— CHAPTER TWO
stealthy

***

JULIETTE stared in awe with the rest of the Pogues. Pope was right—just below the surface of the water, it was possible to see the roof of a boat. That's what they'd hit, not a damn sandbar. Stunned, she shared a look with Kiara. "What the shit."

Along with the others, Juliette shredded her clothes until she was in her bathing suit. She quickly tied her hair into a ponytail before diving into the water, following after Pope.

The water was mucky, and it was difficult to see. Her eyes burned with the algae, but as she swam closer to the boat, her curiosity only grew, and everything else faded away.

The group reached the surface, coughing for air, but they still managed to share astonished glances. "You guys saw that, right?"

"Yeah."

"What the..."

"Maybe it was the lack of oxygen, but," Juliette shook her head, the edge of her ponytail sticking to her cheek at the movement. She quickly flicked it off, focusing on her friends. "There was definitely a boat down there, guys."

"A Grady-White," JJ corrected as they moved back to their own boat. "A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy."

"Holy shit," Juliette murmured, bracing either arm on the boat so she could climb back onto it. John B offered a hand, and she took it gratefully. She never did have the most upper-strength.

John B nodded to himself, glancing at Pope. "That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something."

Kiara's tone turned accusing. "You surfed the surge?"

"That's my boy," JJ high-fived him. "Pogue style."

"Ignoring how dangerous that is," Juliette interrupted, pointing at the boat. "If that was out yesterday, where is its owner?"

"Oh, shit," Pope winced. "Matter of fact, do we know whose boat it is?"

"No," John B said, opening the trap door to pull something out of it. The anchor, Juliette realized. "But we're gonna find out."

"No way, dude. It's too deep."

"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ."

"John B," Juliette shot him a disapproving look. "Don't be an idiot."

"Yeah, I'm not resuscitating you," JJ stated. "I'm just making that clear up front."

"John B," Kiara started, but nothing followed after his name.

He met her gaze. "What?"

"Diver down, fool."

Juliette sighed. Boys would be boys, she supposed. But this was awfully fucking stupid, even for them. She watched John B gather the anchor in his arms, his muscles flexing under the weight. Hurriedly, she averted her gaze. What. The. Hell, Juliette?

"Yeah, he is."

With swift movement, JJ reached forward and pushed John B off the boat.

Juliette smacked JJ's shoulder. "Douche."

The four of them peered over the edge of the boat, silent with anticipation. The dread in Juliette's stomach grew bigger the longer John B was down there, and she could feel her nerves starting to tingle.

"What if he's, like, passed out down there?" Juliette asked. "Or a shark gobbled him up?"

"Gobbled him up?" Pope repeated, raising his brows. "Really?"

Not a second later, John B appeared, spraying water up as he gasped for air.

"Oh my God, that took forever."

"Jesus."

"Any dead bodies?"

"Looting potential?" JJ asked eagerly.

"No," John B denied. "But I did find this motel key."

"A key."

"Yes, a key, Pope."

"Great! We salvaged a hotel key."

"It's actually better than nothing," Juliette said, stepping out of John B's way as he hopped back onto the boat. "It's one more clue to finding out whose boat it is."

"Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard," Kiara realized. Pope had control of the wheel again, and the remaining of them were gathered at the front. Juliette examined the key in her hands, turning it over. Most of the words had faded, whether due to the water, or age, she didn't know, but the tag was hard to read. "Maybe we'll get a finders fee."

"Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks Agatha, ya batch."

Attempting to tell the Coast Guard was a complete waste of time—nobody wanted to listen to a bunch of teenagers, so they were completely disregarded. Sighing in defeat, they regrouped by the dock.

"So, what's the plan?"

Juliette cocked her head to the side, and pulled the key out from the back of her jean shorts. "I mean...we do have this lovely piece of treasure here."

"No way. We don't know who's room that is. It could be anyone's," Pope argued. "Not a chance."

JJ threw his hands up. "I'm in."

"Come on," Kiara pleaded, grinning. "I'll be lookout."

Juliette dangled the keys before Pope, smirking. "Come on, little rebel. Let's goooo."

John B patted Pope's shoulder, before falling into step besides her. "Ready for this adventure?"

She looked up to meet his eye. "Can't be worse than our last one."

John B pulled a face, and she laughed. "Yeah, you're right."

***

They found the motel with ease, but the building was shady as hell. Juliette straightened in her seat. Tree branches were thrown, and the sign was crushed on the front lawn. Ivy intertwined the gutters, a part of the roof was caved in, and windows were boarded up.

