✯ North Star ✯

Part 22

John b and I keep running until I hear more sirens a lot closer to us. I see my moms face and name on a sign outside of a house
"We can hide in here." I tell him running up to the house
"You sure this place is empty?" John B asks me
"Yeah it's my mom's listing" I tell him
I hear sirens even more closer so I quickly out in the passcode
"Zero two one five. My dad's birthday." I say as it opens. I grab the key and start to unlock the door
"Let's check this street. They can't be far." I hear a cop says way to close to us
"Shit. Come on. Come on" I tell him rushing in
"Go" John B tells me
I close the door and we lean against it hiding
"Nothin' here. Check the porch. I got this one. You go check next door." We hear the cop say
"Shh" john b says
"Okay will do." The cop says
"I'll go around back." He adds
One of the cops knocks on the door then walks away.
"All right..." he says
"He's probably headed over to the Cut." He adds
"Let's go. Let's go. Come on. Let's go upstairs." John b tells me
I look out the window to see Rafe and Kelce walking down the street.
"Hurry up! This way!" Rafe yells
"I can't believe that's my brother." I mumble
"They're headed to the cut" Rafe says
"Let's go down Banks Road" Kelce says as they take off

We lay down on the bed and I shine my light on the ceiling showing him the stars they have on it.
"Wow" John B says
"Sweet right?" I say
"Yeah. Hey did you know the uh... The bottom two stars in the Little Dipper point to the-" he starts to say.
"The North Star? Yeah. That's the center point.
What everything else spins around." I finish for him

We hear a dog bark and man yell outside and John b sits up gasping
"Sh sh sh." I say pulling him back down
"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I've got you." I tell him holding him
"Could you remind me of the happy ending?" He asks me
"Yeah. We're gonna meet the crew at the dock tomorrow." I say
"Yeah" John B mumbles
"Then they're gonna have the getaway boat" I tell him
"Then we go to Mexico" John B says
"You're going to be a fishing instructor" I tell him
"You're damn right" John B laughs
"And I'm going to be a surf instructor. We're gonna have a house on a beach, a dog and we'll remake the Pogue. And everything's gonna be okay" I tell him
I jump a little hearing yelling outside but John b doesn't move. I look down to see he's already asleep, so I close my eyes as well hoping to get some sleep as well.

I wake up pretty early but John b was still asleep. I decided I was going to find Shoupe and talk to him. I needed to tell him John b was innocent.
I left John b a note and started walking

I walk for a while until I find a bunch of tents and people all over the place. Reporters are standing around trying to speak to someone.
"Alright listen up. We have a blanket warrant on all residences assumed to be empty. We have checkpoints on the bridges to limit mobility. Coast guard has eyes on the water. We have some weather coming in but we've asked our nautical units to remain in position while we conduct our search of the island." I hear a man say
"Suspect is a 16-year-old white male possibly armed. Last seen in the southwest quadrant of the island." He says
I start to walk into the tent but someone stops me
"Hey ma'am." He says
"Excuse me." I say trying to walk past him
"Only authorized personnel at this point" the man says
"Is this all for John B?" I ask
"Official orders are for locals to shelter and report sightings to law enforcement." He tells me not letting me walk by
"He's not armed. I promise, he's not armed and he's not dangerous." I tell him
"We'll take a statement" the man says
"I just want... I want to talk to someone in charge." I tell him
"Wait. We're..." he starts to say
"I promise you. You're going after the wrong guy!" I yell
He starts to drag me away
"Relax! Ma'am relax." He says
"I just want to talk to someone" I tell him
"Come with me." The officer says taking me away
"No. No you don't understand. Let go of me!" I yell
"You need to calm down" the officer says
I see the man that spoke into the radio walk by
"Excuse me! SBI guy!" I yell at him
"Ma'am!" He yells
"Hi my name is Stella Camron" I tell the SBI guy
"Sorry. She just won't stop" the officer holding me tells him
"I was on the tarmac with Sheriff Peterkin. I know what happened. I was there!" I tell him
"Relax" the officer says
"Please I just want to talk! Please!" I beg
"All right all right. Sir." The SBI guy says and the
officer lets me go.
"Thank you." I say
"It's fine. How can I help you ma'am?" the SBI guy asks me
"I'm sorry" I say taking a breath
"There you are!" I hear my dad say walking towards me
"Oh my God. I've been looking everywhere for you sweetheart." Dad says
"No no no" I shake my head backing up
"We gotta let these people do their jobs. I'm very sorry" he tells the SBI guy
"No. John B didn't shoot Peterkin!" I tell him
"Stella! I can tell you that is not true. I gave a sworn deposition to the Sheriff's department. She wasn't there. She doesn't know what she's talking about." My dad says
"No. No! That's a lie!" I yell
"Stella please" Dad says
"Everything he's saying is a lie!" I yell
"Okay fine! Fine. Who did it then Stella? Who killed Sheriff Peterkin?" My dad asks me holding both sides of my arms
I let out a few shaky breaths
"Rafe." I breath out
"Jesus. God." My dad says
"My brother Rafe shot Sheriff Peterkin." I say pushing past my dad.
"I saw. He had the gun." I tell the SBI guy
"He was home at the time. My wife can attest to that. I apologize" my dad says grabbing me
"No! No! No!" I say trying to get out of his grip
"Please sweetie. Quiet. Stop" Dad tells me
"What is wrong with you? How long have you been lying to us? Who are you?" I ask my dad
"Officer can I have a moment in private with you?" My dad says
"Um yeah... My officer's gonna take really good care of you all right?" he tells me
"No. No! No no no. Don't go! Listen!" I try to tell him but I get pulled back
"I'll be right back" Dad tells me
"Everything he's saying is a lie! Liar!" I yell at him
"Stop it" the officer says
"No! No! Let go of me!" I yell
"Ma'am" the officer says
"I just need to talk to someone" I tell him
"Ma'am pipe down" he tells me
"Let go of me! Ow! Let me go! No!" I yell
"Hey! Hey!" the officer yells
"No!" I yell again
"Ma'am you have to stop" the officer tells me
"Okay you're gonna have to sit tight miss." He says
I quickly kick him in the nuts and take off running. No one is going to listen, now all I can do is help John b get out of here

