WE DITCHED THE REST of the day and went to The Wreck. Excitement coursing through my veins at the arrival of the next text or anything from them. "I never doubted them," JJ laughs. "Hey, Kiara, I need those setups done by five!" Anna shouts at her daughter. "There are other people that work here!" Kie yells back. "Ain't none of them my children!" I scoff at Anna as we just continue walking. "I feel that. On a deep, emotional level, I understand that," Pope references his family business. "Weston had a drug dealin' business but I wasn't like—does that count as an entrepreneur?" I ask. "I—maybe?" Bailey shrugs.
"So we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ is immediately jumping the gun but to be fair, I thought the same. "How do you suppose we get to the Bahamas?" I sit down next to JJ and rest my head on my hand. "John B is gonna get nabbed sooner or later. So we gotta clear his name, like yesterday," Kie says. I let out a huff of air and my eyes follow the seagull flying past us. "I'll tell you how we do it!" JJ says. "So you have it all planned out?" Pope rolls his eyes.
JJ make eye contact with me and smirks, "I do, we kidnap Rafe!"
"Excuse me, JJ?" I shake my head in disbelief. "We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squackin."
"You know, tortures a war crime—"
"Hold on Kie, I like this idea—"
"Really, Bailey? You like the idea of torture?" Kie raises her eyebrows at the other brunette. Bailey just smiles and shrugs at her. "Yeah, so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony," Pope says to JJ.
"Alright, well, what do you got, Pope?"
Suddenly, a lightbulb goes off. All we really need is a witness.
"Guys—all we truly need is a material witness!" I stand up from my seat. "Those crime shows are doing you well, Sam. That's exactly what my plan was," Pope smiles at me, "We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered."
"So, we just need the confession on record!"
"Exactly, Sam," Pope fist bumps me as a proud smile goes across my face. "Okay, how do we do that?" Kie asks. Pope and I look at each other, "A little light espionage."
"A little ghost recon," JJ smirks. "Undercover? Time to get my spy boots on," Bailey adds on. We all look at each other as everything comes together. "Woogity, woogity?"
I smile and put my hand out, "Woogity, baby!"
We quickly found the guy that flew the plane and maybe other planes for Ward. "I feel like a Criminal Minds character right now! Y'all think I'd be Spencer's type?" I dramatically move my hair and smile. "Spencer? The nerd? Don't start this shit again," JJ scoffs. "Jealous?" I raise an eyebrow. "He looks like he enjoys mint chocolate chip ice cream!"
"I enjoy mint chocolate chip ice cream, dumbass!" I yell at the blonde.
"If this guy flew planes for Ward, he'd be pretty tight-lipped," Pope points out. I nod in agreement. I lean my head against the window and watch as the island moves swiftly past us. JJ moves next to me, "So—" I hear the gun cock, "Then direct approach gets my vote!"
"Oh, my God!" I yell. "JJ, no!" Pope and Kie yell. "I like this—"
"Bailey!" Kie yells but it makes her snicker. "Put the gun down, man!" Pope tries to grab it. My eyes widen as I scoot away from JJ and his best gun friend. "Guys! We gotta keep this simple or we'll never get John B off!" If I could scoot any further away, I would, "Simple is not a gun, babe!"
"Or we just tickle the wire," Pope suggests. "Sounds, painful," Bailey makes me laugh. Pope holds up Kie's AirPods and I catch on. Smart Pope to the rescue, again. "What?"
"We tickle the wire. I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on your AirPods!" He says like it's the most simple thing, "Say something," He puts the phone up to Kie's mouth.
"Something." Her voice echoes on the recording. "We've got audio," I smile. The sun sets on the island as we approach Gavin's house. I feel so cool and badass—as cheesy as that is. "Alright, honk, or, uh...yell or something if you see anything suspicious," Pope unbuckles. "Don't do anything dangerous."
"Come on. I'm not JJ." I turn towards JJ for his reaction.
"Funny, Pope." Pope gets out of the car and I watch as he sneaks up to the house. "What happens if he gets—caught?" Bailey asks. "Won't happen. It's Pope," Kie laughs but I see Bailey's expression form into a sour one. She tries to hide the jealousy by turning away from me but I already caught her.
"How's it been going, you know, with Pope and all?" Bailey shifts even more at JJ's question. As much as I would love to bug Kie about it, I know anything involving Kie and Pope's—relationship, will upset Bailey, so, I keep my mouth shut. "It's good," Kie replies. "It's good? Alright."
I lay my head on JJ's shoulder.
