Danny hasn't said a word after telling Sarah last night. He regretted it, but at the same time, he didn't.

Danny made her swear to never tell a soul. He didn't need his friends worrying about him. They already had so many other things to worry about, and Danny added to the list wouldn't do anyone any good.

He didn't like someone else knowing he was a victim, but he liked that someone believed him. It put it into perspective for him. He was worried his mom wouldn't believe him and take his father's side, but Sarah was proof that it may not happen. It gave him some hope.

Danny glanced at his watch. The boys should be pulling up any minute now. Kie and Sarah sat on the edge of the boat as Danny cleaned everything up and packed it all away.

He walked into the cabin and placed the plugs back in the engine. He sat and stared at his lap afterward. He was emotionally drained, tired, and had his special little weed hangover.

"Danny!" Sarah yelled. "They're here."

He closed his eyes and took a breath. He closed the hatch, stood, slapped his cheeks, and then forced a smile on his face.

"Aren't you boys a sight for sore eyes!" he praised as he walked closer. He propped his foot on the edge of the boat and leaned his forearms on his knee.

Sarah turned and stared at him. Danny's composure almost cracked. She was looking at him differently. Pityingly. Now he did regret telling her.

He turned away from her.

"That was some patriarchal bullshit," Kie said.

"Yeah, that sucked," Sarah added.

JJ tossed the rope to Danny and said, "You still love us though, right?"

Danny tied it off. He whistled and sent JJ an appraising look. "JJ, man, black is your color. Hold on, let me get my phone."

He pulled it out and opened the camera app. He held it out.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Dude, you look hot. Stay still." Danny nodded in approval at the photo. He was basked in the warm orange sunrise, his blond hair molten golden at the ends. "Oh, God, the glasses. Holy—I need to update my list."

He selected the photo as his wallpaper.

"You're so annoying it's insane, actually," JJ said.

"Dude, you're hot. I'm sorry."

"Have you been smoking again?" Pope asked, amused.

Danny rose his fingers and separated them an inch.

"Dude," JJ complained. "That wasn't for you—"

"No! Shut up! You try getting stranded twenty-four-thousand hours on a boat with these two!"

"Hey!" Kie yelled and smacked his shoulder.

"That reminds me," Sarah said and crossed her arms. "We're both gonna get you back when you least expect it."

Kie nodded and added, "Watch your back boys."

Pope said, "I welcome that challenge."

"Me too," JJ added.

Pope asked, "So, did you guys, you know. . ." He brought his hands together to convey his meaning.

Danny gasped. He placed his arms around Kie's and Sarah's shoulders. "Pope, you know we don't kiss and tell."

Kie elbowed his stomach. Danny laughed and took a step away.

"Reconcile our differences?" Kie said.

"Mm-mm."

"Not even close."

"But we're. . ." Sarah said and glanced at Kie, "willing to work together."

"You know what? That's a victory," John B said, his smile bright.

"Yep!" JJ said and clasped hands with Pope. They both said, "Wiggedy-wiggedy-wiggedy!"

"Know why?" JJ commented. "Hydroponic."

Danny felt a smile tug on his lips. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Yeah, no."

"Don't say that," Pope said.

"All right, shut up," John B said and pointed at JJ. He turned and addressed Sarah and Kie. "You guys ready to jack someone up?"

"Yeah, whatever," Kie said with a careless shrug.

The girls hopped onto the Pogue.

Danny stepped toward the cabin. "JJ and I will catch up. I still need help with the engine."

"You fucked it up that badly?" Pope nearly yelled, clearly concerned for the functionality of his dad's boat.

"Seriously?" John B complained.

Danny waved in dismissal. "It's fine, Pope. Don't worry. I can fix it. I just need another set of hands."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kie asked as she sat on the haul of the Pogue. "I could've helped."

"Jesus, what is this, twenty fucking questions? We'll catch up."

JJ shrugged and hopped on wordlessly.

Danny waved obnoxiously to their retreating form. He sighed in relief and turned to the cabin.

"You're shitting me, right?" JJ asked crouched over, looking at the perfectly fine engine.

Danny nodded and leaned against the controls. He ran his hand through his hair and stared at his feet. "Yeah, I just. . ." His deep sigh conveyed the rest of his sentence.

JJ stood and stepped in front of Danny. "Wow, was it really that bad here?"

Danny lifted a shoulder. He opened his arms, and JJ thankfully stepped into them. Danny closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to JJ's shoulder. "It was fine. Kie did threaten to waterboard me at one point, but she's said that before, so it wasn't as frightening." He huffed in amusement and tightened his hold around JJ's back. "And Sarah helped me pick a watch for you, so that was nice."

