─☼☼☼─

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝗕 𝗛𝗔𝗗 been arrested.

The news had made it to Charlotte midday the day after Rafe and Barry had raided John B's. She had made it home just before dawn, Rafe trailing her all the way home. A few hours later she had received the call.

It was lucky that she hadn't found out earlier, because if Rafe had even been in her vicinity when she received the news, the tongue-lashing he would have received would have been enough to make a grown man cry.

It was Ward Cameron who turned John B and Sarah in. According to Kiara, Sarah had returned home to try and sway Ward's allegiance. All that had resulted in was him tipping off the police, telling them to follow his daughter back to where John B and the others were hiding after escaping Rafe and Barry.

He was a cowardly man. One that Charlotte detested so much she could barely look at him.

Even now sat as he sat in the courtroom across from Charlotte and her friends, she couldn't bear to look in his direction, anger bubbling in her chest at even the slightest of glances.

She still couldn't believe this was happening.

She still could not fully grasp the fact that they were currently in a courtroom, awaiting one of their best friends pleas for a murder he did not commit.

The remaining group had been rather quiet as they had met up at the courtroom that morning. They all had so much to say, but no one knew how to breach it.

Now, they sat side by side, JJ and Charlotte's hands gripped in anticipation, Pope and Kiara's doing the same. With her free hand, the eldest Carrera had reached out and taken Sarah's, giving the terrified girl a small nod of comfort.

"John Book Routledge, pursuant to the North Caroline 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 words had barely left the judge's mouth by the time chatter began to fly around the courtroom.

But there, in the second row, five kids sat absolutely shattered, their faces giving way to the devastation they were feeling. JJ and Charlotte released their grips on one another, each of them deflated in horror.

Nausea crawled up Charlotte's throat as she watched the way John be folded him on himself, the breath leaving his lungs.

The death penalty.

This was the worst outcome anyone could have hoped for. Prison time was bad enough...but this? If John B was found guilty for something he didn't even fucking do...he was going to be killed.

"Your Honour, he's 17!" JJ was up and out of his seat before anyone had the chance to stop him. "He's 17!"

Charlotte scrambled up after him as others began to file out of their rows and into the main aisle. "JJ, enough." She warned, placing a hand on his chest and giving him a slight shove toward the door. "They'll arrest you for contempt of court if you don't—"

He ignored her, leaning into her hand as to get closer to his best friend. "Hey, John B. John B, we're gonna figure it out."

When John B turned to look at them, everything within Charlotte shattered. Her throat felt like it wad closing in on itself as her eyes stung with unshed tears.

JJ was right. They were going to figure it out no matter what it took.

"John B!" This time it was Sarah who was moving toward the front of the courtroom, her voice coming out strangled. "John B!"

He turned once again, eyes meeting hers in a defeated manner. He didn't hold her gaze for long, almost as if he couldn't bear to do so.

One of the court officers interceded Sarah's path, shoving her backward.

"Don't touch her!" Kiara warned, hurrying forward to grab onto the Cameron girl. "Come on Sarah, let's go."

And so, the five of them were ushered out of the courtroom. Charlotte with a hand on JJ's back to ensure he didn't go off on anyone else, Kie with her arms wrapped around Sarah. Pope followed behind the two pairs, his arms circled around them protectively.

Everyone who had been attending the hearing had now gathered outside, most of them forming small groups of conversation like many did on Sunday mornings after church service. But this wasn't church service...no, this was a legal and moral injustice if Charlotte had ever seen one.

Most of them made snide remarks about how "justice had been served." Hearing their stupid smug voices made Charlotte want to rip her hair out.

"Is this a joke?" Kiara deadpanned, giving a small shake of her head. "Like, are we in hell?"

"Pretty damn close to it." Charlotte muttered, looking over her shoulder at the courtroom once more.

Sarah had tears in her eyes as she spoke. "I should have never come home."

"They're gonna kill him, guys. I know it." JJ declared, his thoughts wrapped up with the pretence of his best friend's death.

From somewhere in the crowd, a voice spoke, loud enough for the five of them to hear. "I'm so sorry for what you and your family have gone through. Thank God the system works."

