Chapter 8
John B's POV
They had caught up to us. Thomas had given me a good beating before they took me into the Kildare County Lockup. That was a few days ago. Now, I stood in a court room beside my appointed lawyer.
"John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty." The judge told me. People around me started talking.
"Your Honor he's 17!" JJ yelled. I looked back into the crowd and saw my friends there. Then I looked to the Kook side and I gasped. It was Ronnie. She was sitting with the Cameron's beside Rafe.
"Ronnie! Ronnie! No! Ronnie!" I called out. Her head shot up and she looked at me. Rafe helped her up, handed her a crutch and walked her out with them.
"Bailiff!" The judge called out. He pushed me to the other doors beside the judge. My sister didn't know who I was. She hadn't gotten her memory back yet.
Rafe's POV
I wasn't sure why dad wanted us at John B's hearing but here we were. He had called out to her, and she looked at him. She wasn't about to be the center of his crimes, not today, not again. I got her up, handed her, her crutch and we walked out. Her memory was coming back little bit here and there.
"How did he know my name? Why did he scream for me?" She asked me.
"You were a friend of his. But him and the others weren't that good to you." I told her. She nodded and we headed outside.
"Thank God the system works. Maybe he was the one to hurt his sister too." Hugh said.
"Can you please shut up? Of course, you think the system worked because it was made to protect you and people like you." Kiara yelled at him.
"He'll have his day in court. A jury will decide." He argued.
"Rafe, Veronica, lets go." Dad told us. I tightened my hold on Veronica.
"He shouldn't even be in court! You should, cause you're a murderer. You have a lot of nerve showing up to court." Kiara said pointing at dad. He stepped around us.
"I know you're upset. I understand you're upset, okay? I know he's got you fooled." He started.
"Upset? No I'm not just upset!" She yelled. Shoupe and his deputies stepped in as she went towards dad.
"Come on, baby. You shouldn't see this." I told Veronica. We continued walking to the car.
"And you got his sister believing he's still dead!" I heard her yell out. Veronica looked back but kept walking. When we got home, I got her into bed and propped her leg up on a pillow.
"Want something? Water, food?" I asked her.
"That girl. What did she mean by what she said?" She asked me. I saw dad at the door, and he shook his head no at me.
"I'm not sure. Why don't you take a nap, and when you wake up, we'll eat and watch a movie. Huh?" I offered.
"Please, don't lie to me Rafe." She said huffing. Dad walked in and stood beside me.
"Hey you two. I'm sorry about putting you through all that. That Kiara girl, she doesn't know what she's talking about. She's got a wild imagination. Oh, uh. I had your prescription filled, the one that supposed to help you sleep." He said putting it on the table.
"Thanks." She said nodding. Sleep hasn't been her friend these past few days.
"Mind if I steal Rafe for a second, Veronica? Won't take long." He said clapping me on the shoulder. Topper walked in and waved.
"Hey. Wheezie let me in. I saw Sarah but she didn't want to talk to me, so I came to check on Ronnie." He said shrugging.
"Hey man. Yeah, can you keep her company while dad and I talk?" I said sighing. He nodded and got on the bed with her.
"I don't need a babysitter." She told me.
"Not a babysitter. I'm a friend keeping you from going insane and talking to yourself or other objects." He said smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and huffed. Dad and I walked out. He and I walked over to his office.
"I wasn't going to tell her about John B being her brother." I told him.
"Then what excuse would you have given her, huh? That it's someone else Kiara's talking about? Cause Veronica can already tell when you lie to her." He scoffed.
"She would believe it if I said anyone else besides her. She doesn't even know she's got a brother. She thinks he's some guy from the wrong side, and that they use to be friends." I told him.
"It needs to stay that way. You got me?" He said nodding. I nodded back.
"What's gonna happen when she does remember him?" I asked.
"He may be long gone before that happens." He said pouring him a drink. I walked out and went back to her and Topper.
"All good?" He asked when I walked in.
"All good." I said sitting on the bed.
"So what happens now?" Ronnie asked. Our cook walked in with a tray.
"Lunch." I said. She grumbled when I handed her, her smoothie.
