He walked in cautiously and Brown followed right behind him with the same attitude. Soon they yelled out to us that it was clear. Sometimes these men made me laugh. Inwardly of course because I did understand that things were touch and go lately. I have to admit I would have walked in much the same way they did if I had been alone.
I walked directly to the coffee pot and started a pot brewing. “I’m making coffee for you while I shower. There should be enough cups in here.” I opened a cupboard door then I turned and went to my bedroom. I made sure to grab the clothes I wanted to wear. I had learned my lesson with Phil. I wasn’t going to expose more than I wanted to.
While I showered I thought of White and Red’s conversation in C.I.C. and worked myself into a dreamlike state. If White really felt that way, he could be worth the trouble. I made myself snap out of it while I was drying off and getting dressed.
When I stepped from the bathroom Red and Ken Rafferty were sitting together on my couch deep in a discussion. White and Brown were at the kitchen bar and Green had joined them.
“Ah, just the person I wanted to see.” Green stood and brought me the copied hard drive.
“My exact thoughts, Green.” I took the hardware from him and gave him a smile. “I’m going back down to C.I.C.” I announced to the room. “Ken, you are welcome to anything here. There isn’t any food to speak of, just don’t snoop too much.” I headed toward the door and everyone except Ken and Red followed me out.
We rode the elevator back to White’s apartment and I went immediately to C.I.C. and plugged in Keffler’s copied hard drive. The rest of the men left me to my work and stayed in the main rooms of the apartment.
It was slow going because I checked every file that wasn’t entirely self-explanatory. Eventually I found what I needed. The idiot had saved the bank transfers to a folder. I probably still would have found remnants if he had deleted them, but he saved them. It turned out there were several other transfers that we didn’t know about. Then I got lucky and found a file with data like what I had seen at the K&G offices.
Keffler was thorough but stupid. He had kept meticulous records of the data transfers and their worth. According to what I found, he was paying for something with data. The first few transfers he made note of had been sent to his home and then onto Turkey. If he had continued on in this manner it may never have been questioned. Keffler was the owner of the company so it might not be all that unusual to transfer information to his home. I located all of the transactions to Turkey and by tying the few from his home to him, effectively tied the others to him as well. The only problem with that was the only proof I had of the transfer Ken and I found at the office was gone with the computers. I thought on it some more and decided that wasn’t entirely true, I had my paperwork I had smuggled out of K&G. I didn’t know if it was enough for the N.S.A. to act upon but I assumed that they could use all the information I could get for them.
The men all filed into C.I.C. “Ms. Grey, are you almost finished?” Red asked me.
“As a matter of fact, I’m just finishing up. What’s going on?”
“A meeting to bring everyone up to speed. I’ve spoken with Ken and gotten some juicy information and we’d all like to know what you know.”
Everyone got comfortable and Red began the meeting by outlining our current projects on the dry erase board. He had written the numbers one through four across the top and next to each of these he had a name.
Grey. 2.) Grimes. 3.) Strom. 4.) Stanton
He began by saying we hadn’t made any progress on finding out who wanted me dead, but we would come back to that. Then he went on to explain to everyone what White and I had found out about Ed Grimes and his cruise. He included the other three names we had found and that we had retrieved Ken Rafferty. He then mentioned that Strom was under our protective custody and by the looks in the room not everyone had known about that. Then he went on to explain the last name on the list. He told the men that we had received a new job from Admiral Stanton and it would be explained later.
“Now, I will tell you what I learned from Mr. Rafferty. Ken offered up some good information for us. As he tells it, Keffler bought the cruise tickets for him, Ed and Randolph. Keffler treated Ken and Randolph to the cruise because he was grateful they had reported the misuse of funds and data. Ken was a little suspicious because he knew Ed Grimes was the likely suspect and didn’t understand why Keffler would send him along with them. He chose to not ask any questions and cashed in his ticket to use the money to go home. I have since been on the phone with Lacewell and she tells me the bodies of Ed Grimes and Randolph Tabor were discovered stashed on the ship. So, we no longer need to look for Ed Grimes. However, White has informed me that Admiral Stanton has engaged us in a separate job, which may have ties to K&G Systems.” He took a break and looked around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention. “Admiral Stanton has asked if we can find a way to tie Strom to any type of major crime. So far, as it stands, we have no concrete evidence to link Strom to anything illegal. And as some of you know, Victor Strom is currently in our custody for his protection.”
“Protection against what?” Black asked.
“Penumbra.” White said.
“Are we in the business of protecting people from hit men?” Blue asked. “I mean, normally this wouldn’t be a question, but this is Penumbra we are talking about. Do we think we can protect him?”
“Or should we protect anyone from Penumbra?” I added. “My father gave me good advice and you should have heard it too. We should always ask who, in this case, Strom and Penumbra. What, well, that’s obvious, kill or be killed. When, what do we have left according to Penumbra’s card, a day?” Red nodded his head. “But he did say the most important thing is always why. Why Strom came to us is obvious. We have expertise at handling these kinds of situations, but the most important part is why Penumbra is after him in the first place. We all know, because of our recent research, Strom is not one of the good guys. So, it’s my assumption, Penumbra is going to take care of some of our government’s dirty laundry. Now the only question left is why did we take this on?”
