Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by J. C. Phelps

  I got to the rest of the paper work and was a bit shocked at the questions. They were questions like, “Do you think it’s what you know or who you know?” The type of questions that are meant to figure out your personality. I didn’t know what they were looking for so I wasn’t sure as how to fill out the questionnaire, so I just told the truth. I answered that I thought it was both, so on and so forth.

  The next batch of questions was all of a military nature. “How long would it take you to field strip an M-16?” “How would you take control of a small country?” That kind of thing. What kind of job was this? I answered all those questions too. This was becoming more and more interesting. I might like this job, if I got it. It seemed to me that they were a little against the woman being in this work environment though.

  I will admit, not too many women had the military training that I had without actually going into a branch of the military. They definitely wouldn’t be out yet at my age and have the training completed. Well heck, I’ll admit it; probably no other woman had the training that I did. This job might be just what I was searching for.

  I was beginning to wonder what kind of company this was. I had been curious before I reached the office building, but everything from the marble floors to the man in the other room had piqued my interest immensely.

  Within fifteen minutes I had filled out the entire batch of paper work and walked up to Gabriella to give it to her.

  She stopped typing on her computer, reached for my application, then said, “Thank you, we will let you know if something comes up.” And then went back to typing whatever it was that she was working on before I walked up to her desk.

  I said, “I thought you would see if Mr. White would be available to talk to me if I filled everything out.”

  This got her attention and she looked through the papers to make sure I had filled out everything and left nothing blank. After about a minute she looked up at me and said, “Please take a seat. I can’t believe you got it done that quickly. I’ll take this in and he’ll let you know if he would like to speak to you.”

  I felt a surge of excitement. Soon I could be sailing away on a beautiful cruise ship and getting paid for it. This could be ship security or something. I should have done something like this a long time ago. This was fun.

  I went back to my seat with a view and watched Gabriella hand Mr. White the stack of papers. He was still on the phone and had put his hand over the receiver. He looked from Gabriella directly at me. I could see that he had a questioning look on his face. He told her thank you and she headed back toward her desk. I saw the mysteriously handsome man hang up the phone and look in my direction one more time as Gabriella shut the door to his office.

  “He should be with you in less than half an hour. He always likes to look over the entire application before he speaks with someone,” she said through a smile as she was sliding back into her chair. She had gotten over her surprise and was genuinely enjoying this. “Do you really have that kind of experience?”

  “I’ve had training on everything listed, yes. But I’ve never put it to use other than playing war games with my instructor”, I admitted.

  “Well, I think you shocked him and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him shocked at anything. If you get the job this is going to be great. I’d love to have another woman around. I get tired of seeing nothing but customers and men who take too many steroids.”

  I kind of liked Gabriella and didn’t mind looking a little stupid in front of her so I came right out and asked, “What kind of business is this?”

  This brought another shocked look and then a smile. “You really are something. First, you come here without even knowing what kind of a job you are applying for, then you are more than qualified and then you tell me you don’t even know who it is that you’ll be working for,” she said as she shook her head. “We are a bit like a private investigation outfit, but we do other things as well. Recovery of people and property, surveillance, and sometimes we even break into banks, sometimes. The company name is White and Associates.”

  Wow! I didn’t even know this place existed. I have tons of book knowledge and physical training, but when it came to the real world I was a bit sheltered. I had been kept at home most of my childhood and only had the past five years or so of being in the real world. College doesn’t count, it’s not even close to the real world unless you work your way through and I had had my way paid in full before I even stepped foot on campus. I worked at a computer all day and didn’t have much of a social life so I still wasn’t really in the world of the living. Not to mention I still lived at Mom and Dad’s. I got some stuff off TV but other than news, how much of it are you supposed to believe? Then it sank in…

  “Break into banks?” My voice was an octave higher than normal.

  “Oh, sorry,” she giggled. “Not to steal things, but to test the security system for the bank,” she said with a large grin on her face now.

  “Oh,” I said regaining my normal voice. I worked my way back to my seat no longer with a view and sat down. Gabriella went back to typing with a grin and I waited.

  I didn’t have to wait long. Mr. White buzzed Gabriella on the intercom within five minutes and in this absolutely wonderful voice said “Gabriella, send in Ms. Stanton please.” Very businesslike, but deep and smooth like butter. His voice was as good as the rest of his body. I now knew who I would fantasize about, at least until I got to know him better. Once you know a person well enough it seems like they aren’t usually worth fantasizing about. I was going to take advantage of this one before I found out he was a putz. Bosses usually turn out to be putzes.

  Gabriella gave me a funny look that I couldn’t decipher, almost scared but yet sympathetic and still hopeful. “Good luck.” She said this with some emphasis that made me think she really wanted me to get the job.

  I walked into Mr. White’s office. He was in his chair facing the windows away from me, but the shades were drawn. I had all the confidence in the world. Then he turned around and I lost it. My confidence went south, right out of my toes and onto the floor in a little bubbly puddle. My brain quit working, all I could think of was how sexy he was. Get a hold of yourself I told myself. He’s just a man, good looking, but just a man.

