SO, CURRENTLY EVERYONE COUPLE IN THIS DAMN VAN HAS TENSION. Even between the only happy couple, Bailey and Kie.
"Guys, the thing that Limbrey said, I don't think she meant to let it slip. She said the key leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo," Pope flips the key around. "Wait, can I see that?" JJ puts his arm out for the key. "Are we supposed to know what that is?" Sarah says sarcastically. "I certainly don't," I say as I lean back in my seat. "I'm guessing it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance," Pope states. I just nod my head like I can confirm or deny that fact.
"Well, according to the interwebs, it was a gift from New Spain to the Spanish King," Kie shows the information on her phone. "Checks out," Bailey smiles.
"New Spain? Is there an Old Spain?" JJ says but everyone just kind of ignores his dumbassery. "Is there a picture of this cross, Kie?" I ask. "Yeah, shit. Talk about over-gifting. Look at that thing," She shows me the picture first. "That's—big," I stare at the comparison of a grown man standing next to the cross. "So, it's a giant ass cross!"
"It was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces. It was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829," Kie reads off the Wiki. So, why the hell would these Limbrey's want with it.
It got lost in the triangle? Shit. That's gone.
"Did you just say Bermuda?" JJ says from the passenger seat. "Oh, no. Not the triangle," John B corrects him and technically me but we won't talk about it. "It always leads back to the triangle, dude. Like every single time something weird, it's Bermuda!" I roll my eyes but I know if we were on talking terms I'd be verbally agreeing with him.
"Okay, so what does a key from Pope's family have to do with a cross? Two completely different things," I point out. "Where do we come in?" Kie asks Pope. His eyes fall to the ground for a second, "I don't know. That's a good question."
"Well," I watch from behind as Bailey sneakily wraps an arm around Kie's shoulder and mine to I assume, not look suspicious. "We got this. For sure!" She smiles. John B stops the van when we get to where Pope's meemaw is. JJ gets out and opens the van door for us.
I feel my phone vibrate and I quickly pull it out. I'm disappointed when it's not from Piper. To be fair, I told her I never wanna see her again but I also wondered if she had more of an explanation. A small part of me knows it's in hopes I can forgive her. The insta notification almost mocks me. It's where she first texted me. Stupid app.
"Hey, actually, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself," Pope says to Kie. Honestly, good. Old people smell like salami.
"Are you sure?" Kie hesitates. "Yeah, I can handle it. I don't really need you, so..."
I lean over Kie's shoulder, "The last time we did this, you got jumped, with a taser," I empathize the taser part. Heavily. "Oh, we're just all one big happy family today, aren't we?" JJ claps his hands together. "Yeah..." I whisper and move myself from Kie. Pope walks away and John B says we'll pick him up in a bit.
"I want a drink, John B," I groan from the back seat. "A drink? You want a drink?" John B repeats. "Yeah, me too," Sarah joins in. "So do Bailey and I!" The four of us smirk. John B pulls into town and pulls over to the curb. "Outta here, go!" I open the van door and let the others out before I go. "Sam," I hum at John B, "Don't punch someone."
"She'll be okay," JJ swats him off. "No promises," I hop out of the van and after the girls.
The four of us end up going in and out of shops. I tried on so many sunglasses and didn't buy any, as one does but I did get my drink.
I happily sip on my drink as we all talk against a brick wall. "I was gonna say we should talk about our guy problems but we'd be leaving Bailey out," Sarah unknowingly chuckles at her comment. "Yeah. Only girl problems," Bailey and Kie raise their eyebrows at each other. "Let's talk about how Sarah thanked Topper!" I change subjects. "Okay, well, of course I thanked Topper. He saved my life, and I'd put him through so much already. And you'd think that that is the crime of the century," Sarah explains. "You did hug him—"
"Sam. Please," Sarah stops me. I jerk my head back and sip on my smoothie.
"All of this crazy shit happening, and Pope is giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him," Kie says but Bailey and I giggle. "I would never, Kiara," Bailey smirks and earns no response from Kie. "JJ is mad at me because he basically said I don't matter enough for him not to go to jail!" I sarcastically smile and take a long sip of my drink. Sarah scoffs, "And we're the dramatic ones." I giggle in agreement with her and follow the two back into the van. "Got your drink, Sam?" John B asks. I hold up my root beer, "Yup!"
A little bit later, we went back to get Pope. His walk is slow, almost like whatever happened, really fucked him up. He sits down in the van and exhales. "So, how'd it go?" John B asks.
"Shit just got way more personal," Pope replies. "What the hell does that mean, Pope?" Confusion laced in each of my words. "I'm related to Denmark Tanny."
I clap a hand over my mouth as everyone's jaw drops around me.
"I still can't believe that you're related to Denmark Tanny!" John B and the rest of us are still so surprised as we all drink beers on the wet porch. "Uh-huh!"
"Are we in the presence of a royal?" John B dramatically gasps. "A king?" JJ says. "Hold on, we must bow!" I shout. JJ puts on a horrible British accent, "We shall crown him. All hail the lord of Tannyhill!" He places a fake crown on his head. We all start bowing down to Pope. "We're not worthy!" John B continues the shitty British accent. I erupt into giggles when I look back up at Pope. "Everybody relax. Can we relax, please?" Pope tries to stop our dramatics.
