SEASON TWO,
CHAPTER 4:
TICKLING THE WIRE
"Woogity-woogity."
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ON THE DOCKS next to the Carrera's restaurant, four teenagers can be hanging out there as it's away from other people in the island. A drastic change in their mood compared to when they first found out the dreaded news. More smiles can be seen creeping onto their faces as they let themselves be happy for once, no longer feeling guilty about not having John B and Sarah around.
"So we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ questions.
"Dude, there's no way we're getting to the Bahamas." Pope states.
"John B's gonna get nabbed sooner or later, so if we're gonna clear his name then we needed to have done it yesterday." Kie informs.
"I'll tell you how we do it." JJ says.
"You have it all planned out?" Delilah asks, raising a brow at the boy.
"As a matter of fact, I do." JJ replies. "We kidnap Rafe, tie him up, stick the gun in his mouth, and just wait until he starts squawking."
Delilah's eyes widen. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You know, torture's a war crime." Kie reminds.
"Yeah, so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell?" Pope asks. "Because that's a felony."
"Alright, well, what's your plan then, Pope?" JJ fires back. "I was just trying to keep it simple. You know, one stop and we're done."
"Guys, all we need is a material witness." Pope tells them. "We all saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. But he didn't fly it, so someone else was there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered."
"But Ly saw that too." JJ argues.
"No, Pope's right." Delilah agrees. "None of them believe me, so we need physical proof. We just need to find whoever that was and get them to confess."
"On record." Pope adds.
"How do we do that?" Kie asks.
"A little light espionage." Pope replies, a smile now on his face. "Woogity-woogity."
"Woogity, baby!" JJ exclaims.
Now having a plan of what they're going to do to help clear John B's name, the friends make their way over to Kie's car where they clamber inside and set off for the road — Pope managed to call shotgun for the passengers seat. The four are still trying to get a better plan of action going of how exactly they're going to get this material evidence. All they need is to create a perfect plan and have it run smoothly if they want this to be successful.
"If this guy flew planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight-lipped." Pope informs.
"So then direct approach gets my vote." JJ tells them as he loudly cocks the gun.
"What? No!" Kie exclaims.
"JJ, no! Put the gun down, man." Pope demands.
"We gotta keep this simple, or else we'll never get John B off." JJ argues.
"Or we just tickle the wire." Pope suggests. "All I need to do is plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on your airpods."
"Does that actually work?" Delilah asks, intrigued.
"Say something." Pope instructs.
"I ate all of Kie's chocolate at lunch today." Delilah admits.
"What? Delilah!" Kie exclaims. "I fucking knew it was you, lying ass."
As this is said into the phone outstretched towards the redhead, they all listen as it's repeated through the radio in the car — even Kiara shouting at Lila is heard. Pope just smiles that it's already going as he has planned, whereas JJ looks confused about how he's managed to do that.
"Woah, that's cool." Delilah comments.
"Did you seriously eat all my chocolate?" Kie asks.
"Isn't that his house over there?" Delilah questions, slyly changing the topic.
"Yeah, it is." Pope replies.
Kie pulls the car over in a open clearing on the side of the road, parking it as the engine is turned off. She makes sure that it's not in a suspicious spot in order to throw the attention away from them all because that's the last thing they need right now.
"Okay, just tell it something if you see anything suspicious." Pope tells them.
"Don't do anything dangerous." Kie pleas.
"Come on. I'm not Del or JJ." Pope reminds with a grin on his face.
"Funny, Pope." JJ comments, sarcastically.
Pope ignores the blond and climbs out of the car, which then leaves his three friends sitting inside to patiently wait for him. The boy walks over to one of the houses nearby as he makes sure to crouch down and try to stay hidden, trying his best not get caught by anyone. However, it's hard to do so because Pope doesn't particularly know the area very well and it's therefore hard to decipher where he is safe or not.
"How's it been going with Pope and all?" JJ suddenly asks the brunette.
"It's good." Kie simply replies.
"It's good? Alright." JJ says with a nod. "But in the bedroom, is he kinda freaky? 'Cause it's Pope, you know?"
"Quit being nosey." Delilah hisses.
"I'm curious!" JJ informs, trying to defend what he's asked. "I'm just kinda spitballing here."
"You don't need to do that. We could sit in silence and wait." Kie tells him. "I mean, you don't hear us asking about yours and Lila's sex life."
"Well—" JJ begins.
"I don't wanna know." Kie states, interrupting the blond. "Keep that private between you two."
