CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
LEFT TO LOSE
(episode two: the heist | trigger warning: mentions of murder)

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

WITNESSING A MURDER WAS definitely not part of their plan, but Haven should've expected it, really. After all, when it came to Ward Cameron, anything was possible.

Their stake-out was off to a terrible start, but it only got so much worse when it began to rain. It was merely a sprinkle at first, a minor annoyance they could've ignored, but the moment they got back to the van, it started pouring buckets, like the God of the Heavens had opened up the sky to hide the evidence of Ward Cameron's clandestine meeting. This forced the pogues, Haven and Brec to sit in the rain as they waited for the devil himself to show his face, and it was safe to say that tensions were at an all time high. Haven, Brec and Arden were unable to look at each other again, the trio of girls separated by JJ, their constant middle man. Arden was standing on one side of the boy, the brim of her cap pulled over her eyes. Haven and Brec stood on the other, Pope's shoulder squished against Haven's as the six of them crowded behind a wooden fence. It felt like the universe was laughing at her, playing some kind of cruel joke on the girl who thought it was acceptable to leave her friends behind.

The more she thought about it, the more realisation dawned, and boy did Haven hate it. It was clear none of the pogues were really over what happened between them, abundantly so. Kie hadn't said a word to her the whole night unless she was addressing Arden or one of the others too. Pope's eyes were always sad whenever they met her's, devastated but unreachable. Arden was angry, a firecracker waiting to go off. And JJ... well, he was his normal self, but Haven was aware he wanted her to reach out again, to let them back in, even just a little bit. So maybe it wasn't just them with the problem, but Haven too. She wasn't as okay as she insisted she was about what she'd done.

As if sensing her thoughts and the dark spiral they were going down (for what felt like the thousandth time; you'd think she'd be used to it by now) the sky rumbled with thunder and the rain got heavier, the cotton material of Haven's crop top now sticking uncomfortably to her skin. Her glasses had started to fog over again, prompting her to huff in annoyance, her shoulder pushing further into Pope's as she struggled in vain to clean the water off them. For a moment, he looked down at her, wanting to say something, but quickly turned away when Haven met his eyes.

She let out a despondent sigh. This was turning out to be a really shitty night.

"So, how do we plan on proving this little meet-up when we go to Shoupe?" Brec asked, peering curiously at the scene before them. Haven had to smile at the sight of her hair glued to the sides of her face, an adorable pout on her lips as she clung to the jacket that JJ had leant her when he noticed her shivering. Arden had not been happy but he'd stubbornly ignored her glares, Arden seemingly deciding it wasn't worth it when the silence stretched on. They couldn't afford to get caught by Ward and Gavin over a petty feud, but Haven was sure she'd have a lot to say later.

Pope also smiled at Brec, though for an entirely different reason. "Now that you mention it, Brec, I've got this."

With an air of excitement to him, he reached into his backpack that they'd stopped to snag from the van on the way, and pulled out what looked to be a video camera from the 60s. Haven raised an eyebrow at it, chuckling to herself as he held it up to his eye and angled it to where the meet-up would take place.

"Nice camera," JJ smirked as Brec just shrugged, content with his answer. "Where'd you dig up that old relic? Why don't you just use your phone?"

"Well, first of all, I like my antique electronics," Pope huffed, averting his eyes away from the camera to glower at him.

"I think it's cool," both Arden and Brec said, a brief and awkward pause following. Arden looked affronted, like she'd forgotten Brec knew how to speak seeing as she was so quiet most of the time. And Brec just looked amused, like she would've said 'jinx' like Haven and JJ if Arden hadn't been so off around her.

"Uh, anyways," Pope mumbled, and Haven had to smother a laugh at the familiarity of it. "Second of all, JJ, this is a telephoto. It allows me to get a close image from far away."

Kie rolled her eyes, though there was a sense of fondness to it, new and exciting. "Lord of the dorks."

"For definitive proof of witness payoff, we're gonna need quality glass."

Arden went to retort but was cut off by JJ latching onto her arm, eagerly pointing over the fence with the other. "There he is."

Haven knew who he meant but still felt surprised to see Ward jogging down the road with a black bag tucked under his arm. She couldn't remember the last time she saw a kook running in desperation. The group all ducked down as he got closer, moving right past the fence to enter the construction site with Gavin coming down the other side of the road to join him. Haven got a good look at Ward's face before he disappeared inside. He seemed unhappy, like he wished to be doing anything else with his time, and clung to his bag like it pained him to let it go. She had this eerie feeling that Gavin wouldn't be leaving the construction site alive, but really had no idea just what it was that Ward was playing at.