He leaned back a bit and took his phone out. He found a picture of the watch and asked, "Want to see? I know it's, like, technically supposed to be a surprise, but I want you to like it before I get it."

JJ's lips titled upward. "That's the one you have."

Danny felt heat rush to his cheeks. "Yeah, I thought we could match. I can look for a different one if you don't want to."

"I like it." He pulled Danny back into the embrace. "Thanks."

Danny nodded, returned his forehead to JJ's shoulder, and closed his eyes.

Danny felt JJ starting up the boat from behind his back. With one hand pressed to Danny's back and the other on the wheel, JJ maneuvered them back to land.

"Something's bothering you," he commented after a long stretch of silence.

Danny remained silent but turned to press his forehead to JJ's neck, needy, but not feeling too ashamed of it.

"Why'd you smoke if you were already feeling bad?"

Danny wondered how he could have picked that up but then thought better of it because it was JJ, his best friend in the entire world. His world.

"I have to tell my mom bad news. And I'm nervous to, uh, see how she responds, I guess."

"Did you get someone pregnant?"

"What?" Danny asked, bewildered. "God, no. What? Oh my— could you imagine?"

JJ snorted. "I think you'd be a good dad."

Danny shook his head. "Yeah, right," he said sarcastically. "I just—" He squeezed JJ and focused on the stark contrast of the feelings burning under his skin right now compared to last night. Warmth bloomed through his entire body; peace, tranquility, and every other positive emotion he could feel consumed him.

Every crack in his composure was glossed over and filled with everything that was JJ. He sighed in relief.

"I need you right now. My mind's quiet. You just— you make everything better," he stumbled over his explanation. He couldn't properly capture the grandness he felt in something as simple as words. It was all too muddling.

JJ squeezed him back. They cruised quietly while JJ let him take whatever he needed.

Soon enough, they docked, and Danny reluctantly pulled back. He kept his arms wrapped loosely around JJ's waistband and stared wordlessly. If JJ was uncomfortable about the exchange, he didn't show it.

"Better?" he questioned.

It all wasn't better, but Danny definitely felt it. It was like he had a factory reset on his emotions. "Yeah."

"Good," JJ said. He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Danny's cheek. He stepped away and out of the cabin.

Danny brought the tips of his finger to his cheek and traced the outline. His smile was luminous.

When he finally broke from his reverie and stepped out of the cabin, he walked over to help JJ tie off the boat.

JJ was tying an intricate knot that Heyward would go mental upon seeing and asked, "Where am I on the list today?"

Danny's fingers froze. "Uh," he said eloquently.

JJ turned to face him and raised an amused eyebrow.

He considered with a tilt of his head. "I'll place you above the time when you punched Chris Flemmings."

JJ chuckled, muttered something Danny couldn't hear, and then continued securing the boat. Danny shamelessly watched his back muscles flex under the tight shirt. Danny bit his lip and wondered what they would feel like under his palm. How they'd feel if Danny took him into the cabin and—no, no, no, no, no. No.

"Dude, why are you so red?"

Danny swallowed and averted his eyes from JJ's torso. He couldn't hold eye contact. "Uh, I—Heyward, yeah. I need to take the keys to Heyward." Danny scrambled onto the dock. He ignored JJ's puzzled expression. "And then my mom's, and, yeah. Bye!"

Danny all but ran down the dock while ignoring JJ calling after him, confused.

***

Danny's been loitering outside of his mom's shop for an hour now. He keeps walking up and down the sidewalk, pausing in front of the entrance and then shaking his head and continuing down the block.

People probably thought he was going to rob the place.

He needed to do this. He needed to do this. God, why couldn't he do this?

Danny ran his hands down his face and then looked down the street.

He took out his phone and stared at his wallpaper. He took a breath and quickly pushed through the entrance before losing his nerve again.

Linda was at the register. He waved at her and walked further into the shop. He gave a cursory glance around the floor, and when he didn't see her, he ascended the staircase, taking two steps at a time.

He knocked on the door frame. "Mommy?"

Danny stepped inside and found his mom sitting on the floor and hand sewing a dress. Her glasses perched at the end of her nose, and she had a needle pressed firmly between her lips.

She startled when she glanced up and saw him. Irene took the needle from her lips and smiled brilliantly. "Hello, Darling." She abandoned the dress and stood. She stepped toward him and engulfed him in a hug.

Danny squeezed his eyes closed and took a grounding breath. "What are you working on?"