"You go for a check up tomorrow on your stomach, maybe he'll give us good news about you eating whole food again." I told her.
"Yeah. And maybe I'll get this cast off my leg too." She said sarcastically.
"Someone's bitchy." Topper said stealing a fry.
"You drink smoothies and water all day, see if you're not." She told him. He reached over and touched her leg. She looked at it and stared for a moment.
"Ronnie?" I asked. She just stared at Toppers hand. I snapped my fingers at her and she jumped.
"Where'd you go just now?" Topper asked her.
"I uh. A memory, I think. That blonde guy from that group at the courthouse. It was like flashes or something." She said shaking her head.
"Okay?" I asked.
"He and I were talking. He would place his hand on my leg like he did. Then I hugged his arm from beside him. He and I were friends, I think. Were we?" She said looking between us. Topper looked at me.
"Yeah. Yeah, you were but they treated you like crap all the time. Took advantage of you and your kindness." I told her.
"Oh." She said looking down at her smoothie.
"But you got us, okay? That's all you'll ever need." Topper said nudging her. She nodded. She leaned over and placed her cup on the nightstand then leaned back against the pillows.
"Want us to go?" I asked looking down.
"No. Stay. Company's nice." She mumbled. I looked at her. She relaxed and closed her eyes. Soon she was snoring. Topper shook his head and laughed.
"She snores." He chuckled.
"Just wait. She talks too." I told him. He laughed again and shook his head. A few minutes passed and soon she started mumbling in her sleep. She started tossing and turning then she jumped up.
"They. He." She panted out.
"Woah. Hey. What's wrong?" Topper asked her. She looked around and ran her good hand through her hair. She was shaking. This dream had scared her more than the others. I went to her other side.
"Baby? Hey. What happened? What happened?" I asked her. She was panicking. She wouldn't look at me or Topper.
"Ronnie!" I yelled. She jumped and looked at me. Dad ran in.
"Two guys. They. A house. Attacked. They. I stabbed one." She said gasping. I looked at dad then back at her.
"What did they look like?" I asked her. She shook her head, and a sob escaped her. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly.
John B's POV
I hadn't even been in here a few days and someone was already trying to kill me. I knew it had to be Ward's doings. I was starting on the plan that JJ came up when someone came out of nowhere and tried to strangle me. When the alarm sounded whoever it was dipped quick. Shoupe came in and checked on me. The next two days passed quickly.
"Let's go." Riggs told me. I got up and he cuffed me.
"Where are we going?" I asked him. He didn't answer me. We just kept walking until we got to the Wardens office.
"Mr. Routledge. Have a seat." Warden told me. Thomas uncuffed me and I sat down. He handed me a packet.
"Sheriff's department's going to need a statement from you. You can have a lawyer present if you want to." He told me. I opened it and saw my booking report.
"I don't. I don't." I started.
"Charges have been dropped. You're free to go. When you give your statement, be prepared to tell everything you know about Ward Cameron." He said.
"Ward?" I asked.
"Well, what you waiting on? Get on home." He told me. I nodded and stood up. Thomas handed me a bag filled of my things.
"One more thing." He said. I nodded. I got dressed and followed him out the front door. I looked around and saw the Twinkie.
"She isn't exactly street legal, so make sure you get her home safely." He said tossing me the keys. I nodded and ran to my car. I hopped in, ran my hand over the dash and looked around. I smiled. I cranked home and drove home. I saw JJ, Kie, and Pope under the shed. I honked the horn and jumped out.
"Are you kidding me?" Kie yelled happily.
"Guess who's out the clink, boy!" I called out.
"No freaking way, man!" Pope laughed. We all hugged it out.
"How'd you do it? You bust out the can?" JJ asked me. I shook my head and looked around.
"They dropped all the charges." I told them.
"They dropped them. That's amazing!" Kie said.
"You're telling me, I did all that hard work for nothing?" JJ asked scoffing.
"Oh, the most elaborate escape plan of all time?" Pope teased him.
"Fool proof?" Kie air quoted.
"Yeah it was, actually." JJ argued. I laughed and shook my head. I looked at the house expecting Ronnie to come running out and hugging me.
