𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank

Chapter 29: Renegade

John B and Grace didn't speak to each other. The only noise was the purring boat engine and Grace's quiet sniffles. 

"John B!" 

Grace's head whipped up. Sarah was running down a dock toward the boat.

"Sarah!" he yelled back.

John B pulled the Phantom up to the dock and Sarah climbed on.

"Hey. What are you doing? I didn't think you were coming. You weren't at the dock," John B was smiling wide.

Sarah wrapped her arms around John B's neck, "You were just gonna leave without saying goodbye?" Sarah pulled him into a kiss. Grace looked away. "Don't ever leave me again."

Grace bit her lip to hold back her tears as best as she could. She felt like she was making the biggest mistake of her life and they hadn't even really left yet. "Sarah?" Grace muttered as John B started the boat up again.

"Yeah?"

"Am I making a bad decision?" Grace whispered, voice too shaky to speak any louder.

Sarah shook her head while frowning, "Who knows what dad will do if you stay, you know the truth. He knows you know the truth. You can't stay on the island Grace."

Despite her reassurances tears continued streaming down Grace's face. Sarah quickly pulled her into a hug. "JJ will come find you. He can't go very long on his own. He's like a lost puppy."

Grace laughed weakly and nodded into her sister's neck.

The sun set as they drove the boat further down the coast. Eventually they neared the police and  SBI's setup. It was a massive operation with plenty of tents and professionals wandering about. John B cut the lights as they approached and turned off the engine.

"It's like the entire sheriff's department," Sarah breathed.

"Holy shit," Grace added.

"We'll go dark and let the tide pull us out," John B explained.

Grace grabbed her sister's hand tightly as they waited for the tide to do its job. Sarah put her head on John B's shoulder while squeezing Grace's hand back.

"We need eyes on the other side of the Point. Go," they heard an agent shout out.

"We're clear," John B smiled at the girls.

"Hey. Hey, we're gonna make it," Sarah spoke determinedly.

"Yeah, we just gotta go north through the swamp, then we just follow the..."

"Follow the North Star," Sarah interrupted him.

"What everything spins around," the girls looked at each other as they spoke. Grace was still visiting when Sarah's ongoing astronomy phase started. She ended up learning a lot about stars from her sister.

Grace looked away from her sister and towards the shore again, "Shit! Guys, the lights."

The coast was slowly lighting up, power finally and inconveniently returning after Hurricane Agatha had wiped it out what felt like forever ago.

They watched in horror as the lighthouse buzzed to life. Lighting up the ocean and as a result their boat.

"That's them! There they are!" someone yelled from shore.

John B twisted the key only for it to sputter and stop.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Sarah asked frantically.

"Engine, c'mon Sare," Grace grabbed her hand. She hadn't the faintest idea how engines worked and was desperately trying to remember what JJ had taught her.