A/N: A free weekend and fresh ideas? It's a miracle! Anyway, here's another chapter. I might have a few more up sooner, but it all depends on how the story flows. I thought I'd try something different. This chapter is focused on Jade Castillo (please don't kill me) and a little insight into her character's backstory. For this reason, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to TheDevilChild, the muse for the Jade character. I promise that you will find out what the package is in the next chapter (if you haven't already). Please review and suggest.
Chapter 36
Jade carefully lifted Alexis and set her on the bed. She placed the blankets over her and tucked her in. Satisfied that Alexis was comfortable, she turned around and searched for her weapons.
She slid her knives into their holsters. She gently placed the box of salt and bottle of lemon juice into a plastic bag. The crowbar was placed in its makeshift holder. Jade was just about to leave when she noticed Cedric Marks.
Cedric was shocked. So this is why Boss keeps his bastard daughter around. "It's not like you haven't seen torture before if you work for my dad. I bet you even torture people yourself for him," she said. "Yes of course, but I am just amazed. Your skill is very experienced for someone of your age," he replied. Jade just shrugged before she made her way to the door. "Dad said that he would like a word with you over dinner, so I guess I will be seeing you then. Goodbye, Mrs. Beckett," she said before she opened the door and exited the room.
Jade navigated her way to the back entrance. When she stepped outside, she saw Michael and James passed out on the ground and the rest of the guys exchanging money after losing or gaining the bet. They looked up and saw her standing there.
"Hello boys. Don't mind me; I was just leaving. You might want to go inside now. Cedric is waiting for you," she said. As soon as she finished speaking, they dragged their unconscious comrades and headed inside the building. The town car that was sent to pick her up arrived, and she sat down in the passenger side, content on watching the landscape pass by.
After a short drive and a quick flight in the private jet, Jade was back in New York. She quickly got out of the plane and hoisted her gear back onto her back before she made her way towards the mansion her dad calls a house. Time to enter into her little corner of hell.
She went through the back entrance trying to avoid the inevitable talk with her father just a little longer. She then carefully pried open the air duct and climbed inside. She remembered to place the vent back into place so that her father would never find out that this was how she moved around the house remaining unseen.
Her years of practice landed her in her room only five minutes later. She closed the vent and tossed her backpack onto the floor. Brushing a bit of dust off of her shoulder, she plopped onto her bed, letting out an exasperated sigh.
The room itself looked like a typical teenager room. The walls were densely covered with posters of DC Comics characters, an assortment of bands, a few TV shows, and even a few movies. The posters made it impossible to tell what the color of the wall was.
Her bed was on a bunk bed frame, but she slept on the top part and a desk took up the bottom section. She had a simple mahogany desk with four drawers. The desk had frost-like custom carvings on it. The drawers held files filled with every detail of all the people she was assigned to find. Those files contained every aspect of their lives: bank accounts, places they visit on a daily basis and the times they visit that place, addresses, social security numbers, people they know, basically everything a criminal would want to know about a person.
A smart board hung on the wall behind the desk. She did most of her planning on there, but she always liked to keep a hard copy just in case technology fails her. This explains the white board behind her.
The smart board had the pictures of a lot of people on it. All the people her father had eliminated had a deceased stamp on their picture. When she clicked on it, it showed her the cliff notes version of their life. Richard Castle, Kate Beckett, Kevin Ryan, Javier Esposito, Lanie Parish, Jim Beckett, Johanna Beckett, Victoria Gates, Alexis Castle, Martha Rodgers, Rebecca Rose (aka Madison Beckett), and Ross and Carol Rose were on the smart board.
Her bed was a Batman spread, sheet, and pillow case set. It was neatly made, unlike most teenagers' beds. A small doll was propped up against a pillow. It had a green dress, blonde hair, and blue eyes, and it was holding a yellow rose. Her mother had given it to her for her first birthday, saying that it had been passed down through many generations before her. A stuffed tigress rested next to it.
A Toshiba laptop rested in a hidden compartment in the wall beside her bed. It automatically charged itself if it rested there. In another hidden compartment, she kept a .45 hidden along with extra bullets as a precaution.
Her Kindle Fire HD and iPhone rested on top of a small black table beside the white board. Her iPhone case was a plain black one. Her Kindle Fire had a red case.
She had many bookshelves in her room. They were built with diamond compartments, so about five books rested in each one sideways. She had just about every adventure, horror, tragedy, angst, and mystery thriller there was. She even had all the Richard Castle books. Yes, she was a mega fan of his books. Because of this, she found it slightly more difficult to hurt him and his daughter this way, but a job was a job.
A mini fridge stood in a corner. It was stocked with all her heart's desires, and it had a cabinet attached to it where she kept her dry foods. It also held her secret stash of alcohol. She rarely went to eat at the dining table; if she had to, it was strictly for business purposes.
Her closet consisted of mostly black and red with the exception of blue jeans, jackets, and some band/comic book/TV show/movie t-shirts. They were all neatly arranged by season and color. There was a section she rarely touched, and that consisted of dresses and heels. She only touched that part if there was an event she had to attend with her father or a business opportunity and that's only with threats of taking away her cool stuff if she didn't.
