บท 6: Everybody Has Secrets

Castle

Inside Chris's office, Katherine reported about what happened during that night's mission. She had already changed into her casual clothes – leather jacket, tank top, pants, and boots – all in black.

"You did well," Chris complimented as he walked around his desk to face her.

"What is in that file? Why did we need to take it?" She asked curiously. The thing was, Katherine could not inquire to anyone else in Shadow because ever since she was trained, she was told not to. But from time to time, she'd ask Chris as he was the only one she could dare to and not others.

"It's a ledger for Mr. Cook's…" he waved his hand in the air as if trying to think of a way to say it, "...unauthorized expenses." He chuckled.

"But he owns the company... He's stealing from his own company?"

"We don't know why people do things," Chris shook his head in resignation.

"Then why did we prevent Mr. Nang from exposing the truth? CEO Cook is obviously cheating," she questioned.

"Cook's empire is an essential balance in the economy. If he fails, our economy suffers. We don't want that to happen, do we?"

"But…" Katherine still thought that it wasn't the right thing to do. Did she just allow a man to continue cheating?

Chris moved an inch closer and placed his hand on her shoulder like he always did to get her attention, patting it lightly to calm her down. Tilting his head, he smiled lightly and reminded her using his gentle voice, "No more questions."

She could only nod and let it go.

"Katherine, my dear, your face..." He grimaced as he stared at the cut on her head. Her skin was soft and milky white, now it's tainted with a wound. Chris felt bad that she had to go through things like this.

"I'm already used to it," she responded while lowering her head to avoid looking at his crystal blue eyes that mimicked the ocean.

The door suddenly opened and in came Parker, the director of Shadow and also one of its founding members. He was in his late forties and acted like the "father" to all the agents in the organization.

"Oh, I didn't know that our Queen is here." Parker walked to the center of the room that made Chris lower his hands and placed them in his pockets as he greeted his boss. "Parker."

"I was just on my way out." Katherine smiled politely before she exited the room. Though she had stayed with them for six years, there were only a handful of people she was really close with. She did not feel comfortable around Parker. This old man felt very dark and secretive. Though… who didn't have secrets?

As soon as Katherine was out of the room, Parker nonchalantly walked over to the glass window and watched his agents in their training. "You and Queen are very… close." His voice was emotionless but Chris knew him well enough to know what he meant.

Chris then replied, "I can assure you, I'm just looking out for her. After all…"

"After all… You saved her. Isn't that right, Christopher?" Parker turned to Chris and plastered a fake smile. Chris turned away to retrieve something from his table and then handed it over to his boss.

Taking the flash drive in his hand, Parker patted Chris's shoulder and walked out of the room. "Good… good… I can always depend on you," he said, placing the flash drive that Katherine got from her mission that evening inside his pocket. "Very good."

Later, when Parker had left the Castle quarters, he did not go straight home. Instead, he drove towards a dark area of River Park and looked for someone. "Ah… there you are," he muttered when he saw a man in a dark grey coat walking towards him.

"Mr. Green," the man greeted Parker.

"Mr. Cook. It's lovely to see you tonight." Parker shook hands with the other. And while their hands were joined, Parker handed the flash drive discretely.

"Your men are fast," Mr. Cook complimented.

"Ah… well, they're very well trained, of course."

"And my subordinate, Nang?"

"He's already taken care of in the hospital. You won't have to worry about anything. There will be no traces. It will be as if he just…vanished into thin air."

Mr. Cook gave a satisfied smile. He no longer needed to worry about that idiot worker of his. He took out a slim white envelope and gave it to Parker. "As agreed, get the ledger and you will get what you want."

With a grin on his face, Parker received the envelope. "A pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise."

Parker went back to his car and drove away, whistling that he had his hands on a property that he always wanted. All without 'dirtying his hands'… because in reality, he used his power to make his agents do everything for him.

For the past years that Katherine worked under Shadow, she hunted, she hurt and she killed people. People whom she believed were enemies of the state or a threat to their nation. And she was okay with it because she believed that she was making the world a better place.

And that's what she needed to believe… because that's what Parker wants his agents to believe in.

…

Later that evening, Katherine arrived at her apartment.

And like usual, the moment she closed the door, she removed her jacket and boots, took off her top, stripped off her pants and left them on the floor. She was then only wearing her bra and panties as she casually strolled in her kitchen, fetching water from the fridge and drinking the whole bottle.

A faint stomp coming from the living room caught her attention.

Her head snapped towards the direction of the sound. She quietly grabbed a chef's knife from the side, slowly walked into the living room, and then she saw a dark figure standing near the window.

Without hesitation, Katherine threw the knife towards the figure but to her surprise, the man noticed her right away and dodged. The knife stuck on the wall at the same time that the man had turned to face her. "Woah, hey… easy, Katherine, it's just me."

She quickly turned on the lights and saw her mentor in her living room. "Chris?"

Chris was equally surprised when he saw her almost naked across the room. "Umm… clothes," he said as he looked away.

She instantly remembered herself and swiftly took a robe from the bathroom. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?" She tied the robe securely in place, trying to forget about the embarrassing incident and had to calm down her rapid heart rate because the man she liked just saw her practically naked.

"I didn't plan on coming here."

"Okay… so why are you here, then?" Then she thought, 'Surely it's not because you just wanted to see me, right?'

"Six years ago, I promised you that we will find who was behind your parents' murder."

The moment that Katherine heard him, all her senses heightened up. She pressed on and moved closer, "And?"

"I found a lead… and I will give it to you, just like I promised."

She gasped, her hands flew to cover her mouth in surprise.

"But this stays between us," he added. "No one can know about this, not Parker…and not even Styles. Do you understand?" Chris handed over a small envelope to which Katherine received excitedly, nodding her head and checking the content with only one name in it.

Katherine found the lead like a treasure map and was willing to do whatever it would take to get to the bottom of it. No matter what, she was going to find out the truth.

To her excitement, she threw herself and pounced on Chris which took him by surprise. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she repeatedly said as she hugged him very tightly.

Their closeness caused his body to react in ways he did not expect. He stiffened at first, and then he couldn't help himself but return her embrace. So he wrapped his arms around her small waist and smiled.