She sighed and brought her hand to her head. Clothes littered the ground in various states of completion. The breeze from the open window ruffled the loose fabric hanging on the dressing rod. She didn't even have music on. That was a bad sign.

Irene glanced at her watch.

"Are you all right, Mom?"

She raised her hand and rested it on his cheek. Danny placed his hand on top of hers. "My sweet boy," she whispered mostly to herself. "How did I get so lucky?"

"Do you need anything?" Danny asked, worry pinching his brow. "What can I do?"

She shook her head and her hand in tandem at him. "The organization offered me to headline, and I need five more models, which means at least five more looks." Danny could tell she was excited, but he could also pick up on the stress.

"Congratulations."

"Oh!" she said and rushed to her desk, sidestepping various articles of clothing. "That reminds me, I drew up a sketch for JJ's outfit. What do you think?" She held it in his direction.

Danny shook his head. "Mom, you don't need to do that. I can buy him outfits somewhere."

He did not want her spending time making a new suit or two when she had five plus other outfits to complete within a short deadline. Danny knew he got his insomnia from his mom, as much as she denied it, but he wouldn't make her stay up later if he could prevent it.

She scoffed, insulted. "I will not have my son's date come to my fashion show in another designer's clothing. That's cheap."

Danny conceded with a huff of amusement, ignoring the satisfaction of hearing her call JJ his date. The designs were sleek and elegant. He couldn't wait to see them on JJ. "Thank you."

She placed the papers back in their portfolio.

"Where's Alex?" His mom's assistance was normally always one step behind Irene preparing for fashion week. His absence was notable not only in the missing Texan accent but also in the mess of the fitting room.

Danny practically grew up with Alex as his unofficial uncle, or hell, even an older brother since he was only ten years older.

He was there for birthday parties, taught Danny how to golf, and even managed to keep his patience when Danny hit the ball into the bunkers practically every other swing. Alex reveled in Danny's mortification during their conversation about safe sex, and really, who could blame Danny when the opening line was 'What do you know about prep-work?' and then explained in step-by-step detail when Danny didn't answer quickly enough.

"Sick." She observed the room and nodded in finality. "Actually, sweetheart, can you help me? I'm a bit, hmm, well, I guess I'm overwhelmed for once." She laughed at the end, but it wasn't humorous.

"Absolutely," he replied instantly.

She gave him a pile of clothes to iron or steam and then hang. He completed each task with the utmost caution.

An hour or so later, she asked, "What did you need earlier, Danny?"

That sentence spiked his heart rate. "Uh, I wanted to talk."

He watched her lean back against the cushions of the couch and close her eyes in exhaustion, and he immediately decided he would never tell her. Not now, at least. She was already up to her neck in responsibilities, and he would not burden her.

He could be strong for her. He would be strong for her.

And really, it was just a slap. It wasn't like his father beat him relentlessly. He could handle the verbal berating. It wasn't that bad. He could handle it. He could. He didn't need to put this on his mom. He could handle it.

"I, um, I missed you and wanted to say that I love you."

"I love you, too, baby."

As he watched his mom smile easily, he knew that he'd rather die than make that smile vanish.

***

When Danny walked out of the shop and slid open the door of John B's van, the first thing that was said to him was, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"What?" he asked and looked down at his clothes like he didn't walk out of the cover of a catalog magazine.

"What?" he asked again, more exasperated when everyone stared at him. "We said to wear black. This is black."

He stayed and helped his mom until John B pulled up at midnight. He didn't go home, so he donned a black cashmere sweater with matching slacks from the shop. The only thing old was the pair of black Converse he wore.

He climbed in and slammed the door closed. John B immediately sped off. Danny sat back with a huff and ran his hand through his hair. When he looked up, everyone was still looking at him. "All right, what? Do I have pizza on my face?"

He wiped at his mouth and stared pointedly at JJ next to him. JJ simply blinked at him.

Sarah giggled.

Danny faced her, suddenly deeply concerned. "What? Oh, God, I do, don't I? Has it stained? Son of a bitch." He pulled out his phone to look. Nothing was on his face except his puzzled frown.

"I don't think they're used to seeing you dressed nicely," Sarah said.

And maybe that was true. Danny always wore strictly swim shorts or a t-shirt with khakis when possible. He dressed up when needed, but it was hardly ever in the presence of his friends.

"Oh," Danny said, smug. "I get it, you're all just worried that I'll be too much of a distraction."

"Please," Kie scoffed.

"Then how come you can't take your eyes off me?"

She stubbornly looked away. Danny smiled cheekily.

"What were you doing there so late?" Pope asked.

