“Aerin,” Falco tries but I cut him off.
“No! Look at me. I’m fine. I feel fine, I am fine. You’re all panicking about nothing.”
“Are you serious?” Falco snaps. “Someone tried to kill you!”
“What’s new?” I throw my hands up, exasperated. “It’s part of my life, apparently, but I’m here and I’m fine so I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“I almost lost you for good this time,” Falco continues, his eyes lock onto mine. The heat of his gaze is so intense that my eyes water slightly.
“But you didn’t,” I snap back. “So your paycheck is fine. That’s all you care about, right? Keeping your job? Making sure my father doesn’t kill you for fucking up or losing me? Then look at me, Falco. You can see I’m fine, so stop making a big deal out of it!”
Falco’s mouth hovers open as if there’s more he wants to say, but his argument fades in the face of my tirade.
His lips snap closed and one hand curls into a fist, pressing down onto the kitchen table. “Aerin. Just because you don’t remember doesn’t make what happened any less serious.”
“Then show me.”
“What?”
I turn to Pidge. “Show me the video.”
“No,” Falco barks out. “Not a chance.”
“Maybe we should?” Pidge tries, but Falco approaches him and shoves him away from me.
“She doesn’t need to see that.”
“Hold on!” Grabbing Falco by the arm, I try to pull him backward. “If there’s a video of me then I deserve to see it! You’re the one making a huge deal out of this, so I deserve to at least see why. How bad can it be?”
“If you can’t remember, I’d take that as a mercy,” says Rex as he deposits the plates on the table.
“Who even are you?” I mutter, rolling my eyes and pulling at Falco again. “Let me see.”
“No!”
“Why? What is so bad that it’s got you this worked up? Are you worried I’ll show it to my father and he’ll fire you?”
Falco suddenly spins to face me, his eyes blazing as he grabs my shoulders and shakes me just once. “Aerin, for once will you listen to me and understand that I’m trying to protect you!”
Despite the clear care in his voice, my eyes narrow. “If you were good at your job, then last night wouldn’t have happened, would it?” The harshness of my words causes Falco to flinch as if I’ve struck him and guilt immediately floods my gut.
He does protect me. The fact that I’m standing here, alive, is proof enough, but his over-protective attitude is annoying and my curiosity is stronger. What could be so bad that he doesn’t want me to see? Surely it can’t be something terrible because I would remember.
I know I would.
“Fine,” Falco says flatly and releases me. “You want to see it? Fine. Watch it.”
He turns and makes as if to storm out of the kitchen, but he lingers by the door as Pidge walks forward and pulls a phone from his pocket. “Just so we’re clear,” he says as he hands it over. “I only think you should see this because you deserve to know what happened to you. If this were any other situation, I’d burn that phone.”
“Thanks.” Moving back to the chair, I sit back down and the room falls eerily silent. A single video exists on the phone after I swipe my thumb to unlock it.
My heart begins to pound. With another swipe of my thumb, the video begins to play.
It’s me.
I’m crying. Sobbing, actually, and begging three strangers to let me go, but they only laugh and mock me.
One tall, thin one keeps yelling in my face, demanding I do things like get out of the car, run up some steps, and more.
