with a
slight smile on his face.

“
You’re dead!” Army boy screamed and
ran for me. I took a small step to the side and he ran straight
into the side of the Crown Victoria. I couldn’t help it, I
giggled.

I hadn’t been in a fight for close to a year
now and it had been several years since I had sparred with someone
with a little more experience than a street fighter or a drunk.
Army Boy spun himself around again.

“
Are you getting dizzy?” I asked. I had
my hands in my back pockets to show that I wouldn’t hurt him if he
quit. “If you want to persist in this you’re going to end up
getting hurt. You know that don’t you?”

He yelled something that I couldn’t
understand and I don’t think he did either. Then he started
bouncing around again.

“
You know, if you keep jumping around
like that you’re going to make yourself tired. And it bugs me,” I
added.

He took another swing but this time aimed for
my middle. Getting smarter. Only I caught his fist in mid swing and
pushed back hard on his hand. His wrist cracked and I winced. I
never liked breaking bones.

Army Boy screamed and clutched at his arm. At
least he had quit jumping all over the place like a hyper poodle.
“You bitch!” he yelled. “You broke my wrist.”

“
Are you done then?” I
asked.

“
Fuck you!”

Mr. White walked over toward us and Army Boy
got a surprised look on his face. He hadn’t even known that Mr.
White had been in the lot watching us, but I was sure he had
started Army Boy on his way to beat on me.

“
Nice job, Ms. Stanton,” he said. He
nodded somewhere off behind me.

“
Please call me Alex. And what the hell
was that?” I yelled. Then two men, one with a similar build to Mr.
White and the other with more muscles walked, up beside
me.

“
Let me introduce you to Leonard.” Mr.
White indicated Army Boy.

“
Nice to meet you.” Then I looked to
Mr. White and said with my hands on my hips, “I don’t appreciate
being set up.”

“
Set up?” He raised his eyebrows at
me.

“
Yeah, set up. There was no reason to
sick your dog on me.” I was getting frustrated.

“
I didn’t sick anything on you,” He
replied calmly. “I was waiting to make sure you made it home
safely.”

“
So you think I can’t take care of
myself?” I asked incredulously.

Mr. White’s hands came at me quickly trying
to grab for my arms. I deftly maneuvered away. We made a half
circle within his circle of goons then he reached up and grabbed my
shoulder that Army Boy had tenderized. I saw spots and the next
thing I knew I was laying back on the hood of his car with him
leaning over the top of me. I wondered if he carried his gun in the
front of his pants. I hoped so, kind of. We lay there for some
time, with me breathing hard and him hardly breathing at all. We
were looking into each other’s eyes and I felt an energy there. The
question was, did he feel it?

“
You cheated,” I said
finally.

“
No, I took advantage of a situation,”
he explained.

“
Yeah,” I said by way of dismissal and
he let me up.

“
This is Mr. Black and Mr. Blue,” Mr.
White said with a grin.

I gave him a sidelong glance. Then he said,
“I think it’s fun to put them together on jobs, what with their
names.”

He got a smile out of me.

“
I’m quite impressed,” he said. “I
didn’t expect you to be too proficient in fighting, considering
your size.”

I stood there in a daze from the way he
smelled and didn’t catch much of what he was saying.

“
I’m sorry, Mr. White,” I said. “I’m
really drunk and I think I’m going to be sick, please excuse
me.”

I went back inside just as the cab was
pulling into the lot. I didn’t have time to tell the driver that I
would be right back so I ran in to use the restroom. After a few
minutes I came out of the stall and washed my face. I felt better
except for my shoulder.

I walked back outside to find the cab was no
longer there. Black and Blue were gone and so was Leonard. The
Crown Victoria remained and so did Mr. White.

I was too exhausted to go back in and call a
cab so I did my sexy walk over to Mr. White. Maybe my premonition
on the dance floor could come true yet. I couldn’t help it. I had
been celibate for almost a year and everyone knows, once you’ve had
it, you want it again. I had had some chances but I was chicken and
they weren’t pushy enough. I would have given in eventually.

“
Would you mind giving me a ride?” I
asked. “I don’t know what’s up with the cabs tonight. They won’t
wait for two minutes.”

“
Leonard sent the first one away and I
sent the second one away,” he replied. “Get in.” And with that, he
was behind the wheel of his beauty.

I poured myself into the bucket seat and
buckled myself up. “You know where I live?” I asked.

