A/N: I was very concerned at first but I'm tickled everyone is enjoying this story. I tried to not make it predictable where possible but your patience has been terrific. Thanks for understanding my nasty schedule.
Sorry its a tad short but I haven't been feeling well
Love you all ;-)
Jade's driver stopped right across the street from Cat's building. The copious amount of cars in front made it impossible to park so this was the closest Randy could get. He let out a yawn as the brunette leaped out of the vehicle and raced inside.
Cat's apartment building was an older one, not the wrong side of the tracks but definitely not well-cared for by the owner. Jade figured this because it had no buzzing system or a doorman; she just let herself in. Anyone, drug dealers, rapists; any vagrant could just let themselves in and potentially harm the other tenants. The elevator looked like it was vandalized a long time ago and forgotten about. Jade reluctantly took the stairs, running as fast as possible and doing her best not to touch the walls as they harbored the occasional patch of dried blood. She didn't know where these people had been and knew all about pathogens so she erred in the side of caution.
Had Jade known that her best friend was living in such a hellhole, she would have opted her to move into Westbound Tower in a heartbeat.
As she ascended to the fourth floor, Jade could faintly hear the panicked voice of Cat.
"Let me go! Just leave me alone, leave me alone!"
CAT'S POV
What did I ever see in this creep? He seemed charming at first but maybe I was so tired from work these past couple of weeks, I didn't notice his aggressiveness. I thanked him for the drink at the bar but kindly told him I wasn't interested in starting a relationship at this time.
Apparently, "not at this time" to him means "please follow me, please chase me, please manhandle me."
I kicked him a couple of times and would get about a block away, hoping I gave him the slips but he would always find me. I really didn't want him to know where I lived but here we were, doors down from my apartment. I knew if he got me inside there was no escape and judging from his breath, little would stop him. So as much as it hurt, I continued to fight and keep the scuffle in the corridor praying that someone, anyone, would hear.
Unfortunately, it was probably less than a 50/50 chance of that happening. This was the part of town where people kept their heads down and even when a woman screamed at the top of her lungs, people would her it and ignore it.
The whole fight is going so fast, I swear I'm starting to see things. This dingy hallway is poorly lit but I thought in my peripheral vision there was a shadowy figure lurking. Someone to help me? Someone who wants to join in? Or just someone who gets off watching someone else's suffering. I'd be lying if this were my first time witnessing such a thing.
But then, the shadow advanced toward me. I blinked because of the proximity but I knew I saw that shadow blindside my attacker. For the first time, my own screams ceased and the air was filled with only his cries. Even if I wanted to shout, I couldn't. I laid there frozen in shock as I watched this human bathed in black dragging him away. It must have been seconds later when I heard a familiar and comforting voice.
"Cat? Cat!"
Jade's here. My body can calm down now. When I was little, I would have feared for what they called the Boogeyman. But whomever that was just now, thank you so much. I thought that was the end for me.
Jade approached Cat, who was down on the floor, her lovely red hair strewn around. It kind of made a halo around her head like one of those old paintings depicting a person of divine origin. Given Cat's good nature, that probably wouldn't be far off.
"Are you okay?" she asked her friend, dropping to her knees and lifting up her head.
Cat coughed before replying, "I'm alright."
Jade looked around, frantic.
"Where is he?" she growled.
"Someone attacked him," Cat said. She raised her tired right arm which spent the last half hour warding off a 190 pound man. "They went that way."
The both could hear the coming sirens.
"Did you get a good look at the guy for the cops?" Jade asked.
Cat nodded, her eyes closing like she was about to cry. "Yes. I'll never forget that face." Her breathing was attempting to normalize. "But I guess I'm really lucky."
"How can you say that?"
"If it wasn't for...whoever that was...who knows what he could have done." The tears looked to be returning. "I'm sorry...I tried to get away..."
"Don't you dare apologize," Jade said, gently putting down Cat's head. She then quickly took off her jacket and folded it to make for a more stable pillow to rest Cat's head. "It wasn't your fault, even if you knew the creep."
The impending footsteps let the pair know the cops were right behind them. And hopefully an EMT.
