We head back to Château. Kie and Pope show up. JJ is having a great time telling them about what happened at Miss Lana's. Honestly, he's having a little too much fun.
"And then we were right outside like this." JJ leans against the chimney of the fireplace. "And all we hear is just, 'Bam! Bam! Bam!' Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. All right? And I'm just looking at him, like... Wait, first off, look at this shit." JJ shakes paint chips from his hair onto Pope. "Look at it."
"The house," Pope says.
Kie looks at JJ in disgust. "That's dandruff, disgusting."
Pope holds his hand up. "Okay, thank you."
"Look at all that. All right? That's paint. At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death," JJ remarks.
"Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Pope asks.
"Yeah," JJ answers.
"Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like?" Pope asks.
"Anything?" Kie asks.
"Anything we can bring to a police report?" Pope questions.
"Burly," JJ says.
"Burly?" Pope questions.
"Yeah. You know, like..." JJ trails off.
"That's not very helpful," Kie states.
"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage. I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers," JJ says.
I nod. "Yeah. Yes. No, we know."
"I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers..." JJ takes a hit from his vape. "They're square groupers."
"They're square groupers, like narco square grouper? Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?" Pope questions.
JJ takes another hit. "Yeah, man."
"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie," Kie tells them.
"What does this square grouper look like? Specifically?" Pope asks.
"You weren't there, bro," JJ tells him.
"Apparently you don't know what to look for," Pope remarks.
"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental Polaroids the entire time. I was under duress, okay? But I can tell you... I can tell you by the way that Ms. Lana was screaming... that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man. It's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I'm not liking this very much," JJ says.
"Okay. Why do they want the compass?" Kie asks.
"It's a piece of shit. You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to." Pope looks at John B. "No offense. I know it's in your family..."
"The office," John B states.
"What?" Pope asks.
"My dad. My dad's office." John B starts walking towards the house. "He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda..." John B stops in front of a door. "I just left it as he kept it."
"Yeah, for when he gets back.," Kie states.
"Yeah." John B opens the door.
"I've slept over here like 600 times, and I've never seen this door opened," Pope comments.
Walking in the office is a mess. There are books and papers all over the place. Maps cover the walls along with photos.
John B throws the keys down and picks up a board. "Here, look. This is the original owner, right here." John B points to a picture.
"Okay. Robert Q. Routledge, 1880 to 1920. There's the lucky compass, right there," Kie states.
"Actually, um... he was shot after he bought it. Then the compass was shipped back to Henry. Henry was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam," John B explains.
"Let me guess, he died in action, right?" JJ questions.
"Sort of. Uh, a-actually, he was killed by a banana truck. In... in country," John B clarifies. We all look at him. "Anyways, after that, Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad."
"Hm. Sounds like there's a recurring theme here," I offer.
"Yeah, you have a death compass," Pope states.
"I do not," John B states.
"You have a death compass," Pope states.
"Seriously dude, get rid of it," JJ advises. "It's cursed and made its way back to you."
John B stops pacing and faces us. "Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment in here." John B sits down in a chair and starts to fumble with the compass. "Soldiers used to hide secret notes." He unscrews the bottom of it.
"What's that?" Kie asks.
"That wasn't there before." Written inside the lid is a word. "This is my dad's handwriting."
"How can you know that?" Pope asks.
"Because he does these weird Rs with the," John B holds up the writing, "See it?"
"Can I see it?" JJ asks. He takes the compass from John B. "Red... Rout... No, I think that's an A."
"It says Redfield," I state.
"Right," JJ agrees.
"Okay, well, what's Redfield?" Kie asks.
"Beside the most common name in the county," Pope states.
"Oh, maybe... maybe it's a clue. Right maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding," John B offers.
"Okay..." JJ trails off.
Pope shakes his head. "A clue? Come on, that's..." I give him a look. "But if it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram?"
John B picks up a pencil. "Yes. Perfect. Anagram. You need paper." He hands the pencil and paper to Pope. "Okay. Here you go."
"How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?" Pope asks as the rooster keeps crowing.
"JJ loves the rooster," John B states.
"I love the rooster," Kie states.
"Let me think," Pope says.
"Seriously, think," I tell him.
"Dedfiel. Colors...That's stupid," Pope says.
"What about Ritalin?" JJ offers.
"Um... Dreidel? Fiddler?" Kie says.
"Let's stick with what we're.... Defile. Does that mean anything to you?" Pope asks.
"Guys," John B says.
"You're missing a letter," I tell Pope.
"Guys! Somebody's here," John B shouts.
We all move to look out the window. A black truck pulls up in front of the house. The two guys from earlier get out.
