"Look, it was right here, and this is where that manic claimed his next victim." Kie spoke to Shoupe as they stood in the construction building, showing them were Ward shot Gavin.

"Uh-huh. His next victim? How long ago did you say this happened?" Shoupe asked, clearly not believing a word they said. Lila shivered from the cold as she kept her arms around her.

"Forty-Five minutes ago, Shoupe." JJ said back as he looked up from the floor.

"Okay. So, Ward Cameron just popped one off and shot him. Execution style?" Shoupe asked in disbelief as he looked at the four.

"Is that so hard for you to believe?" Lila spoke up for the first time.

"You tell me." he said back with a wild look, "You're back in town?"

"What does that matter? A guy was just murdered right here!" Lila said as she swung her arms around in disbelief, "Ward could kill someone else if he hasn't already! He's insane!"

Pope gave her shoulder a squeeze in hopes of her lowering her voice.

"We filmed the entire thing." Kie spoke up as Shoupes ears perked at her words, "But we can't show it to you because I was worried about Lila falling off the latter so I stepped on JJ's hand, and then he kicked Pope, and then Pope and JJ fell ontop of Lila, making Pope drop the camera, and it broke."

"This is a telephoto, and we needed to get a long-distance image, and... and and I fell, and it broke, so the video is basically unusable." Pope explained as he held the broken video camera in his hands, "Marilyn Monroe is full of storage and-"

"So the dog ate your homework?" Shoupe hummed their way.

"We have no dog!" Lila threw her hands up in disbelief, "JJ just barks sometimes, that's it!"

"Shoupe, I know it sounds-" Kie began.

"Look, I don't know what you kids expect me to do with this. You drag me out here in the middle of the night for a whole lot of nothing." the man explained as he looked around at the so called crime scene, "Except for some crazy stories about how Ward Cameron's out on a random killing spree."

"We're not making this up!" JJ yelled at him.

"It's not a random killing spree!" Pope cut in quickly, though he'd had a calmer perspective, "Gavin was his pilot. Okay, he was paying him hush money because he was on the tarmac that day."

"Gavin was blackmailing Ward because he had the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin." Kie was close after Popes words. Shoupe looked at Lila as she looked away.

"Then he called him here and tried to pay him off. But it wasn't enough and then so he shot him!" JJ concluded quickly after Kie's words.

Shoupe looked at Lila again, "Thats it then, is it, Lila? That's the story? Rafe killed Peterkin and the gun he used, the four of you saw and are ready to confirm that?"

Lila didn't say anything a moment before she scoffed, "So my word is better then there's because why? The gun was here, Rafe did kill the sheriff. He has mental issues going on in his brain and his shitty ass, piece of shit father won't get him help and I can't fix him so maybe you're sorry ass will do something about it!"

Kie grabbed her hand immediately.

Shoupe sighed, "How do you know about Gavin?"

"Pope did this thing with his phone. He, like, put it in his car and-" Kie began to ramble quickly.

"I heard the whole conversation!" the Hayward boy yelled out.

"You wiretapped him?" Shoupe asked.

"Is that bad?" Pope asked with wide eyes.

"Pope, shh." Lila shhed him fast with a hand over his body, "It's funny that's all you care about when you have four witnesses saying they saw a literal murder."

"Stop. I've had enough." Shoupe spoke with a finger raised at the four and began walking off.

"What are you talking about, Shoupe? Are you just gonna look the other way?" JJ called out to him in disbelief.

"You ever heard about the boy who cried wolf?" the man called back.

"You ever heard about Jack and Jill?" Lila called back ad they followed, "They fell down pretty easily, don't you think?"

"I bet my whole salary your moms have no damn clue you're here." he said back to her, "Go home, Lila."

"Why can't you just believe us for once?" Kie yelled his way as they followed him out of the construction site, "I know it sounds crazy. I know that!"

"All right, there's nothing up there. False alarm. Let's all go home." Shoupe called to the other deputies outside.

"No, no, please don't go home. No. Why would we make this up?" Kie asked hysterically as she was close after Shoupe, "Can you just do your job for like twenty minutes!"

"Hey. I know- I know you're upset. And I know you think your friend was innocent." he explained as he looked at the four quickly with a point.

"He is!" Kie defended John B.

"But you weren't there." Shoupe shook his head.

"Neither were you so how are you so sure?" Lila asked him in disbelief, "If Ward wasn't a rich white guy, no one would be pushing this under the rug like this!"

