The Sunshine Project Pt. 15 - Final

I place the gun on the desk and sigh as I stare into the tub. Those guns were meant for me--probably just the toys though. Gus probably thought they'd be worth something and thought I'd sell them. I can't tell the difference between the toys and the real things though. Neither could Glenda apparently. She put them all together. I watched her take the ones from the cardboard box in Gus's office and put them with the toys. He probably had them in there to sell or something.

I pick one up. It has a blue handle and similar glass to the shrink ray I just laid on the desk. I think it may be the one that Allie used to freeze Jess that night. It might be worth something to the right person. And if I take one, no one will even miss it. I could sell it and have a life to start on my own. Even if I'm wrong, and it's not the freeze ray, Glenda showed me toys going for a couple thousand dollars. That would be enough to get a deposit on an apartment, and I could get a job and live on my own. If Danny rejects me, that is the next best thing, because I'm sure as fuck not living at that house with that monster of a man my mother calls her husband.

I sigh and stare at the gun. It's my only option. I'll send Jess a text when I am away from here letting her know what I've done. She'll be okay with it since the guns were supposed to go to me originally. And if Danny forgives me, it'll be a nice present for him. I'll help him with tuition or something.

With my mind made up, I head up the stairs and shut off the lights, then let myself out of the bunker. I make sure to cover the entrance well and hang the key back in its hiding spot. The same dark sedan is parked across the street in the gravel drive where tractors enter the field to plow and harvest. The man watches me as I pull away and head up Oregon road toward Frahm Pike.

Dean and Glenda will be shocked to see me, and they well should be. It took them two weeks to report me missing. I figured it would take a few days considering it was close to the time I was supposed to leave for college, but they didn't care about me. They wanted my car and the money it would bring, and they can't have that without the car. I'd just as soon skip town and sell the gun and vanish--take my chances with Danny or whatever--but Jess needs me to bail her out.

I owe her.

She was so good to me when I was a shit person. I want to do this, to let my parents and the world know she isn't guilty of anything. That she does tell the truth. That Jimmy really did hurt her, and they are shit people for victim shaming. They don't have to like her, but they are monsters for hurting her more. I can't just stand back anymore and let them do that.

By the time I pull into the driveway at home I'm calm. I'm not going to let them rile me up. I am going to remain in control of my emotions. I'm going to charge my phone, call Danny, pack up everything I can think of that I may need, and then I'm going to tell them off and leave. I don't belong in this small town anymore. It's time for me to vanish into some big city where I can start over with my life and forget my past. My aunt lives in Utica; maybe I'll go there.

Glenda and Dean aren't home, so I head straight for my room. I plug my phone in to charge--shattered screen and all--while I stuff as much of my things into my suitcase as I can. I have a few backpacks and another duffel bag too. All of them get filled to the brim with clothing and toiletries I know I need. They fill the trunk of the old T-bird, and I head back to my room for more. My heart is heavy knowing I have no home or family now, even though Allie and Jess have sort of become that. I know they're better off without me.

When I get back to my room I sit on the foot of my bed and dial Danny's number, phone still plugged in. It rings several times before he picks up, and before he says a word I hear the loud talking and laughter of at least two girls in the background. My heart shrinks back inside my chest. He's already moving on, and I'm still hung up on how I fucked everything up.

"Hey, Cora, is everything okay?" Danny sounds winded, and I feel like an idiot for thinking he'd be waiting for me to call him. He's probably having the time of his life for the last few days before classes start for him.

"Uh... I just wanted to talk about things." I don't feel like myself at all. I feel backward and shy and very guilty.

"About what things? I thought you were missing. What happened?" There is genuine concern in his tone, and that makes me feel even worse. The whole time we were together he actually cared about me. I shouldn't be calling him. He deserves so much better.

"I was with my cousin... Look, Danny, I wanted to say I'm sorry. You were right. I treated you horrible, and you didn't deserve that." I bite my lip and let my shoulders fall. He can't see me, but I wish he could. "I just wondered if there is any chance for us to--"

"Who is it?" a whiney female voice says. "Come back. We were having fun."

"Yeah..." a second voice mewls, and I want to throw up.