“
Yep.”

*****

I woke up in my bed still in my clothes from
the night before. I don’t know how Mr. White got me in here, but he
did. I sat up and then fell right back down onto the bed from the
pain. I had a monster headache and I didn’t think I could move my
arm. I looked at the time on my alarm clock. It was 7:00 AM on a
Sunday and I was awake. What the heck was wrong with me? I must
have gotten home fairly early.

I made myself get out of bed to take some
ibuprofen. Then I managed to get my clothes off. I put on a t-shirt
and went back to bed.

The phone woke me up at 11:00 AM. I got out
of bed and the hangover was gone, but my whole left side hurt, not
just my shoulder or arm, I hurt to my toes.

I picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“
Good morning.” It was Mr.
White.

My heart skipped a beat and I got that giddy
feeling again. “Good morning.” Chief Slade had taught me to keep an
even voice through most anything. Never let your voice give you
away.

“
How are you feeling?” he asked. It
seems Chief Slade had taught White the same tactics.

“
Better,” I said. “How did you get me
into the house?” I asked.

“
I found the keys in your pants. It was
a challenge to get them out though.”

I blushed. “I’m sorry about falling asleep in
your car,” I said.

“
Not a big deal. Do you drink often?”
He asked.

“
No. It gets me into trouble. If I had
been sober I could have avoided that fight all
together.”

“
I see. Put some ice on that shoulder
and be at the office by 6:00 tomorrow morning.” And he hung up.
Great. I was too tired to even think about getting up at 6:00 in
the morning.

I grabbed an ice pack out of my freezer and
pushed it to my shoulder. I winced and hoped he hadn't broken
anything. Other than the time Anthony hit me I had never been hit
before in a fight and I hoped I was never hit again. I was only a
little stronger than the average woman of my size but I was quick.
That was my greatest asset, my quickness. It gave me an advantage
because I could get out of the way before I got hit.

Well, at least I didn’t have a black eye.
When I came home with the black eye that Anthony so graciously
bestowed upon me, my mother flipped. She was furious. When I walked
in the door she drew in a deep breath and in that Motherly
concerned voice said, “What happened? Are you okay? Did you get
into an accident? Where’s your car?”

“
Anthony hit me.” That was all I was
able to get out before she was out the door. I guess she drove to
his dorm and when he opened the door she clocked him in the nose.
Then she told him, “There, now that aught to teach you to hit a
girl.” And with that she turned and walked away. I heard all of
this whispered behind my back everywhere I went. Mom never told me
about it and neither did Anthony.

By the time she got home I had explained it
to my dad. I wouldn’t have told him but he caught me leaving and
asked what happened to my face. After I explained what happened he
said, “Well, I’m glad you broke his arm. A man that would hit a
woman unprovoked should be put down.” And by put down he didn’t
mean down to the ground he meant put down like when you have to
shoot your horse because it broke it’s leg.

I sat on my couch flipping through pages of
the latest book that I had been reading but I just couldn’t
concentrate on it. I was dying to get over to the main house to
talk to Dad. If Colin knew Mr. White maybe my dad did too. Also, I
wanted to grill my Dad about his “job.”

I got to thinking about that, I didn’t even
know where it was my dad went to when he went to work. He didn’t
hold a regular job with nine to five hours, Monday through Friday
either. He came and went on whatever day of the week it happened to
be. He spent most of his time in his office at home though. There
were times he was gone for a few weeks, but that happened less
frequently now.

I collected myself up off the couch and
walked to the main house. I walked through the back yard to the
back door. The main house was a good distance from the guesthouse.
I could be having a rave at my place and the main house would be
oblivious to any goings on.

I went in through the back door into the
kitchen/dining room. The house was mostly open and I could see
through the kitchen and the living room to the front door. There
were rooms to my right. The laundry room connected to the kitchen,
then under the staircase, leading to the second floor, was the main
bathroom. The second floor was nothing but bedrooms and bathrooms.
There was a hallway between the laundry room and main bathroom,
which lead to the other half of the house where I would find the
library and my dad’s office.

My parents were nowhere to be seen. Mom was
probably working in her shop outside. She had recently gotten
herself some power tools and was currently into woodworking. Dad
was more than likely in his office.

I walked through the hall toward the second
half of the house. The library was as large as the living room and
about a third of the kitchen. My dad’s office was nestled into the
remaining part of the house.

I knocked on the door and Dad said,
“Yes?”