"Guys, guys, is that them?" Kie asks.
JJ looks at me in disbelief. "No."
"Is that them?" Kie asks.
"This is suboptimal," Pope states.
JJ turns around. "John B, I told you. Why does it always..."
John B grabs JJ. "JJ! Hey, look at me." He pushes JJ into the wall. "Where's the gun?"
"Gun? I, uh, I can't..." JJ starts.
"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kie states.
"It was in my backpack, and then I...." JJ starts.
"Your backpack," I state.
"On the porch," John B reminds JJ.
"It's on the porch," JJ says as he opens the door.
"Go, go," John B tells him.
"John Routledge!" the man shouts.
I fight back tears. "Guys!"
"Come on out now! Fuck..." the man shots.
JJ rushes back into the room and locks the door. "They're on the front porch, guys."
"Get out here! Routledge! Where you at, boy?" the men shout. I can hear them throwing things around.
"We gotta leave!" I point to the window. "Guys, window. Window." I can hear glass smashing. "Hurry."
JJ and Pope try to pry open the window.
"Sack this place!"
"What... what's happening? Why is it taking so long?" I ask.
"It's painted shut, okay?" JJ tells me.
"I'll check the kitchen. Routledge!"
Things are being thrown around as Pope and JJ struggle to get the window open.
"Okay, guys. Guys. Here, I got it," Kie says. She has a screwdriver in her hand.
"Where the hell's that compass? Hey, check the back room."
"Come on. Come on," JJ tells her.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Kie tells him.
Pope and John B are standing in front of the door fingers up to their lips. "Shh... Be quiet."
I can hear the men yelling and things crashing. "You better not be in there!" The door rattles as the man tries to open it. He kicks the door, and it starts to break. He shoots at the handle.
Kie pries the window open before they can get in. We take off running towards the chicken coop. He all huddle inside trying to remain unseen. The rooster won't stop crowing.
"Do something, Pope. Shut him up," JJ tells him.
"What do you want me to do?" Pope questions.
"Pet it or talk to it. I don't know," I tell him.
I hear the truck door slam shut.
The chickens keep clucking.
"You do something," Pope says.
JJ grabs the chicken. He wrestles with it until he snaps its neck. I put my head on Pope's shoulder blocking JJ and the rooster from my view.
"Ratter! What the hell are you doin'? Let's go."
The engine starts and the truck drives away. Kie is sobbing as I try to wipe the tears from my own eyes.
We all sit in the Twinkie on the way to somewhere John B has yet to tell us about. Pope is staring at the compass as he sits in the passenger's seat.
"I mean, it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B reasons.
"Yeah. It's possible," Kie agrees.
"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels," Pope offers.
"Pope? Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it," JJ states as he looks right at me.
I push JJ away. "Some people handle their sad feels in better ways.
"I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me a message" John B insists.
"If it helps you believe, John B..." Kie trails off.
"Look, I... I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not trippin' out," John B tells us.
"It's okay to trip, bro, but..." JJ starts.
"Look, my... My dad is missing, okay? Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering," John B tells us.
"It's been almost a year," Kie reminds him.
"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility," I offer.
"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere," Pope says.
"Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis," JJ adds.
"JJ. Look, what do you think the message is?" Kie asks.
"Redfield," John B states. We pass the sign for the lighthouse. "Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favorite place."
We stop in front of the lighthouse and get out of the van. John B turns to look at JJ. "Right. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"
"Wait... Why me?" JJ asks.
"Because you're not coming," Pope states.
"Why?" JJ asks.
"There are independent and dependent variables." Pope says. "You're independent. We don't know what you'll do."
JJ yells at him, "Shut up!"
John B interrupts them, "Listen to me for a second. Pope and Addie, you stand look out with JJ. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house."
"Great," Kie says.
Kie and John B start towards the light house.
"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum," Pope tells us.
JJ starts to toss around a hacky sack. "All right, would you just shut up already?"
"Hey, don't be mean, JJ. Some of us aren't born criminals," I remark.
JJ gives me a look. "Some of us don't have Mommy's money to make things go away."
I shrug my shoulders. "What else should I spend Mom's money on?"
"Seriously you got drunk, climbed on Shoupe's squad car, and all you got was a verbal warning," Pope reminds me.
"I did get grounded for a month," I counter.
"And the second your mom left on a business trip you ungrounded yourself," JJ states.
I smile. "Not my fault y'all were having a kegger that night."
Suddenly I hear sirens wailing in the distance. I groan in annoyance.
"Oh, shit," Pope mutters.
The three of us book it to the van. We don't wait around for Kie and John B before we take off.