- 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱

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𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 shivered in the back of Kieʼs car, holding a sleeping Kaz close to her. She was beyond worried for Jordan and his life, but more angry at the fact the boys let him off to do whatever he wanted. But although she was mad, and he knew it, JJ kept his arms wrapped firmly around her waist, promising to protect her and their baby forever. And upon seeing that she was cold, he shed his hoodie and used it as a blanket for Kaci and Kaz.

"John B, what are we doing at the police station?" he asked, frowning when Kaci moved her head away from him.

"Somebody's gotta tell them what happened," the boy answered shakily. What he saw on that tarmac would stay with him forever, stick itself to his mind and replay in his nightmares. It traumatised him, and he needed things to change.

Pope started to cough, having smoked so much weed in the last few hours that even JJ was growing concerned.

"Easy there, chief. Damn."

Kaci looked down at the sleeping angel in her arms, holding his hands and watching as his fingers automatically curled around one of hers. She wanted her brother back, and she didn't care how she did it. She just needed Jordan. She couldn't lose him like she did Luis. She had to protect him in a way that she never did before. She should've took him back to the Château with her the night she left. If Kaci had told him it all then, all of this could've been avoided. Jordan would've been safe.

JJ leaned forward to the back of John Bʼs seat, but managed to keep Kaci wrapped in his arms. "Alright, I'm just gonna be real with you right now," he said. "You might end up in the lionʼs den, but you don't go there on purpose. It's fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never ever trust cops, no matter what the circumstance is."

"Your old man's an abusive liar," stated Kie.

Kaci switched her gaze to send the girl a warning glare. 

"I agree with JJ," Pope spoke up, his face covered in sweat. "Fuck the police."

"You going to the dark side now?" asked Kie sarcastically.

"When's the last time the police ever helped us?" he shot back at her.

"Peterkin looked out for me, alright?" said John B, voice distressed and eyes teary. He shook his head. "Tried to, at least. They need to know."

Kaci shrugged. "I don't wanna go to the police," she said honestly, and everyone turned to her. "I wanna get Jordan back, and make Ward and Mikel pay for everything myself  — you've gotta be the stupidest person alive to believe they'll actually get locked up in the end. Besides, they deserve way more than a prison cell."

"And Rafe," added John B, to which the girl didn't respond. He shook his head. "But I'm gonna to the right thing." Then he left the car.

A chilly silence filled the air, and JJ lifted Kaci and Kaz back into his comfort spot, keeping his family as warm as possible. He knew she blamed him a little for Jordanʼs disappearance, but it was the fact that she hadn't argued with him about it that scared him. Kaci wasn't the type of person to stay quiet about her opinions. He knew that behind her cold exterior was really a small girl, shaking with fear and worry.

"We'll get him back, Princess," he whispered to her again.

The girl leaned back onto his shoulder, a sad look in her eye. "What if it's too late?" Her voice was quiet, and only JJ could hear the words that she feared the most.

"It's not," he assured her, voice both soft and firm.

It wasn't. Jordan Flores wasn't dead. It wasn't as simple as that. There was no way somebody could go away that fast. Jordan was there. In danger, maybe, but he was alive. There was no way he could be dead.

Kaz stirred a little in his sleep, holding onto the jaket his daddy put over him and Kaci. He wore a cute, brown, fluffy bear onzie that Kie bought him the day he was born. He loved his parents and all his aunts and uncles more than anything. Kaci didn't want him to lose somebody he loved before he had the chance to grow up. She didn't want to have to grieve somebody with a newborn on her hip. She didn't want Kaz to see her break.

"KIE! START THE CAR!"

At the sudden, panicked sound of John Bʼs voice, the remaining pouges all turned around to find the boy being chased by the police. Kaciʼs eyes widened and she held Kazʼs face close to her body, shielding his delicate eyes from the flashing lights around them.

"START THE CAR, KIE!"

Everyone began screaming and shouting over the top of each other, causing the baby in the back to wake and start crying. JJ took Kaz out of Kaciʼs arms, rubbing his back and trying to calm him down so that the girl could have some time for herself to chill out. Although anybody being in a good mood now was pretty impossible, considering the situation they were trapped in.

Feeling the urgency of the scene, Kie sped forward, apologising to the cop she knocked over by accident. They eventually got away, after John B hit Deputy Plumb in the back of her head with the car door.

