Chapter 12

Odd. It's odd how a brother and sister could fall for the same guy. Strange. It's strange that both of them still has feelings for the guy they fell in love with after all these years. What happened? Whatever happened between them, it seems that she has forgiven him otherwise why would she help me? Why would she kiss me? Maybe he's not that bad then. But why? Why would she still think I'm him? And why in the world is Niki still looking at her phone and smiling to herself despite the sudden change of plans. Revenge is sweet but really?

"Put it away." Lucy said, looking towards the back to see if anyone noticed.

"What do you think I should do with it?"

What? Is she seriously considering posting it? Doesn't she know what would happen if it weren't for Ein and his sister? All that bastard had to do was ignore the consequences and we would have been arrested for bodily harm and non-consensual pornography. He could have used his gun. Who knows what he would've done to try to get the video back. Leaving was the right decision even though leaving wasn't the plan. "Unless you want to attract attention, I suggest you delete it."

"fiine"

God, she's so annoying. "Before you do, can I have my phone?"

"Why?"

"Don't you want to find out who he is?" She should know he didn't carry his ID for a reason. She should know he didn't reveal his profession for a reason. It was his buddy who thought it would help. A cop? Doesn't he know what people think of cops these days, especially a white corrupted cop. "c'mon, I'm not going to say anything else. Let me just take a picture of it." There's no need to send the entire video. No one would find pleasure in watching two hairy naked guys humping except her. Scud would probably want to vomit. "c'mon, I just want to…"

"I can do it."

"fine" Great. Now she's got me saying it. It feels good saying it back to her though.

"Where are you going?"

Seriously? This is a plane, for God's sake. Where else can I go? "bathroom, you want me to get some snacks back?" There's no need to be mean but being nice probably won't stop her from being suspicious of everything I do. She's probably looking at me now, making sure I am going to the restroom. Stupid. What she did this morning was smart but she's not smart enough to know I have my own phone. Better hurry before she becomes suspicious. C'mon Scud. Hope he's not sleeping. Oh, he's not.

"Hello"

Hello? Being cautious is necessary. I guess. Just because he recognized the number doesn't mean "It's me."

"Where are you?"

"plane, heading back"

"What?"

Yea. It's crazy how quickly plans can change. If it wasn't for that bastard, we would still be in Iceland now. "Listen, I don't have much time. Did you find anything?" With an address and a phone number, he was able to find out who the twins are last night but who do they think I am? And who is that bastard?

"no name, no picture, no social media account, how do you expect me to find out?"

"Fine, Niki is going to send it to you." Jesus, I should stop that. "Okay, I gotta go before she finds out."

"Wait, did you know they got it out?"

"got what out?"

"the safe, I mean, I don't know if it's a safe."

"Realllyyy?" Finally, after all that waiting. Anthony must be excited. "Wait, what do you mean you don't know if it's a safe."

"It doesn't look like a safe."

A safe comes in different sizes and shapes. There's bound to have damages with the surrounding water pressure and debris falling on top of it. So what makes him think that it's not…

"It looks like a sea urchin"

Whaaa? A real sea urchin is dangerous. Something that humongous with the spikes is obviously made that way for a reason. Keeping people away might not be the only reason. "what's in it?"

"Don't know yet. Janet thinks it's an alien egg…or a sculpture…for the theme park."

"a what?" She has to be joking about the alien egg but a sculpture? There is a theme park but it's not fully completed and that's nowhere near it, isn't it? "What's it made of?" Can't be gold unless there's a second layer.

"Don't know yet but Nadia thinks it should be destroyed."

Oh Nadia. Can't blame her for wanting to. People died because of it. Many lives were affected because of it. Her life changed because of it but it's not up to her. It's not up to Anthony either. "I gotta go." Hate to cut him off without asking how Nadia is but continuing any longer would most likely let Niki…speak of the devil. "What you doin?" This lavatory is barely big enough for one.

"It's not in Reyjavik, is it?"

"What?"

"You knew it wasn't."

"No. I told you I don't remember. I said it's possible."

