Chapter 12 Go Ahead, Call the Police
"Dead fatass, you open this door! Do you hear me? Open up!"
Emily's shrill voice and pounding fist jolted me awake from my nightmare. I sat up with a gasp, cold sweat drenching my shirt as the Caribbean facility explosion images still flashed behind my eyelids.
"I know you're in there! Hiding won't help you!"
Taking a deep breath to center myself, I moved silently toward the door. In one swift motion, I yanked it open. Emily, who'd been leaning her weight into her next knock, stumbled forward, nearly falling face-first into my room.
As she flailed to regain her balance, my hand instinctively shot out. For a split second, I visualized snapping her neck with a quick twist—a clean, efficient elimination. The muscle memory from my days as Shadow was so ingrained that I had to consciously stop myself.
Not now. Not here. She's not worth it.
My cold gaze swept past Emily to take in the rest of the Morgan family standing in the hallway. Frank looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Max stood behind him, his eyes wide with worry. And Linda—my so-called mother—clutched something in her hands, her face contorted with rage.
"You ungrateful little thief!" Linda spat, thrusting the items in her hands toward me. I recognized the designer clothes I'd bought for Max yesterday—the tags still attached to them. "Where did you get the money for this? Who did you steal from?"
I leaned against my doorframe, arms crossed. "I didn't steal anything."
"Bullshit!" Linda stepped closer, her cheap perfume assaulting my senses. "You expect me to believe that? You, who can't even pass a simple math test, suddenly have hundreds of dollars to spend?"
Frank placed a tentative hand on Linda's shoulder. "Maybe we should calm down and—"
"Don't tell me to calm down!" She shrugged his hand off violently. "This little bitch is stealing, and you want me to calm down? What if she stole from someone important? What if the police come here?"
Frank winced. "Let's at least hear what Max has to say. He was with her yesterday."
Linda stormed into the living room, still clutching Max's new clothes. I followed, maintaining a calculated distance, monitoring everyone's movements with practiced precision.
"And what about these?" Linda pointed dramatically at the kitchen table where she'd placed Max's new shoes and the box from his iPhone. "Emily says these cost thousands! Where would you get thousands of dollars, huh? Answer me!"
Emily smirked from behind Linda. "That phone alone is like, one thousand dollars. And the shoes are at least five hundred."
Frank's face paled. "Jade... is this true? Did you... take something that wasn't yours?"
Before I could answer, Max stepped forward. "She didn't steal anything! Jade would never do that."
"Then explain this!" Linda gestured wildly at the items. "Your sister suddenly has thousands of dollars to throw around? The same girl who couldn't even afford school breakfast last month?"
Max glanced at me, then back at Linda. "She's been... she's been doing programming work. Online. Data analysis stuff."
"You expect me to believe that?" Linda sneered.
While they argued, Emily tried to slip past me toward my bedroom. I sensed her movement without even looking. As her hand reached for my doorknob, I pivoted and caught her wrist in a professional restraint hold, applying precise pressure to the nerve cluster that would cause maximum discomfort without leaving marks.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.
Emily's eyes widened with shock and pain. "Let go! Mom! She's hurting me!"
"I saw your fancy laptop!" Emily hissed through gritted teeth. "That's like a three thousand dollar gaming computer! Where'd you get that, huh? What else are you hiding in there?"
"Who the hell do you think you are to question me?" I twisted her wrist slightly, making her gasp.
Linda rushed over. "Get your hands off my daughter, you monster!"
I released Emily with a slight push, sending her stumbling backward into Linda. They both tumbled onto the floor, a tangle of flailing limbs and indignant shrieks.
"She attacked me! Did you see that? She attacked her own mother!" Linda screamed, her face flushed with anger.
I calmly picked up Max's new clothes from where Linda had dropped them and handed them back to him. "Here. These are yours."
"Listen carefully," I said, turning to face Linda and Emily. "I'm tolerating both of you only because of Frank and Max. That's it."
Emily's face contorted with rage. "We'll call the police! Tell them you're stealing!"
"Go ahead," I replied with a cold smile. "I'll counter-sue for defamation and filing a false police report. I have documentation for everything I own."
I turned and walked back to my room, closing the door behind me.
For the next hour, Linda's voice drifted through the walls—calling me a "white-eyed wolf" and an "ungrateful bitch" while Emily pretended to comfort her, adding fuel to her rage. I could hear the jealousy in Emily's voice as she struggled to comprehend how her formerly fat, formerly pathetic sister was suddenly confident, capable, and apparently wealthy.
I couldn't stay in this suffocating house any longer. Grabbing my phone and wallet, I headed for the door. Frank looked up from where he sat in the living room, his mouth opening as if to say something, but he remained silent as I walked past him.
The air felt cleaner the moment I stepped outside. I took a deep breath, letting the cool evening breeze wash over me. I called an Uber and waited, watching the sun begin its descent behind the shabby rooftops of our neighborhood.
Twenty minutes later, I stepped out of the car at the base of a wooded hill on the outskirts of Cloud City. A crowd of young men and women had gathered around a muddy off-road track. Heavy metal music blasted from massive speakers, and the roar of customized off-road vehicles filled the air.
"Mr. Astor! Mr. Astor!" Cheers erupted as a heavily modified Jeep with massive tires tore around a particularly challenging curve, sending mud flying in all directions.