Lost At Sea 3 ⋆ JJ Maybank

𝖛𝖎. And I Think That's What a Father Is

"Who's that?" JJ asks, trying to read above her shoulder.

She stares at the caller ID. "...Portis?"

"Portis? That's John B. That's definitely John B."

He tries to take the phone from her hands, but she swats him away and picks up the call, forgetting entirely to put John B on speaker from the rush of having confirmation that he's fine, or at least, alive.

The swell of hope bottoms out from the force of her anger she can't reign in. "You absolute dickhead–"

"Okay, nope." JJ immediately takes the phone from her. "Yo! Dude? Is this you?"

"Speaker," Kie urges.

"Yes that was Kat– Do you need us to turn around?" JJ puts the phone on speaker, frowning. "Yo, say it again. Say it again."

"I said don't worry about me, okay?" His voice comes out warbly from the low service. Kathryn heaves out a sigh, feeling reassured for the first time in hours. "Look... hot... OBX." Well, that didn't last long.

She stares at the phone. "Look hot in OBX?"

"Let me talk to him," Sarah asks, JJ immediately taking the wheel while his girlfriend and his best friend's girlfriend walk two literal steps away. "John B, are you okay?"

"Yes!... fine... good."

"He's fine. Thank God. What happened?"

"I... ound... ad. ...ive."

Kathryn can't help a groan of frustration. "Bee, we can't hear a single thing you're saying!"

"Kat? ...ad ...ve too. Kat?"

"I can't hear you!"

"Ge... tta here. ...you ...ildare. ...kay?"

"Kildare, when?" Sarah repeats.

The line cuts off before he can respond. Kathryn blows out a breath. They don't have a lot to go on with how garbled his voice was. But at least, he's alive, and meeting them in Kildare, which sounds a whole lot less bleak than what they had a few moments ago.

"Anyone glean anything from that?" Kathryn lets out, sitting heavily on the cushions of the upstairs cabin. "'Cause all I got was to look hot in OBX when he comes back."

Cleo frowns to herself. "You guys think he found his father?"

"He's been missing for almost a year," Pope reminds her.

"Not missing, Ward killed him," Kathryn corrects. "Like, Peterkin told John B what happened. He's concocting big time."

"So what do we do?" Kie asks. "Should we go back?"

She hesitates. She was so sure that they'd made a mistake before, but John B had found time to call, told them he was alright, and that they'd meet up. There's always this nagging fear eating away at her, since he disappeared, that he'll be taken from her for good this time.

But if she was in his place and thought her dad was alive by some miracle, would she want him to come back for her? Of course, it would help if every fibre of her being wasn't telling her that something awful was about to happen.

"Kat, we're sitting ducks," JJ urges softly. "So we need to make a decision, are we turning back around, or are we gonna keep going?"

Her teeth sink into her lower lip, looking up at her boyfriend, who trusts her completely to make the right choice. Kathryn doesn't.

"Sarah?"

Sarah turns to her, blinking. She swallows thickly, as if against the words she's about to say. "He said go," she reminds them.