SEASON TWO,
CHAPTER 5:
FUMBLING THE PLAN
"You wiretapped him?"
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HEAVY RAIN POURS down onto the island, causing large puddles to be made within the street that are only threatening to rise and create floods. Thunder rumbles loudly from high above in the dark stormy clouds as it progresses further into the night. Cracks of lightning can be visible as the bolts strike down onto pieces of land, brightening the whole area up.
After tickling the wire and overhearing Gavins conversation with Ward, the teenagers didn't think twice about grabbing the correct equipment needed for material evidence to be provided — Pope grabbed his telefoto so that they can get long distance. The four are all currently on top of a roof as they crouch down behind a wall to avoid being seen, not willing to have their whole plan ruined. Opposite them, in a construction site, the two adults are talking with one another like they had demanded.
"Ward just handed Gavin something." Pope informs as he films it all. "I think it's a duffel bag."
"Guys, I think this is a payoff." JJ suggests.
"Gavin doesn't look happy about something. It looks like he's yelling at Ward." Pope continues.
"Why?" Kie questions.
"I don't know, but he sure looks mad." Pope replies.
They fall quiet as their eyes remain locked onto the adults ahead of them, carefully watching it all unfold in front of them. Suddenly, after starting to yell at each other, Ward races forwards and the pair begin to fight one another. Bodies are desperately thrown around as they fight to be the winner, wanting their slide of the argument to come true. Then, Gavin gets forcefully thrown into the table nearby where his head immediately starts to gush with blood. Ward doesn't appear to care too much about the injury and simply dives for the gun located in Gavin's pocket.
"Ward's got a gun." Pope states.
"I bet that's the murder weapon." Kie replies.
Delilah stares at them both for a moment, shifting uncomfortably in her place. A sinking feeling enters her stomach and causes her to swallow a lump in her throat. The man is bleeding heavily and they are just witnessing it all from a distance, unable to step in unless they are willing to put themselves at risk too.
All of a sudden, gunshots ripple loudly through the quiet air and echoes over the top of the heavy rain. Something had been said that caused Ward to flip, spinning around in his heel and firing the weapon straight at the man. Gavin's body falls lifeless against the wood as thick red blood spills out of his wounds. Ward stands there staring down at another victim of his murders, chest heaving up and down as he tries to catch his breath from the fight. The gun slips off of the building the men stand on and into the flood water below.
Delilah sharply inhales from shock, diving down into hiding as her back is pressed firmly against the wall that they were crouched. Head falls into her hands as her eyes snap shut in a desperate attempt to get the image out of her head. That's the second murder she's witnessed now, and both happen to come from the exact same gun. Kiara ducks down as she fights back tears, head falling onto Delilah's shoulder.
"That did not just happen." Kie cries.
"Tell me you just got that." JJ pleas.
"Enough to put this asshole away for life." Pope assures, anger in his voice.
"We should go." Delilah states. "Guys, we got what we need, and I don't think it's a good idea for us to stick around."
"Wait." Pope says. "I think the gun just went down the drain. He's looking for it."
Kie rises to her feet from her place, lifting her head up from Delilah's shoulder. The brunette presses her hands against the bricks of the wall as she leans over the side so she's visible to anyone that passes by. The three instantly begin to question her actions with a hint of panic in their voices, but the girl only chooses to ignore them.
"What is wrong with you? Murderer!" Kie shouts.
Delilah slaps a hand over the top of her friends mouth, dragging her downwards so that they're all hidden once again. Slight annoyance seeps into the redheads body in disbelief that Kiara has just done that for the second time now. But Kie just squirms around in Del's grip in a desperate attempt to try shout her angry thoughts to Ward.
"Shut the fuck up!" Delilah hisses.
"I don't care if he hears me." Kie argues. "He's a murderer."
"You think I don't know that?" Delilah fires back, stepping away from the girl. "He could murder you too, Kiara!"
"Guys, he sees us." Pope informs. "We need to get the hell out of here."
The four teenagers stand up from their hiding places and run towards the direction that they came from, adrenaline flooding through their bodies — and for the first time in awhile now. One by one, the friends start to rush down the ladder that they had climbed up previously as they try to put speed in their actions to avoid getting caught by Ward. However, Kie steps on JJ's hand and caused the blond to accidentally kick Pope in the face with his foot. This sends both of the boys crashing down to the floor as the camera slips out of Pope's hands and breaks.
"Sorry!" Kie apologises. "So sorry."
"No, no, no." Pope mutters, reaching for the camera.
"You're kidding me!" JJ exclaims as they scramble to their feet. "You fumbled it?"
"You kicked me in the face." Pope argues.
"Kie stepped on my hand." JJ fires back.
"I was trying to hurry." Kie states, trying to defend her actions.
"Lets not argue right now." Delilah tells them as she drops down from the ladder. "Go!"
Before Ward can spot the Pogues, they pull their act together and continue running away from the scene. They run out into an opening and find themselves on the dark streets after hopping over a wooden fence along the way. All of them sprint over to where the car is parked and swing open the doors, diving inside and slamming it shut again behind themselves. The tense air fills with the loud pants as they try to catch their breath, droplets of water dripping down from their hair and clothes.
