"The one and only," Aaron confirmed. "I went through a lot of trouble just to get her here, especially with all my people either arrested or in the hospital." He sent a brief glare Faith's way. Chance only glared defiantly at Aaron but kept quiet, likely wanting to be careful what he said, if anything. "Yeah--I forgot to tell you, Chance is here too. It could've been quite the little family reunion, if Melanie was feelin' a little better."
"Where is my sister?" Chance finally demanded with a glare. "What did you do to her?"
"Well, Faith?" Placing a heavy hand on Faith's shoulder, he prodded, "Go on. Tell him what you did to her."
Despite feeling as though she had been hit by a truck for the second time today, she still willed herself to speak. "...I defended myself," she uttered truthfully. "She came to my house with two armed men, and I was afraid they might kill me. I didn't shoot her--I only used pepper spray."
"But she did still shoot one of my guys," Aaron said with a sigh. "And now we don't even know if he's gonna make it or not yet. The one guy she didn't do a number on had to take 'em both to the emergency room."
"You would have fought too if someone had come to your home trying to kill you," Faith said stoically.
"All I wanted 'em to do was bring you to me, alive of course, but then I realized if I wanted something done right I would just have to do it myself."
Chance only made a scoffing noise and looked away, but Rowan continued to stare at her with eyes of desperation. In fact, the longer she looked at him, the more she began to forget everything he had put her through. She just wanted the both of them to be safe again--and even for Chance to be with his family again. She wanted to be on the winning end of things, for once.
"Faith, p--please," Rowan said in a near whisper. "I'm sorry for everything. Think of something, convince him to let us go, and I promise, everything can be back to normal."
"Normal?" Faith echoed, a knot forming inside her throat and her eyes beginning to sting. How can he say that to me, when he doesn't even know the meaning of the word, or have any true allies or a penny to his name?
"I'll stay with you from now on," Rowan continued, his voice rising in desperation. "Please Faith, just think of something--anything--!"
"Shut up, Rowan! She can't do anything, you know that!" Chance barked.
"Ya' know, I'm getting really sick of all this bickering," Aaron cut in with icy calm, gesturing the hand holding the gun toward the two of them, and although he didn't fire, Faith flinched at how close his finger was to the trigger. "What do you think, Faith?"
The last thing Faith wanted to do was cry in front of Aaron, or any of them for that matter, but as the reality of the situation continued to set in, she was finding it hard to hold it in anymore. She just wanted to go home, though she didn't even know where home was anymore. Her parents' house wasn't it, but neither was that empty house Rowan had left her alone in, with all of those paranoia-fueled memories. Soon her sight was so blurry she couldn't even see Rowan anymore, only the glare of cool white light and vague silhouettes in front of her as her chin began to quiver and tears began to stream down her face.
Aaron paused upon hearing a sob escape her throat. "Oh--what's this? Now look what you two've done. You've made her cry. And at any rate, I don't think she'd help you even if she could, with all the trouble you both have gotten her into."
He started to walk towards them, still holding her .38 special, and Faith was afraid things were about to get much uglier if she didn't speak up. "Aaron--you've made your point, okay?" she said shakily. "You've shown me what could potentially happen to me. I don't have to see any more."
Aaron shook his head, eyes narrowed. "I don't understand--these ain't even your friends here, more like the opposite. Why should you care what happens to them?" Either his confusion was sincere, or he was just continuing to toy with her.
"I...I care what happens to me. You've already taken me to an abandoned warehouse, threatened to kill me and hit me in the stomach. And if I have to watch two people die on top of that, I might be less than coherent in telling you what you want to know. " Faith looked away as the tears began to turn into sobs she could no longer hold back.
But while she could no longer look at him, she could still feel his eyes on her. After a period of silence that felt like forever but was probably closer to a couple of seconds, Aaron said in a surprisingly soft voice, "There--you see?" She tensed as she heard his footsteps slowly come towards her again. "You didn't have to put on this whole tough cookie act just for me. I was wondering when you would just break down and admit you're terrified."
