Chapter One

 

 

I lay quietly in the wet grass with one eye closed and the other gazing through the sight of my .50 cal. sniper rifle. I’d been watching the compound for six days and was aching for some action. Waiting has never been conducive to improving my focus. With my active imagination, I usually found my mind wandering. However, over the past couple of months I’d learned how to daydream and pay attention at the same time.

White and Blue had been pushing sniper training down my throat. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d sat in front of my T.V. or my computer. My fingers itched to poke at the keys on my keyboard.

I’d graduated college with a degree in computer science and only realized my mistake after I’d spent several months as a data processor. But, as I lay in the tall, wet grass, trying not to shiver, I gave a quiet sigh of mourning for my decision to drop my first career choice. My regrets didn’t last long as I tried to mentally put myself back into my former cubical. At least out here I had some variety. I could be cold, wet, hungry or all three at the same time. That, at least, put some adventure into my life.

Getting over my longing for my old life in record time, my mind continued to wander. My eyes still captured everything around me but my main thoughts centered on the day I was assigned this job.

White had called me down to the office and I hoped it was for a new job assignment. I was becoming restless with all the sniper training. It seemed to consist mostly of laying around outside, eluding detection monitoring the area.

For some reason I never envisioned myself on a real sniping mission. The thought of actually killing someone with my coveted rifle had been happily absent throughout my months of training for just that. I had killed a man once and it was terribly unpleasant. I found myself pushing that thought out of my head more often than was healthy.

“I’ll never forget my first kill,” I whispered to myself as I returned my full attention back to the compound. My first kill, I thought to myself with a sick feeling in my stomach. Why did I have to think of it that way? My first kill… like I was going to become a mass murderer or something. With the words “mass murderer” my mind started to meander down a new path. Masked murderer came to mind and then I thought of my mother.

Less than six months ago, White and I had discovered the identity of the famed sniper, known only as Penumbra. My mother. My whole life I’d thought of my mother as just that, my mother. I had no idea she led another life. And not just any other life but a life full of death. Death she caused.

Before we found out, no one but my father knew the identity of Penumbra and many theories floated around. Some thought he was a Russian, some thought he was many people taking the name of Penumbra after a job but, as far as I knew, almost all of them thought he was a he. My mother’s true identity came as a shock to me but explained a lot about my own life. I’d looked at her differently for about a month but then I realized my mother was my mother, no matter what.

White looked at me differently after our discovery. He obviously assumed it was in my blood to be a killer but I couldn’t disagree more. The last thing I wanted to do was to run around the world killing bad guys.

So why was I out here? My thoughts turned back to the day White called me down to the office.

I’d only gotten home from a training mission the night before so the early morning call was a bit of a surprise. Hoping for a real job, I dressed quickly and rode the elevator down to the seventh floor office.

Gabriella, the company secretary, wasn’t in her usual seat yet but all of my partners were in White’s office. White spoke up, using Ms. Grey instead of Alex for the first time in months.

All partners were given “company” names. White’s real name is Rick Malone and mine is Alexis Stanton. Before joining White and Associates I introduced myself as Alex but I didn’t have much contact with people outside the company any more and the name Ms. Grey was used more often than not. I will admit I’ve grown quite fond of my new name.

“Ms. Grey, we have a job for you.” White’s tone was semi enthusiastic as he handed me my briefing envelope.

I made myself more comfortable in my chair and pulled out satellite pictures of a compound and a picture of a man and his dossier. It listed personal information such as his age, height and weight and he had a curious marking on his left hand. His name, however, was not on the page. This seemed unusual to me, but I let it slide.

“We don’t think you’ll have to enter the compound, but you and Green can go through the security system before you leave, just in case.” White added.

Mr. Green, known to family and friends as Seth Caldwell, is our company security specialist. He’d be the one to talk to if you needed to get into a place, unnoticed.

“What am I doing?” I looked back to the paperwork to find my objective.

“We need this man eliminated.” Red spoke up. He seemed to be judging my reaction as he told me this so I made sure to show no emotion. Red is an alias for Aidan Tierney and I like to think of him as the company’s shrink, but his title is Communications Specialist. He’s a licensed psychiatrist and fluent in many different languages. I don’t know if he treats the men extensively on the psychiatry level, but I do know he’s always in charge of the interrogations the company performs.

“Black and I have been assigned as your chauffeurs.” Brown rolled his eyes in a mock complaint. Mr. Brown, AKA Josh Braun, was an averagely built man with an unceasing smile and a playful personality.

I had grown to like him immensely after I laid down the ground rules. He thought he could chide me about being the only woman in the company and what my true role might be, with thick insinuation toward a sexual aspect. I didn’t take kindly to those kinds of jokes and I made it very clear.

