XLIII. i'm relentlessly upset

      There's something terrifying about the rage of a teenage girl. It contradicts with the love they have in their hearts. They battle each other until one takes charge of the other. Dylan had a lot of love in her, a lot of care and endearment, much like her mother. But her rage was that of her fathers. He was a lawyer, a master of his own words. He was intelligent. But the rage came with his job; defending the best and worst kind of people even when he didn't want to. He had encountered the awful things these people did and he still had to do everything in his power to defend them.

That's where the rage comes in.

Dylan and Logan were practically the same. They loved deeply to the point it made them angry. Logan was a man who put his family above everything. He would take a bullet for his children and his wife. But there were days he still thought about his best friend and the fallout they had before he went searching for the Royal Merchant. He regretted the argument every day. He was reminded of it every time he was with John B.

Now, he wasn't going to let the same thing that happened to Big John happen to him.

When Dylan told him about what happened to John B,  the anger he felt towards her shifted to the police department. The lawyer in him came out. He knew the truth. John B was a kid, a kid he'd known since he was born. There was no way he was capable of doing something as horrible as murder.

"Your honor, is it fair to ask where the proof is that Mr.  Routledge was the one that killed Sheriff Peterkin?" Logan announced in the court room. He raised his arms and looked around. "That's a fair question,  right?" He asked rhetorically. "Because in the timeline of this whole event, I have not seen or heard one piece of evidence that Jonathan is the one who shot Susan Peterkin."

Dylan sat close to Pope and her arm wrapped around his. She felt as if she couldn't breathe the entire trial.  Her father was a smart and tactical man but it was clear that the judge and jury was against John B. It was an unfair game.

"Mr. Jennings, at this point in time, evidence is not pertinent compared to everything else that Mr. Routledge has done," the judge dismissed his argument.

Logan held up a finger. "Ah, but that's not exactly true. According to the United States Attorney of Justice, a case without evidence is just considered hearsay," he continued. "Nobody here actually witnessed the death of Sheriff Peterkin except for John B and the Cameron family—" he turned around and faced Ward Cameron, who stared at the man with a hard expression. "—And yet I have seen no attempt to get them on the stand."

"Damn, he's good." Pope whispered.

If she wasn't so nervous, Dylan would have smiled proudly. Her mom and brother sat on the other side of her and her hand was clutched tightly into Ainsley's.

"Makes me wonder if this is about more than just social class."

"I would hold your tongue, Mr. Jennings." The judge warned.

Logan looked at John B again and he saw the fear on the young boy's face. He swallowed his pride. "My apologies, your honor." He backed down. "But I stand by my statement that there is now clear evidence that Jonathan Routledge is the one that murdered Sheriff Peterkin. The actual possessor of the murder weapon hadn't even been announced yet."

The tension in the court room was high and Dylan squeezed her mom's hand tighter. The Pogues were scattered in the seats but they were close by. Sarah looked over her shoulder and caught the girl's eye, the fear showing on both of their faces. But Dylan assured her that her father had it handled.

But unfortunately for them, the rich always win over the poor.

"Jonathan Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section fourteen, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."

Her heart dropped to her stomach in an instant. The people in the court room immediately stated talking and Dylan felt like she could throw up.

Logan's face fell and he turned to face John B. "Don't be afraid, son. You still have a chance." He whispered to him just as the police came forward.

"Please get me out of this, dad." The teenager pleaded as he was being taken away.

"I'll figure this out, John. Don't worry!"

"Your honor. He's seventeen!" JJ shouted when he rose from his seat.

Dylan let go of Pope and her mom and she stood up. "Please, you can't do this!" She pleaded.

"This is absolutely ridiculous." Ainsley said darkly and she shook her head, feeling angry.

"Hey, John B, we're gonna figure it out!"

"John B! John B!" Sarah shouted tearfully and ran toward him.

"Sarah!" Said Kiara and she and Dylan ran and grabbed her. "Don't touch her!" She shouted one of the police officers.

"Get your hands off of us." Dylan spat at him and they took the crying girl away. She looked over her shoulder at John B. "Stay strong, JB. My dad'll get you out of this! I promise!" She shouted at him.

When they reached outside, Ainsley was shaking from how angry she was. "I should've known this was going to happen. This is what always happens," she uttered.

"Mom, they're going to kill him. He didn't do anything." Dylan whimpered and grabbed her arms.

"Is John B gonna die?" Braxton voiced in fear.

Ainsley hugged her children. "No, he's not. Your dad's going to fight this, okay? He won't let anything happen to John B." She claimed.

They could hear the proud talk of the Kildare residents as they exited the court house. It was sickening. There was an innocent teenage boy in there and they were happy that he could possibly be put to death. Dylan's rage started to rise. 

