When it all goes down

It all goes down

We stood surrounded. Hands up. Cops jumped out of their cars, guns drawn. A man in a suit I had never seen before ran past us to the dock, looking out into the water.
"We're too late. He's gone. God damn it!" He yelled.
"Bratcher!" Shoupe walked out behind his men. "Have your guys stand down. I know these kids. Let me talk to them." He eyed all of us as he came to stand in front of JJ and I.
"Where the hell is he?" He paused giving us a moment to answer. We all stood silent. "JJ I see your living up to your name." He eyed JJ up and down and moved over to Pope. "Pope, how about you?"
Nothing.
"Taylor? Think about your Gran. How would she feel about this?" Low blow. I stared back at him, unmoving.
"This isn't a fucking game!" He yelled at all of us. "Do the right thing. Where is he?"
"Shoupe. Enough. They aren't talking. Take them in," Bratcher reappeared in front of us, ordering his men. They walked over escorting us to the police SUV. JJ, Kie, and I slid into the backseat. Pope was put up front.
"No funny business." The officer said getting into the drivers seat, looking over at Pope. I took a deep breath. JJ grabbed my hand. "It would be best if you kids stopped playing games, and told us what we need to know." Kie shifted in the seat uncomfortably. "Some of you have a lot to lose." He continued looking at me in the rearview. "Aren't you on probation, boy?" We all knew he was talking to JJ. Kie and I looked over to him nervously. JJ put a finger to his lips, and shook his head slightly, telling us to stay quiet. We rode the rest of the way in silence. We pulled up to tents set up at the point. There were three or four tents and the area was crawling with cops everywhere. Radios and voices were ringing out in every direction, all looking for John B. Shoupe led us to a tent and pulled it open, pointing to four chairs.
"Sit down. Don't move. We have a lot to talk about." Pope went in first and sat at the chair farthest from the opening. Then Kie, me, and JJ followed. There was a officer sitting at a table in front of us. Shoupe turned to him. "Keep an eye on these kids." He looked back to us and then headed out the tent. We all stared at the officer in front of us. He had on headphones and after a moment looked back down to the laptop in front of him. We all sat in silence.

I laid my head on JJs shoulder. My nerves were getting the best of me. I just kept praying John B had cleared the point already and was gone. JJ reached over and grabbed my leg, holding it still.
"Breathe." He whispered to me, rubbing my leg slowly to help calm me down.
"We can't keep sitting like this." Kie looked over to me. Her expression filled with worried.
"You think he cleared it?" I asked eyeing the cop, making sure he wasn't listening.
"The phantom is fast." JJ reassured us. I looked up to his face, he didn't look too confident.
"Whatever happens, remember. Deny, deny, deny." Pope said grabbing kies hand.
"Ha, who's the bad influence now?" JJ smiled looking over to him, trying to lighten the mood.

Suddenly we heard chaos outside of the tent, radios blaring and cops running by. The officer in front of us stood up and opened the tent up slightly.
"That's them! There they are!" We heard blaring through the radios
"Shit." I mumbled
JJ stood up. The officer turned around quickly.
"Sit back down. Don't move again." I pulled him back down.
"No, no, no." Kie was mumbling in the seat next to me.
"The lights." I whispered. I could see through the tiny opening that the power was restored on the island. It must have given them away. I was filled with defeat.
"Bring me Ward Cameron." We heard Bratcher call through the radio.
"Shit. Why would they need Ward?" Pope asked
"Sarah must have made it." Kie responded. We all looked at each other. The officer shut the tent and turned back towards us.
"Looks like this is all about to be over." He laughed and walked back to the table. The commotion outside quieted down long enough for us to hear the rain picking up. The tent started moving slightly with the wind.
"It's supposed to be a bad one." The cop looked over to us. I dropped my head into my hands. We sat, not knowing what could be going on.

......

It seemed like an eternity passed as we sat there in silence. The storm had gotten horrible, and it felt unsafe just sitting in this tent, let alone being out in the water. I knew what John Bs options were, and I knew what he would choose.
Shoupe walked into the tent followed by two officers. His face was unreadable as he approached us. JJ stood up and walked over to him. We all followed.
"Did you find them?"
"No." Shoupe answered looking at us all, his eyes were sad.
"So, they got away?" I asked him, with hope in my voice.
"We, uhh.... we lost them." He looked down at the ground.
"What do you mean lost them? Like they are gone?" I asked more aggressive than I intended but my nerves were taking over
"I'm sorry." He didn't meet my eyes.
JJ threw his hands on his head. He turned away from us. Kie started sobbing next to me. I was frozen. No. No. No.
"You lost them?" Pope made me jump. He yelled at the top of his lungs. The anger showing in his voice.
"What do you mean? Like they are gone?"
JJ still wouldn't turn around. Kie grabbed me for support. Tears pouring out of her eyes.
"They took an open boat into a tropical storm, Pope." Shoupe said calmly.
"So they're dead?" I asked bluntly. A lump formed in my throat and my eyes suddenly watered like I'd been slapped in the face.
"We don't know."
John B. My best friend. Dead. It's wasn't real. This wasn't real.
"You drove them straight through the storm man! You did this! I'll kill you!" JJ turned around forcefully grabbing for Shoupe. Two officers grabbed him, pulling him away.
"JJ, please." I was sobbing trying to grab for him.
"You bastard!" He was still yelling. Shoupe calmly told his men to back down, they released JJ and he fell into me. I grabbed him tight as we both sobbed. Knowing we had lost our best friend.
"He didn't kill anyone man. You know that! He didn't kill anyone." I could hear Pope pleading with Shoupe.
"We are still looking for him, Pope. Please stop. Please. I'm sorry."
I held JJ as the world crumbled around us. I couldn't make sense of any of it. Everything we had done, was for nothing. Every fight, every tear, every bit of energy, and we lost everything. We had the world in the palms of our hands. Love, fortune, and friendship; and with one bad storm, it all went down.