The Gray Man Ch. 03 - Jessica & Donald

Dear Reader,

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination.

Constructive criticism, and feedback is truly appreciated. I would like this to be an interactive journey as much as this medium allows. Please feel free to send suggestions, ideas for future characters etc. I welcome the input.

I hope you enjoy these adventures as much as you enjoyed Sean - no worries, Sean will be back. I just need some time to explore some other areas of my darkness.

Also, if you'd like a character to inquire about Gray's services send me a description and we can work from there.

Keep Soaring,

Pelican

(¬‿¬)

There were times that TJ wished he were like 'normal' people. This was one of those times. Going on just a couple of hours sleep and the adrenaline dump following the early morning rendezvous with Suzi and the 4 mile run home most people would sleep. He just wasn't wired that way.

He took a shower, pulled out his notebook and pen. Gretchen had suggested he get another encrypted laptop but his preference was a good pen and high quality paper to take his notes, sketch maps and other items. He referred to his truth for the day, "Trust your gut when it comes to food, people, situations - it's rarely wrong."

Even though it was Sunday TJ trusted his gut and made his way to the neighborhood of the person of interest he had been tasked to gather intel on. He waited and watched for a few hours and saw nothing out of the ordinary. A typical neighborhood on the Sunday before Christmas. Folks coming and going, unloading gifts and heading inside.

TJ was getting tired and had to pee. He was getting ready to drive away when his target left her house alone. Gray decided to follow along just to see if he got lucky. Her first stop was a drive through at Starbucks. After an overpriced coffee she went to the grocery store.

TJ really needed to pee but his gut told him to follow his target. TJ noted she was cute in a soccer mom kind of way. No make up, hair up in a messy bun. Lululemon joggers, what looked to be a built in sports bra kind of top covered with a partially zipped jacket. She wandered through the grocery store looking like any other suburban mom, sipping her coffee and shopping.

TJ grabbed a cart and walked a path just a bit away from Lisa. One of the things Gray had learned after years in the field was that everyone has a tell. If you don't have a tell, then that's a tell to the trained eye because it means it's been trained out of you.

Lisa had a tell, she paused near the bakery as she looked at fresh bread. It was barely perceptible but her eyes danced around before she reached under the shelf and placed something. To the untrained eye she just touched the shelf, however Gray's eye was anything but untrained.

An amateur would have intercepted the drop, TJ wasn't an amateur. He waited wandering the aisles until a woman wandered down the same bakery aisle and stopped at the same location and casually slipped her hand under the shelf and retrieved whatever it was that Lisa and placed.

TJ figured he had a chance to check out and then pee before his new target left the grocery store. He guessed right as he sat in the Cadillac and again waited. People new to the intelligence world thought everything looked like a Jason Bourne movie, honestly 99% of the time you were waiting and watching. If you did your job right, then it was 100%, the ache in TJ's shoulders reminded him that the 1% can be costly.

This time his waiting was rewarded as the lady came out of the grocery store and walked quickly to a black Mercedes SUV. Gray moved into traffic behind her, close enough to keep her in view, not so close that she would notice him. The goal was to blend in.

She turned onto 355 and crossed into the city, through Friendship Heights where 355 merged with 190 to form Wisconsin Avenue. The SUV continued through TenleyTown and McLean Gardens past the National Cathedral and crossed Massachusetts Ave. She turned into The Glover Park Hotel and made her way to the lobby. TJ again waited, this time he wandered into the bar and ordered a Sazerac and kept an eye on the mousy woman in the mirror behind the bar.

It took a bit until the woman made her way to the restroom, came out and paid her tab and left. This is where what TJ did required luck. Was this a regular stop, or was this another drop. It was 50/50. TJ closed his eyes and tried to sense what his gut was telling him. He took a chance and stayed. He smirked as he ordered a second Sazerac. "Well, if I have to wait I may as well enjoy it", he thought as the drink arrived.

His luck was holding today as a woman walked through the bar to the women's bathroom and walked out much too quickly to have done any business. She walked out of the bar just as quickly. TJ put $50 on the bar and hurried out. "So much for a receipt for expenses" he growled as he almost had to jog to catch up with his target.