"She never went there. You knew she didn't."

"You sure?" She found that out yet she couldn't get anyone to hack into the banks? Makes no sense.

"Where…is it?"

"I told you I don't know."

"Stop…lying."

"I'm not. It could be under the waterfall. It could be in the cave, it could be anywhere she…ugh" It's impossible to block her fast hand from grabbing my throat. She's too close but really? Here? In a plane lavatory?

"Tell me where it is or you'll never be able to see your wife again."

Her threats are getting so old. "Look, I'm trying to help you…ughh." This time pushing her back is necessary. It hurts. Oops. That was intentional. There's nothing else more effective than using 2 palms on her upper sensitive areas. "Hey!" Seriously? She's not giving up. Unlike with Ein's sister, this time blocking her arm then wrapping around her arms is successful since there's no room to move around. Oh shit. This is what happens when the brain is 40,000 feet high in the air surrounded by continuous engine noise, it can't think of everything. Holding her tight is definitely a bad idea. Now she knows about the phone. "nope, stop it." Telling someone to stop never works. The only way is to try to persuade her. "Listen, if you want the key, you need to trust me." Lucy said, pressing Niki's body against the sink from behind.

"Tell me where it is and I won't tell your wife you cheated on her."

What kind of threat is that?

(knock knock) "Is there a problem?"

Great. That must be the flight attendant. "See what you did." Lucy whispered before letting her go, then realized the mistake she made after getting a slap on her face. It's not a hard slap but still. You are so going to get it. Not now though, now just suck it up.

"No problem, she needed help wiping her ass." Niki said after opening the door.

"She's joking." Lucy followed without providing an explanation since no explanation would make sense for 2 adults to be in one small lavatory other than needing some privacy. In this modern day, privacy doesn't mean just talking so there's no need to explain. This isn't over yet. There she goes, taking the phone out again. Clearly, she's frustrated. Surprisingly, no more threats. Just thinking. Thinking of getting more help? Possible. Giving her time to think is not good. There's only one way then. "If you want to let your boss know how incompetent you are, then we will all suffer…or you can listen to what I have to say, your choice."

What a day. It seems that she too saw no need to go back to work. It would be difficult to concentrate. Staying home is a better choice. Looks like she's tired, sitting on the recliner with her eyes closed, probably still thinking of him, probably regretting not saying what's in her mind. Well, it's too late now. Even if he can't remember, she should've...

(ding duong ding duong)

Who is it? Oh, now it's obvious. Only one person would be that impatient, knocking and ringing the doorbell continuously, at this time. The airport wasn't a good place to talk. The parking area wasn't either. In the middle of the two airports along route 41 would have been better. Too late now. Asking what he wants didn't work. Preventing him from entering would have caused a scene so not a good idea. Besides, he's determined, just letting himself in. Besides, she didn't tell him to get out.

"I suggest you talk quietly if you don't want anyone else to know."

She's right. Warning him is necessary in case he can't control his temper again. He should know he almost caused a scene at the airport. He should know they left hours ago so what else is there to talk about?

"I need to know what he said."

It seems that he has come to his senses. That's not a look of anger but a look of anxiety.

"I told you, they deleted it."

"You believe him? After everything he did, you still believe him?"

When he's calm, he's logical.

"Ein, you believe him?"

When he's not, he fucks up. This time so badly, he's lucky they didn't file a police report. "You have the wrong guy. It's not him."

"He's lying. He could've changed his name."

He's doing it again. It seems that he hasn't yet realized that his jealousy and eagerness for revenge is obstructing him from thinking logically. Did he even ask his wife before assuming that it was him? Just because he did it once doesn't mean it's him. Who told him? How did he find out? Regardless, his reason is asinine. "Why would he change his name?"

"because he knows I would kill him"

There he goes again. If anyone else heard, he would be in trouble. His job would be the least of his concern.

"You want to kill him? Go ahead. Find out where he's going, find out where he lives, go get the video back, then kill them all."

She may have spoken calmly but he should know what she's feeling right now.