"She's still at the Cameron's. Don't worry, we'll have her back soon." Pope told me. I nodded and we walked over to the shed.
Rafe's POV
I sat on Veronica's bed watching as cops passed by the room several times. I didn't know what was going to on but dad seemed nervous. She wasn't awake while this was happening thankfully. I got her to start taking the sleep medicine dad got filled.
"I will not have my house invaded my 500 police, especially when I have a girl who's terrified out of her mind right now." I heard dad tell Shoupe.
"It's not an invasion, Ward. It's a warrant. As for her, we can escort her to her brother." He started.
"Put her with a murderer? That's helpful! She doesn't even remember him! You're sending her to the psych ward before the end of it." Dad snapped.
"I'm sorry. But it's the law. Now let us do our job." Shoupe said. A door slammed close by causing Veronica to wake up.
"Rafe." She slurred. I grabbed her hand in mine. A cop walked in making her jump up and move away from me and the cop.
"Hey, hey! You can't just barge in here! You're scaring her!" I yelled. Shoupe, dad, and the SBI walked in.
"We're sorry. Miss Routledge, I'm." The man started.
"Who? Who are you? Why are you here? Why are you in my room? What's going on?" She asked panicking.
"Rafe, take Veronica outside, will you?" Dad asked me. I went around the bed and helped her off. She was shaking again.
"Mr. Cameron, we will need to speak with her as well." SBI guy said. Her good hand clenched my shirt.
"About what?" She asked shakily.
"Nothing until our attorney gets here. Shoupe this is harassment on a girl who has amnesia, I won't tolerate it in my house." Dad told him.
"Bratcher, a moment." Shoupe said nodding out the door. Veronica and I walked out the side door onto the patio. I sat her down in the chair and sat on the coffee table in front of her.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm right here." I told her.
"Rafe, what the hell is going on? Why are there cops here? Why did that man call me Miss Routledge?" She asked. Dad walked out before I could answer.
"It's all just a misunderstanding, Veronica. They think the people who attacked you have been in this house before so that's why they are looking at the place. But no one say anything until the attorneys get here." He said. We nodded. I grabbed her good hand and squeezed gently. We were on house arrest basically, now.
Wards POV
I had a plan to get myself out of here. I wasn't about to go to jail. There was one other person who knew what I did and she could testify if she heard me that day. After talking with Rose I went to find Veronica. Rafe went out for a bit so she was alone. I grabbed her smoothie and crushed up a Percocet pill. I walked into her room after knocking and saw her lying in bed.
"Hey Veronica. Medicine time." I said smiling.
"Thanks Ward." She said. She popped them in and took a long drink of her smoothie. She sighed and looked at me.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"For what?" I asked sitting on the bed.
"The cops raiding the house. They were here because of me." She said looking down. I placed my hand on hers. She looked at it then at me.
"It's okay. It's one step closer to finding who did this. Hey. Listen, I'm gonna go grab some things off the Druthers. You wanna take a look at it? I heard you ask Rafe about it the other day." I said smiling.
"Yeah. Yeah. Sure." She said nodding. I nodded and stood up and walked out. That pill should be kicking in soon.
Veronica's POV
I reached over to the table and grabbed my phone as soon as he left. When Ward touched my hand and asked me to the boat. It all came back to me. Ward killed my dad and framed my brother. I dialed Rafes number.
"Rafe? Come on. Come on pick up." I said sniffling. It went to voicemail. I hung up. I grunted as I eased out of bed and got up. Then I got a wave of dizziness. I sighed and eased to the floor. Oh god. He drugged me. I dialed Rafes number again. When he didn't answer, I called Topper.
"Hey, Ronnie." He said.
"Topper. I need. Come to the Cameron's. It's Ward. I remember." I told him.
"What? Stay there. Don't move. I'm gonna grab Rafe, and we're coming for you." He said.
"Where am I gonna go? I got a broken leg!" I snapped. My door opened and Ward barged in. I tried to get up but he grabbed me.
"No! Ward! No!" I yelled. He threw the phone across the room. He covered my mouth and threw me on the bed. He slapped me, making me yell. Then he held a knife to my neck making me stop. He tied my hands together then picked me up.
