Rafe and Ward ended up at the police station in Nassau. He knew he'd shot Sarah. But how the fuck was he supposed to tell Ward?
Fuck.
Iris.
"It was her." Ward whispered, "That was her, right? That was Sarah?"
Rafe put his head in his hands. Was his dad fucking blind? Of course it was Sarah.
"It was her, yeah."
"She's alive." Ward sighed, "I don't know what the hell you were doing though shooting a gun right at her. She's lucky you didn't hit her. You can't be shooting a gun-"
Here goes nothing.
"I did."
"What?"
"I hit her."
Ward looked furious, and worried, "You shot Sarah?"
"I was trying to shoot John B, okay? It was an accident. She stepped in the way."
"Is she okay?"
"I did not mean to shoot her."
"Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry."
"But I don't care that I did." Rafe said, not even realizing what he said until the words left his mouth.
"What did you say?" Rafe shrugged as Ward continued, "Rafe, that is your sister, okay?"
"My sister?"
"Yes, your sister."
"The one who stole from us? The one who had her boyfriend pointing a gun at us, right? Get the blinders off." He was frustrated.
And he was also partially detoxing from drugs. Not a good mix.
"You need to shut your mouth."
"She's gonna kill our family, you realize that?"
The officer walked up, "Sorry for the wait. We got a photo from a tourist. Can you verify?" He flipped the phone to them and Ward took it, "Is this them?"
"That's my Sarah." He turned it back to the officer, "She was kidnapped, brainwashed by this, uh, he's a very disturbed individual. He's very, very dangerous and you can see she's hurt." He glanced at Rafe, "Can you please find them for me?"
"We got plates on the truck. We got photos. We'll get them and your stolen property."
Rafe took a sip of water, "We'll get 'em."
And back in the Outerbanks.....
Kiara was arguing with her parents on whether or not she was allowed to go to Charleston. Thank god Iris was old enough to make her own decisions. Iris, JJ and Pope were waiting in Iris' car, unfortunately listening to the entire thing.
"Kiara, do not walk away from me! Turn and look at me right now! I am so sick of this shit! Every single time you get in trouble, you try and stir the pot between us and I am not having it anymore! I'm gonna tell her." Her mom said.
"Tell me what?" Kie asked.
"They're taking it really well." JJ groaned.
"I mean, we've got about 18 hours until my parents lose their shit on me, so I get it." Pope chimed in.
"Boarding school? What?" Kiara yelled.
Damn, they had missed that part of the argument, that was harsh.
"It's just an option! It could broaden your horizons, baby, get you out of OBX!"
"I'm not going to boarding school."
"It would give you structure." Her dad added.
"They're not my people." Kiara fought back.
"Look at your life right now! Look at your life!" Her dad argued.
"Good to see y'all, Mr and Mrs Carrera." JJ said, waving as Kie got in the car.
"She will be back at a reasonable hour." Iris smiled slightly, "She's in good hands."
"Like her being with you makes us feel any better. God." Her mom said as Iris looked stunned, but rolled her eyes.
"Then she won't be back at a reasonable hour." Iris muttered, backing out quickly.
"Kiara, listen to me. If you wanna go, you can go. But if you don't come back at the proper time, then don't come back at all!" Her mom yelled.
"She's bluffin." JJ whispered to Kie, "Y'all have a good day."
"This shit would be so much easier without parents, god-" Kie began as Iris shot her a look, as did JJ, "I'm sorry, JJ, I didn't-"
"Nah, it's fine. It is easier, in this case anyways."
"Let's just get going." Iris muttered as they began their drive to Charleston.
On the fairy, the group chatted as JJ lit a joint, which probably wasn't the most legal thing to do.
"I'm not going to boarding school. They'd have to kidnap me to do that."
"Look, let's just crumble some herb right now and forget all about your worries, alright?" JJ said, handing it to her.
"Have you tried texting John B back on that number?" Pope asked.
"Like a million times but some random lady at a hotel keeps answering so, yeah." Kie replied.
"That's a lot of times." JJ snickered.
"Until we hear from them again, we gotta try and clear his name. This letter is our best bet." Pope sighed.
"Right." JJ nodded, "Stay on task. That's why I love ya, Pope."
Later on, as they drove further after the fairy, Kie was extremely chatty.
"I've read this a thousand times and it makes no sense. The Limbrey's own like, half of Charleston. What do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?"
"Yeah! Why you specifically? That's the other creepy thing." JJ added in, "You know?"
"Please come alone? So sus."
"I was thinking the same thing, I don't know." Pope muttered.
Now back to our friends in the Bahamas, John B and Sarah were being chased my police day and night. And Ward and Rafe were down by the water, talking with the police.
Rafe needed cocaine.
He needed Iris.
Two things he didn't have.
He checked his phone. No texts from her.
The cottage. The ocean. Her.