"John B, what the fuck?"

𖧷

𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺 wrapped in the tight embrace of JJ Maybank, Kaci groaned as she woke up the next morning, still in the back of the car. JJ continued to hold the girl by his side throughout the whole night, whispering sweet nothings into her ear and making sure she felt as safe as possible around him.

"Morning, Princess," he whispered, smirking slightly when she tried pressing her head into his chest in an attempt to get back to sleep. He rubbed her back comfortingly and bowed his head to press a warm kiss to her temple.

Kaci shook her head. "We need to get Jordan back today," she mumbled tiredly.

JJ nodded. "I know," he whispered back, still rubbing her back. "I know, Princess."

They stayed like that for a few moments, Kaci only feeling safe when she was wrapped up in his arms, JJ only feeling like he could protect her if she was right by him. Then, the girlʼs head suddenly shot up, her eyes wide.

"Where the hell is Kaz?"

JJ chuckled, moving his hands to cup her cheeks, and nodded to the side. "Up at the front with Unlce Idiot."

Knowing there was nothing stupid John B could do at this time of day, Kaci sighed, her body relaxing a little again. JJ kept his arms around her, pulling her body up a little so that their faces were touching. The radio played from Kieʼs car, and it was going on to explain about John B being a cop killer or whatever. It didn't mention anything about Jordan, though.

Eventually having enough of the accusations, Kie turned off the radio, leaning back onto her chair with exhaustion. Pope didn't take his eyes off her once, too stoned to think about how he usually hated eye contact.

"Let's game this out," said JJ, sitting up and pulling Kaci along with him. She rubbed her eyes tiredly but stayed seated on his lap, his arms firmly around her waist, and she knew there was no way he was letting go anytime soon. "Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but..." He sighed. "...who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron and Mikel Flores or us? So the accusers are bigshot developers and business owners, kind of lords of the island, got the governor of speed dial kind of people, and the accused...is John B, who is pretty much a homeless sixteen year old boy at the moment."

"Thanks."

Hearing Kaz cry a little, Kaci leaned forward to take him away from John B, whose sad look was probably scaring the baby. She cringed when she brought him close to her face, instantly smelling the situation, and passed him along to his dad. "Your turn," she said, lifting up the bag of diapers and shifting away from the two of them.

"Yeah, and don't forget that if Mikel goes on record to say that Kaz is living in a home with unsafe people, he can legally get custody of him," added Pope dismissively, causing the parentsʼ eyes to widen.

"What?" asked JJ, half-way through cleaning the kidʼs shit.

Kaci shook her head. "No way," she said. "He comes anywhere near my baby, and I'll slit his throat."

"Oh, so we're back on the murder bandwagon now?" asked JJ, a side smirk on his face, causing the girl to glare at him again. He shook his head. "Okay, guys. Yucatan, alright? I'm saying that's the only option. What other options do you have?"

"Enough with the Mexico bullshit," snapped John B.

"I gotta keep my family safe," JJ defended, throwing the rolled up, dirty diaper out the window. Kaci glared at him.

"Sarah will bail me out," said John B confidently.

"She did witness the whole thing," Kie pointed out.

Kaci nodded. "And she cares about you and Jordan."

"Thank you."

Pope turned to Kie disbelievingly. "And she's gonna snitch on her brother?"

JJ nodded, lifting Kaz in the air and making the babyʼs cry turn into a giggle. He leaned forward to see John B, who was still laid on the seat to avoid being seen by anybody. "Not happening, bro. Okay?" he agreed with Pope. "We gotta get you off the island."

"The ferry," added Pope. "It's the only way."

"Yeah, exit stage left while you still can. Before the entire island is on lockdown."

Kaci rolled her eyes. "Sarah will tell the truth," she told them confidently. "She wouldn't lie for Rafe."

"He's her brother, Kaci, we've gotta be realistic," argued JJ, causing the girl to scowl at him harshly. "Or not. I mean, personally, I love to dream. My imagination is real good."

Kaci rolled her eyes and flipped him off.

"Guys, just get down," said Kie, hearing the sirens moments before the cop cars came running past.

JJ rested on his back again, bouncing the baby on his stomach playfully, holding his hands. Although there was a lot going on right now, and even though the pouges were all terrified of a lot of different things, they all agreed that Kaz wasn't allowed to see them like that. Small and stupid as they are, babies can pick up on bad energy — the mere frown on somebodyʼs face could make them cry. The pouges didn't want to upset Kaz. They wanted him to remain happy, even in times like these.

