Shadows and Grays: Author's Notes and Deleted Scene

Author's Notes         

•          This story started with the little scene in Chapter 15 at the dining room table.  It was originally two assassins who are trying to out-maneuver each other.  From there, it became an exercise in ‘who is she?’ and ‘how did she get there?’ and ‘what happens next?’
•          Once I started to fill in the blanks, I decided that this could be a good ‘Kyle Donovan’ story.  If you’re looking into his timeline, this falls in-between “Low Water Crossing” and “Find Her.”  He doesn’t follow a timeline necessarily; I drop him into wherever.
•          Teenage assassin.  I know, it’s been done before.  But I like how she is trying to balance that part of her life with just being a high-schooler.
•          I grabbed Emma’s name out of thin air.  But I like to give some of my characters a little backstory sometimes and it shows up in this story.  I decided that she got her name from the first letters of the first names of her parents, Emile and Marie Couteau.
•          By the way, Couteau is French for knife, Emma’s weapon of choice.
•          I don’t know if Emma Couteau is her real name!  I don’t know if her parents actually exist!  That’s a story that is fermenting and I will explore that sometime.
•          By the way, Peter Joshua is a character from the 1963 movie “Charade” and when Emma comes up with a fake name to give to Mikel Weber, she uses a name from the same movie, except in the movie, the character is Regina (Reggie) Lampert. She figures Reggie would be too recognizable, so she subbed the name Ginny.
•          Please excuse the use of coarse language.  I don’t talk like that, but some of my characters do.

Deleted Scene

I wrote this little scene to explore Donovan and Emma's relationship. It would have occurred after the last scene in Chapter 20 and before the Epilogue, but I decided against including it in the story because I felt like I would have lost the (what-I-hoped-to-be) cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 20.

       She paused and thought for a moment. “It’s kind of like riding a bicycle down a country road.  There’s trees and fresh air, and it’s an easy pleasant ride.  The road dips a little so you pick up speed and you’re enjoying the wind rushing through your hair.”  She closed her eyes, lost in thought. “Then, as you’re humming along, you go around a curve and the road drops away.  The road you’re on is too steep now to stop, there is no shoulder on which to stop, and it’s so steep and so fast and it’s terrifying because you started on this road and there is no getting off.”  He could hear the growing tension in her voice as she got quieter, her chin dropping to her chest.  He had to lean closer to hear her.

            “And suddenly you sense that at the end of this road is a precipice, and you know that when you fling yourself off the edge, all that terror you had of being on that road, so steep and horrifying….. All that terror will be replaced by this calm, quiet inevitability; a knowing of a truth of what will happen next. There’s nothing left to do except hurl yourself off the cliff.”

            Donovan looked at her in dismay.

Her chin came up and she steadily returned his gaze.  “It’s very quiet when you’re falling off a cliff.”

Shadows and Grays: Part Six: Epilogue

 

            The principal walked alongside the uniformed officer.  “I saw that you used to be a detective in the police force, Mr. Donovan.  So what made you want to become a school resource officer?”

            He cleared his throat.  “Ah…I needed a change…and I want to be someone that kids could turn to if they need it.”

            “Well, it will be nice to have you here at Lincoln.”  She smiled and then said sadly, “You probably heard we had some students pass away recently, but everyone seems to be handling it well.  They’re good kids…”   She looked over the cafeteria and then shaking her head, turned to go back to her office. 

            Donovan was watching her walk away when he heard a soft voice at his side.  “I’d stay away from the pizza, but the chicken wrap is good choice…”  He turned to look at the young student.

            “Hello, Emma.”

 

Shadows and Grays: Chapter 20

            The next morning, Emma picked up the card and called the number.  “Hi, it’s Ginny Lampert.  From the gym yesterday?”

            “Ah, Ginny! How nice to hear from you.”  Weber’s voice was sickeningly sweet.  “How are you?  Did you think things over?”

