hannah and sarah were peering over kie's shoulder trying to make sense of the poor illustration in her hands.
"he said it's going to look something like this," kie said. "that's 50 feet down, and they're using a 100 foot rope. so i guess this little wagon will go... straight into the gold room?"
sarah chuckled. "who drew this?"
"who do you think?" kie giggled, turning to make eye contact with pope.
"kie, this better work," jj walked over and dropped the gold at the girls' feet. "we can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."
kie picked up the blowtorch. "it's gonna work."
"remind me why i'm not doing the welding again?" hannah asked.
"because i've got more experience."
"not true. i used a blowtorch on jj's lighter."
jj's head snapped to the girl. "wait, what?"
hannah nodded. "yeah. i needed to melt it down a little so i could engrave it."
the blonde smiled at the memory of the gift. hannah had wanted to get him a genuine gift, rather than stealing one like she usually did. instead, she'd swiped his lighter off of him when he hadn't been paying attention and engraved his name into it. he'd panicked about its disappearance for days, but when she returned it to him with the engraving, 'jj', in its side, it made the whole experience worth it.
"doesn't matter," kie shrugged. "i'm the one with the blow torch."
"fine," hannah huffed and moved off to the side to sit between jj's legs as the group watched kiara melt down the gold.
jj pulled her hair to the side to place a tender kiss on her shoulder causing a shiver to run up the brunette's spine. the blonde smirked against her skin, lightly sucking on the exposed region, causing a small groan to escape her lips. he wanted to put his mark on her to let everyone know she was his, and his alone.
"can y'all not fuck in front of me?" pope sputtered, making hannah blush and hide her face in jj's shirt.
...
"hell of a job melting it down, dr. frankenstein," jj quipped as the group exited the bus.
hannah cringed looking at the botched form of the gold.
"like you could've done any better," kie snapped.
"i could've." the brunette waved her hand, reminding the group of her presence.
"hey!" john b interjected. "chill out, okay?"
jj rolled his eyes. "easy for you to say. you two aren't the ones who have to pawn this piece of shit off."
"how did we get this job anyway?" hannah crossed her arms indignantly.
pope followed the two inside. "because you guys are the best liars."
"liars or thieves?" hannah cocked a brow as she pushed her way into the store.
"afternoon, ma'am," jj politely greeted.
"afternoon."
the blonde nodded to the sign. "i see you buy gold."
"that's what the sign say, don't it?"
"well, i sure hope you buy a lot of it, because i'm about to blow your mind."
"i ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it."
jj dropped the clump of gold onto the counter. "how 'bout them gold apples."
the lady chuckled. "that ain't real."
"that ain't real?" jj raised a brow.
"it can't be."
"feel how heavy it is." jj nodded as the woman struggled to lift the metal. "let's get some light on that."
"spray-painted tungsten."
hannah scoffed. "spray-painted tungsten? really? okay."
"why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?" jj questioned.
the woman raised a hammer. "you mind?"
jj shook his head. "no, go for it." he watched as the woman hit the gold, garnering no result. "wow. would you look at that?"
"hold your horses. we ain't got to the acid test yet."
"ooh, the acid test. my favorite!" hannah giggled, childishly tugging at jj's sleeve.
the store-clerk's eyes widened when the test proved that it was indeed gold. "well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted."
"ma'am, i'm telling ya', this is as real as the day is long."
"it looks like somebody tried to melt it down."
hannah noticed jj's hesitation and quickly jumped in. "my mom." everyone in the store took a sharp intake of breath at the word. "she had all this jewelry laying around the house and she thought it was best to-to melt it down," hannah sniffled, "to 'consolidate' it."
the woman simply nodded, going to place the clump of gold on the scale. "seven pounds? that's a lot of earrings."
hannah dabbed the fake tears away with the back of her hand. "okay, to be honest, ma'am, it's been really hard to see my mom fall apart with alzheimers." jj gently rubbed her back in fake sympathy, helping to bolster their act.
the lady hummed, feeling a small twinge of pity for the girl. "give me a minute."
the brunette nodded. "take your time, ma'am."
right when the store-cleark was out of sight jj turned to grin at hannah. "babydoll, that was beautiful."
hannah playfully flipped her hair over her shoulder. "i suppose it was."
"you two are terrible people, and i've never been happier for it," pope came up behind the two and clasped both their shoulders.
"so, i, uh," the woman returned, causing the pogues to scatter, "i talked to my boss, and, uh, this is what i can do." she placed small slip of paper on the counter.
jj glared at the lady. "fifty thousand?"
hannah scoffed. "you think we walked in here not knowing the spot price? ma'am, i know for a fact this is worth 140, at least."
"well, sweetie, you in a pawn shop. this ain't zurich."
"oh, believe me, i know."
