Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles

by J. C. Phelps

  I had thought I was so smart. Granted, I still knew more than the normal person walking the street about computers, dancing and military maneuvers but I wasn’t sure how much good it was doing me. Sure I was bored with being a data processor but I wasn’t sure I wanted to live a life where people could be watching me at any time. I was pretty good at acting cool when other people were around, but I was human after all. Once in a while I might feel the need to pick my nose or pass gas. I could no longer do these things without the whole world knowing that I did it.

  All right, get yourself out of this funk, I told myself. I opened the bedroom door and went straight to the bathroom and shut the door. I brushed my teeth, washed my face and pulled my hair back into a braid. I didn’t know what was on the agenda for the day, so better to be safe than sorry with the hair. Braids were always good. They looked nice but kept my hair out of the way. I thought my braid helped me look a little like Lara Croft from the “Tomb Raider” video games.

  I was an avid video game player and wasted many hours in front of the computer or TV killing things and finding treasures. Lara Croft was one of my favorites. She had that accent. I had tried but I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t care for Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, her lips were too big, but considering what Hollywood had to offer, she had been the best choice by far. She could play the tough part and still be sexy. The only person who could have played Lara better would have been Lara herself. I longed to be just like Lara, accent and all.

  I stood in the bathroom and debated on whether or not to call a cab to take me downtown. I finally opted in favor of the cab. I walked out to the living room, picked up the phone and called. I went back into the bathroom and shut the door. I put the lid down on the toilet and sat there waiting for the cab service to show.

  Within ten minutes I heard a honk. I stepped quickly from the bathroom to the front door. I looked out and saw a primered black 1970 Plymouth Barracuda in my driveway. I looked closer and saw that it was Mr. Blue in the driver’s seat. Imagine that. I suppose someone overheard me call the cab company and sent Mr. Blue instead.

  I stepped outside and walked to the car. I let myself in the passenger’s door and said, “Good morning, Mr. Blue.”

  “Good morning, Ms. Stanton. How’s the shoulder today?” he replied.

  “It’s been better, but I’ll live,” I said.

  Mr. Blue had light brown hair that was cut short in the back but his bangs fell into his eyes. His eyes were ice blue and had a hard quality, as did his face. He was clean-shaven but his facial hair must have been coarse because you could see the hairs wanting to poke out through their pores. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. I would have guessed him right at 6’ tall and about 180 pounds. He was wearing a black suede jacket over a tight t-shirt and I could clearly see that he worked out. I hadn’t seen so many buff men in my life as I had seen in the past couple days. Still, Mr. Blue didn’t get under my skin like Rick Malone did.

  He popped a rap CD into the stereo and jacked the volume. This ended all chance of conversation but that was fine by me. I was busy worrying about who it was on the other side of the camera lens watching my every move. I hope it wasn’t Mr. Blue. I hoped it was Malone.

  I didn’t know if I should let Mr. White know that I knew his real name yet because I didn’t know why they used aliases in the first place. My training had taught me not to divulge information unless it was necessary. I decided to be polite and wait it out.

  We pulled up to the attendant at the parking garage and he just waved us through. Mr. Blue parked in an open spot with the letters BLUE spray-painted with blue spray paint on the cement in front of the spot. I looked down the row and saw WHITE, BLACK, GREEN, BROWN and RED all spray-painted in their corresponding colors. The spots were filled with all types of vehicles. The black Mustang was in front of WHITE. In BLACK was a large black SUV. GREEN drove a little yellow Miata. BROWN had a dark gray pickup in his spot. RED drove a red Camero.

  I followed Mr. Blue through the lobby with the shiny black marble and happened to notice he was carrying a gun in a shoulder holster by way of the marble. He nodded to Mr. Rent-a-Cop at the front desk.

  “Mr. Blue, Ms. Stanton,” desk security said by way of greeting. This shocked me a bit. I had been here once and the guy already knew my name and I hadn’t given it out. I smiled a greeting back.