“She makes a good point.” Red looked at White.
“Yes, but there is one more question. Why is Ms. Grey so against protecting Strom for a few days until we can put this to rest? I think it lies in what she isn’t telling us.” White looked at me in defiance, which made my stomach turn. By now I was feeling nauseous. Another major why that was going through my head right now was why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut?
“Do you have something to add, Ms. Grey?” Red’s voice was strange. I must have turned a very light shade because Blue started to walk toward me.
“Are you alright?” He asked putting his hand out to touch my forehead.
“I’m fine.” I pulled away. “I think I’ve explained my reasons for not wanting to get involved in anything against Penumbra quite well. I think he works for our government and it’s not prudent for us to get involved in a job that could possibly bite the hand that feeds us. I was once told that it was always a good thing to keep Admiral Stanton happy.”
“Ah ha!” White shouted. It startled us all and he found himself with many questioning eyes staring at him.
“Oh nothing. Sorry, I just had a thought.” White was thoroughly embarrassed.
“Share it with us.” Brown made his presence known.
“It’s nothing.” He looked at me for support.
I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that he knew who Penumbra was. He had put things together. Whether or not he knew the truth, I couldn’t let him tell everyone.
“He thinks he’s figured out who Penumbra is,” I said.
“Who? Do you know?” Red asked me.
“I don’t know, but White’s thinking it’s my father. Am I right?” I asked White. I gave him a look that told him he better fix this.
“Well, I guess so.” He gave me a questioning look back.
“It’s not my father. Don’
t you remember that he said he hires Penumbra on a regular basis? It’s not all that strange that thwarting Penumbra could be going against my father. So don’t think you know just yet.” I explained it away.
“Ms. Grey,” Red’s voice was firm. “Do you know who Penumbra is?”
I looked him straight in the eye and said, “No.” I’m getting better at this lying, I thought to myself.
“Then how do you know it’s not your father?” His voice still held firm.
“I’ve done some research like you asked me to and my father was at home with me during many of Penumbra’s exploits,” I explained.
“Okay. Does that make you feel better, White?” Red asked him.
“Actually, no. I was hoping I had figured it out. But it does change my thoughts if that’s what you meant to ask.” He was speaking to Red, but his eyes never left mine.
Red must have known that something was going on between us regarding this subject because he said, “I’ll let you two work it out then. Just keep me up to speed. Let’s get back to the business at hand.” He looked around at the faces for a moment and said, “I want to get back to the contract on Ms. Grey. As of right now we don’t know for sure who is financing this. If anyone has anything to add, now is the time.”
“Ms. Grey mentioned something to me about Keffler being the culprit in this case. She assumed if we were to find that Keffler had anything to do with Ed’s disappearance or that of the other men it could be a safe bet to assume he was involved with her troubles. I happen to agree with her and we now have evidence of Kefflers involvement, not to mention he has motive.” White put in.
The meeting continued in much the same way until we adjourned a few hours later. It was decided that Keffler was the most logical perpetrator to all the listed crimes.
Red volunteered to call Lacewell with our new information. What we gave her would be enough for probable cause so we could disregard Keffler until further notice. However, I was instructed to proceed with the investigation of K&G Systems to appease the Admiral and his suspicions that there could be a connection between K&G and Strom.
We would continue to hold Strom under our protection as long as we could or until we were able to connect him to a crime that would be substantial enough to convince him to give up information.
White had not mentioned Basar during the meeting and I followed his cue. I didn’t know his reasons but I wasn’t sure I wanted to irritate him at the moment. I was concerned he may actually know the true identity of Penumbra and if he did, hopefully he would do nothing to jeopardize that anonymity.
The men dispersed but I was stuck here because Ken was still using my apartment. When White and I were alone I said, “We know that my father has Basar. I want to know why you didn’t bring that up.”
“I want to talk to the Admiral about it first.”
“Really, since when does my dad decide what White and Associates does?”
“You need to find out who the data transfers were sent to.”
“What! Don’t change the subject. I think you’re stalling and I want to know what’s going on.” I had planned on being more amiable toward White today but most of the day was good enough for me. He was beginning to aggravate me.
“I’m under orders of my own.”
“From my dad? Quit handing me bullshit, Malone.” I used his real name for emphasis.
“Yes, your father.” He turned and went to the bathroom and shut the door.
I sat at the kitchen bar and listened to him turn on the shower. All the time he showered I thought about how angry I was. I went to the sink and turned the hot water on, full force. I was hoping I could flush him out of the shower. I wanted to clear the air.
Before long I heard a heavy thud and then White was cussing up a storm. I guess it worked, I giggled to myself. As I was shutting the water off, the bathroom door slammed open. There stood White, dripping wet with his towel only covering his front.