  I stood there looking at him in his chair and he waited for me to sit. Finally he said, “You can take a seat.”

  Quit being such a dork I thought as I sat in the straight-backed chair directly in front of his desk. It seemed to me the office had changed in the short time since I had looked in on it from the front office. I didn’t remember seeing any other chairs in the room and now this one was right here. The chair was ugly wood and uncomfortable without upholstery and placed just out of reach of the desk. It stood out from the rest of the décor of the office. Very unlike the rest of the room. There was a heavily cushioned black couch not far from Mr. White’s desk and four other chairs in the room that matched the couch and looked very comfortable.

  This reminded me of the times Chief Slade had screamed at me in a mock interrogation. Was that what this was, an interrogation, not an interview? Weird. I set my mind to be interrogated just for fun and practice. I put my small knowledge of yoga to use. I tried to slow my heartbeat and listened to myself breathe. He was just sitting there with an inquisitive look on his face directed toward me, like he expected me to say something.

  Chief Slade had yelled and screamed at me that you DO NOT speak until you are spoken to. I didn’t dare speak even if this wasn’t an interrogation. I felt the fear that Chief Slade had told me about, but I had never felt it with him across the table. My dad was paying him so he wasn’t all that scary. He might smack me a good one in the back of the head, but he would have never drawn blood or broken bones. This guy was different, he had that look. I hadn’t noticed it before because I was so infatuated with his rear end and mysterious looks. But I noticed that wild look now. I could tell he wasn’t just mysterious, he was dangerous. If this really was an interrogation, I was
lucky that I hadn’t sat before I was told to do so.

  As the minutes ticked by my fear grew but my gaze didn’t falter. Mr. White didn’t even blink. It seemed like hours had passed. ‘This is pretty strange,’ I was thinking when he said, “Good. Now, Ms. Stanton, what branch of the military were you in? I didn’t see it listed on your application.” The dangerous look was still there but pushed a little deeper than it had been just a moment before. His eyes were still dark and boring a hole into my soul.

  I was still afraid to talk but I managed to tell him, “I’ve never served in the military, sir.”

  “Where did you train at?” he asked with raised eyebrows. The dangerous look wanted to return but he kept it subdued.

  “I was lucky enough to come from a family with means and I received my training at home from Chief Slade, sir,” I replied.

  This brought a look of surprise that was quickly suppressed. “Is that so? I served under Chief Slade myself. I didn’t know he’d gone into the practice of servicing the civilian sector.”

  The last sentence was spoken with a hint of sarcasm and disbelief. This wasn’t going too well. I got the distinct feeling he was looking at me as an enemy and not a potential employee.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” I said. “My father is affiliated with the Navy. That’s how and why I was lucky enough to be a student of Chief Slade.”

  “Your father would be…?” Again with the eyebrows.

  “Admiral Robert S. Stanton… sir,” I replied. I hadn’t been involved with my military training for some time and was a bit rusty and actually had never been perfect. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  “Admiral Robert S. Stanton? Now that’s very interesting. Didn’t he leave the service before he reached Admiral?”

  “Yes and no, sir. I’m not sure as to his exact title, but I do know that he is and has been for some time now a commissioned Admiral, sir.” What an idiot I was. I was twenty-four years old and I didn’t know what my dad did. Why didn’t I know? I had never really questioned it before because I had never had to explain it, I guess. As soon as I got home I was marching straight over to his house to ask him what the heck he did for the government!

  “I see.” He started to look through the mountain of paperwork like he understood and the fact that I didn’t have a clue was explanation enough. “Have you ever been employed to work a job like this one?”

  “No, sir. I don’t believe so. I’m still a bit unsure as to what this job is though, sir,” I repeated trying not to sound insolent.

  “You will know what it is when and IF you are hired to do the job,” he said in a matter of fact tone.

  I nodded my head once to show that I understood. The fear was beginning to subside a bit. The dangerous look had wanted to show itself again with the mention of Chief Slade, but the mention of my father sent it deeper and that put me at ease, somewhat. Good ole’ Daddy, watching out for me from everywhere.

  “Thank you, Ms. Stanton,” Mr. White said by way of dismissal. “I will be in touch within the week one way or the other.” He gave me a small smile and my fear of him disappeared. How did he do that? He was GOOD. Definitely fantasy material.

  I stood up from the chair, said thank you and walked out of his office, shutting the door behind me.

  Gabriella jumped at the sound of the door shutting. The worried look still on her face.

  “Wow! I thought you would have been out of there long before now.”

  “Why, how long was I in there?” I asked.

  “An hour and a half,” she said with disbelief. Then she got a sly look on her face and said, “What did you talk about?”

  I was still in a daze with the news that it had been an hour and a half and didn’t catch her implication. I said, “He just asked me about my training and my father.”