"Hey!" Jade shouted to the first blue she saw. "This woman needs medical assistance. And her attacker went that way," she pointed, indicating the direction Cat mentioned.
Two officers tended to the young woman while another two hustled down the hall to catch the suspect. Jade stood back, letting the men do their work.
"Is there an ambulance coming?" Jade pressed.
"Yes," one of the remaining cops replied. "But it was tied up at the hospital. They should be arriving shortly..."
As if on cue, a woman and an older fellow appeared with their EMT hats and medical bags in tow.
"Thank you officers," the woman said. "Now let us see."
"Hey guys!" a younger officer who was part of the pursuit came back to alert the two relieved cops. "You gotta see this!"
"Did you get him?" a mustached officer asked.
The rookie sighed and made a face. "Oh yeah but I think you'd want to see this before we...um...take him into custody."
Mustache looked at his partner and shrugged. He wasn't in the mood for games, especially at this hour, but this kid wasn't known for making jokes.
They didn't have to go far; in fact Jade wasn't too far behind. She just had to see the bastard before they hauled him in. He was there alright but not on his stomach with cuffs behind him. Nor was he sitting against the wall, again hands behind him with restraints. No, instead he was dangling from the ceiling like the ugliest chandelier you've ever seen. He was tied up and suspended from the ceiling with a single strong cable.
While the young lady down the corridor must have put up a hell of a fight, the arresting officers were doubtful that she had inflicted these grisly welts and contusions on this guy's face. He was still alive but barely. The police were just dumbfounded on how to get him down from here.
"Can't we cut him down?" the mustached cop asked.
A bald cop who was with the young blood stepped forward.
"We were kind of hoping your car still had the jaws of life. We can't cut this strand with any knife we've got."
The Kinopolis police department has a few jaws of life given to squad cars if the fire brigade were ever held up and they had to break into a car pronto. Facial hair over here had one of those lucky cars.
"Yeah," he sighed heavily. "Be right back."
He walked away muttering to himself about how much that thing weighs like a ton and was not looking forward to schlepping that device up four flights of stairs.
Jade was dumbstruck. This was not the handiwork of your run of the mill good Samaritan.
It's very late and the cops have mostly dispersed. They got the man down and took him into lockup until he was sober enough to understand the severity of his crimes. Cat was doing okay and was asked if she wanted to be admitted to the hospital but she said no and just wanted to go to sleep in her own bed. Jade agreed to stay with her all night.
Once her friend was down, Jade was finally able to let our her breath in relief. This was quite the evening.
She started to nod off when a tapping sound startled her. Jade initially wrote it off as probably a rodent. This dilapidated shack; it wouldn't surprise her. Jade thought about this piece of shit apartment and weighed in what was less extravagant. Tearing it down and rebuilding it, or tearing it down and relocating the residents to Westbound Tower. It would be on the other side of town but she was sure many would find that an upgrade. Either way, Jade wanted to tear this building asunder. It wasn't fair that the current landlord was charging people to live here. It was falling apart, offered no real security...
TAP TAP TAP
"Okay, what the fuck was that?" Jade asked aloud.
Now she knew where it was coming from. The window overlooking the fire escape. The brunette got up and squinted to see if there was an animal out there.
No, it was actually Tori. She was holding small rocks in her hand; that old trick to get somebody's attention.
She was the last person Jade expected to see tonight but the surprise was extremely pleasant. Jade opened the window, which wasn't easy and got out onto the fire escape. It was pretty cold tonight, evidenced by her breath being visible. A fleeting thought pondered if they were stuck out here, how would this woman warm her up. Jade pushed down such dirty thoughts, for fear of visibly blushing. She didn't date much but knew to play it cool when face to face with someone you really really like.
"Okay, seriously, we need to meet somewhere closer to the ground." Jade dryly said.
Tori made a short hum, the kind when you want to laugh but not enough to open your mouth.
"Is your friend okay?"
Jade was stunned. "Yes, she is. How did you...?"
"I was walking earlier and immediately caught wind of the fight between her and that drunk. I followed them. Lost them for a second once they entered the building but quickly found them on this floor."
Blue-green eyes widened. "It was you!"
It came out more like a question but Jade meant it as a statement. The way he was found and how badly he was worked over; professional in execution but passionate in its brutality. Who else could it have been?