            “Yeah I did,” she answered.  “I don’t want to be all weird about it, but I’m kinda nervous about you coming to my house to pick me up.”  She paused for a moment.  “Would it be okay if I met you at your studio instead?”

            His response was immediate.  “No problem at all.  Let me give you the address.”

=

            Forty-five minutes later, Emma arrived at one of the tall glass buildings near the Riverwalk.  She double checked the address and peered upward toward the twentieth floor.  Taking a deep breath, she entered the building and made her way to the elevators.

=

            The door was answered by a casually dressed Mikel Weber.  “Come in, come in.  Welcome to my home.”

            Emma looked around at the apartment and said nervously, “I thought we were going to take pictures at your studio.”  It was easy to play the part of a naïve teenage girl, but underneath the play-acting, she knew she was dealing with a dangerous man.

            “We are, we are.  The studio is right through there.”  There were a set of open doors leading to another room.  Emma could hear soft music coming from the room and noticed several lights set up for photography work.  Full length windows afforded a spectacular view of the downtown skyline.  Weber put his hand on her back and guided her toward the room.  She was thankful that she had secreted her knives in the special sheaths on the bottom of her backpack instead of their usual place at the small of her back.

            She wandered into the studio only to find, not surprisingly, that it was actually a bedroom.  She made her way to the windows, then turned to Weber and asked, “Where’s your assistant? I thought she was going to be here to help with my make-up and stuff.”

            “She had to cancel.  Family emergency.  If you’re nervous, you don’t have to say,” he said smoothly.  “We can always do this another time.  I’d hate to waste this beautiful day though.  And I ordered some take-out for later…” He put on a sad smile, trying to win her over.

            Emma played along.  “I guess I can stay.”

            “Good, good.” 

Weber suddenly pulled out a gun and thrust it to her chest, snarling, “I don’t know who Ginny Lampert is, but I do recognize you, Emma.  Hannah Talbot showed your picture to me often enough.  She even asked me how to secure a hitman.”  He chuckled to himself, “She had quite a jealous temper, that one.  And now, you’re in my home.”  He shook his head.  “And yesterday?  What was that?  I saw you talking to that detective in the coffee shop, the one who’s been on TV lately.  Just who are you, Emma? What are you doing here?”  There was a look of shock and genuine surprise on her face.  Weber smirked as the gun barrel traced up and down between her breasts. He continued, “Doesn’t matter.  I’m going to have my fun before I get rid of you.”

            Her hands came up defensively as if to push him away.  “Wait!” she begged, “You don’t have to-” and then, in mid-sentence, before he could react, she controlled his gun hand, spun, and hit the nerves in his arm. She heard the gun go off, shattering the window behind her.  She continued to twist, dropped down into a crouch, and pulled him off his feet.  Off balance, he dropped the gun to grab at her with both hands, to control his fall, but he was tumbling fast, too fast actually, and he only managed a grunt before she flipped him over her shoulder and out the window.

            She pulled herself together and shakily rose to her feet.  That was too close, she thought to herself.  Half in a daze, she picked up Weber’s gun and was surveying the room when the door to the suite suddenly burst open.

            “POLICE!”

            Donovan came around the corner, and Emma screamed, “WHAT THE FUCK!  Did you follow me here??”  He stopped in his tracks and said, “I heard a shot! Are you okay?  Where’s Weber?” and then just a quickly, his gun hand went up.  “Emma, you have a gun.”

            She sounded a little surprised as she looked down at the pistol in her hand, “Yeah I do.” She gaze went around the room.  “Umm, Weber is getting some air.”  Her face came around and she looked him in the eye. “You really have no idea what I am and what I do.”

            His voice was strained, “You’re just a girl, Emma.  You don’t have to be anything else.  Just put the gun down.” His gun stayed trained on her as she replied.

             “You’re going to have to make a choice here detective.”  She looked thoughtful.  The gun in her hand started to come up.

            “Don’t make me choose, Emma….”

 

“Emma, don’t do it...”

 

“Emma!”