In the Grey Read Online Free PDF

mirrored wall, Dusty was working through
a complicated stretching program he’d learned from Leena. Matthew
and Margaret were locked in a Brazilian jujitsu hold next to where
Vince and Joseph were working through wushu forms. They were hot,
sweaty, and having a good time.
    Alex was helping Leena
with her kickboxing form.
    “ Hop, spin, knee up,
that’s right, kick, kick. Harder,” Alex said. “Good. You’ve been
practicing.”
    “ But?” Leena’s head was
wet with sweat.
    “ I’d like you to practice
your kicks in three separate motions,” Alex said. “Rather than one
fluid motion. They teach one fluid motion in a lot of classes, but
real power comes when you learn to control all three
movements.”
    She lifted her right knee
to the side and then straightened her leg.
    “ The knee raise gives you
power, and your calf gives you speed. If you can control your foot,
you control your strength,” Alex said.
    She spun in place and did
a fast three-movement kick at the person coming up behind her.
Patrick blocked her kick with his forearm. He took a quick side
step which diffused the energy of her kick.
    “ Sorry, Dad,” Alex
said.
    “ Nice kick,” Patrick
nodded a greeting to Leena. “Try it in pieces.”
    Much to Alex’s amusement,
Patrick lifted his knee and threw a perfect kick. Alex
clapped.
    “ You have to practice in
three pieces before you learn to do it as a fluid movement,”
Patrick said. “It seems like a pain in the rear, but it’s worth the
trouble when you need it. Alex?”
    Alex spun in place, lifted
her leg with it folded at the knee, and then kicked her foot
forward. Her pointed foot stopped less than a half inch in front of
him.
    “ You need that kind of
precision,” Patrick said.
    “ You never know what
someone’s going to throw at you,” Alex said while she held the
kick. “I’ve thrown a kick and had my opponent pull a knife or a
bayonet. The momentum of my leg would have cut off my foot. I have
to be able to stop mid-motion.”
    “ Go ahead,” Patrick
said.
    Alex slapped him with her
foot. The force of the shot knocked him to the side.
    “ That’s why this kick is
so powerful,” Patrick smiled. “Why don’t you try it while I talk to
your LC?”
    “ Yes, sir,” Leena
said.
    “ Dusty?” Alex waved for
Dusty to come over and practice with Leena. Dusty jogged
over.
    Patrick took her arm and
led her to the side of the room.
    “ Any news on Steve?” Alex
asked.
    “ Nothing,” Patrick said.
“If we hadn’t set up those automatic emails we’d never have
known.”
    “ But you’ve got guys
tracing his last actions?” Alex asked.
    “ He’s not stateside,”
Patrick said. “Or wasn’t as of a week or so ago.”
    “ Put Tom Drayson on it,”
Alex said. “He’s the British Ben.”
    “ Already done,” Patrick
said. “Great minds.”
    Patrick’s eyes reviewed
the action in the room. He nodded toward Trece and Troy.
    “ Vacón?”
    “ Troy took formal training
when he was stationed in Peru,” Alex said. “Trece learned it in
prison as a kid. It’s interesting to see the differences between
what’s taught in a dojo and what happens on the street.”
    Patrick nodded. Alex
glanced at him and then into the room.
    “ I have a duty to my team
to share my knowledge and skill, sir,” Alex said. “You’re welcome
to stay and watch, assist, or even train, but if you’re to observe,
I should get back.”
    “ You were going to come up
with ‘better questions,’” Patrick’s eyes reviewed Alex’s face.
“You’ll remember you didn’t like the questions we were asking. They
were too . . .”
    “ Cold War,” Alex said. “I
don’t really give a shit about the who’s and why’s of some random historic
program. They use what they learned from those programs in S.E.R.E.
now.”
    “ And in ‘advanced
interrogation methods’,” Patrick said. “Yes, I’m aware of
that.”
    “ I know you are,” Alex
said.
    “ Did you come up with
better