"do i look swiss to you?"
"if i say yes, will you not rip us off?"
jj pinched the bridge of his nose. "ninety, or we walk."
"seventy. half-price, and, uh, i don't ask questions about where you got this."
hannah and jj exchanged a look before turning back to the store clear. "we're gonna need that in large denominations, please."
"well, here's the snag, i don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. i can write you a cashier's check."
"cash?" jj shook his head. "no, ma'am. i want the cold hard. that's what the sign says: cash for gold. and that's what i expect. i'm gonna get it in cold hard."
"well, i have to send you to the warehouse. i have the money there. is that alright?"
jj tried to suppress the grin threatening to break out. "where is this warehouse?"
...
"so, they keep money out here?" pope questioned, cringing at the run-down state of the buildings they passed.
jj nodded. "that's what she said."
hannah giggled. "ha, that's what she said."
"stop," pope deadpanned.
"i've never even heard of resurrection drive," sarah commented.
"that's because you're rich," jj stated.
kie glared at the blonde. "you've never heard of it either."
"thank you."
kie looked out the window. "there's nothing but weeds back here."
jj waved a hand dismissively. "alright, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's-" the blonde's words were cut off by the sound of sirens behind them.
"cops? out here?" kie gasped.
"god! are you kidding me?" jj cried out in frustration.
sarah turned around in her seat to look out the window. "what did we do?"
"why are we getting pulled over?" pope asked.
"stash that," john b commanded jj.
"god, i hate cops," hannah muttered.
"jj," john b hissed, "did you bring the gun?"
"no, okay?" jj grunted. "everybody told me to leave it back at the place."
"thank god," kie said. "please, put everything else in your bag."
"i am! i am, alright!"
"how much weed do two have on you?" kie asked hannah and jj.
hannah shrugged. "none, i haven't re-upped in a while."
"he's walking up!" pope whispered.
"sir-" john b turned, only to be met with the barrel of a gun pointed in his face.
"why don't i go ahead and see them hands in the air." the man waited as the teens all exchanged nervous looks. "all y'all's hands up in the air right now! you," he jerked his head to john b, "out of the car! let's go! out of the car! let's go! hurry!" john b slowly exited the van. "let them out!" the boy hesitated. "what are you waiting on? huh? what are you waiting on? let them out!" the man kept the gun trained on them as the group filed out of the van "all y'all! go on! go on! let's get out of the car! let's go! there you go, pretty girls! here we go! get out the car, let's go! hurry up!"
hannah rolled her eyes as the man continued to scream at them. "hey, man, we're broke-"
"shut the hell up!" the man jerked the gun at hannah's face, but she didn't flinch.
jj grabbed hannah's waist and hid her behind him. "alright! alright! just relax!"
"shut the hell up!"
"chill!"
"shut up or i'll blow your damn head off! lay down in the ditch! lay down in the ditch! on your goddamn hands and knees! down! put your face on the ground!" the man hollered, shoving jj. "stay here, just like that! put your head down! don't let me see. you look up! alright? that's all y'all gotta do."
hannah closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing as she listened to the masked man rustle through their belongings.
"it's a setup, guys," kie whimpered.
"that old bat shanked us." jj slammed his fist into the ground. "fuck! god dammit!"
sarah watched as john b slowly picked himself off the ground. "no, no, no. john b, no."
"don't be a hero, man," pope hissed, but john b ignored him and quickly went over to hide in the cop car.
hannah shuffled over to jj's side, offering her presence as comfort.
"alright, y'all stay like that!" the man reappeared from the van. "unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?"
the teens slightly peaked their heads up just in time to watch john b attack the man and grab the gun.
"come on!" hannah pushed herself up and ran over to help john b.
"guys, i got the gun!"
jj swiftly grabbed the man's shirt, laying punches on his back before being thrown to the ground.
john b slammed the gun into the back of the man's head, causing him to fall and watched as sarah, kie, and hannah began kicking their attacker's side and hitting him with the car door.
"i got the gold!" pope cried out.
jj ripped off the man's mask. "i know this piece of shit. he's a basehead."
"probably knows my brother," sarah grunted.
"he sells coke to my dad."
hannah stood frozen. "i think i've seen him at my house."
"listen, i couldn't hurt any single one of y'all," he groaned when jj hit him with the gun again. "hey, hannah, tell your dad i say hi."
jj didn't hesitate to send a punch into the dirtbag's nose.
"jj!" kie shrieked.
pope pulled the blonde away. "dude, chill man."
"hey, hey," hannah grabbed his face in her hands, "it's okay. i'm fine, see?"
"come on, let's get out of here," john b said.
jj ignored the boy's words, reaching down to pull something from the man's pocket. "we got one last stop," he muttered as he stalked over to the van. "let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."