Carolina- OUTER BANKS

Ch. 16

"Afternoon, ma'am." "Afternoon." She said and I smiled "I see you buy gold." JJ said and the lady nodded "That's what the sign say, don't it?" She said and I nodded. "Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind." JJ said and I rolled my eyes "I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it." She said and JJ pulled out the gold to show it to her.

"How about them gold apples?" He muttered and she chuckled "That ain't real." "That ain't real? Feel how heavy it is." JJ said and the lady tried to pick it up and she grabbed a magnifying glass with a light. "Mm-hm. Mm-hm! Let's get some light on that." "Spray-painted tungsten." The lady said and I shook my head "Spray-painted tungsten? Really? Okay. Why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?" I told her and she checked it "You mind?" "No, go for it." I told her and JJ smirked "Wow. Would you look at that?" He said and she frowned "Hold your horses. We ain't got to the acid test yet." "Ooh! The acid test. My favorite, guys." JJ said and I nudged his side.

The lady put a drop of acid on the gold and sighed "Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted." "Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long." JJ said and she frowned "It looks like somebody tried to melt it down." She said and I was about to say something but JJ beat me to it.

"My mom... She had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to... to melt it down... To "consolidate" it." JJ said using air quotes and I nodded "Mhmm. Yeah." "Seven pounds? That's a lot of earrings." The lady said and I sighed "Okay, to be honest, ma'am..." JJ said and I took it from there "It's really hard to see our mom fall apart with Alzheimer's." I told her and she nodded "Mm-hm." She bought the lie and sighed "Give me a minute." She said and came around the counter "Take your time, ma'am." JJ said and when she left they all looked at me "Alzheimer's? Really?" "Hey she believed it right?" I said and JJ smirked "You made me your brother? Ouch." He muttered and John B chuckled.

The lady came back and we went back to acting "I talked to my boss." "And?" JJ questioned and the lady sighed "And, uh, this is what I can do." She said slipping us a figure and i frowned "Fifty thousand?" I questioned and she raised an eyebrow "You think I walked in here not knowin' the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least." JJ added and she scoffed "Well, sweeties, you in a pawnshop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?" The lady said and I rolled my eyes. "Ninety, or we walk." I told her and she frowned "Seventy. Half price... and, um... I don't ask questions about where you got this." She said and we looked to John B and he gave us an okay sign and I smirked "I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please." JJ told her and she sighed.

"Well, here's the snag. I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check." "Cash... No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what that sign says. Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard." JJ said and she nodded. "Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that all right?" She told us and JJ and I looked at each other then back to her "Where's this warehouse?" I asked and she gave us an address and we we're off.

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"So they keep money out here?" Kiara asked as we drove through a Forrest area and I watched the trees pass by "That's what she said...That's what she said." JJ chuckled and I rolled my eyes "Stop." "I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive." Sarah said and JJ frowned "'Cause you're rich." "You've never heard of it either." Kiara scoffed and I nodded "Thank you." "There's nothing but weeds back here." Kiara said and I nodded "And trees." "All right, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's, like..." JJ said and suddenly we heard sirens, I turned around and saw a cop car "Cops? Out here?" "God! Are you kidding me?" Pope groaned and i frowned "What did we do?" "Why are we getting pulled over?" Sarah questioned and I shrugged.