Veronica's POV
I woke up to a seagull squawking outside. I sat up and looked out the small window I had. I was in the middle of the ocean. I remember Rafe dumping the body of Renfield then him handing me a cup of tea from the canister he had, then that was it. I gasped. This time, he had drugged me intentionally. I hissed as I tried to stand up. I grabbed ahold of the table and balanced myself. I jumped when the door opened.
"Morning, sweetheart." Rafe said walking in. He came over and kissed my lightly.
"Come on. You need to eat." He said grabbing my hand. I yanked away from him. He sighed and turned to me.
"Baby." He started but I slapped him.
"Don't you call me baby! Don't! You drugged me! Again!" I snapped.
"I knew when we'd get to the docks, you would fight me about getting on the ship. So, I did what I had to do." He said.
"So, taking me away from my brother? My life! Is that a part of your master plan?" I asked. He reached for me again, but I stepped back.
"No, it wasn't. But we can't have you going to the police about this." He said coming closer. My back hit a wall as I stepped back.
"Like I care about what you're doing. I trusted you, Rafe. You betrayed me." I said. He placed one hand above my head and one on my cheek.
"And I'm sorry. I'm going to do what I can to protect you and gain your trust back." He said.
"Then take me back to the Outer Banks." I said. He dropped his arms.
"We're too long gone for that baby. Come on." He said sliding his arm around me. He pushed me in front of him. He guided me around the ship to the state room. We walked in and I gasped. Sitting there was Ward Cameron and Sarah.
"I wanted to call and tell you I was okay, sweetie but I couldn't. I had to make sure I was covered before all of this. For my kids." Ward told her.
"That's psychopathic." She said sniffling. I tried to turn away, but Rafe turned me back around.
"Veronica, you and I need to talk as well." Ward said standing.
"About what? How you drugged me? Made me believe a whole lot of lies? Probably played your son into liking me. Is that it?" I asked stepping towards him.
"Veronica." He said holding his hands up.
"Or how about throwing me off the exploding boat, huh? Are you going to apologize for that?" I snapped. I got close enough to him to swing. My fist connected to his jaw and he grunted.
"I hate you! Do you understand that! You took my dad, and you took me away from my brother! More than once!" I said hitting his chest. I shoved him then I was grabbed from behind. I elbowed Rafe in the stomach. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked me back. I grunted. He dragged me away to the room we were in. He shoved me in and slammed the door shut. He backed me against the wall.
"I thought you could play nice." He hissed in my face.
"There's were you're wrong, Rafe. As you said before, I'm a Pogue. And we don't play nice." I said panting. I head butted him and shoved him off. He grabbed my leg and I fell. I yelped and rolled over. He got on top of me and fought my hands. I nailed him in the face with my casted arm. He fell to the side. I got up and kicked him.
"I really did like you, Rafe." I panted out. I opened the door and took off running the best I could.
"Veronica!" I heard him yell. I kept on running. I went up and down steps trying to lose him. Someone caught me around the waist and shoved me against the wall. I went to scream when they covered my mouth. I looked into the eyes John B. A sob left me.
"Hey. Shh. I got you." He said hugging me. I hugged him back tightly.
"Come on. Let's get out of here." He said pulling back.
"Wards alive. He survived." I said sobbing. He hugged me again then we took off running. He stopped us at the lifeboat.
"Get this ready for us. I'll be back with the others." He said. He kissed my head and took off running. I started unhooking the boat and placing it in the water. I tossed the steps down.
"Going somewhere baby?" I heard behind me. I turned around and it was Rafe.
"Yeah. The hell away from you and your crazy family." I told him. He stepped closer.
"Easy there." He warned.
"Or what? You'll hit me? Do it. You won't be the first these last few days. I will fight you back." I told him.
"Now I see why my sister fell for a Pogue. All bark, no bite." He chuckled.
"No bite huh? Is that why your sister has the busted lip and black eye? Cause baby, you don't mess with a Routledge. Just ask her. Or better yet, look in the mirror. Cause my brother didn't give you that black eye." I said scoffing. He swung and I dodged him. He and I fought till John B stepped in.
"Don't you ever put your hands on my sister!" John B yelled. He shoved Rafe down and he grabbed me.
"I'm sorry." He said panting. He pushed me overboard. Then he jumped in too. We crawled into the lifeboat and cranked up.
"You okay?" He asked panting.
"All good. Let's get the others." I said nodding. We grabbed Pope and another girl.
