Edge of Grey

by Phelps, J. C.

  The sun was sinking behind the mountains before I was comfortable with it. The road was narrow, winding, and rutted. By the time I was only able to see what my headlights were illuminating I’d made up my mind. As soon as I found a clearing I pulled over and turned off the vehicle.

  My iPad was still receiving signal by some stroke of luck and I did a search of my current area. I figured out exactly where I was parked and searched the entire area for Mayhaffy’s possible lair.

  According to the satellite picture, I’d missed a turn a couple of miles back. I quickly studied a ten-mile radius. There were a couple of buildings that looked like homes scattered around so I’d have to be certain I found the right one before I took the shot. After I’d memorized the area as well as I could, I readied my rifle and stuck a few extra rounds in my back pants pocket. Then I struck out on foot.

  If I backtracked on the road, I’d probably be at the location in half an hour or less. I could have taken the more direct route, but that involved climbing up a peak and back down. That would take me most of the night. I just made sure to stay on the edge of the road in case a vehicle happened by. That was doubtful because I’d not seen any traffic whatsoever after I’d pulled onto the gravel road. The buildings scattered around the area seemed to be small. The remoteness and state of the road led me to believe this was more like an area hunters would congregate during hunting season instead of living here year-round.

  There was no moon so it was hard to see as I made my way down the road. It made me think of spending all that time out in the mountains in Wyoming when I was pitted against the men of one of our compounds and finally against Black. At least here I had a road, no matter how untraveled it might be. I took in the mountain air and a calm settled over me.

  The crunch of the gravel under my boots was loud in my ears and I tried to walk more softly. Still, I was able to hear noises off in the woods. An owl let out a cry some distance off to my right and I spooked something fairly large in front of me. I stopped in my tracks. It was probably a deer. At least I hoped it was. I imagined these mountains had mountain lion. I double checked to make sure I had a round chambered and continued my walk down the side of the road.

  About twenty minutes into my hike I saw the road leading off to my left. It was nothing more than a trail meandering off into the trees. It was no wonder I’d missed it. I continued my hike along the trail until I saw a dim light ahead.

  With my rifle at my shoulder, I peered through the scope and saw a small cabin surrounded by trees and an old red and white pickup truck sitting in front of it. I took a chance and moved in closer. I was careful where I put my feet. I didn’t want to leave too much of a trail.

  I could hear the rumble of a generator coming from somewhere near the building. That explained the dim lights emanating from the cabin.

  When I stopped the second time, I could see through the small window. My view didn’t cover the entire cabin, but it was a small enough void I decided to take the chance if my target was inside.

  The cabin reminded me of White and Associate’s cabin before they’d upgraded, except this one was even smaller and more rustic. It consisted of one room with a cot against the back wall, a recliner type of chair in the middle of the room, a shower curtain attached to the ceiling that was opened to reveal a five gallon bucket with a toilet seat on it, and a wooden countertop with a camp stove happily boiling something in a pot. A man stood with his back to me, stirring the contents.

  I watched him stir. I could only see the back of his head, so I didn’t dare take the shot until I knew for sure. I stood with my eye glued to my scope as I waited for him to turn around. Finally he did. My heart beat a little harder and a feeling of triumph rose up through my belly. It was him. I exhaled and pulled the trigger.

  I was close enough I heard the glass from the window shatter and something hurry off through the trees to my left. Then everything was silent. I still had a blind spot inside the cabin. I waited a few seconds to make sure he was alone. After twenty seconds, no one came to his aid and no one came running outside the cabin so I cautiously moved in closer.

  I'd watched my round enter his forehead just above his right eye. I was fairly certain he’d never get back up, but I couldn’t see his body. I didn’t want to do a half-assed job and claim it was complete unless I was one hundred percent certain. I had to be sure.