She had a cat named Shadow. It was pure black and had black eyes. She'd found it one day after doing a job, and she immediately grew attached to it.
Her favorite part of the room was her false wall. All she had to do was whisper the password she'd set, and it would rotate reveling the contents behind it. This consisted of all of her weapons, an assortment of knives, guns, and bombs.
She took a few minutes to simply relax and push aside the memories of what she had just done. She couldn't stay like this for long; she knew he would be coming to look for her soon. She reluctantly got up and reached for her backpack.
She turned on one of the torch-like lamps for her to see what she was doing. She liked being in the dark, so she had these torches as her source of light. She removed the daggers and crowbars from their holsters and laid them gently on the white cloth that she'd placed over the carpet. She grabbed a few rags and some polish from a drawer in her desk before she grabbed Delia and began to clean it.
Once the weapons were clean and polished, she carefully carried them to the wall. She whispered the password and waited for the wall to reveal her weapons. She gently placed each one in their respective holders and placed the salt and lemon juice in the bottom drawer.
The wall just returned back to normal when she heard a knock on her door. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair before giving them permission to come in.
Her father entered the room. He was wearing one of his many suits as usual. "Jade, you have a visitor. Dinner will be ready in about an hour," he replied, before stepping aside and leaving.
Jade removed the emotionless mask when she saw who her visitor was. She attacked hugged them and exclaimed, "Ruby!"
Ruby See was a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who could easily pass as a second grader, but don't let her looks fool you. She may be thirteen, but she graduated high school at age 12 and was too smart for college. Yes, she was a kid genius. She was a billionaire scientist who owns a lab and corporate building in New York City. She has a basement lab that she claims will protect her in case a tornado passes by since she practically lives there. She was Jade's best friend and is the one who always bails her out of jail and drives her home from bars.
Once they'd exchanges greetings, the girls sat in chairs facing each other. Jade offered Ruby a drink, and she accepted saying that she'd just like some water. "How are you holding up?" Ruby asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.
"I'm fine," Jade replied. It was a lie. She was far from fine. If it wasn't for the carefully constructed mask and walls she had, she would've been curled in a ball and crying all day.
"That's a lie, Jade. I know you better than anyone. You may think you can detach yourself from your emotions, but your eyes give you away. If it wasn't for your strong will to keep your emotions in check, you'd be sobbing right now," Ruby said, putting sympathy in her eyes.
Jade closed her eyes and slowly relived that day in her head. The day her father was murdered, merely twelve years ago.
Bracken had caught onto the affair. He wouldn't normally care, but Jade's father was Bracken's campaign manager. He had slapped her mother really hard, and her father jumped in to protect her. Punches were thrown, and her father had instructed her mother and herself to run for it and never look back. Jade had foolishly run back to get the tigress she'd forgotten when she witnessed Bracken shoot her father. She quickly snatched the tigress, the only thing she had left of her father, and ran as fast as her pudgy toddler legs could carry her.
She had to obey Bracken's every word or else he'd hit her. He'd hit her hard enough for an ugly bruise to appear and remain for days. When he used the belt, it sometimes left painful cuts. In order to survive, Jade had to obey his orders. By the age of four, she was the perfect soldier. She had built walls to shut out anything that could hurt her.
Jade opened her eyes again and felt a bit of tears trek down her cheeks. Ruby handed her a tissue, not saying anything but simply understand like the great friend she was. Jade willed the tears to subside, and the emotionless mask was placed back onto her face.
"Now, don't you have an important dinner meeting tonight?" Ruby asked, trying to lighten up the mood. "Yes, unfortunately. Dad's gonna make me wear a dress, isn't he?" Jade asked. At Ruby's nod, she groaned.
"It's not that bad, Jade. I'll help you pick out something that will still maintain your badass look," Ruby said, immediately heading towards the closet. Jade managed a chuckle. This was one of the reasons why she was friends with this girl.
Soon, Jade was dressed in a simple blue sleeveless dress that ended at her knees which brought out her eyes. She wore her best pair of combat boots, and her ginger hair was straightened and lay loose. To complete the look, she wore a black leather jacket.
"Thanks Ruby, you're the best," Jade said. "That's what I'm here for. I'll just be chilling back and watching Harry Potter while you're at dinner," Ruby said. Yes, even billionaires like her can be Potterheads.
"Alright, let's do this," Jade said before she exited the room. Just outside the room, she unfurled the fingers of her right hand. A small locket that contained a picture of her real father, her mother, and herself as a baby was in her hands. This had belonged to her mother, but she had kept it hidden. As far as Bracken knew, this was the only piece of jewelry Jade would ever wear.
She put it on and toyed with it with her thumb and forefinger. She closed her eyes and remembered a happier time, her first birthday. Her parents were alive, and they were all happy. "I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but I have to do what he says. If I don't, he might start hitting me again or worse. I love you both," she whispered even though she wasn't sure if anyone could hear her.
She reopened her eyes. She had a moment of weakness, and now was the time to push it away. She let go of the locket, regained her mask, and headed to the dining room. It's time to talk business.