The TV droned on and on with commercials as the morning sun filled the apartment with light. Jade's apartment was the only one on the floor that faced towards the street and she had come to both love and hate it. The view was pretty enough and she never got tired of people watching on the moments when she actually was home, but the bad part was that anyone from high buildings could see the entirety of her living room. Not a thought she liked being reminded of. Now though, she sat crossed legged on her couch with a bowl of cereal in her hands as she waited for the news to come on.
She had slept in later than she would have liked and instead of feeling well rested, she felt as if she had been up for days. While she had fallen asleep the second her head had hit the pillow, she must have tossed and turned all night because she felt like she had been in a fight and lost. Jade brought the spoon filled with cereal up to her mouth and crunched loudly on them. The noise from the TV wasn't enough and she kept feeling like there was someone in her apartment. Terrible sleep always heightened her already high paranoia.
"Early this morning the body of Jonas Compton was found in what the police had originally thought was an abandoned building. When they discovered the body, no one had been home and no one heard a thing. Police speculated that it must have been a suicide when they received the call in the early morning hours until they examined Comptons body. Reports claim that it was as if he rotted away from the inside out. There were no sign of a break in or a struggle. Here on News 5, we've just learned that Compton paid for the people living in these apartments to stay in a hotel for the night. Apparently a gas leak had been reported and they were all told by a women working for the company that the owner was evacuating them until the problem was resolved. At this time lead detectives are refusing to comment on the situation but ask if anyone heard or saw anything suspicious last night to please call the tip line at the bottom of the screen."
Jade turned the TV off and put her empty bowl on the coffee table. She hadn't even been wearing a uniform when she had knocked on doors last night, but people were quick to believe what you told them as long as it sounded official enough. It surprised her that the report didn't say anything more about her or the gas company she supposedly work for. The police probably realized immediately that none of the other tenants could recall a uniform or even if she said her name, which she hadn't. Jade stretched her arms high over her head and felt something crack in her back. She winced and hoped that tonight wouldn't be a late night.
Getting up, she made her way over to the wall of the living room. Hundred of pictures were pinned to it as well as files. Yarn of different colors connected one thing to another and staring at it for too long always gave her a headache. At some point the lines wouldn't make sense anymore and she would be left with nothing but a colorful blob. The area between the back of her shoulders tingled and Jade tensed. Her damn paranoia was really through the roof. The smart thing to was was either cover the windows or bring down everything, but she liked the light and she didn't want to find a different way to organize.
In the time he had been in New York, Jonas hadn't talked to anyone of interest. There were waitresses at restaurants, the occasional barista, the newstand guy; no one really suspicious. Jade had pictures of every single person he had encountered and none of it made sense. She thought he had come to New York to let the storm he had caused at home blow over. He never contacted his family while he had been there, at least not from his phone. That didn't mean the bastard hadn't bought a prepaid one and paid with cash so no one would be able to track him.
Her eyes moved around the collage until she came to a picture of a pawn shop he had alway visited. Jade followed him inside once and watched as he sold designer shirts, jewelry, basically anything he had on him at the time. Jonas had needed the cash so he wouldn't leave a trail and she was sure he probably would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for the fact that she was always one step behind him. It was a start if any, Jade decided as she turned her back and headed to her bedroom. She pulled on a simple pair of leggings and threw on a long tunic over it. As she started heading towards the door she grabbed everything else she need. A scarf wrapped around her neck and her jacket was pulled on. Her boots slipped into her feet with well worn ease and she swung her messenger bag on. She felt around to make sure her camera was in there and then was out the door, locking it behind her.
With the sun rising higher in the sky, the day wasn't as cold as it had been last night. There was still a cool breeze, but now she looked like every other New Yorker in her light coverings rather than a tourist who couldn't handle 60 degree weather. That didn't stop her from cursing in her head for the first couple of blocks as her entire body shook and her teeth clacked against each other. Jade wasn't built for the cold no matter how much she loved it. The lunch hour kept the streets filled and people pushed and brushed against each other on the crowded sidewalks. The pawn shop wasn't far away, in the sense that she didn't have to hop on a bus or a subway which she was thankful for. Jade was used to being able to drive everywhere and while walking was kind of a novelty at the moment, she was slightly terrified that if she used public transport, she was going to get off at the wrong stop. Never mind the fact that she had a phone that would be able to lead her back to where she needed to go.
She blamed her paranoia mixed with irrational fear.
While the lunch rush kept the streets and neighboring restaurants filled, the pawn shop was basically empty except for a couple kids in one corner who were probably skipping class and the guy working behind the counter. Jade made her way in casually, glancing at a couple things on the shelves and in the cases. She'd been aware that all eyes had turned to her when she had walked in and it wasn't attention she wanted. It was a busy time of day and Jade knew she had taken a chance in hoping the shop would be empty. While it wasn't, she had been lucky enough that it was the same guy behind the counter since last time.
After pretending to look around for a couple minutes, she let a sheepish expression fall over her face as she walked towards the counter. She smiled shyly at the guy, knowing full well what he was thinking. He didn't try to hide the fact that he had been checking her out. Now that there was only a few feet between them, he let his eyes trail her down until they focused on her face again.
"What can I do for you sweetheart?"
Jade kept the smile on her face even as chills ran down her spine. It had always been a pet peeve of hers when strangers called her things like that. When she was younger she had thought it was a bit irrational of her. Then she got older and realized she didn't care and would snap back at a person with a deadly sweet smile. This time, she just placed her bag on the counter and pulled out her camera.
"I got this camera from my grandpa recently but I can't for the life of me figure out what kind it is and without that I can't find the film for it either," she said softly while playing with the straps of her bag nervously.
