CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
( ! rainy chase ! )

IT HAD GROWN dark and the four were still outside of Gavin's house. The plan was to scare him into leaving home by telling him someone knew his secret. Marley just hoped it would work.

"Why does she get to tickle?" JJ complained with a frown. Marley would have joined in, but Kie was much better at accents than she was if they were needed. "She's the best tickler." Pope replied.

"Should I like do an accent?" Kie questioned. "Do the british." Marley nodded quickly. Pope sighed. "Definitely disguise your voice." Kie switched to the accent Marley wanted. "Disguise my voice now? How would you like me to talk? Talk like this?" Marley nodded. "Yes." But JJ shook his head. "Not like that." Pope agreed with JJ instantly. "Not like that, no. Batman."

Kie lowered her voice. "Batman." Marley shook her head quickly but learned fast that her opinion was not being taken into account. "There you go." Pope praised. "Spot-on. Let's do it." JJ agreed.

Kie nodded and pressed the call button on her phone. They waited as the phone rang, all shushing each other in the process. "Hello?" Could be heard from the other side of the phone. Kie took in a breath, readying her Batman voice. "Hello."

She turned around to look at her friends. "I can't. I cant." Marley threw her hands up. "This is why my vote was on British." Pope just shook his head. "Just talk."

"Hello?" Gavin questioned, wondering why the line had become quiet. Kie cleared her throat. "Is Gavin there?" Gavin responded quickly. "This is Gavin. Who's this? Hello?"

"I know what happened on the tarmac." Kie stated, getting straight to the point. Gavin could be heard nervously chuckling on the other end. "Um... who's this?" Kie just continued. "It was Rafe Cameron. But you already knew that, and you lied about it."

"Okay. Who is this?" Gavin questioned again. "We're gonna prove it. You're guilty." Kie kept going on. Gavin was quickly becoming flustered. "You're gonna tell me who this is right now." Kie was now getting a bit angry. "You could have saved her, Gavin, and you didn't. And you're not getting away with this."

Now it was Gavins turn to get angry. "Listen to me! Who is this?" Kie hung up the phone and looked between her friends. "How was that?" JJ nodded. "Yeah, I was scared. Good job." Marley nodded as well. "Yeah I'm proud."

"All right. We tickled the wire. Phase two complete. Now we wait and listen." Pope instructed.

Marley watched carefully from her seat as Gavin moved out of his house and into his car. He started it up and was quick to begin to take off, wasting no time. "All right. Hey, here he comes. Stay down." Pope bossed, making sure everyone stayed safe.

JJ leaned against Marley, pulling her down under him as he watched. Gavin drove past the car without a second thought. "He didn't see us. Hit it." JJ insisted. "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. My seatbelt. My seatbelt." Pope urged, both hurrying Kie and stopping her from moving.

"Are you seriously buckling up now?" JJ questioned, shocked by Popes ability to slow down his own plan. "Yes, I am." Pope replied, tugging on his seatbelt. "Yes, because that is super important right now, thank you. Safety first." Marley sarcastically spoke, bouncing her leg up and down as Kie just began to drive.

They followed behind Gavin, waiting for Pope to let them know what conversation was happening in Gavins car. "It's Ward. He's talking to Ward."

"It's Ward?" JJ questioned nervously. "Are you serious?" Kie clarified. Marley frowned. She hated that she was still conflicted. No, she wasn't conflicted. She knew exactly where she stood and how much she hated Ward Cameron. The only problem was that part of her still saw him as her uncle who'd let her do ballet steps in his kitchen because it was bigger and she had promised to get him into her shows for free.

But now he was just Ward, the man who pinned a murder his son committed on poor John B just because he could. Money should never equal more power, but it almost always does.

Pope shook his head. "Get clo... get closer. I cant hear." Kie nodded, speeding up for a second to get the car closer to Gavins. "He's talking about negotiating something. Re... renegotiating."

Pope gasped suddenly. "Gavins got the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin. He's got it." Marleys eyes widened. Her feelings on Rafe were much simpler than hers towards Ward.

