| "Along the Rock Path" | ||
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CF: CT-1802A-08 Paige's Place April 3, 2008 0100 hours Paige sipped again at her beer, ignoring for the moment, the soft knock on her apartment door. Her balcony did not face the parking lot so she couldn't see what car drove up and she had no idea who it might be. Well, now, that wasn't exactly true either, a few names came to mind. The knock sounded again, a little louder. Perhaps the person thought she was asleep? No, they new damn well she had just walked in not five minutes ago. She had gotten the eerie feeling of being watched when she got out of her car and was walking to her apartment. Those kinds of feelings were unmistakable. She took a large gulp of beer and walked towards the door. She rolled her eyes seeing Gray standing on the other side, his face distorted by the convex material that made up the peephole. Paige opened the door only slightly before turning and walking, without a word, back to the balcony. She continued to sip her beer and stare out at the bay, watching the lights dance across the choppy water. She heard Gray come in and shut the door. He made his way over to the balcony, coming out to stand near her. "I see you have a pet?" he asked casually. She ignored him for a moment. It was a gift from Joshua, his boss, and just let him try to take the fish away...just let him and see what Joshua did to him then... She spoke slowly and flatly, "just a fish, not a big deal." "Yes, well, that's fine, no harm in that." Paige shrugged but said nothing further. The silence built up between them. Paige was not ready to forgive and forget...of course forgetting would be almost impossible. But forgive, at least she had a choice in that matter. She didn't dislike Gray, she knew he had followed orders from whoever it was he took orders from. Although, with the pecking order such as it was, who 'didn't' he take orders from? And she had suffered more, under less gentle hands, with worse outcomes. Always, it seemed...it was always these hands that hurt. "Will you, uh, take a walk with me?" he asked carefully before shifting his weight away from her. She stood still trying not to show any outward sign how much his request irked her. What would it be this time? She turned to look at him slowly, staring at him hard. He returned her gaze without reservation. He apparently, was ok with what had happened that night at SH2, had come to terms with whatever injustice he thought he had participated in. She could see this clearly in his eyes. Was there then never any retribution for her? She said nothing, swallowing her self-pity, as she moved past him grabbing the jacket that never made it to the closet and still lay strewn across the couch. She stood there, looking to him expectantly as he closed the balcony sliding door. He nodded slightly as he moved past her and she followed dutifully out to the hallway and towards the docks. It was hard to follow. The fear of the unknown, so great that it was just then that she wondered how she could even breathe. She stared ahead, trying to block the thoughts that came rushing into her mind of who he might hand her over to this time. Would it be the current tag team champions, Joshua and Michael, again? Or would it be someone different? Someone she didn't know? Perhaps, someone she did? Maybe he would just tie her up and toss her off the docks to be fresh meat for the crabs that lived in the dark, salty water? This was her mind, constantly tormenting her with probabilities, outcomes, chances, and scenarios. It made her dizzy and want to heave right there along the rock path that would bring them to the docks. It was too much. "Gray...please," she said softly. He said nothing, entwining his one arm gently with one of hers. He put something in her hand, something small, warm, and metallic, and closed her fingers over them. Keys, her tactile senses came back to her. No, it was just one key, on a small puffy sort of key chain. "What's this?" she asked. "In addition to your assignments we have added the responsibility of a boat." "A boat?" Paige asked, intrigued with this notion, though her Bathroom Tigers let out a throaty growl. They had reached the dock, D-Dock, where she had spent a lot of time trying, with no luck, to hitch a ride out to the bay. She saw it immediately, the cream colored, burgundy rimmed boat that stood out of place from her recent memories. "Slip 28. A 31 foot Sea Ray with full cabin," Gray said though his voice was even, almost without emotion. Paige shivered, pulling her arm out from his. Something about him touching her... "Secret Freedom," he said casually, a small smile on his face. Paige looked to him and shook her head questioningly. "The name of the boat...Secret Freedom, I thought you would like it." Paige studied him the warning alarms going off in her head. Catch. There had to be a catch. No way they were giving up a boat. He wanted something...something for her to do...or worse, he was setting her up for something to do in the