JJ walked quickly back to the opening to pull the cover off. Once he got it off, he handed it to Evelyn to hold so that they could put it back on quickly if they needed to.
"You need help?" Kie asked.
"I'm good," Pope said and he climbed in through the opening.
"I thought Rafe got you guys for sure," Kie said,
"No. We're chill," Pope panted. John B hoisted himself through the opening.
"All right let's put the grate back on now," Evelyn said wanting to cover the hole as soon as possible.
"No wait," Pope whispered, "Hold it."
"What?" Evelyn asked, "No, we need to put it back." She was shocked when another girl's face popped up to the opening.
"Jesus Christ! I kill you, John B!" the girl hissed as she climbed through the opening.
"Who is this?" Kie whispered.
"Just relax. Just relax, okay?" John B said, "I told you I had a surprise."
"Who is she? What's going on?" John B!" Kie started to freak out.
"Hey, hey. Kie, relax. Relax," John B said.
"John B," Evelyn said looking at the boy wide-eyed.
"Remember I told you about the girl we met in the Bahamas that save us?" John B asked.
"Uh...Cleo, yeah?" Kie said.
"Cleo," John B said turning back to the girl, "She's gonna help us, all right?"
"Next time, ask me," Cleo said.
Evelyn ran her hands through her hair. She knew whatever was about to go down, it wasn't going to be good. She knew that John B was talking but she blocked it out trying to calm herself down.
"You seriously didn't grab nothing, not one single gun?" JJ scoffed catching her attention.
"We tr...we tried, okay?" John B said, "I got attacked."
"This is why I should've gone with," JJ said as the group shushed him for getting too loud.
"Let me get this straight," Cleo said, "You five, with no weapons, decided you were gonna hijack this tramp steamer on your own? Do you have any idea who these people are? Eberhimi, if he catch you, he's gonna kill ya. Dead. Cut off ya fingers."
"Okay. What about waiting until we get to port?" Kie suggested, "At least then if something goes wrong, we have a place to run."
"No. No, we can't do that," Pope said.
"Why?" Evelyn asked.
"Because I've run the scenario over 1,000 times in my head," Pope said, "Our best chances are on this ship. There's fifteen crew members and six of us."
"Exactly," Kie pointed out.
"About three-to-one odds," Pope said looking up at the girl, "That's the best it's gonna get. If we wait till we get there, they're gonna trap us."
"We have no chance," Kie argued.
"No, Kie, there's something else," John B said, "Ward's alive."
"Excuse me?" Evelyn asked.
"He's alive, and he's on this boat," John B said.
"What?" Kie exclaimed.
"You've gotta be kidding me," JJ mumbled.
"Are you serious?" Pope asked.
"It was all a setup, blowing up the boat, the confession to Shoupe. Think about it," John B said, "That was to clear Rafe's name. And he does what? Goes to the Druthers. And what's on the Druthers?"
"Scuba," Kie said.
"Bingo," John B said.
"So Ward's live, huh?" JJ said, "And he has the gold, and the cross, and Sarah."
"Thanks for rubbing that in," Kie said.
"So he's just gonna get away with everything again, huh?" JJ asked, "Not happening. We're not watching this movie again, right, Pope? You said we need the win."
Evelyn knew that JJ was right. They had snuck onto this ship, why should they back down now?
"And with her," JJ said pointing to Cleo, "We're going to the bridge, and we're gonna take it right now. You with me?"
"Let's do it," John B said.
"I'm with you, and I wanna be the one to take that bridge," Pope said
"That's what I'm talking about," JJ said.
"He's gonna take the bridge?" Cleo laughed.
"Yeah," JJ said.
"He couldn't even take me," Cleo said.
"Okay, first of all, I was going easy on you," Pope said.
"Seriously?" JJ asked, turning to Pope.
"I went easy on you," Cleo said as John B and Kie shushed them.
"Shut up," John B whispered.
"She didn't even--"
"Relax, all of you," John B said.
"If you're really with us, if we use that knife, we can go up into the bridge, hold it up against the captain's neck, and then we go on the intercom and make him tell the rest of the crew to meet up in the forward hull," JJ said, "Once they're in the same place, bam, we lock them in there, and we take back what's ours."
"I like it. It could work," Pope said.
"It's honestly the best plan we've had in a while," Evelyn agreed.
"Are you with us, then?" JJ asked Cleo.
"No," Cleo said turning to John B, "This is stupid."
"All right, let's open these things up!" a man yelled from the outside of the container.
"They're checking the containers," Kie said.
"Uh-oh," Pope said. Cleo moved quickly to pull off the opening.
"Wait. No. Cleo," Pope said.
"What are you doing?" Kie asked. Cleo shushed the girl as she removed the cover and handed it to Kie. Cleo climbed out of the opening running toward the man and yelling his name.
"She's gonna tell them. Shit!" Pope whispered.
"Hold up!" Cleo yelled, "This ones clear, sir."
"Are you sure?" the man asked.
"Went through it inch by inch," Cleo said, "Nothing but tubing and plastic in there."
"What if the stowaway had been in there?" the man asked.
"Well, he wasn't, so..." Cleo said, "Come on, man. We have work to do. Move your bumper, man."
"Okay, she's on our side. That's good," Pope said.
"Okay Pope, you're up," JJ said, "We'll wait for your signal, okay?" Pope pulled the cover off the opening and slid his body through.
"Maybe I should go with them," Kie said.
"What?' Evelyn asked.
"You know just in case," Kie said walking closer to Evelyn, "Why if she decides to switch sides."
Evelyn knew that Kie was worried about Pope. She could see the same look in her eyes now that she did when he'd been stung by the wasps.
"Just promise you'll be careful," Evelyn said placing her hands on Kie's shoulders.
"I promise," Kie said. Evelyn nodded her head as Kie made her way toward the opening.
"Where are you going?" JJ whispered.
"Just let her go," Evelyn said standing in front of JJ.
"She's not going out there," John B said.
"Yes she is," Evelyn said glancing back to see that Kie was already halfway out of the window, "And you can't stop her."
YOU ARE READING
You Have To Choose |JJ Maybank|Topper Thornton
Fanfiction*Sequel to "A Foot In Both Worlds"* I recommend reading that story first! After the death of John B and Sarah and a night that brought possibly the biggest mistake she ever made, what will Evelyn choose? Or better yet...will they make her choose? {f...