"I'm sorry Veronica." He said walking out the side door. Everything started going blurry then. He walked us down the pier to the Druthers. He sat me down at his feet and went to releasing the boat. We moved away from the docks. He came back and leaned against the rails.
"Why? Why'd you kill our dad?" I asked.
"He was greedy. Just like your brother." He told me. I looked over the edge and saw the second balcony.
"But not as greedy as you." I said. I swung my good leg out and swiped his, making him collapse. I dipped under the bars and let myself fall onto the deck. I groaned and grabbed my stomach.
"Ward!" I heard someone yell.
"Hello, Shoupe." He called out. I sat up the best I could as he came down the steps.
"Why don't you just come on in?" Shoupe asked.
"You know a captain always goes down with his ship! Even with a second person!" Ward said yanking me up. The SBI guy radio in something.
"Listen buddy! I know you're upset! But let her go and we can talk about it." Shoupe yelled out.
"I was trying to protect my family Shoupe! I did all of it to protect them!" He yelled out. I saw John B and the others running past the cops. I struggled against Ward.
"JOHN B!" I screamed.
"NO! RONNIE! RONNIE!" He yelled. Shoupe and JJ held him back.
"Dad! Let her go! Please! Let's talk!" I heard Sarah yell.
"I'm sorry, Sarah, baby. But I can't!" He yelled out.
"Just come on in, Ward! You can talk to her!" Shoupe yelled.
"I'm sorry, Ronnie." He told me. Next thing I knew, I was flying. Then everything went dark as I hit the water.
John B's POV
The explosion of the boat rocked us back a bit. Ward blew hisself up after he tossed Ronnie into the water. We were about to dive after her when it happened. Sarah was crying beside me. I dove into the water after Ronnie. I looked around and finally saw her. I swam over and pulled her up. I swam to the surface and coughed. Two officers pulled her out as I climbed out.
"Female unresponsive. Start CPR." The officer said. They began pumping on her chest and breathing for her.
"Ronnie. Come on. Don't you dare. I just got you back. Don't you dare do this to me." I cried. She sputtered up water and gasped and coughed. I sighed with relief.
"Ronnie!" I heard someone yell. Rafe and Topper ran up to us. The cops moved out of the way and Rafe kneeled down beside her.
"Baby? Hey, I'm here." He said panting. He helped her sit up. She kept coughing. I stood up slowly.
"Ronnie." I said softly. She looked at me and tears sprung. Rafe helped her stand up and she wobbled. I reached for her and she hobbled to me. I caught her as her knees gave out. We both fell back down on the pier. A sob came out of her.
"Hey. Shh, I got you. I got you, baby sis. It's okay. We're okay." I said crying with her.
"John B. The ambulance is here to take her to the hospital, just for the routine checkup." Shoupe told me.
"Can I ride with her?" I asked sniffing. He nodded.
"Of course." He said. He helped us up.
"John B, we'll be right behind you in the Twinkie." JJ called out. I looked at Rafe. He looked angry and hurt.
"Baby." He said to her. Her hand tightened on my shirt.
"Leave us alone, okay?" I told him.
"John B." Shoupe said. I nodded and we walked, well I walked she limped, to the ambulance. They redid her cast on her arm and leg. They wrapped her stomach again too. She was sleeping next to me. JJ was in the chair beside us propped up, Kie was curled up on the couch and Pope was on the floor beside her asleep.
"No. No." Ronnie started mumbling. I looked over at her.
"Hey, V. Shhh. It's okay." I whispered to her. She relaxed against me and laid her head on my chest. She shot up gasping a few minutes later. Her jumping up made me jump, which made JJ jump, fall backwards and fall.
"I. Where?" She asked panting.
"Hey. Hey. It's okay. You're back in the hospital." I told her. She looked around again.
"JJ? Why are you in the floor?" She asked. He jumped up and smiled at her.
"Still looking good, cupcake." He told her. She chuckled and shook her head. She sniffled. I touched her shoulder and she started crying again. I hugged her to me and held her as she cried.
"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." I told her. I held onto her as she cried it out. I held her as if she was going to drop away from me. I wasn't letting go.