The crew headed out early the next day, Alana and JJ being the first ones ready to tackle the day. John B made sure they had everything they needed especially the most important tool for the day which was the underwater drone. Once he knew they had everything on board, they head out to the water to take on their mission before the bad weather approaches: finding the Royal Merchant.
Alana let's the wind dance in her hair as she reflects on last nights dream. The voice wouldn't leave her mind, she's not even sure how she knows it's her mother but deep down there's a feeling that tells her it is. It has to be.
"You were up very early today" Kiara's voice pulls her away from her thoughts. Alana struggles to reply right away. Her mind goes blank.
"Both you and JJ... I saw you guys out on the dock" Kiara smirks, "what were you guys talking about? If you don't mind me asking?"
Alana let's out a small chuckle. She can feel her cheeks getting hot. A nervous thought comes to her mind. What is about JJ that makes her feel this way? He has this effect on her and she doesn't even try to hide it from Kiara. She's become comfortable around her. Alana looks to her friend.
"No it's all good. JJ woke up after he felt me moving around a lot. I was having a bad dream so he took me out to the doc to talk about it" Alana smiles. "So I talked about it... and he listened."
"What'd you dream about?" Kie asks her. Before Alana could attempt to explain her dream, John B calls out for everyone to come over.
"Alright ladies and gentleman. To going full Kook" John B flashes Kiara a smile as he adjusts himself by the edge as he lifts the drone over the boat. Alana stands next to Kie as they both watch carefully as the drone meets the water and slowly disappears beneath. Kiara grabs the top piece of the cable from John B and takes over the responsibility of making sure the drone doesn't go down too deep. Alana looks over her shoulder to JJ who is by the wheel. She wonders how someone could look so attractive even from the back. Alana tells herself to focus on the mission and doesn't let Kiara down because she's too distracted by JJ's back. She shoves the image of his defined back muscles out of her head.
Jesus Alana, focus. She curses at herself.
"Got it?" She asks Kie who gives her a small nod, her concentration on not letting go of the yellow cable. Kie gives her a small nod without looking up at her.
"Alright, JJ, we're right over it. Ten seconds northwest" John B shouts out. JJ repeats back to John B, confirming he heard him.
The rope slowly moved from Kie's hands until she spotted the red tape. "One hundred feet" she announces, putting some of her weight on the cable to keep it from going down too fast. She looks over to Alana with an excitement. Alana returns the same energy, ignoring the comments coming from the boys about whatever they were going on about. Together, they marked every red tape they saw on the robe which indicated another 100 feet the drone had reached down beneath them. They had reached four hundred feet.
Kie frowns as she looks down to the water. "The tides turning!"
John B shouts something to JJ and the boat starts steering south. The boat jerks and for a quick second Alana feared the cable would've slipped from Kie's hands. She looks over to Alana with relief and calls out the drone is now down 700 feet.
"Umm Kie" Alana points to the dark clouds forming up ahead. "That doesn't look good. Is that good?"
"Uh huh" Kie nods her head though not giving the reassurance Alana was seeking. Thunder sounded off in the distance.
"920!!" Kie shouts, her tone laced with a hint of concern. "John B there's too much current, we're going to lose it!" She leaned back just enough where she had a good footing and held onto that rope with everything in her to prevent the drone from being lost.
Alana looks back over to JJ who was now steering the boat north. She watched with worried eyes as he concentrated on his job. We got this. She thought to herself. We'll be fine. Although she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about the incoming storm.
Kie shouted out every time the drone dropped 10 feet. She was almost to a 1,000. Alana rushed over to Pope's side. "So?" She asks him.
Pope's eyes stay fixated on his screen. "Oh good, god" he whispers. Alana's lips break into a wide smile as she looks to the screen and sees a wrecked ship. But not just any wrecked ship. She couldn't help but let out a small squeal.
"See anything?" JJ glances over his shoulder, his eyes catching on Alana.
Alana's heart flutters as his eyes linger on her face for a moment more before returning his attention on keeping the boat steady.