"Where's JJ and Kie?" I asked.
"We thought John B had them." Pope said.
"Go to the other side! They have to be here!" I told John B. He drove around. I gasped when I saw them lifting the cross back onto the boat.
"What the hell?" I asked.
"There they are!" Pope yelled. Kie was struggling with JJ.
"No, no. No. Pope! Help me!" I yelled. He and I grabbed JJ and hauled him in. I helped Kie in.
"Go John B. Go." Pope said. He pressed on the throttle but then we stalled.
"JJ! JJ, you better wake up. WAKE up!" Kie said shaking him. He sputtered up water. A gun shot went off. We screamed.
"Get down! Get down now!" Pope yelled. I looked back at the ship and saw Rafe holding a gun. It was aimed at us.
"Ronnie! Jump the boat!" He yelled. I raised my hand and flipped him off.
"Screw you, Cameron!" I yelled. He aimed his gun again.
"Get down!" John B yelled. The engine cranked up and we were off. Rafe shot at us again, but he missed.
"What happened?" JJ sputtered.
"You took a hit from the blunt end of a machete." Kie told him. He laughed and looked around at us.
"Always looking for attention." John B teased him.
"Whatever it takes right?" JJ said laughing. I saw his head. I ripped my shirt and put it against his head. He hissed and looked at me.
"Thanks, cupcake. For taking care of me." He said. He knew. He knew I paid the restitution for him.
"Kie?" I asked sniffling. He nodded.
"I'm sorry. I was drunk and I blabbed." She said. I shook my head and looked at her.
"It's fine. It's over with." I said. I hugged JJ and looked back at John B. He nodded.
"This shit ain't over." Pope said.
"No, it ain't." John B said shaking his head. We hauled the boat onto an island and sat down under the trees.
"Any idea where we are at?" JJ asked sitting beside me. I checked his head again.
"Deserted beach, unknown island." Pope said sighing.
"So, no." JJ said scoffing.
"Plan A, huh, Pope? That went well." He said.
"This is the lowest we can go. We literally have nothing else to lose. The cross is gone. The gold is gone." He said flopping back.
"Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, we'd be about 3 dollars now. Sorry, V." JJ said shrugging.
"That's more than I got on me." Kie said.
"Doesn't help." Pope said sighing.
"All this negativity. We had some good things! I think. John B didn't die in jail, JJ got his restitution paid off, Kie is out of the Kook life, Pope grew some balls finally, you, I don't know you, but you're here. But look where we are!" I said motioning around us.
"She's right. This is it. This is the Pogue life. We are in the Caribbean. It's out own little slice of paradise. With my best friends, my sister, my family. I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. Look, while you all complained about everything. JJ?" John B said.
"Hmm?" JJ asked standing. John B pointed to the ocean.
"I was looking at those burly lefts." He said.
"There's some slabs out there." JJ agreed.
"Just a few. Kie you see that? I know you want to get out there." He said looking at her.
"No boards." She argued.
"Then we body surf until we make some. Pope? Come on, man." John B said looking at him.
"They do look pretty tasty." He said nodding.
"Yeah, they do." JB said nodding.
"There's nobody around. We could squat here for a bit. Kind of belongs to us now, huh?" Pope said standing.
"Finders Keepers." I said shrugging.
"Poguelandia! I claim the Poguelandia." JJ said in a fake accent.
"Oh boy." John B said laughing.
"I like the ring to it. I'm going to make a flag, put a chicken on it. With a coconut bra, smoking a J in crocs." JJ said nodding.
"Let's do it. Let's set up shop." John B told Pope. He nodded and they did their handshake. John B walked over and knelt down in front of me.
"We got this." He said nodding. I nodded.
"We sure do." I said holding out my hand. He helped me up and we walked around the island. The guys built a fire, did some fishing and we all sat around after.
"Think we'll be missed back home?" Kie asked.
"We're outsiders. No one will miss us." John B said.
"Mm, I don't know. Popes and Kie's parents are gonna post missing signs of them. The rest of us, no one will care. We're the Pogues." I said looking at the fire.
"Am I hallucinating? Did Veronica Routledge just call herself a Pogue?" JJ asked smirking at me. I shrugged.
"It's time I accepted it." I said. It was quiet for awhile. I eased myself up and limped over to the fallen tree. I sat down and looked out at the ocean.
"How's the leg feeling?" I heard. I looked up at John B.