Rafe had always been an asshole. From cutting her pigtails as kids all the way to pushing her into a pool before she could swim. He'd always been insane, now it was just unlocked passed anywhere it had been before.

"I think he's trying to use it as extortion, as leverage." Pope concluded. "This is crazy, jesus crist." Marley sighed, face going into her hands. Kie then noticed something. "Wait, he's pulling over."

"Shit. He's panicking." Pope cursed. "Do I pull behind him? What do I do?" Kie freaked. JJ began making a circular motion with his finger while Pope instructed Kie. "Just got around the block."

Kie drove past Gavin and Marley watched as he silently fought over the phone. "We're gonna lose him." Kie frowned. "Go, go, go!" JJ urged. "I'm going. I'm going." Kie shouted back.

"I can't hear anything. Shit. I'm losing the signal. I cant hear him." Pope groaned. Marley looked forwards to see a roadblock, rolling her eyes because that was just their luck. "What the hell is this?" JJ questioned. Pope was now freaking out. "Stop. Just stop and turn around now."

"Pull in here and back up." JJ figured. Kie nodded. "I'm just gonna back up." But then a forklift began being ushered right behind them. "What are you doing?" JJ yelled at the construction workers. "Are you kidding?" Kie screamed.

JJ crawled over Marley, forcing her to push herself against the car as he opened her door. "Hey! We were about to back up. You literally had to do that now?" Kie watched as Pope exited the car and began running. "What are you doing?" JJ quickly noticed it too. "Wait! Pope!"

"We gotta know where they're meeting." Pope yelled as he continued running. Marley shoved JJ lightly. "JJ, move." He quickly got out, apologizing before helping her out of the car. JJ then opened Kies door. "We're going after him, right?" She nodded. "Yep."

JJ grabbed Marleys hand, sprinting after Pope and pulling her along with him so there was no chance they'd get separated. The three chased after Pope, running through random Kook backyards.

Marley watched as Pope hopped a fence, groaning as she would now have to do the same. JJ got there first, bending down to give Marley a leg up. She took it quickly, throwing herself over the fence and landing on her feet.

Next over was Kie, who Marley helped steady as JJ jumped over by himself. Once they were all over, they began to chase Pope once more.

JJ was ahead of the girls again but began to slow when seeing Pope wasn't running anymore. "Sean? Ah, this is where you live, you Kook? Goddamn."

Marley this time pulled JJ after herself to make it over to Pope, who was now hiding behind a bush. Kie and JJ made it right behind her and Pope instantly gave Kie a look. "What? What does that mean?" Kie questioned. "Did you hear something?" JJ added. "Spit it out!" Marley finished, watching Pope stutter out his response.

"He... he's meeting Ward right now. We gotta go." Pope hurried, the group now all sprinting back towards Kies car. Marley was finding out just how much she hated running.

IT WAS POURING down now as the four hid behind a fence across from the construction site near the surf shop. Pope now held a camera in his hand that Marley hadn't even thought to question. But JJ did. "Nice camera. Where'd you dig up that relic? Why don't you just use your phone?"

Pope turned to JJ. "Well, first of all, I like my antique electronics. Second of all, this is a telephoto. It allows me to get close image from far away." Marley shook her head. "That is the nerdiest thing I've heard today." Kie nodded in agreement. "Lord of the dorks."

Pope looked between the two. "For definitive proof of witness payoff, we're gonna need quality glass." Marley nodded. "Yeah, totally. Still nerdy though."

"There he is." Pope realized, seeing Ward running. JJ pulled Pope down. "Yo, get down." Marley listened from the other side of Pope, grabbing Kies arm and pulling her down too.

From the other side, Gavin went running. "And there's Gavin." Pope narrated. Pope began recording on his camera, putting it against his eye. "Where are you going, you son of a bitch?"

The two went into the site, and the group could no longer see them. "No, no, no, no. I'm losing him. Shit. Wheres he going?"

