"Look, I'm calling it off." John B announced a few hours later. Rowan showed up before everyone just to check on him and to make sure he was okay. She hadn't slept at all during the night. She was so worried about him.
"Pererkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS." He went on. Rowan stood beside him as he talked to the others. She was also worried about that whole situation. The thought of his being ripped away from her killed her. She really didn't know how she would handle it.
"And you believed her?" JJ questioned,
"Yes, I believe her, JJ."
"A cop. An actual cop, John B. You believe a cop."
"Look, all I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out." He counters back. "It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."
"You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass."
"Yeah, because Topper was gonna drown me?"
"Where you not there?" Rowan asked, turning to him, "Because of JJ he definitely would have drown your stupid ass."
"Really? Seriously?" John B asked, looking towards her.
"Uh, yeah." Rowan stood in front of him with her arms crossed. He shook his head at her dismissively and sat down. She didn't understand why John B didn't see the good side of JJ's recklessness. At least this time around.
"Look, they always win, don't they, man." JJ said, interrupting the lovers quarrel. "Kook's verses Pogues. They always, always win!" In a fit of anger, JJ punched the lantern hanging in front of him.
"Okay, it's okay." Kie said, trying to simmer him down.
"No, it's not okay! It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it." JJ said, pointing to John B. "I know you do. And I understand why you don't wanna go." He said, pointing to Pope.
"You're the golden boy. You got too much to risk. And you—" he said, "your already rich as fuck anyway, so why would you bother." He said, pointing to Kie, then, he looked to Rowan.
"And you're always doing dumb shit anyway, so I already know your about it."
"Rude, but fair." Rowan says, shaking her head.
"But you and me, man, we got nothin' to lose!" JJ said, looking back at John B. "We really don't, all right?"
"JJ." John B said.
"And I know it didn't used to be that way for you."
"I don't wanna talk about this. I don't want to talk about it." Rowan sighed as he looked over to her. He stood up and moved past JJ.
"So that's it?" The blonde asked
"Just get out of my way, bro."
"John B, listen to me. I have a plan."
"That's never good." Rowan said.
"You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" JJ asked him, putting his arm over his friends shoulder.
"No."
"There's scuba gear inside. Just borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man. You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?"
—
—
Rowan sighed as the boat anchored in the spot of the wreck. John B took JJ's bate and from then the plan was in motion.
Rowan was in agreement with what the boy had to say nonetheless. The Kook's did always win. It was about time they got a break and something good happened to them. If breaking a couple rules got then that victory, than so be it.
"This is insane." Pope said from beside her. She turned her head as she watched John B and Kei set up the scuba gear.
"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" The girl asked him.
"I...."
"Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us."
"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope says, clearly unhappy with they way things were planned. Rowan couldn't blame him, of course, but it was the best they had.
"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie's question is met with silence. Rowan didn't know the first thing about diving.
"Anybody?"
"It's kind of a Kook sport." JJ says, shrugging his shoulders.
"I...read about it." Pope adds. Rowan rolls her eyes and smiled.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Okay. Great. So, Pope's read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kie exclaimed
"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breath. How hard could it really be?" Rowan said, "I mean, the real question we should be asking is who can hold their breath the longest, right?"
"Uh, no. If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope said, looking at his sister.
"The bends like, bend over?" JJ jokes, bending over in front of Rowan, who shoved him away from her. He laughed and does it again. She rolls her eyes and waved him off.
"Calm down, skippy." She says,
"Make me." JJ smiles back
"The bends kill you." Pope says, causing JJ to immediately stop what he was doing.
"Right."
John B smiley raised his hand, "I can—I can dive."
"Yeah. Okay. You can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ nods his head.
"Since when can you dive?" Kei asks
"Yeah? Did Sarah Cameron give you secret lesions or something?" Rowan asked, looking towards him with a raised brow.
"I'll do it. It's fine."
"Let me do some calculations real quick."
"John B, are you serious?" Rowan asked
"Look," he says, softly, as Kie turns away from them and goes over towards Pope and JJ.
"I'll be fine. I can hold my breath the longest." He says, smiling at her.
"That boat's about 30 feet down." Pope began,
"Okay."
"So lets say it'll take about 25 minutes at that depth."
"Twenty-five." John B repeated
"Which means you need to make your safety stop at about...ten feet." Rowan nodded and stood up from her spot.
"Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." John B nodded his head and turned towards, Rowan. He had to admit that it was refreshing having someone worry about him. He really appreciated having Rowan be that someone. The girl was looking at him already.
Rowan slowly took off her shirt, revealing her swimsuit underneath. Taking a breath, she hopped off the boat.
"Uh, what was that all about?" Pope asked, looking between his friends.
"Uh, I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." JJ said, with a smile.
"Dude, that's my sister." Pope chided
"So?"
John B couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself at the two. He was glad they had no idea. He could only imagine Pope's reaction to finding out JJ wasn't the only friend interested in his sister.
"Uh...all right." John B said, shaking his head.