"Numb. It's been a crazy couple of days." I said chuckling. He sat down beside me. It was a quiet moment.
"I understand why you get upset with me every time I do something crazy." He said. I shook my head.
"John B." I started. He held his hand up stopping me.
"No. Let me finish. I get it. When I saw Ward throw you, when those guys attacked you, the hospital, Renfield put his hands on you, heard the way Rafe talk to you, then he was putting his hands on you, then saw him aim the gun at you. I get why we buttheads so much about family. I saw it. Your name on a headstone, the lost feeling." He said.
"Didn't like it did you?" I asked.
"No. I hated it." He said.
"Every time you went out the door, I thought, is this the last time I was gonna see you, am I gonna see a cop pull up to work and tell me my brother is dead? You're all I got JB." I said looking at him. He had tears his eyes.
"I'm sorry." He said sniffling.
"No need." I said shaking my head. We were quiet a few minutes.
"I'm sorry, John B." I told him.
"For what?" He asked.
"For breaking up you and Sarah. It's my fault." I said looking at my hands.
"She was the one who didn't tell me you were awake and okay. She talked with JJ and she didn't tell me. That's why I broke up with her." He said.
"Still. I'm sorry." I said shrugging. We were quiet again. I bit my lip and looked out at the ocean.
"I liked Rafe there for a minute. Until I saw the true him these last couple of days. I was stupid to fall for him." I told him.
"The both of us falling for a Cameron, two Kooks. We sure do have a messed-up sense of love taste." He said shaking his head.
"We do, don't we?" I said laughing. He laughed and slid his arm around my shoulders.
"We'll be fine. We'll find our people one day. We're still young." He said kissing my head. I leaned my head on his shoulder and nodded. We got up and headed back over to the others.
John B's POV
There we were. On Poguelandia. Our own little paradise. We found a cave, made us a home around it, and put up the flag JJ made. JJ and Kie did the fishing, Pope and Cleo did the scavenging around the island, and Ronnie and I made the beds for us to lay on, and the fire to keep us warm. We were enjoying our island.
"JB? John B!" I heard Ronnie call for me. I looked around and saw her down by the coconut tree. I ran to her. She pointed out to the ocean.
"There. I saw. I saw the ship. It was there." She said shakily. I looked and I didn't see it. The nightmares for her were not like before but she was still having them. One scared her so bad, she thought the ship was coming onto the shore. She woke all of us up and it took me and JJ to calm her down.
"V, I think it's just the caps of the reef." I told her.
"Dude, you totally don't see that?" She scoffed. I shook my head and did a double take. I turned her around to me.
"Hey. We are okay. We're safe here. Rafe nor Ward is coming for us." I said grabbing her head. She looked back and sniffled.
"Okay." She said nodding. I nodded and hugged her to me tightly. She tensed up and pulled back. She cleared her throat and hobbled off. She'd been doing this a lot lately since I got her back from the Cameron's the first time. We finished up around camp and sat down for a game of truth or dare.
"JJ, truth or dare?" Kie asked him. Ronnie sat up quickly.
"No, the question for JJ is.. JJ dare or double dare." She said laughing. We laughed and nodded.
"Okay, fine. JJ? Dare or double dare?" Kie asked smirking. JJ took the hat placed it on his head. He grinned.
"Double dare, dog." He said. Kie pointed with her knife to the big cliff.
"No one has done the big jump yet." She said grinning. He got up and ran up to the cliff and climbed it. We all moved to get a better look.
"He's not going to do it." Cleo said shaking her head.
"Oh, yes he will." We said laughing. We hollered out for him then he jumped and landed. We ran in and cheered. We started cooking then we went to bed. The next morning, I was woken up to JJ hitting me in the head.
"John B! Man! Wake up." He said. I sat up and looked up. I saw the plane.
"Ronnie! Ronnie, wake up. There's a plane. Come on." I said shaking her awake. She groaned and sat up. She looked up. I got her on her feet and we went down to the ocean.
"Hey! We're down here! Help!" We all started yelling. The planed turned around.
"He's headed for the pond. Come on." I said grabbing the few little things we had.
"Okay. I gotcha. Yup! Smooth John B. Leave the broken sister behind." JJ commented. I looked back and saw him and Kie helping Ronnie.
"I can walk." She grumbled. I went back over and handed JJ the stuff.
"Not fast enough. Hop on." I said bending down. JJ helped up.