Charlotte had been angry when they left the courtroom, but that anger had just grown tenfold. Because the person that ignorant man was addressing, was expressing sympathy toward, was none other than Ward Cameron.

Kiara was the first to go off. "Can you please shut up?" She demanded, drawing the attention of Ward and Rose Cameron, and Buck Koffer and his son Caden. "Of course you think the system works because it protects you and people like you!"

Caden's father fixed her with an unimpressed expression. "He'll have his day in court. A jury will decide."

Kie's response was instantaneous. "He shouldn't even be in court!" She cried, eyes shifting to the other rich, white man in front of them. "You should!" She snapped at Ward Cameron. "Because you're a murderer!"

Rose's face went pale in horror as Ward shook his head, turning to look at Charlotte. "Charlotte, control your sister."

She hadn't planned on causing a scene, but now there was no way she was going to keep her mouth shut. "Control my sister?" She spat, taking a step forward and pulling Kiara behind her. "Go to hell, Ward. We all know what you did, and we're going to prove it."

Caden Koffer let out a low whistle, earning a smack upside the head from his father. Meanwhile, Ward Cameron's face was quickly reddening.

"Listen, Charlotte. I know that you're hurt about the fact that Rafe broke your heart, but you don't have to come after my entire family with some brazen lie."

The words left her mouth before she could even think about what she was saying. "Fuck you." She gritted out. "I know so much about your family and I can tear down your whole fucking dynasty if I want to. So watch out, Ward. Because I swear to God I will do it."

Ward opened his mouth in rebuttal, just as JJ and Pope stepped forward to defend Charlotte if needed, but it was none of them who got the first word in. Instead, it was the most unlikely suspect of all.

"You know, Mr. Cameron. I don't think it was Rafe who was doing the heartbreaking...just from what I've heard, I mean." Caden Koffer was trying to look innocent, but beneath his eyes Charlotte could see the mischievous glint.

Cade Koffer was a shit disturber through and through, and for once, his shit disturbing was working in Charlotte's favour.

"Caden!" His father snapped, his face a dark red colour in sheer embarrassment. "Enough."

Kiara let out a scoff from behind her sister, her anger still directed at Ward. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here."

Ward ran a hand over his face, eyes darting between the two Carrera girls. "I get it girls. I get that you're upset. I know that he's got you all fooled, but—"

"Upset!?" Kiara snapped, and before anyone saw it coming she was lunging forward toward Ward. "No, I'm not just upset!"

Shoupe and a couple of his officers had made their way toward the scene, the tension visible from miles away.

It was he and Charlotte who stepped in Kiara's way, barring her from attacking Ward like it seemed she so desperately wanted to.

"Kiara, enough." Charlotte warned lowly, not really in the mood to have her sister arrested as well.

Ward took a step back, Rose pulling at his arm. "Show some respect! Both of you." He ordered, Charlotte's words from before still heavy on his mind.

"Muzzle your dog, man!" JJ yelled at Shoupe, motioning toward the officer who was currently man-handling the Carrera girls. "Why don't you take the Kooks down for a change?"

A muscle twitched in Shoupe's face as he regarded the teenagers. "You wanna get arrested?" He challenged. When all they did was stare back at him with angered expressions, he pointed toward the parking lot. "Get out! You need to go."

"This is bullshit." Kiara muttered under her breath. Charlotte agreed...it was bullshit.

Sarah wrapped a protective arm around Kiara. "Come on. It's not worth it."

One of Shoupe's officers had the audacity to apologize to Ward Cameron. She was the second small-brained idiot to do that in the last ten minutes and it made Charlotte want to rip her hair out.

"You know, it's not a coincident that your daughter's sitting with us!" Kie yelled over her shoulder. He didn't turn around at her words, but Charlotte could see the way Ward tensed.

Bullseye.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Sarah was his weak spot, and Charlotte was pretty sure she always would be.

─☼☼☼─

Rain poured down around The Chateau, casting a light mist on the screened in porch that the five of them had taken refuge in.

It had only been a couple of hours since the court hearing, but they were all still reeling.

Charlotte sat with her feet propped up on the table in front of her, anxiously picking at the skin around her finger nails.

"I'm going to testify." Sarah announced, her voice giving was to desperation. "Under oath. I was there. I just need to get a hold of my sister."