"In the bedroom, is he, like, kinda freaky, 'cause it's Pope, you know?" I lift my head off of JJ and raise an eyebrow at him. "Why are you asking?" Kie questions. JJ shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, just curious. Just spitballin'."
Kie turns away with a disgusted expression, "You don't need to spitball. We could sit in silence."
"Wait, what makes you think Pope is freaky?" I ask JJ. "I—well, it's Pope. Aren't nerds or geeks into that like shit?"
"What shit?" Bailey now asks. "Why is this a discussion?" Kie groans. "Y'know like—rope—"
"Rope? How fucking freaky do you think he is?" Bailey laughs. "Ranking wise—" JJ starts waving his hands around to show the ranking.
"Oh, you're still asking?"
"Yeah, I was just curious!" JJ says. "You're still curious."
"Is John B better?" My jaw drops and I laugh at JJ and his awkwardness. "What?" Kie yells which only makes me laugh more.
Holy shit, I just can't stop laughing at them.
"Sam, get your boyfriend!" Bailey laughs with me. "I—" I try to start in between laughs. Pope opens the passenger door and I force myself to stop laughing and elbow Bailey for her to stop as well. "Okay, phase one complete," Pope looks around at the four of us, "Everything—Are we all good?" I throw a thumbs up, "Great, Pope!"
Kie gets to a secluded place and we decide that she'll be the one to call Gavin. "What kind of voice should I use? Like Batman—Hello?" She tries to do the deep Batman voice but I cringe. "No—no," I shake my head. "What voice, then?" Kie panics. "Just call!" Pope and JJ yell. "Kie, use an Australian accent—"
"That's hard, Bailey!"
"If you don't call him, I will!" I go to grab the phone but Kie pulls away. She dials the number and we anxiously wait for him to pick up. I puff my cheeks up and wait.
"Hello?" Gavin answers the phone and I let the air out from my cheeks. "Hello?" Kie tries the deep voice and I roll my eyes, "I can't—"
"Just talk," Pope tells her. "Hello?" Gavin repeats.
"Is Gavin there?"
"This is Gavin. Who's this? Hello?"
"I know what happened on the tarmac."
Gavin nervously laughs, "Um..who's this?"
"It was Rafe Cameron. You already knew that and you lied about it." I look up at JJ and press my lips together and then back to Kie. "Okay. Who is this?"
"We're gonna prove it—"
"You're gonna tell me who this is now!" Gavin is starting to panic. "You should have saved her, Gavin. You didn't. You're not getting away with this."
"Listen to me! Who is this?" Gavin raises his voice but that's when Kie hangs up the phone. "How was that?"
"Yeah, I was scared. Good job," JJ says. "Amazing," I add on. "I preferred the Batman voice," Bailey shrugs but Kie just giggles at her. "Alright, we tickled the wire. Phase two complete! Now we wait and listen," Pope smiles. "This is so cool," I tell Pope.
Gavin gets his car and I smack JJ's shoulder, "Yo, here he comes. Stay down y'all." We all slump down into our seats. The headlights shine into the car and JJ pulls his head closer to mine and the floor. "He didn't see us. Hit it!" The car passes us and Kie immediately starts her car. "Go, go, go!" Pope yells but his seatbelt isn't working. "Why are you panicking about a seatbelt?" I yell. "You don't need a seatbelt, Pope!" Bailey yells and Kie just starts the car. "He's talking to Ward," Pope tells us, "Get closer. I can't hear."
Kie stays a careful distance away from Gavin but close enough that Pope can't hear him. "He's talking about negotiating something. Renegotiating!" I'm practically leaning on Pope's shoulder in an attempt to hear Gavin. I see Pope get surprised and I panic.
"Gavin's got the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin." What? Holy fuck. "The gun..." I whisper. "Holy shit..." Kie whispers. "I think he's trying to use it as extortion, as leverage."
I lean back in my seat and look at Bailey who is still leaning over with an unneeded hand on Kie's shoulder. "Wait. He's pulling over!" Kie says. "Shit, he's panicking."
"Do I pull behind him? What do I do?" Kie now panics as well. "Go around the block!" We all yell at Kie. "We're gonna lose him!" Bailey turns in her seat to stare at Gavin. "I can't hear anything. I'm losing the signal. I can't hear him!" Pope starts yelling. I look forward and see that's a construction block in the road, "What the hell is this?" I point towards it. "Stop. Just stop and turn around now!"