JJ whistled. "I thought the Château looked bad."

"This place is a shit show."

"Motel or meth lab?"

"You be the judge,"

"I feel like this is the place where horror movies start," Juliette mused. "Like, a famous actor was definitely murdered here."

"Definitely doesn't look like the type of place somebody with a Grady-White stays," John B mused.

"No," Pope agreed. "Looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed."

"Maybe he was cheating on his wife," Juliette suggested, and every single head turned to stare at her in disbelief. "What? I'm just saying. A guy with that much money isn't gonna stay here for shits and giggles. Could've been an affair."

"Could've been a drug deal," John B pointed at her.

"Could you two stop with your crazy theories already?" Pope demanded. Juliette grinned at John B over Pope's shoulder. "We haven't even docked yet."

"All right, here we go."

"This is your captain speaking," JJ spoke in his best megaphone voice. "HMS Pogue comin' in for landing. Whoo!"

"That's subtle," Juliette said. "Do you want to call the sheriff and let her know we're here too?"

JJ kicked dirt at her. Juliette narrowed her eyes, and hopped out of the boat to tackle him.

John B's arm wrapped around her bicep, and he pulled her off JJ. "You're one to talk about subtlety."

She paused. "Yeah, that's fair."

"Hey," Pope called, looking at John B. "Don't let either of them do anything stupid."

"Me?" Juliette pressed a hand to her chest. "The key holder? I'm very responsible."

"Key holder by thievery," John B accused. "She stole that from my pocket."

"You had it sticking out," Juliette shrugged. "That's on you."

"Be careful," Kiara said, looking to John B. "I mean it."

Juliette spared a glance at JJ over her shoulder, and she was sure they were wearing matching expressions. John B nodded. "Yeah."

"The hell was that?" She whispered to him.

"Someone's horny."

Juliette couldn't hold in her laugh, and when John B approached, he watched them suspiciously. "What?"

"Nothing," Juliette told him quickly. "Come on. We gotta be in and out. Stealthy like ninjas."

"Nothing about you is stealthy, Juliette," John B said, walking behind her. "I wonder why all the mattresses are out."

"After a hurricane they have to ditch em," JJ explained. "They get moldy."

Juliette loved Kiara and Pope, but there were certain times where she loved when it was just her and the two boys. It made her feel nostalgic in the best way—it had always been the three of them. She hoped it would always be like that.

On the second floor, JJ started his teasing as Juliette predicted he would, and gripped John B by the chin. "Just be so careful, John."

John B wiggled out of his grasp, glancing quickly back to Juliette, who was smirking, and turned to face forward again. "God, you're so weird."

"What was that about?"

"I don't know. Maybe she wants us to be careful."

"Yeah, I don't buy it," JJ nodded at Juliette. "Jules, you're a girl."

She really did hate that nickname, but she said nothing, only cocked a brow. "Very well observed, Jay."

"What's up with Kiara?"

John B hesitated, but slowed his pace, brows furrowing together to stare at her. Juliette honestly didn't know—though her and Kiara were close, they never exactly talked about boys. In fact, they actively avoided the subject. Kiara was probably well aware of what happened between Juliette and JJ two summers ago, but that was the last time the line would be crossed, Juliette made that promise to herself.

Everything had been so weird after. JJ avoided her eyes for weeks, John B's answers were short, and Pope had this weird flush in his cheeks every time they spoke. She wouldn't say she regretted losing her virginity to JJ, but if she had the choice to do it with someone else as her first time, it wouldn't be him.

Sure, it wasn't bad. JJ made sure she was comfortable but... JJ wasn't the one who calmed her. He had the opposite effect. He got under her skin—like a brother. And it was weird that she'd slept with him, and she vowed to never do it again. With any of them. Even if it made her heart ache when she saw Kiara sneak glances to John B. Juliette made that vow to herself, but Kiara didn't.

"Yeah, what is up with her?" John B asked, shaking Juliette from her thoughts.

"I don't know, dude. I'm not a mind reader."

JJ grabbed John B by the shoulders, making his voice husky. Juliette rolled her eyes. "Be so careful John B. Just give me that John D. already."

"Bro, get off."

"When are you gonna swoop on that?"

"Don't say swoop on that," Juliette muttered. "Dickhead."

"You know the rule," John B gave them both a pointed look. "No Pogue-on-Pogue macking."

"I love being the reason new rules are invented."