The rest of the Pogues joined the Jennings family. "I should've never come home." Sarah spoke sadly.

"They're going to kill him, guys. I know it." JJ proclaimed, his sadness and anger mixing together.

"Hey, you guys know my husband. He'll fight tooth and nail to make sure nothing happens to John."  Ainsley told them. She put a soft hand on JJ's back.  "Don't lose hope yet, okay?"

Dylan let go of her mom and leaned into Pope, his arm automatically going around her shoulder. She was stressed out to the point her head was staying to hurt. 

"Thank God the system works." She heard a man say to Ward.

She slowly lifted her head at the statement. The red hot anger in her eyes came back. Her and Kiara seemed to have the exact same thought. "Can you please shut up?" She voiced angrily, causing everyone to stop. "Of course you think the system worked because it was made to protect you and people like you."

"He'll have his day in court. A jury will decide." The same man told her.

Dylan let go of her boyfriend and stepped forward.  "He's shouldn't even be here! You think you all know exactly what happened when in reality, you're only defending the people who actually committed the crime." She seethed. Her eyes settled on Ward. "You caused this. John B's in this because of you and your fucked son!"

As she shouted in anger, Logan came walking out of the courthouse.

"Dylan!" Ainsley exclaimed and quickly ran forward,  grabbing her daughter's arm. "Don't do this."

"Look, girls, I know you're upset. In understand you're upset, okay?" Ward said to them, his concern fake. 

"Upset?" Kiara uproared.

"I know he's got you fooled. He's got you all fooled—"

"Do you think I haven't studied these kinds of things my whole life?" Dylan spoke over him. "I know exactly how this plays out. The only person fooling anyone is you!"

"Dylan, your silly detective work doesn't apply to this."

That's when the switch flipped. "Really?" She exclaimed.

"No, we're not just upset!" Kiara lunged forward.

"I hope your son rots in hell!" Dylan seethed at the same time.

Everyone, plus police officers, tried to hold the girls back and she felt a cop squeeze her arm tightly. Like the Flash, Logan was there in an instant. "Hey! If you ever put your hands on my daughter, you'll be the one dead here!" He shouted at the officer and stood in front of Dylan and Kiara. He pointed at Ward. "I know exactly what happened, Ward. You're not going to get away with it."

"Show some respect!" The man shouted back as the officers continued to try and push the angry girls back.

Pope and JJ joined by Logan's side. "Get off!" Said JJ as Pope grabbed Dylan's arm and pulled her behind him. "Don't touch her!"

"Why don't you take the Kooks down for a change, Shoupe?"

"Logan, Ainsley, you better get your girl out of here before something bad happens." Shoupe told the parents.

Logan's rage came out more. "Are you threatening me?"

His wife pulled him by his arm, Braxton hugging her waist. "Logan, please stop. Let's just go!"

"Don't ever threaten my family again, Shoupe. You hear me?"

"You need to go."

"It's not a coincidence that your daughters sitting with us!" Kiara announced to the family, anger dropping from her words.

Dylan didn't say anything. Instead,  sh stood there glaring at the Cameron family with a look that would out them six feet under. Nobody had ever seen her look so rageful. It wasn't in her nature. But there was an animal clawing at her from inside her caged ribs. It begged and begged to come out and cause chaos.  Perhaps it had always been there, waiting for the right moment to show itself. She stood there with a deadly glare on her sunkissed face, completely dissociated from everything around her.

Pope saw the indignation on her face and he stood in front of her. "Hey," he spoke and cupped her face in his hand,  tearing her eyes away so that they were ok him. "You have every right to be angry. But I can't have you getting arrested, okay? I'd kill someone. Let's just go, okay?" He didn't try to belittle her feelings or make her feel like she shouldn't be irritable, he just wanted her safe.

Logan came over and put his hand on their backs.  "Come on, kids." He spoke and guided them away with the others. 

Dylan still didn't speak. If she said anything, it would come out hostile. She walked away with her feelings swallowed in her throat, the caged animal still clawing at her.

By the end of the trial, everyone knew that John B was facing the death penalty. It was all over the news. Almost everyone on the island was happy that justice was served, while the remaining group who knew exactly what happened were running out of options. It was pouring rain outside, the first rainy day in God knows how long. 

It represented exactly how Dylan was feeling. She was angry, sad, resentful, and vengeful.

The Pogues were gathered in the Chateau as the rain hit against the caved in roof. Dylan's head was rested on Pope's chest and they squeezed in the chair together. Her eyes were settled on JJ's shoes. She still felt dissociated. She was beyond exhausted.

