"And we were right outside like this."
The Pogues found themselves in another group meeting as John B and JJ had returned from Scooter's wife's house. Cassie was sitting near John B as JJ was enthusiastically telling the group what happened. He was in standing up and hovering over Pope and Kiara, who sat on the couch and stray chair.
"And all we hear is just, 'Bam! Bam! Bam!' Knocking paint off the wall, from the inside. All right? And I'm just looking at him, like--" he stopped and put his head down, "Wait, first off, look at this shit." He began combing his hair aggressively with his fingers to have small particles fall out and onto the floor. He pointed at it, "Look at it."
Cassie giggled at his actions, making him turn and give a smile. Kiara looked at him with a grossed out look, "That's dandruff, disgusting."
He did it again when Pope stopped him, "Okay, thank you." "Look at all that. All right? That's paint. At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death." Cassie rolled her eyes and scoffed. Pope skipped over, "Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?"
JJ nodded as Pope went on, "Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like? Anything. Anything we can bring to a police report?"
JJ thought for a moment, "Yeah. Burly."
Cassie did a double take, "Burly?"
JJ shrugged and nodded, making Kie roll her eyes, "That's not very helpful." "Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage," JJ explained, "I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers. I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers... they're square groupers." He took out his vape, inhaling the smoke. Cassie stood up as he breathed out a cloud, taking the vape pen and throwing it on the couch, giving a sarcastic smile.
"They're square groupers, like narco square grouper?" Pope asked, "Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?" JJ nodded, "Yeah, man."
Kiara argued back, "You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie." "What does this square grouper look like?" Pope asked again. Pope started to get fired up at JJ as his voice started to climb with stress, "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."
John B clicked open the compass and had a dazed look as JJ went on, "It's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I'm not liking this very much."
Cassie involved herself, "Okay, well, why do they want the compass?" "It's a piece of shit. You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to. No offense. I know it's in your family--" Pope answered as he was cut off by John B pacing, "The office."
Pope looked confused, "What?"
"My dad. My dad's office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research," John B as the herd started following him to the back of the house, "We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it."
Kie nodded and reassured him, "Yeah, for when he gets back." The comment made JJ and Cassie give her a, Really? look as most of knew that John B's dad was dead, no matter how many times John B denied it. John B unlocked the white office door as Pope looked around, "I've slept over here like 600 times, and I've never seen this door opened."
The office was a mess of research and tools scattered around the room. The table in the middle was covered in books and papers as John B pulled a cork board off the wall. He put it down for the rest to see, pointing at the picture of a captain with his name on the side, "Here, look. This is the original owner, right here." "Okay. Robert Q. Routledge. There's the lucky compass, right there," Kie narrated. John B looked at her, "Actually, um... he was shot after he bought it. Then the compass was shipped back to Henry." The black and white picture held a man and a woman in the front of their house with the man leaning against the doorway. "He was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen." The picture of Stephen was smaller and showed a man in a soldier's uniform with the compass hanging at his side. "Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam."
JJ looked up, "Let me guess, he died in action, right?" "Sort of," John B shrugged, "Uh, a-actually, he was killed by a banana truck. In country. Anyways, after that, Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad."
Cassie looked up at the boys and girl in front of here, "There's a reoccurring theme here and it's not a good one."
Pope looked at John B, "Yeah, you have a death compass." "I do not," John B defended as Pope kept pushing, "You have a death compass."
JJ watched John B as he paced to the window, "Get rid of it. It's cursed, and made its way back to you." John B turned and sat on the chair next to him, pulling out the compass. He unscrewed the backing as he talked, "Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soldiers used to hide secret notes."
Cassie looked over his shoulder and pointed at the writing, "What is that?" "That wasn't there before," John B observed aloud, "This is my dad's handwriting." The metal was etched with the word REDFIELD, in messy writing.
Pope scoffed in disbelief, "How can you know that?" "Because he does these weird Rs with the-- See it?" He pointed to the R as JJ looked over his shoulder to look at the writing, "Red-- Rout-- No, I think that's an A." "It says Redfield," Kie answered, "Okay, well, what's Redfield?"
Pope threw his hands up, "The most common name in the county."