Brown’s expertise lies with the company vehicles. He’s an astounding mechanic and driving/flight instructor. He’d been giving me flight instructions before our most recent job, now referred to as the K&G job, and again afterwards. I was by no means an expert pilot, but I knew enough that I could go up alone and actually return safely to the ground.

Blue had walked to the closet while Brown grumbled and came back with my sniper rifle, still in the case. I’d been using it regularly but when he handed it to me this time my stomach flipped and my mouth went dry.

“I made a few modifications last night and the ammo you will be using is inside the case.” Blues given name is Shane Lochlann and he’s the company doctor/sniper. I’ve always thought it was a strange combination and when I asked him about it, he said he just fell into it. He’d always wanted to be a doctor but the Navy pushed him into the sniper role because he was such a good marksman.

“What kind of modifications?” I asked.

“I’ve added a laser sight. It’s a neat one. It only lights up when you start to pull the trigger. You won’t be giving your position away unless you sit with your finger on the trigger.”

When we were all satisfied with the briefing Black said, “Let’s go,” nodding his head toward the door. He most certainly was a man of few words but when he had something to say, everyone listened. His was the first name that was given to me freely by any of the men. Adam Quinn, AKA Mr. Black, is a huge man with a shaved head, a deep voice and a tendency toward chivalry. He has always tried to look out for me, within reason. And what I mean by ‘within reason’ is if I were wrong, Black would be the first to point it out. He knows I am a hard worker and won’t stop until I either have it right or there is no question that I can’t get any better. The other men in the company didn’t always know that of me and started out a little aloof.

Black, Brown and I boarded the chopper and several hours later they dropped me off with nothing but a couple of memorized GPS locations, some water and a small amount of dried food. I hiked my way through dense forest and located the compound in a couple of hours. I thanked the powers that be for the darkness that still surrounded me. Several times during my hike I pictured killing the target but pushed it as deep as I could, as fast as I could.

I crawled from the woods and hid myself in the grass. There I awaited the sun. I stayed in one position for the entire first day and that night I scouted around a little more. By sunrise on the third day I could recite the entire routine in the compound. The man I was sent to permanently remove had yet to make an appearance. Late night of the fifth day, three vehicles were let into the compound and I got a glimpse of my target. He was obviously a prisoner with his hands cuffed in front of him. They had his head covered with some kind of sack and I only identified him with the mark on his hand. I wasn’t satisfied with my identification without being able to see his face, so I hesitated and then I couldn’t get a clear shot. They led him to a heavily guarded building and he remained there all night.

Although I wasn’t happy with this mission, my fear of failure was driving me forward. That’s why I was here. I didn’t want to disappoint my partners. I’d missed my opportunity last night and hoped it wouldn’t be my only one.

I started to warm up as the sun rose. The compound bustled with activity before the sun was very high and I didn’t miss anything. The sun hadn’t lit the sky for more than an hour when a chopper set down inside the compound. Within minutes, the door to the building opened and I saw the man once more. I couldn’t get a clean shot and only managed short glimpses of the prisoner but they had put some sort of sensors all over his head and face. One of the escorts held the door open while another put what looked like a pillow case over the mans head. I made a double check on the prisoner by moving my sights to his left hand. The mark was there and I was satisfied he was the target. I waited for them to start leading him to the chopper so I would have a clean shot. Before I was ready, the man I had studied a week ago was in my sights and now all I had to do was pull the trigger. The convoy of guards and the prisoner had exited the building a few seconds earlier and were walking toward a chopper that was obviously going to fly him off somewhere and I would lose my chance. It was either shoot now or I could wait to see if he ever came back. My stomach churned but I pulled the trigger and felt the kick of the weapon. I closed my eyes, but only for the length of a blink. I didn’t want to watch this, but I had to make sure my target was down.

Everything slowed in my mind and the moment when he should fall came too soon. I was an excellent marksman and I knew the timing was wrong. The only people that noticed anything had happened were those directly near the target and they didn’t seem too surprised. Then the sound of the gunshot must have finally reached the compound. Through my scope I noticed people ducking and scurrying this way and that and I felt a little better. The men that had been walking near the target had surrounded him so I wasn’t able to see if he was dead and I didn’t dare leave until I knew but I had to get out of there. Then a small gap between the men let me see enough to believe I had accomplished my mission. I realized I was grateful for the pillowcase because it shielded me from the full truth. I remained where I was for about two seconds more and was rewarded with solid confirmation. One of the men looked to another and I saw his lips move. I watched more closely and was able to make out the words, “Head shot.” My ability to read lips came in handy more often than not.