He hesitated, but checked her location, which he set up months prior and never saw a point to actually using it. She also didn't know about it. He furrowed his brow upon seeing where she was. What the fuck was she doing in Charleston? What the fuck? He leaves for one day and she skips town? Something was up. But now was not the time to investigate.
"I'm very grateful. I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much. Thank you." Ward said to them as he walked over to Rafe, "That's unbelievable. It's there. The golds all there. Oh my god. They say we can go in just a second here. I'm gonna fly it out in the morning. Until then, it's in the capable hands of the Bahamian Police Department." Ward glanced over to see stone-cold Rafe gazing ahead, "Rafe, I know you're upset. I know you're feeling bad, but you don't have to, okay? I know you didn't mean to hurt her. Alright? They checked all the hospitals. They checked the morgue. There's been nothing. That's good news. It means she's okay, alright? She'll come back to us."
Iris would hate him for accidentally shooting Sarah. She also wouldn't see it as an accident. She also didn't know that Sarah was alive, and there was no doubt that she could immediately turn on him as soon as she found out.
He needed to get better. He wished he was with Iris. He wished he had gotten treatment earlier. He wished he wasn't here. He wasn't okay. He wasn't.
"What if I'm not okay?"
"What? I'm sorry."
"I'm not okay."
The truth.
"You are. You're okay, buddy."
Denial.
"No, dad, I'm not okay."
I need you, Iris. I need you, now.
"We'll go back, get a good nights sleep tonight, get a steak or something." Ward wrapped his arm around Rafe, "You're gonna feel completely different in the morning. I know you will."
Rafe put his head in his hands, overwhelmed.
"Dad, I thought I was okay, but I'm not."
"Get control. Get control of yourself."
Rafe stood up, "I just keep, I keep having these, um, thoughts in my head and I don't, I don't know if I can control them. And I'm afraid of what's gonna happen. I've already done horrible things on impulse and that terrifies me. I don't know how much more of this shit I can take, okay?"
"We'll talk about it."
"I'm just afraid. I'm afraid. I'm gonna lose everything."
"We'll go back and talk at the house."
"I need help, okay? Not her. Not Sarah."
Admitting it.
And still, denial from his own father.
"I need it, okay dad?"
"I know. I know. We can talk about it."
"You're not listening to me. I'm having a hard time right now and Iris, fuck, I'm going to lose Iris-"
Ward pulled him in for a hug, shutting him up on purpose.
"You need to man up. You need to, okay, look at me." Ward pulled him away, holding the sides of his face, "Man up. Right now. Thank you." And he let go.
Rafe's bottom lip quivered. Iris wouldn't do this to him. She would help him.
Iris.
He turned away, letting a few tears fall, wiping them before pulling his phone out.
Rafe
i need help
it's getting worse
please iris
She was likely busy with whatever she was doing in Charleston, but he hoped she would reply soon.
Focus, Rafe.
Focus on your breathing. Deep breath in and out. Repeat.
The cottage. Greece. Iris. Two kids. Maybe a dog. The ocean. Happiness.
Ocean eyes.
He felt better already.
Iris, on the other hand, was still driving. JJ was riding shotgun and the other two were passed out in the back seat. JJ's eyes flickered to her phone as the messages popped up and he pretended he hadn't read what he had. Here she was helping them go against Rafe, and he was begging for help.
"You saw those, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Guess I can't avoid it now."
"He wants like, help help?"
"Yeah." She sighed.
"Do you want me to respond for you or-"
"No, that's not necessary. It's not much further, so I'll text him then." Iris said, worries running on a loop in her head, "Something must've happened."
"Why?"
"He's only said that once before. But something happened for him to say it, so I don't know, Ward probably said something."
"Do you think he's genuine with it?"
"I do, but then I don't. I'm never sure."
"Because he's so back and forth?"
"Yeah." She said, biting her lip.
"You're worried right now, aren't you? Do you want me to text back?"
"No, because then if he calls, he-"
"Would know that you're with us, right. Unless we stay silent."
"It's okay, really."
"You really care about him." JJ said, biting the inside of his cheeks, looking at the brunette in the driver's seat once more before looking away.
"I do." She whispered.
JJ looked out the window, thinking, "I wonder where John B and Sarah are right now."
And little did they know, they were right underneath them on a boat.
They got into Charleston later than expected, so Iris paid for a hotel for the four of them. She slept with Kie and JJ slept with Pope, agreeing that they'd wake up early to go see the Limbrey's.
She did end up texting Rafe back.
Iris
what's going on Rafe?
did something happen
Rafe
he thinks I'm weak
once I'm back I need help Iris
i love you so much I can't lose you
Iris
don't let him get to you
i know Rafe
I'm here
And that's all he needed to hear. She was still in his corner, partially. But she felt guilty because of what she had been doing with the Pogues. JJ watched as she put her phone down, a guilty expression written on her face as she pulled the blankets up to her chin, trying to forget all about it.
~~~~