Shades of Grey: Book Two of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by Phelps, J. C.

  “It is somewhat urgent because Lacewell is planning on picking him up soon so I’ll call her and you call everyone else and have them meet me here at the office. I’ll need you and White too.”

  I did as I was told and as I finished up I turned to find White standing above me. I hadn’t heard him come into C.I.C. and wondered how long he’d been there.

  “Did you talk to my Dad?” I asked instead.

  “Yes. I guess the Bulgarian government doesn’t want to give Basar up just yet. The Admiral would have no trouble just taking him but doesn’t want to make waves unless he’s sure he’ll get results. He’s waiting on us. Another thing you should know,” he paused. “Penumbra is unreachable at this stage of the operation. She will kill Strom tomorrow if we don’t stop her somehow. Even if we are able to protect Strom for a day, I don’t know how long we will be able to hold out. Your mother,” he stopped short and corrected himself, “Penumbra doesn’t kill with only her sniper rifle. One piece of good news he gave me was that Penumbra was given specific orders to leave you unharmed. I’m concerned for everyone in this building but you.”

  “I told you protecting Strom wasn’t a good idea. I guess we’ll take it as it comes. Red wants us at the office for the Keffler retrieval.” I understood White’s trepidation but I didn’t feel it. For some strange reason I had become more calm than I had been in a long time.

  White looked at me curiously but didn’t say anything more until we reached the office. Gabriella was seated in the front office and White dismissed her until “further notice.”

  She knew better than to ask questions but that didn’t stop her from throwing me a dubious look. I only shrugged my shoulders and followed White into the main office.

  “Ms. Grey,” Red addressed me. “We got a package a few days ago and I haven’t had a chance to get it to you yet.” He walked to one of the closets in the room and pulled out a large box.

  What in the world would have come for me? I wondered. “What is it?” I asked.

  “Open it and find out.” White had a smile on his face.

  I did as I was told and was very excited to find a brand new sniper rifle with a scope.

  “This is mine?”

  “That was the deal we made at the cabin. I’m sorry we didn’t get it to you sooner, but you’ve been busy. So what do you think?” White’s smile was mirrored on Red’s face as he asked.

  “It’s beautiful.” I was nearly speechless.

  “Yep, it fits you,” Brown said as he walked into the office. “Let me see.”

  “Just a second. I just got it.” I refused to hand it over.

  “Are you going to let me fire a few rounds?”

  “If you’re nice,” I chided him.

  “It’s my turn now. Hand it over.” He grabbed for it.

  Brown and I fought like close siblings and I would have continued our game but Blue entered and walked in between us, deftly taking the rifle as he went.

  “Hey.” Brown and I said in unison. Green and Black had come in right behind Blue and they were now all in a circle admiring my rifle. This didn’t last long before they brought it back to me and White took control. I could tell he had taken the men off guard because of the looks being thrown around the room but nobody objected.

  White gave orders for Red to ready the interrogation room, Black, Blue, Brown and Green were to find Keffler and bring him back to the office with as little fanfare as possible and White and I would wait for them to return.

  *****

  Chapter Nineteen

  Within the hour the men walked off the elevator escorting John Keffler. As soon as the doors opened we heard Keffler yelling.

  “You have no right to question me!” White, Red and I walked into the hallway.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. We are an instrument of the United States Government and authorized to do whatever it takes,” Red told him.

  “I’ll sue you!”

  “You go right ahead. We are highly regarded and you are a known traitor. It will be your word against ours. Now please go with Mr. Black.”

  Keffler put up a bit of a fight, but Black had his arm behind him quickly and forced him toward the interrogation room on the same floor. All the men but White followed directly behind them.

  “Does it take them all to get him in there?” I asked as the men walked away with Keffler.

  “We would rather not put hands on people at all and sometimes Black’s size is enough to convince them to go on their own accord. If that isn’t enough we go in with a greater show of force. Maybe being surrounded by four or five unhappy men will convince him to talk.” White and I had been left standing in the hall since the rest of the men had gone to the interrogation room so we went back into the office to wait.

  I took the time to admire my rifle while the men were gone. I looked it over one more time and was about to replace it into its case when all the men filed back into the office.

  “Nice,” Green commented on the rifle.

  The men began to talk and Blue and Black came to join me.

  “May I?” Blue asked this time.

  “Of course.” I handed him the gun.

  “That’s a nice weight.” He hefted the gun a few times. “I think this is going to be a great rifle for you. When we’re done with this job, I’ll have to take you out somewhere so you can test it out.”

  “That sounds great. I thought you were going to question Keffler. Why did you come back?” I asked him.

  “He needs some time to cool off,” Black explained. “I think Red wants you to be involved in this one too.”

  “Why?”

  “Keffler was your client, plus Red thinks you need the experience.”

  We all admired the rifle for another fifteen minutes and it took me a couple minutes more to get it put back in the case. Then Red announced it was time.

  Red, Blue and I walked to the interrogation room and Red told me to go in and get the information.

  “Okay.” I made myself sound confident, but I wasn’t.