Fortunately, I had found a suitable hiding spot not far from the tree line. I was still in the shadows and thought I could chance a slow crawl for the short distance. When I reached the cover of the forest, I pressed the button on my company issued watch to let them know it was time for retrieval, then hiked my way out of there as fast as I could. The retrieval area was different than that of the drop off and I had several miles to cover before I made it out.

I trampled through the wilderness for hours, trying to cover my tracks, before I reached my destination. The chopper was hovering above the clearing with Black scanning the trees for my appearance. I stepped into the clearing and broke into a run toward the chopper. Black threw down a rope and harness then helped hoist me in. Brown had the chopper in motion before I was even inside.

My adrenaline rush didn’t start to dissipate until we’d been in the air for thirty minutes. Between the three of us, nothing had been said so I decided to break the silence.

“So, what now?”

“We’ll get back to the office and you’ll be debriefed,” Black answered.

The flight back wasn’t nearly as long as the flight out. Having been alone for almost seven full days had taken its toll and I was so happy to be back, I almost gave this no thought. I checked my watch to be sure and was greeted with confirmation. I’d been patting myself on the back during the return flight and was pretty proud of myself. Now, with this discrepancy, I was reminded of the strangeness of the whole thing.

It didn’t seem right that the company would send me on a sniping mission alone despite my intense training. I had never done anything like this before and I wasn’t terribly confident and it showed. White and Associates didn’t make mistakes and this could have easily been one. As I have said before, I wasn’t thrilled with killing and I didn’t make it a secret. However, I will admit, killing from a distance was much easier than face to face. Still, it seemed wrong to me that they would send me out on a mission of this type without some kind of backup, especially my first time out.

The man dropping to the ground before he should have kept replaying in my mind over and over as we entered the elevator to go to the 7^th floor office. By the time we reached the office doors, I had convinced myself that something was definitely not right but I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on.

Brown and Black escorted me to the office, one on either side of me. With the thoughts of something not being right and them standing so closely and quietly I was feeling especially tense. However, I didn’t let it show on the outside. I had myself steeled for anything but I casually strolled into the office and saw White at his desk. Red was in a chair to White’s left and Blue was also present, lounging on the comfortable couch.

Brown and Black left me in Whites office and shut the door behind them. Red gestured to one of the comfortable chairs and said, “Sit down, Ms. Grey. You have completed the mission?”

“Yes.”

“We need the details.”

I started with the hike to the compound and finished with the extraction and didn’t leave out a single detail that had anything to do with the mission. I even admitted to not taking a shot the first time I saw the guy because the only identity confirmation I had was the mark on his hand. I was a bit afraid they might look down on me for that one, but this was a debriefing after all and they should know that I might not be cut out for this kind of work.

“Please excuse us for a moment,” White dismissed me. “We won’t be long so you can wait in the front office.”

Gabriella was absent again today so I was alone. I wandered around nervously for about a minute before I forced myself to sit down and take some deep breaths. I wondered why I was so nervous about all of this. It must be because I always wanted to impress these men. There was something about them that made me want to fit into their group. However, something wasn’t right about this mission. I started checking things off in my head. First I shouldn’t have been sent on a job of this type without backup. Secondly, the briefing of the job was short and sweet and I didn’t get anything from my partners about who this man was or why he needed to be taken out. Third, the timing, after I fired my weapon, just didn’t seem right. I was thinking of the fourth reason, the shorter flight home, when the door opened and Blue asked me to step back into the office.

I reclaimed my seat from just a few moments ago and waited for whatever was coming next.

White rose from his seat and said, “This was a test, Alex.”

I was surprised he called me by first name because he’d started the mission by using my company name. After my initial shock my first instinct was to stand and yell at them. If they are testing me they should tell me! Why would they not tell me? I resisted the urge to freak out and didn’t let my anger show on my face.

“We wanted to see if you could do this type of job and we’ve come to the conclusion that you will do just fine if something comes up. Blue will walk you through the high points and low points of the mission.”

I turned to face Blue who had resumed sitting on the couch. I was having a bit of trouble hiding my feelings but I managed to suppress the scowl when he started speaking.

“You did great. I’m thoroughly impressed. ‘One shot, one kill’ is exactly what you did.” He paused. “First of all, let me explain a few things to you. The new laser sight I installed for you was actually how we knew where your bullet should have hit and of course, the bullets were blanks. You had mentioned seeing sensors on the targets face and that’s exactly what they were. They were placed all over his body to capture your laser when you fired your gun.”

“That explains why he fell before the bullet should have reached him,” I interrupted, momentarily forgetting my anger.

“They were rigged with an alarm and he was to drop as soon as he heard it go off. We’ll have to work on that for future testing.”

Red cut in, “Not only that, the fact that you doubted the identity was a good thing. We will have to add that to the testing, too. A sniper should be, without a doubt, sure of who his target is.”

