"Cops."
Marley muttered aggressively. The three scrambled around the room as soon as they heard a hard, aggressive knock, signaling the presence of police officers. Observing JJ scrambling to place one of the stacks in his pocket, Marley snatched it from him and stuffed it in her waistband. Her smile spread across her face as she pulled the boy toward the window where John B had gone. Since Marley was the furthest one to the left, when she looked to her right, she saw John B with his back to the wall, trying not to get caught.
Both Marley and JJ gazed towards Kie and Pope in the HMS, giving them a mischievous smile revealing their teeth. When John B saw Pope's disapproving wave of his hands, he signaled for the two to remain silent with his hand. JJ also motioned for the two Pogues to calm down while leaning over his sister so he could observe the police officers in the motel room, which he was unable to do.
Inquisitive as to what the two police officers were doing, Marley peeked slightly to the side through a small opening in the blinds. As she watched Shoupe with narrowed eyes, monitoring his every move, her eyes widened, and her eyebrows furrowed as he held out one of the stacks towards the other deputy, saying something, then putting it in his pocket.
A few seconds later, Marley heard JJ mutter something under his breath at the sight, and both John B and her shared a look of astonishment. When JJ leaned slightly to the side, his shoulder hit Marley's, causing the gun to fall from JJ's pocket. Marley began to cringe as she closed her eyes. The three of them moved away from the window a little bit, expecting the police to investigate the sound. It is likely that they were looking for a way to emerge from the wall to hide. However, instead of emerging into the wall, they simply squeezed their eyes shut and hoped they would not be discovered.
Attempting to shift away from the window more than she could possibly manage, Marley flinched slightly as Shoupe aggressively opened the blinds from the inside of the motel. Standing there for a few seconds, he looked out the window in an attempt to find something. Marley and JJ both looked at their best friend with wide eyes, but all they received was a finger raised towards his mouth as he hoped the twins would remain quiet.
After finding no evidence, Shoupe ordered the other officer to exit the motel, and Marley released a breath she was unaware she was holding. For a few minutes, the three stood there until the police left the motel, Kie and Pope signaling that the police had pulled out of the motel and left, resulting in the three hiding Pogues making their way to the HMS Pogue.
"Well, that was fun," JJ chuckled as he sat at the end of the boat. "Could have warned us sooner."
"We would've, except Pope was on the math team," Kie retaliated, laughing. Marley sent Pope an amused look.
"You were on the math team?" John B asked in all seriousness.
"The cops took everything like it was a crime scene," Pope told them. He asserted his gaze towards the twins and eyed them down suspiciously. "Did you guys find anything?"
JJ glanced at his sister and then at the rest of the Pogues with a grin. "Did we find anything?" JJ asked rhetorically as he grasped the gun from his waistband and held it up in the air. Taking out the stack of cash she kept in her waistband, Marley held it up for the Pogues to observe, saying, "No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did."
"What the hell?" Pope exclaimed as he stood up from his seat, causing John B to take over at the steering wheel.
JJ also stood up from next to Marley so that he was face-to-face with Pope. "Dude, chill. Come on."
"Why would you guys take that from a crime scene?" Looking between the two twins, Pope shook his head frantically.
"Better than the cops having it." Marley shrugged from her seat.
Kie sent the girl a glare from where she sat. "You serious?" Marley shrugged again with a careless expression.
"I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship." Pope panicked.
"Hey, hey, hey. Sh, sh, sh. Sh, sh." JJ hushed Pope as he held the gun up to the boy's lips. "At least you have us, right." He finished, slinging an arm around Pope.
"I'm living the nightmare." Pope expressed. JJ looked towards his sister, and the both of them shrugged in unison. However, Marley could see the look being shared between Kie and Pope. She knew the boy would've panicked; it's just who he was.
•••
From a distance, Marley observed Lana Grubbs crying over the body of her deceased husband, her eyebrows furrowed as she examined the scene. In her mind, she recalled the conversation Sarah Cameron had with the woman who appeared distraught. Although Marley had not yet informed the Pogues about the interaction, knowing that the guy had turned up dead, there was no point in doing so. The only thought that consumed her mind was the fact that Ward had tried to keep it a secret or at least did not want many people to be aware of Scooter's whereabouts.
Consequently, she began to wonder, 'Did he have more to do with this than she realised?'
Being ripped away from her thoughts, another Pogue had joined them. A girl with blonde hair who Marley knew from school. They were all watching carefully as more and more people started to gather around. John B looked to the girl and asked, "Who's that?"