  I got on the elevator with Mr. Blue and I was glad he didn’t seem to be the talkative type. He stood in the elevator in an “at ease/parade rest” position. His arms were clasped behind him, his feet were perfectly in line with his shoulders and he was looking straight ahead. He had no expression on his face whatsoever. He would have made a great poker player. I had always wanted to play poker professionally but I usually had a cocky half grin on my face or I just looked mad. I could never get my face to go void of all expression.

  I felt butterflies flitting around in my stomach now. I really want this job, I think. Actually, I’m not sure if I want this job as much as I want to know what the job is.

  The elevator came to a stop and we walked down the hall to Suite 73. I expected to see Gabriella sitting at her desk, but it was empty.

  “She doesn’t come in until 8:00,” Mr. Blue said. He walked straight for Mr. White’s door, opened it and went in. My feet wanted to falter, but I made myself stay right on his heels.

  The office was dark and empty of people. I had expected to see Mr. White and the rest of the colors when I walked in.

  Mr. Blue gestured to the desk, where Mr. White had been sitting during my interview. “Sit here. You will find everything you need on the desk. Someone will be back for you later.” And he left.

  The first thing I noticed on the desk was a computer. I better leave that alone for now, I thought. There was a stack of papers on the corner of the desk with a pencil on top.

  I flipped through them and they were more questionnaires like the ones I had already taken. I got to work on them. There were a few questions that had me stumped. One that I didn’t answer fully had to do with military ranking, of course. All in all I think I did a good job. Filling it all out took me about and hour and a half and still no activity other than me.

  I sat for about five minutes thinking about turning on the computer. I imagine Mr. White had cameras in his office. What the hell, I thought.

  I reached around back and switched it on and prepared to snoop. No luck, it was password protected. Time to put to use my computer knowledge. I had spent more time in front of the computer in my life than I think I had slept. I hacked the password in less than thirty seconds.

  Pretty normal files for a business, I guessed. Accounting programs, that type of thing. I wasn’t finding anything useful though. I decided to check the e-mail. No new messages. Damn. Did he even use this computer?

  I got online and hacked into the database for the closest Naval base. You’d think government computers would be hard to hack but they aren’t, if you know your way around. I know this is illegal, but I know how NOT to get caught. I typed in my dad’s password and voila… ACCESS GRANTED.

  When hacking a government computer it’s handy to have the highest security pass available and the rightful owner of my pass was probably still in bed at home. If dad was out of bed before 8:00 he rarely got onto his computer before 10:00 AM. I was counting on that right now. If he logged on while I was still connected there would be a conflict and I would be busted. Then I would have to sneak around some more to find out his new password. Not to mention I could go to jail. I didn’t know if my dad could get me out of that kind of trouble. I might even get him into some trouble of his own and I really didn’t want to do that. I typed Rick Malone in the search box and waited for the computer to search its files.

  It seemed to be taking longer than it should. I was still waiting when it dawned on me the military would know him better by Petty Officer 1st Class Rick Malone. I punched in PO1 Rick Malone. It took a matter of seconds for me to get a nice picture of PO1 Rick Malone aka Mr. Richard W
hite, aka Whip. Navy Seals, Covert Ops. Discharged with honors, blah, blah, blah. Get to the good stuff. I skimmed down the page to where his current address was listed: 1324 Plaza Dr., Suite 73. Shit.

  The door to the front office opened. I immediately logged out and started to play solitaire on the computer. I had done this before and the solitaire bit worked like a charm. The trick is to have the game open on the computers desktop before you really get down to business. That way when you close whatever you are messing with, the solitaire game is right there for you to start playing. Not a bad idea to play for a second before you begin too, that way there are moves made on the game and it looks like you have been playing a while and not doing anything else.

  It was Gabriella. She walked into Mr. White’s office and said, “Oh. It’s you. Ms. Stanton right?”