"Pull in here and back up!" Everyone is panicking and throwing directions at Kie. "I'm just gonna back up—" When she tries, a truck slowly moves behind us. JJ and Bailey hop out of the car, "Hey! We were about to back up!" Bailey yells at the construction guy. I pull on JJ's hoodie, "Get back in!" Pope gets out of the car as Bailey and JJ yell at the workers. "Pope!" I lean out of the car and yell at him. "We gotta know where they're meeting!" Pope just books it down the road. JJ grabs my hand and pulls me out of the car. We all look at each other, "We're going after him, right?" JJ says to all of us. Kie gets out of her car, "Yup."
"You're gonna leave the car?" Bailey asks as we start running after Pope. "It's fine!" Kie yells back. We run through backyards, hopping over bushes. "Pope!" JJ keeps calling after him. Oh, my God. What is even happening? I hop over another fence when Pope doesn't even slow down. Keep in mind, we're basically on Kook side. We hop the fence and there's a pool with people from school in it. "Sean? This is where you live, you Kook!" JJ acts so casual as we run through the backyard.
"Hey, Sean!" I awkwardly wave. We finally catch up to Pope as Gavin drives away. "Did you get the meeting spot?" Bailey asks. I lean down and catch my breath. "He's meeting Ward right now. We gotta go!" For fuck—I quickly get back to running even though I fucking hate running. I'm better at hiding.
A storm starts—hypothetically and literally. We had run through the storm and to Pope's house for him to grab the biggest camera I've ever fucking seen. "Nice camera. Where'd you dig up that relic?" JJ asks as we hide behind a fence. "Just use your phone," I tell Pope. "Well, first of all, I like my antique electronics," Of course he does, "Second of all, this is a telephoto. It allows me to get a close image from far away." So does the zoom in on a phone but—whatever.
"Lord of the dorks!" Kie laughs. "A telephoto? Sounds fake as hell. Did you make that up?" Bailey jokes with Pope. "Well, it's in my hands—isn't it? Plus, this is quality glass. There he is!" Everyone's attention moves from Pope to Ward and Gavin running through the rain. Pope starts recording but they go into the construction zone.
"Shit. Where's he going?" Pope panics. My clothes are soaked. Everything is soaked but I somehow find myself ignoring that and completely focused on getting Ward Cameron jail. I want Weston locked up as well but he's gone radio silent. No break-ins. Not even a threatening message.
JJ moves away from me and a minute later whistles, "Yo! I think I found something. Come here!" He waves us over to a ladder and immediately starts climbing. "God, I'm gonna get trench foot!" Bailey kicks the ground next to me. "Quit complaining and hurry up!" Kie practically pushes her up the ladder. I'm the last one and JJ reaches out his hand to pull me up. "Thanks," I kiss his cheek and run to the edge of the roof. The bright blue light from the building across the street shines on us as the storm continues around the island. "You rollin' Pope?"
"You getting it?"
"Yeah, I see them." I squint and try my best to get a clear sight of them but the rain ruins it. "Ward just handed Gavin something, I think it's a duffel bag," Pope keeps the camera on them. "I think he's paying him off, y'all," I sigh and tell my friends. "The rich always find a way, huh?" Bailey scoffs. The rain gets heavier. "Gavin doesn't look happy about something. He's yelling at Ward."
"Why?" Kie asks. "I don't know but he sure looks mad," Pope replies. I sigh and wipe the rain off my face. Suddenly, the two men start fighting. "What the hell?" I adjust my position and squint again. "What's going on?"
"I dunno. They're fighting over something."
"They're really going at it," JJ says next to me. "He's kicking the shit outta him!" Bailey yells and we all shush her, "Sorry—sorry."
We're all panicking in hopes of knowing what the fuck is going on but Pope can't answer the questions.
"Holy shit. Ward's got a gun!" I turn towards Pope in surprise. "I bet that's the murder weapon," Kie points out. JJ and I exchange worried looks and he reaches for my hand.
In the blink of an eye, Ward fires at Gavin. We all gasp and hide behind the small ledge. JJ grabs my body and puts my head to his chest. "Oh—oh, my God!" I put my hand over my mouth. "Is—is Gavin dead?" Bailey quietly asks. I shrug and shake my head. "No—no, that did not just happen," Kie panics and when I look over, Bailey is rubbing her back gently. Pope puts the camera back on. "Pope. Tell me you just got that," JJ says. "Enough to put this asshole away for life!" Pope says back. An odd sense of relief washes over me. Gavin died, but Ward is gonna be sent away. "We need to go, right now!" Bailey says. "I agree with her, we need to go!"
"Hold on. He's coming out. He's looking for the gun." I stay behind the ledge of the building and just rely on Pope's word.
"I think the gun just went down the drain and he's looking for it!"
"What?" I look over a little bit but can't see much. "Hold this—" Kie starts to stand up. "Yo, get down!" Bailey tugs on her shirt but Kie doesn't budge. "What are you doing, Kie?"