"Hold on." JJ stated, jogging away from the group. He looked around for a second before turning back towards his friends with a whistle. "Yo! Hey. I found something. Come here."

Marley ran back towards where JJ was, Kie and Pope following behind. JJ went running again once they all made it to him. "Gotta go up top."

Marley followed JJ to a rusty ladder. She frowned for a moment before grabbing on once he was up enough and she began climbing, thanking whoever was up there that she wasn't afraid of heights.

"That'll work." Pope nodded, following after Marley. Kie hurried him. "Hurry. Don't wanna miss anything." Marley made her way all the way up, JJ instantly trying to help. She sent him a small smile, letting him know she had it down. He nodded, having to help Pope before Kie got up on her own.

The four ran to the edge of the roof, bending down to watch. "You rolling, Pope?" JJ questioned. "Are you getting it?" Kie added nervously. "Yeah. Yeah, I see them." Pope nodded.

Marley tried to wipe her face just a bit, but the rain was falling so hard it made no difference. "Ward just handed Gavin something. I think it's a duffel bag." Pope stated, letting the group in on what he saw.

"Guys, I think this is a payoff." JJ realized. Marley frowned, the more she found out about how dirty her uncle really was the less and less she felt bad for when he'd get what was coming to him.

Pope noticed something else quickly. "Gavin doesn't look too happy about something. It looks like he's yelling at Ward." Kie squinted. "Why?" Pope shrugged. "I don't know, but he sure looks mad."

"Shit!" Pope suddenly cussed and Marley focused her attention back on the bits she could see. But she could clearly see the fight that had broken out. "Woah, woah, woah." JJ freaked. "What's going on?" Kie questioned quickly, having the worst view of them all. Pope shrugged. "I dunno. They're fighting over something."

"They're really going at it." JJ noted. "Wards kicking the shit out of Gavin." Pope narrated once more. "What are they fighting over?" JJ questioned but Pope still had the same answer. "I don't know."

"Holy shit. Wards got a gun." Pope gasped. "I bet that's the murder weapon." Kie realized. But then Marley looked down and she was all kinds of confused. She lightly pulled on JJs sleeve and he looked down to her confused. "What's up, Mar?"

"Why— why is my dad here?" Marley questioned, pointing down to see her own father running into the construction site. The other three quickly looked down but Pope had to look back up to watch Ward. "Do you think he knows?" Kie questioned. Marley shook her head, he couldn't. "No. He wouldn't— he couldn't know. He must think it's just money help, I mean, he has his own duffel bag."

JJ rubbed Marleys back lightly. Pope and Kie sent the other a small glance, each keeping a mental note to come back to Marleys dad later. She knew she hadn't had the best relationship with him, but he couldn't be apart of this. It was all too much.

"Hey, Mar? I need you to breathe for me, okay? Can you do that?" JJ questioned nervously. Marley hadn't even realized she had stopped until JJ questioned her. He softly stroked her back, breathing in and out with her.

Marleys head was spinning but she had to focus again. So, she focused on her breathing until it was better and watched silently as her father began holding his hands out towards Ward, pulling him away from Gavin.

But Gavin said something and the next thing Marley knew, there was a bang and a flash— then Gavin was bent over himself and Ward still had the gun in his hand.

Marley gasped, letting JJ pull her down so her back was against the wall with everyone else's. "Oh my god. Oh my god." Pope freaked. "No, no, no, no. That did not just happen." Kie freaked.

Marley watched as her hands began to shake. Her uncle just shot someone. He shot him without a second thought. Just aim and boom, gone. JJ grabbed Marleys hands in his own, pulling them towards his lap as he looked at Pope. "Tell me you just got that."

"Enough to put this asshole away for life." Pope responded. Another bang sounded and a whimper left Marleys lips as the tears and the rain mixed together.

Pope scooted closer. "This is fricken crazy." JJ and Kie both looked back towards Ward again, but Marley stayed huddled down. They watched as Michael put his hand on his brothers back, saying something quietly.