Visible eye rolls could be seen coming from Pope and JJ at her words.

"Sister." JJ repeated, as if the word were poison on his tongue. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Sarah ignored him. "Char, do you have your phone?"

Wordlessly, Charlotte reached into her back pocket and retrieved her phone, handing it over to Sarah.

"Wheezie is the only other one who knows Rafe wasn't home that day." Sarah elaborated, scrolling through Charlotte's phone to find Wheezie's number.

"Wheezie?" JJ repeated, an incredulous look still covering his face.

Sarah looked like she was almost vibrating with anxiety. "I don't know what else to do. I got us into this mess. I'm gonna do my best to get us out."

With that, she disappeared into the house with Charlotte's phone, leaving them remaining four trying to digest what was happening.

"Wheezie." JJ repeated again. "Yeah, that'll work." He scoffed, shaking his head. "She's right about one thing. We gotta do something."

"Look," Pope announced, leaning forward slightly, eyes on Charlotte.. "I hate to ask this, but have you tried talking to him? Tried convincing him to turn himself in?"

"Tried that already." Charlotte sighed, giving Pope a disappointed look. "Went about as well as we all could have expected."

JJ tore off his hat. "Of course it didn't work. So we gotta figure something else out." He then fixed them all with an intense stare. "Listen, our boy is a PO-Dub right now, okay? He's held captive by the enemy, maybe even scheduled for execution. Are we just gonna sit here?"

"So what's the plan?" Kie snapped, cutting off his incessant rambling. "Kidnap Shoupe?"

She was kidding, obviously, but JJ's face lit up slightly. "Maybe. Like that's not the worst idea actually."

Charlotte dropped her face into her hands. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me. "

"That's literally the worst idea I've ever heard." Pope argued with JJ.

"No it's not!"

"It's pretty bad." Sarah added from inside.

JJ turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "Just stay out of this. Please." He then turned back to Pope. "Look, Pope, we've been doing this your way...and how has that been working out?"

Charlotte dropped her feet from the table, causing everyone to look over at her. "JJ, Enough!" She pleaded in exasperation. "This isn't some fucking action movie or some C.H.U.D. like shit. We can't kidnap Shoupe or stage some kind of heist, okay? This is real life, with real consequences."

Pope stood up, nodding along with was Charlotte was saying. "Exactly!" He exclaimed, thankful someone else shared his point of view. "Like, what's your plan here? You gonna storm a jail, guns a-blazing?"

JJ stood as well so he at Pope were at eye level. "Look, Pope. All I'm trying to get you to understand is they got our boy. Are we just gonna sit here and do nothing? No! We're gonna go get his ass. We're gonna do something about it!"

Pope looked like he wanted to punch a wall. "JJ! We're not storming a jail. It's not happening."

"You know what, fine." JJ shot back. "Sit in your comfy chair. Do nothing." His eyes drifted toward Charlotte and Kiara. "I'm gonna see what I can do. Make something happen. Even if I have to do it by myself."

No one said anything as JJ stormed off into the rain, each of them knowing there was no point. He was fired up, there was no getting through to him right now.

"Alright." Pope levelled once JJ was out of earshot. "Should we be worried?"

"Yes." Kie and Charlotte answered simultaneously.

"We can go talk to our parents, see if we can get some money to get John B a good lawyer." Kiara proposed.

Charlotte nodded. "I have some money saved up. We can use that too."

Pope gave a small shake of his head. "John B has a public defender...he doesn't really need that right now."

For someone so smart, Pope sure was clueless sometimes.

"Are you kidding me?" Kie wondered. "Justice costs money."

Pope nodded slightly. "Yeah, you're right. So I'm gonna dig in hard to anything I can find out about that key. Because that tape Limbrey has, that's exculpatory evidence. That can exonerate John B."

"Good." Charlotte praised, reaching down to scoop up her backpack. "We need to get a move on with this stuff. Time is of the essence."

Sensing some weird tension between Kie and Pope, she took a step toward the door. "I'm gonna wait in the car." Her eyes lingered on her sister for a second. "Oh, and Kie? If there's anything you want to do before you die, I suggest you do that now, because mom and dad are absolutely going to kill you when you get home."

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