"Sorry, Cora. I tried. You know I cared about you a lot, but it's just not going to work. You're a great girl, so beautiful, but I've moved on. I gotta go." I hear cheers in the background before the line goes dead and tears burn in my eyes. I blew my chance with the only person who actually loved me the way I was--warts and all. And I blew it so bad that even with a genuine apology and change in my behavior I still won't ever get him back.

"Cora Elaine!" Glenda's voice sounds frantic as she calls me from downstairs, probably by the front door.

I swipe at my eyes and stand, taking my phone and charger. I look around my room to make sure I haven't missed anything. There is a picture of me and my parents on graduation day on my nightstand, but unlike Jess and her picture of her and Gus, that will only bring me painful memories.

"Cora?" Now it's Dean's voice. He doesn't sound as hurt or distraught. I don't want to have this conversation on the stairs, so I start down toward the living room. As I reach the landing, I see them dropping bags in the kitchen. Plastic grocery sacks are lined on the counter. Life truly has gone on for them.

Glenda is dressed in her Chanel as normal, Dean in his business casual. Not a hair is out of place. Glenda doesn't even look like she's been crying. I've been missing for weeks and nothing looks out of the ordinary. No dishes piled up, no grief on their features. It makes me angry, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from snapping at them.

"Where the hell have you been!" Dean is angry, his forehead creased into a deep furrow that lines up to his crooked nose. On top of everything else, they're not sad I was gone or hurt that I didn't communicate. They're angry?

"None of your business. I'm an adult. I don't have to report to you." I cross my arms over my chest and try not to let them get to me. I'm here to prove that I'm still alive and haven't been taken. Then I can leave town and start over. Jess and Allie will move on without having to babysit me, and I never have to see Dean or Glenda again.

"None of our business?" Glenda huffs in a breathy tone. I get the sense her anger is put on, and that if Dean weren't here, she'd be fawning over me in a very dramatic manner that would win her a fucking Golden Globe award. "Dear, we worry about you."

Dean steps forward with his hand stretched out. "Hand over the keys."

"I won't. That's my car, in my name." I won't tell him I left them hanging, that he could walk right out there and get in a drive away. Stupid move, Cora.

"Young lady, I'm not going to say it again." He steps closer, and I see his jaw set. I don't care. I hate him. I hate this family.

"Mom, come with me. I'm leaving town. We can start over." My last-ditch attempt to hold on to anything that might resemble love or safety is smacked away by the back of Dean's hand.

"Cora, you are crossing a line." His angry glare hurts as much as the back of his hand, but I keep going.

"Mom, he's a trash person. Please. Come with me." Tears roll down my cheeks as I think of how my mother will choose this piece of shit over me. I can see it in her eyes as she stands there in silence. No one says a thing, and I realize this is it. I'm really on my own. "You know Jess's lawyer is coming for you. You're a lying sack of shit. You use people and you steal. And by the way, Jimmy really did molest her. He is a horrible person."

"Oh Christ's sake. She's gotten in your head too, hasn't she? She's so manipulative." Glenda's scrunched-up face makes me want to scream.

"She has the scars on her body to prove it, and you all made her feel like a slut. I hate you all. I'm glad I'm an adult, and I can leave. I hope you all rot in prison."

I turn on my heel and move toward the front door with fast steps. "Scars? What do you mean? Wait." Glenda rushes after me, pawing at my shoulders. "Baby, don't leave. Cora, I'm sorry. We're sorry, please stay."

"No," I snap, not even looking at her. She had her chance. Now I have to choose me, because it's something no one has ever done. "Goodbye, Glenda."

I let the door swing shut behind me and hurry to my car. Dean tries to race after me, smacking the window as I back away. I swear to God I won't stop even if he walks in front of me, but thankfully he doesn't. I've had enough, and I'm ready to run and never look back.

Except, by the time I get to Thirty-Three east of town, I'm crying so hard I can barely see. I rub my eyes but can't really dry them. I have ugly-cry snot bubbling out of my nose, and I need a tissue but this damn thing is so old I don't think it's ever been through a drive up window to amass a stash of brown paper napkins in the glove box. I reach into the back seat to find anything to wipe my face with and feel the disgusting sloppy tongue of Jess's shrunken dog lapping at my fingers.

