Page 45 of Tease

“So it is the boy from the bombing.”

“Yes.”

“Can you trace where this is coming from? If so, keep him talking.”

“Already running a s-s-search.”

I tried to think of what to ask Emmett to keep him from shutting this down.

Rina: What do you want?

Emmett: Maybe I don’t want anything.

Rina: You tried to have my sisters and me kidnapped. I don’t think that’s nothing.

Emmett: Touché. You’re right. I did.

Rina: Why?

Emmett: Your father destroyed my family.

Rina: Did you have anything to do with my father’s death?

He didn’t immediately respond. I looked up at Arlo, who nodded at me. I was nervous about getting this wrong, but I also wanted answers.

Instead of saying anything, Emmett sent me another link. I clicked on it and found a video.

Rina: What is that?

Emmett: You should watch it. It will answer your questions.

Rina: I would rather you answer them directly.

Emmett: The video, Rina. It’s important.

Rina: If you had something to do with my father’s death, then why are you targeting us now? What more do you want from us?

“Do you want to watch the video?” Arlo asked me.

“Not really, but I should.”

My cursor hovered over the play button. I had it up on my second screen, so I didn’t have to switch between the chat and the video.

Emmett: It wasn’t enough.

Rina: Why? What more could you possibly seek to gain from this?

Emmett: You wouldn’t understand.

Rina: Because I’ve never had my whole family die? My father is dead, Emmett. I think I understand the concept of grief. The difference here is I don’t want revenge if you killed him.

It was time to bite the bullet and watch the video. He’d sent it to me for a reason. He told me it would answer my questions. Didn’t matter if I didn’t want to view it. I could see Emmett had replied to me, but I didn’t look at his message.

My father sat in a chair. His arms were behind his back, so I assumed he was tied up. The sight of him made my heart hurt.

“Rina, you don’t have—”

“No. I have to watch it,” I said, cutting Arlo off.

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