It took Rafe and Barry a few hours to get all of their belongings together. And by late-afternoon, they were on a boat in the swamp.
Rafe double checked the gun he had, making sure it was loaded before he zipped his backpack up.
"Hey, Rafe, I'm all about a man's right to defend himself, but your ass it gonna get shot carrying that thing."
"They ain't gonna take me alive. I can tell you that much right now." Rafe looked around, listening to the sounds of nature, "I've never been back here before."
"You don't wanna be seen, now, do you?"
"You know, everybody thinks natures all chill, right? That's such bullshit. Everything trying to kill everything else all the time, and, uh and, and every single thing has to kill to live." Rafe rambled on, a small smile appearing on his face, "Killing is nature."
Barry looked at him with a strange look, "I don't particularly dislike you, Rafe. But I ain't gonna forget about how your father punked my ass. It's long been due y'all pay me some respect."
And Barry bailed.
He jumped off the boat and into the swamp.
"Hey, where you taking-hey, hey!"
"He's got a gun!" Barry yelled as suddenly cops were everywhere.
No fucking way.
It was all a set up.
Everything was fucked.
"Rafe, stay where you are!" Shoupe yelled, "Keep your hands where we can see them! Do not move or we will shoot!" And Rafe obviously went for the gun in his bag, "Don't go for the bag!"
Shots were fired at him as he jumped off of the boat and into the water.
Iris.
Iris.
The baby.
Their baby.
Greece.
The ocean.
Happiness.
"Holy your fire! Hold your fire!" Shoupe yelled, "You hit? We don't wanna kill you, son but you're making it damn hard. That pistol ain't gonna work now that it's been wet. Don't be a fool, boy. Get rid of it. Why don't you throw that gun on our where we can see it? Nowhere for you to go, Rafe. Alright?"
Iris.
Iris.
I'm sorry, Iris.
I'm so fucking sorry.
He wished he could tell the ocean eyes girl that he loved her. He truly did. She was the one thing that meant the most to him.
Ocean eyes.
Do it for ocean eyes.
For Iris.
Even after everything she's done.
You do this, you get to see her again.
You get to see her-
And before he realized it, he had thrown the gun, "Alright, alright."
"Attaboy." Shoupe said, "Now, just ease on our away from the boat. We'll come to you."
I'm scared.
I'm so scared, Iris.
It wasn't meant to be like this.
And I'm sorry.
Why can't I make up my mind?
Why can't I do the right thing?
And he started to run through the water, well, he tried to.
"Damn it, Rafe. Stop it!" Shoupe yelled as the boat came after him, "Go! Move! Move! Move! Freeze! Damn it, freeze!"
"Go get him, boys!" Barry cheered from the side.
As fucking if.
Rafe struggled to climb up onto the muddy land.
And they surrounded him.
"Stay right there! Stay put. He's unarmed." Shoupe yelled, "That turn out like you thought it would?"
Cuffs were being put on him.
"Are you injured?" Shoupe asked.
And Rafe shook his head slightly.
Iris.
I'm so fucking sorry.
And meanwhile...
Iris had been MIA for a few days. And the Pogues had discovered a lot. She was a whole part of their search to find the gold, so, they still wanted her to be an active participant, if she wanted.
"I should go in first." Sarah said, "She might be overwhelmed with everyone."
"And remember, she doesn't know that we know about-"
"JJ, hush. She knows."
"What? How?"
"When I talked to her last night, I kind of hinted that we knew. I think she feels better about not keeping it a secret, especially from us."
"Uh, okay, well-"
"Okay, I'm going to go in. I'll text you when you four can come up. In the mean time, behave yourselves." Sarah said, knocking on the door as Rich opened it with a smile.
"Sarah. Iris will be very happy to see you." And he looked past her to the others, "And I'm sure she will be just as happy to see you guys. Come on in, all of you."
"Wait here." Sarah warned as she climbed the staircase.
"Please make yourselves at home. Don't be shy." Rich said with a small smile before he disappeared into his office upstairs.
"Can I be honest?" John B said.
"Of course." Kie replied.
"This place is way better than Tannyhill. Still super creepy, and old, but much better. Don't tell Sarah I said that." He explained as he looked around.
