The air sizzled with tension as the sun beat down on the Pogues. It had been fifteen minutes and one long explanation about Cruz from Harley since she had woken from her seizure. She sipped gingerly on her water, answering any questions or just hearing the group's reaction to what she had to say.
Harley couldn't stop rubbing at the prominent pulse in her neck. Her nerves were still levelling out, but she felt apprehensive and guilty as she watched John B's reaction to everything. Everybody but JJ was processing everything she had explained, though Pope seemed the most troubled. His face was scrunched in thought as he surveyed their surroundings.
"So, to summarise, the big guy that just trashed and ransacked the Chateau is the same guy that kidnapped you last year. You knew who he was months ago, but you're only just telling us now." Pope had his hands on his head, disbelief still smeared on his face. "You think he knows who you are, were, before the accident and you think he knows your family. Did you not think about going to the cops sooner, maybe?"
"Pope," JJ said firmly. His eyes were yelling at Pope to shut up, but Pope was too wrapped up in getting out what he needed to say.
"I don't get why the cops are never a viable option. Does no one see how crazy it is that we're not running, sprinting, to the cops right now?" Pope looked around. "I see a problem."
Harley murmured, "I'm sorry."
Harley had noticed the trail of tears on Kiara's face earlier. It was obvious her friend had been shaken up by the two square groupers and Harley's news hadn't eased the slow dying panic amongst the group.
Kiara's eyes were doe like as she rubbed at her cheeks. "This is all messed up. Maybe we should go to Peterkin."
Pope threw out his hand in Kie's direction. "Yes."
"No." John B finally spoke up. "If we go to Peterkin, then she's just going to have Harley taken away and then DCS are going to come for me."
"I don't want to be split up," Harley interjected quickly standing up straight. She refused to be taken away from her home here with John B or even separated in foster care. She'd keep her head down and stay a million miles away from the cops if it meant everything could stay the same.
"John B, Harley, this is serious," Kiara argued. "You don't know that Peterkin will get DCS involved."
John B shook his head. "She will. Uncle T isn't here. We don't have a legal guardian right now."
"I'm really sorry. I should have said something sooner, but everything was going great. We were all happy and getting through it despite everything. I didn't want to ruin that and have the cops around constantly again. I honestly didn't think Cruz would show up again and I never thought he'd be linked to John."
JJ stepped forward, his eyes glanced to Harley, and said, "Maybe the link is just a coincidence. I mean what are the chances it's more than that? Very slim. That's what Peterkin will say. So why go to the cops for what we already know? Fuck the square groupers, I have a gun, we'll be ready for 'em next time."
Kiara face palmed. "You did not just say that."
"A coincidence is plausible." Pope started. "But there's so many other factors. Like who is Limbrey?"
Harley shrugged feeling nervous when they all looked to her. "I've seen the name on papers at work. Cruz and Ratface mentioned the name Renfield, too. I've heard that name before in a memory or at least I think it's a memory."
Bells rung in John B's head, interest sparking. He stepped closer to Harley pulling out his dad's compass. "Renfield... Are you sure they said Renfield? Are you sure Renfield is a person?"
"That's what they said. Renfield."
John B stared down at the golden tool, his thumb rubbing over the back. Harley didn't know why he was staring at it so hard or what had him in a trance. It must have been important because John B slowly nodded and tapped the thing as though he'd solved a riddle. With a newfound energy that seemed to swallow the tension in the air and push vigour into the group, John B exclaimed to the group, "Everybody in the car! JJ was right, there's too much to explain to the cops. One thing at a time and if we deal with this," he held up the compass. "Follow the clues then we find my dad and these guys will have to leave us alone."
Everybody started to bustle into the Twinkie.
⚓️
The three amigos, as Harley called them, watched Kiara and John B head for Redfield lighthouse. It was nothing like how Harley had imagined it during the car ride. She had conjured an image of a tall structure protruding from a craggy mass of rocks, swathed in red and white stripes like a candy cane. It's amber, watchful eye would sweep over the waves crashing into its rocky pedestal.
What the Pogues had driven up to was entirely different, other than the immense height of the lighthouse. It was interestingly overwhelming how colossal the lighthouse was. A blinding shade of white coated the lighthouse until it contrasted to a glossy black just over halfway up. The lighthouse dwarfed everything in a maintained meadow, white picket fences running the parameter and full, rich trees obscuring a shoreline.
Harley turned to Pope, blocking the sun's intense glare with a hand, and asked, "If JJ is an independent variable, what am I?"
Pope didn't hesitate to verbalise what must have already been in his head. "Me, Kiara and John B are control variables. You always know how we're gonna act, we rarely deviate from what's expected. You're more like a dependent variable; you change depending on the other variables and the situation."
"Like how?"
"Well, depending on what John B does or how JJ reacts, your reaction changes from your default."
Harley was getting lost in all of the dependent, non-dependent lingo. It was like trying to listen to her science teacher talk about experiments with plants. "What is my default?"
JJ jumped in with a cheeky grin. "Sunshine and rainbows," JJ chuckled with an extra flourish of jazz hands.
"You make me sound ditzy." She slapped JJ's shoulder.
JJ shrugged, "It's cute."
Harley gasped thoroughly offended and slapped JJ again. He laughed again in return and caught her hand tugging her a little closer.