  Every couple of feet I took a second to check out the scene with my scope until I got close enough, then I backed up. I could finally see through the broken window. My target was lying on the floor with a pot of pasta spilled across his still body. The pasta sauce and the blood were both pools of red, but they were distinctly separate. There was no coming back from this one for Mayhaffy. I immediately started retracing my steps and covering my tracks as best as I could in the dark.

  It took me twice as long to return to my vehicle than to walk to Mayhaffy’s cabin. Everything was still quiet. There were no vehicles rushing to investigate where the shot had come from and no animal sounds up close or in the distance. My vehicle was untouched in the clearing. With the unloaded rifle along with the rest of the ammo in place in the back, I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the long drive back to Billings.

  It was about ten o’clock by the time I got back to the city so I looked for a hotel room. I found a cheap one and paid cash for a two night stay.

  After I got checked in I went directly to the shower and stood under the hot water for thirty minutes. I reminded myself that Mayhaffy deserved this. He had his wife killed for the insurance. He was a disgusting human being. So what that he’d not committed crimes against the state, he’d still done horrific things. So what if I was getting revenge for the man who actually set up the killing of an innocent woman. I was taking out a bad guy. I felt dirty solely because of where the job came from.

  After I felt a little better, I used the hotel phone to call out for a pizza and then used it to call Helix.

  “Hello?”

  Helix’s voice came to me through the line.

  “Helix. It’s Alex.”

  “Hey, girl! It’s been a while. How’re you doin’?”

  “Everything’s as expected. The reason I’m calling,” I said. “I have a rifle I need to get rid of. I could get rid of it easily enough, but I thought you might want it. It’ll need a new barrel, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  He asked me all the details and I threw in the information that only one round had been fired through it and it was located in Montana.

  “Montana? I don’t know. I’ll have to make some calls—”

  “Not a big deal. I can take it apart and get rid of the parts. I’ve done it before and to better rifles than this one,” I said.

  “It’s still a shame to waste good parts. Give me a few minutes and I’ll call you back at this number.”

  “Sounds good,” I said and then hung up.

  Shortly after I’d gotten off the phone my pizza showed up. I paid the delivery guy and sat down on my bed to eat. I hadn’t eaten since the day before. I hadn’t even thought about it.

  By the time I started in on my second piece my hotel phone was ringing.

  “Yes?” I answered.

  “I have a guy who’s interested, but he won’t be able to get it until tomorrow morning at the earliest. How do you want to do this?” Helix asked.

  I gave him the name and address of the hotel and said, “I want to be gone before he shows up so I’m glad he can’t be here until tomorrow. I’ll leave the door unlocked and the rifle under the bed. Your guy should be able to just walk in and claim what’s yours.”

  “Simple enough.”

  “Thanks, Helix,” I said.

  “How much you want for this little gem?”

  “Consider it a gift, as long as the barrel gets changed out and there will be no links back to me. Otherwise—”

  “You can count on me,” he said.

  “Good. Have a good night.”

  “Whoa. W
hen am I going to see you again?”

  He cut in before I could hang up.

  “I don’t know. Black still showing up in the early A.M. for his daily workout?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe one of these days in the afternoon.”

  He laughed his booming laugh.

  “Sounds like another simple plan. See you then.”

  “Night,” I said and hung up.

  I finished my second piece of pizza before I checked Mayhaffy’s account. All of the money was where I wanted it to be and I was confident my safeguards were sufficient to throw off all inquiries. I pulled the slip of paper with an account number written on it out of the envelope Jake had given me. I moved ten percent plus the exact amount of cash I’d also found in the envelope to that account number. Then I went to bed.

  I slept soundly in my clothes and on top of the blankets until almost four A.M. When I sat up I only had to rub my eyes and smooth my hair before I was ready to go. With the rifle and ammo neatly tucked under the bed I drove myself to the airport. I turned in the Trailblazer and made my way to the ticket counter. The flight I wanted didn’t leave for another hour so I bought my ticket and enjoyed a quick breakfast in the airport restaurant as soon as it opened.

