Together Again • JJ Maybank

Two

⚓⚓⚓

"I have some information, that might be relevant. And I don't want to go to the cops about it. I wanted to come to you first. The Pogues." I stared at Topper silently for a moment longer as I processed his words.

"What information?" Keeping my voice quiet, I leaned forward a little as if to close the gap between us as much as possible over the small table.

"After... that night... I was brought into the police station for questioning. They thought I was involved in it all, with you." He slowly began to explain, but noticed my blank expression. "I helped Sarah and John B escape from the police the night before..."

"You did?" Why didn't I know this.

Topper nodded timidly. "Rafe started the fire, at that old church. They were hiding out in it." I kept quiet as he paused, letting him continue when he was ready. "I distracted the police so they could escape."

"But why? You hated John B." 

"It doesn't matter." He shook his head quickly, as if to keep himself on track. "When I was at the station, the cops were asking me all these questions that I had no idea about. But then I started to work out it for myself. You Pogue's were up to something all summer. We all knew it, we just didn't know what, and honestly at first I didn't even care. But then somehow Sarah got involved in it too. And then... well, you know the rest." 

"So what information do you have?" I asked, not able to work out where he was going with this.

"It's about the gold." My eyes widened at the mention of it. We had told the cops about everything in the end, not that they took us seriously, but that information wasn't public knowledge and the cops made sure we kept quiet about it. "I know you found it. You can drop the act Abby."

"H-how?" I stuttered, despite my efforts to sound more confident.

"I was put under curfew too. I've had a lot of time to look into things." That explained him becoming a recluse these past few months.

"I had no idea the cops even questioned you." 

Topper rolled his eyes with a smirk, as if remembering an inside joke that I wasn't involved in. "My mom has some power around here. Made sure that no one would find out. She didn't want the gossip spreading that I was somehow involved... with Pogues." He looked away awkwardly as he finished and I couldn't help but feel like he was ashamed of his mom's need to keep up appearances. "I guess we can all keep secrets around here."

"What about the gold then? We clearly don't have it, if that's what you're after." I probed some more, not wanting to give away everything I knew in case he was still as untrustworthy as before.

"A buddy of mine, he moved to the mainland a couple of years ago. His older brother was back from college for the summer and ended up having to help his dad on an urgent last-minute job. His dad's a bit shady, you know? Will work for a good price, no-questions asked kind of thing." I listened on silently, having no idea how this tied to John B and Sarah. "Well, he got a call from Ward Cameron. The day before... Said he needed help loading his plane that very day."

This time I rolled my eyes with a sigh and a sinking feeling at realizing none of this would be new information. "Yeah yeah, we already know Ward stole the gold."

"But did you know that not all of it fit on the plane?" My agitated expression softened instantly. "He had to leave some of it behind. About a quarter of it."

"One hundred million?" I quickly asked as Topper nodded to confirm.

I slunk back into my seat as I processed the information. Some of the gold was still here on the island. Actual evidence to prove our word against Ward's and to clear John B's name. A glimmer of hope.