"Sarahʼs not a pouge, John B," Pope went on.

"Yeah, you can't stay here, man," added JJ.

Knowing she didn't agree with the Sarah thing, JJ turned to Kaci, who hid it well, but was just as scared as the rest of them. Her big brother was gone — murdered by her own father. And now Jordan was missing, too — taken by Mikelʼs accomplice. She had no idea what he was doing, where he was, if he was safe, and she still tried to seem as unbothered as possible. JJ took one hand off the baby, using it to reach other and delicately touch Kaciʼs fingers.


"We'll get him back," he told her once again. "If it's the last thing I do, Princess, I promise you I'll get him back."

Kaci turned to him, tears in her eyes, and smiled lightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

𖧷

𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 crying baby on her waist, Kaci Flores stepped outside of the islandʼs main gift shop, opening the warm bottle of pre-made, formula, baby milk. Kaz latched onto the bottleʼs nipple, his tears quickly fading dry, but he made this really annoying sound that made his mom cringe as he drunk it.

Kaci let out a sigh as she stepped out of the building, earning a couple of dirty looks from the tourons around. She was a teen mom, obviously people were going to judge, but this was also Kaci Flores — obviously she was going to say something.

"Yes, I got some dick!" she shouted at a particular old woman, who stood around Kaci, staring at her with a judgemental glare. "Can't say the same for you, clearly, though!" Kaci flipped the shocked woman off before storming away to find Pope outside the ferryʼs dock.

"I'd love to see you not argue with someone for twenty-four hours," the boy stated, watching her glare at the woman still, who was looking her child up and down.

Kaci rolled her eyes, holding Kaz closer to her protectively. "People piss me off," she said simply, then saw the doubtful look on Popeʼs face. She followed his eyes, seeing the wanted poster of John B on the post. "Oh, that's just fucking dramatic. He killed, like, one person."

"He didn't kill anyone," Pope reminded her.

"Yeah, but even if he did..." She rolled her eyes again, tearing the poster off the board and joined the others back at the car, Pope following right behind her.

"Okay. Okay. Alright, no." Clearly, the aftereffects of marijuana were getting to him.

Kie furrowed her brows from the front seat. "Pope, can you act normal?"

Kaci opened the side door, climbing in beside JJ, who was already holding his arms out for the baby. Kaz gripped to his dadʼs shirt, spilling a little milk as he was switched to another person, while Kaci squeezed herself in the back row with JJ and John B.

"So, um...okay, bad news," began Pope. "Ferry's closed."

Kaci nodded, leaning forward to hand Kie the wanted poster. "Yeah, and there's this."

Seeing the description and picture of John B on the paper, Kieʼs eyes went wide, showing the boys in the back. "Shit."

"What — what is this?" asked John B, laid over his seat, shielding himself from the windows and public eye.

JJ took the paper with one hand, keeping his over on Kazʼs back. "Well, John B, uh...this is a good framer of you."

"No, it's not," said Kaci, squinting her eyes to notice every detail. "He looks like shit. Like that night he went in the well."

John B glanced to the side to look at it, then rolled his eyes and stared back up at the ceiling of the car. "We can always rely on you for the best compliments, Kaci," he said dryly.

Kaci rolled her eyes back at him. "Yeah, well, you're the reason by brother is kidnapped, so excuse me if I don't spare much sympathy."

"Kaci, that's not fair," said Kie, actual sympathy in her voice — for both of them.

"But it's true."

JJ just sighed, dropping the piece of paper, and pulled Kaci closer to him, rubbing her arm with his thumb. He didn't know what else he could say to comfort her anymore, so he touched her. It was only his touch she needed to calm down.

"Okay, so the whole island's lookin' for John B right now," said Pope, moving on before an argument broke out.

"That's a lot of money," added Kie.

"Congratulations, John B, you're now famous," joked JJ.

"Guys, we gotta get to the HMS. We need small, no running lights —"

"It's at the Château, Kie," John B cut her off, voice full of doubt.

"And I wonder if the cops got the entire place staked out," said JJ sarcastically. "Let me think. Oh, yeah — no. No, they definitely have that place locked down."

Kaci looked up in thought suddenly. "My familyʼs got a boat."

