I woke up and groaned, after hanging with Sarah then talking with Rafe I fell down while climbing down, the bushes cushioned my fall, but my body still ached and my knuckles were bruised "Morning, Livy." My little sister Frankie said while eating breakfast with my twin brothers Robbie and Julian, I smiled "Morning Frankie. Robbie. Julian." I muttered and I grabbed a muffin then grabbed my backpack "I'm going to John B's!" I called out to my parents and my mom came down the stairs "Wait, a minute... give me a hug before you go." she said, and I sighed "Alright..." "So, we got a call from DCS... tell John B he needs to safe, so if that means going to live on the mainland then that's what he needs." my mom said and I rolled my eyes "I mean, he could stay here... with us." I told her and she sighed then rubbed my shoulders. "You know we have no room... I would love to have him here. If my brother could see him now, he'd be so proud." "You act like he's dead... he's out there, somewhere." I muttered and she sighed "Is that what John B is telling himself? Is that a bruise?" She said grabbing my hand and I rolled my eyes. "I have to go." I told her and rode my bike to John B's to see him, JJ, Kiara and Pope were outside waiting for me.
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"Look, I'm callin' it off. All right? Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS." John B told us, and JJ frowned "And you believed her?" He asked John B and he sighed "Yes, I believe her, JJ." "An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop." JJ said and I frowned "All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out... It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun." John B said and JJ rolled his eyes. "You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass." "Topper was gonna drown me?" John B said making me frown "It looked like he was, John B..." I said.
"Yeah, like what Liv said. Sure, looked like it." JJ agreed with me, and John B sighed "Have you looked in a mirror?" "Tell me some more. Come on..." John B muttered and JJ smirked. "John B..."
"They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!" JJ yelled and I frowned "Look, it's okay!" "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... I know you do." JJ told Kie then looked at Pope "And I understand why you don't wanna go... You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk. And you... I mean, you two are already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you guys bother?" JJ said and I rolled my eyes.
"But you and me, man, we got nothin' to lose! We really don't, all right?" JJ said and John B sighed "And I know it didn't use to be that way for you..." "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about it." John B said and I knew how much my uncle meant to John B, he was the only family that was close besides me, my siblings and my aunt "So that's it?" JJ muttered and John B pushed passed him "Just get out of my way, bro." "John B, listen to me. I have a plan. You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" JJ said coming up with a plan and I frowned "JJ, no..." "There's scuba gear... We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man." JJ said and I rolled my eyes, he never stops thinking of ways to get us into trouble...
"You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?" JJ told John B and John B looked at me "You think you could help keep watch while I get the tanks?" He asked me and I looked between the JJ and John B, I sighed then looked at the ground "Fine... but you two owe me... Well, you owe me, since this is your idea." I said pointing at JJ and he smirked "Of course." He muttered then John B and I took the HMS Pogue to Sarah's.
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"My mom told me that it would be best if you went into foster care... if we had enough room you could stay with us but right now, she thinks it will be good for you." I told John B and he sighed "And leave you and the others? Nah, I think I'm good staying here." he said, and I smiled. "Ok, so what's the plan?" I asked and John B tied the rope to the dock then helped me up off the boat, John B looked out towards Sarah's house to see they were on the patio having breakfast like always. "Just help me get the tanks." He said and we quickly got onto the druthers, John B opened the closet where the tanks were kept and grabbed two.
"Are you stalking us? Plotting your revenge?" I saw Sarah and she smiled "Liv? What are you doing here?" She asked and I was about to say something, but John B went on. "Yeah. Why don't you just tell your daddy I blew the bilge on Druthers?" He said and looked at the tanks "Everything's good to go. Just toppin' off these tanks." John B said then walked to the HMS Pogue "I'll see you later." I smiled and helped John B put the gear on the boat
"Hey, are you okay? 'Cause that eye of yours looks really gnarly..." "You know what? You can tell Topper he won the first round. I'll get him next time." John B told her, and she sighed "So there's just gonna be a reign of terror on this island now?" She said and I hoped onto the boat "Wars have been started for less, Sarah Cameron." "Okay. Can we drop the whole Pogues versus Kooks thing? It is really stupid." Sarah said and I nodded "I know right!" "Oh... You know, it's easy to say when you're a Kook." He told her and Sarah frowned "You know your cousin is one, right?" "Yeah, but she's family and so that makes her a Pogue... and we tolerate her and the family too." John B said and knocked on the boat.
Sarah rolled her eyes then saluted John B then stuck her middle finger out at him quickly and went back towards her house. I laughed then sat on the bow of the boat "So about that kiss you gave JJ..." "Ok that was on the cheek, and I do it to him all the time." I told him and he nodded. "Yeah, ok." He said and I rolled my eyes "We're just friends... like me and Rafe." I told him and he nodded.