I hear sirens as I close the door and walk upstairs
"Star. Hey where... Where have you been? It's okay it's okay." He tells me seeing tears flooding my face
"Hey. Hey it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I got you. I got you." He says while hugging me
"It's getting really bad out there." I tell him
We hear a door slam closed outside
"Shit" John B mumbles
I look out the window and see a cop outside
"Shit." I say
We both drop to the floor so they can't see us
"We gotta go. Okay?" John B whispers to me
"Okay." I nod my head

We get out the back door and find some paddle boards. We head out into the marsh just trying to get away from the cops
"You okay?" John B asks me
"Yeah I'm fine. Okay. I'm fine. Do you really think they'll be able to steal the boat?" I ask him
"Well JJ's involved so... yeah." John B laughs.
We hear sirens again not to far away
"Shit." John B says starting to paddle again
"JB where are you going? The boat ramp's this way." I tell him
"Look Star I've gotta go home" John B says
"What? No. No. There'll be cops crawling all over there." I tell him
"Yeah and that's okay. Look I... I don't want you to come. It..." John B starts to say
"What do you mean?" I ask him
"The gold from Crain's house. It's at the Château. My dad's been looking for that for years. It's all I have left of him. I gotta get it. And we're gonna need the money" John B tells me
"You'll get caught" I tell him
"Okay then I get caught" John B says
"No and then all this is for nothing" I argue
"No it's not. Listen to me please. I need you to go to the boat dock in an hour" John B says
"No I'm coming with you" I tell him
"You're not" John B tells me
"Yes I am" I say
"You're not coming with me!" John B almost yells
"It's too dangerous. Go to the boat dock. I'll see you in an hour. If we don't have money we can't go anywhere. We're losing time." John B says
"Okay" I nod I give him a quick kiss before he paddles off

I slowly start to paddle off and I see a boat with my mom's friends all on it.
I try to turn my face hoping they won't realize it's me
"Whoa whoa! Hey is that... is that Stella Camron?" Mr. Landry asks
"Stella what are you doing out here?" Mrs.
Landry asks me
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Landry." I smile
"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Landry asks.
"I'm just taking a nice ride on my paddleboard." I say paddling towards them
"Sure? Here's some water" Mr. Landry says giving me some
I quickly take it and start drinking
"Sweetie there's a storm headed right for us" Mrs. Landry tells me
"Yeah you can't stay out" Mr. Landry says
"What storm?" I ask them confused
"You don't know?" Mr. Landry asks me
"Sweetie get in. Rose would never forgive me if we left you. Get in. I insist" Mrs. Landry says
I shake my head no
"No. No. We insist" Mr. Landry says
"Please do not tell Rose you saw me" I beg them
"No we have to..." Mr. Landry starts to say
"Please I'm begging you" I tell them
"Get in the boat" Mrs. Landry says
"Just get in" Mr. Landry adds
"No. I'm meeting someone." I tell them
"No you don't have a choice. You're coming with us" Mrs. Landry tells me
"Get in" Mr. Landry says again

I sigh and get in the boat. I need to get to the dock. I need to be with John b. But I'm not any help if I'm stuck out of the water.