"I--I am," Faith choked out. She hesitated to say the next part, but reminded herself that this was no longer about dignity--it was about buying time to stay alive. "Even after the horrible mistake I've made, a part of me still cares what you think. A part of me wishes I had never taken Rowan under my wing, and that maybe if I hadn't, you and I might've still met somehow, and you would have noticed me the way you noticed Sheena. And you're right, I'm terrified--I'm terrified that I've ruined everything...!"
Aaron now looked more taken aback than he had for this entire ordeal, but before he could respond, Rowan began to shake from his chair. Faith wasn't sure if it was from crying or laughter, but from the sound of his voice, it may have been a mixture of both. "You're pathetic, Faith..."
Pathetic, perhaps, Faith thought to herself. But at this rate I'll say anything that could buy us some time.
"Don't give him any information, Faith. He's not gonna let you live either way," Chance warned.
Aaron's gaze darted between the three of them before finally holding up the pointer finger of his free hand. "I'm sorry Faith, one second." He strode over behind Rowan and Chance's chairs.
"Aaron, wait!" Faith yelled, but could only watch as Aaron wordlessly hit Rowan and then Chance in the backs of their heads with his fist, causing each of them to hunch over and go completely limp. It hadn't appeared to take much effort from his end, either.
"Relax, they're just unconscious," Aaron mumbled upon turning his attention back to Faith. "Now, let's get outta here. Can you walk?"
Faith would just choose to believe him for now, carefully pushing herself up out of her chair. Fortunately, the pain and shock had subsided enough to where she felt somewhat steady on her feet. She nodded, eager to get out of this basement, if not this warehouse entirely. "But where are we going?" she asked warily, Chance's most recent words ringing inside her head.
"Away from the peanut gallery, where else? I just wanted to make sure you were really ready to talk."
As she was led back up the same stairwell she'd been brought down earlier, Faith took the chance to study her surroundings and where she might find an exit sign once they got back up to the ground floor. She would notice one down the hallway in front of her, but she was pushed toward another hallway to the right instead, through one of the doors and into a different room. Once Aaron flipped the light switch, Faith saw what seemed to be an old office space, complete with a desk, two chairs and a ceiling lamp.
Motioning for her to sit down in front of the desk and then seating himself behind it, he nodded to her. "Go on then. I'm all ears." He fidgeted with the gun in his hand, but for the most part kept it pointed in her direction.
"Okay--I can explain both Sheena and your book disappearing. The truth is, yes, I had a part in both. In Sheena's case, I thought you could do better than a ditzy blonde like her, and even though you said it was for ulterior motives, I wanted to see you with someone you actually liked and wondered if maybe it could be me, instead of seeing my friend get hurt, even as spacey as she is sometimes."
"And you had help with sending that ditzy blonde away. Who helped you?"
Reluctantly, Faith told him, "The S.A.S. did. Sky helped me. She helped me finish paying you back too."
"Ah..." Aaron nodded slowly. "Okay. So where's Sheena now?"
"I don't know the address, I'm afraid," Faith faltered.
"Where is she?" Aaron repeated, his voice rising impatiently.
"Sh--she's with her sister, okay? I was telling the truth when I said I didn't know the address."
Aaron looked away with a scowl, as though pondering something. "Oh well. Her sister should be easy enough to track down if I need to. It ain't the first time I've had to find someone." His eyes panning back over to her, he continued, "Now, what about my black book, with all my clients' names and other information?"
"Officer Brooke has it, the last I heard. But please--before you shoot me, let me explain why."
"Oh, I've gotta hear how givin' my composition book to the police has anything to do with you being my secret admirer," Aaron scoffed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, this is all really entertaining, but let's just hope that for your sake, all of this will not only turn out to be true, but also make sense once you're done."
"Okay, okay," Faith said desperately. "After I got involved with Rowan and saw how much the kind of life we led was hurting the both of us, I started to worry more and more that it would hurt you and Sheena--especially after I saw who Rowan really was and heard that he tried to shoot you." Faith focused on how scared she felt in this moment instead of continuing to try to fight it, in the hopes of appearing more convincing. "I'm sorry, Aaron," she continued, a few more tears streaming down her cheek. "You have no idea how hard it is for me to admit this, but...I care about you. I wanted to see you get out of that life too, while you still could. I couldn't do anything for Rowan once he left, but I thought I could still help you. But then things didn't work out like I'd thought they would, and I was too proud until now to say how I really felt about you..." Faith shook her head. "I'm sorry, Aaron. I'm so sorry..."