The guy, Paul, or so his name tag read nodded and pulled the camera towards him. He lifted it up and turned it this way and that as he examined it. While she kept her eyes on him, or rather the camera, she was really paying attention to the group of kids. They hadn't moved from the corner since she had come in. Either they were planning to steal something or were just being weird.
"It's definitely an old camera," Paul dragged her attention back to him. He put it back on the counter between them and leaned a little closer to her, "it looks like a Gammel in all honesty. Listen I might have some film that will work with it. We can test it out and see if anything develops. First ones on me,"
That's generous, Jade thought as she nodded, "Thank you so much. I really didn't know what I was going to do. He really loved that camera and I would hate if I could never use it."
"That's real sweet of you. You hardly see that now a days. Let me go grab the film from the back, give me a second okay?"
"Yeah, of course," Jade smiled at him.
Paul turned around and stepped through a door, leaving it open behind him. The kids took their chance and were rushing out of the store in record timing. Jade rolled her eyes and silently laughed. She hadn't been a saint herself while growing up. She hadn't been a bad kid either, but she remember shoplifting some make up with her friends and how completely terrified she had been that they would be caught. Before the door could slam shut behind them, someone caught it and stepped inside.
Jade wished that she could have pushed aside the sense of dread that filled her and gripped her chest like a fist. While she knew she had issues with her sense of paranoia, there was a reason why she never really did anything about it and it was because of moments like this. Everything in her was screaming for her to turn around and just catch a glimpse of whoever was behind her. It was part of that human fear of it's only a monster until you realize it wasn't. Jade didn't do that though. She could feel the person walking around the room and looking at a couple of things. Once she had felt his eyes on her, but only when he had walked in.
Jade knew enough to know when she was being stalked and they were good at what they did. She honestly couldn't believe she had let someone get so close. Hadn't she felt like someone had been watching her since the moment she'd woken up? Jade knew better and only rookies would make such a mistake. She had been doing this too damned long to be considered a rookie. With a casualness that she had to force her body into, Jade reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She unlocked the screen and started swiping through her emails. Alot of it was nothing but junk mail and ads, but there were a couple from her client. Shit, she had forgotten to call them. The stranger was getting closer to her and Jade decided there was no better time than the present. The phone barely got through the first ring before answered.
"Is it done, did you do it?" she was out of breath and spoke closely into the phone that Jade almost didn't understand her.
"Good afternoon Marie, hows Kelly doing?" Jade asked as she tapped her nails on the glass counter. What the hell was taking Paul so long?
There was a pause in the air as Marie seemed to take a moment to calm herself down, "she's being taken care of. We packed up everything and are about to get on the road to my parents house."
Jade groaned and pulled the phone away so Marie couldn't hear her. That was exactly what she told Marie not to do. Stay put, don't make any rash decisions until she told them to. It would only be a matter of time before the police showed up at their door if they hadn't already. Taking in a deep breath, Jade released it and brought the phone back up to her ear, "Have the police come knocking yet?"
"No. I haven't heard anything."
Jade thought that Marie sounded like she was moments away from a breakdown. Conspiring in the ending of someone usually did that to people. Though it did give Jade a pause. She was sure they had been running the story all morning long so either the cops were holding out on something by not contacting the next of kin or they had arrived early to the Compton house and see all the movers and thought it had been suspicious. The last thing Jade wanted to do was send Marie over the edge.
"They should be contacting you some time today. Make sure you tell them everything you know," Jade lied through her teeth as she put the camera back into her bag, "I'll be there as soon as I can."
She hung up the phone and tossed it in her bag before swinging it over her shoulder, "Excuse me sir, I'm so sorry to do this but I really have to go. Is there a chance I can come by tomorrow?"
Jade didn't want to give him time to answer as she started turning around and pushing a few strands of her behind her ear. She ran right into the person who had been behind her and mentally cursed herself because the guy was built like a freaking rock. There was nothing but hard muscle as he steadied her and she felt more than saw when he reached in her bag and swiped her phone.
"I'm so sorry," she said softly, keeping her face down.
She walked around him, letting him keep the phone. The second he tried to get it unlocked, the files would self destruct and the phone would erase everything. Jade was out the door just as Paul came back out and tried to call after her. There was no chance in hell she would be coming back to the pawn shop. At least not while it was opened. Jade had no problems about entering without permission and she was hoping that she would be able to find at least something in that back room. In the beginning, she hadn't thought it was too odd how often Jonas had come here. When someone need fast, legal cash pawn shops were the best way to go and most owners were willing to turn a blind eye and not take down any information that cops could find if they came looking. Jade had broken into one other pawn shop that hadn't had names in anything official, but she had found a beaten old notebook stashed in a loose ceiling tile that held everything she could ever want.
It took her walking down two blocks to realize that someone was following her. She turned left at the next light and caught the mans reflection in the window of a shop. Same guy. Up ahead a large crowd headed towards her of people dressed in suits and most likely on their way back to work. Once they surrounded her, she took off down the side of an alley. She dropped her bag, knowing it would only slow her down though she had to admit she was going to miss that camera. She had found it at some garage sale while she had been in Michigan once. The end of the alley was blocked off by a chained fence and she huffed out a laugh. Someone somewhere was having a field day if they were watching her. Behind her she could hear heavy footfalls pounding against the ground and Jade didn't have to look over her shoulder to know he was chasing her. Unfortunately for him, a fence had never stopped her before.
With a quick leap, she was half way up the fence and then swinging herself over to the other side. She didn't stop running even when her ankle protested and she knew she landed on in wrong. She was already around the corner and disappearing in the crowd before he even managed to scale the fence.