"Where on earth did you get those?" Jade asked pointing at the hologram.
"Cameras, satellite images, blah and blah and no, I'm not some evil, psychotic dude who wants to torture or kill you because of what you've done." He smiled a little. It was nice to know that he could still shake up Jade Lee.
"Then?"
"I just want to ask you of a little favour. If you would graciously follow me?"
He went to the stairway and headed to the door on his right that also requires an iris scan. He held the door out for her as she stepped in. "Welcome, Mr Sterling," the voice came again as the lights came on.
It was like a whole built in laboratory with fancy gadgets and high-tech computer system. Brett came from behind me and sat down before the many different types of keyboard and huge screens. He hit a few keys on his (high-tech) keyboard and Jade stared dumbfounded as she saw her data came in. From her date of birth to her parents cause of death and to her most recent relationship, every single detail of her life was there listed out before her eyes.
"Are you a stalker?" she blurted out. "Because, that is seriously not cool."
He gave me a puzzled look. "No way in hell! Anybody with the right knowledge and skills can obtain this. Also, being one of the best computer hackers in the world makes the job a lot easier. Plus, incase you haven't already notice, I AM in your school so I know about you. A little."
Jade burst out laughing. She couldn't help it. It a seemed so unreal that the school's biggest jerk turned out to be a computer geek? That is so cool or not, depending on how you look at it.
Brett shot her an alarmed look. He was hoping to ask Jade something important and he would have preferred it if she was sane. "Are you okay? Since I've got something pretty important to tell you about and I can guarantee that you may not entirely be joyous about it."
"Okey dokey! So, what's up?" she replied, still giddy.
He motioned to the screen as he clicked on a link regarding her parents' cause of death. Jade gasps as a few photos popped out. There was one before the accident when her father was still chatting gaily to her mother. Then, the rest were scenes after the accident which included a lot of blood.
"I'm sorry if you had to see these photos but there is a reason to why I show you these. Your parents weren't the type of business people they told you about. Sure, they had a company but that is just one of the cover up images," he said as more images popped out. "Your parents were one of the biggest mafias the world has ever seen. They did all sorts off things; drugs, smuggling, illegal shipping, loan sharks, illegal gambling and they even have assassin services. No kidding. Your parents were big in THAT world, that is, until someone sold them out."
"What do you mean?"
"Who you parents thought was their ally, Peter Granger, sold them out." Brett explained as more pictures popped out. "Drugs and illegal goods were seized, illegal casinos were raided and the like. Everything your parents did was crashing down and their losses was great but they managed to remain uncaught. So, they tried building up everything from scratch. The managed to cover about half their loss but Peter Granger thought it was unjust and decided to take matter in his own hands. "
"You mean the car accident was not an accident?!"
"No, it was not. Granger made sure that your parents' car was already faulty the day he arranged their deaths," Brett finished. It was difficult, telling her the truth and he could see how the emotions swirled and changed in her from forlorn, to sadness and then to anger.
After a few minutes of digesting what Brett told her, she was surprised she did not cry. She wasn't feeling grief-stricken as she should be because all she felt was anger. Anger that her parents weren't as clean as they should have been. Anger that they were supposed to be alive. Anger that their ALLY sold them out. Yet, she was confused about something. "But if Granger was their ally, why did he sell them out? I mean, he would have probably raked in lots of money, right?"
"Yes, Granger was raking in lots of money and he was pleased until his daughter passed away."
"What the hell does his daughter's death has anything to do with him selling my parents out?!" she shouted, needing to release a bit of the anger she felt raging inside.
Brett did not flinch, instead, he remained calm. "His daughter died due to an overdose. Granger found out that his daughter got hold of drugs from one of your parents' many drug dealers. Therefore, he blamed his daughter's death on your parents. Plus, management of the company automatically goes to Granger as you are not of age yet and that means extra money for Granger."
As her senses and logic kicked in, she was certainly alot calmer. "Okay, now I get it and I just remembered you asking me for a favour?"
Brett looked confused but as Jade's words sunk in, oh right, he went back to the keyboard and Lance Hill's profile popped out. Taking in my reaction, he turned to me. "Yes, that's the new kid. I'm sure you know who he truly is? Since you've already met him on one of your_ah_robberies?"
She nodded.
Brett busied himself at the keyboard and a video was playing. Lance was in a dark alleyway as he facing off with five burly adults. He was like predator, every movement was precise and even graceful. Less than twenty minutes, the adults were laying on the ground dead.
"Lance is an assassin even if he works for no one. He is so careful that he was never once suspected for the killings, let alone get caught. He preys on drug dealers, kidnappers and the like. He is actually helping the world so I thought he would like to join our little group."
"What group?" Jade asked. She still was not sure where Brett was going on with this.
"I mean we all have our own tragic past. Your parents were murdered by a drug lord, Granger. My sisters were kidnapped and shipped to the other side of the world to serve as some old, perverted man's mistresses and then killed when he got bored," he hesitated for a brief moment before carrying on, "Lance's whole family was killed infront of his eyes by another drug lord when he was six, hiding in the closet. Furthermore, you are an excellent thief, Lance a brilliant assassin and with my computer skills, we can take down almost everybody."
Right, now he is insane, Jade thought but come to think about it, she knew he was right. She was already stealing, Lance was already_erm_killing and Brett was already hacking into softwares? Thief, assassin and computer geek or genius whichever way you like it would be a very strong team. But_ "Why do you think I'm interested?"
Brett chuckled. "Why? You're already 16. You are about to be of age to claim your parents' company. Do you actually think that greedy Granger would just gladly hand it over to you? Plus, he's already killed your parents so do you think he will just let you live?"
She gulped. He was right. "Okay, what do I have to do?"
"Ask him out."
"Ask who out?"
Brett sighed. "Lance. Ask him out, and bring him here like I brought you here."
"Ohh. When?"
"This Friday, say, meet here at nine?"
"Sure if he doesn't reject me." she muttered, her mind reeling from all the information she just heard.
Brett grinned. "Okay, date's over, time to send you back home."
——
Next day : (Lance's locker)
"Hey, I'm Jade. We probably don't know much about each other but how about you go out with me on Friday night?"
~~~~~
Tee Hee, Jade ain't that good in asking people out right?
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