At this point, Aaron wasn't even meeting her eyes anymore, eventually sitting the gun down on the desk and resting his forehead in his hand. No more sadistic smiles, no more sarcastic quips. "Faith, Faith, Faith..." he mumbled. "What am I gonna do with you? I mean--did Rowan really drive you this insane?" Shaking his head, he continued, "At any rate, right now I don't hear a woman who's madly in love or even remotely interested in me. I just hear someone who's scared for their life."
"Look, I know that you want revenge, because I would too," Faith attempted to reason with him, "but please, let's be realistic--what do you think is going to happen to you after you kill the three of us, and the police take an interest in you again? Your friends in that alley already told you they can't help you anymore after today."
"It ain't just the police!" Aaron suddenly barked. "They've already made it known that there's not enough proof against me, but I've still got enemies, rivals--this is gonna make me look weak now. I get the feeling you knew that, but you did it anyway. Sorry Faith, but the S.A.S. used you. I know because they used me too, until I finally managed to break away."
Suddenly, a ringtone began to sound from Faith's purse in the corner, and Aaron slammed his fist on the desk in a frustrated motion before getting up and taking the phone out of the bag to see who was calling. He narrowed his eyes at the screen and then looked over at Faith. "Bethany?"
"That's my cousin," Faith said quietly. "She's returning my call from earlier today."
Bringing the phone over to Faith, he ordered tersely, "Talk to her."
He pressed the answer button, and Faith swallowed hard before answering, "Beth?"
"Hey Faith! I just got off work and heard your message. You know it's been forever since we've talked? I'm sorry to hear about Rowan though."
"Yeah..."
"Are you alright? You sound like you've been crying," her cousin questioned.
Watching as Aaron reached over to pick the gun back up from the desk, Faith quickly answered, "Yes--it's just I've been thinking about him way too much. Rowan, I mean."
"Well, it might sound harsh, but it sounds like you dodged a bullet with him. But he'll get what's comin' to him eventually, don't worry."
Faith winced at Bethany's choice of wording.
"But hey, forget all that for now! I'm off next weekend, so maybe we could all get together then?"
"Oh--sure, I think that should work with my schedule. I tend to have most weekends off anyway." Faith looked over at Aaron, who once again was avoiding eye contact, only staring solemnly at the wall in front of him.
"Faith, are you sure you're okay?" Bethany persisted.
"Yeah, I'm alright," Faith said reluctantly. "I just need to get my mind off of this breakup--that's all."
"I understand. But trust me, once we have a big barbecue and you get to try some ribs on my dad's new smoker and my twice-baked potatoes, you'll forget all about him!"
Faith forced a laugh, hoping it didn't sound more like a sob. "That does sound good. I do want to finish planning for this weekend, like what to bring and everything, but I just need to resolve a few things first. Then I can call you back, maybe tomorrow."
"Um, okay," Bethany said hesitantly at first, but didn't press further. "Well, looking forward to it! We'll see you this weekend--as long as you're up to it, I mean."
"I am," Faith said truthfully. "I'm really hoping I can make it..."
"You'd better! You're the guest of honor, after all--the prodigal daughter! Okay, sorry, I'll stop. I'm just excited we finally have you back."
"Thanks," Faith said softly.
"Well, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. See ya'!"
"See you later," Faith replied, hating that they had to end the conversation so early. If only her cousin knew the half of what had been going on with her. However, even if she couldn't say anything else, she could still add, "And...I love you all."
"Aw, we love you too! Bye-bye."
Upon hearing the repetitive beeping tone that signaled the end of the call, Aaron took the phone away and placed it back into Faith's purse. "This family of yours..." he mused aloud. "Sounds like they really care about you, huh?"
