Ding….Ding…..Ding, Ding.
"Bring it on home, John B!"
Ding….Ding…..Ding, Ding.
"Bring it on home, Coral Bug!"
Eyes flying open, Coral laid perfectly still as the remnants of her dream faded. Closing her eyes she took deep breaths in before exhaling a few times remembering how her father would call for her and her brother when it was time to come in from fishing in the marsh.
Opening her eyes she glanced around the unfamiliar room before slowly sitting up. Leaning over the bed she saw Rafe still asleep on the floor.
After being sick, Coral had raided the dresser in the room and had found a set of purple silk pajamas to wear. Closing herself in the bathroom she'd spent an exorbitant amount of time under the warm spray before finally getting dressed and coming back out to the room to find Rafe laying on the bed.
Without saying a word, she'd taken a pillow and the bedspread off the bed and had begun to settle herself on the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm not sharing a bed with you, Rafe."
Rolling his eyes, he sat up, "Take the bed, Coralina. I'm not gonna make you sleep on the floor," he told her as he stood up, taking the pillow from her hands.
Biting her lip, she watched as he made himself comfortable on the floor, "Thank you," she said before climbing back into the bed.
"I know I've done some stuff you probably can't forgive me for, but I'm not gonna hurt you."
"You seem calmer from the last time I saw you," she commented.
"I am. I've been making the decisions. Getting shit done since my Dad's been hurt," he told her.
Rolling to her side, she looked down at the boy, "If I ask you something do you promise not to freak out?"
Looking up at her he nodded, "Promise."
"That day on the ship, you had a gun, pointing right at us, but you didn't fire. Why?"
Rolling to his back, he stared at the ceiling before finally sighing, "You know how in those moments your life flashes before your eyes?" he asked, "Well in that moment, I didn't see my sister as a pogue, I saw her as a little girl with pigtails running down the beach. I saw you the first time out at the Boneyard talking to that annoying red head," he told her, turning his head to look at her, "I didn't mean to shoot my sister."
Chewing on her lip, she exhaled slowly, "She nearly died," she whispered, pausing at his sharp inhale, "I gave her CPR, and got her breathing again. I don't know if I should tell you that or not, but I think you should know how close it truly was."
"I didn't mean to," he repeated, "I just lose control in moments like that, and I don't know what happened. I'm trying to be better."
Nodding, she acknowledged what he was saying before rolling back over, "Goodnight, Rafe," she said over her shoulder.
"Goodnight, Coralina."
Pushing the sheets back, she sat on the edge of the bed watching the boy sleep. She knew he always treated her differently then the rest of the Pogues, but that didn't mean she could trust him. She had to get out of here and find her friends.
After witnessing what happened to Jimmy she knew Singh wasn't a man to screw around with. Chewing on her thumb nail she debated on what to do next. Mind made up she stood from the bed and made her way to the window.
Moving the curtain aside, she tapped on the window as quietly as she could so she wouldn't wake Rafe, "Hey, hey, go get Mr. Singh," she mouthed after gaining the attention of one of the armed guards.
"What are you doing?"
Cringing, Coral didn't acknowledge Rafe's question as she once again tried to communicate with the guard outside the window, "I need to talk to Mr. Singh. Go get him."
"Hey, what are you doing?" Rafe questioned pulling her away from the window.
"I need to get out of here," she replied, yanking her arm out of his grip and going to the bedroom door instead.
"Think for a second, Coralina. What are you attempting to do?"
"Hello," she called, banging on the door.
"Jesus, Coral, just tell me what you're trying to do!"
Ignoring him she banged again on the door.
"You're lying about this diary thing. You know where it is, don't you?"
"No, I don't," she responded, sidestepping him and going back to the window.
"You don't, okay," he muttered, rolling his eyes before turning to follow her across the room, "Okay, listen I wouldn't tell me either. But he's never gonna believe we don't know something, all right? Singh killed that," he cut off as she shoved him away from her.
"I know what he did!" she exclaimed, interrupting him. Taking a steadying breath, she exhaled slowly, "I know what he did," she repeated.
"Then you know I'm the only friend you got, Coralina."
