Chapter 3 - Jade
Jade was admiring her view. It wasn't the two canvases from two brilliant painters she just had obtained during the night's latest happenings, two paintings that were together worth several hundreds of dollars, nor was it the window that gave her a view over the Hudson River (a little hidden between some houses in the way). It was a view she had brought with as a plus one all the way from Portland, her brother's painting.
The beauty of his Danny Brooks original was breathtaking, especially when Jade knew the story behind. This was the only thing Daniel had left as an explanation after he decided to leave them all for good, a painting expressing with a seeming mess of different shades of mostly red, but also the other primary colors, alone and mixed together, all in a perfect balance of confuse, sadness, hurt, anger, and finally in the end, acceptance.
Before Jade had taken art classes, she didn't understand what the lines meant, what Danny tried to tell Ellen, Ma and herself by leaving this behind, she just figured it had to mean something (which was why she took art classes in the first place, and later studied the art in her spare time, after figuring out that she was quite good at this). Now that she had been introduced, she could understand what he meant, how he felt after finding out that his father was a criminal, not a hero, like he thought.
This was her brother's words, and neither Ellen nor her mother had understood this when he left it behind. But Jade understood every word of the speech he had prepared for them when he left, she understood what he was saying, even now, standing on her bed to get a closer look at the lines and canvas, to suck in every single part of the piece, she saw what the colors and lines and figures meant.
Jade tore her eyes away from the painting, and stepped off her bed. Her fence would arrive in a about an hour, and she had to act professional if she wanted a chance on selling this piece. Her fence was a great guy, the only one that had managed to see through the fact that she was fifteen, and should probably worry about her next geography test, instead of three famous paintings waiting on her kitchen table.
But Marcus, her fence, hadn't been one hundred percent sure that she could do it, even though she had performed before. The diamond heist had been the first, the one that set the standards, and Jade had lived up to her expectations after that one. Her next had been a famous statue she had to carry all the way from the museum she had stolen it from, then an Egyptian artifact, and finally, this. The biggest score so far.
Not that she needed the money, with the latest pricey scores she had collected, she could hold up for a couple of years without setting her foot outside of the warehouse, without getting any kind of job. She had told herself it had been a one-time thing, that time she stood on top of the skyscraper with her rig and a height that was almost estimated in miles not feet. Five seconds later, when she had thrown herself over the edge and screamed out in an exaggerated thrill, she had considered doing this again.
And the next time had gone more or less the same way, until she understood that she enjoyed this. Every part from the planning to the satisfied result in the end was fun, it reminded her about the good old days in Portland, and even if Jade never managed to track Ellen, she could imagine her life going on like this for quite a long time. It felt stable and nice for her already messy life, and knowing her, Jade was not ready to give it up just yet, just because of some stupid ideas about right and wrong.
She turned away from the picture, and went back to cleaning the big white room. Some of her rigs were still on the floor, along with half rolled together wires and ropes and the black tight suit she had worn during her robbery in the museum. Beside it were some half-full take-out boxes, a mess of bobby pins and scrunches, some of the clothing she hadn't managed to clean yet, and the freezer she just had managed to start up. Jade had a lot to do between now and the hour until he would arrive.
Coming to think about it, it was probably for the best if she made some safe houses or second homes around the city that was clean or something for occasions such as these. First impressions were important, because they lasted (strictly speaking it wasn't the first time they had met, or the first time he had been inside her place, but she still wanted to clean up a little bit for him), and Marcus was the only accomplice she had, the only way into the criminal underworld, and Jade needed that.
She let her thoughts fly a little while cleaning up her room, and they flew in one determined direction. Daniel Brooks. Something in her head told her that he was the key to finding Ellen; that she needed to find him. But where do you start with finding a person that most certainly did not want to be found by people in his past? What had even made her think that he was connected to Ellen, if he had cut ties with the rest of the family years ago?
Well, Jade thought while missing the trash bin with her Chinese take-out, Danny had been of the forgiving type, even Ellen had said that. And the only thing Ellen had done was telling him the truth, something that Danny probably would appreciate, after some thinking it through. And contacting Ellen again wouldn't probably be that hard, would it? Especially after he changed his own name back to the original.
Jade sighed, and sat down to her wires. All this was filled with a lot of ifs and maybes, but it all felt right. Felt like she was going somewhere. The only thing that really stopped the entire train from going forwards was the name. What was Daniel's name now and before he went into wit-sec? Aside from James Bennett, a man disappeared from the earth two years ago, there wasn't any other Bennetts that had a name Jade recognized. And she wasn't all in for visiting Daniel's father just yet.
Two rapid knocks on her door pulled Jade out of her thinking. "'s open!" She shouted, quickly hanging the last rope on one of the hangers she had made for them.
The door opened, and Jade looked over to Marcus standing in the frame, nodding towards her.
"You're early," she commented, pulling her hair back to a messy bun to get the blonde locks out of the way.
"Had an opening." Marcus stepped into the light, and Jade was once again staring her almost-so-tall-he-could've-been-a-basketball-player fence. He was one of those people that looked down on absolutely everyone, and when they did, the piercing eyes made them run and hide. His dark, almost black hair, trench coat and wide-brimmed hat did also help a lot. He looked like the typical gangsters in old movies from the sixties, which was just the magic by it. An inexperienced cop from some small town would have stuffed him in a cell without hesitation and asked questions later, while the average New Yorker would just see another one of that kind. Marcus was a big fan of the hiding in plain sight. "Where is the stash?"
"Over here," Jade pointed to the table that had been cleaned for the occasion, only with three objects still on it. Two paintings, and a magnifying glass. "Where is the cash?"
(Okay, fine, she knew this was a bad rhyme, she just had to.)
"I have a buyer lined up for the Matisse. The Rembrandt on the other hand…" Marcus grabbed the magnifying glass and started to authenticate the Matisse.
Jade tried very hard not to sound disappointed. "You can't find a buyer?"
"It's hard, the Rembrandts aren't as popular. But I'm thinking to fence it though a friend of mine, he knows art much better than me." He talked and studied the painting at the same time. "Give me diamonds next time, and you'll get it within a day."
"Well, I don't like diamonds anymore. How long time will it take?" Jade asked, not really worried anymore. Marcus was trustworthy, she could rely on him to get her the money. Now she asked more out of curiosity.
"I'll wire your money for the Matisse tomorrow, but the Rembrandt… A week, care for take." He rose up with the glass in his hand. "Where's is the-"
"Oh, right here." Jade rummaged in a counter and pulled out a small square light. She plugged it in while he turned it on. He continued looking at the paintings for some time, with Jade hovering around, not really sure what to do.
"These looks real," Marcus said after a while, when Jade had moved herself to the armchair she had pushed in here a month ago, and sat playing with a pair of handcuffs she had snatched from a passing cop and a lock pick.
"I told 'ya," Jade replied, yanking the lock upwards and opening the cuffs. "Only the best."
Marcus looked upon her. "You did." He smiled, and that piercing eyes was switched out with something warm and satisfied. He rolled the Matisse together and put it in a tube. "If the money's not in your account by the end of tomorrow, you're allowed to come and kick my ass."
"I'll make sure of it."
"Hide the Rembrandt somewhere safe while I get my contact." Marcus continued, while putting his hat on his head.
"I'll make sure of that too." Jade smiled, and held the door open for him. She escorted him back to the car, already setting up plans where she could put her painting. She knew a hotel…
Next update next Wednesday. Neal comes closer to the fence, and they figure out a nickname for the thief.