"Where are you going, you son of a bitch?" she heard Pope murmur as he focused the lens of the camera on Ward's back. Suddenly, the man disappeared around a corner, causing Pope to cry out in despair. "No, no, no! I'm losing him!"

JJ cursed to himself, looking around wildly before jogging down the alleyway. Haven watched him go with a confused frown but just as soon as he left, he returned, whistling once sharply to catch their attention. "Hey, I found something! Come here!"

The others shared a look before quickly following him around the corner into another alley, this one with a dead end. Pope sighed, caught between heading back to try and find another angle over the fence and staying to see whatever JJ had to say. "JJ, we don't have—"

"Look, we've gotta go up top," he insisted, pointing towards a set of metal rings that clearly served as a ladder up one of the walls. At Arden's deadpan stare, he huffed and ushered her towards it. "We've got no choice if we wanna see them."

"Fine," she sighed, grabbing onto one of the rings and inching herself up.

JJ and Kie quickly followed after her with the others impatiently waiting down below. They really should've thought of this sooner. "Hurry," Haven heard Kie huffing to Arden as the girl struggled to lift herself over the edge of the roof. "We don't wanna miss anything."

"Hey, I'm going as fast as I can," Arden glowered down at her, finally making it all the way up and allowing JJ and Kie to clear the way for Pope. "In case you've forgotten, I did only just pop a baby out of me a month ago."

Haven saw Kie roll her eyes before moving out of sight, her amused voice muffled as she said, "How could we forget with how often you remind us?"

"You go first," Haven told Brec, standing aside so the girl could follow behind Pope. "Don't want you looking up my skirt."

Brec just rolled her eyes as Haven snickered. "As if I'd do that without your consent."

Almost like she was summoned by the topic of conversation, Arden stuck her head over the edge to gape at them. "Are you two seriously flirting right now?" she hissed, but was forced to lean back when Brec made it to the top and Haven began to climb up, her arms straining with the effort. "Hurry up or you'll miss it."

For a second, Haven was left to linger awkwardly above the ground as Brec struggled to hop over the edge. With a pleading look at Arden, she stuck a hopeful hand out and waited. Arden sighed and grudgingly yanked her up. "Thanks," the girl smiled gratefully, to which Arden just scowled like a deer in the headlights and turned away as Brec leaned down to help Haven.

Finally, once her feet were firmly on the ground again, she turned to observe the side of Arden's head, a little confused but nonetheless amused by her sudden change in tune. "I thought you wouldn't mind us missing it," Haven jabbed in reference to the girl's previous words. "What changed, huh?"

Arden's scowl deepened. "You know what? I take it back. Stay here for all I care."

"Mhm."

Their mood changed, though, as they heard JJ and Kie addressing Pope. They quickly settled down beside the three of them, who were already kneeling at the edge of the building with Pope scanning the opposite ledge for any signs of Ward and Gavin. Haven ended up next to Kie as his hand paused, fingers adjusting the zoom of the camera as he said, "Yeah, I see them."

A clap of thunder was marked by lightning overhead, and the group went deathly quiet. This was the make or break moment, caught on a thin line with dangerous consequences. Nothing could be missed, or else Shoupe would jump at the chance to doubt them.

"Ward just handed Gavin something," Pope commented, seeing as the group could see nothing but shadows. "I think it's the duffel bag."

JJ's lips tightened into a grim line, "Guys, I think this is a pay-off."

"Well, what else did you think it was going to be?" Arden sighed, but there was no bite to her tone as she stared at the figure they assumed to be Ward. Haven saw her hands clenched tightly into fists, like she was fighting the urge to run across the road and give Ward a piece of her mind. Haven felt it, too, but pushed it down as they continued to wait. Ward's moment of reckoning would come soon enough, if this went right. She would wait until he was in chains, then dance around in his ruination, elated.

"Gavin doesn't look happy about something. It looks like he's yelling at Ward."

"Why?" Kie frowned, shivering enough that goose bumps ran up the arm that was continuously brushing Haven's.

"I don't know, but he sure looks mad."

"Maybe he's not happy with whatever Ward has to offer him," Brec suggested. "If JJ's right, then maybe Gavin wants more?"

Pope just shrugged with a sigh, turning back to his camera attentively. Hopefully, he'd find the answer to Brec's question and more. Suddenly, the two figures collided, Ward's hands wrapping around Gavin's neck. Haven flinched at the sudden movement, unsure if her eyes were playing deceiving her, then the others quickly followed with sounds of horror.

"They're scrapping," Pope confirmed anxiously.