Hearing the door unlock they both turned to it as one of the guards came in. Pushing past Rafe, Coral marched right up to the man, ignoring Rafe cursing behind her, "I need to talk to Mr. Singh. I have something to tell him. It's urgent," she stated.
Taking her arm he led her from the room pulling the door closed behind them and relocking it. Downstairs, she was led to Carlos sitting at a large dining room table. Looking up at her, he simply raised an eyebrow as he waited.
"I lied," she stated, "I know about the diary. I don't have the original, but I can get you a copy."
"I'm relieved to hear you say that, you know," he responded before plucking a grape off a plate and popping it into his mouth, "May I offer you something to eat?"
"I'm not hungry," she responded.
"Relax. Nothing is gonna happen to you now. You're cooperating and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, you know."
"I just want to get you what you want, and then I want to leave," she replied, "I can get it, but I have to go by myself. Alone."
"And how would I know you'd come back?" he questioned, shaking his head in amusement, "I need some collateral, you know."
"You have Rafe," she reminded him.
Pushing back his chair he stood, "Rafe," he chuckled.
"Yeah, you can keep him."
"How did someone so young get into so much trouble?"
"Look, I know where the diary is, and if you let me go, I promise you I can get it to you," she told him, watching him warily as he walked around the room.
"You know, I built this fortune myself, you know," he said, turning back around to face her, "From absolutely nothing. Do you know how that happened, Mrs. Maybank? Hmmm?" he questioned, stepping closer to her, "I can assure you it was not by being a fool," he answered himself, "Don't waste my time. The diary holds the key to the ultimate conquest, and that, my young friend, is my destiny. So you need to tell me where it is, or I'm gonna," he cut off as a phone laying on the table buzzed with a new message.
Looking between her and the phone, he exhaled loudly before turning and picking up the phone. Letting the breath out she'd been holding Coral watched him unlock and read his message.
Laughing, he looked up at her, "Amazing. A text from our friend, Jimmy Portis. From beyond the grave, apparently. It seems Mr. Portis has captured your friend and brother," he told her, holding the phone up to show her a picture of Sarah and John B. Snorting, he shook his head before yelling out for a guard as he walked from the room, "Ryan!"
Wide eyed, Coral was frozen in place until she heard Singh issuing orders. Hurrying from the room her eye caught on a painting on the wall beside the staircase. Squinting at it she took a step towards it before being yanked back by a guard.
"Fenton, take Mrs. Maybank," Singh commanded, waving his hand towards the staircase.
"Wait. Wait, Mr. Singh, please, don't hurt my friends," she begged. Fighting against the guard she pleaded as he shoved her up the steps, "Please, please don't hurt them. They've done nothing wrong. Please Mr. Singh!"
"That depends on them, Mrs. Maybank. We'll continue our chat later. I look forward to it, you know," he told her before striding from the house as Fenton yanked her the rest of the way up the steps. Unlocking the bedroom door, he shoved her back into the room before shutting and relocking her in with Rafe.
Standing in the middle of the room she and Rafe stared at one another before he finally broke the silence, "So things didn't go well," he stated.
"Shut up," she hissed glaring at the boy before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Putting her head in her hands she thought through her options. She didn't have many.
"Look, Coralina, you're gonna have to trust me. Working together is the only option."
Lifting her head from her hands she glared at him, "Trusting you is a little hard, Rafe. In case you forget shooting Sarah isn't even the worst thing you've done. You're literally no better than Singh!" she exclaimed, instantly regretting her words as his entire face contorted into anger.
"I did that for my dad! I saved him from Peterkin. She was arresting him and I saved him," he told her angrily as he punched a finger into his chest, "Me. Not Sarah," he whispered, "
Swallowing nervously she chose her next words carefully, "I'm sure he appreciated it."
"No!" he exclaimed, causing her to jump, "He didn't. He doesn't, but he's going to. I have the ring now," he told her, holding up his hand showing her a gold signet ring, "I'm making the decisions."
"I know," she assured him.
"It doesn't matter. You might think I'm the bad guy, but I'm not. Singh. Singh will hurt you. I would never. So, you're gonna have to stop looking at me like, like, I'm bad Rafe Cameron, and start looking at me as your only option. I have a boat. I can get us off island, but first we have to get out of here and it's better if we work together."