The woman walked north up Wisconsin, across Edmunds before she crossed Wisconsin Ave. TJ followed along at a distance. The woman turned north on Wisconsin. TJ stayed across the street, staying just behind the woman. A single man in a long black wool jacket passed her walking south. TJ was sure he saw a quick pass so he stopped and tried to watch both.

The woman hailed a cab and got in, while the man continued south and turned right which led into the Embassy of the Russian Federation. "Fuck," Gray thought, "This is more than corporate espionage."

TJ climbed into the Cadillac and called his cousin on the encrypted phone. When she picked up he said, "I need the named partners at the office in an hour."

Gretchen was confused as to why TJ was calling on this phone in the first place, much less why he needed to meet with the partners, "What are you talking about?"

TJ said, "I'll explain in person, we have a problem." He ended the call and drove to the offices of Saban - Knight & Foster. He had to wait for one of the partners to arrive as he didn't even have a key to the office.

When the partner unlocked the door and walked in he looked at TJ with a stern look, "It's the Sunday before Christmas, this had better be worth pulling me away from my family."

Finally all three of the named partners were around a table. Gretchen Foster, William Knight, and Richard Saban looked at their newest investigator. TJ told them about following Lisa and all that followed.

William Knight leaned back in his chair, "Holy shit, if you are right we are talking more than corporate theft, we are talking full blown CIA level espionage."

Louis looked at his fellow partner, "IF he's correct. Hell, he may have spent so much time in the mountains tracking traitors that he sees one around every corner."

Gretchen looked at Louis, "This is your client Louis - what business are they in exactly?"

The oldest of the three partners adjusted his bowtie, "Well they are a multi disciplined conglomerate."

Knight leaned forward, "Oh, for fuck sake stop reading from the investors prospectus. What would they be involved in that fucking Putin would want?"

Louis cleared his throat, "Network Security."

Now it was Gretchen's turn to slam the table. "Jesus fucking Christ Louis. A year into this and you are just now telling us this?"

Knight stood up and began to pace, "We need to contact Homeland or the CIA."

TJ stayed in his seat. "Let me do that, I still have some contacts and if a call comes from one of the most prominent law firms in the city it will call attention."

Gretchen now stood and joined her friend in pacing, "That's what we want, attention to stop this shit."

TJ shook his head, "Actually, no. That's not what anyone wants. The way things like this work is that we don't want the bad guys to know that we know. We want them to think we have no idea what they are doing so that they keep doing it and the net gets filled with more and more fish. Let me handle it."

Louis leaned forward, his voice a growl, "So if you were going to handle it on your own why bring us all in on a Sunday."

TJ's eyes locked with Louis, "Just being transparent."

Knight and Saban left, leaving Gretchen with her cousin. She was stressed. TJ walked around the table and massaged her shoulders. Gretchen almost jumped at his touch, something he had done for years but now his touch awakened parts of her she was ashamed to admit. Quickly trying to distract him she said, "So, this morning went okay."

TJ moved back to his chair, "It went fine, no problems."

His cousin looked over her glasses, "Was she?.."

TJ smiled, "I think she was pleased with the services provided."

Gretchen nodded, "I have three other prospects, if you want to talk about it since we are here."

TJ nodded, "That's good, then I need to go sleep a bit I think."

Gretchen nodded, "You haven't been to sleep?"

TJ shook his head, "Not yet."

The strawberry blonde was tired, she couldn't imagine how tired Gray was. "First, I have an agent who wants to be abducted and interrogated over a weekend before she is sent to an embassy assignment."

Before she had finished TJ said, "Nope."

She looked at him, "That was quick, don't want more info?"

Gray leaned back, "I don't need anything else. Federal Agent? Hell no, if she goes poof for a weekend we will have assets that you don't know about looking for her. We don't need those headaches. Next."

She sighed, "A couple wants someone to break into her home, tie up her husband and force him to watch as she is ravaged."

TJ rubbed his eyes, "Really? Someone wants to watch me fuck their wife? Weird, but okay. Not much better than the first but at least it's something. WeI need approval from him. I'm not going to do something like that without the husband being in on it. The last thing I want is to really have to subdue a pissed off spouse who wants to kill me."