  “Blue and I will be right here, if you need help. Don’t be afraid to lie, intimidate or threaten. When you think you’ve gotten as far as you can, look into the mirror and I’ll send Blue in with his doctor bag.”

  I turned and walked into the room with the still fuming Keffler. This was so strange. I had never seen him upset like this. He had always been very polite and placid.

  “Bitch,” he spat at me.

  “I’m really sorry, Mr. Keffler. I need some information that you have.” I was having a tough time being cordial. I kept thinking about the money he had spent to have me killed.

  “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

  “We know it was you, and not Ed, who sold the plans for the guidance system. We have hard evidence. The N.S.A. is well informed of your actions. The only thing that can save you now is for you to come clean.”

  “You stupid little girl. I’m not telling you anything.”

  “If you don’t talk to us then you’re life is forfeit.”

  “And why is that?” His condescending demeanor was really irritating.

  “Right now, you’re just a traitor with nothing left to sell. If you tell us whom you sold the plans too, we might be able to talk the N.S.A. into actually trying you for the crime of treason instead of unleashing their dogs. You’re name is on a list and it’s coming up fast.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Do you know why I’m still alive? One of you’re very own hit men came to us with your plot. Do you know why he did that? He’s worked for us before as well as most of the others out there. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his regular paycheck.” I lied through my teeth.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His expression had become more uncertain.

  “Mr. Keffler, I’m just trying to help you out here. I don’t hold it against you; you were only trying to protect yourself. If you tell me who paid you, I won’t even mention the attempted murder
to Special Agent Lacewell. She works for the people who are holding Hincal Basar. You remember, the man you hired to kill your own nephew and two of your employees. My father is the head of the N.S.A. and he can be ruthless when it comes to national security. He is, however, Lacewell’s boss and my father. He loves his stupid little girl and if he knew you paid to have me killed, I’m sure he’d find a way to make you disappear. Then again, if he told Lacewell to go easy, I’m sure she would have to comply. What do I need to tell my father when he asks me about you?”

  “This is black mail. You’ve threatened me several times and I won’t stand for it any longer. I want my lawyer.” He rose from his chair.

  “Mr. Keffler, sit. You can make this easy or you can make it difficult. I’m going to be straight with you. We are not a government entity and that means we don’t have to play by their rules. You are not here to make sure the government can get a conviction. They already have what they need for that. You are here because the government is doing us a favor. We want you to tell us who you sent the information to and for what purpose. That is all, then we will hand you over to the N.S.A. Unfortunately for you we have a deadline to meet and the swiftest route is through you. My colleagues are outside this room watching this conversation right now. I was told to try to get the information we need out of you. If I can’t, they will come in to make sure we get it one way or another.”

  “If they lay one hand on me…”

  “They are well trained men. There won’t be so much as a mark. Mr. Blue is an accomplished doctor. He has means other than pain to make you talk.”

  “I’d like to see them try.”

  I stood from my chair and looked into the two-way mirror. Blue stepped in with his black doctors bag in hand.

  “Mr. Keffler, to be honest, we don’t care if you confess or not. All we want is some information. We have enough evidence already to get you convicted of treason and murder. You really shouldn’t keep the stolen files in a folder on your home computer.”

  “You can’t search my home without a warrant.” he countered with his eyes on Blue, standing just inside the door. Blue had opened his bag and was drawing a liquid from a vial into a syringe.

  “No one has, but I would bet that before you leave here, your home will have been searched and that information found. This is your last chance to give us what we want.” He sat silent. “I hope you understand that you have taken our choice away as well.” I left the room. Black took my place inside and all the rest of the men were standing in the small observation room.

  “He really doesn’t like you,” Red noted.

  “I wonder why?” Brown added.

  Blue was explaining what was in his syringe and Keffler’s eyes had become wild. White knocked on the glass to signal the two men to come out of the room before Blue could give him the shot. When they did, White said, “Lets let him sit in there for a few hours and think about it before we go that far. Brown and Green, take the first shift.”

  The rest of us went back to the office. When we got there the men broke up and Red came over to talk to me.

  “You did fairly well in there, but you threw out all your heavy hitters right away. Another thing you did was to give out too much information. If your father really was the official head of the N.S.A. we would have a problem and we still may have in the future. Remember to protect your true identity at all times. All in all, for your first time out and with no training, I’d say you performed satisfactorily.”

  I didn’t know if I should take this as a compliment, constructive criticism or a reprimand so I only nodded my understanding.

  We all sat in the office doing various things, trying to pass the time. I had my rifle in and out of its case more times than I could count. After little more than an hour had passed, I couldn’t take it anymore. I picked up my coveted piece of weaponry and walked toward the office door.

  “Where are you going?” Black asked.

  “I have to get out of here. Could I please go to C.I.C?” I didn’t want to ask permission but I thought it might be best to avoid a fight.

  “Why don’t we all get out of here for a while?” White replied. “Blue and Black, you can meet me down here in an hour. I’ll see what Keffler’s mood is like and if he’s ready to talk we can call you, Red. If not,” he gestured to Black and Blue with a nod of his head, “you two can relieve Brown and Green.”