"I'm gonna testily under oath," Sarah announced after a long while of silence. "I was there. I just need to get a hold of my sister."

"Sister?" JJ repeated like he heard her wrong.

"Kie, DJ, do either of you have your phones?"

Kiara handed her the phone.

"Wheezie is the only other person that knows Rafe wasn't home that day." Sarah claimed.

"Wheezie?"

Dylan rolled her eyes. "J, stop contradicting her." She defended the girl.

"I don't know what else to do. I got us into this mess. I'm gonna do my best to get us out!" Sarah exclaimed.

She lifted her head. "Sarah, this isn't your fault."

"It is, D!" She argued and went inside the house to call her sister.

JJ scoffed. "Wheezie? Yeah, that'll work."

Dylan heavily rolled her eyes and looked his way. "Do you have another idea? Because I would love to hear it." She said out of annoyance.

"As a matter of fact, Dylan, I do. We kidnap
Shoupe—"

"Oh my god." She groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"That is actually the worst idea I've ever heard." Pope argued, his frustration just the same as his girlfriends.

"It's pretty bad." Sarah said from inside the house.

"You know? Please, just stay out of this," JJ snapped at her. He looked forward again at Pope. "Okay, Pope, look, we've been doing everything your way, and how has that worked out?"

"A whole lot better than potentially kidnapping a cop!" Dylan quarreled, defended Pope.

"Do you have an ideas in that big brain of yours then?" He shot back, pointing a finger at her.

"Yeah," she answered hostily and stood up from the chair. "We let my dad handle it. John B's in good hands with him."

"That's not enough, DJ!" JJ boomed, his arms flying up.

Pope immediately stood up as well. "Okay, okay, so what's your plan? You're gonna storm a hail, guns-a-blazing?" He questioned.

"Look, all I'm trying to get you two to understand is they got our boy," JJ said to them, calming down. "They have him, Dylan." He said to the girl, knowing they were feeling the exact same about the situation. "Are we just gonna sit here and do nothing? No! We're gonna go get his ass. We're gonna do something about it!"

"Hey, hey, look," Dylan spoke and put her hand on the back of his neck. "I get it, okay? I'm just as angry as you are. But we're not going to be able to get him out if we get arrested as well? It's not happening."

He stared her, his watercolor eyes blazing. "Fine then. You stay here and mope around like you've been doing all day. Do nothing. I'm gonna see what I can do."

"JJ!" Kiara scoffed at his words.

Pope stepped closer to him, glaring. "Hey, don't take your anger out on her. If you want to go crazy and get your ass arrested, then we can't stop you."

But Dylan's anger had already bubbled to the surface. "You know what? Fuck you, JJ!" She exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears.

JJ looked at her in shock, along with the others.

"And fuck you for not having faith in my dad! All he wants to do is protect John B. That's all he's ever done!" She shouted again. She was more heartbroken than she was angry.

She pushed past him and Pope. "Dylan, don't leave." Kiara said to her and she made her way to the door.

Sarah came running out. "DJ, don't go."

The girl left the Chateau and ignored the way she was getting soaked from the rain. She immediately ran to her bike and climbed on, peddling away. From inside, Pope looked at JJ again and he shook his head. "You know, you think you're the only one who's pissed off but you have no idea how she's feeling." He snapped.

"I know exactly how she's feeling, Pope. She's my best friend!" JJ exclaimed.

"Then stop making her feel like shit!"

"Okay, stop!" Kiara and Sarah shouted over them.  "Guys, stop!"

The two boys stood there glaring at each other. One thing about JJ was that it was hard for him to admit when he was wrong. He didn't mean to be hostile, he was just mad. He was mad at everything right now. Not saying anything else, he quickly left the Chateau and slammed the door behind him.

Pope exhaled deeply and rubbed his face. "Should we be worried?" He questioned.

"Yes, for sure." Kiara immediately responded. "I'm glad that we have Logan but we all know how this ends. It doesn't end with justice. We have to do something."

"Yeah, I know." He muttered with another heavy sigh.  "I'm gonna dig in hard into anything I can find out about this key because that tape that Limbrey has,  that's exculpatory evidence. If we can get it to Logan,  then that means he has everything he needs to prove John B's innocence."

"Yeah, yeah. We can try." She nodded.

Pope nodded as well. He released another sigh. "He pisses me off. DJ's worrying herself to death over this whole thing and all he does is throw it in her face." He spoke with worry laced in his words.

Kiara smiled sadly. "I know. She's lucky to have someone like you to always defend her." She patted his arm. "Go make sure she doesn't try and tear down a building."

He chuckled slightly and left the Chateau.