“One thing I don’t understand,” White waited until we all turned to him. “I don’t understand why you didn’t ask more questions during the briefing. Why didn’t you ask who the guy was and why didn’t you ask why you were going to kill him? This is a man’s life after all.”

White and I had become very close over the past few months. I’d had only one friend my entire life, Colin DeLange. I never imagined I’d be as close to anyone like I was with Colin. Yet, somehow, White and I had forged a strong friendship and were rarely apart. If we weren’t training or on a mission you could always find one by finding the other. But, with his last utterance, I hated him. I had been thinking the same thing since I first stepped onto the chopper to leave for this mission. He was right, I should have asked questions, but I trusted him. My poker face slipped and my feelings showed through. I let him have it. I’ve always had trouble hiding what I’m really thinking around White. If he just hadn’t said anything, we probably would have all been happier people.

“I suppose I trusted you. Which is something I’ll have to reconsider. I don’t appreciate being tricked. I knew there was something wrong with this whole picture and it really makes me angry that you would take advantage of me in this way.” I ranted for a little while longer before Red cut me off.

“Ms. Grey!” The shock of him yelling stopped me in mid sentence and he continued in a quieter voice. “This was not intended to trick you… well, not in the manner you interpret it. It was meant to test you and there is no better way to test you than if you think you are trying to complete a real mission.” His voice was somewhat apologetic, but I couldn’t tell you what his face looked like because I was staring at White. The corners of his mouth were turned up just enough for me to realize he was enjoying this, which made me even angrier.

My nostrils flared as I turned to look at Red. He didn’t have the smirk White did, but he didn’t show any regret in his face. I looked at Blue and he had the same expression. No remorse for what they had done to me. At some point in my rant, I had stood and that’s what I was doing now. Standing there, with my fists clenched, fighting the urge to physically lash out at these men. I either had to try to kick their asses or relax and discuss this with them. They obviously thought they had done no wrong and maybe they hadn’t. It was me who hadn’t asked the questions. That wasn’t like me. I always had questions to ask. Granted I didn’t always ask the questions that were looming in my mind but when it came to something like this, I should have.

I gave each of them a glare and sat back down. I took a deep breath and waited for someone else to speak.

“Alex,” White broke the uncomfortable silence, “this is how we do most of our training with our men. In fact, there were only a select few at the compound that knew you were out there. Not only were we testing you, we were testing some of our men. There is a valid reason behind this type of testing. We want our guys to do their best at all times. If they don’t know it’s not real, they will always try their best. We don’t want anyone to get complacent. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir.” My chin jutted out in defiance as I reverted to my Chief Slade training.

Red broke in, obviously trying to alleviate some of the tension. “Well, all in all, you did an excellent job. You completed the mission, you were not apprehended and they should still be searching for you if you covered your tracks the way you should have. But for now, this concludes the briefing. White has some info that the two of you should go through.” He and Blue were obviously relieved as they left me alone with White.

Red had done some to pacify my ill temper, so after they left the room I was more open to hear what White wanted to say. In the short time since my outburst I’d thought of why they left me in the dark and realized my aggravation stemmed mainly from what I had failed to ask.

As White got up and went to the file cabinet in the corner of the office I told myself I wasn’t really mad at him, I was mad at myself. The venom in my veins had subsided and then I became aware that White and I were alone. I’d become much more comfortable with White in the past months but my temperature always rose a few degrees when we were alone. Today was no different. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself even more. This helped and I was back to my normal outward self by the time he came back to his desk.

“So, how do you feel about the company, Ms. Grey?”

“Fine.” White using my company name while we were alone was not lost on me. It was unexpected and had me a little worried. That aside, my reply was an understatement. I’d given some thought to going back to my former job but only because I missed the comforts of home, not because I wanted out. I loved the company. I am a restless person and the company scratched all of my itches. I was able to do things I would never have had the chance to do anywhere else.

“Good. It’s time you learned more about us.” He slid a large manila folder, overflowing with paper, across his desk.

“There’s more to learn?” I picked it up and started flipping through it.

“Much more. You can look through it now or take it back to your apartment. It’s up to you. I’ll understand if you need more time to calm down.”

I had entirely gotten over my anger until he said this and I looked up from the folder and saw that same smirk on his face. “I was calm, but you know just what buttons to push, don’t you?” He laughed at me, which just fueled the flames. “Why do you enjoy making me mad?” I asked him in an even tone.

“I don’t,” his tone was one of total innocence, but he quickly changed back to his serious work attitude. “You will probably have some questions this time around. I can answer any of them, but you might find C.I.C. to be useful also.” Then as an after thought he added, “I’m more than willing to go through all of this with you right now.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go over it by myself first.”

“Sure.” I was already turned away from him but could still hear the smile in his voice.

 

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