In the Grey (30 page)

“
You spoke with him on the
plane,” John said.

“
I did,” Alex
said.

“
Nice of you,” John
said.

Alex laughed.

“
What’s with the
inflatable chest?” John asked.

“
I get a little
intimidated by the silicone floaties,” Alex said.

John laughed and stopped
at the light on York Street and Eighth Avenue. He leaned over to
give her a real welcome-home kiss. They kissed with increasing
fervor until the man behind them laid on his horn. John waved and
turned into the Cherry Creek Country Club neighborhood. Although
not far from their home, the neighborhood was light years away from
their funky urban life.

“
Jeez, these houses are
huge,” Alex said. “Can you imagine if our menagerie lived
here?”

John laughed.

“
Sorry I was so late,”
Alex said.

“
I told him we’d be late,”
John said. “How many countries have you been in this
week?”

“
Including Hawaii as a
country?” Alex counted on her fingers. “Four.”

Laughing, he got out of
the car and came around to get her. He opened her door. When she
got out, he held her close for a minute.

“
Thanks for coming,” John
nuzzled her neck. “This is supposed to be the event of the
season.”

Alex kissed his nose. He
took her hand, and they walked up the long sandstone path to the
house. Alex leaned back to look up at the towering, three-story
historic home. The house rivaled the mansion the Fey Team stayed in
when they were in Washington DC.

“
It’s big,” Alex said
under her breath.

“
Jealous?” John asked in a
low tone as he pressed the bell.

“
Mmm,” Alex said. “I can
just see Cian . . .”

The door moved and Alex
expected to see a butler like the one at Sheridan Circle Mansion in
Washington DC. John’s boss Dr. Rupert Wolfe stood behind the
door.

“
John!” Dr. Wolfe said.
“So nice to see you! This must be your lovely wife.”

“
Alex.” She gave him a big
smile and then wondered if there was lipstick on her teeth. Raz
usually took care of those details when they were
together.

“
I’ve heard so much about
you,” Dr. Wolfe said. “You must come with me.”

Alex realized she wasn’t
wearing lipstick or makeup. She groaned at herself. Dr. Wolfe took
her hand and led her into the house. She glanced back at John. He
smiled and nodded her forward.

“
John told me you just
returned from a trip,” Dr. Wolfe said.

They entered a large
living space where the party had gathered. Out of habit more than
anything, Alex glanced around the room to assess the threat
presented by the doctors and their dates. The French doors opened
to a wide balcony, and a door at the end looked like it led to the
kitchen. She glanced at the woman who walked by with an appetizer
tray. The guy in the corner was probably a bodyguard
for . . . that pudgy man sitting in the corner. The
waiter with the tray of drinks was ex-military – Marines, probably.
That woman too. When she looked back at Dr. Wolfe, he was still
talking.

“
I’m sorry,” Alex said.
“New room. I missed the last thing you said.”

“
We were in China just
last year,” Dr. Wolfe said.

“
How lovely.” Alex’s words
reminded her of her mother. She added another typical polite
Rebecca reply, “Where did you go?”

“
Hong Kong, of course,”
Dr. Wolfe plucked at his suit jacket. “You can’t beat Tailors
Row.”

Alex smiled. She watched
an older woman, probably Dr. Wolfe’s wife, welcome John to the
party with a big hug. The woman tucked her hand under his elbow and
leaned in. After a moment, she began introducing John to the other
people at the party.

“
Beijing and Shanghai,”
Dr. Wolfe said. “Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall. Such an
amazing culture. And the food! Don’t you just love Chinese food? We
eat plenty of authentic Chinese here, but there? It’s better, so
fresh.”

Unable to think of
anything say, Alex smiled.

“
Of course, we never eat
outside of the Hilton,” Dr. Wolfe said. “You never know what you
might catch out on the streets. No, inside the Hilton, everything
is just the way we like it.”

“
Good thinking,” Alex
said.

“
Where were you?” Dr.
Wolfe turned to face Alex. His eyes traveled the length of her neck
and he put his hand on her shoulder.

“
Asia, mostly,” Alex
said.

“
Is that where you were
last month?” Dr. Wolfe asked.

Alex glanced at John, and
he gave her a quick roll of his eyes before shaking another hand.
Under the intensity of the doctor’s eyes, she tried to think of
some response.

“
Last month?” Alex dug
into her finishing school training. “Gosh, my trips are so boring.
Just work. I bet you had a better time.”

“
Probably true,” Dr. Wolfe
smiled. “We did get to quite a few Buddhist temples. We’ve been to
Laos, Vietnam . . .”

Alex smiled and then
chastised herself for her boredom. She’d spent three whole summers
in finishing school after all. She could do this.

“
Did you hear about that
poor man who was executed in Chongqing, China?” Dr. Wolfe
asked.

Alex’s mind stumbled on
the use of “poor man” for Cee Cee Joiner. She gave a little shake
of her head. She opened her mouth, but the doctor continued without
her.

“
I can’t imagine who that
guy pissed off,” Dr. Wolfe laughed. “The Chinese are such friendly
and accommodating people. I can’t imagine them executing
anyone.”

“
They executed more than
five thousand people last year.” Sure she’d offended him, Alex bit
her lip.

“
You are spicy,” he
smiled. “I do love to take in everything.”

She smiled. Her eyes
glanced at the couple tongue kissing in the corner of the
room.

“
Friendly group,” she
said. “Do you get together often?”

“
As often as we can,” Dr.
Wolfe said. “This party is always my favorite. We get a great group
and have lots of time. We’re often saying good-bye to the
stragglers Sunday night.”

When the doctor laughed,
Alex glanced at his drink to see what he was drinking.

