by J. C. Phelps
I answered it on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Ms. Grey,” It was Mr. White. There was a heavy silence. I waited, then said, “Yes?”
“I’m sorry. I’m about to make a decision that could affect the company. The job that Mr. Black wants to take you on is for a client that specifically asked that you not be involved,” he explained. What kind of client would even know about me? My mind reeled. DAD! He had said that he hired White and Associates from time to time.
“I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize our standing with this client, but I also don’t want my clients telling me how to run the company,” Mr. White said and I could tell he was frustrated.
“I’m going with Mr. Black on this because I will not be pushed around or bullied,” he said. Then after a short pause he added, “I hear you did great at the cabin.” Mr. White continued, “It’s hard to impress Mr. Black and you certainly did. He told me that you made it to the cabin in just one day. No one else has done that on their first hike. Pretty impressive, Ms. Grey.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
“Mr. Black also says you’re the best scuba diving student he’s ever had. Good thing, because this job requires it. You have exactly one week to prepare. Make use of it.” And he hung up.
Mr. Black had been standing and watching me. His cooler-than-cool look back on his face. When I hung up the phone he raised his eyebrows at me.
“That was Mr. White,” I said.
“And?” Mr. Black asked me.
“He said he wasn’t going to let a client tell him what to do,” I repeated. “Oh, and we have a week to prepare.”
“Right,” he said. “We better start then.” He sat in the chair at the computer desk and started to read the file. “Do you have anything to eat in here?” he asked. I scrounged around and found some canned tuna in the cupboard and some bread in the freezer. I made us tuna sandwiches on toasted bread.
By the time I had lunch fixed Mr. Black had printed out the file and was sitting on the couch. I brought him two sandwiches and sat down next to him and ate mine. He finished his food and looked at me.
“I want you to know you did a good job out there.”
I had felt uncomfortable when Mr. White told me this on the phone, but coming from Mr. Black, it was pure torture. I wanted to impress Mr. Black and do a good job, but this kind of thing was hard for Mr. Black and it made me uncomfortable to be putting him in this kind of position.
“I’m glad Mr. White suggested giving you a color. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the best decisions he’s ever made. But I need to know a few things about you. I need to know how you handle yourself in a fight and would you be able to kill if you needed to?”
This caught me entirely off guard. Could I kill someone? I really didn’t think so.
“I don’t know, probably not. It depends, I guess,” I said fearing I would ruin his opinion of me but knowing how I felt when I ended a fight by breaking somebody’s bones.
“We’ll have to work on that,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He took me to a gym. It was full of big men and women. Both sexes had muscles larger than they should be. Mr. Black fit right in, but I stuck out like a sore thumb. Before he took me to the cabin I had been in good shape and now I was in even better shape, probably the best shape I could be in. I just didn’t have the muscle mass that these people had.
There were boxing rings and mats spread all around the building. All of them were being used by sparring partners.
“Hey, Black!” A monstrous black man came up to us.
Mr. Black nodded his hello back to the huge man. They grasped each other’s hands each with a grip that would have crushed heads.
“Ms. Grey, meet Helix,” Mr. Black told me. I smiled at him and he eyed me up and down.
“Damn! You are one fine lady,” Helix said and then looked back at Mr. Black. “What’cha needin’, man?”
“We’d like to use one of your mats,” Mr. Black said.
This brought a large laugh from Helix. He threw his head back and a great big “HA!” came from deep inside.
“Man, you know I don’t run that kinda place,” he said grinning from ear to ear. He looked at me from head to toe again. “She sure is fine, don’t you think she deserves someplace private?” He looked from me back to Mr. Black.
Mr. Black had a look that would have made me turn and run if it had been directed at me.
“Hey, man.” Helix backed down. “I didn’t think you was serious, man. Sure, just let me get one cleared off for ya.” He walked to the nearest mat and hollered for it to be cleared.
Mr. Black and I put on sparring paraphernalia then squared off on the mat and he said, “Let’s go.”
I said, “I never throw the first punch.”
He lunged at me. Shit, he was quick. I managed to step out of the way, just in time.
“Good, but you’re going to have to start it this time,” he said. Helix was standing at the side of the mat enjoying the show.
He yelled, “Get ‘em, girl!”
I dropped and tried the leg sweep, but Mr. Black jumped over my leg and had me down on the mat before I could stand up to my full height again. I heard Helix laugh off to the side.
Mr. Black got off me and helped me up and said, “Did you see how I did that?”
I nodded yes and he said: “Now you try.”
I stood waiting for the leg sweep. I jumped at just the right moment and was on top of Mr. Black in an instant. He just stood there though with me hanging off of him. Helix was laughing so hard he started to cough.
“I had this same problem with Army Boy,” I said as I jumped off Mr. Black.
“There are tricks to it. You have to put pressure here, and here.” He touched me in a couple of places that I remembered Chief Slade had shown me years ago.
“Pressure points,” I said.
“Exactly,” Mr. Black said. “Get ready.”