"God, you're heavy." I teased. She pulled my hair making me hiss. I adjusted her and we headed for the pond. I sat her down on the sand as the plane stopped and the door opened.
"Well, what do we have here?" He asked.
"Uh, you know. Just some castaways." I told him.
"Well, I'll cross that off the grocery list. Uh, hang on. I got just the thing for ya'll." He said going on the plane. Ronnie's grip tightened on my shirt. I wrapped my arm around her.
"You think he works for Ward or Rafe?" I asked.
"We never know." She said nervously.
"First aid and Rum! Here you go!" He said tossing them to us. Pope caught the red bag and the bottle landed at our feet.
"So, you kids sank a boat?" He asked.
"Jumped off one. Her ex-boyfriends." I said nodding to Ronnie. She elbowed me and grabbed the bottle from the water.
"Exes, man. They're tough. He's an idiot for breaking up with a pretty little thing like her." He said dropping his sunglasses. I cleared my throat and stepped in front of her.
"Well, have no fear. Jimmy's here. I got you folks." He said grinning.
"All hail Jimmy, guys! Let's go!" Cleo cheered.
"Welcome aboard the Flying Fish. I'm Jimmy Portis, I'll be your captain today. Is this all? Six of you?" He said looking at us.
"Uh, yeah. That too heavy?" I asked.
"Nah. Technically maybe, but I think old Fish here'll probably be okay. We could always throw somebody overboard, right?" He said smirking. I tried to laugh. JJ hit my arm.
"Dude, we seriously going to trust a guy that just hit on your sister?" He asked me. Pope and Cleo helped Ronnie onto the plane.
"It's our only option and she won't get close to the guy." I told him. He sighed and grabbed the bags. We got on the plane. We sat down and I looked around.
"So, what're you doing all the way out here?" JJ asked him.
"I got a little guide outfit in Saint Vincent. I was spotting fish." He told us.
"What were you spotting?" He asked.
"The usual. Wahoo." He answered. I looked at JJ and he looked at me. I shook my head lightly.
"Might want to hang on to something. Gets a little spicy on takeoff." He told us. We grabbed ahold of the grips on the top of the plane. I looked at Ronnie and her eyes were shut tightly. We flew for a bit, then JJ motioned for a gather around.
"What?" Kie asked.
"Wahoo don't run around September. Ever. All right? So, whoever this man is, he's no fisherman." JJ told us. Ronnie's hand grabbed my arm tightly. I flinched when her nails dug into my skin.
"Maybe the run just starts earlier out here." Pope said.
"Are you sure about that? In the Caribbean?" JJ asked looking at him.
"You think he's working for the Cameron's?" Pope asked. Ronnie started shaking her head. I grabbed the rum bottle and opened it.
"You, drink. You two, stop freaking my sister out." I told her. She started chugging.
"All right, we got to find out. Start looking for some sort of… clues. Cupcake, you, you just keep drinking." JJ said looking around. His eyes landed on the knap sack at my side. I nodded and removed Ronnie's hand from my arm. I distracted Jimmy while JJ dug around.
"Oh." I heard. I looked back at Ronnie. She was looking at the card in JJ's hand.
"That's." She said nodding.
"Drink." I told her. She hummed and started drinking again. The plane shifted.
"Hey, y'all better hold onto something back there. We got some unexpected turbulence up here." Jimmy called out.
"Guys, whatever it is, it's happening fast. Look." Kie said nodding out the window. We looked out.
"That looks like Barbados. I've been there with Terrance." Cleo said.
"Okay, there's six of us, one of him. You know my vote. We storm the cockpit." JJ said.
"And who's going to fly the plane, dumbass?" I asked him.
"I've seen Pope fly simulators." He said looking around.
"I crop-dusted for my uncle last summer. This is not the same thing." Pope argued.
"Okay, we don't have time to pretend that's a real option right now." Kie told them.
"Do you have an idea?" JJ asked her.
"Something safe." She said.
"Why don't we just wait until the plane lands somewhere safe, and then we sneak out. And if somebody comes to mess with us, we mad-dog them." Pope said. Ronnie touched her nose in agreement. We all agreed.
"I like the mad-dogging part." JJ said nodding.
"Just put that back. Be cool." Kie said. He nodded to me and I went back to distract Jimmy. He caught a glimpse of JJ putting the stuff back.
"Hey, man! What the hell are you doing?" He yelled. Jimmy reached for JJ and lost control of the plane. We were fighting him off JJ.