"Can someone fill me in on what the frick just happened?" JJ shouts.
"What were they fighting over?" Delilah asks.
"A gun." Pope replies. "It's the one that Rafe used. He must've kept it."
"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!" Kie chants, muttering under her breath as she stares at her phone.
"Who are you calling?" JJ asks.
"Who do you think?" Kie fires back.
"The cops?" Pope questions, eyes wide.
"Why would you call the police? That's Ward!" JJ reminds in disbelief."
"Shut up!" Kie demands as the phone call is finally answered. "Hello? Hi, somebody's been shot at the Grand Street construction site."
"Ma'am—" The officer begins.
"You guys need to hurry to hurry because he's dying. I don't know if he's already dead or not!" Kie tells them, holding back sobs. "You need to hurry!"
"We need to get out of here. We're sitting ducks right now." JJ states.
"What do you want me to do?" Kie cries.
"Just drive!" Delilah instructs.
The curly haired girl decides to listen to her friends demands instead of continuing to talk to the police, knowing that they're right in this situation. Her foot slams down on the pedal and they begin to drive away from the area.
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Not long after driving away, the teenagers find that they're back at the scene of the crime due to the fact that Kiara had called the police. They stand up in the construction site that they witnessed the fight take place, explaining to Sheriff Shoupe exactly what they saw with their very own eyes — four witnesses to the crime. But when everyone arrived, Gavin's body was already long gone and not even a drop of blood can be seen on the wood.
"It was right here." Kie states. "And this is where that maniac claimed his next victim."
"His next victim?" Shoupe repeats, receiving a nod in response. "Right, okay. How long ago did you say it happened?"
"45 minutes ago." JJ replies.
"So Ward Cameron just popped one off and shot him, then cleaned it all up in 45 minutes?" Shoupe asks as he summarises their story
Delilah nods. "Yeah."
"We filmed the entire thing." Kie informs. "But we can't show it to you because I stepped on JJ's hand, then he kicked Pope, and then Pope dropped the camera. Now the piece of shit is broken."
"It was a telefoto, and we needed to get a long distance image." Pope states. "But when I fell, it broke, so the video is basically unusable."
"So the dog ate your homework?" Shoupe questions.
"No, Shoupe!" Kie replies. "I know what it sounds like, but—"
"I don't know what you kids expect me to do with this." Shoupe tells them, interrupting the girl. "You dragged me out here in the middle of the night for a whole lot of nothing."
"It's not nothing!" Delilah protests.
"You're right. You guys fed me some crazy stories about how Ward Cameron's out on a random killing spree."
"We're not making this up!" JJ exclaims.
"Gavin was his pilot." Pope informs. "Ward was paying him some hush money because he was on the tarmac that day."
"Gavin was blackmailing Ward because he had the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin." Kie states.
"He called him here and tried to pay him off. But it wasn't enough, and then shot him. With the murder weapon." JJ adds.
"How do you know that?" Shoupe asks.
"Pope did this thing with his phone." Kie replies, starting to ramble. "He put this thing in their car, and then—"
"I heard their whole conversation." Pope states.
"You wiretapped him?" Shoupe questions, raising a brow at them.
All four of the teenagers fall silent, unsure of how to reply to the sheriff. None of them know whether the information they've provided may have gotten them into trouble along the way. They want to do what they think is right, especially after seeing that Rafe got away with Peterkin's murder and framed John B for it instead.
"Look, I've had enough." Shoupe says.
"What are you talking about? Why would we just make this up?" JJ exclaims.
"I told you the truth on the tarmac. I told you the truth of what happened here." Delilah states as she starts to grow angry.
"Waste of my goddamn time." Shoupe mutters, turning to his deputies. "There's nothing up there. False alarm. Let's all go home."
"No, please! Don't go home." Kie pleas.
"Just listen to us!" Delilah demands.
"Look, I know you're all upset. And I know you think your friend was innocent." Shoupe informs.
"He is!" Delilah protests. "I was fucking there. I saw it with my own eyes."
"I know what your claims are, Delilah." Shoupe fires back. "We have witnesses above ground that say the exact opposite of you, alright? And they have a hell of a lot more credibility than any of you right now."
"Because they're Kooks and we're Pogues?" Delilah questions.
"Look, I saw your guys' little art project on Ward's wall." Shoupe tells them. "Do not do that again."
"Just believe me. Please." Delilah begs.
"Go home." Shoupe instructs.
The sheriff climbs into the car and begins to drive away with the rest of the deputies trailing behind him. Delilah scoffs, tongue runs over her bottom lip before pulling it into a thin line. Tears are blinked back after they had welled up in her eyes from the anger she was holding back.
"I told you this would happen." JJ says. "Like, you're the one that just had to drop the camera."
"It was your fault!" Kie argues.
"Oh, that was my fault?" JJ repeats.
"Kie, you were the one to step on JJ's hand." Delilah reminds, defending the blond.
"Thank you!" JJ agrees. "At least Ly takes my side once again. Why do you guys never do the same?"
"Guys!" Pope calls, grabbing their attention. "We're not out of this yet, okay? We can still go get the gun."