"Kie—get the fuck down!"
"What is wrong with you?" Kie yells—full on yells—to Ward, "Murderer!" JJ and I look at each other but he's the one that grabs her and covers her mouth. She continues to try and yell. "Kie—are you fucking stupid?" I harshly whisper at her. "What if he saw you?" Pope yells at her. "Are you crazy?" We're all just yelling at her. "I don't care if he hears me, he's a murderer!"
"That's great social justice warrior—but he can shoot us like he did Gavin!" I yell in her face. "He's gonna murder us, Kie!" Both JJ and I continue yelling at her. "Guys, he sees us!" Fuck. Thanks to dumbass, Kiara. "Now, exit, now!" Bailey gets up and starts to go down the ladder. Pope goes next and we all rush him, "Come on! Pope, hurry!" As soon as there's an open space, JJ goes and I follow behind Kie. I'm not even on the ladder but I hear JJ, "Ah! My hand!"
"Babe, you okay—" A thud makes me rush Kie and look over at JJ and Pope on top of Bailey. "Fuckers! Get off!"
"I'm tryin' Bailey but Kie pushed me!" JJ yells. "Sorry. So sorry!" Kie apologizes. "Just—go, Kiara!" She gets down and I quickly slide down the ladder. I immediately go to JJ and Pope but then I see the fucking camera—destroyed. "No, no, no, no!" Pope cries out. "You fumbled it?" JJ yells. This is great—amazing. "You kicked me in the face!"
"She stepped on my hand!" JJ and Pope start arguing but all I can do is look at the destroyed evidence in Pope's hand. "I was trying to hurry!"
"We wouldn't have had to if you just kept your mouth shut!" I turn towards her. "Okay—wait—" Bailey steps in the middle of us and Kie doesn't say another word. "He's coming!" Pope pushes me towards the fence and we jump over and run all the way to Kie's car. Heavy breathing and panicked looks all through the car. "Could someone fill me in on what the FRICK just happened?"JJ yells. I'm so goddamn annoyed or pissed. Or both. I punch the seat in front of me as Pope and Bailey let out a loud groan. "What were they fighting over?" Bailey asks. "It was....the gun. The one Rafe used. He must have kept it!"
"Of course! The fucking murder weapon!" I punch the seat in front of me again and it causes Bailey to flinch. "Pick up! PICK UP!" Kie panics. "Who are you calling?" JJ is pissed at her. "Who do you think?"
Wait—
"Kie, the cops?"
"The cops?" Pope and I frantically ask. "Who else am I supposed to call?"
"Why would you call the police? That's Ward!" JJ yells at Kie. "Dumbass!" I curse at her and slump in my seat again. I'm starting to get cold from being soaked in the rain and I just—wanna—scream. At everything and everyone. The cops pick up and Kie tells us all to shut up. "Fuck you.." I mumble under my breath.
"Hello? Somebody's been shot at the..at the Grand Street construction site! You guys need to hurry because we don't know if he's dead or not!" We can't stay here. It's too dangerous if Ward actually saw us. As if he's reading my mind, JJ says, "We gotta go. We're sitting ducks," He looks at me for approval and I nod my head in agreement. "We can't stay here," Pope says. "What do you want me to do?"
"Drive the car?" I sarcastically answer. She starts the car and goes back to the scene of the crime. There's cop cars in front—including Shoupe. Goddamnit. "Babe, you good?" I look towards JJ and sarcastically smile, "Fucking dandy!" I push the car door open and we go up to where Shoupe is. "Look, it was right here, this is where that maniac claimed his next victim!" Kie tells Shoupe. "Uh huh. His next victim?" Shoupe is not taking this seriously. I scoff and cross my arms. I have no idea why she called the cops. Like they'd actually even do their job. "How long ago would you say it happened?"
JJ bends down, looking for any evidence. "Like 45 minutes ago, bro—I mean Shoupe," I laugh at Bailey's correction and the dirty look he gives her.
"Okay, so, Ward Cameron just popped one off and shot him?"
"Essentially," I answer. "Execution style? Then cleaned it all up in 45 minutes?" Shoupe stares at me. "Yes, I guess!" I answer again. "Obviously," Pope adds on. "We filmed the entire thing!" Shoupe looks at Kie. I facepalm—she just needs to stop sometimes because us saying we filmed it and then proceeding to have no film—looks bad. "You filmed it?"
