ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

FOURTEEN... where 'X' marks the spot

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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That next morning, everything seemed to be okay again.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the air was calm— nothing seemed out of place. This was a pleasant way to wake up Collins concluded, being as she had spent the majority of her night fussing about the possibility that John B was suffering from worse injuries that they weren't aware of. It kept her up much too late so she hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep (an occurrence that seemed to be happening a lot more regularly than she would've liked). The only reason she was even awake at a decent hour was because of Charlie's bustling around the house while he was getting ready for work and he interrupted her sleep. And Charlie rarely ever woke up before her.

He'd knocked on her door and cracked it open just a bit as he poked his head in to check on her. Collins was buried under blankets with her bed head forming a nest on her pillow. She grumbled tiredly and squinted at him, finding difficulty in opening her eyes any wider than the slits she had them in.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was my sister's room, not the troll under the bridge." He dodged the throw pillow that she hurled his way, shielding himself with the door. He smirked to himself and took her response as an invitation instead of a deterrent, stepping into her room and walking over to her bed and taking a seat at the end. "You plan on checking in on John B today?"

He said it with a quieter, more lighthearted tone. Collins had debriefed him on the whole situation the night before when she came home, exhausted from the physical and mental wear and tear of the day. He knew that John B had been ushered to the hospital, and like her, had been pretty worried about his recovery. She'd told him a bit of a lie to avoid revealing that the reason they were even at the Hawk's Nest was so John B could retrieve a map that would aid them in their treasure hunt. So instead, Collins resorted to airing out John B's dirty laundry and telling Charlie that he was there on a secret meet-up with Sarah Cameron.

"No fucking way." Charlie had deadpanned. "John B and Rafe's little sister. That's diabolical. You should kick his ass for that."

If there was anything that could distract Charlie from probing the situation, it was illicit affairs. He lived for them. It's why he loved working at the country club, he got loads of it-- plus the tips for his silence weren't too bad either.

"She might not even be all that bad." Collins had protested softly. John B was right; Sarah and Rafe are two different people. It wouldn't really be fair of her to make preemptive assumptions about who Sarah was based on Kie's own issues with her and who she was related to. Not to mention that before Collins had started taking care of John B, Sarah was the one who'd been with him and shed tears in prayer for his wellbeing. That had to count for something.

Charlie had just scoffed and shook his head. "Well, she's already put him in the hospital. Now that's what I'd call a sign. You should tell John B to run before she breaks his legs next and makes it physically impossible for him."

"She said Topper was the one that shoved him. But I don't really remember if he was actually there, I was kind of more concerned about John B."

"So like, you never actually saw Topper, Sarah just claimed that it was his fault?" Collins nodded, realizing how poorly it made the girl look. "And who would Topper be shoving people off elevated platforms for?" Charlie questioned with his brows raised.

Sarah. That's who. His girlfriend. Unless they weren't together anymore, but it wouldn't really matter if they were or not. Collins just went to bed after that.