"Relocate to Cats Ass, question mark?" Sarah suggests. "I'm with that!" JJ agrees with her. "Yes, I love that!" I clap at the idea. "How soon can we move in?"
"Cause I don't have a place to stay, so," JJ adds. "Me either. Bunk beds?" Kie says. "You guys are always welcome at my place. You know that," My eyes roll to the back on my head. "Yeah, but, bunk beds, Sam!" JJ emphasizes. My body freezes when JJ refers to me. I don't even think he realizes he did until we're both frozen.
"I just keep thinking about the letter. The one that Limbrey sent," Pope scratches at his head, "It had the wheat symbol on it. That must mean it has something to do with the Royal Merchant."
"Yeah, something seems fishy," JJ comments. "Yeah, but, we can find the cross and split it like y'all were before," Bailey says. "I'm liking where this is going," I nod towards Bailey.
"And live happily ever after?" I jump at the sound of an old lady's voice. I stare at the blonde woman with a cane. Her asshole friend that attacked Pope, right next to her. She tilts her head as if she owns the place. "You assaulted my father," Pope says through gritted teeth. The blonde man pushes him back and I push myself off the wall, ready to fist fight this guy. "Oh, I didn't assault anybody—"
"He can identify the psycho from a mile away," Kie says towards who I'm assuming to be, Mrs. Limbrey. "Why would my employee assault your father? That's absurd!" Her laugh sends anger right through my whole body.
"Because you're desperate for something that doesn't even belong to you!" I step forward and Limbrey looks absolutely astonished that I even had the audacity to be near her. "Back it up—"
"Put your hands on me, bro, and I'll make sure you walk with a cane like her over here—"
"Okay, Sam, enough!" Sarah pulls me back and I can feel JJ's eyes on me. "Anyway, listen, we can keep on negotiating, but the fact is that I want the key," Pope steps forward and the guy puts his hands on him again, "And I won't stop until I have it. I don't have a choice, which means you don't either!"
My eyes glare at the two, especially the hand that stays on Pope's chest. "It's Limbrey, right? Is that right?" John B speaks up. I look towards him. He has the key in his hand. There's no way they'd give it up without Pope's permission. Or a plan.
"Is this what you're looking for?" He twirls the key around. "Yes, it is," Desperateness in her voice. "Looking at the tide right now, I'd say it's about 20 feet deep out there. So, if I just threw it in the channel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none. You wanna give it a shot? Really?" John B pretends to go to throw the key into the water and they both panic.
"No! Hey!" I get Pope's attention and point towards his pocket. He shows me the key and I smirk and then look up towards JJ. He's keeping a straight face but I have a gut feeling this was his idea. "Get him to back the hell up," John B points towards blondie near Pope.
"Of course," She smiles towards him, "Back up," Limbrey innocently says.
"As I have told you from the beginning, I am willing to be reasonable."
There's a pause. "Okay," Pope quietly says. "Okay?" She says almost confused he agreed so quickly. "I'll give you the key but I want the tape."
"Of course. Of course," She quickly agrees. We have to play into the part though. "Pope. Hey, hey, hey. You don't have to do this," Right after John B says this, I walk up to him as well.
"Pope, this is a part of your family!"
"No, it's okay," Pope starts with the fake reassurance. "No, dude, Sam is right. It's apart of your family—"
"Hey, it's fine. It's okay. It's about your dad. That's way more important," Pope puts his hand out for the key which John B places right in the palm of Pope's hand. "Oh, you're a good friend."
Her voice annoys me.
"The tape," Pope waits. "Yes, give him the tape," She motions. They place the items in each other's hands at the same time. "You know, I wish that you'd come to this decision earlier. We could have avoided all this unpleasantness."
Before words can even open my mouth, JJ nudges me hard, telling me not to. "Nice to meet you," John B jokes.
I watch as they walk down the dock and away from us. "How long do you think we have until she realizes she has your fathers old key?" JJ smugly says. "Ten minutes," John B quickly replies.
"Eh, a bit more," I shrug. "Whose idea was it to fake key?" Pope smiles. "Shockingly, not mine," Kie laughs. I turn right towards JJ and already has a prideful smile on his face as John B brings him in. "Hmm, I don't know. Should we tell him?"
"Wow!"
"Okay, smarty!" Bailey claps. "Did hell freeze over?" Pope asks and I move so he can hug him. "Even a blind pig can find an acorn at times!" JJ says as the boys hug him and shake him. "I'm proud of you and confused as to what that means!" I laugh at him.
"Well, I don't know what it means. I saw it on Reddit!"
I press my lips together, "Makes it even worse but I'm still proud!" I throw my hands open. It's the first civil interaction we've had in days and though I'm still mad, I'm incredibly proud he came up with a good plan. "We gotta take the tape to Shoupe!" John B says.
"Yes, sir. Ward Cameron, we're coming for you, big boy—" I turn towards Sarah as soon as JJ says that. "I'm sorry, Sarah," She just nods and walks in front of me. It's almost unfair to Sarah. I know everyone is upset about Peterkin and that Rafe should be arrested as well as his father for hiding the body but the Pogues keep forgetting Weston also killed Big John. He keeps disappearing and reappearing. Just like he did as a dad, he does the same as a murderer.