"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 well," Pope sighs as John B and JJ emerge from the throng of people waiting to report things to the Coast Guard.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask John B.

"I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns that boat," he tells us as he shows the key to us all.

"No, no. We don't know whose room that is. It could belong to anyone," Pope objects as he attempts to snatch the key out of JB's hand. But John B only throws it past him to JJ.

"I'm in," JJ says before tossing the keys to Kiara.

"Come on. I'll be lookout," she persuades Pope, a puppy dog look on her face.

"Nothing bad's going to happen, Pope. At least not awful. Come on, it'll be fun," I assure him before walking off to catch up with JJ.

"Finder's fee. Just sayin'," John adds, patting Pope's chest. "And, hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice."

"Man," Pope wines, finally giving in.

"Come on, bubba," John B calls as Pope follows us back to the boat.

☼☼☼

As we drive up to the motel on the boat, we all stare at the old, rundown building. I had only ever heard about how bad this place looked from one of my friends. She had told me that the motel was haunted, and I hadn't believed her. But, seeing it now, I wouldn't be surprised if it was haunted.

I'm sure the hurricane made the property look even worse, but even before the it was a neglected and trashy motel.

"And I thought the Château looked bad," JJ whistles as he leans his arm on my shoulder.

"This place is a shitshow," John B complains.

"Motel or meth lab?" I ask retorically.

"You be the judge," Pope answers, though, as he drives the boat to the grassy shore.

"Doesn't look like a place somebody with a Grady-White stays," John B points out.

"No. Looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed," Pope states as the front of the boat slides up against the ground.

"All right. Here we go," JJ declares before making a radio static sound. "This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin' in for landing. Whoo!" he exclaims before jumping off the boat to tie it in place.

"We good?" I ask.

"Yeah, we good," he responds before he reaches his hand out to me. I take hold of it before responding.

"All right. Here goes nothin'," I say before jumping down and onto the ground. John B jumps off a few seconds later.

"Hey," Pope utters, grabbing our attention.

"Yeah?" John B asks as we all turn to face Pope and Kiara, who are on lookout duty.

"Don't let him do anything stupid," he says to John B and I.

"Oh, we will," JJ says as I rest my arm on top of his shoulder, only being able to do so because he's leaning over a bit.

"I'm not making promises," John B answers as he looks over at JJ.

"Don't worry," I assure Pope. "I'll keep them in check." I wink at him and Kie before smiling up at JJ.

"Yeah, I know," Pope sighs before turning away.

"Uh, be careful," Kie mutters to John B as she hands him the motel room key. "I mean it."

"Yeah. Yeah," JB chuckles as he backs away from the boat. "Let' go," he says to JJ and I.

We both turns and jog to catch up to him before stopping just behind him. As we trails behind, I turn to JJ and ask "Why are all these mattresses out here?"

"After a hurricane, they ditch 'em 'cause they're moldy," JJ explains to me.

"Oh," I mumble, nodding my head on understanding.

When we start walking up the stairs to the second floor, there's not enough room for us to walk side by side, so I stop for a second to trail behind JJ.

"Hey, did you see that?" I whisper to JJ once we're off the stairs.

"What? Kiara?" he asks as he stops for a second so I'm able to walk directly beside him.

"Yeah. Do you know what that was about?"

"I don't know. I'll ask him," he responds before walking up next to John, leaving me trailing behind them once again.

"Just be so careful, John," JJ moans out, putting his hands on John's shoulders.

"God, you're so weird," John complains as he shoves JJ off of him.

"Yeah. What the heck was that all about?" I ask as I laugh.

"I don't know," John B mumbles. "Maybe she wants us to be careful."

"Since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been, like, 'Oh! Be so careful, John B.'" JJ moans out again, trying to mimic Kiara, as he places his hands on JB's shoulders again and massages them.

"Get off," John complains as he moves away from JJ.

"Oh, just give me that John D already," he moans. "Like, when are you gonna swoop on that, man?" JJ asks.

"Bro, you know the rule. No Pogue-on-Pogue macking," he reminds us.

"You do know you made that rule up. You can unmake the rule," I remind him.

"JJ's the one always hitting on her, anyways."

"Of course I'm hitting on her. She's a super-hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us. Why? I can't figure it out either, but who cares, bro?" JJ says.

No longer interested in the conversation—as its steered from its original topic—I push past them, in search for the room with the right numbers.

"Whatever," JB says from behind me. "You need help, though, dude. Not like a little bit help, you need a lot of help. 'Cause it's like every girl who just has a heartbeat, you're like 'Uhh!'" he says, holding out his hands and making a kissy face.

