Edge of Grey

by Phelps, J. C.

  I left the library content with accepting the job and had a car drop me a couple blocks from Lance’s house. It was fully dark by now and I managed to find a dark corner to hang out in while I checked out Lance’s house. I took the time to put on my gloves. The house was dark inside so I decided to take my chances and made my way to his back door.

  The key slid into the lock with no problem. As I turned the key, a loud click let me know I would be allowed entry. I opened the door cautiously with one of my pistols drawn. The door opened into a kitchen. Headlights swept across the room and I heard a vehicle pulling into the driveway. I stepped inside and shut the door as quickly as I could without making too much noise then I made my way toward the front door. I peeked through the slight opening between the curtains on the door window. Lance stepped out of a black Ford pickup and he was alone.

  I put my beanie on and backtracked to the hallway. With my back to the wall, I waited until I heard a key unlocking the front door. My heart did a leap and I took a deep breath. This would be a new one for me and I wasn’t all that familiar with the neighborhood so it might be tricky getting out of here without being seen. I knew the pop from the pistol would be heard by neighbors. This wasn’t the best thought-out plan. I kicked myself as I heard the front door open and close.

  Lights came on inside the house making me even more aware of how stupid this plan really was.

  I stepped around the corner and confronted Lance with my pistol drawn. I had to be absolutely certain it was him before I fired. It took me less than a second to be sure and I fired one shot into his head. My ears were ringing from firing my weapon in an enclosed space. I took two seconds to mess up his living room and then I left by the door I’d come in. Again, I took a couple seconds to break out the window in the back door from the outside so it would look as if someone had broken in.

  Then I sped across a couple lawns. I took off the beanie and gloves as I ran. When I looked less like a burglar, I slowed my speed and dialed Jake.

  “You still outside my hotel?” I asked.

  “Yeah. You want a ride?”

  “Actually I’d love a ride.”

  I gave him my location and I could actually hear the shock in the silence.

  “So? Are you going to come pick me up or not? I’m a little exposed out here,” I said.

  “Of course,” he said.

  I heard the ignition turn over.

  “I’m going to keep walking, but I’ll be in the area.”

  I hung up and stayed as close to the shadows as I could without being obvious.

  It was less than ten minutes later and Jake pulled up next to me. I jumped into the passenger seat and he drove off just before a police car went speeding past two streets over.

  “It’s done?” He asked.

  “It is.”

  Jake pulled out his phone and dialed.

  He put the phone on speaker and Posner answered.

  “Job’s done and I have Grey in my car,” Jake said.

  “Good. Bring her back to me,” Posner said and promptly hung up.

  “No. I’m not going back to the lodge with you,” I said.

  “Yes you are. I have my orders.”

  “And you just told me to trust you? I don’t want to go back to the lodge,” I said.

  “Sorry,” Jake said.

  I reached for the door handle and Joe’s voice came to me from the back seat.

  “Not a good idea, Alex.”

  He reached around and grabbed my arm.

  “What the hell?” I said.

  “It’ll be okay. I promise,” Jake said.

  I shook Joe’s hand off my arm and turned to look at him in the back seat.

  He shrugged and smiled.

  I felt like I did back at the drug refinery when they’d locked me up in their disgusting prison. Again I reached for the door handle and actually got the door open before Joe restrained me. Jake leaned across me and pulled the door shut.

  “Seriously, Alex. It’s fine. I’d never put you in danger. Posner just wants to show you his appreciation. Please trust us,” Joe said close to my ear.

  I shivered.

  Joe held me tight to the seat from behind for the rest of the ride to the lodge. He didn’t loosen his grip until Jake parked and came around to my door to retrieve me. Then Joe stepped out of the vehicle and the two of them each grabbed an arm.

  They marched me into Posner’s office.

  “Ms. Grey,” Posner addressed me with a smile on his face.

  I felt both Joe and Jake let up slightly and I took advantage of it. I pulled my arm free from Joe first and then Jake. Then I unholstered my pistol and smacked Joe in the side of the head with it. He fell to the ground and Jake stood dumbfounded until I raised it.

  “Move over there,” I said and hiked my head toward Posner.

  Joe was still on the ground so I told him not to move.

  “Alex,” Jake said. “I told you to trust us. Just hear Posner out before you do something stupid.”

  “Talk fast,” I said.

  Posner’s smile had become wide.

  “I don’t know how we ever survived without you, Ms. Grey.”

  “Tell me what you want and why they manhandled me back here or I shoot you next.”

  “I wanted to thank you for a job well done and offer you a sizable bonus, in cash. But, I’m not going to reach into my drawer to retrieve it while you’re pointing that at me,” he said.

  “Jake, would you do the honors?”

  Posner inclined his head to his top left desk drawer.

  “May I?” Jake asked me.

  “You better be damn quick or very careful,” I said to Jake. “I won’t miss and I plan to pull this trigger three times.”

  I’d just killed a man who worked for Posner. What’d stop him from having Jake and Joe take me out next?

  Jake left one hand in the air and pulled open the desk drawer with the other.

  “I have to reach in to get the envelope,” he said.

