In the Grey Read Free Page B

the
deadly assassin who went by the name “Mammy” asked from her kitchen
on Harkers Island. “Did you hear from all of the girls?”
    Her father’s team members
shifted uncomfortably.
    “ Leena? Margaret?” Alex
asked. “For the sake of the other team, can you give them a full
report?”
    “ Yes, sir,” US Petty
Officer Leena Carmichael and US Marine Sergeant Margaret Peaches
said in near unison. They came to the front and stood next to Alex
and Matthew.
    “ Ma’am,” Leena nodded to
Mammy on the video screen. “With the help of Martha, one of our
base telephone staff, and the video chat room, we have seen all
ninety-four women this morning. They have, to a person, been
activated but not assigned.”
    “ There were a whole lot
more kids than that,” one of the men on her father’s team said from
the back of the room.
    “ As you may know, sir, the
children were given a suicide protocol should any memory of their
involvement in the project return.” Leena’s words were hard and
bitter. Matthew put a hand on her forearm to steady her. She
glanced at him and nodded.
    “ Sir, we found that only a
small percentage of the children survived childhood,” Matthew said.
“Those who survived were often prey to addiction, homelessness,
violent relationships, murder, and suicide.”
    “ Ninety-four women
survived,” Margaret said.
    “ But . . . ,” the man started.
    “ None of the boys made
it,” Leena said.
    “ We’ve tracked every name,
birth date, and social security number,” Matthew said. “Our team
has personally visited every gravesite, documented the deaths in
detail, and spoken to the remaining members of their families.
We’ve worked with a prominent therapist who specializes in the
treatment of mind control survivors to make certain we did not miss
anything or anyone.”
    “ Because they’re younger
than most of the subjects, we believe the women to be the greatest
threat,” Alex said. “And, without clear project records, they are
our greatest wild card. Petty Officer Carmichael and Sergeant
Peaches have forged bonds with the women, as well as connected them
with each other.”
    “ Most of the women had
already contacted at least one other woman in their group before we
spoke to them this morning,” Leena said. “Their therapist has also
been informed.”
    “ Maybe it’s time to start
at the beginning,” a man’s voice said from the doorway. “I’d sure
as hell like to hear it.”
    Alex looked up to see
Major Joseph Walters. MJ got up from his seat and hugged Joseph.
One at a time, her team acknowledged Joseph with a handshake or a
hug as he came into the room. Alex hugged him when he reached
her.
    “ Who would like to start?”
Alex gestured to her father’s team. “My team has had a lot of
questions about the mind control programs and, as you know, the
original records are nonexistent.”
    The blank faces of
grey-haired bureaucrats, politicians, a few school teachers, and
several old-school spies stared back at her. Veterans of the Cold
War, among others, these men were committed to taking their secrets
to the grave.
    “ I’ll do it,” Benjamin
Doucet, Alex’s friend, mentor, and biological father, said as he
entered the room.

CHAPTER
TWO
     
    Alex’s partner, Homeland
Security Agent Arthur “Raz” Rasmussen, came in behind him. Ben
patted Joseph’s back and hugged Alex.
    “ Your father is right
behind me,” Ben said. “Colin’s with him.”
    Prior to retiring,
Benjamin had been the most accomplished intelligence operative in
the world. He looked out over the team he’d helped Alex create, and
then glanced at Alex. She gave him a “go ahead” nod.
    “ I think it’s hard for
people now to imagine what it was like after World War II,” Ben
said. “There were two world wars in a little more than thirty
years, seventy million dead, and the brutality . . .
I’m not making excuses for them. I’m saying the roots of this
program are grounded in those