"What? It's not a big d—"

"Hey, guys?" I say, interrupting their conversation. "This is it. Twenty-nine." I lightly tap my knuckle on the door to show them which room.

"Okay," JJ replies before stepping beside me and knocking on the door in a sort of rythimic tune while bobbing his head slightly. "Housekeeping," he says in a high-pitched voice. He knocks on the door and window six more time before I ask,

"Should we try it?" I ask, taking the keys out of John B's hand.

"Yeah," JJ responds before saying something in Spanish and then, "No power. No security cameras. No one's gonna know." I quickly unlock the door and push it open, not walking in yet.

"Huh. Okay," John B mutters as he lightly pushes me, so that I'll walk through the door. "Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere," he tells me as he and JJ walk in after me.

"A jacket. No name on it, though," I tell him after searching the bag.

"Denim slides," John B mutters, looking up at me to acknowledge my find.

"It's a nice jacket, though," JJ comments as he leans over my shoulder and points his flashlight at the jacket.

"Definitely over 50," John B concludes. "He's got New Balances."

"Yo, dude, come here," JJ says after walking over to the night stand. "Maybe this is where they were fishing."

"Let me see," I ask, leaning against his arm so he'll move.

"Right there," he points out to John B and me as we lean next to each other.

"No, that's off the continental shelf," I tell him.

"That's Big Swell. Nobody fishes there," John reminds him.

"Okay," JJ mutters as my eyes land on a slip of paper that has a series of numbers written on it. I slip it in my back pocket before turning away to look around the rest of the room.

"Coffee?" I ask jokingly.

"Yeah. Standard. Tissues for when you get lonely..." JJ trails off as he and John B scan their flashlights around the room. "Ooh!" he squeals as he walks into the bathroom.

"What? You find anything?" I ask, walking towards him.

"A really awesome Dopp kit you won't let me steal."

"Yeah, 'cause we're not stealing shit and I promised Pope I would keep you out of trouble," I remind him. Just before I zip the bag up, I notice him grab a stick of deodorant. Not caring all that much, I let it slide.

"One, one, one, one," John B mutters. The safe makes a beeping sound, indicating that the password was wrong. "One, one, one, two."

"Punching shit at random. That will... definitely work," JJ says sarcastically.

"Wait a second," I tell John, grabbing the piece of paper I found out of my back pocket and handing it to him. "Here."

"I don't know. I don't know about the second one. These coordinates, they...," JJ mutters, looking back at the map on the night stand. "Wait. My cousin said you could catch swordfish here."

"Six, one, six, six, six," JB mutters as he punches in the code I gave him. As the safe makes a positive beeping sound and unlocks, I can hear JJ in the background mumbling more nonsense,

"Nah, that wouldn't make any sense. What about a surf spot? That could possibly be it. That's... Or shoals."

"Holy shit," I gasp as John and I see what's inside the safe. It's a bunch of cash, a gun, and what looks to be like some kind of file.

"Is this a surf spot? Have you heard of shoals?" JJ asks us before John B turns his head slightly and says,

"Uh... JJ?"

"Hm?" he responds, turning his head to look back at us.

"You're gonna want to see this," I tell him as John B holds up a wad of cash that came from the safe.

"Dude, dude, dude!" JJ gasps as he goes past the money and straight for the gun.

"You grabbed the gun. You grabbed the gun," John B panics.

"This is a SIG Sauer," JJ exclaims excitedly as he holds the gun, swinging it around without caution or care.

"Put the gun back, JJ!" I whisper yell.

"This is a f*cking spendy gatt, man," he wheezes out before lifting the gun and making gun sounds. "Just... Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!"

"JJ," I warn before reaching for the gun.

"Bam! Bam!" he continues, holding the gun up high to keep it out of my reach.

"We are not stealing anything," John B tells him, backing me up.

"Just take a pic of me. Right here," JJ asks John B, holding the gun up next to his face in a 'cool' pose.

"You want me to take a picture of you?" he replies in astonishment.

"Yeah, dude, like... Y/n, can you take a pic, please?"

"Are you crazy, JJ? You want me to make our own incriminating evidence? Is that what you're asking me?" I suggest. Right as I say that, we all here a quiet tapping sound coming from the window.

"Wait, what was that?" JJ asks as John B goes to look out the window to see what it was. "What?"

"Shit," we hear John B curse before he jumps over the bed to look out the other window, the one right next to the door.

"What is it?" I ask as JJ and I follow close behind him.

"Cops," he gasps right before we hear a knocking on the door, which scares us out of our skin. John B and I run over to the other window while JJ runs to the safe.