JJ snickered, "You're really into homes now, John B?"
"What's so wrong with that?"
"Nothing, man. Nothing." JJ replied as he and Pope shared a look and laughed.
They all looked around at all the pictures everywhere. Tons of Iris over the years. But even more of Iris and Sarah. And Iris and Rafe. Almost too many. Almost too homey in a way. JJ pried his eyes away, not wanting to look at them any longer.
Sarah knocked softly on Iris' door.
"Come in."
She took a deep breath and opened the door, seeing a fragile Iris laying in bed with her blankets up to her chin.
"Hi." Sarah sniffled as she ran over to her, wrapping her arms around her, "How are you? Are you okay? How-"
"I'm fine. I'm okay." Iris said as Sarah met her eyes and noticed the bags under them.
"Iris." She said sternly as Iris rolled her eyes softly.
"Okay, okay." Iris chewed the inside of her lip, "I can't sleep. I've barely ate. I, I've barely left this bed except to use the bathroom. I just feel, I just feel, I don't know."
"Sad? Depressed? Anxious?"
"All of the above." Iris laughed softly.
"I think that's normal." Sarah replied as the two went quiet for a few moments.
"I know you want to ask about it." Iris muttered, glancing back at Sarah.
"I don't want to pry."
"It's okay."
"Are you feeling this way because of the decision you made or because of Rafe-"
"Abortion, Sarah. I got an abortion. I don't know why people dance over the word as if it's going to hurt them." Iris snapped before closing her eyes and sighing in frustration, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My, my hormones and everything are all, they're all fucked up, and I'm sorry. That's no excuse-"
Sarah grabbed her hand, "Hey, it's fine, really. I just want to make sure you're handling this well, mentally."
"I'm doing the best that I can."
"Did any part of you want to keep it?"
Iris laughed slightly, nervous, "Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because of the dream I always had with Rafe. The picture perfect life. I thought for one split second that because we had one box checked off, that all the others would follow. But, this is real life, not some sort of fantasy world that I've been living in." Iris explained, blinking away the tears that followed.
"I understand. Did you turn him in because of what he did to me?"
She nodded softly, "Yeah."
"But you still love him."
"Yeah." She wiped a tear from her eye, "That's not something that I can just turn off with the snap of my fingers."
"I know."
"Anyways, can we move on now? I don't want to dwell too much on the past."
"Yeah, we can." Sarah cleared her throat, "Actually, I brought the others, they're downstairs, um, we have a lot to fill you in on."
"Oh, okay. Um, right." Iris immediately felt overwhelmed as she sniffled, wiping her face free from any tears.
"If you're not ready for that, I understand. I'm sorry for-"
"No, it's okay, it's good actually. It'll force me to get out of bed." She reassured Sarah.
"I was going to bring them up here-"
"I need some exercise anyways."
"But are you going to be uncomfortable, like, pain-wise?"
"It's no worse than a period, Sarah." Iris replied as she slowly got up out of bed with Sarah's help.
"You just seem so weak, Iris." Sarah said softly, "I don't like seeing you this way, you're so fragile."
"I'll be fine in no time. My body just needs time to recover."
They slowly walked down the stairs and into the living room where the rest of the Pogues were.
"Well, well, it's good to see you again in the flesh, John B." Iris smiled slightly as John B approached her.
"You too, Iris." He said as they hugged.
"You know we're here for you, seriously. Even with all the shit I've said before, you're truly a good person at heart." Pope said as they hugged.
She felt tears brimming her eyes, "Thanks Pope. That means a lot to me."
"Are you okay? Seriously?" Kie asked and she shrugged, and to her surprised, Kie hugged her.
"I'm the best I can be." Iris said with a sigh as she turned to JJ who greeted her with open arms and a warm smile.
"C'mon Campbell, you're not getting off that easily."
She laughed slightly as she fell into his arms, "Good to see you again, Maybank."
"Now, come on, it's hasn't been that long." He said as he sat down beside her.
There was silence among the group until Iris broke it.
"Can we just skip this awkward part? I'd really love to get caught up, but I'm sure you all want me to talk about what happened."
"No, not at all." Pope said.
"It's really not our business." Kie agreed.