The sensation startles me. I whip to the side of the highway and stop. Shep is sitting on the back seat, ear flopped to the side, staring at me. When I turn to look at him in defeat, he leaps from the back seat to the center console, almost falling off. His little hind legs scramble for purchase and I help him, picking him up around the middle. He climbs up on my chest, paws scratching at my blouse, and licks my face, focusing on the nasty snot on my upper lip.

"I can't very well take you with me, can I?" I sigh. "Guess I have to go back to Jess's house before I leave. She'll never forgive me if you're gone." Dammit, Shep, I didn't want to go back, but I can't hurt Jess that way.

I sit him in my passenger seat and wait until the traffic is clear to pull out. I'll take the long way through St. Mary's to turn around and head back. But once he's dropped off, I'm gone. I'm so over this town.

Chapter 45

Allie

I've been nothing but a bundle of nerves since the second I woke up, and now I'm staring into the dark, beady eyes of this police officer as he grills me about Cora. My palms are sweaty, and I am struggling to maintain focus. Jess's lawyer walked in a few minutes ago. They're sitting on the couch reading over the warrant while I tremble.

"So, Ms. Enyart, you're telling me Ms. Knapke was here and you never reported that to us?" He scrawls on his notepad with a thick black pen and I watch, wondering how he will ever read what he's writing. Men have such messy handwriting.

"Uh, yes. I don't really watch the news. I work in Dayton, so my commute is long. Other than when those officers stopped by to ask about her, we had no clue. I thought since she was around here that her parents knew she was fine. I swear she just went to her parents' house." My gaze flicks nervously to Jess whose eyes meet mine for a moment. Then she refocuses on whatever it is Mr. King is saying to her, and I take a steadying breath. "Jess's grandpa just died a few weeks ago, and we were really just trying to get her through her day to day. She was really close to him. We didn't mean any harm."

Lies keep pouring out of my mouth like water through a broken dam, and I pray that whenever they question Cora--if she sticks around long enough for them to do that--she'll corroborate our story.

"You mean Augustus Baucher? Cora's grandfather?" The cop is fucking relentless. I am so sick of the same damn questions, but me answering his stupidity is keeping him away from Jess. She'll crack. I just know it.

"Yes, Jess's grandpa." I scowl at him. "They are stepcousins."

The female cop came downstairs a few moments ago too. Now she searches the kitchen and laundry room, as if the man hasn't done a good enough job. She seems more meticulous and thorough, though she is messier. These people have zero respect, and zero clue. They haven't even noticed she has a dog kennel and no dog. And they have already assumed Jess guilty before any evidence surfaced; they're treating her property as such too.

"Look," she calls, holding a gun in the air, a pen slid through the trigger loop. "Check this out."

The man turns over his shoulder then glances at me with a glare. I almost bust out laughing. Jess and I took the guns to the lab, and if Cora did her job of hiding the shrink ray and the lab door, they'll never find them. That is only a toy, proven as such in our first round of experimenting. I shake my head and relax. If this is their "smoking gun" they're morons.

"That's a replica of the ray gun used in the movie Lost in Space from the seventies." I move around the end of the peninsula and fold my arms over my chest. "It's a toy."

The man looks at me then back to the toy again. He takes the pen from her carefully and holds it up to the light. I'm not sure how they can't see how ridiculous they look. After a few moments he drops it onto the bar, and it clatters. It's too light to be a real weapon.

"I think we have enough." He scrawls something on his notepad, then purses his lips. "We're sorry for bothering you. It appears everything is in order. You will probably hear from the police department over the next few days as long as your story checks out." Both of them nod and walk toward the front door, and I feel relief flood me. My hands have been trembling for the past ninety minutes, and I can't wait to pour a drink and sit down.

I usher them out, happy to see them go, then find a spot on the couch next to Jess. She reaches out and clings to my hand and Ben smiles at us both.

"Well, ladies, you've just bought yourself some time. Rest assured if Cora doesn't return to her parents' house today as you said she is, they'll come looking again. And they'll want to search the barn. If they know about the plans for the bunker, they'll want to search it. And if you can't hide whatever Gus has going on there, you'll be in a hot water."