“Same thing?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said as he came at me. He was throwing punches and kicks and I managed to block them all. I had achieved a black belt in karate and had done just as well in kickboxing. I managed to grab his foot with one of his kicks and flipped him over. He went to the mat on his stomach. He jumped up and I saw that smile for a second time.
“Now we’re talking,” he said and came after me again. He had me face down on the mat. “Mix your styles and you’ll throw off your opponent,” he said.
This went on for about thirty minutes and we both had worked up a good sweat when I noticed the gym had become quiet except for Mr. Black’s voice. I looked around, all activity had ceased and all eyes were on us. Mr. Black motioned over a woman that must have been from South America, from somewhere around the Amazon.
Amazon Woman came forward and stepped onto the mat. She came toward me slowly then lunged for me. I sidestepped and she hit the mat. I jumped on top of her and applied pressure to one of the recently remembered pressure points. She pounded the mat until I let her up. She stood back up and started throwing punches. Not one of them hit their mark. She did connect with my body, but never where she had been aiming. I went after her with punches and kicks and backed her off the mat. We both knew the etiquette of fighting so as soon as she stepped off the mat I backed away. She got back onto the mat and tried the same thing as I had just done. I found her hand with one of her punches and had her down on her knees in a matter of seconds, being careful not to break her wrist.
Mr. Black came up to us and told her, “Thanks.” Then he waved over a guy that looked like he lived in the gym. I had noticed him in one of the boxing rings when we first came in.
He started the boxing dance. I didn’t understand that. To me it was a waste of energy. I stood and waited for him to make a move. He danced around and waited for me to make a move. I finally gave in and went after him with punches. He counteracted with a kickboxing style that I had never come across before. He was so fast that I got confused as to where he might
strike next. He dropped to the floor and used my move. He swept my legs out from underneath me but I jumped right back up and made my move. As I came up off the floor I jumped into the air and did a round house kick at his head. I knocked him cold. He fell to the floor and a couple of other guys came to his aid. They shook him awake within seconds, but he bowed to me and left the mat.
Mr. Black came up to me and said, “Not bad, but you should NEVER be hit. Let’s go.” He nodded his thanks to Helix whose bottom jaw was practically touching the floor.
When we got back into Mr. Black’s SUV I said, “What exactly is this job?”
“Mr. White has been contacted by a client that we have done business with before. We’ve been asked to collect a certain someone. The man we will be picking up will not want to come with us. This client is a part of a public entity that cannot be involved with this kind of action. We have to sneak in and do this without anyone being the wiser, including the crew.”
“The crew?” I asked.
“Yes, Mr. Brown will drop us about a mile from a boat that will be transporting our target. We will have to swim to that boat, board it without being seen and get the target off without alerting anyone to our presence,” he explained. “All you need to do is follow my lead.” We pulled into my driveway again.
“Take the rest of the day for yourself,” Mr. Black said. “I’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
I jumped out of the black SUV and walked into my place as he drove away. I made some show of going inside but as soon as he was out of sight I took off for the main house. What the hell was my dad’s problem? I was going to find out.
Dad was in his office, as usual. I put my knuckles to the door and knocked, then went straight in. I didn’t even wait for the “Yes?” to come through the door after I knocked.
“How long have you been back?” he asked with enthusiasm.
“I just got back not too long ago,” I said.
“So, how’s the new job? What have they got you doing?” he asked.
“Not bad. I’m in training right now. Chief Slade was tough, but not this tough,” I replied. If he was going to be sneaky, so was I. Dad knew I wasn’t stupid, but sometimes he didn’t think I would figure things out. I actually wasn’t sure beyond any doubt that Dad was the “client.”
“You were gone a month and all you did was train?” he asked raising his eyebrows.
“Yep,” I said.
“Mr. White throw anything your way since you’ve been back?” he asked.
Okay Dad, I thought. Now I know.
“Nope. He recalled Mr. Black though,” I said.
“Hmmm,” my Dad said. “Do you think he’ll be putting you on any kind of job any time soon?”
“Maybe, but I’m not sure. Who knows, I could be shipped off any day for any thing,” I said. “Mr. Black leaves in a week and he’ll be picking me up to train until then. Then I think I’m to go somewhere else and complete training,” I lied. “I think I was supposed to go out on this job with Mr. Black, but something must have happened,” I added and the implication was thick.
“What do you think happened?” he asked.
“I think someone stuck their nose somewhere it didn’t belong,” I said.
“Hmmm,” he said again.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked. I knew he wasn’t going to come right out and say anything and I didn’t want to either. He always had a way of getting me to tell the truth, eventually.
“She’s taking classes for something or other,” he said. “She’s been busy while you were gone. I think she’s going into business for herself. Trying to sell her woodworking. I was skeptical of her creations at first, but it turns out she’s quite artistic,” he said with a smile.
“Well, that’s good,” I said. “I suppose I better let you get back to work. I just wanted to let you know I was home. Love you,” I said as I walked out the door.
“Yep, me too.” The word love rarely passed his lips.
I walked back to my place and went inside. I decided I’d kill some aliens on my computer for a while, then I played some cards. I had missed technology while I had been away. Soon it was getting late so I went to my room, glad to be able to sleep in my own bed again.
