Free In the Grey by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

did,” Raz
said.
    “ What if that’s not the
reason you were taken?” Ben asked. “What if Joiner was supposed to
keep her from discovering you were gone? Maybe they fought so hard
to keep you because they didn’t get what they wanted from
you.”
    “ Like what?” Matthew
started.
    “ Exactly,” Ben
said.
    “ Robert Powell assaulted
Alexandra at Cheyenne Mountain here,” Sergeant Mead pointed to the
red pen. “Step back.”
    “ His color is red?”
Matthew asked.
    “ Oui ,” Ben said.
    Matthew sucked in a
breath.
    “ What the hell?” Matthew
turned to look at Ben.
    “ Exactly,” Ben
said.
    “ And why?” Raz asked.
“That’s the question we can’t seem to answer. Why Alex? Why is she
the one that has to be out of commission?”
    “ What if it’s not Alex?”
Matthew asked. “Maybe it’s John or Max or Master Super Spy here or
you, Raz, and they could only get to Alex.”
    Ben and Raz stared so long
at Matthew that he shifted uncomfortably. Raz broke his stare by
glancing at Ben.
    “ Never thought of it,” Ben
said. “Do you think that’s possible?”
    “ How would I know?”
Matthew asked. “Except . . . did you put up the
first assault? The one with Trece, White Boy, and Jesse. You know,
when they were in Bosnia?”
    Ben and Raz looked at each
other and then looked at Matthew.
    “ Do you remember the
date?” Raz asked.
    “ Sure,” Matthew went to
the wall and pointed. “It would be right . . .
here.”
    Raz picked up a green pen
and made a mark on the wall.
    “ Mon
Dieu ,” Ben said under his
breath.
    “ Why did you ask?” Raz’s
hazel-grey eyes flicked to look at Matthew while his face stayed
eerily still.
    “ Because Alex never told
anyone about the assault in Bosnia,” Matthew said. “No one, not
even Max. And there aren’t any intelligence files, or you guys
would have known about what happened. If that assault fits the
pattern then . . .”
    “ They are only after
Alexandra,” Sergeant Mead said.
    “ It’s only about Alex,”
Matthew said.
    “ But why?” Raz
asked.
    “ We’ll find the why when
we fill in the rest of this,” Ben said. “Who would you choose to
help us?”
    “ Troy is with Alex,”
Matthew said. “They’re talking with his sons about the drones.
Colin is with them too. How about Joseph? We found a notebook in
his locker in the vault with the dates, locations, and actions of
the Fey Special Forces Team. He has it in his office.”
    “ Good thinking,” Ben
said.
    “ You know who would be
perfect?” Matthew nodded. “Zack.”
    “ Zack?” Raz’s glance spoke
his disbelief. “The pilot?”
    “ Hear me out,” Matthew
said. “Zack is really good at putting things together – locations,
times, distances, and stuff like that. He’s good with math too. He
has to do it to set up our trips.”
    “ You’re right,” Raz said.
“He’s compulsive about efficient flying. He never wants to fly from
here to there unless it uses the least amount of fuel, takes the
least amount of time, and is the safest. He has a formula to
calculate everything.”
    “ Comes from flying Dragon
Ladies,” Matthew said. “Plus, who knows? Maybe he’ll know something
we don’t.”
    “ Can you spare anyone
else?” Ben asked.
    “ Leena would be helpful,”
Raz said. “In fact, if we have time, it might be interesting to
track the team’s various incidents and assaults.”
    “ Like when I was held
hostage and Leena’s assault,” Matthew said.
    “ Vince’s accident,” Raz
said. “MJ’s IED.”
    “ You’re a team of
survivors,” Ben nodded. “Almost everyone has been through
something.”
    “ That’s what occurred to
me,” Raz said. “If it’s a lot of problems and the same problems
solvers, what if we’re a part of the problem, each of
us.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Because we know Alex?”
Raz shrugged.
    “ Or something about her,”
Sergeant Mead said. “That makes good sense. Each of you might know
a tiny piece that fits the larger