WILD RIDE (Rafe Cameron x OC) *COMPLETE*

Chapter Forty-Five (Alana)

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Alana

Rafe was gone all night with Carla and Shrimpy. I actually slept in for once but woke up to the sound of Sarah calling out for Wheezie. I opened the bedroom door and called out to her.

"Sarah?"

She turned her entire body and looked at me. "What the hell happened in the dining room?"

"We have a lot to catch up on... Get everyone and bring them here now."

I tell her and within an hour the dining room of Tannyhill is filled with all the Pogues. JJ is still being weird toward me and Kie is shockingly being completely normal.

Pope is holding the diary of Denmark Tanny that I had found at the other estate. I gave it to him that day because it didn't feel right for me to hold onto it. And with my luck at the time Ward would have found it and would have done something to punish me for being against him. And he certainly would have dragged Rafe into it too.

"How did you know to uncover this?" Kie asks.

I shake my head. "I wasn't down here. But the wall got messed up yesterday when Rafe punched a hole in the wall. I think when Carla came here and wanted to find the island room that's how they figured out this was the room."

"It is." Wheezie says from behind and all of us jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"That's Wheezie? That's related to Sarah and Rafe?" JJ points at Wheezie and I put my arm around her and grill him.

"Can you not be a jerk for two seconds?" I say to JJ who looks at Sarah. "I'm still confused about her name."

Something we agree on. "Don't even go there." I stop him while he's ahead. "Pope, is there anything about this in the diary? I tried to read it that day but obviously none of it would have made sense."

"Well this was all drawn by Denmark that's for sure. He's a genius. I'm just.. Why would he do this?" Pope says as he compares drawings and writing from the book.

"So you guys don't know what happened?" John B stares at Wheezie and I. I shake my head. "Alana don't lie to me. Please."

"John B, I went upstairs. I couldn't look that woman in the face. She... She knew who I was without me having to say anything. Big John's girl. That's what she said when she saw me. She knew my name, John B."

He swallows hard. "She asked me about you the few times I saw her."

"There's something weird about her." I tell him. "She knew Rafe by name too. So unless you and Sarah showed her some family photo albums this woman is a stalker. She knew Ward and Dad and... This is just a lot."

I sit down in the dining room chair and feel my head spinning in circles.

"You okay?" John B touches my shoulder and I nod. "You don't have to come with us for any of this if you're not feeling up to it. I know it's been a lot for you here trying to hold everything together. I can't imagine what you're going through." He leans closer. "Sarah told me about the video from Ward..."

I nod. "The look on his face when he admitted to killing Dad... The worst part is.. I can't be mad at him for it. I'm almost glad... Dad stole from everything from me."

"Alana it was only some money-"

"No. He stole my youth. John B, it wasn't normal for you and I to start having jobs as kids to pay for food and to keep the lights on. We shouldn't have had to live that way. Why? Because Dad was obsessed with finding a treasure that you found in two weeks? He spent twenty years looking and never found it. We were just always in his way of greatness and you know that as well as I do. He'll do anything for treasure and unfortunately my name and yours isn't treasure. It's Flower and Bird."

"But Ward had no right to kill him." John B says. "He was still our dad."

I shake my head with disgust. "At least we know he won't show up on our doorstep like a stray dog anymore with empty promises and hallow apologies that mean nothing. We know that he won't use us for money ever again. It sucks his death was at the hands of my husband's father but fuck, John B, our pain is over."

"That's really how you feel?" John B looked down on me and removed his hand from my shoulder. "Alana... Ward never gave our father the chance to change. Aren't you all about believing people can change?"

"If he wasn't going to change for his children their entire lives what makes you think that once we reached adulthood he'd finally change?"

Kie stepped over and gazed at John B with sorrow. "I hate to even think this way but Alana's right. There's closure now and Ward is gone too. It's not like he's living freely for what he did to your dad but now you all can just.. Move on."

"I'm sorry-" Pope pauses from his looking all around the room. "Did you actually say that Rafe is your husband? I thought JJ was talking out his ass on that one."

"Why would I lie?" JJ throws his hands in the air. "My ex-girlfriend got married on a ratty piece of paper and thinks it's legit."

"Um," Sarah pointed to John B. "We got married with a bandana on a boat."

"At least my marriage is on paper... Rafe put it in a frame and hung it on the wall." I blush as I think of how it's hanging right above our bed. Whenever I get upset with him I look at how I signed my name so effortlessly that day. Alana M. Cameron just felt so right. It even sounds better than Alana Routledge... Alana Cameron.

JJ points to the painting of the angel oak. "Hey... This has a key hole. Maybe this is the angel Denmark was talking about?"

Everyone dances around happily and I stay seated. My head still spinning from everything that's happened. My stomach ready to spill if I even think of standing up too fast. John B looks at me and even though I can tell he doesn't agree with my stance on our father's death he's still concerned and worried for me.

"You coming with us?" He asks.

I shake my head. "Rafe has my location so-"

My jaw drops and I reach in my pocket for my phone. "Guys, I'm so stupid. If Rafe's with Limbrey and Shrimpy, then I can give you the exact address to go to." I flash my phone and John B laughs loudly. "Okay, so they're at the tree right now it looks like."

"Who's Shrimpy?" JJ looks at me like he wants to laugh. His eyes flashing up and down at me and I look down and away from him.

"Limbrey's little yapper." I confess. "I don't know his name and he just looks Shrimpy to me."

JJ busts out laughing before approaching me. "You sure you don't want to come with us?"

"And risk running into Rafe? He's pissed because someone," My eyes land on Sarah with a death glare. "Let it slip that you and I hung out recently."

"It wasn't hanging out." JJ scoffs and looks at Sarah. "Don't go off getting your sister-in-law in trouble now. We were just trying to break John B out of jail."

Sarah throws her hands in the air. "You know I was going to argue that she's not technically my sister-in-law but either way she would be. Me being married to John B and her being married to Rafe. No escaping it, huh?"

I watch as the little dot with Rafe's contact photo on the map moves slightly. Circling the tree. "Guys, you better get going soon. I'm sure they probably found the cross by now. And if Rafe has it.. He's not letting it go. He'll kill Limbrey and Shrimpy for it since the gold is missing-"

Fuck.

Fuck I wasn't supposed to say that. I feel like fucking Hagrid in Harry Potter every single time he blurt out the biggest secret to those damn kids.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that and we're going to go now." John B says with a subtle nod. "You stay here and let us know if anything major happens."