Cassie shrugged, "Oh, maybe-- maybe it's a clue." Even though she was half joking, John B took it very seriously. He nodded, "Yea, maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding."
They looked at him with skepticism. Pope looked at them, "A clue? Come on, that's--" He stopped when he saw the look that Kie was sending that if he kept shooting down John B, she was going to shoot down Pope. He changed his thought and cleared his throat, "But if it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram?"
Cassie grabbed a piece of paper and gave it to Pope, "Here, write it out."
From the yard, the rooster in the pasture continued crowing as it had been during the whole investigation. Pope winced, "How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?"
"JJ loves the rooster," John B said as Cassie responded as well, "I love the rooster."
Cassie smiled and brushed some hair out of JJ's face, who gave a small smile to her, catching themselves in one another's eyes. But Pope ruined the moment as he put spoke aloud, "Let me think. Dedfiel. Colors-- That's stupid. What about Ritalin? Dreidel? Fiddler? Let's stick with what we're.... Defile. Does that mean anything to you?"
John B had stood up and looked out the window to see a truck pull into the Chateau. He tried grabbing their attention, "Guys." But Kie kept going, "You're missing a letter."
He repeated himself, a bit louder this time, "Guys! Somebody's here."
Kie looked out the window as JJ and Cassie watched her go over, "Guys, guys, is that them?"
JJ started to panic, "No, no-" "Is that them?" Kie asked again, panic rising in her throat. Pope watched them through the shades, "This is suboptimal."
JJ started panicking as well as he started to ramble, "John B, I told you. Why does it always--"
John B pushed him against the wall, "JJ! Hey, look at me. Where's the gun?" "Gun? I, uh, I can't-"
Kie pressed him, "Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?"
Cassie walked over and pushed John B out of the way, positioning herself in front of JJ, who was still against the wall. She put her hands on his shoulders, giving the warmth JJ needed to think. She cooed him, "Hey, just think. Where was it last?"
He breathed and looked into her gorgeous, pale, blue eyes. "It was in my backpack, and then I--"
John B nodded, "Backpack--" JJ went on, "On the porch."
JJ quickly opened the door and moved past the two and went to go grab the bag. Cassie barely saw him move past the hallway when they heard, "John Routledge!" He scurried back and they closed the door quietly. John B looked at him as he looked up, "They're on the front porch, guys."
Through the door, Cassie could hear them smashing and throwing things on the ground, messing up the place. Kie looked at the window and pointed, "We gotta leave! Guys, window. Window. Hurry." Pope and JJ used all their might to pull up the window, but to no avail. Kie was beginning to panic, "What-- what's happening? Why is it taking so long?"
Cassie walked over and looked at the window sill, "Shit, it's painted shut, okay?" The men kept calling out for John B and the compass as Cassie looked around and spotted a knife. She grabbed it and pushed the boys out of the way, starting to cut through the paint. JJ took it from her, trying to move as fast as they could. Kie started to whimper but put her hand over her mouth when she looked at John B and Pope who were reinforcing the door, "Be quiet." The door knob started rattling intensely as the man yelled, "You better not be in there!"
The man started kicking the door, making the wooden frame break. John B and Pope ran away from it as JJ was opening the window. The man pulled out a gun and shot the lock on the door. Cassie was the last one left in the office as JJ put his hands up from outside. He put them on her waist and slid her down carefully, then running to the only place they could, the chicken coop.
John B and Kie sat together while Pope was in the corner. Cassie and JJ were forced together as the rooster kept clucking, beginning to get louder.
JJ really loved the rooster, but when he looked at Cassie and saw her eyes squeezed shut and her grip on his shirt for stability, he knew he had to do something. John B yelled at Pope, "Do something, Pope. Shut him up."
Pope put his hands up, "What do you want me to do?"
Kie's lip was quivering as she whisper yelled, "Pet it, or talk to it. I don't know."
"You do something," Pope gestured to JJ.
JJ was watching Cassie with his beautiful eyes. He couldn't just sit there. He couldn't just watch her, for one of the first times he had ever seen her so fragile. Not the bold and confident, fiery girl he was beginning to love. He just couldn't. So, he got up, grabbing the rooster's neck and broke it with his bare hands. They all heard the sickening crack as Kie started to sob. JJ pushed himself to Cassie and wrapped his arms around him, letting her face be settled into his shoulder. He felt her quivering as he whispered, "It's okay, you're safe with me."