And then all three pogues bent right back down because Ward had just looked right at them. "I think we should go right now." JJ freaked. "Pope, you have enough, right?" Pope nodded. "Yeah."

"Hold on. He's coming out." Pope recorded. "So is Michael. They have the bags. I think they're looking for the gun." Pope gasped. "I think the gun went down the drain. They're looking for it. Hey. He's looking for the gun."

"Hold this." Kie instructed. "Kie, what are you doing?" JJ questioned. "Kie—"

"What is wrong with you?" Murderer!" Kie screamed and JJ pulled her down as quickly as he could. Kie continued to scream, trying to get her point out. Marleys eyes widened, trying to shush Kie as quickly as possible.

"Kiara. Are you crazy?" Pope questioned. JJ shook his head. "What are you doing?" Kie glared between the two. "I don't care if he hears me. He's a murderer."

"Yeah, and he's gonna murder us, Kie." JJ responded. Marley put her hands through her hair. "Can you both stop?"

Pope began to freak out suddenly. "Guys, he sees us." JJ shot his head up. "Are you serious?" Pope bent down and ushered them all off the roof. "Come on. We gotta go. He's coming."

Marley followed after Pope as he went down the ladder. JJ hurried behind Marley, making sure she was down before going down himself. Many shouts of hurry's and go's were passed between the group, all trying to leave.

Kie went after JJ, trying to get down quick. But the she stepped on his hand and nothing good came from that. JJ let go of the ladder, dropping down on Marley who was dropped on Pope and his camera.

"Sorry. So sorry." Kie apologized, getting down the ladder completely. Marley pushed herself off the ground, ignoring her scrapped up palms and knees and her inevitable bruses later.

"No, no, no, no, no." Pope sounded, holding his camera. JJ gasped. "You're kidding me. You fumbled it?" Pope turned to JJ, the same anger laced in his own voice. "You dropped on Marley! Who fell on top of me!" JJ pointed towards Kie. "She stepped on my hand."

"I was trying to hurry." Kie responded in defense of herself. Marley groaned. "Let's just go!" The other three nodded, assuming Ward would be coming their way. Marley hopped her dad had already left. That he had been there for money support and left after it all got too crazy. But she didn't know.

They all hopped a shorter fence and once Pope made it over, the sound of footsteps could be heard stopping where they once were.

Marley ran towards Kies car as quickly as she could, getting into the backseat and sliding over to JJs old spot so he could just get in the quicker way. Kie and Pope both got in as well, panting as they shut their doors.

"Could someone fill me in on what the frick just happened?" JJ yelled, anger rushing through him. Pope just groaned angrily in response. "Holy crap. I can't believe it. Wait, wait. What were they fighting over?" JJ questioned for clarity.

"Uh... it was... it was a gun, the one Rafe used. He must have kept it." Pope responded, trying to see if his camera would work at all. JJ fixed his hat. "Of course! Of course! The murder weapon!"

"Pick up, pick up, pick up." Kie softly cried. All attention quickly turned to her. "Who are you calling?" JJ freaked. "Who do you think?" Kie replied.

Popes eyes widened. "The cops?" Kie looked between them all. "Who else am I supposed to call?" JJ began yelling. "Why would you call the police? That's Ward! It's Ward!"

"Sheriffs office." Kie screamed at everyone. "Shut up! Hello? Hi, somebody's been shot at the... at the Grand Street construction site! You guys need to hurry because he's dying. I don't know if he's already dead or not! But you guys need to hurry!"

"We gotta get out. We're sitting ducks right now, okay?" JJ freaked once Kie hung up the phone. "We can't stay here." Pope agreed. Kie turned to him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just drive!" Pope responded and they were off.

Marley put her face in her hands, crouched over herself in silence just trying to make sense of everything. Her mind felt like it was going to explode and she didn't know what to believe and what not to believe.

Her hands shook against her face but she kept her head buried, just trying to find some sort of comfort with herself. But all she felt was the cold wet shakiness of her own hands.