Ben's blond waves fall across his eyes, and he swishes them out of his face. He's dressed casually, and if I weren't firmly attached to Jess, and deeply lesbian, I might be attracted to him. He's a handsome guy by any standard. Plus he's successful and smart, and in this moment, he's the glue holding Jess and I together. I wonder if he's single. Maybe he'll give Cora a chance.

"Thank you for coming by, Mr. King. I know Jess really appreciates you too." I squeeze her hand and then put an arm around her. She relaxes into me, resting a head on my shoulder in return.

"Like I told Jess here, the thing with the Knapkes is wrapped up. They won't bother you about the land. I've reported their mishandling of information and the fraudulent charges and claims to the Mercer County prosecutor, Erin Minor. She is pursuing charges that may well bankrupt him and his entire realty firm." He picks up the papers strewn around the coffee table and taps them until they're all even and organized.

"So what happens next?" Jess asks. I bet the inside of her cheek is bloody from all her nervous chewing. I want to hold her until that pain goes away, until she's not scared anymore.

"You sit back and wait for them to close the investigation. Keep the guns hidden safely in the bunker, and if they request access, deny, deny, deny. If that happens call me. In the meantime, I have to deal with the matter of a sales arrangement I had in the works. It seems Gus had some government business he was still attending when he passed, and we were almost finished with a trade agreement. I'm sure the government will still want the guns, as he was planning to hand them over for a pretty penny. I'm not sure what they do but they're priceless apparently."

"Well, we know firsthand that one of them--"

"Stop." He holds up a hand and cuts Jess off. She stiffens in my embrace as he continues. "Whatever they do, I can't know anything about it. Gus didn't tell me, so I don't want you to either." He narrows his eyes. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll never speak a word to anyone. And you'll get rid of them."

He sighs and stands, and Jess and I stand with him. "So you think they'll leave us alone now?" I ask, still holding her to my side. This whole day has taken so much out of us and it's only lunch time.

"For now. Just be on guard. If they suspected you of some weapons crime, they may still watch you. It was on the warrant, which means someone knows something and told them." He heads for the door. "If you need anything at all, call me day or night. Gus made sure your legal needs were taken care of."

"Thank you, Ben." Jess stands in the door watching him as he climbs into his car and drives off, and as his taillights disappear down the street, another familiar sight comes into view. Cora's Thunderbird rumbles up the street toward Jess's house. I didn't expect to see her again for a while. I figured she'd be halfway to Michigan to see her boyfriend by now.

Apparently Jess didn't expect to see her either, because she looks at me confused and shakes her head. "Cora? I thought she'd have run off by now."

"Yeah, me too."

We wait by the door while Cora parks and climbs out of the car. She has a gun in her hand and Shep. It looks like she never went to the barn, except that the green handle I expect on the gun isn't green--it's blue. She did go to the barn and swapped for a different gun. But why?

Jess hurries out the front door and off the porch toward Cora who meets her on the walk halfway up. I expect Jess to take Shep and hold him, but she wraps her arms around Cora instead. I can't be jealous at all. I know nothing is going on between them--they're cousins and Cora is straight. Besides, after everything today, I think jess is just happy that the police are gone and Cora represents a level of normalcy right now.

"God, I thought I was getting arrested." Jess lets go of her and then takes Shep from her hands.

Cora nods at me, but she doesn't walk toward the house when Jess starts back this way. She stays planted firmly on the sidewalk with the gun in her hand watching Jess. I don't know why she came back, except to bring the dog. She never liked Jess at all. I was afraid to resize her, fearing she would tell the cops or Dean and Glenda everything. But her return with Jess's dog shows maturity.

"What are you doing?" Jess asks.

"I'm not coming in, Jess. I'm leaving. I'm going to sell this gun to the highest bidder, take the money, and start over." Cora stares at her hands where the gun rests. She sounds defeated and depressed, not at all like the snarky bitch who bossed us around for three weeks.

"You can't leave, Cora. We're family. I want you to stay here." Jess turns and takes Cora's hand, pleading with her. But when Cora looks up, it isn't Jess she looks at; it's me. Her eyes narrow on me but instead of anger I see reluctance. She thinks I don't want her here.

Honestly, I don't. I don't care for her attitude or the way she thinks she knows everything. She's demanding and rude and entitled, but if Jess wants her, then she needs to stay. Jess needs the support and Cora probably does too.