Morning came and I was showered and ready to go when Mr. Black pulled up the driveway. I met him outside and got directly into the SUV. We drove back to the gym where we had been the day before. I felt the eyes on us as we walked up to Helix.
Mr. Black said to him, “Same as yesterday.”
Mr. Black taught me several new moves. We battled each other for most of the morning without a break.
Then Mr. Black said, “I’m going for lunch, you keep practicing.” With that he was gone. I was left standing alone in the middle of the mat. Helix came over to me and said,
“Ole’ Mr. Black don’t bring women in here. What are ya, his new girlfriend?”
“No. I work with him,” I said.
“So you single?” he asked.
“No,” I lied.
“Too bad, you’re damn nice to look at. Let me round ya up some sparring partners. There’s lot’s that want to try their luck with you,” he said waving over a couple of people.
Soon the mat was surrounded by the entire gym. They weren’t just watching, they were standing in line. I guess they didn’t appreciate a new comer, especially my size, coming in and showing them up. I took them down one at a time. Some got in a few good shots and by the time I noticed Mr. Black standing and watching with his smile on, I was sore. I still had a few butts to kick but he walked onto the mat and escorted me to the waiting bags of fast food.
“You’re getting better,” he said as he handed me a burger. “Just remember, don’t get hit. You’re not big enough to take the force some of these people put out.” With that, he started eating.
In between bites he said, “We’ll go running and you can come back and finish up the rest of these guys tomorrow.” We finished our lunch and took off to go for a run. We ran until late afternoon and then he took me home.
When I got home I found some books lying on my couch that hadn’t been there before. I picked them up and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor.
I retrieved the paper and read it:
Ms. Grey,
I thought these books might be of assistance to you. Enjoy.
The books spanned several topics including one on the art of stealth and one on yoga. I sat down and began to read.
I woke up on the couch the next morning and readied myself for another day at the gym. Once there, I finished off the rest of the crew waiting to get in their shots and then Mr. Black and I worked out together for the rest of the day.
When Mr. Black dropped me off at my place he said, “Take tomorrow off to let your muscles relax a bit. We’re going to have a big swim and I don’t want you tired before we start. I’ll be here Friday morning to pick you up. Be ready.”
*****
Chapter Nine
I woke at the break of dawn Friday morning. I checked outside for Mr. Black but he wasn’t here yet. I took a shower and dressed. Still no Mr. Black in the driveway.
I paced around the house for a while. Finally I decided to fix myself something to eat. I still didn’t have much in the house for food and I didn’t dare walk to Sal’s and miss Mr. Black, so I put peanut butter on some saltines and drank a glass of milk for breakfast. I got up to look for signs of life in the driveway. None yet and the sun had been up for at least an hour.
Okay, calm down, I told myself. I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes and sat on the floor. I put myself in the lotus position, you know the one…where you sit with your legs bent at the knees and put your feet on top of your legs. I kept my eyes closed, but my ears were tuned for sounds on the driveway. All quiet on the front and I was beginning to relax when the phone rang.
I got up and answered it. “Hello?”
“Good morning.” Mr. White’s voice came across the line. It was quiet and sexy.
&
nbsp; “Good morning,” I returned. “Where’s Mr. Black?” I asked.
“He’s to have you here around nine so I would imagine you have some more time to relax. “ He said. I heard a hint of amusement in his voice. “I see the books are being used, especially the one on yoga.”
The cameras! I had forgotten about them. How could I have been so stupid!
“When are you going to take the cameras out of my place?” I asked. I tried not to be too abrupt, but failed.
“So you found them?” he replied, more like a statement than a question.
“Yeah.” Like duh! “I found them the day after Army Boy and you attacked me.” Again, a little too abrupt. I took some deep breaths. “So when?” I asked with more control of my voice.
“When I get around to it,” he replied.
“Thank you for telling me when to expect Mr. Black,” I said and hung up. Then I promptly turned around and gave one of the cameras the bird. I had an urge to go straight to my room and slam the door but I resisted and sat back down and resumed trying to relax. While I sat there all I could think of was how stupid that had been. How immature. The last thing I wanted to do was lose my cool in front of Mr. White. Well, I had stopped myself from flipping off all of the cameras one at a time. That was the only good thing I could think of about what I had just done. I sat for quite a while with my thoughts, but eventually I got off the floor and went to the couch and started to read. Not any of the books that had been left on my couch though, I was protesting.
Mr. Black finally showed up and we headed to the office. We went straight to Suite 73. I felt silly for what I had done earlier this morning. I also was pretty sure it wasn’t always a good thing to hang up on your boss. I had been nervous about the job before, but now I was nervous about seeing Mr. White and what he might say. I hadn’t told Mr. Black about the early morning conversation because I had felt like an idiot.
We walked into the office and Gabriella was not there. I figured her work schedule must be flexible. Mr. White’s door was open so we went straight in. Mr. White was at his desk and on the couch was Mr. Brown. Mr. Black and I each took a seat in one of the chairs closer to the desk.