And finally, the men packed up their truck and left.
~~~
"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B said as he looked at Pope who had the compass.
The Pogues were in the van with John B and Pope in the front. Cassie leaned her head on JJ's shoulder, resting her eyes and letting herself calm down. Kie watched the two as she bumped on the bottom of the van, thinking that one day they would realize that they were meant to be.
John B continued, "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"
Kie tried to help as much as she could, "Yeah. It's possible."
"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels," Pope suggested, earning a glare from Kiara, making him shrug in response. JJ interjected, "Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it."
Cassie pulled her head up and lightly pushed his head, getting a grin from JJ. But John B fought back, "I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me a message."
"If it helps you believe, John B," Kiara started. John B shook his head, "Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not trippin' out."
Cassie felt the tension when she looked at John B, "Brandy, it's okay --" But he didn't let her finish, "Look, 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."
"It's been almost a year," Kiara's eyes softened. JJ gave it his best shot, "Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility." Pope joined in, "Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." "Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis."
Cassie gave a look to both of the boys, "Shut up, you dumbies."
Kiara looked at John B, "Look, what do you think the message is?" Her question was answered as they looked out the window to see a sign that said Redfield Lighthouse. "It's my dad's favorite place."
As John B parked the car, Cassie slid the door open for everyone to get out. They huddled into a circle as John B started a plan, "Right. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" He pointed at JJ. The attractive blonde did not like this plan, at all, "Wait... Why me?"
Pope looked at him and talked while making gestures with his hands. He tried to explain, "Look, there are independent and dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you'll do." "Shut up!" JJ retaliated as John B tried to calm him down. "Listen to me for a second. Pope and Cass, you stand look out with JJ. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house."
Cassie nodded and put her hand on JJ's arm to let him begrudgingly agree. They walked back to the van as Pope huffed, "I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."
"All right, would you just shut up already?" He grabbed a walnut that had fallen and tried to juggle it, but failed. "Okay, okay, girls, chill out," Cassie said, smirking. After five minutes of them JJ and Pope arguing, Cassie rolled her eyes and stood up, outstretching her hand to JJ. She made him sit so his head was between her legs. She started combing his hand with her fingers while Pope was writing on a note pad. She started humming I Can't Help Falling In Love With You as she attempted to braid JJ's long hair. JJ closed his eyes, enjoying her singing and the feeling of her ringed fingers grooming his hair. It was completely peaceful, the silence around her notes and the birds chirping above them.
After half an hour, everything seemed fine until they heard the familiar blaring of a siren. Pope looked out, "Oh shit."
She pulled JJ up as Pope ran around and put the keys in the ignition, starting it and driving away as Cassie looked back, "We just left them there!"
JJ waved her, "It's fine, they'll figure it out."
Did they?
~~~
John B braked the car. He gestured for them to get in as Pope grinned. They had driven to the Chateau and dropped the car off before retreating to the back of Pope's house, where he was fixing one of the motors. For a few hours, Cassie and JJ had been arguing about smoking and drugs. Cassie was obviously trying him to quit while JJ was smoking in her face. Pope only interrupted a few times.
So when John B wanted them to get in, they all smiled and ran into the van. They drove to Kiara's house as Pope ran inside to grab her. He came out empty handed, "She says she's not comin'."
Cassie threw her hands up, "What? Why not?" "What'd you do to her, John B?" JJ interrogated as John B muttered, "Shit."
Cassie opened up the door to help but John B shook his head, "I got this Cass, I'll deal with it."
She narrowed her eyes but shrugged, keeping the door open for Pope to climb back in. As soon as John B entered, they started guessing.
"What do you think happened?" Pope asked. Cassie looked at JJ, "You don't think he--"
JJ shot it down warily, "No, he wouldn't. Would he?"
Pope looked between them, "No. He wouldn't." The comment made Cassie look at JJ with a skeptical look before looking at Pope with interest.
What was that about?
Forest: Oh my gosh I love how he looks at Cassie before he kills the rooster but that scene actually made me so sad, especially for Kie. Hope you're enjoying! And I'm sorry I couldn't update yesterday <3