Iris drove down to the Chateau, where John B was waiting anxiously. He looked like a hot mess.
"What the hell happened to you? Fishing trip gone wrong?" Iris chuckled as he stared at her with a straight face.
"Fishing went very wrong, Iris, very fucking wrong."
"What the hell happened?"
"Ward Cameron knows that we found the gold and he killed my dad. Then he tried to kill me on the boat." John B said with a fake smile.
Ward knew they found the gold, which meant Iris' dad probably knew too.
But Ward killing Big John? Was her dad in on it too?
And attempting to kill John B?
"Okay, hold on, what?" Iris said as she tried to piece everything together.
"I know. They barely believed me too."
"Who?"
"Pope, JJ, Kie." John B sighed, "Even Sarah."
"Well, of course, it's her dad."
"Iris." John B stood up, running a hand through his hair, "Did you mention the gold to your dad?"
"What? No!"
"You're sure? You're 100% sure he never overheard-"
"No, John B, I never spoke about it at home. And I wouldn't say anything to him either, I can promise you that."
"Okay, well, Ward must've overheard Sarah or I talking about it or figured it out some other way."
"Are you going to go to the police? I mean, he tried to kill you."
"I've got to."
"And if he really killed your dad? What-" Iris' eyes widened.
What about her dad? Rafe had once mentioned that their dads were working together to try and find the gold.
"What?"
"Did my dad, did he, was he, was he there?"
"Not when Ward killed him. He did mention that your dad tried to help find the gold too, but was pretty preoccupied with his actual career."
"Sounds about right." Iris bit the inside of her cheek, "But still, he had the maps of the Crain house, so he must've known more than he led on."
"Maybe he did. I also think he just doesn't want to get too involved in business with Ward."
"I agree." Iris hummed.
Now, Rafe said he was going to go golfing with Topper but what really happened was...
For the last few days not only was he crashing at Barry's but also at another Figure 8 family's house, The Glissons, who were gone for the summer, and definitely did not know he was staying there.
He desperately needed money, but he wasn't going to ask fucking Iris, that was low. Plus, Sarah would never give him anything either. Topper, no. Kelce, no.
So that literally left one person, who honestly was the worst choice.
Wheezie.
His youngest sister. It was pathetic honestly, and he knew it.
"Hey uh, Wheeze?" Rafe said when she answered the phone.
"What do you want Rafe?" Wheezie replied.
"I need you to do me a huge favour, but don't tell dad or Sarah or Rose, okay?"
"What is it?" She rolled her eyes.
"I need some cash, okay? And I need you to bring it to the Glissons because I've been staying here."
"Wait, what? Really?"
"Wheezie-"
"How much cash?"
"How much you got?"
"Literally $300."
"That'll do."
"I'll be there soon."
"Thanks Wheeze-" Rafe said as she hung up.
He ran a hand through his hair, "Okay, okay, fuck."
Holding the piece to his nose, he quickly did two lines of coke before cleaning his mess up. He didn't want Wheezie to come in and see him like this. The bong, however, was still on the table, and he was unsure what to do with it so he left it there.
Wheezie
Where are you?
Rafe
Out back on the deck
Wheezie
Kk see you in a minute
"Rafe!" She yelled as she walked through the back door and he quickly hid the bong, regretting his decision to leave it out.
"I'm sorry."
Wheezie laughed, "Don't worry. I'm not going to tell anybody."
Rafe ran a finger through his hair before looking at the bong then looking at Wheezie, "Did you want some or uh-"
"You legitimately just offered me drugs? I'm thirteen."
Rafe realized what he said was wrong as soon as it left his lips. The cocaine was hitting him, along with the weed he smoked earlier and the mix of the two was causing some sort of brain fog.
Clearly, he wasn't thinking straight, let alone thinking at all.
He scratched the back of his head, "Uhhh-"
"This is a sweet crib." Wheezie looked towards the water, "How'd you con the Glissons into letting you crash here?"
"I uh, I didn't tell them is how, alright? They're in Sun Valley all summer so keep a lid on it, please."
"I mean, as long as you let me stay here whenever I want."
"Yeah. Dad trying to kick you out too?"
Wheezie sighed as she sat down, "Worse. I am officially the least favourite daughter."
Rafe chuckled, "Mhm."
"Sarah and Dad are going to the Bahamas, and did they invite me? Nope."
Wait, what?
Rafe wasn't sure he heard that correctly.
And if he did, why the fuck were Sarah and his dad the only two going to the Bahamas? What about Rose? And Wheezie? And him, for gods sake?
And why were they going in the middle of the summer? He was puzzled.
"Wait, they're, they're going to the Bahama house? In summer?"
"Yeah, I mean, according to Rose, it's business."
"Mhm." Rafe said, taking it in as he sat back in his chair, thinking.
"I mean, they're all up in some new development and for some super-secret reason, they're going to the Bahamas."
Rafe stood up, "You know, I-I know about like a billion times more about the business than she does. What, what is this?"
"Ugh, we're the black sheep. Get used to it, Rafe."
"Yeah."
"Baa!"
"Shut up, okay."
"Baa!" Wheezie laughed.
Rafe gently grabbed her wrist, "Wheezie, I told you to shut up, okay?"
She pulled her arm out of his grasp, "Don't tell me to shut up! Here, have my life savings."
She threw the money at him, rolling her eyes.
"Life savings, life savings, oh shit." Rafe said as he picked up the money, dropping some of it before sitting down once again, "I'll pay you back."
Wheezie nodded, "Whenever."
The two met eyes and he knew she too, thought bad of him. She knew he was a literal mess, but she wouldn't actually say that out loud because, well, he was her older brother and, they were on the same team.
The black sheep of the family.
And Rafe looked at her, teary eyed, "I know this looks really bad right now and everything, but like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get my shit together, okay? Like I will. I'm gonna get it tight, like, you know, like, real tight. You'll see." Rafe leaned back in the chair before hitting the arm rest a few times.
"I'm sure you will. But can I ask you one question?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Why didn't you call Iris? Why did you call me?"
"Um, because Iris wouldn't-"
"She wouldn't like this, right?"
"Yeah."
"How am I any better? I'm your little sister."
"I don't know, alright? I'm sorry, for uh, putting you in this situation."
Wheezie smiled at him slightly, "It's alright. But one word of advice?"
"Oh, you're giving me advice?"
"Like you're one to give advice."
"Fair, go on."
"Be honest with your girlfriend. I'd hate to see you lose Iris. She really loves you and I know you love her. Plus, I like her a lot."
Rafe smiled a bit at Wheezie, "I will."
"You promise?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"I'm holding you to this." Wheezie said as she grabbed her back, "See you later, Rafe. I'll keep you updated on the Bahamas."
"Yeah, sounds good."
Fuck. He did need to talk to Iris.
About the drugs.
About the money.
And most importantly, about his dad and Sarah and why they were going to the Bahamas.
He was determined on getting to the bottom of it.
~