ALL JOHN B KNOWS is that their father is in South America. Not incredibly helpful giving that South America was large in land, meaning they'd likely never find him. It's frustrating to not have any solid leads on where their father could possibly be but they have to start somewhere.
And that somewhere is some professor's house. The same professor who was at the site. The only issue with going to this professors house is... he's dead inside that house. They agreed to be quick, in and out, before any cops potentially show up and blame a couple Pogues for being murderers, but, hey, that's happened before and it'll likely happen again in the future.
They walk in the house and the first thing Brooklyn sees is... "There's no body."
"Sowell was right here," John B states.
"They've already been here, John B," JJ tells him. "They sent in the sweepers and now probably decontaminated this entire room so there's probably nothing left. We should get out."
"Maybe there's something left," John B inputs.
"What are we looking for then?" Brooklyn asks.
"Anything that has to do with an archaeological dig," John B answers.
"Ah, yes, that really narrows it down," she responds sarcastically. "We'll just look around for friggin anything."
JJ checks the kitchen, Brooklyn skims through box after box while John B rummages through draws and closets. John B mutters a couple words to himself while they continue to look but right now there isn't much hope of anything.
JJ is snacking from the fridge when John B snatches Brooklyn's arm. JJ pokes his head out of the fridge to John B's calls, "What is it? Snack time? What are we doing?"
"You know what? I feel very judged right now. There's an entire bird in here that'll just go to waste, okay?" JJ speaks and Brooklyn grins as this is the most JJ thing he could do. "I'm not gonna let that happen. It's not like I'm stealing it. No one else is gonna eat it. I was like, "I'll take the nutrients that this beautiful bird gives me and fill the tank," all right? Bee, do you want some?"
Brooklyn shrugs and joins his side while her brother examines some photo he had retrieved from the floor. Brooklyn and JJ are snacking on actual food, after days of not eating much, and John B is calling both their names again.
They join his side, still chewing on meat, while John B tells them what he's found. ""Local expedition team departs for South America,"" he reads off of an article.
"One of these guys that professor?" Brooklyn asks.
He points to one man and Brooklyn nods. "Holy shit," John B curses and Brooklyn furrows her eyebrows, confused. "The last things Sowell said before he died was "Neville.""
"And what does that mean?" JJ questions.
"Right there." JJ and Brooklyn read Neville Persaud from the article and realise that he was the expedition guide. "So Sowell said, "Five people on the expedition," right? Three of those people died. Which leaves us with two."
"Sowell. Neville. He's the last one alive," JJ recalls.
"Yeah, I think Sowell was telling me to warn him," John B says.
"We need to find Neville, boys," Brooklyn says, planting both hands on their shoulders and pushing them towards the door.
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JJ knew a guy with the same last name of Neville so, of course, they're related in JJ's mind.
That's how they find themselves at some ranch, where apples are being washed and people are wearing straw hats. John B is very clearly panicking as he doesn't trust that JJ actually met a guy last summer with his cousin when he was doing his... growing business.
JJ immediately goes up to a Mr. P and asks for Neville. They discover he's holding up near Doe Creek in his houseboat that's way, way back according to this Mr. P.
"Why do you guys ever doubt me?" JJ asks as the three of them are walking through literal swamp water to reach this guy.
"The idea was a little far-fetched is all I'm saying." He's not wrong.
"All right, so we're looking for a houseboat," JJ says, stopping still in the water to observe the area. The three of them look to their right and... "That looks like a houseboat."
"You think he's there?" Brooklyn asks.
"I don't know..."
"Only one way to find out," JJ says and Brooklyn thinks he's going to swim over but instead he starts to yell, "Neville! Hey!"
John B immediately clasps a hand over the boy's mouth. "He thinks people are trying to kill him," John B tells him. "He's probably packing."
"It's a death trap," JJ realises.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a choice," Brooklyn says as she begins to step away from them, the water up to her thighs. "He's the only guy alive who knows where our dad is, John B."
Annoyingly, the water starts to get deeper and the trio are swimming over to this boat in the hopes that he is actually there.
Brooklyn climbs up the ladders first, the two boys following behind her. Brooklyn realises he's still here when she raises a hand over his stove to find it still warm but there's no sign of him until there's a metal pole being flung at her head only meters away.
JJ drags her back as another swing of the pole comes towards her brother. John B tries to reason with him as he takes another swing, this time hitting JJ backwards and into Brooklyn.
The two men squabbling in front of her trip over and fall back into the kitchen which results in a knife being grabbed and raised. "No, no, no, no!" Brooklyn shouts, her arms wrapping around his neck to pull him off her brother.
"We know Professor Sowell!" John B yells in the hopes of Neville getting off him.
"Who gave you that name?" Neville cries.
"We're friends, okay!" John B tells him while he struggles against Brooklyn and JJ. "You were in Orinoco last year! With five other people. Right?"
"How did you know that?" Neville asks.
JJ and Brooklyn are able to snatch the knife from his grip, pin him back against the counter and hold it close to his throat. John B stands to his feet, takes the knife from his sister and places it down and away from them.
He looks back at Neville and speaks, "We were just with Sowell yesterday. He, uh... He didn't make it."
"He's dead?" The three of them nod.
"I'm the last one left," Neville concludes as he walks away from them, shaking and breathing heavily. Neville sits down, clearly trying to come to terms with everything John B had broke to him.
"That's why we had to get to you before they did," JJ tells him. "If we found you, they can too."
"I just have a few questions," John B says. He pulls out a folded drawing, places it on the table in front of him and speaks, "Solana, you've been there. Yeah?"
"That is a place of evil," the man speaks.
John B points to a stone piece on the picture. "Me and my dad found the thingy that goes in the centre."
"The gnomon," the man says.
Both Brooklyn and JJ have no idea what that is but they let John B continue speaking, "There's some bad men who have taken my father to this place, and they're gonna kill him. So I need your help to find this place, Neville."
"No, no, no, no," Neville insists, looking away from the trio. "The curse has already done enough."
"It's not a curse, okay?" John B inputs. "I understand that it's dangerous, but I need your help."
"You hear that?" JJ whispers to Brooklyn and she ignores John B to hear the sounds of boats, coming closer and closer to them. "Neville, how much traffic do you get on this river?"
"Nothing," he responds.
Then the sounds of a man they'd never heard before rings through their ears, "Neville! Neville Persaud!" which is then followed by a gunshot in which Brooklyn finds herself being yanked down to the floor by her brother and boyfriend.
"Get the anchor!" Neville shouts to the teens as a couple more gunshots sound.
JJ grabs the knife from earlier and the three of them sneak down the ladders, gently swim across the waters to come around the back of the boat sitting next to Neville's which holds the shooters.
John B carefully climbs up, reaches forward to take out the key, and the shooter turns and points the gun directly at him. After a very small feud, the keys and the shooter end up in the water, meaning they'd have to get back onto the houseboat if they wanted to somehow escape alive.
John B is already up on the boat while Brooklyn is lagging behind, trying to find any weapon to defend herself with. JJ is getting the anchor while Brooklyn snatches his knife from him, thanking him quickly before she's climbing back onto the boat only to see her brother on his knees in front of another shooter.
Brooklyn and John B's eyes briefly meet before Brooklyn is reaching up and pulling the shooter back by his belt and into the water.
The engine revs and they're sailing across the water. JJ is behind her, a hand on her back, while she leans into him, relieved that they were getting a little bit closer to seeing her father. John B pats a hand against his sister's shoulder and thanks her before they join Neville.
How they're not dead is a shock to Brooklyn.