𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫

My eyes opened at the unmistakable sound of a car. I rolled onto my side to see the Twinkie pull into the yard. JJ, who had also been awoken by the sound, pushed himself to his feet.

John B pulled the van to a stop and got out. He looked unbelievably defeated and his expression was numb. JJ and I approached him.

"Well, look who it is. Nice of you to show up," JJ spoke. "You gonna spill the beans? You gonna tell us the truth about what's going on?"

John B sighed. "Look, I know I've been a little shady and stretched the truth a little bit-"

I scoffed. "Yeah, that's called lying,"

"Yeah, I know..."

"John B, what's going on?" JJ asked firmly.

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "My dad killed two guys,"

My eyes widened. I knew something was off about Big John.

"He was trying to protect me," John B continued.

"No, no, no. Hold on, okay?" JJ said, shocked. "You're serious?"

"Yeah. It was the guys from the Coastal Venture," He explained. "They came here looking for Denmark's diary,"

"And your dad capped them for that?" JJ questioned.

"Yes, and then Singh showed up," John B continued. "They took my dad, and then they tried to kill me. They took him to South America, alright?"

I furrowed my brows. "Woah, South America?"

"Yes! They're on their way to South America!" He replied, the panic in his voice rising. "Then what? Are they gonna off him?! I don't know what to do-"

JJ raised his voice. "John B, stop!"

"Just breath for a second," He advised. "I need to think,"

He sat on his porch steps, burying his head into his hands. I joined him, then patted the space next to me. John B hesitated at first but joined us. "I don't know what to do, guys," He muttered. "How the hell are we getting to South America?"

JJ wrapped an arm around him. "No clue, but we're gonna figure it out," He said. "We're Pogues, man. We always do,"

"Okay, so, start from the beginning..." I began. "What went on over the past few days with you and your dad?"

He looked at the ground, still seeming hesitant about telling us. I sighed. "Look, I understand your dad doesn't want you talking about it, but we can't help you if we don't know what happened. You know you can trust us, Booker. So, please, tell us what happened,"

He took a deep breath. "It started back in Barbados when I found him..."

For the first time since we had gotten home, John B was completely honest with us. He explained how he and Big John had gotten the Signpost of Orinoco, which essentially was this statue that would show the location of El Dorado. Unfortunately, they only had half of it, which started the search for the remaining piece of the statue upon their return to the Outer Banks. They went to Charleston and found clues that led them to the missing part.

Once they got ahold of the other half, they went to see Dr. Tommy Sowell. Supposedly, he had gone to South America, where he and several other professors had discovered ruins in the jungle that somehow related to El Dorado. He could also assist with translating the markings on the statue. However, before much translation could be done, Singh and his men showed up and killed Tommy. They intended to kill Big John, but he bought himself time by reminding Singh that he was now the only person alive who could translate the statue. So, he was taken to Singh's boat where he would serve as a translator on the way to South America. Singh's men were told to kill John B, but thankfully he escaped. After escaping, he came back to Kildare.