"Ezz, I…"

"Don't…do…anything."

"He…"

"What the hell's the matter with you? Do you even know who they are? You think every woman out there is like Asta? They only fought back because of what you did! You should be thankful they didn't go to the police. You should be thankful they didn't cut it off. If that is him, do you think that's all he would do? He's…not…him...so stop blaming others for your actions!"

Windows and doors are closed. Thank goodness. As calm as she was, sometimes it's hard to control. Sometimes it's necessary to shout to get the point across. She's right though. He is blaming everyone else except for himself. He should know no excuse would justify his actions that night even if that woman did seduce him. Having too much to drink is a very poor excuse even if that's what everybody did. Having strippers in his own bachelor party may be deemed normal by many but he should know what he's not allowed to do even if that stripper was paid to do more than just stripping. He should know everything that happened afterwards was a result of his own actions. He started it; he has no one else to blame but himself. So why is he still standing here? Still thinking of making an excuse? That happened years ago. He should know...

"They took my gun."

Ohh. No wonder he has this look of worry. No wonder he wants to know what he said. Why didn't he say so earlier?

"I checked the rooms. I checked everywhere."

Well, they couldn't have taken his gun with them. What does he expect her to do about it?

"Then I suggest you check again, check the ceiling, check the floor, check every single tile, every inch, not just the obvious places!"

Oh yeah, she's had it with him. She's pushing him out.

"Ezz"

"Check the dumpster before they take it away!" She said before shutting the door.

Dumpster? Possible. Most likely, he didn't check that. Let's hope he can find it before tomorrow or he's going to have some explaining to do. Let's hope nobody else finds it. "You okay?" Alcohol at this moment isn't out of her character but what she did at the airport is. One moment she was slapping him, attracting the attention of the security guards, the next they walked away, minding their own business, so what happened? Whatever happened, it seems she's regretting it. That's one big gulp. "Hey, take it easy." Taking the wine bottle away is now necessary. She looks stressed. What's there to stress about? It's not her problem if he doesn't find his gun. It's not her problem if anyone else finds out what he did. It's not…ohhh…it does suck to have photographic memory. It's hard to forget the past. "You know, it helps if you just…think about the times he made you happy." What? It does. "I know it's not easy but just think about it, if he hadn't shown up, your life would've been worse." She should know it's true. She would've married that cheater if it wasn't for him and that would've ended badly. It may be wrong to be defending him especially when he left without an explanation but it's necessary in case she thinks her life would've been better. "You know what he told me." mhm, she's curious. "He asked…if you know about me, he thought I was hiding it from you." Funny, right? She's not laughing but seems disappointed. Maybe she's expecting something else. "So what happened?" Not saying anything doesn't mean nothing happened.

"It's not him."

Whaat? Gunnar isn't here. Lying to him is so he won't search for him. So why still deny it? Still need proof? "He knew my password. He was able to get out of the handcuffs. He has that same quirky sense of humor."

"You gave him the password. It's not unique. Ever looked online? They have tutorials on how to break the handcuffs."

True but "How many guys have dimples like his? How many guys have hands as soft as his? …and those thin lips, those pearl white teeth, that smile, did you look into his eyes? They haven't changed. Did you feel his body?" Is that a look of surprise or is she mad at me? "I just hugged him…he…pushed me away." What? She should know that's hard to control. She was the same way when she was dating Gunnar. She was wild then, not drinking everyday, partying wild but fearless wild, taking risks and doing things that most people of her age wouldn't do as if there is no tomorrow. Her spunky, daring and spirited personality along with her looks attracted many including the foreigner who obviously was hiding a lot about himself. But there's a difference, he didn't try to get her attention like all the other guys did.

"Ein, you really need to get a boyfriend and stop thinking about him."

"I will…when the right person comes along…and I can…can you?" The answer is so obvious. What's not is what changed her mind. He's not her type. She likes strong, fit, tall guys. He's smart but he's not her type. So how did they got together?

"I can…once I know he's dead."

(Sigh) There she goes again, walking away whenever she doesn't want to talk about him.