  The return flight was uneventful. No one tried to talk to me at all. It helps to have a window to stare out for the entire flight.

  I was cautious as I exited the plane. I didn’t want anyone showing up to greet me at the airport. Everything was normal so I got into a cab and had the driver drop me off about a block from my new apartment. I stopped in the coffee shop between my apartment and White and Associate’s office building. I was taking a chance, but I was hungry and hadn’t had non-moldy coffee for a couple days. I grabbed a sandwich and ordered two large cups of black coffee and hurried to my apartment building.

  Once inside I was tempted to immediately check my recordings of White and Associates but decided I’d make sure my apartment had remained clean while I was gone.

  I pulled the bug sweeper out of the kitchen drawer and proceeded to sweep the entire apartment. All seemed clear until I set it down on the table and it beeped out a little warning. I hadn't expected to actually find something. I picked it back up and crawled under the table to get a visual of the device the sweeper was picking up. The machine gave another warning, but there was nothing in place where it chirped. I brought it back to the top of the table where my laptop and phone sat. According to the sweeper, my laptop was clean but my phone was not. I proceeded to open up the back of the phone and immediately found an audio receiver hooked into the microphone. I found the model number and looked it up online to make sure I knew everything about it. My research revealed the device picked up the actual audio from phone calls and didn’t transmit outside audio or even a GPS location. I’d gotten lucky.

  I immediately pulled White’s phone out of my back pocket and checked it. My heart dropped when the machine picked up another bug. I pulled the back off the phone and saw the same type of device that was installed into my other phone.

  I guess I couldn’t be surprised Mesa would bug me. I just wanted to know if Jake had anything to do with it or if he was as unaware of the bugs as I was.

  I left the devices as I found them and vowed to only use this phone for Mesa business. I wasn’t ready to let them know I knew about the bug or ditch the phone and have them searching me out so they could plant a new one. If they thought they could still keep tabs on me with this phone I had the advantage. But, I’d have to either disable the bug in White’s phone or get rid of it. Green had called me on that phone. Maybe that was how Eric knew of the men cutting me out. No matter what I felt about my partners at this moment, I didn’t want their business being shared with Mesa. Even if the men at White and Associates had forsaken me and it was unlikely I’d ever speak with any of them again I couldn’t take the chance they might call me on White’s phone again.

  I sat at my table and turned the phone over in my hands, then I did something I almost did several days ago. I threw the phone across the room. It hit the apartment door and broke apart, pieces scattering across the hardwood floor. There was no getting around the fact that White was gone. There was no point in holding onto that damned phone.

  My food was getting cold on the table so I unwrapped the sandwich and used my Mesa phone to dial Jake’s number. My appetite was gone, but I took a bite.

  “Alex?” Jake answered.

  “Job’s done,” I said over a mouthful of food. “I’ve transferred the amount Posner is owed to his account. I’ll transfer the remaining amount as soon as I receive payment. I’m assuming Posner lost my account number since I’ve still never been paid for slicing up Thomas so I’ll give it to you again. Write this down,” I gave him an account number for my payment to be transferred to.

  “About that,” Jake said. “Posner won’t pay you until he receives the full five million.”

  “I’m okay with that because I won’t transfer the remaining money until I get paid. I can keep the rest of the five mil. It’s safely tucked away already and has been since our last conversation. I think I’ve proven I’m trustworthy. Hell, I even refunded the measly amount he started me out with. I’m okay with calling it even,” I said.

  “No. Alex. You can’t do this,” Jake said.

  “Watch me. I get paid and then Posner enjoys his significantly higher payday. One thing you will learn when doing business with me is that I’m not going to get screwed. I will always come out on top. You can tell Posner that too.”

  I suspected Posner or Eric were listening to this conversation already.

  “Now, if he wants to play nice, I’ll oblige and do my part. I’m trustworthy, is he?”