John B pursed his lips. "Don't remind me."

"You brought it up."

"Anyway," he rolled his eyes. "JJ, you're the one who's always hitting on her."

"Of course I'm hitting on her. She's a super-hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us. No offense."

Juliette's nose scrunched. "Why would that offend me?"

"You just lectured me to not say 'swoop that.' Wasn't interested in getting kicked in the shins again."

"Don't say something that deserves shin kicking then," Juliette said, stopping outside of a door. "Oh, guys. This is it."

JJ stepped to it, raising a fist to knock. "Housekeeping."

When no one answered, he moved to peek through the window. John B neared Juliette, who hesitated on slipping the key into the knob. He caught her eye. "You love adventures."

"I prefer legal adventures," she pointed out. "This feels... not legal."

"Just open the door," JJ whined.

Another seconds hesitation had John B reaching around her hand, and he slid the key in. His hand was huge around hers, and Juliette suddenly couldn't breathe as the door swung open.

"And we're in," JJ whooped.

"Check for booby-traps."

"You think they have boobies here?" He questioned.

Juliette waved a hand at him, ignoring her pounding heart. "You're disgusting."

The room looked fairly normal. Two beds. A small fridge. There was a bag sitting on the first bed, which John B immediately went to check, while JJ examined the dresser, Juliette scoped out the bathroom.

"Ooh," she mused aloud, and she could practically feel both boys straighten up from where they were stood. "Box of condoms. My affair theory is growing."

"And a Dopp kit," JJ reached over her to grab the bag on the shelf. "I'm taking this."

"We're not here to steal shit," John B reminded him from the other room. Juliette watched as JJ put a finger to his mouth to shush her, and he stuffed something into his pocket. She rolled her eyes.

Juliette abandoned JJ in the bathroom, and moved to stand behind John B, who was crouched in front of the safe. He had a piece of paper in his hands, and quickly typed in the numbers on the keypad. With a click, the door opened.

Juliette patted his back affectionately. "Look at you, you case cracker. Someone should hire you as a detective."

"Holy shit."

"Don't play," Juliette said, but when she kneeled down beside him, her jaw fell open. Stacks and stacks of cash laid inside, along with a gun, and a couple of loose papers. "He was having an affair with a money launderer."

"Didn't Pope say no..." JJ trailed off, stunned once he saw what was inside. Before any of them could react, JJ was already moving for the gun.

"Dude!" Juliette yelled in protest. "You got your crusty ass hand prints on there now!"

"No way you just grabbed the gun, JJ."

"This is a SIG Sauer. This is a fucking spendy gatt, man. Bam! Bam! Bop!"

Juliette flinched. JJ was probably about the last person on earth she trusted with a gun. "Put it back."

"You're not taking the gun, JJ."

"Whatever. Just take a picture of me."

"Oh, yes. Let's gather more evidence that we were here, JJ."

"It'll be cool, come on."

John B caught her eye, and shook his head in disbelief. At the same time, something tapped against the window. "Uh, what was that?"

Juliette nearly jumped out of her skin when the sound happened again. "Probably the universe telling us to get the hell out."

John B poked his head under the blinds, and swore. "Shit."

"What?"

"It's Pope and Kie. The cops are here."

Juliette didn't think her stomach had ever dropped so quickly. "Fuck me." Oh god. This was bad. If she got arrested, her mom would definitely never let her out of the house again. Because she'd be dead. Six foot under. Zoe Matthews would murder her before the cops could even put her in handcuffs.

"Fuck. Fuck, what do we do?!"

"Alright," John B ran a nervous hand through his hair, and JJ rushed to close the safe door. "The window is the only way to go. Let's go."

The three of them moved quickly, careful not to knock anything on the nightstand over, and careful not to make a sound. They shut the window, but just before it closed, the sound of the hotel door screeching open echoed through the empty room.

She braced herself against the outside wall of the motel, heart racing in her chest. John B was next to her, holding his breath, and JJ was on the opposite side of the window. John B moved to look through the blinds, and a moment later, JJ mumbled something.

"What?" She whispered. "What's going on? I can't see."

John B ever so slightly turned his head to face her. "They just took money from the—"

Something banged against the roof they were standing on. With alarm, Juliette whirled around and realized it was the gun JJ had stolen. She squeezed her eyes shut. After what it felt like ten years, the door slammed shut again, and Juliette felt her shoulders relax. She waited a moment before scowling at JJ.

"Oh, and I'm the one who isn't stealthy? Really?"

***

authors note

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