Sea You Soon // An Outer Banks Fanfiction

25- Witnesses

When I woke up the next morning, JJ was gone. I checked the drawer in my nightstand and saw that the gun was missing. JJ had left me a note. "I'm sorry I had to leave without telling you, but I have to do this alone."

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I went into the living room and saw Pope sitting on the couch, watching TV. 

"Did you see JJ leave?" I asked frantically.

"What? JJ's not with you?" Pope responded, confused.

"No, he's not here. The gun is gone and he left me a note saying that he needed to do this alone. He shouldn't have gone to talk to Barry by himself."

"Paisley, JJ knows what he's doing," Pope said, trying to comfort me.

"Okay, but that doesn't make me worry about him any less," I replied.

Sarah and Kie came out of John B's room. "Did JJ really go to Barry's by himself?" Kiara asked. 

"Yes," I sighed. "He's such an idiot."

"I have my car. We could drive to go be with him, if you want," Kie suggested.

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard," Pope interjected. "Just let JJ handle it. He's tough."

I rolled my eyes and walked outside. I sat down on the porch and wrapped my arms around my legs. 

I sat on the porch for most of the morning, just staring in front of me. After a while, Sarah came out and asked me if I wanted something to eat. "I'm okay," I responded quietly. 

It felt like an eternity later when I saw the van pulling up the drive. I jumped up and ran out to meet JJ. When he got out of the van I hugged him without saying a word.

"Wow, I didn't think you would be this excited to see me," JJ said, chuckling and hugging me back. 

"I was really worried about you. I didn't think that you were actually going to go by yourself," I responded.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, but I didn't want to put anyone else in danger," he said.

I pulled away and asked, "What did Barry say?"

"Let's go inside and I'll tell everyone what happened," JJ replied.

When we went through the front door, everyone looked relieved to see that JJ was actually alive. We all gathered around, and JJ told us what happened with Barry. "Barry is an asshole, so it took a little bit of convincing, but he's going to come testify against Rafe. Apparently he pissed Barry off because he still owes him money or something."

"How did you convince him?" I asked.

"Well, I paid back the 25,000 that I stole last summer, and I told him I would give him 75,000 more if he testifies. I also told him I would beat his ass if he doesn't show," JJ told us. 

"You gave him a hundred thousand dollars?" Kie yelled.

"Shit Kie, what else was I supposed to do? We want to keep John B out of prison, right?" JJ argued.

"Thank you, JJ," I whispered, hugging him.

Pope spoke up, "Okay, so we have enough evidence to get Rafe in prison and free John B, but what about Ward? He's going to cause all kinds of problems for us."

"I can't believe that I'm actually trying to get my dad and my brother in prison," Sarah said. "John B told me a while back that Lana Grubbs, Scooter's wife, knows about everything my dad did. Ward confessed to her that he killed Big John."

I started tearing up. I had heard the rumors, but I didn't know that it was actually true. JJ looked over at me and pulled me into a hug. "It's okay, bug," he whispered, kissing my forehead. 

"Why don't we try to go talk to Lana and see if she'll come testify against Ward?" JJ suggested.

"Do you think she'll be willing to talk?" Kie asked. "She probably wants nothing to do with this shit anymore."

"Yeah, but like most people, she probably wants to do the right thing," Pope pointed out. 

"Why don't we go talk to her now?" I said.

"I don't think all of us should go," Kie said. "We might overwhelm her."

"That's true," JJ responded. "I can just go and talk to her."

"I want to come with you," I said.

"Are you sure, Pais?" JJ asked.

"Yes, JJ," I replied. 

"We might as well go now," JJ said, grabbing the keys to the van. He took my hand and led me out the front door. 

When we got to Lana's house, I started to feel really nervous. I just hoped that she was going to be willing to help us. JJ could tell that something was off, and he put his arm around me as we walked to the front door. 

JJ knocked softly, and we could hear footsteps behind the door. It took a couple of minutes, but Lana slowly opened the door.

She looked confused when she saw us. "Come on in, guys," Lana said, looking around cautiously. 

"Sit down." She gestured to the couches in the living room.

Once we were all settled, she asked, "What are you two doing here?"

JJ placed his hand on my leg and softly said, "Let me handle this."

He looked at Lana and said, "I'm just going to get right to the point. Ward killed Big John, and we know that he told you all about it. We need a witness. John B is sitting in jail, and we need to clear his name. If you come and testify, we will have enough evidence to put both Ward and his son in prison."

I interjected, "Ward is a dangerous man, and we know that you know that. He needs to be punished for what he has done to my family."

Lana spoke, "I'll do it. I'm sick of sitting to the side and doing nothing. Let me know when you need me, and I'll talk."

"Thank you so much," I said, standing up and walking over to give Lana a hug. "This really means a lot to us." 

"I'm happy that I can help, sweetie. Your father was a good man."

Lana led us to the door, and we got in the van to head home. When we got to the house, we told everyone the good news. We decided that we would head to the station tomorrow to see John B and find out when his trial date was.