  “Oh, honey,” she said. “I think you’ve been traumatized.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m fine. Just surprised,” I said. “This is not what I expected. He said he’d be in touch within the week to let me know one way or the other.” I shrugged.

  “What? He will let you know one way or the other? Sweetie, you have the job. I’m almost sure of it. He never contacts people that don’t already work for him. He has me do it. Either that or you made one hell of an impression.” “Yeah,” I said. I was still in lah-lah land as I walked out the door and got onto the elevator. I got across the shiny marble without a thought of my panties being seen by anyone and got in my car. I was home before I knew what had happened.

  What a rush. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun. Yeah, I was scared out of my mind, but it sure beat data processing! I didn’t care whether or not I had a job working for scary, sexy Mr. White or not. I would find something to do. I just couldn’t go back to sitting in front of the computer all day.

  This called for a celebration so I took a nap with a plan of going to the coffee shop later this evening to catch up on gossip and then maybe onto the Skylight later.

  *****

  Chapter Three

  I woke up around 6:30 PM, a little later than I had planned. I could get something to eat at Sal’s Sandwiches, next to the coffee shop when I got there. I changed my clothes into celebrating clothes. I poured myself into a pair of jeans and put on a shirt that showed cleavage. I decided I wanted to go all out so I let my hair down and curled the ends of my hair in to give it a little more volume.

  7:00 PM. I could get to the club and get a good seat to watch people if I just got a sandwich and went straight to the club.

  I got into my car and thought about it before I pulled out of the driveway. I might want a drink. I could call a cab while I was eating my sandwich then I could have a drink if I wanted to. Any excuse not to drive. I got out, relocked the doors and started to walk to the sandwich shop. I looked down and considered changing out of my high-heeled boots, but what was the point. You had to sacrifice to look good and I was going to sacrifice my feet tonight.

  I was walking the length of the driveway and noticed a dark car parked not far from the entrance. As I got closer I could tell what kind it was. It was a black Crown Victoria with generic rims and tinted windows. I couldn’t see inside but had a feeling there was someone sitting behind the wheel. Most days I might not have even noticed the car but today was strange and my senses were heightened after my interview with the peculiar Mr. White.

  I decided that I was being paranoid but still picked up my pace to the sandwich shop about a mile away. Just as I thought, the car stayed put as I rounded the corner of the estate. I began to think of the day’s events and my decision to quit my job. Maybe I shouldn’t have quit. That wasn’t a very responsible thing to do. Mom and Dad had been harping on me to be more responsible before I got the data processing job, now they were going to start up again. Oh well, maybe I would get this new job and surprise them.

  The inquisition at White and Associates had worn me out and I had forgotten to walk over and ask Dad what exactly it was that he did. I had asked him before but he had never given details and I wanted details. No more, “A little of this and a little of that,” and answering my questions with questions of his own.

  I had walked a couple of blocks toward my destination when I spotted a black Crown Victoria parked a block away in front of me. It had tinted windows and generic rims and the same license plate. The license plate was nothing special, I just notice these things from time to time without knowing that I did it.

  I promptly turned around and hiked back to the guesthouse to change my shoes. I was pretty sure I was being followed but by who and why was a mystery. I had my thoughts, but they seemed unfounded. No matter how strange the interview was I didn’t think they would waste time following me around. Who did that kind of thing anyway? White and Associates, that’s who. That’s what Gabriella said, surveillance, recovery of people and property and breaking into banks.

  What had I gotten myself into? I should have just walked out. Granted, I was thorou
ghly enjoying myself wondering what was going on and trying to figure it out, but I still wasn’t sure that constantly watching over my shoulder was the kind of life I wanted to lead.

  As I was marching home I toyed with the idea of staying home for the night, but by the time I got to my door I was determined to see this through. It wasn’t in my nature to back down, even if it was in my favor to do so. You know the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat.” I thought of that often but I was still alive. My curiosity always prevailed over my good sense. This time was no exception. I felt I could take care of myself as long as I knew what I was dealing with.

  No matter how curious I was, I was always careful. I chose to call the cab from the safety of my place instead of the open payphone at the sandwich shop or my personal cell phone.

  The wait for the cab would be about fifteen minutes so I figured I’d call Sal’s Sandwiches and place an order so it would be ready when I got there. I could eat it in the cab on the way to the club.

  With any luck, the person in the car would follow me in there. He or she would be easy to pick out in there because I should know everyone else. New comers to the Skylight, that weren’t with a regular, stuck out like a sore thumb.

  I heard a honk out front so I quickly put on my running shoes and stepped out into the night. I couldn’t see the end of the driveway from my front door so I didn’t know if the black car was waiting for me again or not. I kept my eyes open for the few minutes it took to get to Sal’s but no sign of the car. I was a bit disappointed but relieved at the same time.

  There was nothing unusual at Sal’s either. I paid for my turkey club and headed back for the cab waiting outside. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the black car parked in the lot up a bit from where I was standing. I got in the cab and asked the driver to take me for a ride before he dropped me off at the Skylight.