"Pervs." Kei muttered, shaking her head, she watched over the edge of the boat for Rowan.
"Okay. So, when your down there, you like, go for the cargo hold, okay? You stick this inside and twist and pull, okay?" JJ instructed, just as Rowan resurfaced.
"Hey." She called out. "I tied my shirt to the anchor chain at about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop."
"Cool." John B said, watching her swim back to the boat. "Thanks."
"Keep an eye on this." Pope said, pointing to the small pressure gauge. "You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress."
"Okay, how much do I need?"
"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible."
"Zen. Think zen, you know?"
"Yep. Yeah. Got it." John B said.
"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so...better get a move on."
"Copy that." John B said, standing on the edge of the boat. Rowan sighed. This whole week has been crazy and her mind couldn't keep up with all the near death experiences John B and the others were going through.
She felt so out of touch with how things used to be and wondered if things were ever going to get back to normal.
She longed for the late night talks and secret kisses her and John B would share. She was suddenly sick of the thought of keeping their relationship a secret.
If what she was about to do in the name of her boyfriend's potential demise, then screw it if their secret it revealed.
It was about time anyway.
Stepping forward, Rowan stood on the edge of the boat and kissed John B's cheek. He smiled despite being a little shocked at the action. And without saying anything else, he fell back into the water.
"So he can kiss your sister but I can't?" JJ asked, looking over to Pope.
"No one can kiss me unless I say they can." Rowan said, ignoring the looks she was reserving. And technically, she kissed him so he was wrong.
"What if I asked really nicely?"
"What if I pushed you off the boat?"
"Okay, I can sense your frustration." JJ said, "think zen..."
"You know what, you still haven't payed for ruining my shirt at the party." She said, stepping closer to him.
"Aw, the red shirt with the daisy?" Kie asked, thinking back to her outfit at the kegger.
"Yep." Rowan nodded
"Dick." Kie shook her head in disappointment at JJ.
"Okay, look, I said I was sorry. I'll...I'll get you coffee." He said,
Rowan sighed. She obviously wasn't truly mad at him. She was pissed her shirt was ruined, but she blames Topper for that more than she ever could JJ. And everyone knew the two always bickered like this.
"Coffee. Huh. Okay."
"Hey, Kie, you owe Rowan a coffee." JJ asked, looking towards the girl.
Rowan's mouth gaped open, "Really?" Kei and her say at the same time. They both cross their arms over their chest and stare at him. He smiles.
"Is it weird I'm a little turned on right now?"
"JJ!" They yell, totally unaware of the upcoming problems.
"Uh, guys." Pope suddenly called out, looking behind him. Rowan turned her head in the same direction and noticed the police boat heading their way.
"Shit. Cops." She muttered.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me."
"Just act frickin' normal." Kie said, grabbing Rowan's arm, they walked towards the bow of the ship and sat down. The boat's alarm sounded as it slowly stopped beside their boat.
"Evening officer." Pope said, calmly.
"Evening." Officer Shoupe nodded his head at them and tossed over his rope.
"JJ, tie this off." Pope handed the rope to him and he did so. Rowan felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she watched him look over their boat.
"How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?" He asked, looking at them through his sunglasses. Rowan still couldn't get the image of him taking that money from the safe out of her head. Bastard. She thought.
"Oh, no." JJ says
"Really? Wow. We had no idea." Rowan says, "why?"
"Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." He explains
"Oh."
"See anything?"
"No." JJ and Pope answer together. "No boats."
"Hey, uh, where's your friend you always hang with?" He questioned
"He's working." Rowan says.
"Ah." Silence settles around them and the longer they wait here, the more Rowan worries about how much air John B has left. Time was going slowly.
"You mind if I check out your little boat here?" The officer asked, hopping on anyway.
"Uh, yeah, check her out." Pope says, moving from the drivers seat to beside her.
"Thank you." He says, slowly looking around with a curious expression.
"Uh...you got another one?" He asked, holding up a life jacket.
"Yeahs yeah. Of course...it's in the hold." JJ answered.
"Show him." Kie said, the girls moved and Rowan opened the hold door and held out the other life jacket. "Right here." She said, giving the officer a tight smiles.
"All right." The officer said
"Yeah." She nodded. Her nerves were going crazy as the officer just stood their looking out towards the water. It took a while before he Finally decided to leave.
"Holy shit. He has to be out of air by now." JJ says, as they lean over to boat to look for John B.
"No way." Rowan said, shaking her head. As she did, she let out a relieved breath as John B surfaced.
"Did you find anything?" JJ asked, moving to help him onto the boat.
"Did I find anything?" John B said, with a laugh. Rowan watched with wide eyes as he tossed a black duffel bag over to JJ.
"Hell yeah!" The blonde laughed excitedly as John B climbed the latter.
"Jeez dude!" Pope even exclaimed happily.
"You good?" Rowan asked, looking over at him. He gave her his best smile.
"Yeah, I ran out of air." He said, nonchalantly.