future. "This a sweetener, Gray?" she asked, letting the sarcasm be known. He smirked at her, in a condescending style that made her check her own boldness. "It's a tool Paige," he said, the smirk slipping from his face, "something...you should be familiar with." She clenched her jaw feeling the sting in his comment. He might as well have slapped her for she had nothing to say, no come back to it. Joshua had spoken to him then; told Gray at least that she knew what the data was they forced into her head that night. Why would Joshua do that? What would he gain? And what else had he told Gray? Just how good of friends were they, anyway? Gray smiled; satisfied he had once again gotten his position of authority back under reigns. He folded his hands across the front of his body. "There is a small lock box with other sets of keys. Those are for you or Alpha, whoever needs it. I'll tell them of the boat. It's to be used for business, though, once in awhile, a cruise out on the bay won't be looked down upon." Paige could do nothing but stare at him, drawing (ironically) on her Section training and blanking her face the best she could. "There's some dive equipment, fishing equipment, cooler, etc. stored in the cabin. The nav-sat isn't hooked up yet," he paused pulling something out of his pocket. Paige inadvertently took a step back, watching carefully for the specific shape of a weapon. Why would he tell her all this...then kill her? Gray heard her step back and stopped, watching her. He then proceeded slowly, to take the small rectangular shaped object from his pocket. "GPS, you can hook it up yourself I'm sure. If not, Ronnie is the marina repairman, he can do it for you. Any charges are already going to C-Moore." Paige, keeping a careful eye on Gray, reached out to take the small unit. "We need surveillance shots from the water of Samboy. I suggest you take at least Baz with you." Paige nodded slowly, taking another step backwards. She was safe then, for a couple more days until she could get the surveillance shots. Then, she was sure, Gray would demand something of her. "Do have any questions?" he asked, looking carefully at her. "No," she said evenly. She did, but none she figured, he would answer. "You need to step it up with Keller. This matter is getting...how should we say...delicate?" Paige nodded again, "of course." "Good night then," he said with a small smile. He quickly turned walking back up the docks as Paige stood there staring at his retreating back and feeling the dock rock softly from his movement. She watched until he was out of sight before turning back to the boat. She reached down to pull a snap off the canopy then froze. What if he put something on here? What if this was the way he was going to kill her? She shook her head, "get a grip," she whispered to herself, ripping the snaps off in one sweep of clicks, but flinching involuntarily anyway. She stood there letting the breath out she had been holding. Nothing. No explosion, no people hiding in waiting to touch her, just an empty boat. She shivered sweeping the docks again for any movement. She saw nothing and boarded the boat carefully, feeling it move underneath her weight. It smelled newly cleaned, as she assumed it would be. "Nothing but the best for Alpha Unit," she whispered sarcastically. She opened the double cabin doors and ducked looking in. She could see nothing and groped around for a light, finally finding one. She didn't know what was more overwhelming at that instant � the sudden blinding light or the fear of someone seeing her at this particular boat. She snapped the light off instantly. She moved quickly then, the fear gripping her in small gasping breaths. She closed the small doors and started snapping the canopy back on even as she was crawling out. She couldn't pull the last one tight enough and left it. In her haste she tripped trying to get on the dock and skinned her knee almost falling in the water. She got up and quickly limped back up the docks. Her eyes never stopped moving and she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Perhaps, Gray had decided to stay? She reached her apartment, locking the door and banging the alarm on. She didn't turn on any lights, choosing to use the small glow coming in off the overhead dock lights to navigate the darkness. She crouched in the hallway, a wet washcloth draped over her knee, a gun clutched in her hand, and waited in the dark. After about two hours the feeling finally started dying down. She stripped and moved to the bedroom trying to focus on the next day's work and how she was going to manage a date with Keller. She would have to make it Saturday night since Friday she was already going out with Jordan and Saf to a local bar. That, and Keller would be working anyway. Sunday, she could take Baz out to see what surveillance pictures they could get. Monday, Jordan would be starting. She would be safe until then. The sun had started to rise as she drifted off into a fitful sleep. Return |
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