"I still can't believe you're friends with him, you know you can do better than Rafe Cameron... and I see the bruises Liv." John B told me, and I sighed "Rafe doesn't hurt me, I got the bruises from bumping into the counters, you know how clumsy I am." I told him and he nodded "What about the cuts? The ones on your wrist?" He asked and I just stood silent. "Okay, don't tell me... but at least talk to someone." John B told me, and I rolled my eyes.
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We went back to the Chateau to grab the others then to the marsh "This is empty. You guys took empty tanks?" Kie said and I sighed, if John B wasn't distracted by Sarah, then we'd have full tanks. "Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us." "Love it when a plan comes together." Pope said and I clasped my lips into a thin line. "Does anybody know how to dive?" "Uh..." the boys shrugged, and she frowned "Anybody?" "It's kind of a Kook sport." JJ said looking to me and Kiara and Pope sighed
"I... read about it."
"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kiara said and JJ shrugged.
"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" "If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope told him and he smirked then bent over "Bends like, bend over and..." "The bends kill you." Pope assured him and he nodded "Right." "If only I could, I would... But with that amount of air left it's dangerous." I said raising my eyebrows and John B raised his hand.
"I can dive." "You can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ said and I rolled my eyes "Since when can you dive?" "I'll do it. It's fine." John B told Kie then Pope stood up "Let me do some calculations really quick." He muttered then wrote on some piece of paper. "You serious?" Kiara muttered and John B nodded, I looked to JJ who was staring at me, and I frowned "What?" I muttered and he shrugged "Nothing, I uh- you just have an eyelash on your cheek." He told me and I wiped my hand over them, but JJ just pulled my hands away then wiped his thumb over my cheek slightly and I just felt butterflies.
I looked up at him and i noticed his eyes were so green, like I could stare into them all day. I was cut out of my trance by someone clearing their throat and I looked up to see the others staring at us and I cleared my throat "Um- what's up?" "I was just saying that the boat's about 30 feet down... So, it'll take 25 minutes at that depth... Twenty-five. Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet." Pope said and I nodded and looked at Kie which she unbuttoned my shirt which made me frowned "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna tie your shirt to the anchor chain." She told me and I looked at her like she was crazy "Why don't you use your shirt?" I asked and she looked at JJ then I rolled my eyes.
JJ
"Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." John B said and suddenly I looked up to see Kiara jump into the water and we all looked at Liv who wasn't wearing her shirt only her bathing suit top and shorts "Uh..." "What was that all about?" Pope asked Liv and she shrugged "I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." I muttered and Liv looked jealous, but I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. John B cleared throat which made me straighten up a bit "Sorry... Uh, so... Yeah. Uh, when you... uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?" I told him and he nodded "Yeah... Stick in, twist, pull." He told me and I handed him a small tool. "Yeah. My dad moved weight back in the day." "Who didn't?" Pope said and I saw Kiara come up to the surface "Hey! I tied Liv's T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." She yelled and John B gave her a thumbs up. "Cool." "Keep an eye on this. You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress." Pope said and Liv pulled Kie up and I handed Kiara a towel.
"Okay, how much do I need?" "Unclear. Breathe as little as possible." Pope said and I stood in front of him "Zen. Think Zen, you know?" I said Imitating like I was breathing through mask and John B sighed "Yeah. Got it." He told me and got ready to dive "Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... better get a move on." Pope said and Liv sighed "Copy that." "Hey, careful down there. I don't need to kill my mother with news that you drowned." She muttered and he nodded, next thing happened Kiara kissed John B's cheek and me, Pope, and Liv all looked at each other then back to John B and Kiara. "Diver down?" "Diver down." They both went on and John B dived into the water "Diver down." "See ya, dude." I yelled and he swam down.
Olivia
I sat next to Kie and she smirked "So uh, what did we interrupt before?" She asked and I looked at JJ then back to her "Nothing happened, he was just getting an eyelash on my cheek." I told her and she nodded "Uh huh, an eyelash... Ok." She said and I frowned then we heard a siren "Shit. JJ." "Guys, that's the police." Pope and JJ said. Me and Kiara frowned, and I looked to the boys "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." "Yep, that's the police." JJ said freaking out and I sighed "Just act frickin' normal." Kie told us and I nodded, the police boat came closer, and I smiled at Shoupe. "Evening, officers." "Evening." Shoupe nodded and the other officer gave Pope a rope to tie, and He handed it to JJ "JJ, tie it off." "How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?" Shoupe told us and we acted clueless. "No. No. Wow." "I didn't know that. Why... why is it closed?" I asked and he sighed "Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." He said and I frowned "Oh." "Seen anything?" He asked and I shrugged then shook my head looking at the others. "No." "No boats. No." We said and he nodded "Where's your friend, your cousin you always hang with? He here?" He asked and we shook our heads and I smiled "He's working." I said and he looked at us and I saw Pope slightly looking at the water. "Hm. I'm gonna check your little boat out." "Yeah." "Yeah, hop aboard. You wanna check... uh, check her out." Pope said and Shoupe came onto our boat, and he looked at me "Thank you." "Welcome." I muttered and I moved over next to JJ who held my side. "Uh... you got another one?" "Yeah, yeah. Of course. It's, uh... it's in the hold." JJ told him and I cleared my throat "Yeah, why don't you show him." I told him and he nodded "Yeah. Okay... Yeah, here we go." JJ muttered showing him the life jackets and he nodded. "All right." He said and looked at me and I smiled. Shoupe went up to the bow and I looked to Kie "Be careful." "Be careful. You don't wanna slip." JJ and Pope told him, and he just looked down at the water, I really thought he was going to see John B, but he just turned back to us.