"Fly the plane! Fly the plane!" Pope and Ronnie yelled. He pulled back and tried to get control. We headed for the water. We all shifted forward as the plane nose-dived in the ocean. Water filled the cabin.
"Ronnie!" I called out. She coughed.
"JJ, wake up man. We got to get out. We got to get out." Pope said panting. I climbed over and kicked open the back. I looked out and saw men running towards us.
"They don't look to friendly." I said panting.
"No, they look very unfriendly." Pope said.
"We got to go. Come on." We got the girls out except Kie. She was heading back in. We swam for the docks.
"Where's Kie? Where's Kie?" JJ asked. She was pulling Jimmy to shore. Men came and grabbed her up.
"They're looking this way. We got to go. This way." Cleo said swimming away.
"Bubs, come on. We'll find her." Ronnie told JJ. He looked at her. She hadn't called him Bubs since we were 11. He nodded and we swam off. Once we found a spot, I leaned Ronnie against a tree. She was shaking and not from the water or the Rum.
"Why would they kidnap Kiara? It doesn't make any sense." Pope said pacing.
"Bait." JJ said from his spot.
"Any way we can trust the cops here?" Pope asked Cleo.
"If we are in Barbados, there's no way. Every high-end city like here, has their own ruler. That ruler will have every cop on payroll in the city." Ronnie said sniffling.
"Then we need to find a phone. Call my parents." Pope said sitting down.
"And say what?" I asked.
"That we're alive. I haven't seen my family in I don't know how long. They're probably worried sick about me. We call them, ask them to wire money or something." He said.
"These people won't want money." Ronnie scoffed.
"I got a better idea. And faster." JJ said. He held up a wallet.
"I'm not even going to ask." I said shaking my head.
"You think I'm going to go through a backpack and not take something." He scoffed. He opened the wallet and picked through it.
"Jimmy Portis, 101 Cattle Wash. I bet that's where they got Kiara. All right?" He said holding up a license. Ronnie stood up and shook her head.
"Those guys that took her. They wouldn't take her to some Marsh house. They were too big and too powerful for a scumbag like Jimmy." She said crossing her arms. She started taking deep breathes.
"Then we go to Jimmy's and ask him a few questions." I said shrugging.
"I'm down. Let's go." JJ said walking off. I got up and rubbed her arms.
"You okay?" I asked her. She nodded and followed after JJ. Cleo asked around the island to see where the address was. We headed down to the blue house on the beach. We went around the back of the house and I slipped through the window. JJ was jumping around the place because of a crab. I opened the door and let them in. We looked around the house and she wasn't in there. Pope was staring at a burning boat picture.
"What you find?" JJ asked.
"This is the San Jose. From Denmark's Diary. This is the ship that Captain Limbrey stole the cross from." Pope explained.
"And the Merchant gold." I said.
"It's about the gold, not about Kiara. Let's go." JJ said hitting Pope's chest. Cleo whistled at us.
"Guys, we got company." She said looking out the window. We went over and saw Portis pull up in his car.
"Do we run?" Cleo asked.
"Nope. We get our answers." Ronnie said. I looked at her. She had that look in her eye. That look always ended with someone bleeding. We hid as Portis walked in.
"Dammit. I'm tired of you guys." Portis said. JJ swung first, then Pope grabbed him, I punched him but he knocked me back. Portis fought us back. He went to run out the back but Ronnie tripped him.
"Oops. Come here." She said grabbing him. JJ helped her get him up.
"Start talking, rat." She told him. She pressed the knife she found to his neck.
"Where did they take her?" JJ asked. He didn't answer.
"Answer him!" She snapped.
"You really don't want to know." He told her. She pressed down on the knife, and he grunted.
"Try me. Tell us! Now!" She hissed. Now I understood why Pope was afraid of my sister, she was scary when she was angry.
"Who took her?" JJ asked. Pope went to the dude's bag.
"They call him the Kingfish. He's a big man around here. You really shouldn't mess with him. He's got eyes looking for all of you." He said shakily.
"And I'll gladly pull each eye out of his men slowly with my fingers. Then shoot them at the Kingfish like a baby with food." She said angrily.
"What's this?" Pope asked holding out an envelope.
"Hey, keep your hands off my shit." Portis struggled.
"Quiet down." Cleo snapped. Pope opened the envelope and pulled out a wad of cash.