"They do," Faith nodded. She had begun to wonder if she should just sit quietly and let her fate be decided, but Bethany's phone call had now renewed some of her resolve--and may have possibly made Aaron reconsider his decision, at least for her if not for Chance and Rowan too.
"I'll be honest, Faith--I don't exactly get pleasure out of takin' a girl like you away from her family like this, but you've gotta understand things from my view too here--I have no family. For me, Happy Scoops was it. People were never there for me, but money was, and that was okay, but now you've even taken that from me. If I let you go and tell these cops any more information, I might have nothin' now. So it's not just about petty revenge like you're probably thinkin'."
Wait a minute... I've got it. "But Aaron...what if there really was a way we could both win? You could ask for a ransom in exchange for my release--my family would give you what they could, but most of it would probably come from the S.A.S. if they agreed to help with that. So then I get to go back to my family, and your 'dad' gets the payback he's deserved for so long while you use the money to start over somewhere else. Even if I did go back to the police, they'd probably just drag their feet and continue claiming they don't have enough evidence against you, and in the meantime you'll have already left the country."
A brief burst of laughter escaped Aaron's lips. "You watch a lot of movies, don't you?" His smile then faded, as though seriously considering it. "How much do you think your family would pay to get you back?"
Faith's head suddenly shot up, taken aback by the question even though she shouldn't have been. "What sort of amount did you have in mind...?"
"Oh, I don't know, $30,000? That should be enough to get me out of the country and hold me over a little while. With all the trouble you've caused me, I might as well be comfortable while I try and start over."
If the blood hadn't already drained from her head, it had now.
When he saw Faith's worried expression, he added, "You didn't think this was gonna be easy, did you?"
She wasn't banking on her family being able to come up with that amount within the short amount of time Aaron would probably allow, but she would play along and use what little extra time she might have to get him to come to his senses. He already appeared to be showing a few glimpses of his vulnerable side. Shrugging, Faith simply replied, "Easier than dying, I guess."
"We'll see. At any rate, you can relax a little--most of that is probably gonna come out of our friend the Admiral's pocket, assuming he actually cares about helping people like he says." Whipping out his burner phone, an ominous smile crossed his face as any hint vulnerability vanished from his face. "Thanks Faith, for the idea."
Faith looked away shamefully as Aaron began to dial, and she started to feel increasingly uneasy about what she had suggested. If Sky and I were to switch places, would she have stood her ground better than I have, even if it meant being killed? Maybe Faith and her captor really weren't so different, after all.
Having been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't bothered to notice that Aaron had the phone up to his ear but hadn't yet said anything, simply sitting at the desk with an increasingly irritated expression. "The signal was fine a minute ago," he huffed as he pushed himself up from the desk, and Faith had to hide her disappointment when the first thing he did upon standing was pick up the handbag to bring with him outside the room. Before exiting the room, he paused in front of her. "I hope you won't throw away this last opportunity, Faith. Because it really is your last one. And if I find that you've left this room when I get back--"
"I won't. I could hardly walk up those stairs earlier to begin with," Faith said with a pained expression. "What makes you think I want to possibly get returned to my family in a wheelchair?"
"Good. Then I'm gonna go see if the old man's got his phone close by." As he turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the room, slamming the door behind him, Faith listened intently as his footsteps grew quieter from outside the door. It was only when she started to hear him faintly begin some sort of conversation, presumably because he had found some signal, she pressed her heels into the floor and pushed herself up from her chair. Limping over to the desk which was still littered with some random office supplies, such as a stapler, some old papers and a dusty glass cup full of ink pens , Faith turned her back to the desk's drawer so she could pull it open, then turned back around to scan its contents for what just might save her if the S.A.S. didn't. Among the dirty old erasers, spare staples, pencils and legal pads, something gleamed at her through the dust and dirt, and Faith never would have thought she would be this excited to find something as seemingly insignificant as a paperclip. A mirror would have been nice too, but she would just need to use what she had.
This all may be a typical Tuesday for Aaron, Faith thought as she twisted around to wrap her fingers around the paperclip, but he forgets: ever since I met Rowan, I've been getting ready for a scenario a lot like this.
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