"I'll keep it simple, okay? Basically, I'm a hormonal and fragile mess, but I'll be fine in no time." She said, forcing a smile, which JJ took note of, "Now, please, get me caught up with whatever wild chase you guys are on now."
"So, remember when we went to Charleston to go see Limbrey?" Pope asked and Iris nodded, "Well, they came here, after us. After me. Apparently I'm somehow a descent of Denmark Tanny himself."
"What? No way."
"Yeah, so Limbrey and her little sidekick were looking for the key to the Cross of Santo Domingo, which apparently is like, a huge gold cross."
"Solid gold." Iris replied and Pope nodded, "So you're trying to find it?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Did you find the key?"
"Yeah, my mee-maw had it at her apartment above the pharmacy. It was well hidden, but we managed to track it down." Pope sighed, "But uh, Limbrey's side kick beat up my dad trying to get the key."
"This is what it looks like, well, a representation of it." Kie said, showing Iris a picture of the Wikipedia website, "Like I told them the other day, it was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829."
"Always leads back to the triangle." Iris replied as JJ burst into a smile.
The others took notice of the fact that JJ had said almost the exact same thing the other day, and now Iris had too, without knowing JJ said that.
"Oh god, here we go." John B groaned.
"I've been saying this! I said this the other day. It always leads back to the triangle." JJ exclaimed.
"Always! And it's always when somethings weird." Iris agreed.
"Okay, can we focus again? This has nothing to do with the triangle." Kiara said.
"Don't hurt the triangles feelings, Kie." Iris replied, earning a laugh out of JJ.
"Anyways, on the key, it says the path to the tomb begins in the island room." Pope explained.
The island room.
She'd heard that before.
"What? Iris? What is it?" Sarah asked, noticing her lost in thought.
"I've heard that before."
"Where?"
She motioned between her and Sarah before whispering, "Dads."
"You've heard them talking about the island room? Like Ward and Rich?" John B asked.
Iris nodded, "All I know is that the island room is either here, in my house, or in Tannyhill. Way back in the day, our lots used to be one. There used to be three houses but they destroyed the middle one, keeping the other two, one of which contained the island room."
"So, Denmark Tanny had three houses basically?" JJ clairified.
"Oh shit, yeah he did." Pope realized, remembering the facts from the book.
"Please for the love of god, let the island room be here and not at Tannyhill." Kie prayed.
"Then how come your house doesn't have a fancy name?" JJ asked curiously.
Sarah snickered, "It does. They just don't use it."
"What is it?" John B asked.
"Hills and valleys. Since Sarah's house is more elevated, it's Tannyhill. Ours, since it's lower is-"
"TannyValley." John B said, finishing her sentence.
"Yup."
Sarah laughed, "I'm sorry. It just sounds weird. No wonder you guys don't want to use it."
"Welcome to Tanny Valley!" JJ exclaimed.
"But which was the main house?" Pope asked.
"We'd have to look at the original maps." Iris whispered, "Which I can get my hands on at some point. My dad will have no problem giving them to me."
"Okay, that's great." John B said.
"Guys, back to the main point here." Pope said as everyone turned back to him, "So, yeah, I'm related to Denmark and his wife Cecilia, and my mee-maw was worried that we'd do something crazy and get ourselves into the same situation that Denmark did."
"Getting himself killed." Iris replied and Pope nodded.
"If you remember Iris, the letter that Limbrey sent, it had the wheat symbol on it, meaning it has something to do with the Royal Merchant." Pope explained, "But, when we were discussing this, Limbrey and her friend showed up, and she wanted the key."
"But you have the key."
"John B gave her the fake key, my fathers old key, in exchange for the tape of Gavin confessing to everything that happened on the tarmac."
"Wait, so, you, you have the tape?"
"Yeah, I'm uh, I'm gonna bring it to the station after." John B said.
"Did you listen to it?"
John B shook his head, "No."
"We should. You have to make sure that it's accurate." Iris said as she slowly got up and walked over to the storage cabinet beneath the TV, searching for a tape player, eventually finding one and bringing it back over to the group.
John B put the tape in and it began to play.