  All of us filed into the elevator except Red, who was going to check on Keffler before he left. White and I were the first to step off and I followed him to his apartment.

  As soon as we stepped in I headed for the War Room. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had to do something. I couldn’t handle sitting around any longer. White followed directly behind me saying, “I’ve been thinking about this. We know Keffler is the guilty one and the only reason we have him here is to try to connect his crimes to Strom. What if Strom has nothing to do with Keffler?”

  “I’m sure he does. Keffler received no money for those data transfers and I’m guessing he was paying Strom off. If we can’t get Keffler to talk we only need to connect Basar to the two of them. I’m fairly certain my father can link Basar to Strom and we can link Keffler to Basar via the murders of Ed and Randolph but we need to connect him to the data transfers. Therein lies the problem, I hope Basar is connected to the treason as well as the murders.”

  “I’ve been thinking about some other things too.” My stomach turned at this. White had a way of making me tense with the simplest of things.

  “We are unable to contact Penumbra and she will come for Strom.”

  “So, let her come.” I replied.

  “You don’t understand, Alex. If we are protecting Strom when she gets here, she won’t hesitate to take any of us out. I’m not worried about you, me or any of the other partners, but I am concerned about Phil and his crew.”

  “So send them home like you did Gabriella.”

  “It’s not that simple. We are supposed to be protecting Strom after all and if I send our guards home the other partners will ask questions.”

  “Why are you making this harder than it already is? Tell the guys the same thing you told me about protecting Phil and his crew.”

  “It’s not that simple. You and I know she won’t hurt you because of who she is. She probably won’t kill any of the partners either, but outside help is a separate question. I can’t explain this to the partners without them asking questions we don’t want to answer. How are we going to do this?” He paused. “I want to bring Penumbra to us. I don’t want her to be able to take a shot from a distance. It’s the only chance we have to save Strom, but it puts all of us at risk. My men are highly trained and if we know what might be coming I’m confident we could stop her. If we didn’t know who she was it would be easy, but we don’t have that luxury anymore. That’s what makes this so difficult.” There was no need for me to add my input because he was essentially talking to himself.

  “What I want to do is put you in with Strom to wait for Penumbra. Out of all of us, you have the best chance of being able to explain things to her without force.” He went on to talk about putting Strom in a safe room somewhere. “All of us have a room like C.I.C. in our apartments. There are no windows and the walls are all protected with specialized graphite foam that absorbs acoustic and electromagnetic signatures. It’s also supposed to transfer heat better so it should be hard for her to use thermo imaging.”

  He brought his attention back to me and said, “Okay, this is what we are going to do. As soon as I get Red in to question Keffler I want you up with Strom. I will tell Phil to take his crew out of here and I’ll tell the guys it’s so Penumbra will have a false sense of security. I will shut off all the alarms making it easy for Penumbra to get to you and Strom. I will keep in touch with you through the phone and hopefully we will have what we need from Keffler before Penumbra makes her move. If not, it will be your job to convince her to wait. I’m sure you can do that. If nothing else, just call the Admiral
and have her talk to him.” He looked pleased with himself.

  “What if you can’t get the information we need from Keffler? How long do you want me to wait and do I just hand Strom over to her when we are done waiting?”

  “I don’t know.” The look of satisfaction had left his face. “I should have left well enough alone and not taken Strom in,” he sighed.

  “All right, we will just figure it out as it comes along. When do you think you’ll get in to start questioning Keffler?”

  “I don’t like going in without a definite plan, but I’ll think on it some more. As for Keffler, I’d feel more comfortable that he’ll talk if we wait a few more hours.”

  “How long do you think he’ll hold out because today is the last day we have before Penumbra makes her move. I’d like to have the information for her when she shows up.”

  “I don’t know. If we start the interrogation too soon we might have to use tactics I’m not comfortable with. Lacewell knows we have Keffler and because she knows, if we do anything too radical, it could get her into trouble and possibly ruin her case. I want to avoid that if possible.”

  “Tell me what you think of this,” I said. “What if you send Phil and his men home and if you get questioned tell everyone that my dad is the one who hired Penumbra but gave him specific instructions not to harm me. That should take care of any questions the men might have and we don’t have to divulge any information we don’t want to. I told you that you were making this harder than it really is.”

  “I suppose, but I feel like I’m missing something.”

  We ended our conversation there and each took a seat at different computers in the War Room. I didn’t know what White was working on but I decided to check into Strom’s background a little more. I had checked everything except his financial history and thought now might be a good time. Time passed quickly as I did this and soon White was saying, “I’ll take you up to Strom’s apartment. Phil, or one of his men should be there and I’ll have to be the one to dismiss them.”

  I was glad to get up from the computer because I hadn’t found anything compelling in Strom’s finances. As White and I rode the elevator he told me he would call after he’d had a chance to observe Keffler. When we stepped off the elevator I expected to see Phil but it was another man.