"What are you doing?" I ask him, only slightly glancing over at him as John opens the window as quietly as he can.

"Nothing, nothing," JJ brushes off before coming over to us, just as John B slips out to the small roof just below. John hold out his hand to me and I take it before I slip out myself. JJ does the same before he comes over next to me and pushes me up against the wall, our chests pushed together.

I've never been a huge fan of heights, so, when I look over the edge of the roof, I kind of freak out a little. It's not a huge distance to the ground, but it's enough to scare me.

"It's okay, freckles. I won't let you fall. I'll keep you safe. Always," JJ promises as he places his finger on my cheek and turns my face to look at him instead of the ground. "Just look at me, okay?" I nod my head quickly, but can already feel some tears sting my eyes, not only from the fear of falling but from the fear of the cops seeing us.

"What are you guys doing?" Pope mouths as he waves his hands frantically to get our attention.

"Oh, my God," I see Kie sigh as she places her head in her hand, clearly disappointed in us. John B and JJ both put their finger to their lips, telling them to be quiet. I just stand there as perfectly still as I can, a terrified look on my face. John leans over to peek through the curtains, and I silently scorn him for it.

"I said it. Didn't I say it?" we hear one of the cops say. "Go ahead. Throw these in a bag, would you?"

"Yes, sir," the other says. After a few seconds, I hear her say again, "Sir?"

"Everybody's gotta dip their beak," he says.

"What the f—," I hear JJ murmur.

"Right, right. Their beak," the women finally says.

"Yeah," he chuckles.

"Do you believe—," JJ starts in disbelief.

"What? What did they do?" I ask quietly, wanting to know what exactly the two cops are doing. JJ puts his finger to my lips before reaching for something in his pocket and mouthing,

"I'll tell you later." Instead of him getting what he was reaching for, though, something falls out of his back pocket and makes a large clinking noise as it hits something on the way down to the grass.

The shades from the window suddenly open rather quickly and JJ pushes me up against the wall even more. I can see John B scoot farther away from the window, only one of his feet now planted on the roof. I quickly start to feel tears invade my eyes and I whimper quietly. JJ looks down at me with a look of worry. He reaches his hand that's farthest from the window up and pushes a strand of hair behind my ear before wiping a tear away that escaped my eye.

"Yeah... Um...," I hear Kiara say casually as she and Pope try to act as inconspicuous as possible. A few seconds pass before we here the cop say,

"All right. Let's go. No one's here."

☼☼☼

"Well, that was fun," I hear JJ say after we're a couple minutes away from the motel. Away from all the others, I sit at the front of the boat, my feet hanging over the edge, and think about something I can't get out of my head.

I'll keep you safe. Always.

I know that the actual words aren't that big a deal. He is my best friend. I kind of just expect him to want to keep me safe, and vice versa. But the way he said it. It just sounded like there was a deeper meaning he was trying to get across.

I don't know. Maybe my head's just messing with me. But whether it is or not, I can't stop thinking about it.

Suddenly, I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Kie's voice.

"Are you serious? Y/n?"

"Huh?" I ask, turning around to look at her. She motions over to JJ, who's holding a wad of cash and a gun. "What the hell, JJ? Why did you take that?" I ask in utter disbelief, not realizing that was what he had taken from the safe.

"It's better than the cops having it, Y/n, and you know it," he tells me, knowing I would agree. I sigh in defeat as JJ turns away from me.

"I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship," Pope moans in agony.

"Hey, hey, hey. Sh, sh, sh. sh, sh," JJ quiets him, placing his hand on Pope's neck. "At least you have us, right?"

"I'm living the nightmare," Pope groans.

☼☼☼

"Who's that?" John B asks Peeler, another Pogue we hang out with on occasion, as we all walk up to her on the walkway. There's a covered body on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance not far from where we're all standing.

"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm," she answers before pulling out her phone. "Check out this pic I got. Dead body. Insane."

"Holy shit," Pope mutters as she turns the phone so we can all look at it. When she turns the phone in my direction, I take one quick look before turning the phone away from me. I can already feel my stomach start to roll, so I turn my back away and breathe in and out deeply.

"Hey, you good?" JJ asks, resting his hand on my arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say before closing my eyes and rubbing my forehead with the heel of my hand.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ asks, turning back to look at the picture.

"Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady-White. Everyone's out looking for it," Peeler states, causing John B, Pope, Kiara, JJ, and I to all look at each other, knowing the exact boat she's talking about.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞
Another chapter! I hope you guys like  it so far! I know there's not a lot of different parts from the show yet, but I promise that there will be scenes that aren't in the show. I hope you guys will continue to read this story!
Love you guys!