"Why?" Haven asked as punches started to be thrown.

"I don't know, but they're fighting over something."

"No kidding," Arden scoffed, sharing an uneasy look with JJ as he noted, "They're really going at it."

Faint screams rose in the wind, grunts of pain from Gavin as Ward's knee collided with his stomach and sent him falling to his knees. Haven's stomach twisted in disgust but she couldn't bring herself to look away. In a twist of sick irony, she'd gotten desensitised to such violence, but it didn't make it any easier to witness. Just how hard were Ward's punches? Enough to end a man's life?

"Ward's kicking the shit out of Gavin."

What was one more life taken at Ward Cameron's hands?

"What's going on?" JJ asked Pope, his patience wearing thin.

Pope's voice rose in retaliation. "I don't know, okay? I'm trying to see."

There was a blur of movement opposite them and a sudden sharp cry of agony as Gavin collided with a piece of furniture. For a moment, the pogues were silent, stunned as the man's wails echoed in their ears. Then Pope breathed out, horrified, "Holy shit. Ward's got a gun."

"I bet it's the murder weapon," Kie scoffed, and Haven had the sinking feeling she was right.

She wasn't sure what happened next. Tense words were exchanged between the warring men, and the next thing she knew, two gunshots sounded as bullets made a home in Gavin's gut. She immediately ducked away from the edge, that desensitised feeling long gone as she clung to the closest person, who just so happened to be Kie. Their hands intertwined in the darkness, trembling with pure fear. Looking back on it, Haven would remember the tears that pricked behind her eyes, the urges of a scream tearing up her throat, but everything seemed to go silent as she looked at Kiara Carrera, a man's death replaying over and over in her head. They hadn't seen Peterkin die, just heard about it from John B in the few details he managed to stomach sharing. Ward killing Gavin was different. It was real. It happened just metres away, and there was nothing that could've ever prepared them for that, even knowing who they were dealing with.

Haven longed to be back home, curled up on the couch with JJ and her mother. She even longed for Liam, for that normalcy he'd helped create in her house, a sense that everything could be okay for them, for her. She was cold, tired, and had just witnessed a murder, and all she wanted was her family.

"Pope, tell me you just got that," she vaguely heard JJ say as Kie's hands slowly loosened their hold on hers. Soon, she would pull away all together, and Haven found herself wanting to savour the seconds, to lock it up for safe-keeping.

"Enough to put this asshole away for life," Pope spat, trembling hands reaching over the edge to point his camera back at the crime scene.

Or was it? For out of nowhere, Gavin moved, and Haven's heart leapt in fright. How had he survived two gunshots? And how did he have the strength to move? She'd never get to know, though. For another gunshot quickly ran out, everyone but Pope ducked back down, and the next time they braved the risk of looking, Gavin was spread out across the floor, his chest unmoving.

"Oh, my god," Brec whimpered.

Like Haven, she had clung to the people closest to her in comfort, and just so happened to find JJ's arm and Arden's hand in the mess. JJ wrapped that arm around her shoulders with a sigh, while Arden just sat frozen before patting her head in an awkward 'there, there' kind of gesture. Haven wanted to laugh, then cry at the fact she'd even considered feeling anything but sadness in that moment. A man was dead. Certainly not a good one. He had kept secrets, leading an innocent boy straight to his presumed death, but a person nonetheless. Someone who had wanted to escape Ward Cameron's vindictive bidding once and for all, and he was killed for it. Haven couldn't even imagine what would've happened to Sarah had Ward succeeded in taking her to the Bahamas.

"Oh no," Pope gasped, everyone but Haven and Brec falling back to the floor in a panic as he cried, "Get down! Get down!"

"What is it?" Haven asked, moving to poke her head up, only to be stopped by a wide-eyed Kie.

"Ward was looking over here," she growled.

"Oh, shit."

"I think we should go right now." JJ's voice was grim and stubborn. "Pope, you have enough, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, though he still attempted to angle his camera back in Ward's direction.

"Then let's go," Haven insisted, already inching towards the ladder, still low just in case. "I don't wanna stick around for him to catch us."

"Wait," Pope suddenly murmured. "He's coming out."

And so they waited, their breathing sounding like missiles in the cold quiet. It was then that Haven knew. Even if everything was broken, the picture all mixed up, she was never going to properly escape this group. Not after something like this.

"I think he's looking for the gun."

Haven hadn't even noticed it falling, but after a hesitant glance over the edge, she caught sight of Ward bolting down the street, leaving Gavin's body to rot as he frantically searched the rain-flooded gutter for something. It must've fallen when he checked to see if Gavin was alive. They watched as he fell on his hands and knees by a drain, hitting at the ground in pure fury and frustration.