  “Yeah, hi,” I said while I quit the game and turned off the computer like it was mine. Don’t act guilty and people won’t think you are guilty. I hope.

  “I figured someone would be here because I was called to work and don’t normally come in on Mondays. I’m glad it’s you,” she said with a happy smile.

  “Mr. Blue brought me in this morning and told me to fill out these forms.” I pointed at the papers on the desk.

  “You have them done?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I’ve been waiting for someone to come back and get me,” I said.

  “You’re quick with the paperwork, that’s for sure,” She said as she walked toward the desk to pick it all up.

  “Come on out here and I’ll call someone to come get you.” She was walking back to her desk and I was right behind her.

  “They normally wouldn’t be back until around 9:00, but then again, it normally takes a candidate until 10:00 to complete this stuff.” Gabriella set everything on her desk, motioned me to the chair on the other side and picked up the phone.

  “I’m going to call Mr. Black,” she said holding the receiver up. She got a sly look on her face and said, “I LOVE his voice, so I call him whenever I get the chance. I’ll put him on speakerphone so you can hear, but you have to be quiet. Okay?” Her voice got quiet with the last two sentences, like Mr. Black might hear her.

  I smiled and nodded that I would be quiet.

  She dialed a number and a very deep voice said, “Hello?” I remembered Mr. Black from the parking lot at the Skylight and his voice fit. Mr. Black had nice muscles. I remembered he’d had a shaved head and a serious look. He was nice looking and his voice added to his charm.

  “Hello, Mr. Black,” Gabriella said.

  “Do you have me on speakerphone again Gabriella?” he asked.

  “Well, yeah, but I have my hands full right now,” Gabriella said walking to the filing cabinet and putting my paperwork inside.

  “I’ll wait,” he said.

  “Alright.” She shut the drawer and walked back to the phone and picked it up.

  “I know,” she said. I imagined him reminding her how much he hated to be put on speakerphone. I had had that same conversation before. I didn’t like the speakerphone either unless I was on the receiving end.

  “Ms. Stanton is finished with her paperwork and is waiting for a ride. Okay, see you then.” And she put the receiver down.

  She stifled a giggle with her hand and said, “He’s my favorite. Just wait till you see.”

  “We’ve met,” I told her. “He didn’t say anything though. You were right, he does have a great voice.” I smiled.

  “He said it shouldn’t be much more than half an hour. I am so excited!” Gabriella said.

  “I can’t believe I’ll get to work with a woman again. I’d hoped you’d come through and here you are.” She put her arms out like she was demonstrating a product for a commercial.

  “I don’t know if I have the job yet. I haven’t even had my second interview,” I told her with doubt in my voice.

  “Honey, they NEVER let anyone into the office alone that doesn’t have the job. I’m just glad it wasn’t that creep Leonard,” she said.

  “Don’t say anything, but what you are going through now is like a type of initiation. Mr. White likes to know what you can and can’t do and how well or how badly you do it. He’ll have you trained to his liking in no time.”

  “So what job am I being hired for?” I asked.

  “Mr. White will put you on the jobs that you are best suited for. Sometimes they hire for single jobs, but I think you are to become a permanent fixture around here.” She looked around suspiciously and added with a smile, “You really made an impression on him Saturday. As soon as you left he called in all the guys for a meeting. I don’t think everyone has been here at the same time

  EVER. At least not when I’ve been here or when the sun was shining.” She had been leaning over her desk at me while she had said this and now she sat back.

  “I think they were just looking for someone to take on a couple of jobs they’ve got coming up, but I think you made Mr. White want to take in another partner. That’s the only reason I can think of him calling in everyone.”

  “He’s quite the hunk though, don’t you think?” she threw at me.

  “I guess so,” I said trying hard not to blush but failing.