"Yes, but we can't show it to you because I stepped on JJ's hand, and then he kicked Pope and they landed on Bailey and the camera broke—"
"This is a telephoto and we needed to get a long distance image, and...and I fell and it broke, so it's unusable," Pope rambles us deeper and deeper into looking like dumbasses. "Shoupe, we saw the whole thing—"
"So, the dog ate your homework?" Shoupe scoffs. "No, Shoupe, I know it sounds—" He cuts me off, "Look, I don't know what you kids expect me to do with this. You drag me out of here, in the middle of the night for a whole lot of nothing!"
"No, it's not nothing—" Kie tries. "Except for some crazy story about how Ward Cameron is out on a killing spree!" Shoupe says. "It wouldn't be that surprising, would it?" I sass him. "We're not making this up!" JJ frustratedly yells. "It's not a killing spree!" Bailey runs her hands through her hair.
"Look, Gavin was his pilot. He was paying him hush money because he was on the tarmac that day," Pope explains. "Gavin was blackmailing Ward because he had the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin!"
"He called him here to try and pay him off!"
"But that wasn't enough for Gavin so Ward shot and killed him! We watched it go down!" I yell at the sheriff. "With the murder weapon, might I add," Bailey says. Shoupe blinks and looks like he believes us—almost.
"How do you know that?" He asks. Shit. This is where it gets illegal. "Pope did this thing with his phone. He, like, put it in his car—"
"I heard the whole conversation," Pope tells Shoupe. Well, this isn't gonna end well now. "You wiretapped him?" Shoupe scoffs. "Is that bad?" Kie asks.
"Stop. Just stop. I've had enough," Shoupe starts to walk away. JJ and I look at each other. This wave of anger comes over me. Ward killed Big John, someone that was like a father to me. Used my dad as an accomplice—and is just going around murdering people. "You're just gonna let him walk away? Like Adrien?" Shoupe doesn't stop at the mention of my abusive ex, his fucking nephew. He knew how bad his anger issues were and he saw the marks but did nothing to stop him. "You ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?" The others follow us and start yelling at him as we leave. "Why would we make this up?" I run down the stairs after him. "Waste of my goddamn time!"
"Shoupe, why would I fucking lie?"
"I know it sounds crazy, I know that!" Kie yells from behind me. We get outside and the cop cars surround the building. "Nothings up there. False alarm—"
"No, it's not! Keep your little trainees here and find evidence! We watched him get shot!" I yell at the cops. They all look at me like I'm some crazy teenage girl, I mean, technically I am. "Why would we make this up?" Kie keeps pleading with him.
"Shoupe—" He turns to look at me, "Ever think about doing your job for like twenty minutes or does it never cross your mind?"
He glares at me, "I know...I know you're upset and I know you think your friend is innocent—" My jaw drops and I let out a laugh. "He is!" Kie yells at him. I step closer to JJ and grab his hand for comfort, for him, because—John B.
"But you weren't there!"
"Neither were you!" I yell at him. I lunge forward a bit but JJ grabs me back and I huff. "Well, the only actual witnesses who are above ground say the opposite. Alright? And both of them have a lot more credibility than any of you right now," Hus eyes shift to Kie, "I saw your little art project on Ward's wall. Do not do that again!"
Art project? I look at JJ and Bailey who just shrug. "Oh, come on—" Kie groans.
"Alright? Gonna make things a lot harder for the both of us." Shoupe starts to get in his car but I call out for him, "Shoupe?"
"Lord, what, Sam?"
I press my lips together, "Fuck you, and your witnesses." I hear Bailey hide a laugh behind me which makes JJ hold back a laugh. "Sam.." Pope shakes his head disappointedly. Shoupe looks at me with his jaw slightly dropped and shakes his head like Pope, "Go home." He gets in the car and we're left defeated, again. The police sirens fade away as we all walk away. "That was funny, Sam," Bailey and I high five. My comeback will be the only victory of the night. "I told you this would happen. You're the one that had to drop the camera—"
"Not his fault, J," I tug on his hand. "It was your fault!" Kie yells at JJ. "Oh, how was it my fault?"
"How was it JJ? You're the one that stepped on his hand!" The three of us stopped while Bailey and Pope went up a little more. "Okay, well, Sam was rushing me!"
"So, is it my fault?" I get in Kie's face. "Why do you always take his side? Why do you never take mine?" JJ yells at Kie. "Yo, guys, stop!" Bailey tries. "Shut up!"
"Do not tell me to shut up, Kiara!" JJ grabs my arm when I step forward, not letting it get extreme. "Hey! Hey! We're not out of this yet!" Pope makes us all be quiet and turn to him.
"We can still go get the gun," I follow Pope's eyes to the sewerage system, 'DRAINS TO OCEAN' written in big white letters. The drain. We can go into the drain for the gun!