The Sinner

35

The next day I slept in late.

I'm not sure if it's because of the mental exhaustion I was experiencing. Or maybe it was simply the fact that my body is completely drained.

All I know is that I won't be able to do this for much longer. I can't keep going around with Rafe and telling lies any more. Who knows who he'll murder next.

What if it's me?

I shook the chilling thought out of my head. He loves you. He wouldn't kill you.

Rafe was gone, who knows where he went. In all fairness, it is almost one o'clock in the afternoon.

I run a hand through my hair as I sit up from his comfortable bed. I sigh, trying to wake up as I can hear voices talking quite loudly from another part of the house.

I get out of bed, my feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. I walk towards the door and open it slowly so that it doesn't creak.

"All I know is that John B is gonna get caught, they're gonna find him and he's gonna tell them everything," It was Ward. Maybe he was talking to Rafe?

"Ward, it's okay!" it wasn't Rafe trying to calm him down, it was Rose. "Okay yeah, they'll catch him maybe. But it's your word against his."

I could see why he was stressed. It didn't make sense why John B was running if he was innocent. Only people that run look guilty.

"There's too many loose threads, besides Sarah's out there. She's probably down talking to the police right now."

"If she was talking to the police, don't you think they'd be here right now?" Rose says.

"Yeah....Yeah you're right," Ward says. I walk down the hall, and notice that they're outside on the balcony. I rest my head against the doorframe. "All of this is my fault. Rafe, is falling apart."

"Yeah, I know," Rose says softly. I think we all know that deep down. He was just the first to admit it.

"What he did was because of me Rose," His tone was very harsh. I'm shocked by the way he screams at her sometimes. "This is all going to blow up in my face."

"Do not take responsibility for what Rafe did," Rose says.

"I have to," Ward says. "He's not going to, he dragged poor Corrine into this - it's all a fucking mess."

"There is something seriously wrong with him Ward. But that's not your fault," Rose says. Ward sighs.

"Whatever is wrong with him isn't something I want to get into right now Rose," Ward says. "We need to figure out what to do."

"Okay," She breathes. "Well, where did the kids go?"

"Rafe left a while ago, but Corrine was still sleeping, Wheezie's downstairs." It was silent between them for a while.

"What's going on with Mike? Where is he?" Mike as in my dad? Rose knew about what was going on between them?

"He's still down in Nassau, he flew down there with the gold," Ward says. What gold? What is he talking about?

"That's it," Rose breathes. "We leave, we go to Nassau. We live down there for a while."

"No, no, it looks like we're guilty then," Ward says. I walk away from the conversation quietly. I walk back into Rafe's room and pick up my phone that was still on the charger. No texts from Rafe.

I pull up our messages and type out 'where are you' and hit send. I sigh, suddenly getting nervous that he's somewhere where he's not supposed to be. He never goes anywhere without me.