  “He’s a lady’s man though, so don’t get attached. I’ve heard the guys talk. Mr. White never says anything but the rest of them do. He’s a heartbreaker, that one,” she said with a disapproving look.

  We sat and chatted. I decided I really liked her. She was full of juicy tidbits and wasn’t afraid to share them. After about forty-five minutes Mr. Black came in the front door.

  *****

  Chapter Six

  Mr. Black was about 6’ 3” tall and had the look of a gangster. He had shaved his head and it looked good on him. His eyes were almost black and unforgiving. In the parking lot of the Skylight he had been sporting a look that said he was cooler than cool and he wore the same face today. He pointed down at me and in his rough, deep voice and said, “Up. Let’s go.” He hiked his thumb toward the door.

  I got myself right up out of the chair with no hesitation. His demeanor demanded it. He was already out the door, but I made sure to be right behind him.

  The elevator ride was uneventful and we went directly to Mr. Black’s SUV in the garage. He unlocked the passenger’s door and opened it for me. I stepped up into the vehicle and he shut the door for me.

  We ended up in front of my place and Mr. Black got out and met me as I came out of the vehicle. He opened the back passengers door and pulled out what I thought had been his dry cleaning and a manila envelope. He handed me the bag-wrapped clothes hanger and said, “That’s a business suit for you. I think we got your size right.” He still held the envelope as he walked me to my door.

  “You need to wear that suit for this job. You have forty-eight hours to complete your assignment.” He handed me the envelope and said, “Everything you need to know is in here. Good luck.” With that he was gone.

  I got into my house and went directly to my room. I hung the outfit on the door and sat on the bed and opened the envelope. Inside I found a piece of folded paper and a floppy disk.

  The paper read:

  Subject:

  First Federal Bank

  17721 1st Ave.

  Objective:

  Find and retrieve file name FALSEPRETENSE

  Notes:

  You must find a way to get this file from the bank’s computer database from inside the bank.

  It must be brought to the office by 0930 hours, Wednesday.

  Use of excessive force is not an option.

  This is a covert act and is to go undetected. You must find a way to get this file from the bank’s computer database from inside the bank. It must be brought to the office by 0930 hours, Wednesday.

  Use of excessive force is not an option.

  This is a covert act and is to go undetected.

  Okay. I had to break into the bank’s computer and steal a file. I could do this from home! I suppose the bank was
testing its people for security reasons. Now all I had to do was figure out how to get on one of their computers. Getting the file would be easy. Think.

  I started to get undressed to put on the suit. I had my shirt off and my pants undone when I remembered the cameras staring down at me. I quickly slammed the bedroom door and finished putting on the suit. It was a perfect fit and quite flattering.

  I had formulated a plan within half an hour of sitting on my bed. I made a quick phone call to my dad to get the ball rolling and stepped out the door.

  I had decided I didn’t want to take a cab. I might have to sit in the car for a few minutes before I went in to get up the nerve and the driver might get suspicious of me.

  Within the hour I was at my destination. I found a parking spot on the street not far from the main door and went directly into the building. I went straight to the island loaded with forms so I could check things out. I grabbed a deposit slip and began to fill it out so I would be doing something else other than looking around. The security guards were posted on either side of the main door. Both of them had their thumbs in their front pockets making their elbows stick out and they were casually scanning the room.

  When I finished filling out the form I went to the appointment desk and asked to speak with an officer because I wanted to make a substantial deposit. I was directed to the waiting area and did just that, waited. It only took a couple minutes for an officer of the bank to come and get me. I followed him back to his office and sat down.

  He said, “How can I help you today?”

  “I would like to make a transfer from another bank and start a new account here,” I said and handed him the deposit slip.

  His eyes widened at the sight of the sum and said, “This should be no problem, Ms. …?”

  “Miss Stanton,” I said. “This is my dad’s account, I hope that won’t be a problem.”

  “If he has authorized the transaction it should be no problem,” he replied, pushing buttons on his keyboard.