Gretchen nodded, "I'll be in touch with her tonight. We can talk more when they get back to us. Then there is number 3. A British Airways second officer who wants someone to "kick her hotel door in and fuck her senseless"

TJ shook his head, "So, how in the hell are there this many women who A. Have this fantasy and B. Found us? I'm good with either of the last two, the first is a hard pass."

His cousin smirked, "I have my ways, just as you have yours. I will look into the cuckold and the pilot," Gretchen stretched then stood up, "Go get some sleep. You look like shit."

Gray nodded, "I will. I need to make a phone call, then I will. Promise." Gray and his cousin left the office, when TJ got into the car he called an old friend, "Hey sharpshooter, I've got a situation..."

TJ got back to the apartment, laid on the couch and turned on The Lions game, before he watched 3 snaps he was sound asleep.

Monday morning arrived, TJ wandered into the office and he could tell that everyone was tense. Andi walked up to him, "Saban and Knight got into a shouting match this morning, nobody is sure what it was all about but it was ugly.

TJ nodded and moved to Gretchen's office. He knocked and walked in, closed the door and looked at his cousin. She looked up from her notes, "You started a fucking shit storm around here. Richard and Bill almost had to be separated today."

TJ shook his head, "Two old guys who would lose a slap fight with a sixth grader." He rolled his eyes, "a true shame I missed it."

Gretchen tried to not laugh, "It's serious Teej, stop."

He looked at his cousin, "No it's not. Selling secrets to the Russians - that's serious. China intentionally tanking the economy - that's serious. The Lions losing because of a shitty call by a back judge - that's serious. Two old guys that are pissed off because one has a secret - not serious."

Gretchen Foster shook her head, "Okay, in my world it's serious. So, I heard back from the 'watch my wife get fucked' couple. They are good to go, they even sent the code to their alarm."

TJ laughed, "So, why don't I just tie both of them up and rob them blind?"

Gretchen smirked, "Because fencing $7500 worth of stolen shit is a bigger pain in the ass than this. Speaking of ass, she says she wants anal. I sent her the picture of," her voice trailed off.

TJ winked at her, "My cock, penis, pecker, dick, pee pee, weiner. Pick one Foster."

Gretchen groaned and flipped her cousin off, knowing that she just flooded her panties, "Fine, your penis. I wanted to be sure she knew what she was asking for and she replied in the affirmative."

TJ shrugged his shoulders, "I'll take lube. Tell them sometime after the New Year. I'll pick a night when I can't silence the noise in my head."

Ms. Foster looked over her glasses, "Not a firm date?"

TJ smiled, "Nope. If they want to play the game then they don't get to know exactly when. If they want the shock and awe, then the unknown is a part of the deal."

Gray Went back to his 'day job' for the next couple of weeks seeing if he could gather any more intel on the Russian connection. He trailed his target from work to home, she made no stops or drops, then left town for the holiday week.

TJ and Gretchen flew home for Christmas and New Year's. Their families lived about 100 miles apart, but they could both fly into Detroit so they flew back and forth together. Sitting next to TJ in first class was a challenge for Gretchen. On both flights she imagined him taking her into the lavatory and joining the mile high club. Her panties were soaked as she stood in baggage claim on both legs of the trip.

On the flight home Gretchen told TJ that she had heard back from The Agent, who asked Mr. Gray to reconsider. She wants to be sexually tortured to know her breaking point with someone who would respect a safe word, because where she is going there would be no relief.

TJ looked at his cousin, "Tell her to find a SERE school", and went back to reading his book.

January 3rd was the evening TJ picked to pay a visit to Jessica and Donald. All of the forms were signed by both parties, the money had been transferred and it was soon enough after the holiday that they may be relaxed and not expecting a dinner guest.

Jessica unknowingly drove past her assailant without knowing. TJ's eyes followed her as she entered her driveway on the rainy evening. Thinking Donald would be only a few moments behind her she left the garage door up. TJ smiled to himself, "This will be easier than he imagined." He quickly slipped down the street, thankful for the early darkness and long commutes for folks in the suburbs.

He quickly entered the darkened garage as the timed light had gone out. A couple of steps and he quietly slipped into the house. TJ made note of the house and quietly made his way from the den to the kitchen. Jessica was just starting to unload the dishwasher that she had started that morning before leaving for work.