  I watched his hand shake as he reached in slowly. Thankfully he pulled out a large brown envelope.

  “Open it and dump it on the desk,” I said.

  He did what he was told and nothing but several bundles of cash fell out of the envelope.

  “Okay?” Jake asked.

  I didn’t move from my position.

  “Put the weapon away,” Jake said and started to walk slowly toward me. “You’re fine. It’s all good.”

  I lowered the pistol before he could close the distance and I backed away. Jake stopped when he reached Joe and offered him a hand up. When Joe regained his feet, I saw a small line of blood had trickled down the side of his face.

  “Now, put the weapon in its holster, Ms. Grey,” Posner said from his seat at the desk.

  “No thanks,” I said.

  “Suit yourself. Jake pick up this mess and carry it for her.” Then he addressed me again. “You don’t know how much trouble you’ve kept from the company, Ms. Grey. I’m absolutely indebted to you and should have another job for you in a day or two. This is turning out to be a lucrative relationship and I’m glad you suggested it. I only wish you’d lose the wounded animal mentality. I’m appreciative of the dangers a job like yours entails, but I am not your enemy. Still, it’s nice to meet a woman who can truly hold her own in a man’s world. You make me proud.”

  I make you proud? You had nothing to do with my training.

  Jake had finished stuffing the cash back into the envelope and walked past me and out the door with it. Joe followed right behind him and I stepped out last and shut the door.

  “Geez, Alex,” Joe said while wiping the blood from his face. “That friggin hurt.”

  “It wasn’t supposed to feel good,” I said. My heart was still beating overtime.

  “I swear we’d never do anything to put you in danger, Alex,” Jake said. “You really should holster your weapon.”

  I took a couple deep breaths and then replaced the pistol, but I could
n’t bring myself to take my hand off it.

  “Damn it,” Jake said. “I’m sorry. I should have realized you’d react like this. You didn’t react well when we put you in that holding cell. I should have just told you that Posner was going to give you a cash bonus. Let’s go back to your room for a drink? Calm your nerves. Then I’ll drive you back to your room.”

  I gave a slight nod and followed them to my room.

  “I don’t have my key,” I said when we reached the door.

  Jake nodded and pulled out his key. It opened my door with no problems.

  Again I brought up the rear. Nothing had been touched. My room looked exactly like I left it. Jake rummaged around in the cupboards and brought out three coffee cups and the bottle of Jack we’d been working on before I left. He poured us each about half a cup of booze.

  He set them all down on the table and I walked through the room to make sure everything really was still where I’d left it. It took me less than a minute to know my first impression was correct and the door probably hadn’t even been opened while I was gone.

  “I see no one went through my things,” I said.

  “I came in here shortly after you left, but I’m the only one who’s been in here,” Jake answered me. “Now sit down and have a drink.”

  I picked up my cup and downed about half of what was inside.

  “Thanks. Now I’d like to go back to my hotel.”

  “No way. You just knocked my head open. You aren’t getting off this easy.”

  I looked at Joe. He still had blood on his face making my insides twist in remorse.

  I went to my bathroom and brought out the small first aid kit and a warm wash cloth.

  “Here.”

  I reached for his head.

  “Let me clean you up.”

  The cut on his head was still bleeding, but it wasn’t deep. One of his eyebrows shot up and a devious grin grew on his face.

  “What?”

  I stopped wiping away the blood and he downed the rest of his drink.

  “Refill?” He asked Jake.

  “Not until Alex finishes hers.”

  “No. I’m done.”

  Joe leaned over and slid his cup toward Jake.

  “Hold still,” I said.

  Jake slid the cup back toward Joe.

  “Alex said no.”

  “Come on,” Joe said.

  I reached over and grabbed the bottle and refilled Joe’s cup. He reached for it, but Jake was faster since I was holding Joe’s head.

  “Not until you finish your drink,” Jake told me.

  I sighed and grabbed my cup and downed the rest of the booze. I half expected to drop dead from poison or pass out by being drugged. But, all of my fight had drained away when I saw the wound I’d inflicted on Joe.

  “I’m kinda sorry,” I told him as I spread some antibiotic ointment on the cut.

  “Kinda?”

  “Well, yeah. You did have it coming. I didn’t know what you were up to and a girl has a right to defend herself.”

  “True.”

  When I finished cleaning him up, I put the kit back in the bathroom and returned to the table.

  We talked for fifteen minutes before I asked to be taken back to my hotel. Jake said we’d each have another drink before we left and refilled my cup and Joe’s to the halfway mark. I noticed he didn’t refill his own.

  “I still don’t think I can trust you,” I said, but the alcohol had already taken hold. I downed the half a cup full of Jack and watched as Jake refilled Joe’s cup again.

  I waited for him to refill mine and I planned on getting up and dumping it down the sink, but he didn’t refill it. Instead, he picked up the envelope of cash and stood up.

  “Ready to go back to your hotel?”

  I nodded.

  “Want a wingman?” Joe asked.

  “No thanks, Joe. I can handle it.”

  “But you can’t handle her.” Joe laughed and led the way out of my room. “Night,” he called over his shoulder as he walked toward his own room.