"It's the Royal Merchant." A wave of emotions floods through John B as he can't peel away his eyes from the monitor, just to make sure he doesn't miss any glimpse of gold. Kie joins them and hovers behind Pope to get a good look at the screen, grinning from ear to ear.
The excitement they all share is short lived after a few moments pass and there were no sign of any gold. John B walks away, his expression in full devastation as he runs his fingers through his hair, processing the hard truth.
JJ and Kie go back in forth, arguing whether or not the gold had been buried there or not. Alana sighs in frustration.
"Guys" she says but neither one of them hear her.
"Shut up JJ!" Kiara rolls her eyes in annoyance.
"Somebody beat us to it." John B stares out into the distance, his back facing the others. A small ache fills Alana's chest as she looks at John B. She knew how much finding this gold meant to him. The boat started steering back the way they came back and everyone sat in silence the entire way back.
****
The following day Alana joined Kie and JJ to help Pope out at his fathers shop. She had been in a down mood the entire night before and Sarah was no where to be found to comfort her. There was no communication on where she headed off to and Alana guessed it was somewhere with Topper. But that guess was eliminated once she saw the cut on JJs lip and Kie filled her in on their eventful night.
Alana was infuriated as she heard about what Topper and Rafe did to them. She swore Rafe would never hear the end of it when she saw him next.
"It looks bad ass, am I right?" JJ points to the cut.
"Not even a little bit" Alana teases.
"You still think I'm hot though, right?"
Alana wanted to say yes but instead she rolled her eyes at him, failing to keep herself from smiling.
"When did I even think you were hot?" she shrugs.
"Since always" JJ bumps his shoulder into hers in a playful way. Alana shakes her head, laughing though deep down she knew she always found him hot.
"I wish I was there last night." Alana changes the subject. She feels bad for not joining them to see the movie but she didn't have any energy to be around a lot of people.
"Oh yeah? You would've protected me?" JJ teases. His pink lips curve up into a wide smile, showing off his dimple.
Alana chuckled. "Of course. Those assholes would've regretted coming after you two." Deep down she knows she couldn't have just stood there and watched JJ get hurt. The mere thought of him being held as he took those punches to his beautiful face made her all the angrier. Nor could she have watched Pope get beaten down. She looks over to Pope who was organizing some bags behind the counter.
"Pope, are you doing okay?" She asks him. His eyes didn't meet hers as she walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulders. He only shrugged., keeping his head low. "They're just a bunch of cocky assholes who clearly can't fight one on one."
"Even then I would've got my ass kicked. Topper nearly choked my ass to death. Those assholes always win and I'm sick of it."
Alana hated seeing Pope this way. As if he were disappointed in himself or even embarrassed for not being able to fight back as Topper held him, blocking his airway. She couldn't wait to tell Sarah what Topper and Rafe had done, hoping Sarah would be just as angry as she was.
JJ shook his head. "Don't let it get in your head. Three of them, two of us. That's typical kook shit right there." Apparently Alana isn't the only one who missed out on last night. JB was nowhere to be found. "What was your thought process, using your head?"
Pope walked to behind the small check out counter and entered some cash into the register, then wrote down the amount on a piece of paper. He shrugged his shoulders lazily. "I don't know man. I just kind of acted off instinct. I was a cornered animal."
"Don't worry Pope, karma will get them" Alana pats Pope on the back, receiving a half smile from him.
"Karma as in me, I'll get 'em next time buddy" JJ smirks across the room to Pope. Kie throws a glance towards Alana who was holding in a laugh.
"What?" JJ asks when he notices the girls fighting the urge to laugh at JJ. Before either one could throw an insult at him, mostly Kie who had plenty lined up for him, Pope's dad strode into the shop with a grave look on his face.
"Hey, Pope, someone here to see you" Mr. Heyward gestures behind him. Pope's eyes shift to behind his father, his eyes widening as he spotted the Deputy.
"Good evening, officer" panic grew inside of Pope.
