The Fey by Claudia Hall Christian Read Free Book Online Page A

your names. It’s only a matter of
time before…”
    “ He’s coming for me.
That’s what it means. And now he knows where and who. It’s only a
matter of when.”
    “ But not today,” John
said.
    Alex shot a look to him, then laughed.
    “ No,” Ben said. “Not
today. Today we need to get through the phone call. Alexandra, we
need a strategy.”
    “ What does that mean?”
John asked.
    “ Alex is good at coming up
with strategies. She’s better than we are,” Raz said.
    Alex nodded.
    “ Shall we go upstairs?”
Ben asked. “I believe your friend Ben left some espresso
here.”
    “ Then drank it all,” Alex
said. “Did you…?”
    “ I spoke with your
Sergeant,” Raz said. He kissed her cheek. “You OK?”
    She nodded. “Go on. I’ll close up.”
    While Alex closed the office, the men went
upstairs. She heard Max in the entry way when she closed the door
to the office. Checking her watch, she had eleven minutes. She took
the stairs one at a time, pausing at the landing, then working her
way up to the hallway and the main floor of the house. She saw the
men talking in the kitchen, then made her way to the living
room.
    Clearing her head, Alex watched the snow
fall in drifts through the living room window. She pressed all
emotion out of her body. John floated in front of her eyes to light
a fire in the fireplace. A cup of espresso appeared in her hand.
Max’s head rested on her shoulder some time after he sat almost on
top of her on the couch. Her mind was silent. Her body clear.
Somewhere in a corner of her mind a plan began to form. Keeping her
attention on the blank space in her head, the plan grew.
    “ Alex, you have one
minute,” Raz said.
    F

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    She blinked but kept her focus.
    “ It’s time,” Raz said. Her
cell phone rang. He answered the phone to her Sergeant. “Don’t put
him through yet.”
    Turning to Alex, he said again, “Alex, it’s
time.”
    She startled, then blinked.
    “ Tell my Sergeant that I’m
not available.”
    Raz looked surprised, opened his mouth to
say something, then nodded.
    “ Sergeant, please tell the
caller that the Fey is no longer available. Yes, then lock it down.
Yes, that’s correct. The Fey is no longer available. Thank
you.”
    Alex let out a breath.
    “ What’s for lunch?” she
asked.
    The men, who had been tiptoeing around her
silence, began laughing and talking at once. She laughed. John bent
to kiss her.
    “ Who’s working today?” she
asked looking from face to face. “No one? Let’s celebrate. No more
phone calls.”
    “ Champagne or whiskey?”
John asked.
    “ Whiskey,” Alex replied as
if it was obvious.
    She passed a bottle of Red Breast Irish
Whiskey to Max and followed Raz into the kitchen. While Raz opened
the containers of Chinese food, Alex explained her plan. Alex
pulled plates from the cabinet and Raz drilled her with questions.
She answered, then smiled. He nodded in agreement. They had a
strategy. Raz carried the food out to the dining room.
    Alex made three phone calls, clearing her
schedule for the day, then joined the laughing, talking men in the
dining room. As the snow fell, they ate, gossiped and celebrated
the end of conversation with Eleazar.
    FFF
    Nine hours later
    February 8 – 9:30 P.M.
Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Southeastern Colorado
     
    Sliding backwards in the dirt and snow with
her legs in front of her, Alex fired her paintball pistols, one in
each hand, at the targets. With her crutch hooked onto her forearm,
she rolled under a bush for protection. She raised an eyebrow. Only
two targets left.
    She was in a simulation designed to train
soldiers in warfare. Right at this moment, she was in the middle of
a terrorist cell in the mock Afghanistan area of Piñon Canyon in
Southeast Colorado. Her assignment was to take out the terrorist
cell in the shortest amount of time with the least gunfire. The
army estimated that a Green Beret should complete this task in two
hours and seventeen minutes. A