"I think the gun just went down the drain," Pope cried. "He's looking for it."

Out of nowhere, Kie was moving, muttering angrily to herself. A dark look flickered across her face, and she pushed the backpack she'd been holding for Pope into Haven's hands before the girl could so much as blink.

"Kie, what are you doing..."

"What is wrong with you?" she screamed, prompting the group to jump into action. "MURDERER—"

"Kiara," Arden snarled, hand latching onto the girl's arm and tugging her down harshly. "Shut the fuck up."

"Are you insane?" Haven added, moving to cover the girl's mouth as she continued chanting that forsaken word over and over. Annoyed, Kie's teeth grazed Haven's fingers, prompting the girl to pull away instinctively. "Did you just bite me?"

"MURDERER—"

"Are you crazy?" JJ snapped, just as angry as his cousin and girlfriend. "He'll see us."

"I don't care if he hears me," she scoffed. "He's a murderer."

"And what? You want to be his next victim?" Brec asked in disbelief, her heartbroken sobs long gone. "How can you be so selfish, Kiara?"

"Who are you to call me that?" she narrowed her eyes, and Haven moved over to kneel beside her.

"Cut the attitude and wake up," she snapped. "I'm not going to let Ward shoot me because you've gotten yourself a hero complex. So shut the fuck up."

"Guys," Pope exclaimed. "He sees us..."

For a moment, they went terrifyingly quiet, stunned. Then everything erupted into chaos. Haven and Kie were at each other's throats, Brec stuck between them with her head in her hands. Arden was attempting to get a look over the edge at Ward, JJ pulling her back as Pope tried to break up the warring girls. Somehow, he managed to usher them over to the ladder, the threat of Ward's wrath looming over their heads. If what Haven said was true and she really didn't want to die tonight, they best start running.

It was here with tensions bubbling over that everything started going horribly wrong. Arden was just a bit too slow in climbing down the ladder first, and as the others pushed in Haven's way to get down first, she felt her frustrations hot and scathing, ready to lash out. Finally, she made it down to the bottom, and boy was she incredibly surprised to find Pope, JJ and Kie tearing into each other.

"You fumbled it?"

"You kicked me in the face!"

"She stepped on my hand!"

"I was trying to hurry!"

"What is happening?" Haven frowned. "We need to get moving!"

"Stay out of this!"

"Are you kidding me right now, Arden?"

Maybe it was genuine anger, fear, or the urge to escape Gavin's corpse haunting them with every blink of their eyes, but everyone had a problem with everyone. Pope with his destroyed camera, JJ at Kie's stupidity, Kie just wanting to defend herself, Arden at Haven for — well, Haven honestly didn't know what. But they managed to make it down the alley, hopping a fence and circling back to the van before Ward could catch them.

"Could someone fill me in on what the fuck just happened?" JJ yelled the moment the van door slammed behind them.

Haven leant over in her chair, gasping for much needed air, shivering to the bone. Brec tried to reach for her hand but Haven shook her off, stomach heaving. She wanted — no, she needed to get out of there, to wash off the feeling of murder clinging to her skin like a curse.

"Did we ever figure out what they were fighting over?" Arden asked, jaw locked tight as she backed herself up in a corner. In the dim overhead light, her eyes looked electric, like the lightning coming down outside.

"It was a gun, the one Rafe used," Pope said. "He must've kept it."

Suddenly, the shrill dial tone of a phone was heard, and their heads snapped to Kie.

"Who are you calling?" JJ demanded to know, prompting her to round on him.

"Who do you think?" she spat.

"The cops?" he yelled as he noticed the number.

"Who else am I supposed to call?" she was shouting now, hot tears streaming down her face like acid.

"Anybody else," Haven cried, jaw dropping. "Shoupe and Ward are besties right now, Kie. Are you out of your freaking mind?"

"Kie, hang up."

"No—"

"Kiara—"

But before another word could be said, the phone clicked and a male voice answered, Kie sobbing down the line, "Hi, somebody's been shot at the Grand Street construction site! You guys need to hurry because he's dying, and I don't know if he's dead or not, but you guys need to hurry!"

She hung up then, barely letting the officer get a word in. Haven couldn't believe it. She stared at the side of the girl's head in disbelief, barely registering the boys shouting before Kie sobbed again and started up the van. Pope's camera was broken, Gavin was gone. Just like that, their evidence had been washed down the drain, and Kie had fucking lured the cops right to them.

At this rate, they were never going to get John B and Sarah back.