The Least Favorite Cameron

Chapter 14

 The three pogues have been doing everything possible to clear John B's name but have been unsuccessful. Kiara, even having risked her life in a sewer drain to retrieve the gun used to kill Peterkin, was left discouraged as Shoupe kicked the pogues out of his office.

"This is so messed up," Kiara says as she storms out.

"You have no reason not to send that gun in for ballistics Shoupe," Pope says as he follows Kiara and JJ out of the police station.

Shoupe then sits back at his desk and enters the serial number on the weapon into the database on his laptop. The results pop up and make Shoupe's stomach drop as Ward Cameron's name stares back at him as the owner of the gun.

"Do you really think this will work, John B?" I ask as we hide in the bushes waiting for our plan to go into action.

"It has to," He says as he peers around the edge of the hill we sat behind and looked at the road where Terrance and Cleo sat waiting. The plan was simple for the most part, when my dad left the house with the gold, some guys in town would deter him from taking another road and lead him to us and then Terrance would get him out of the truck so that we could take it. We were all communicating with walkie talkies and if it wasn't so scary, it would probably be fun.

"Hey there's another man in the car with Ward," Stubs says over the radio. And my heart sinks, Rafe is here too. Of course our dad would bring him, Rafe would do whatever he wanted and he knows that.

"It's Rafe," I whisper to John B and he looks at me with concern. Rafe, the same guy who I used to look up to, who at one point was the best big brother, now made my blood run cold with fear. He was a loose canon now, he was unpredictable, and he scared me. It was too late to change the plan so we moved forward as planned.

After about twenty minutes, I hear a car approaching us and I feel as though I can't breathe. The air in my lungs is sucked out as I see my dad and brother come into view.

"Hey, its okay, breathe," John B. says as he takes my hand.

Cleo and Terrance are now pulling my dad and Rafe from the car and directing them to move the road signs.

"Okay go!" They yelled at us and John B pulls me forward toward the truck that held the gold and I didn't dare turn to look at my family on the road until I hear my dad yelling.

"Gr-Gracie! Oh my god! Baby you're alive!" I can't stop myself from turning and seeing him get off the pavement to look at me. The swirling of emotions move through me as I stare at my father but before I can land on one feeling John B. steps in front of me, holding a gun in the air.

"Stay back, Ward!" John B. yells at him as Cleo tries to push my dad back as he makes his way closer to John B. and I.

"John B, lets go!"I shout but he doesn't move and then Rafe stands and pulls out a gun as well. I feel as though I was pushed into one of my nightmares, only this was real. My brother was pointing a gun at me and John B. and John B. was pointing one back. My dad lunges at Rafe and points his arm in the air and the loud firecracker popping sound echoes in the field around us. Rafe had fired a gun at us, at me. I fall back into the side of the truck in disbelief as the air is knocked out of me. The adrenaline and fear are the only things that push me to open the door and get into the passenger seat as John B. starts the truck and drives off. We drive past Rafe and Ward and Cleo and Terrance as Rafe screams at us.

"Grace! You're a coward!" And his voice is filled with so much hate I feel as though he just hit me.

Behind us, cop cars are approaching and it feels like we're driving a golf cart with how slow we're going.

"Faster John B!" I yell.

"It's going as fast as it can, the gold is weighing us down! Hold on!" He says as he whips the truck around a corner and sends us into an unplowed field, hiding us and the truck.

"Gracie, they're gone. We did it. We got the gold!" He says in disbelief but I almost don't hear him as a wave of pain washes over me. I look down at my stomach and see the top of my shorts are stained red, I reach down and touch the spot where the blood is coming from and my hand is slick with the crimson liquid as I look at it.

"John B, I'm shot, my brother shot me" I say in a quiet voice.

"What?" He says, turning his attention from the back of the truck to me. I see his face drop and he looks as though he could cry.

"John B." I say again and just stare at him in disbelief. The adrenaline coursing through me moments ago has dulled and the pain and reality is setting in. I feel as though I was hit by a car as I sit here staring into his eyes scared that it could be the last time I do.

"Hang on baby, hang on," He says and his voice is quivering as he takes his iconic bandana off.

"This is gonna hurt but we have to stop the bleeding okay?" He says as he hesitates to press the bandana over my wound. The pain sends shocks throughout my body and I cry out in pain.

"I'm gonna call Terrance okay? You're okay," He says and gets his phone out of his pocket and I notice his hands are now covered in my blood.

I barely notice the conversation he's having as I'm trying to remember all the Grey's Anatomy episodes I watched with Sarah and what they did when someone was shot. If I didn't get to some sort of hospital quickly I was going to die. I would die in this small field with John B crying and Rafe would have caused it. My own brother and father would be the reason I died and that just infuriated me. Terrance and Cleo drove up behind us and they were talking about some guy in town that would help me but we had to switch trucks so that they could hide the gold. John B. runs over to the passenger side and opens my door he takes my hand and the moment I try to walk the pain in my side radiates throughout my body. John B. and Terrance hold me up and get me into the other truck.

"Thank you," I say to Terrance as he gives John B. the directions.

"You're gonna be okay hun," He says and squeezes my hand. John B. is flying down the dirt roads while holding his phone to direct him to this so-called doctor's house. He makes a hard turn and it causes my wound to hurt even more.

"John B!" I cry out. I didn't notice that I had started crying but the tears were flowing down my cheeks as I held down John B's bandana on my side even though it hurt so bad. We finally get to where the little red pin is on the map and John B. helps me to the door where we're directed inside and up this small back staircase.

"Where was she shot?" A bald man with glasses who looked to be in his sixties stared down at us.

"In the gut sir," John B. said as we hobbled up the stairs. The man had me stop and he examined the bullet hole.

"They got ya good, come on in here," He said and pointed us to a door on the roof. Inside was a wooden table and heart monitor and a few bags of saline. There were surgical instruments all around the table and I got a sick feeling in my stomach that wasn't from the bullet wound.

"John B, I'm scared," I said as we walked over to the table and I laid down.

"You're gonna be okay, Gracie, okay? I've got you. I love you and you're gonna be okay!" He said to me as a small tear fell from his cheek and he cupped my face with his hands and kissed my forehead.

"I love you too, I don't wanna die, John B." I said to him as I felt myself getting extremely light headed. I could hear the doctor saying something to John B. but I couldn't make it out. The makeshift operating room was spinning around me and John B's face faded from my view as I fell asleep.