"Yeah," Tori nodded. "Maybe now in the jailhouse he can see what its like to fight somebody his own size. God knows I did."
"But how did you know she was my friend?"
A legitimate question and Tori wishes that Jade isn't made standoffish by the answer.
"You see, I saw what happened on the rooftop that day. You know, the helicopter accident. I recognized her from that and figured you two were at least acquaintances."
Tori smirked.
"I suppose you two go way back."
"Not...really," Jade said. "Its only been less than two weeks. We've only been tight because when we met, she saved my life."
The half-Latina looked at the pale woman longingly. "Guess I have her to thank then. Glad I was able to replay the favor."
"What can I say, the world is more interesting with you in it" Tori thought.
The way she was looking at Jade made her knees shake.
"We should meet...like somewhere normal. No suits or...
"...clandestine activities?" Tori suggested.
Jade nodded. "Right."
"You mean like a date?"
Now she was officially flushed. "Uh," she then chuckled nervously. "ca-can-can be?"
Inside she was a child screaming at Christmastime. But outwardly, Tori maintained her composure.
"I thought you'd never ask. Where?"
They stood in silence for a bit.
"I'm kind of drawing a blank right now," Jade still awkwardly laughing to mask how scared she was. But a good kind of scared like before a roller coaster.
Tori dug into her pocket and handed Jade a business card.
Jade took it and read out loud "Occam's Razors: The Simplest Solution to Your Shaving Needs."
"Turn it over," said, rolling her eyes.
Jade complied and found 10 handwritten digits.
"That's a new phone," Tori informed her. "I destroyed my old one. I'm tired of doing this stuff and want I something more from this life, you know?"
"With me?" Jade asked.
Tori backed up and slowly perched herself atop the iron railing.
"You're the first person I've ever given that number to. What do you think?"
Once again, before Jade could say more, Tori vanished like the phantom she was. Even being just three floors above the ground, Jade still could not see where she went.
"Okay, I haven't decided yet if that disappearing act she does is really sexy or really frustrating."
Leopold Kermer sat in his darkened living room, feet resting on the closed box containing the personal items from his desk. He replayed the whole scene in his head over and over again. He saw a side to Jade West that she never showed to anyone else; she was like a shark in the water sniffing blood. In another life, he would have admired her tenacity but as it stands, she remained the biggest obstacle in his plans.
He felt like he was closing in on the whereabouts of the elusive "Project Ghost." Alex West was wise to have worked on most of his inventions exclusively on dummy terminals that weren't connected to the server or the Internet. But even a genius doesn't think of everything.
Despite his technological proclivities, Alex was a relatively late bloomer to the smart phone craze. He didn't anticipate that the device he carried with him everywhere and held notes, passwords, and personal pictures could be hacked. It was there that Kermer first caught wind of the secret project in the form of an email West sent to himself so he had a backup copy. The details eluded him, but from what he could gather this thing would have the ability to breakdown matter and send it to another location.
The possibilities of such a breakthrough were endless. Leopold cared not for his recent termination because he knew his fortune was right around the corner. His former boss's little secret attracted the attention of the right buyer. The kind of man who would pay eight figures for what this machine promised.
Kermer's phone vibrated.
"Speak of the devil..."
He pushed the screen to talk and answered, "Kermer here."
"I've heard you lost your job."
"How in the hell...?"
"Y-yes," Kermer replied. "But it shouldn't affect anything. I have my ways inside."
The other line went silent for a spell. If this was done to intimidate him, it was working.
Then the deep voice finally answered back.
"I sincerely hope so Leopold, for your sake. Now I'm feeling a little magnanimous at the moment. Give me the device before the week is out and I'll give you an added bonus, seeing as you are in dire straights nowadays."
Kermer didn't know what to say to that.
"Oh, well, thank y-"
"But if you strike out," the voice interrupted. "We're done. No more chances." The clicking of a gun was then heard in the background. "Do we understand?"
"Yeah," Leopold nodded.
The other man hung up and the now former executive slunk even deeper into his chair.
"Have to call Carl in the morning and see if he's fixed that tracker on Jade's car. I will get that device, one way or another."