"A pay off." Ronnie said. Her elbow connected with Portis' face and he groaned. Pope examined the envelope.
"Hey, what's Vaux Hall?" He asked Portis.
"You really don't want to go there, man. That's the lion's den." He grunted out. I nodded.
"That's it. That's where Kie is. Come on, Pope." I said hitting his chest. I walked inside the house.
"You really don't want to go there!" He yelled out. I grabbed some clothes of his and walked back to the porch.
"Let's go. Come on, it's not worth it. JJ, Ronnie, let's go. Portis, we're taking some clothes. Deal with it." I said heading to the door.
"You could offer a switch for the little one!" Portis called out. I stopped and groaned. He shouldn't had said that, I thought. All you heard was him yell, a grunt, and a thud. Ronnie and JJ walked out. JJ pointed to her as they approached us.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Stabbed him in the leg, head butted him, then JJ dropped him." She said taking a shirt. I nodded and shook my head. Then she went on limping without JJ. We went walking. JJ and I took turns carrying Ronnie.
"Pope are you sure you got the right address?" JJ asked as we came to a stop.
"I know you aren't talking to me about having the right address." He argued.
"That's exactly what I'm asking." He said.
"Look, the place says Vaux Hall. Vaux Hall it's on the map." He said pointing to the sign.
"We don't know if that's where we are." JJ argued.
"It's in the general vicinity." Pope said. Ronnie tapped my arm. I lowered her down and she sat on the grass.
"Countries like this it means the entire area. This here is Vaux Hall." She said rubbing her leg.
"Why don't we just ask someone, huh?" Cleo snapped. A man on a tractor pulled up.
"Pardon I, do you know where we can find Vaux Hall?" She asked the man.
"You kidding me, right? Everything you can see, all around you, is Vaux Hall." He told her.
"Told you." Ronnie said from her spot. I looked down at her then back at the guy.
"Then who lives up there?" Pope asked.
"Carlos Singh. Just on the other side of that wall. But take it from me, he's no one you want to get to know." He said.
"Okay, thank you." Pope said nodding. He cranked up. Ronnie held her hand out to me.
"Up we go." I said grunting as I helped her up. She groaned and we went walking. As soon as we were over the wall, a few minutes later we were back over it after being chased. We walked for a while until we got to an old white abandoned building.
"We can hole up here. It ain't the Taj Mahal, but." Cleo said.
"It'll do." I said nodding. We hid from the guards upstairs. I sat Ronnie down and she sighed.
"We got to get Kiara out guys. Anyone got any ideas?" JJ asked.
"No storming the man's house, no calling the cops. We can't negotiate." Pope rambled.
"Uh not helping, smarty pants." Ronnie snipped at him.
"It has to be about the cross or the gold." He said.
"Guys like Singh, it's always about money." Cleo said.
"That's what the gold and the cross is. Money for him. He sells it to the highest bidder then he makes a fortune from it." Ronnie said. I looked at her. She slid off the cast from her wrist and flexed her fingers.
"Like brother, like sister." JJ said. We laid low the rest of the night.
Veronica's POV
John B went after the bells. After we got located by Singh cause JJ forgot to take off the location on the phone he stole from Portis, we all ran. We hid out in town, then we got a pin drop from Kie. We were unhitching the boat she stole off of Rafe when John B took off to the bells. We made it back to the OBX. JJ helped me up the pier that morning at the Chateau.
"You okay? To be alone?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'll hang here till John B arrives." I said nodding. He kissed my cheek and ran back to the boat. I eased up the porch and opened up the screen. I screamed when someone jumped up from the couch. I covered my mouth when I saw it was John B.
"John. John B? Oh." I said moving towards him. He jumped up and hugged me. A sob left my body.
"Hey. Hey. It's okay. I'm right here." He said. I pulled back and slapped him.
"Why did you run! Why!" I screamed at him. He shook his head and sighed.
"One, ow. And two, Dad's alive." He told me.
"What?" I asked.
"Yeah. He's. Dad?" He said pointing inside. I looked and there was no one there. I looked back on John B.
"This isn't funny." I said walking inside. He followed me. I went to my room and flipped on the lights.
'I'm not lying. You know when I'm lying. Look at me and see if I'm lying." He said. I turned and looked at him. I gasped. He was telling me the truth.
"Where is he then? Where's dad?" I asked tearing up.
"I don't know, okay? But I swear he was here." He said. I motioned for him to turn around as I got changed. He went to change too.