"I'm joking. You're smart as fuck. Smarter than me, maybe not Pope though. I don't think anybody is smarter than him."
Harley pursed her lips to mask her smile and eye roll. She knew he was only saying she was smart to make her feel better; she knew a lot about cars, but there wasn't much else she was good at. JJ never failed to put a silly smile on her face, and it made butterflies stir and flutter in her stomach.
"Sure," she dismissed his comment and turned back to Pope. "You were saying."
Harley waited to see that Pope was flickering his eyes between her and JJ. He was going to say something until Harley pulled her hand out of JJ's casually.
"Pope?"
"You tend to choose the option you think is fun or will make the most people happy."
Harley frowned and fake gagged. "Actually, never mind. I don't feel like being psychoanalysed. I'm bored, let's do something fun whilst we wait for...oh." Harley trailed off as she realised, she was proving Pope's point. She supposed observant, would be another skill to add to Pope's admirably long list.
Pope smiled but shook his head. "I need to work on my merit scholarship essay and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."
"All right, will you shut up already." JJ waved Pope off, he wasn't too keen on the mention of felonies. Especially when he was being called an independent variable as if it were a bad thing. "I will be choosing Harley over you. Good luck with sucking up to a bunch of pricks in essay form."
Harley ignored the two boys and strolled over to a canopy of shade beneath a thick tree. Her eyes trailed the bark up to the vivid green, her mind floating nowhere in particular.
JJ passed her, a red ball tossed up from his hand and caught easily, on loop. She didn't notice him sit against the trunk or him gazing up at her for moment. His legs were splayed out.
"Are you gonna sit with me?" JJ tapped his foot against Harley's ankle.
Like magnets their eyes locked. JJ looked good in his dark shirt, it brought out his eyes. Still staring, Harley sunk to the grass and sat in front of JJ. Without exchanging words, they fell into a game of rolling and tossing the ball to each other. Harley kept slipping deep into her thoughts. She kept seeing herself pulling open the bottom draw of Billie's desk and finding a file on herself. Then she thought about Cruz and his little rat friend.
Harley must have stopped throwing the ball to JJ because he grabbed her ankles, unravelling her legs, and pulled her unbelievably close. He dropped her legs over his own and laughed at her reaction.
Harley was dragged out of her thoughts both figuratively and literally. She gasped and laughed out her protested, she wasn't quick enough to steady her torso so she flopped back onto the grass letting JJ tug her towards him.
"JJ!" she exclaimed. Only the branches and leaves above saw her surprised eyes and astonished expression. "Oh my god! JJ. What are you doing?"
When JJ stopped pulling her, she began to hoist herself up. JJ's hands were fast to reach for her lower back and help her up. A few more inches and they would be torso to torso and if JJ decided to close his legs, then she'd have no choice but to sit on his lap.
"Getting you to sit closer to me?"
"You mean on you?" Harley retorted. She swivelled to glance back at the Twinkie, then to the lighthouse.
"Same thing."
Harley nervously gnawed down on her lip. They were both out in the open, any of the Pogues could see them and then they'd be found out. "What if someone sees, JJ?"
"Then nothing. It's okay." JJ gently pulled off Harley's hat and ran his hand through her hair. "And anyway, I pulled you close to get your attention. What's got you so deep in thought that you're ignoring me?" he joked.
"Sorry," Harley chuckled but had looked down. "I was thinking about everything. I should have told you all about Cruz ages ago, now John B probably hates me."
JJ didn't hesitate to reply, "That's not true. I don't think JB could ever hate you, to be honest."
"Yeah, well, it doesn't feel like it." Harley huffed.
"What happened to sunshine and rainbows Harley? The Harley that doesn't constantly feel the need to apologise for everything."
"It's hard to not be sorry or feel guilty when I keep messing up."
Now it was JJ's turn to sigh quietly. Harley could feel JJ's fingertips trailing along her sides giving her a modicum of comfort. She could see he was thinking about what she had said, before he wiped his expressions away and flipped into action. He tipped them both other, Harley let out a squeal, and then erupted into a fit of giggles as JJ tickled her sides.
Their laughter carried in the wind. The breeze rustling leaves in a soothing percussion not dissimilar from the sound of waves. Everything seemed so bright and happy and then hearts lurched into throats.
Adrenaline coursed through the teens when they heard sirens wailing closer and closer.
At first, they had frozen. Then, Pope was yelling at them.
"Cops! Cops! Get in the van!"
JJ scurried to his feet and pulled Harley up with him.
"Oh shit!"
JJ tugged Harley to the sliding door, but Harley sharply broke away and rounded the van. She swung open the drivers side and ushered Pope over.
"Harley what are you doing?" Pope flapped in panic.
"Move over! Your driving sucks when you're under pressure, respectfully." She flashed a smile then proceeded to push him over to the other seat.
Harley jumped in and kicked the Twinkie into gear. She felt awful for leaving her brother and Kie, but this was the plan. She had to hope they got out of the lighthouse and hid somewhere.
"Can you slow down!" Pope cried.
"If I go any slower, Pope, I won't be moving at all."
Harley tore through the streets. JJ hollered in excitement of a police chase and urged Pope to live a little. Harley could only shake her head and laugh.