Catching Rainbows

34

tw/ verbal abuse in video

Jared was a little awkward when he arrived but Chloe had thawed toward him and he quickly went to work in the messy corner. 

We sat cross legged on the floor nearby eating wavy potato chips, watching him move smoothly through the screens. 

"What a fucking tool," he said in satisfaction. "His password is BigDaddyKeith#69, is he for real?" He shook his head, clicking and typing. "And here it is." He opened a video as we stood up and moved closer to see. "It's silent," he told us as we watched, moving the volume knob on the speaker anyway to show us. 

And just like Chloe had said, it showed her sloppily stumbling around the huge house and grounds, pouring cans of gasoline out. "Shit, I don't want to watch this again," she said a minute into it, covering her face with her hands. 

I remembered that had also been the day of her mother's funeral. "Yeah, just get rid of it, Cuz."

He turned it off and clicked on something else, letting out a low whistle. "Wow, he actually kept the original with sound."

We watched as it came on, volume loud and clear, Keith filming while he held out a metal can. "Take the starter fluid, Chloe. Jesus Christ, I shouldn't have given you so much whiskey. This asshole killed your mom! You owe it to her to do something about it! God."

A hot fury scorched me all over inside, and I saw my cousin's jaw clench. I put my arms around the sweet soul next to me, wishing I could go back in time and be there to stop him or maim him grievously. She kept her hands over her face.

Chloe on the screen rose slowly, tears gleaming on her face in the light from the moon. "I'm sorry," she said, taking the can from him with her black-gloved hand and looking at it in perplexion. 

"Just go squeeze some over there. Go! It's a good thing you have gloves on because your dumb ass will probably touch everything, now aren't you glad I'm looking out for you?" He gave her a little push and she stumbled forward. "Dump that shit around the house, Chloe, and hurry up. This video is going to be very useful to me."

I motioned my cousin to turn it off. 

He did, going through more folders. "What a fucking prick, and believe me when I say we'll find a way to make him pay for being such."

We were not unalike, that much was certain.

He continued. "Should I delete these? He emailed the shorter one to himself like you said, I deleted that one already. And he won't know anyone's been in his computer unless he looks for the videos specifically." He studiously didn't look at us so as to give Chloe privacy. "I'll save the only copy on this flash drive I brought and you can keep it somewhere as proof that he got you drunk and made you do that shit."

She uncovered her face. "He saved the stuff."

I rubbed circles on her back. "What stuff, babe?"

She gestured randomly while wiping her face. "Everything, the cans, the receipt from buying them, even though he paid cash, the ski mask, the gloves. It's in that drawer," she said, pointing to one in the desk.

"Wow, he is really stupid as hell," Jared said in wonder. "And let me guess where that key is." He lifted up the monitor to reveal the tiny silver key and laughed out loud. "Wow," he said again. "He must have felt pretty confident that you wouldn't find someone to help you. That he wouldn't let someone get close enough to help you, more like."

His voice was even, but I could tell how angry he was, especially after years of watching both of our mothers mistreated by their husbands. 

"Yeah, well, he was right until now," she admitted, detangling herself and standing up. She put her hand on my head for a moment before going to the bathroom to collect herself.

"Can we kill him and get away with it?" I asked my cousin as soon as I heard the door shut. I half meant it.

He sighed, leaning back in the chair. "No, but we can definitely make sure he leaves her alone, with some good old-fashioned blackmail of our own. If it comes down to it we'll make sure she has an alibi for that night."

"How soon can we make this happen?"

He shrugged. "When's he get back? I have a plan."

"In a few days, and good." Hailie wasn't the only genius in the family. Jared had graduated at fifteen and could have easily completed college in a few years, had he chosen to go.

I went to the bathroom and knocked lightly on the door. She opened it, her eyes red, the corners of her mouth turned down. I stepped in and pulled her to me, squeezing away her sorrow, with no other plans for the rest of my life other than to make sure she was not only safe but happy. 

"I hate that you had to see that, see me like that," she whispered, not meeting my eyes. "It's so pathetic. I was so worn down that night, so defenseless. You have no idea. I don't even remember most of it."

I vowed to cut this guy's nuts off. "No, no, please don't feel that way, nothing could change the way I feel about you, okay? Nothing. And nothing about you is pathetic, you are a survivor of some real bullshit, but it's okay now. It's over. And you can come and live with me in my tiny room in my tiny bed and we'll do the happily ever after thing." I smoothed her hair, wiped away the tears with my thumbs.

She nodded, sniffling, wanting to believe.

I hugged her again. "We've got this, girl," I whispered in her ear, following it with a kiss just underneath to hear the automatic sound she made in response. "I promise, you just have to trust me." My heart had known for some time I would go to war for her under any circumstances.

She pulled back a little to hold meet my gaze, searchingly. "I do," she said simply, and her eyes said the same as she touched her lips to mine. 

Now to make my promise come true.