This is Me Trying ⭑ Rafe Cameron

thirty eight

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
[38]
song: damaged goods by gang of four

Cassie struggled to keep the choking feeling down her throat as she pinned her phone to her ear, and listened to it ring on the other end.

"Where are you?" JJ asked when he picked up.

She didn't even want to say the words out loud. "It's Kie. Anna and Mike, they called Kitty Hawk, okay? She's gone. She's not at her house."

JJ was quiet for a few seconds. "You serious?"

She was in such a state of panic, she couldn't help but snap back at him. "Yes!" She says. "I can't— I don't have the car— are you... we can't just leave her?"

"Chill out for a sec, we're not going to." JJ says. "Hold on."

Cassie thought about Kiara. Wondered if they dragged her into the van in the same way. If they didn't say a word to her the entire drive to Bodie Island, and she was just sat there for an hour without any clue as to where she was going.

JJ was speaking to whoever was on the tarmac. John B, it sounded like, but she couldn't hear him very well. "How easy do you think it'd be to break into Kitty Hawk?" He asked, turning back to the phone.

"You're gonna break in to a rehab center?!" Cassie hears Pope say.

"It's Kie, man." JJ responds to him, impatiently. "Cassie?" He turns back to the phone.

Considering any other options was not an option. And it were moments like these where the Maybank impulsivity really pulled through. Because if Cassie took a second to think things over, there was no way she would've gone through with this. "It's doable." She says.

That was all JJ needed to hear. "I'll come get you."

The Twinkie came to a screeching halt in front of Cassie, where she was sat on a bench near the fishing docks. Actually, The Twinkie barely came to a 'halt' at all, before Cassie climbed into the side door, and JJ took off again.

He glanced at her, and then back to the road. "How long do we have?" Cassie asked quickly, as she climbed over to the front passenger seat.

"I was gonna ask you." JJ says, quickly losing confidence.

He turns a sharp corner without slowing down, and Cassie about slammed into the window. "Jesus!" She shouts. "We can't do anything if you kill us both."

JJ looks at her again, this time like he'd just forgot something very important, then remembered again. "Sorry."

Cassie swallows harshly and buckles her seatbelt. "Just get to Bodie Island."

"Bodie Island? The jet is already here, they're waiting on us!" He says frantically.

"Why are you acting surprised?! You picked me up from there?!" She then flung her arms out towards the windshield. "Stop sign!"

JJ slammed on the breaks, and the both of them flung forward as the van came to a sudden stop. Cassie sent him a sharp glare. "Get out. I'm driving." She says.

He couldn't really pose an argument, just nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt.

Climbing into the driver's seat, Cassie took a breath, then spoke again. "How long can they wait?" She asks, beginning to drive again.