"Then we need to go find him. He couldn't have gone that far. What's the last thing you two talked about?" I said as we walked back outside.
"How are we going to find him? We don't have a ride." He said sighing. I flung my arm out to the docks.
"Hello, doofus. We got a boat!" I told him.
"Are you really calling me a doofus? Right now, crippled?" He scoffed. I shoved him and he shoved me back.
"Now I'm only back a few hours, and you two already picking fights?" I heard. I turned to the surf shack and gasped. Dad was walking up.
"Daddy." I gasped.
"Hello, little bird." He said grinning. I went up and hugged him tightly. He hugged me back.
"Oh, little bird. Don't cry." He said rubbing my back. I pulled back and shoved him hard.
"Ronnie." John B said clearing his throat.
"Don't cry! We thought you were dead! Everyone told us you were dead! What? They don't have phones where you were? Did you forget how to use one?" I snapped at him.
"Honey, I know you're upset but I couldn't put you and your brother in danger." Dad said.
"We were already in danger!" I screamed. I shook my head and turned away. I ran my fingers through my hair and inhaled. John B grabbed my arms, but I pushed him away.
"Hey, hey. Just breathe, okay? Calm down. In and out." He said calmly.
"Let's go on inside. You two can catch me up." Dad said. We walked inside and sat down at the table. John B went over everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. I jumped when dad started throwing the bottles and cans everywhere.
"Pops." John B said. He sighed and went outside. We heard something pull up. We got up and walked to the door. Twinkie was rolling up. Dad got out as we came out of the house.
"I brought an old friend to see you." He said nodding to the car. John B helped me down the steps.
"Where did you get this?" He asked dad.
"Impound lot. Where else?" He said.
"Why tell us now?" I asked.
"Can't a father spend a few minutes with his kids." He said. I crossed my arms and sighed at him.
"Did you find the diary inside?" John B asked.
"Yeah. A big pile of mush. Cause somebody left the window down and it got rained on." He said looking at him.
"Well, I didn't know we would be gone for as long as we were. Kind of hoped, we'd hop on the ship, get the cross, save my sister and come on home." JB said.
"Well, there's always a plan B. Come on. Get in." Dad said motioning for us to get in. John B opened the side door and I got in. Once he got in dad took off.
"Where are we going?" John B asked.
"History teacher's house. He's got the original right?" He said.
"Mr. Sunn?" He asked.
"Yeah. Word got out he had it, he vanished. I doubt it's here, but doesn't hurt to check." He said pulling up to Mr. Sunn's house.
"Come on." He said getting out. We go out and went to the door. They peeked inside.
"Ronnie, go around back and check it out." Dad told me.
"Breaking and Entering, adding that to my list of felonies." I said limping off. I jimmied the lock with JJ's pocket-knife and eased in.
"Hello? Mr. Sunn? Anyone here?" I asked. Dad and John B slipped in behind me. I walked around the house. John B gave us a description of the diary. I was in the dining room when someone grabbed me from behind. I threw my head back and hit them. I turned around and saw the man from the ship. He swung his fist but I dodged him. He and I went back and forth. I heard grunting somewhere else in the house. The guy shoved me back and all I heard was glass breaking when my back hit. I fell to the ground.
"Stay down. Don't even think about getting up." A guy said.
"Is this what you're looking for?" The other one said panting. He held up the diary.
"You son of a bitch." Dad grunted. I pushed myself up and groaned.
"Ronnie? Ronnie!" I heard John B. He came around the corner. He grabbed my arms and hauled me up.
"You okay?" He asked panting. I nodded and jumped as someone popped out of the bathroom. John B and I helped Mr. Sunn up and to the couch.
"Was that the diary they took?" Dad asked running in.
"Yeah. They said they were from the historical society. My professional judgement got the best of me." Mr. Sunn said.
"We need to get you checked out." I said looking at his wounds.
"We need to get the diary! John B, let's go! Veronica stay here!" Dad snapped. He ran out the door. I nodded to John B and he left with dad. Dad and I we were never close as he was with John B.
"Go on home, sweetheart. I'll be fine." Mr. Sunn told me. I shook my head and went to find his first aid kit.
"If anyone needs a doctor, it's you sweet pea." Sunn said. I brought it out from under the sink.
"I'm fine." I told him.
"When you bleed, you're not fine." He said. I looked down and saw my shorts soaked with blood.