"When I got down to the tarmac, I saw the Sheriff lying dead on the ground. And then Ward asked me to fly the gold to Nassau and dispose of the gun. He's protecting his son. It was Rafe Cameron who killed Sheriff Peterkin. I, I gotta be honest with you. I'm terrified. If anything happens to me, I'm telling you, it was Ward Cameron. He's the one who did it!" Gavin explained on the tape.
"The night that Ward killed Gavin, I was at Tannyhill. He made Rafe help him get rid of his body." Iris explained, her voice almost disappearing when she went to say Rafe's name.
"You never told us that!" Kie exclaimed.
"No, but I called the station that night. I sent pictures and everything, yet they didn't ask me about it when I was there the other evening."
"Holy shit." John B said, "Wait, do they have a warrant for Ward?"
"I don't know. They had one for Rafe." Pope replied.
"Well, did they get Rafe?" Kie asked, "Does anyone know?"
And everyone shook their heads.
"I'll see what I can find out when I go down to the station." John B said, taking the tape back as they all stood up, minus Sarah, Iris and JJ.
"You'll keep me in the loop, right?" Iris asked.
"Definitely. I hope you'll be up and running alongside us soon. We'll need your resources and input for finding the island room." Pope replied and she nodded, "JJ, you coming?"
JJ hesitated before standing up, "Yeah, yeah. I'll catch up with you guys."
"Thank you all for stopping by. It made my day." Iris beamed as they all gave her a smile before they left and she turned to JJ, reaching her hand out, "And I know I didn't say it before, but, thank you. For everything. You didn't have to stay with me the other night, but you did and I really appreciate that."
"Anything for you Kook Queen." JJ said as he bent down to give her a hug, giving her an extra squeeze, and gently pressing his lips to her cheek as she smiled slightly, "Sarah, see you later?"
"Yeah, definitely. Don't cause too much mischief." Sarah replied.
"Can't promise that!" JJ exclaimed as he walked out.
"Are you upset that you turned Rafe in?" Sarah asked quietly.
"Honestly, yeah. But I had to."
"I know."
"Will you stay here with me tonight? For old times sake?" Iris asked, "We can even try to find the maps of the original Tanney land."
Sarah laughed, "Of course I'll stay with you. It's been awhile since it's just been us."
A knock on the door made them turn their heads. Iris got up and walked over, slowly opening it to reveal Tatum.
"Oh shit, what happened to you?"
Iris laughed slightly, "Long story."
"I just came to apologize. I know we drifted apart and stuff, but I realize why now. Why didn't you tell us that it was Rafe who killed Peterkin?"
Iris furrowed her brow, "What? Where'd you-"
"They were talking about it on the radio earlier, they were looking for him. Didn't you know that?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"They just arrested him like ten minutes ago."
"They did?" Sarah asked, appearing behind Iris.
Tatum nodded, "I thought you two would've known that."
"No, not at all."
"Oh, well, um, I guess you aren't with Rafe anymore then."
"No." She replied quietly.
"Are you okay?" Tatum asked, seeming genuinely concerned.
"I don't know." Iris huffed, "But what about you?"
"I'm fine. I'm leaving for school in a few days."
"Oh right, I forgot you were off to college. That'll be nice for you, especially to get out of OBX."
"I agree. I'm kind of ready for a fresh start."
"I appreciate you coming by, Tatum. And I'm sorry too, for pulling away."
"It's okay, Iris. This kind of thing happens. And I don't blame you, given what you were going through."
"Keep me updated okay?"
"Yeah, same to you."
"Oh, are you still with Jack? How's that?"
"I broke whatever that was off with him. He's staying here. I'm leaving. It kinda has to do with the fact that I'm starting fresh."
"Ah, I see."
"Best of luck, Tatum." Sarah said, offering her a smile.
"Thanks Sarah."
"See you whenever you're back I guess." Iris huffed slightly as Tatum nodded.
"Yeah." Tatum replied as the two girls shared a hug before she fled.
"Was it just me or was that fucking weird?" Sarah asked.
"Definitely. It was so awkward. But it's my fault since I pulled away from her."
"Don't blame yourself for that. Everything that happened in the last few months has been crazy and unpredictable."
"No fucking kidding." Iris replied as the two laughed.
As they sat out on the balcony later that evening, listening to the waves crashing, all she could think about was one thing.
Rafe.
~~~~