"You scared the shit out of me., jackass" Rowan said, "good thing you can hold your breath." John B pats her shoulder as he takes off the gear.
"Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh...we took care of 'em."
"My bad."
"You're all good."
"Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother."
"More like shitshow." Rowan says.
"Hey, guys," the sound of Kei's worried tone causes everyone to look at her.
"bogey, two o'clock." She says
"What?" JJ asks
In the distance, a white boat could be seen. Rowan squints her eyes as she looks over to where Kie is looking. "Do you recognize that boat?" She and Pope ask in unison.
"I've never seen it. What are they doing here? The marsh is closed?" Kie says, shaking her head.
The boat in question speeds faster and faster down the marsh. If they didn't move now, they'd surely be crushed.
"Guys. Do we wanna ask why they're here, or do we wanna get pummeled to death?" Rowan said.
"Ro has a point. Let's not stick around to find out who they are." Pope said
"Right. JJ, get the bowline." John B started the boat and steered it in the other direction. Rowan looked back at the other boat behind them as is continued heading straight for them.
"Yeah." JJ said. Rowan moved and stood beside John B. The sudden need to be closer to him was her push to grab his hand. The others were focused on the other potential danger to even notice the gesture.
"JJ, hurry up." Kie said
"Guys, don't wait for me. Go." JJ said, continuing pulling up the bowline.
"Let's go!" Kei exclaimed
"I don't like the look of this." Pope said, watching the boat get closer towards them.
"Are they coming for us?" JJ asks
"Maybe they're fishing for drum." Pope added
"Yeah, that seems likely. Is that what we're doing out here even though the marsh is closed?" Rowan said. There was a good chance these guys were looking for what they were. It was the only thing that made sense and explained why they were headed their way. The marsh was big, their was no way they were here for anything else.
"Good point." Pope muttered back.
John B turned the boat around and Rowan watched with wide eyes as the white boat started following them. Her anxiety grew and with every passing seconded she worried something bad was about to happen.
She looked to John B, who was focused on steering the boat. Then, she looked to Pope, who looked just as scared as she felt.
Pope turned to face the others, "This can't be good."
"Shit." John B said, he looked from his friend and towards Rowan. The fear evident on her face as she looked from the boat, then to Pope, and then to him. With one hand on the wheel, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly.
"Dude, you gotta go faster!" JJ yells,
"I'm going!" He called out.
"Gun it!"
The boat was right behind them with every turn their made. They were equity fast and Rowan was starting to wonder why they were after them. Not that she wanted to ask, but they were unfamiliar and had no idea why they'd be after a few kids.
In the mist of her inner monologue, a loud bang echos through the air and immediately, John B pulls Rowan down, just as the others did.
"What the hell!" Rowan exclaimed, turning her head slightly towards the others behind her. "They're shooting at us!?"
"Holy shit!" Kie shouts
As another shot rings out, Rowan looks towards Pope and quickly crawls towards him. Grabbing his hand, they watch as Kei bravely grabbed the fishing net and throws it into the water.
"Holy shit!" Rowan exclaimed, laughing proudly at her best friend. The other boat gets caught and stops. The Pouegs laugh in pure disbelief as they are able to make their way safely home.
"That was insane, kie." Rowan gushes as they safely reach the docks. John B immediately grabs the duffle bag from the boat and gets on the ground to check it out.
Kei laughed and grabbed a hold of Rowan and surprised her with a hug.
"I learn from the best." She says. Rowan smiles as they gather around their friend.
"What do you guys think it is?" Kie asks
"It's gotta be money, right?"
"That or a couple of keys with street value to low-to mid-mils!" JJ said, excitedly. They were all filled with adrenaline after being practicing kissed by death. The sounds of the gun stilled echoed in her ears, but she was glad they were all okay. She could definitely add being shot at off the bucket list.
"Maybe it's gold. Or maybe special coffee beans that make you go crazy. I don't know. Oh, maybe it's—"
"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope exclaimed, interrupting his sister with an agitated tone. She turned to him and raised a brow.
"Wow, Pope." She mused.
"That's a rare outburst of emotion." John B said, unzipping the black bag.
"Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation. So just open the bag. We almost died over this. "
"All right, jeez. When Pope gets emotional, he gets bossy." Rowan muttered, which, earned her a punch to the shoulder.
However, with her own anticipation, she watched with curious eyes as John B finally opens the bag. Inside, John B pulls out a small, metal container. He twisted the cap off and tipped it over. Rowan looked between her friends as she watched John B's reaction to the thing inside.
"Oh, wow. Yep. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass." Pope says, dramatically in Rowan's opinion. She rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder.
However, John B was unfazed by Pope's reaction to the compass. He opened the top and starred at it in complete silence. Holding it gently as if he let go, it'd break or something.
"Dude, what?" JJ said, "it's not worth anything."
John B looked up slightly. A breath of disbelief escaped past his lips as he looked down to the compass again.
"What about it, John B?" Rowan asked
"This was my fathers." He said, softly.