  “Damn it, Alex. You better transfer that money,” Jake said.

  “As soon as I get paid.”

  “If you can provide proof that the job has been completed I might be able to convince him to pay you.”

  “If he wants to send someone to check my math I’m fine with that. Mayhaffy is at a small cabin in Montana,” I said.

  “Must be his little hunting cabin,” Jake said in an offhand way.

  “You knew about that cabin and didn’t give me a heads-up?” I said.

  “Hey, I asked you if you wanted help and you said you had it under control. Sounds like you really did have it under control. That’s if he’s really there and the job was done.”

  “You have until tomorrow to verify I’ve completed the task.”

  I hung up and turned my phone off. I almost threw this phone against the door too. I held off, for now, and set the phone on the table.

  As I finished my sandwich, I checked my account to see if Posner had transferred a payment to me, just in case he didn’t want to take the time to verify the job was done. The account was still empty.

  I wondered if he’d actually transfer a fair payment after he received confirmation. Maybe I’d have to make an example of him like he had me make an example of Mayhaffy.

  I grinned. Everything that was becoming clear to me was making me want to do nothing but erase everyone from my life one way or another.

  Posner had never been on my favorites list and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to take him out. Jake would benefit and so would I.

  There was no way I could walk away with Posner’s money and not be watching my back at every turn so I’d have to eliminate the threat. If I got rid of Posner, I’d definitely have a higher position in Mesa. I could even use this five mill to put a downpayment on Mesa after he was gone. Jake would work for me.

  Though the thought made me smile, I knew I’d do everything I could to get Posner to pay me like a good little employer should. I had no real want to own and run Mesa and I had no desire to take out the hand that had been there for me for the past several months. It was true I didn’t care for Posner, but he’d been there when everyone else wasn’t. Even if it wasn’t him personally, I felt a little gratitude to the man for giving me work. As for trying to help Jak
e, I was over that thought as soon as I had it. He’d pissed me off with our last few conversations. He clearly wasn’t firmly on my side. Jake was unreliable.

  MY SANDWICH WAS GONE AND I wanted nothing more than to begin analyzing the data I’d collected from White and Associates’ main office while I was gone, but I had one more thing to do.

  I opened up my laptop and removed the hard drive and snapped it in half. Then I took apart the iPad. I was fairly certain it was Jake or Eric who’d bugged my phone since I hadn’t had much contact with anyone else since I got the phone, but I wasn’t sure it was them and not my former partners keeping tabs. I was okay with letting whoever was listening hear my conversations, but I was not comfortable with letting anyone know what I did on my computers. I knew there were no external devices connected to the laptop or the iPad, but I wasn’t sure they were clean. I could have easily found out, but that might alert whoever was monitoring me. Not using the devices might alert them as well, but I couldn’t take the chance someone might find out more than I wanted to share.

  I gathered up all the pieces and made my way down to the street with them in a trash bag to hail a cab. The driver dropped me off at the nearest electronics store. I deposited the laptop and the iPad into a garbage can on the street as I walked in.

  It took me less than twenty minutes to get the attention of an associate and purchase a brand new laptop and iPad. They also carried prepaid cell phones so I picked up one of those, too.

  I was back in my apartment about an hour after I left. I hated venturing out during the day. All Green had to do was take a moment to enjoy the view of the city from his perch and he’d see me traipsing around on the street, so I hurried from the cab into the building.

  Once I was comfortable at my table, I spent a good amount of time going over all my personal information, double-checking that nothing had been disturbed. When I was convinced everything was untouched, I downloaded the audio and video of White and Associates office that I’d been aching to dig into.

  My recordings started around nine A.M. the previous day. I watched in real time for about thirty minutes before I got bored with watching Green sit at the desk and do nothing but useless paperwork on the computer. At least I can see the computer screen. I started fast forwarding everything and only stopped when I heard something in the audio or noticed an obvious change in the computer screen.