This is Me Trying ⭑ Rafe Cameron

twenty eight

JJ looks at Pope, Pope looks at Sarah. "He's gonna meet us at The Chateau." She spoke quietly.

Cassie narrowed her eyebrows, relieved to find he was with them, but not sure what that meant. "Why?"

"When we found out the cops were on their way he and—" Sarah stopped herself, then continued. "He wanted to keep it on the down-low." She looks around to make sure no one was listening in. "We'll explain later."

Cassie nods, hesitant but understanding. The group then splits up once again, Pope and Cleo going to the Hayward's, Sarah heading to John B's to meet him at his place, Kiara going to her house. Everyone, whether they wanted to admit it or not, was more than eager to return to their homes, to their beds, and to their families.

JJ stood next to Cassie as they watched everyone go their separate ways, planning to reconvene at The Chateau at noon. She looked to her brother, something sad in his eyes as the initial adrenaline of the reunion began to wear off. "What's wrong?" She asks.

JJ looks at her quickly as if he'd just been pulled out of his thoughts, then he shakes his head. "Nothin." He says. "Gonna run home and get some clothes." He starts walking down the steps from the station.

"I can take you?" Cassie suggests.

He waves it off. "It's cool."

She follows after him. "You're not walking that far. Just let me drive."

JJ stops at the bottom of the stairs and huffs, taking off his torn-up maroon baseball cap, eventually nodding.

As Cassie drove, anxiety began to pour back into her system, as even just being around her brother made her feel like she was betraying him. Actively hiding something all over again. "...he just wanted information on the cross. I told him all I could, that I didn't have it and—" She said, as she explained the Singh situation.

"He did all that, and then just let you go?" JJ asked.

"Well, no—"

"We never even had the cross in our possession so why wouldn't he start with the Cameron's?"

"Actually—"

"So is he going after Rafe now?"

"Will you shut up for two seconds?" Cassie snaps, turning to JJ who sunk into the passenger seat, his hands up defensively. She let out a huff, eager to get a sentence out without being cut off. "Rafe was there too."

There was no use in lying about that, since the cops knew Rafe had helped her in returning home, it was bound to get back to them somehow.

She expected more of an outburst from her brother, but he didn't say much, and somehow, that made her even more uneasy. She glanced at him, then back to the road. "After I told them Rafe had it, they got him there for an art deal, and then he—" Cassie realized her lie wasn't adding up to the extremities of the true story. "And then when Singh low-balled him on the numbers, Rafe wouldn't sell it so he threatened us."

JJ, after a few seconds, spoke again. "Threatened you how?"

She shrugged, hands tightening on the wheel. "I mean, did you see the guys who took me? They could've killed me whenever they wanted." Cassie spoke in a joking tone, but it didn't really land.