"No shit."

She rolled her eyes. "No, I mean, like, a little one," she said, and everyone turned to her in consideration. "It used to be my Abuelaʼs whenever she took her parrot on a fishing trip —"

"How crazy is your family?"

"Shut the fuck up and let me speak, okay?" Kaci glared at everyone before going on. "The keys are in the storage unit with all our other old shit, and the boat is at the dock near the hotel. I can get it all, if we really need it."

JJ shook his head the moment she finished. "No, you're not going back to the storage unit after what happened to Jordan there."

"Yeah, and if your parents catch you near the hotel," added Kie.

"What other ideas do we have?"

Pope also shook his head, agreeing that the last thing Kaci should've done was associate herself with her psychotic family. "Let me think," he said. "Just give me a second." His eyes swiftly lit up. "JJ."

"What?"

He turned around to face the others at the back. John B was still looking up, convinced that every plan they thought of would go wrong. Kaz was finished with his milk now, slowly falling asleep on his dadʼs chest. JJ sat in the middle, one hand supporting the baby and the other protectively wrapped around Kaci.

"What if you went to the hotel —"

"My dad would literally murder him," Kaci was quick to point out.

"Exactly." Pope shrugged, and Kaci looked at him like he was dumb. JJ and John B seemed interested now. "Mikel and Marie would be so distracted with seeing you again that they wouldn't have any time to check their security, giving Kaci time to get the keys, get the boat and run back to John B. He can get right up the coast."

"That's seriously the worst plan ever."

Pope shrugged. "It's all we've got."

Kaci and JJ looked at each other for a moment, a slight uneasiness around them, but the plan gave the two irresponsible teens adrenaline.

"Fine." Kaci shrugged.

"You're taking Kaz," said JJ. "Incase anything happens with your dad."

"I wasn't planning on leaving him with you idiots, anyway."

"Hey —"

"Don't act like if John B dared you to ride a motorbike with the baby on your back, you wouldn't do it."

JJ chuckled. "We should do that."

"My point, exactly."

"LOOK. IT'S THAT GUY. IT'S THAT GUY, RIGHT OVER THERE."

Everyone in the car turned around to face this kid — this little eight year old, who couldn't keep his mouth shut. He pointed at John B through the window, so happy with himself that he'd found the guy from the poster. People started surrounding the car, claiming that they'd found him first, all wanting some of the cash that came with the finding of John Booker Routledge. They began knocking at the windows.

Kaci glared at the kid. "You stupid cunt!" she shouted out at him, causing him to frown. "I hope you die, you little bitch!"

"Princess, don't shout at little kids."

"Not my fault he's a snitch."

"Pope, turn the car on."

"I found him first!"

"Hell you did, you little bastard!"

"Pope, turn the freaking car on!"

"I'm trying!"

"Get outta the car!"

"I will literally fight you, you inconsiderate assholes!"

"Hey, there's a baby in here! Watch it!"

"We found him!"

People were banging on the windows, desperate to get through, and Kaci was one more shout away before getting out and clawing everyone of them to death. Thank God Pope managed to speed away in time.

Unfortunately, the boy was still way too high to see where he was going.

"Pope! Watch out!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch out!"

"Pope, drive like a normal human fucking being!"

"Pope!"

"Watch out!"

"I will murder you!"

"What the fuck?"

"Oh, I'm livin' my best life right now."

"My mom'll kill me."

"Pope, no more drugs for you."

"I should be the last one to tell you this, but you are not okay to drive, dude," said JJ finally, holding onto Kaz with a tight grip. "Stop!"

Pope obediently slammed down on the breaks, the tires squealing, and sent everyone flying forwards. "John B, get out."

"He's right," said JJ, hand covering Kazʼs head to stop him from getting hurt. "We'll draw the cops, you run. Kaci'll get the rig, and we'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay? Three o'clock, okay?"

"Yeah." He climbed out the car and sprinted away before any sirens came close.

"Three o'clock tomorrow at the dump!" JJ called again.

𖧷

𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 Kiara slammed shut the doors of the SUV, kid under one of their armsʼ and flashlight in the otherʼs hand. Pope was quick to jump out with them, but JJ remained in the car for a few more moments.

"You sure this is a good idea?" he asked again.

"She's the only one who can clear John Bʼs name, and the only one who knows where Jordan

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