  I staggered slightly as we walked to Jake’s car but righted myself before he noticed. The ride back to my hotel was quiet.

  “Thanks for the ride,” I said when we parked at the hotel.

  “I’ll walk you in.”

  “No. I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  Jake reached over and rubbed my leg. It sent a thrill through me.

  “I just held you at gunpoint. Are you serious?”

  “Hell yeah. That was the best part of my day. I really thought you might pull the trigger,” he said in a calculating voice.

  “I almost did. It’s been a long day and I’m going to go to bed alone.”

  I swallowed hard and knew Jake noticed because his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. He leaned over to me and pulled me in for a rough kiss. All of my senses left me except my sense of pleasure and I kissed him back. We fumbled around with each other for about a minute before I pushed him away.

  “Just a sec.”

  I held up my hand to stop him from advancing again. I had to catch my breath before I passed out. If I was going to make this leap now would be the time. I could blame it on the alcohol if I regretted it in the morning. Then there it was, White’s face popped into my mind and I felt ill.

  Jake must have noticed the change in me because he said, “I’ll break through one of these days. I’ll call you in a day or two.”

  “Thanks.”

  I stepped out of his car and walked a straight line into the hotel. Jake drove off. As soon as I was in my room I called a cab and told them to meet me a block over then I left the hotel.

  The kiss had sobered me up and I remained lucid until the moment I walked into my clandestine apartment. Then the effects hit me again. I crawled into my bed and went right to sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  I WOKE UP WITH A headache and I didn’t have any painkillers. When I sat up it got worse but I embraced it. I deserved it because of what I’d dreamed about last night and was still considering while awake.

  Jake had permeated my every thought and it irritated me. Still, I couldn’t shake the compulsion. I had to do something to keep my mind off of him.

  I hadn’t taken the time to check the apartment for bugs when I stumbled in last night so I did that now and was met with a clean apartment and my new phone was still clean. The Mesa phone still set off the sweeper and for some reason the alarm was reassuring. I guess everything was as it should be. My preoccupation with Jake returned.

  My finger hovered over his number programmed into my phone, but I didn’t press the button. Instead, I put my phone down and paced around my apartment for twenty minutes. If I called him directly, I was caving in to the temptation. I wasn’t ready to admit defeat.

  I regained my phone and dialed Helix’s gym.

  When he answered, I asked him if Black had been there yet. He said he was still there.

  I sat quietly for a few seconds before I asked, “How long has he been there?”

  “About an hour. You thinkin’ about coming over?”

  “Yeah. You think you can line up some sparring partners for me?”

  “You know it.”

  “I’ll be there within the hour,” I said.

  I looked out my window and noticed no one was in White’s office so I took a chance and jogged from my apartment to Helix’s gym. I was outside the front doors about forty-five minutes later and peered inside.

  Black was still there so I turned to leave. I couldn’t do this. When I turned around, I was met with Jake directly in front of me.

  “I wondered if I’d find you here. You here to work out?”

  “Yeah, but Black’s inside,” I said.

  My call to Helix served two purposes. I wanted to know if Jake was monitoring my calls and I wanted to see Jake. His presence in front of me told me he was monitoring my calls or he’d gotten lucky. I suspected he didn’t get lucky. I smiled inwardly because my plan had work
ed. Last night had left lingering feelings. Still, I thought Black would have been gone already.

  “What’s his normal routine?”

  “When he goes alone he’s usually out of here in about an hour and he’s already been here almost twice as long.”

  “Let’s go sit in my car for a little while then,” Jake suggested.

  “Okay.”

  I followed Jake to his car. We sat quietly for a couple minutes and the fevered kisses we’d shared last night kept entering my mind. Eventually, Jake started talking about the next fishing trip to South America and asked if I’d like to go again. I wouldn’t be the new guy so they wouldn’t make me walk to the refinery. I declined and we chatted about other jobs I could maybe do with Jake later this month and next.

  Finally Jake said, “He’s not leaving. You want to go in or leave?”

  I sighed.

  “In. I guess.”

  I wasn’t looking forward to this. This would be an uncomfortable meeting, but I couldn’t avoid my ex-partners everywhere. If I started making appearances here and there, they’d get used to seeing me again and passing in public would become easier.

  When we stepped out of the car Jake went to his trunk.

  “I have to get my gym clothes. I’ll meet you inside.”

  I didn’t want to walk in alone, but I didn’t want to admit that so I left him to dig through his trunk and stepped inside the gym. Black didn’t notice me come in and Jake was right behind me before I got two steps inside.

  “I’m going to go change. I’ll be right out,” he said and left me standing there while he went to the locker room.

  Helix stepped out of his office and greeted me in his normal boisterous way. This got Black’s attention and he stopped what he was doing. He grabbed his towel and wiped his face and started to make his way toward me with a determined look. I caught Helix shaking his head at Black just as Jake stepped out of the locker room. Black saw him and the determined look on his face changed to one of agitation. He dropped the towel into the bin and picked up his bag while Helix was shaking Jake’s hand.

  “Grey,” Black greeted me with a nod as he passed us and walked out the front door.