Hearing a vehicle pulling up outside, they both moved to the window to see Singh's men jumping into the back of a truck, "They're leaving," Rafe realized.
"They're going to find my brother," she responded, pushing away from the window, "And your sister," she said over her shoulder as she began to pace back and forth. She had to get out of there.
"Huh, sucks for them," Rafe shrugged, "But it's good for us. This may be our only shot at getting out of here," he said, turning away from the window.
Biting her lip, she thought through her options. Unfortunately he was right he was her only option.
Sighing, she crossed her arms over her chest, "What do you have in mind?"
"Just get away from me!"
"I'm tired of this shit. I'm gonna kill you, Coral!"
Picking up a glass vase, Coral raised an eyebrow at Rafe. At his nod she threw it against the wall screaming, "Help!"
"Go, go," he whispered, gesturing towards the bathroom. Rolling her eyes she hurried into the room, climbing into the bathtub she threw her leg over the side to look like she was hurt.
"This is never going to work," she muttered.
"Unconscious people don't talk, Coral," Rafe whispered back from where he hid behind the bathroom door.
Opening her mouth to retort she snapped it shut when she heard Fenton yelling from outside the bedroom door before the door opened and his heavy footsteps came into the room.
"What be this?" she heard him say as he came into the bathroom.
At the sound of Rafe slamming the bathroom door into Fenton, Coral hopped up and climbed out of the tub stopping to pick up the gun he'd dropped when Rafe had hit him. Hurrying into the bedroom she glanced at Rafe who had Fenton on the floor before going and quietly shutting the bedroom door.
Turning back she pointed the gun at Fenton, "Don't move."
"Huge mistake. You'll regret this," he grunted from the floor.
"Hey, gimme the phone," Rafe wrestled Fenton's phone out of his pocket.
Grabbing the canopy from the bed, Coral pulled it down, "Here. Give me that," she said taking the phone, "Use this to tie him up," she told him, handing him the cloth from the bed.
Swiping up on the phone she groaned before holding it down at Fenton's face, "Damn face recognition," she grumbled, bringing it back up once it unlocked. Going through the settings she turned off the lock before sliding the phone into her pocket.
"Alright, don't make a sound," Rafe told the man before leaving him tied up on the floor, "Come on, Coralina," he said, going to the door and opening it slowly.
Following him out of the room they made their way cautiously downstairs, "Hey, give me that," Rafe whispered, taking the gun from Coral. Reaching the bottom floor, he gestured towards the back of the house. Remembering the painting she'd seen in the front hall she told Rafe to wait before dashing towards the painting.
"Coralina, what the fuck?" he hissed.
Holding the phone up she took a picture of it before shoving it back into her pocket, "I'm coming," she hissed back hurrying back down the hall towards where he waited.
"Ya takin the scenic route?" he questioned, rolling his eyes.
"Just go!" she retorted, shoving him towards the door.
Making their way out of the back of the house they stayed close to the back fence keeping an eye out for security guards, "You see that?" he questioned, looking through the slates in the fence.
Seeing a truck filled with bamboo crop preparing to leave, Coral took a step back looking down the long drive, "Come on. If we make it to the end of the hedge the road turns. It'll have to slow down enough we could climb into the back," she told him before taking off across the yard sticking as close to the hedge as possible.
Reaching the crossroad they waited for the truck to slow down before rushing out from behind the hedge and climbing up into the truck. Throwing herself over the gate Coral landed in the bamboo gasping at the sight of one of the field workers sitting in the back of the truck too.
Before she could move Rafe was on top of the guy punching him several times, "Rafe!" she gasped watching wide eyed as Rafe threw the man over the side of the truck.
"Come on. Get under here," he told her, pulling back the edge of the tarp.
Knowing she still had no other option she climbed under the tarp with him to hide until they made it off of Singh's property.
Once they cleared the security checkpoint, Rafe pulled back the tarp allowing them to sit up, "I told you we just had to work together," he said, "Look, I'm headed to my boat, okay. I can give you a ride, and get you somewhere safe."
"I have to find my brother, and my friends, your sister."
"No. I'll help you. You want to find your friends, you're on your own," he told her, "What's it gonna be, Coralina?"