"All right. Beautiful day. ain't it?" He said and I nodded "Sure is." "Very." The boys agreed and Shoupe sighed "Let us know if you see anything on your way out." "Will do... We'll be gone soon, sir." JJ told him and I nodded "Yes, you will." he told us, and they rode away. We all rushed to the side of the boat and looked down at the water "He's definitely out of air." Pope said and a few seconds later John B came up out of the water "There he is! Oh, God! Jesus Christ!" "Don't scare us like that!" JJ and Pope said, and I sighed in relief. "How'd it go down there?" "Did you find anything?" I asked and he chuckled "Did I find anything?" John B muttered and pulled up a black bag and we all smiled "Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!" JJ said and I grabbed John B a towel "You, okay?" "Yeah, I ran out of air." John B told us, and I sighed in relief. "You scared the shit out of me." I told him and he placed his hand on my shoulder "Don't worry Cuz, you know I wouldn't want you to worry." "Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... took care of 'em." JJ told John B and I looked around and saw a boat coming our way.
"Hey, guys?" I muttered trying to get their attention and they all turned to me "Bogey, two o'clock." "What?" JJ muttered putting his hands on my shoulders then I pointed out the boat which Pope frowned "Do you recognize that boat?" He asked and I shook my head "I've never seen it. What are they doing here? The marsh is closed." Kie said and JJ went to the bow "I don't know. Let's not stick around and find out." "JJ, get the bowline." John B said and I followed I'm and helped him with it. "Should we wait on 'em?" Pope asked and John B frowned "No, we're not. Go get the stern. Go!" "JJ, Liv, hurry up." Kie said and I nodded "Guys, don't wait for us. Go." "Pull out the stern." Pope said and I groaned "I don't like this." John B said and we got the Stern up. "Go, go, go, go!" "Go into the marsh." Pope told John B as he drove the boat and I held onto JJ "Hey, guys, they're following us." I muttered and John B gunned it. "Dude, you gotta go faster!" "I'm going!" "Gun it!" The guys started shooting at us and I screamed.
"What the..." "Holy shit!" The boys yelled and I clung to JJ "John B, get down!" "We're gonna die!" Pope yelled and I nodded "We're definitely going to die!" I yelled and I got an idea "Shit! Kie, help me with the net!" I yelled to her, and she nodded, we grabbed the net from the hold. "Pope, move." Kie yelled and JJ grabbed my arm "Get down, Kie! Liv!" The boys yelled and a gunshot fired and i felt a small sting on my arm, but I ignored it and we threw the net into the water then the boat went over it, making the motor stop.
I smiled then JJ pulled me down "Liv, what the hell!" He yelled and I frowned "What?" "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Pope yelled and we rode away leaving the other boat behind "That was insane!" Kie yelled and she looked down at me then frowned "Liv, your arm." She muttered and I saw it was bleeding, but I shrugged "I'm okay, it's just a scratch. Doesn't even hurt." I said and JJ frowned "You could have gotten killed!" He yelled and I shrugged "I said I'm fine." I told him and he just stood up and went to the bow.
Kie grabbed a towel from the hold and held it to my arm "We're gonna have to patch that up when we get to the Château." She told me and I nodded "Yeah." I muttered then looked up to John B "That was kinda dumb." "Hey, but it got those guys off our backs." I told him and he smirked then we did our handshake.
We got to John B's dock, and we sighed "What do you think it is?" Kie asked and John B shrugged "Gotta be money, right?" "That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mils!" JJ said and I rolled my eyes
"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope blurted impatiently and my eyes widened
"Wow, Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion." "Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation. Open the bag. We almost died over this... heck Liv got shot!" Pope said and I sighed "I didn't get shot! I was slightly... nicked." I told them and JJ just scoffed.
John B pulled out a canister and I frowned. He opened it and out popped a familiar compass "Oh, wow... That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass." Pope said and me and John B were speechless. "Dude, what? It's not worth anything." "JJ..." I muttered then John B sighed "This was my father's." He said and he chuckled softly.