The officer didn't even bother to look at any of the other kids. His eyes were glued on Pope as he spoke. "I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property."
Pope turned and looked at JJ, his eyes filled with terror. Kiara and Alana exchanged a glance of confusion. Radio chatter sounded from the Deputy's chest as he walked past Mr. Heyward who was looking to all of us for an answer.
"Hands where I can see em" the deputy says rather bored as if being here to arrest a teenager was a major inconvenience to his day.
JJ pursed his lips as he shot Pope a warning look.
"Whoa, Shoupe. What'd he do?" Pope's dad followed close behind the deputy who was making his way towards Pope with a pair of handcuffs in his hand, rattling as he marched towards him. Kie stepped in front of Pope but that only annoyed the deputy.
"Young lady, out of my way."
"Wait, are you really going to come in here and just arrest him like this??" Alana asked in disbelief. The deputy gave Alana a dismissive look as he proceeded to bring Pope's hands behind his back. Kiara stood her ground as she glared at the deputy. "Seriously? You're just going to arrest him?"
Mr. Heyward couldn't believe the scene unfolding in front of him as he watched his son be handled rather aggressively.
JJ's jaw tightens and he moves to walk around and stand in the way of Deputy Shoupe. Alana grabs hold of his arm to stop him from doing anything stupid. When he turns around to look at her, his features soften.
"Be careful!" Kiara couldn't believe how a deputy could just walk in here and treat Pope as if he were a criminal. She watched as Pope was handled like some kind of animal instead of a human. She knew if it were anyone else, say one of the kooks, this scene would look entirely different. They probably wouldn't even take their handcuffs out.
Shoupe was reciting Pope's rights to him. Alana watched in horror as Shoupe carelessly threw his handcuffs around Pope's wrist. She wanted to scream at him to stop but she knew that wouldn't do anything.
JJ slammed his hand down on the counter. "How much did they pay you, man?" Indicating this had everything to do with Topper and his posse. Everyone was shouting over each other, chaos breaking throughout the place as bystanders watched in shock.
Pope started to feel dizzy as the sounds of voices faded out, his mind going absolutely silent. He was afraid. Terrified. This was the end for everything he had worked so hard for. He now envisioned himself behind those bars and that scholarship being snatched from him along with his whole future.
His dad left no distance as he continued to shout at the officers, demanding answers from them but ignored by every single one of them. JJ pushed one of the officers, lifting his chin up to show he wasn't scared of any of them and nearly got knocked back. Kie and Alana followed suit, panicking as Shoupe guided Pope outside of the shop. Alana fought hard to keep the tears from coming but she was so angry at what was happening around her that she couldn't help it as her eyes became watery.
Kiara kept throwing insults at the officers, telling them they're a bunch of cowards controlled by the rich who didn't give a shit about any one who wasn't from Figure Eight. Shoupe kept walking without paying any of us any attention.
JJ felt like he couldn't breathe watching his best friend about to be put into the back of a police car. This wasn't fair. Pope didn't deserve this. He has his whole future ahead of him. JJs mind spun as he watched Shoupe get closer to the car. He knew what he needed to do.
"It wasn't him!" He shouted. Everyone turned towards JJ, falling silent. Pope snapped out of his daze and met his best friends eyes. What the hell is he doing? Pope raised his eyebrows in question to JJ.
"It was me" JJ cocked his head to the side, planting the most convincing face that he could to show he wasn't lying. He grinned as if to say that he knew they wouldn't be surprised if it in fact were JJ who committed the felony. They all looked at him like one anyways.
Alana stared at JJ as he willingly let himself take the fall. She knew he couldn't stomach the idea of his best friend being locked up for something so stupid and losing his scholarship over this. And she knew exactly what he intended to do. He was going to get them to arrest him instead.
"He tried to talk me out of it, but I was mad because he'd just been beaten up and I'm so sick of those assholes from Figure Eight that I lost my shit." JJ stood in front of Pope now, shaking his head as he glanced back and forth between the officers and prayed Pope would follow along with his plan. "I can't let you take the blame for something I did." He glared into Pope's eyes, "You've got too much to lose."