"Chill, I wasn't gonna say anything." JJ assures. "I was just gonna say it's kinda awkward sitting here in silence."
"You're making it awkward, JJ." Delilah informs.
"I'm curious, okay?" JJ repeats. "I mean, ranking wise, is John B better?"
"What?" Kie exclaims in disbelief.
"Oh, you've messed up now." Delilah mumbles.
The car door to the passengers side suddenly swings open as Pope steps into the car, informing the three that he's successfully completed the task. But a tense mood hangs in the air that causes him to pause and furrow his brows. The boy's eyes meet Delilah's since she seems to be the only one acting normal, the girl just motioning for him to not say anything.
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After awhile of waiting around outside of the house, the teenagers have grown impatient as they realise that nothing of their interest. Night has now fallen over them all and fits the scene to their own liking, making it easier to sneak around in the darkness. So, the four have decided to finally call the person and pretend to be someone else.
"Hello?" The man says as he picks up the phone.
"Hello. Is Gavin there?" Kie asks.
"This is Gavin." The man states. "Who's this?"
"I know what happened on the tarmac." Kie informs.
"Um... Who's this?" Gavin repeats.
"It was Rafe Cameron." Kie continues. "But you already knew that, and you lied about it."
"Alright, you're going to tell me who this is right now." Gavin demands.
"You could have saved her, but you didn't." Kie states. "And you're not getting away with this."
"Listen to me!" Gavin exclaims. "Who is this?"
Once again, the brunette doesn't listen to his angry demands and simply chooses not to reply to avoid giving away their identities. Then, with nothing else needing to be said, the button that ends the phone call is pressed and no voices can now be heard.
"Alright, we tickled the wire. Phase two is now complete." Pope informs.
"So now we just wait and listen?" Delilah asks.
"Yep." Pope replies.
A few more minutes pass before any real movement can be seen coming from the house. They watch as Gavin leaves the comfort of his own home and gets into his car, switching the engine on and instantly driving away. Bright headlights beam through the darkness and light up the surroundings to ensure safe driving on roads.
As the car passes by, the four have to swiftly duck down in order to avoid themselves spotted — if some teenagers were found after he had revived that call, he would definitely think it was them. They watch as Gavin continues driving with zero suspicions before finally sitting up right in their seats once again. Kie starts to drive along the quiet roads too after turning the engine of the car on, planning on trailing behind the man. Pope just puts the airpods in his ears and listens to the conversation taking place.
"He's talking to Ward." Pope informs, pausing for a moment. "He's talking about negotiating something. Renegotiating, I think."
"Are you serious?" Kie questions in disbelief.
"Oh, shit." Pope curses. "Gavin has the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin."
"Oh my god." Delilah mutters.
"I think he's trying to use it as leverage." Pope tells them. "Now he's panicking."
"Wait, he's pulling over." Kie states.
"Go around the block." JJ instructs.
The teenagers drive past the car that Gavin is sitting inside of, the signal slowly being to fade away as the distance between the phone and the airpods is too much. Kiara tries her best to go as fast as possible, ignoring the strings of curses and shouts that leave her friends mouth. However, as a corner is turned, the road ahead appears to be blocked due to the fact that roadwork is being conducted.
"What the hell is this?" JJ exclaims.
"Stop." Pope demands. "Just stop the car and turn around now."
But the world doesn't seem to be on the fours side today because a digger comes driving around the corner and pulls up behind the car. A loud beeping sound is emitted from the truck as it reverses from where it came from, following the directions that a man is ordering the driver. JJ swings the car door open and doesn't hesitate to start shouting at the road workers, annoyed that their plan is just being interrupted even further.
"Pope!" Kie calls.
Delilah's head snaps behind herself to see that Pope has leaped out of the car and is running down the street. The boy appears to have taken matters into his own hands after choosing not to say anything to the others. The three just copy their friends actions and follow closely behind him as they ignore the fact that they aren't allowed to leave their vehicle parked there — though, Kie does offer them a quick apology.
Four teenagers sprint through the back gardens that belong to the Kooks, completely ignoring that they're trespassing on property because they've gone illegal stuff before. They head in the direction that Gavin's car was previously parked in order to get closer and regain that connection with the airpods once again. Delilah and the two quickly and silently make their way past some of their classmates swimming around in the pool, hurrying over to Pope where he's ducked down behind a row of bushes. A panicked look has taken over the boys face.
"What does that mean? What's wrong?" Delilah asks, starting to feel panicked herself.
"Did you hear something?" Kie adds.
"He'd meeting Ward right now." Pope tells them, eyes widened. "We have to go. Come on."