However, before she could even begin, her head was suddenly covered in a white hood and she was pushed hard into the counter from behind. Her body instinctively bent over the counter as her assailant pushed up against her. She felt a huge bulge in the front of his pants, but still she tried to kick back against her assailant, but missed and felt him slam into her again.

"Be still, bitch, or you'll regret it!" she heard a raspy male voice say.

She was pulled away from the counter, spun, and pushed against the refrigerator as she felt a strong hand grab her throat and a hand slipped under the hood to cover her mouth. She tried to scream, but as soon as her mouth opened, the hand clamped down.

"Go ahead and fight, that will make this so much more fun." the voice said

Jessica's mind raced. They had paid for someone to assault her, but Donald was supposed to be home. Was this her ravager or a stranger?

A man's whispered voice snarled in her ear, "Scream and you will regret it!" To drive home the point, Sheila's attacker squeezed her throat lightly as his other hand dropped to cup her 38 D tits roughly through her cream colored silk blouse. "Nice tits," he growled as Jessica's panic grew.

Her assailant dragged and slipped his leg between hers and forced her onto the couch face first. He quickly shifted his hand from her throat to her mouth. He moved his heavy body on top of her without giving her a chance to brace herself. His weight forced some of the air from her lungs as she tried to gasp for air, but the hand covering her mouth made that almost impossible and she felt her initial panic rising from not being able to breathe.

Her assailant quickly grabbed her right arm and moved it behind her back, before she could react he had taken the left. She felt the coldness of metal as the handcuffs made the familiar click as they locked in place.

Jessica struggled against the steel handcuffs, but to no avail. Her mind raced as she tried to remember what she had been taught in a women's self-defense class many years before, but it never covered what to do with your arms handcuffed behind your back.

Jessica was pulled upright and pushed into a sitting position on the couch.

"Do not even think of moving, if you live you will regret it," the voice said. To emphasize the point she felt the cold blade of a knife trace a soft line from her throat down the V in her blouse to the very center of her ample cleavage. "I hate blood," he growled

Paralyzed with fear she sat perfectly still listening as footsteps faded to her and Donald's bedroom. She was uncomfortable sitting handcuffed, it's an experience that thankfully most people never have. She tried to adjust her position to reduce the discomfort when she heard footsteps approaching from the hallway leading back to the bedrooms. She again froze in fear. Where was Donald when she needed him?

She felt the presence again move up close to her and became still. "Can you guess what I found in your nightstand? You kinky little slut?" her attacker asked. The assailant moved behind her and tore the hood off of her and replaced it with the same blindfold from the restaurant. She still hadn't seen her attacker and she was terrified.

Jessica felt something hard was pressed against her partially open lips. She immediately recognized the ball gag that she had bought hoping Donald would become more dominant in the bedroom, she was terrified at what else her attacker may have found.

"Open!" he ordered. She opened her mouth and felt a hard rubber ball pushed into it. The straps were secured behind her head and before she could fathom the reality, the ball gag was secured. Her mouth was stuffed and open, and the small hole in the center of the rubber ball allowed her to breathe, even as the drool started to spill from her lips.

"Stand up!" she was commanded as the attacker reached down and took her arms to help her feet by her handcuffed arms. Jessica struggled to get to her feet and stood swaying slightly in front of the chair.

"Now, I can really focus on these," the voice whispered in her ear. Jessica was terrified at what was happening while at the same time horrified that her body was responding to the presence and power of the stranger. She felt his hands grasping the front of her white blouse and then they suddenly ripped it apart, sending buttons scattering everywhere.

"Oh my God!" she tried to scream through the ball gag, it came out a muffled groan as even more drool escaped her mouth. Her breathing became rapid and her chest rose and fell quickly.

"Mmmm. Nice." The attacker roughly pulled her bra up over her heaving breasts and allowed them to be fully displayed. Sheila had always been proud of her figure and her 38D breasts were the first things that every man noticed about her trim body. She was barely 5'6" tall and 130 pounds, and her figure was exceptional from good genetics and regular workouts. The assault continued as the man took her nipples between his fingers and twisted them savagely.