“
I bet you’ll have a great
time tonight,” Dr. Wolfe’s hand slipped around her waist. He pulled
her close. “Being in the military, working with all those men, I’m
sure you’ll find us fairly sedate.”

“
Sir?” Alex had no idea
what he was talking about.

“
I hope you save time for
me later.” Dr. Wolfe’s hot breath blew on her face, and his hand
stroked her side.

“
You know I’m armed,
right?”

The words came out of
Alex’s mouth before she realized what she’d said. The doctor
laughed and hugged her.

“
Just glad you could make
it,” Dr. Wolfe said. “If you’ll excuse
me . . .”

Dr. Wolfe pointed to a
chef, who was signaling to him from the door to the kitchen. Alex
breathed a sigh of relief when he retreated. She moved in the
direction she’d last seen John. He was sitting on the couch. When a
woman put her hand on his thigh, he got up. He was stopped by
another woman.

“
Friendly bunch,” Alex
said under her breath.

“
Sir?” the young female
waiter she’d pegged as ex-military was standing in front of her.
The young woman saluted.

“
At ease,” Alex said. “On
leave?”

“
Stateside, sir,” The
young woman nodded. “I need the money for Christmas. Me
and . . .”

She pointed to the young
man Alex had pegged as an ex-Marine.

“
Marine?” Alex
asked.

“
Army, sir.” The woman
sounded so offended that Alex laughed. “Sergeant Davies,
sir.”

Out of the corner of her
eye, Alex saw the kissing couple get up and walk out of the room.
She noticed another couple walk back into the room holding hands.
They gave each other a weird nod and separated to different parts
of the room.

“
What exactly is going on
here?” Alex asked Sergeant Davies.

“
They’re . . . ,” the woman made a
gesture.

“
Please be specific,” Alex
said. “You may speak freely.”

“
Swapping,” the woman
whispered.

“
Like a white elephant?”
Alex shrugged. “I forgot to get something on our last trip. My
husband asked, and they said we should just
come . . .”

Alex’s eyes traced another
couple leave the room.

“
Oh,” Alex
blushed.

“
Yes, sir,” the woman
said. “We were surprised to see you. Here. With
these . . .”

Alex lifted a corner of
her lip in disgust.

“
Jason said I should tell
you,” Sergeant Davies leaned to her. “This is conduct unbecoming,
sir.”

“
Thank you, Sergeant,”
Alex smiled at the young woman.

“
Your husband is very
handsome,” the sergeant said.

“
They practically begged
us to come,” Alex said. “Here. They’ve begged us to come to this
party.”

“
That perv,” Sergeant
Davies nodded to Dr. Wolfe. “He’s been bragging all night that it’s
his party; he gets you first.”

“
Ew,” Alex
said.

“
Viagra,” the sergeant
pointed a discrete finger toward the bowl filled with blue pills on
the coffee table. She nodded behind Alex, “Condoms.”

Alex turned in place to
see a bowl full of multicolored condoms on the table near the door.
A man picked up a handful and walked out the room after a
woman.

“
There’s X in the drinks,”
Sergeant Davies said.

Alex turned back to the
woman.

“
Listen,” Alex said. “I am
not without resources. If you and Jason help to get us out of here,
I will double whatever they’re paying you to work here.”

“
You don’t have to, sir.
It’s a great honor to serve . . . ,” she leaned
forward and whispered, “The Fey.”

“
Who?” Alex shook her head
and put on her best clueless face.

“
Our unit was assigned to
Grand Forks last year, sir,” she nodded.

“
Oh,” Alex
smiled.

“
Uh oh,” Sergeant Davies
pointed. John was picking up a drink from a tray.

“
I’d better go,” Alex
said. “You’ll help?”

Sergeant Davies gave her a
sincere nod. Alex walked past the young man the sergeant called
Jason. Hooking her hand in John’s arm, she tugged him to her.
Another woman had latched on to his other side. John looked
confused as they did a little tug of war until John said, “Will you
excuse me?” to the woman in his most prissy London
accent.

“
You’ll promise to return
him to me,” the woman said.

The woman bat her false
eyelashes. Alex smiled and led John out onto the balcony.
Miraculously, they were alone. They stood with their hips against
the railing, looking at the perfectly manicured grass, tall trees,
and beautiful landscaping.

“
Did you get a drink?”
John asked.

He held his martini glass
out to her. She took his drink and set it down on a teak
table.

“
I think we should go,”
she said.

“
We just got here,” he
said. “Did something happen?”

“
Remember that whole swap
thing that you weren’t paying much attention to?” Alex
asked.

“
Are you upset?” John
asked. He moved to stand right behind her. He kissed her neck. “I
know it’s not perfect politeness, but Dr. Wolfe said it was fine
not to bring a gift.”

Alex turned around to look
at him.

“
They’re swapping wives,”
Alex said.

John laughed. She waited
for his belly laugh to die down.

“
Did you notice people
coming in and out?” Alex asked. “The bowl of Viagra on the magazine
table?”

“
Viagra,” John shook his
head. “My darling wife.”

He put his hands around
her face and leaned in to kiss her lips. He pulled back. His cobalt
blue eyes looked almost black in the moonlight. They danced over
the lines of her face.

“
Not everything is a big
conspiracy that needs sorting,” John said. “This is just a party. A
few professionals getting together for the holiday is not a big
deal. I know you’ve been working a lot and God, you must be
exhausted . . .”

The door opened behind
them and one of John’s surgeon friends came out with Mrs. Wolfe.
They started necking at the door to the balcony. The doctor pushed
Mrs. Wolfe across the balcony and turned her around. She braced her
legs and he pushed her torso over the railing. He unzipped his
pants and his stiff member fell out. John took a step
back.