"The only actual witnesses, that are above ground, say the exact opposite." Shoupe pointed out the obvious facts to each of them, "And both of them have a hell of a lot more credibility then any of you right now. I saw your little art project on Ward's wall. Do not do that again. And you-"

He pointed at Lila as the flashing blue and red lights lit up her face.

"You're still on probation and you're lucky I watch out for you after the shit you've pulled around here." he pointed out to her with a stern expression before looking at JJ, "And your little buddy here is in the same boat."

"What the hell are you on probation for?" Pope asked suddenly as he looked at Lila.

"Go home." Shoupe spoke as he got into his cop car and waved them off.

"Lila. What the hell-" Pope began with wide eyes and he grabbed at her, "Probation? What did you do? If my dad knew this-"

"Pope, don't do this, man." JJ spoke as he pulled Pope off Lila.

"It doesn't matter!" Lila yelled back in a panic, "It doesn't matter!"

"We're you friends, it does matter!" Pope said back with a insane look, "We tell each other everything."

"I can't say." Lila said as Pope gave a look of disbelief, "I don't want everyone hating me here too!"

"Lila! Hey, Lila!" JJ called when she began hurried off back to the car, clearly not wanting to be around them while some form of secret was let loose.

Lila stood in the bathroom with dripping hair, her clothing clinging to her recently cleaned body. Her shirt was risen, the bruises from a few days again making her hurt all over even more after falling multiple times today. Pope didn't ask anything else when they got back in the car, though Lika disappeared to her attic room the second she got back to jump in the small shower.

A gentle knock came from the other side, "Lila?"

Lila laughed slightly, "Popes dads gonna kick me out with you being up here."

"I know." JJ said back, "But I brought you something. To help with those bruises you got going on, can I come in?"

Lila hesitated before opening the door, letting JJ walk in as he held a bag of peas and a plastic aloe bottle. The bathroom was small, but neither minded. JJ spoke up quickly, "Pope didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. He just worries about you. After the summer, you just scarred him- well, all of us."

Lila frowned, "I know I did. He didn't hurt my feelings. I just did something really bad and I don't wanna loose you guys over it. Not like I did everyone else."

JJ placed his hand on her back and pressed the peas to the bruises on her abdomen. Lila flinched slightly, but JJ's hand on her back kept her still, "Lila, we're not gonna ever hate you. I mean, you could completely abandoned us and I wouldn't hate you."

Lila didn't meet his eye, but gave a sad smile, "I think you should."

"What?" he asked, switching positions with the peas on her.

"Hate me." Lila said as she looked up, "After all I did this summer. The way I stayed with Rafe, the way I loved him after the way he was too all of you. I think back on that and I genuinely can not understand why i'd do all that."

JJ watched her, though he was unaware she felt so much guilt, "It's not your fault."

"How it is not my fault?" she asked in disbelief.

"Because it wasn't, okay?" he was stern, removing the peas and throwing them in the sink, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Because you know i'm right." she pointed out.

"No, because i'm sick of you acting like you're such a bad person when you're one of the best people i've ever met." JJ snapped at her quickly as he looked at her quickly, "Whatever reasons you had to stay with Rafe, after all of it, is a mystery to me but I know something was going on up there."

He pointed at her head with a shake of his head, "Whatever it was doesn't make you a bad person, it just makes you complicated as hell and I hate that I don't know what the hell you're thinking."

Lila watched as he put the aloe on his hands, "Are you suppose to know what everyone else is thinking?"

"I'm usually good at it." JJ said back to her, cold hands placing along her bruises. Lila flinched and back away, but JJ followed with gentle rubs of the cold moisture, bringing her comfort along the way, "Like when I see some dumb Kooks, I know they think we're dirty and worthless. And I know what Popes thinking always, usually Kie and John B too. I can read my dads thoughts like we share a brain or something. But I never know anything you're thinking, ever. I can never tell."

Lila crackled a grin, "Thats probably a good think. I think about some crazy things."

JJ gave her a smile, "You say some crazy things too."

Lila pulled her shirt back down when JJ was done rubbing each area in her abdomen, "JJ?"

"Yup?" he hummed.

"When I was leaving for the ferry and you s-" she began.

"What the hell did I tell the two of you? Get the hell down here right now, boy!" Hayward yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

•

kylie speaks

yes, the aloe healing
lilas bruises was hella
symbolism, and yes jj
not being able to read lila
is very important. you guys
know me by now, i don't put
random shit in my books for
no reason!