"I'm getting real tired of being someone's punching bag." I said sighing. He grabbed me and helped me to his car. He took me to St. Olive.
"Ms. Routledge it's good to see you back. You, your brother, and your friends gave the town a stir." Dr. Arnold said.
"You're welcome?" I scoffed. He sighed.
"Are we gonna use the same insurance as before with Mr. Cameron?" He asked. I shook my head.
"No. I'll pay out of pocket. Is he and Rafe still my medical contact? If so I'd like to remove them." I said sniffling.
"Yes they are. How about Mr. Thornton? Topper Thornton?" He asked.
"Keep him, please." I said nodding. He nodded.
"Well despite being on your leg to much it's healing fine. So we're gonna move you into a boot to finish out the healing process. You'll need to keep your stitches wrapped for three weeks until you're healed." He said.
"Alright. Thank you." I said nodding.
"You're welcome. Now I'm gonna call Mr. Thornton and see if he can come pick you up and take you home. You shouldn't be walking all the way home to the cut." He said nodding.
"Okay." I said sniffling.
"How are you feeling otherwise?" He asked.
"I'm having controlled anxiety attacks. When I get angry or upset and lash out, I freak out and can't breathe. I start the exercises I heard of and I get under control. The nightmares are about the same as before." I said.
"We got something for that. Hold on tight okay?" He said smiling. He walked out of the room and I sighed.
Toppers POV
I walked into Rafes house and yelled out. I knew he was home since he called. I was hoping to see Ronnie too. I looked around for Rafe.
"Yo man! What's up?" Rafe said walking out of the kitchen.
"Nothing much. Welcome back man." I said looking around.
"Thanks. Want a drink?" He offered.
"Sure. Where's Ronnie?" I said as he went to fix it.
"Wherever her brothers at. How should I know?" He said shrugging. I shook my head and looked at him.
"You lost your girlfriend?" I asked. He downed his drink and looked at me as he handed me mine.
"She was never my girlfriend. We didn't make that official." He said sighing. My phone rung in my pocket.
"Hello?" I asked answering it.
"Is this Topper Thornton?" A lady asked.
"Yes." I said looking at Rafe.
"This is Raina from St. Olives. You're on Ms. Routledge's emergency contact list here at the hospital." She told me.
"She's there? She's okay? When did she get there?" I asked sitting my cup down.
"She just came in a hour ago. She's doing fine." She told me.
"Okay, I'm on my way." I said nodding. I hung up and looked at Rafe.
"What?" He asked.
"She's safe. She's home but at the hospital right now. I'm going to go pick her up now." I said smiling.
"She's okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm going to get her. You coming?" I said.
"Nah. I'll hang back." He said shaking his head. I sighed and walked out the house. I pulled up to the hospital and jumped out. I ran to the station and asked for her room.
"Top?" I heard. I turned around and saw her. I ran to her and hugged her tightly to me. I felt her shaking. She was crying. I grabbed her head and wiped the tears that were on her cheeks.
"Oh, come on. I got you. Come on." I told her. She sniffled and nodded. I grabbed her hand and we walked to my truck. She stopped at the telephone pole. I looked at it and it was her photo on the missing poster.
"How long?" She asked me.
"A month." I said. I wrapped my arm around her and guided her to my Jeep.
"Where do you want me to take you?" I asked her.
"Home, I guess." She said sniffling.
"I could take you to Rafes." I offered.
"No. No. Not Rafes. Anywhere but his place." She said quickly. She shook her head and bit her lip.
"Ronnie? What happened? Did Rafe hurt you?" I asked her.
"Emotional yeah. Physically, I kicked his ass." She said chuckling. Her hands started shaking. She cleared her throat and got out of the truck and started pacing. I got out and went to her side.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Just. Just give me a minute." She said breathing deeply. I nodded. A few minutes passed then she looked at me.
"Okay, I'm good." She said nodding. We got in the truck and left.
"When did the anxiety attacks start?" I asked her.
"After Rafe dragged me off with him." She said sniffling.
"They've gotten any worse?" I asked.
"Not really. I just gotta learn to control myself emotions and temper." She said chuckling. I pulled up to her house. I came around and helped her out.
"You gonna be okay?" I asked. She nodded and kissed my cheek.
"Yeah I will. Thank you, Topper. For being my knight and shining Armor again." She said hugging me. I hugged her back and she limped off to the pit. I sighed and got in the jeep and left.