Alana felt something shatter inside of her at his words. At how he points out that he has nothing compared to Pope and it didn't matter if he were arrested.
"JJ What're you doing?" Pope asks.
"I'm telling the truth" he chuckles, "for once in my goddamn life, I'm gonna tell the truth" his gaze shifts to Shoupe, holding the contact. Shoupe glances sideways at Pope with a hint of doubt as if he knew what JJ was trying to do.
"I took his old man's boat, too" JJ nodded his head at Mr. Heyward.
"What the hell" Mr. Heyward looks to his son.
Pope doesn't understand why JJ was doing any of this. "JJ, come on" he begs.
"Just shut up, Pope!" JJ snaps. "Just shut up" he says more calmly. He swallows the lump in his throat. Come on, you assholes. Arrest me already dammit! JJ bites his bottom lip, growing impatient with the officers and Pope. "He's a good kid" he says softly. "You know where I'm from." Shoupe nods his head in agreement without hesitation.
"This was all me" JJ looks back to Pope, pleading Pope with his eyes to just let him take the fall. Pope let's out a sigh as he looks to his best friend, completely at a loss for words.
"That the whole truth?" Shoupe looks to Pope, clearly annoyed and ready to just make an arrest.
"What the hell?" Kiara whispers to Alana. Alana was swallowing down her tears and couldn't say anything so she stayed quiet, not knowing what the hell to do.
There was nothing she could do.
"The whole truth, swear to god" JJ answered, though Shoupe was waiting for Pope to respond.
"I know what you think damn it, I'm asking Pope."
Pope and JJ just stand there for a moment, speaking with each other through their eyes. Pope breaks the contact, nodding his head slowly. "Yeah, that about covers it." The weight in Pope's chest grew heavier as realization sank in. If JJ goes to jail, another beating will be waiting for him at home. It was too late now.
Kiara looked around to everyone, desperate for someone to stop this. But nobody did anything. They just stood there and watched.
Alana's heart sank to her stomach when JJ turned around to look at them. He looked at Kie first, a sad smile planted across his face as if to convince her everything is okay. Then, his blue eyes fell on her. Her bottom lip trembled as Shoupe bounded JJs wrists together. JJ kept his eyes on Alana the whole time, an unreadable expression behind them. He nodded his head and mouthed it's okay to her before Shoupe tossed him into the back of the car, throwing the door shut and walking around to the drivers side. Without another glance or another word to anyone, Shoupe reversed back out and drove off with JJ in the back.
Pope brought his arms above his head, trying to even his breathes all the while he watched the car drive away. His heart pounded violently and he snatched his hat off his head, throwing it down to the ground.
"Shit!" Pope hissed, marching past Alana and Kie. Mr. Heyward called out for his son but he ignored him.
Alana paced back and forth, cursing under her breathe. "What the fuck are we doing to do? JJ can't sit in jail"
"Oh my god, his father is going to kill him when he finds out" Kiara runs her hands through her hair, panicking at the thought of JJ being bailed out by his father.
That thought hadn't crossed Alana's mind but now that it was planted in her head she felt even more scared. She knew the kind of father JJ had. She clenched her teeth as she tried to not think about what his father was going to do when he got out.
"I need to go check on Pope." Kiara walked back inside of the shop, leaving Alana outside alone with her thoughts. She couldn't just sit here and wait around. Alana decided to head back home and hoped her cousin would be there.
( hey guys, so sorry for the very long wait! I've been so busy with life and my other stories. I didn't meant is abandon this one but I'm wrapping up some chapters. I'm so so excited for us to get season 3!!!
I just want to thank everyone for their patience and who has kept reading my story despite my lack in updating. I do want to remind everyone that my story may track off a bit from the show because I am incorporating some of my own ideas and hoping it flows with the upcoming season but I can't wait for to have this book finished for you all :)