"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm." The girl answered. Marley crossed her arms from where she stood in between John B, who was sat down, and JJ, who was stood next to her, "Check out this pic I got. Dead body."
The girl showed each of the Pogues the photo one by one, giving them all a chance to inspect the picture. She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the picture, her head tilting slightly remembering the conversation that happened in the Camerons' backyard.
"What kind of boat did he have?" She asked the blond girl.
She looked towards Marley, still showing Pope that picture, "Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady-White. Everyone's out looking for it."
There was an expression of astonishment on all the Pogues' faces, but particularly on the faces of JJ and Marley. Scooter Grubbs was a Pogue. Can you explain how a Pogue ended up with an extremely expensive new boat? Marley shook her head and watched as policemen escorted a tide down Scooter Grubbs to the hospital.
Back at the Chateau, Marley watched JJ do tricks with his Zippo lighter as she smoked a joint on the couch that was placed on the porch. John B had flipped a beer bottle a couple of times, finding it somewhat entertaining. Marley also watched the boy do that as she did a ghost with the smoke that came from her spliff. The girl sat comfortably with her legs spread, slightly touching Kie's knee, watching Pope run up the stairs to the porch.
"Okay. So, um...we didn't see anything." Pope panted as he opened the porch door, pointing at everyone then taking a seat next to Marley. "We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia."
"Actually, Pope's right for once. See, I agree with you sometimes." Marley watched as JJ got up from his seat on the brown chair, making his way towards John B. Marley passed the joint over to Kiara, who sat on her left. The girl took it with a smile on her face, smoking it as she watched the scene unfold, "Deny, deny, deny."
"Guys, we can't keep that money." Kie spoke up. This time Marley looked towards her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kie." She rasped a tiny bit, leading her to let out a tiny cough.
Kie gave the girl a pointed look, "We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise, it's bad karma."
"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too." Pope agreed with the girl, "We gotta go dark."
"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." JJ returned. Kie had passed the joint back to Marley, the girl taking her last few puffs before standing up.
"Same." Marley agreed with her brother. She walked over to him, nudging him slightly, then giving him the joint to smoke. The girl gave him the rest to smoke for himself. It had been a thing they did when they shared from each other.
John B moved from his spot, poking his finger against Marley's shoulder then JJ's chest. He looked at them intently, "I don't agree."
JJ looked at his sister with a confused look in which she just shrugged, causing JJ to speak up, "What? Why?"
"Just think about it?" John b spoke. "This is Scooter Grubbs were talking about. Same dude that's buying individual's cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time i saw this dude begging for change in the save-A-lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'."
Marley regarded the boy with curiosity. The same had been thought by her. No matter what type of business Scotter Grubb conducted in the OBX, he could not afford a Grady-White. The group had moved outside so that they could enjoy the cold air. Pope and JJ were fishing, while the others listened to John B speak.
"All right, so think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady-White?" John B asked.
Pope inhaled sharply, "Prostitution."
"Square groupers, bro." John b corrected with a shake of his head. "Okay, flying under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean? Mars?"
"They were smugglin'." Marley informed.
"Smugglin'." John b agreed, pointing a finger at the girl, "And i guarantee there's serious amount of contraband in that wreck."
"Hell, yeah." JJ cheered, his fishing rod being tugged in by a fish, indicating there was one hooked, "fish on."
The pogues moved, Marley laid on John b's bed while the rest found a seat somewhere, Pope sat next to Marley on the bed, "For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it, it probably belongs to someone else, they could come looking for it. Taking it would be catastrophically stupid."
Marley leaned up quickly, snatching the money from Pope's hand, "There's nothing catastrophically stupid about it." Marley smiled sweetly while Pope rolled his eyes at the girl.
"Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time." JJ said. From where she sat, Marley nodded along, agreeing with her brother. "All we need to do right now is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal."
"Right. And how exactly do we do that," Pope sighed.
Kiara shrugged, "Kegger?"
The suggestion hung in the air for a moment, and then JJ chimed in with a grin, "Sounds like a plan."
John B nodded, "Alright then, we'll throw a kegger. Keep it low-key. Play it cool."
With their impromptu plan in motion, the Pogues settled into a mix of anticipation and excitement, knowing that their actions could potentially change their lives, for better or worse. They were about to embark on a journey filled with risks and rewards, and they had no idea just how deep they would be drawn into the mysteries of the Outer Banks.