“What are you doing? You about killed me in there.” He was apparently mad at me.
It must not have occurred to him that I might see his rear in the mirror behind him. I was instantly embarrassed, but I said, “Nice reflection.” He reacted by quickly grabbing the towel up and covering his backside. Then he slammed the door shut. He had already been red when he came out of the shower, but I thought I saw him turn a darker shade.
I sat patiently after that and White eventually came back out of the bathroom in just his towel, but this time it was fastened at the side. He went straight to his bedroom without looking at me. A man, with his reputation, being embarrassed at something like this struck me as hilarious so I laughed openly.
“It’s not funny,” he yelled at me through his bedroom door, half-heartedly.
“Just hurry up. I want to get this done.” I became more serious again.
He came from the bedroom, fully dressed this time and came to sit next to me.
“This is what the Admiral needs us to do…” he began.
“Wait. When did we start working for my dad?”
“We have always worked for Admiral Stanton,” White replied.
“I don’t understand.”
“Admiral Stanton is the one who got me involved in this job in the first place. I was moving up in the Navy pretty quickly, but I didn’t want to become a “lifer.” He knew I was going to get out of the service so he made me an offer. I don’t know if you knew that I’ve been one of your father’s pet projects. Both Colin and I are. But Colin stayed and I left. That’s why Colin has such a problem with me. He thinks I’ve gotten the better end of the deal and I would have to agree with him. For one thing, I’m my own boss. I do have to answer to the Admiral for some things, but generally I have free reign. But in the long run, Colin may find that he doesn’t mind what the Admiral has planned for him. He’s to become my boss when your father finally decides to retire. He’s being trained to take your father’s place. I’m a little surprised the Admiral hasn’t moved him up on the ladder a little faster though. That could be part of Colin’s problem too. Is this helping a little?” he asked me as he went to get us some coffee.
“It makes sense, I guess. So, did I get the job because of who my father is?”
“Yes and no. I wouldn’t have considered making you a partner had I not known you were your father’s daughter, but I probably would have hired you for jobs. You are competent and teachable. We just weren’t looking for a partner at the time, but I don’t regret it. As a matter of fact, you surprise me on a daily basis. You make this job more interesting. I’m not saying that partnership wouldn’t have been offered at a later date either.”
“Whatever, go on with the story. I still have questions,” I said.
“After you brought up Penumbra and Strom to your father he kept in close touch with me. Since then I’ve told your father about the Keffler job and he decided we might be able to take advantage of it. He knew Strom was Keffler’s financial backer and is hoping there is some kind of connection. The Admiral has left me in the dark with some things concerning this job and I’m a little put out about it. I will admit I had a feeling he was connected with the Penumbra hit we assumed was out on Strom and I took Strom under our wing in hopes of forcing the Admiral to give me more information or finding out Penumbra’s identity. However, you say you’ve discovered that information already and it’s obviously upset you.” He took a sip of his coffee. “The rest of the partners don’t know about Admiral Stanton. However, I’ve felt you should know since you joined the company but the Admiral wanted to keep things the way they were.”
“Now that I’ve told you everything, you need to help me understand why you won’t tell me who Penumbra is.”
I just looked at him, then I looked around the apartment. I picked up a piece of paper and wrote the six-letter password I had used to access my fathers file on Penumbra. I flipped it over and told him about me hacking into my father’s computer thinking it was the government database. I told him about the password and how I
thought it could be the date he recruited her and then I passed the paper to him and said, “This is the six letter password.” The glee in his eyes while he read was more than I could stand. I broke down and bawled.
He came to me and drew me into his arms and let me cry.
“It’s alright. It’s actually really cool.” He tried to make me feel better after my sobs had subsided.
“You find out your mother is a killer and see how you feel,” I said, crestfallen.
“You’ll get over it, eventually. That explains why you beat Blue in the marksmanship contest. It’s in your blood. I think you have the coolest mother ever.” I looked up at him in disbelief and all my depression dropped away with the twinkle in his eyes. I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you,” I said and walked away. I didn’t go far. I walked to the bathroom to wash my face. Some women can cry and look good doing it. I wasn’t one of those women.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, White was sitting in the kitchen. I walked up to him and apologized for my behavior.
“I can’t understand what you are going through but I’m pleased you trust me enough to tell me.”
“So, what do we do next?” I asked.
“I’m going to call the Admiral and I want you to call Red and see if he’s talked to Lacewell yet. If not, I want us to bring Keffler in here for questioning. If he has, ask him to call her back and ask a favor.”
White went to his private line in the apartment so I went to the phone in C.I.C. to call Red. I didn’t know if he would be at his apartment or the office, so I tried the office first. He was there and had just gotten off the phone with Lacewell.
“Uh. We’re not getting anywhere. We need Keffler.”
“That can be arranged, but is it necessary?” Red replied.
“I don’t know what else to do.” I was exasperated.
“Let’s get this planned then. I would like it if he came to us. However, I don’t know how we would manage that. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Not at the moment.”
Shades of Grey: Book Two of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles Page 20