Danny shrugged. He grabbed JJ's arm, placed it around his shoulders, and then sunk deeper into his friend. JJ pulled him closer and rubbed his palm on Danny's chest. "I was helping my mom. Her assistant is sick. And we caught up for a bit."

Sarah leaned forward. "Did you, you know, talk?" she stressed the last word.

Danny ground his jaw and exhaled sharply through his nostrils. "No," he said firmly, cutting off any further inquiry into that topic.

She frowned. Danny stared at his lap.

"All right, everybody shut up," John B said. "We're here." They slowed to a stop, and Danny sat up. He rubbed his hands together in excitement.

"You got rope?" John B called off.

"Got it," Pope answered. JJ heaved it onto his shoulder.

"Grappling hook?"

Pope rolled his eyes. "No grappling hook. We're not Batman."

"Pulley?"

Kie nodded. "Check."

"Dark clothes?"

"Got it," Sarah said.

"Danny's definitely got that covered," JJ said and leaned against Danny's shoulder.

"Oh, you know what? I think you secretly like it." He turned his head, lips brushing the shell of JJ's ear, and whispered, "I think you really like it."

Danny's smile was devilish when JJ glared at him.

"Flashlights?"

"Check," JJ answered, still glaring. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"All right, good. We're ready," John B said.

"Let's go," Kie said, excited.

John B got out of the driver's side door.

"Hold on," Danny said seriously when his friends began to stand. He kept the smirk off his face and said, "Now, I want you guys to tell me if I get too distracting."

He heard various scoffs and groans of annoyance. It was Pope who humored him and said, "Okay, and what will you do if we are?"

"Oh, nothing. I just want to hear you say it."

He chuckled to himself when they erupted into complaints again.

John B swung open the back door, and they all instantly stood to escape. Danny laughed harder.

"Wait, wait," John B said and held out a hand. "I wanna say thank you, guys. Seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight."

"Always," Kie answered.

"Of course, man," Pope said and held out his hand to John B. They slapped hands.

"My man."

"All right, we done with the circle jerk? Can we go do this?" JJ said.

"Let's get that wheat in the water," Pope said as Kie and Sarah hopped out of the van.

"Weed? I'm up for weed."

"Wheat. I said wheat."

"I don't think you did," Danny said. "How about we let those three handle it, and we can just sit back and relax on this one?"

Pope stepped out and turned, his hand leaning against the roof of the van. "Don't tell me we're doing this again?"

Danny scoffed. "No," he lied.

"It's just a house," JJ tried to reason.

Obviously, Danny knew that, but the thing about irrational fears is that they are irrational but still fears he felt deeply.

Danny could sense their anxiousness to catch up to the other three, so he swallowed his discomfort and followed them out of the van and over the wall. If they noticed that he lagged behind, they didn't comment on it.

The motion light on the house illuminated the yard.

"Shit!" Sarah gasped.

"Oh, shit!" John B said, and they ran for cover. "Go, go, go, go."

"Flashlights!"

JJ shook the device, trying to get it to cooperate. "It's on strobe!"

They huddled behind the shrubs, staring at their new obstacle. Danny panted, his heart rate skyrocketing. He closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down.

"Okay. . . Okay, so she has motion sensor lights," Pope stated.

"We could, uh. . ." JJ offered, "Move really slowly, maybe?"

"What?" Sarah asked disbelievingly.

"That's not how it works," Pope said.

John B's epiphany was, "Oh, shit. Let's throw a rock at it."

Danny shook his head.

"What?" Pope asked incredulously.

Kie deadpanned, "That's a really good idea. Let the axe murderer know that we're here."

"Throw a rock at it?"

"You have a better idea?"

"Literally anything but that," she said.

"What about the breaker?" Sarah offered. "In the circuit box on the porch. We used to play hide-and-seek here as kids. And if we were brave enough, we'd go all the way up to the porch. I've seen it. Danny, do you remember when—"

"We are not talking about that."

And the reason his fear was irrational wasn't that he got caught playing hide-and-seek; it was what happened afterward. The fear of being here was an involuntary response associated with the utter disappointment and the reprimand his mom gave him.

See, Danny was hiding so well that he didn't realize everyone else ran away when the cops came and eventually found him. When he saw her frown directed at him, he could have sworn his heart stopped. She was silent on the ride home. As he tried to lament and explain, she kept her eyes forward and shook her head. He cried himself to sleep that night.

So, yeah, irrational.

Thankfully John B moved the conversation away from him by saying, "No, no. You're not going in the house alone."

"Watch me."

"Crain chops people into pieces," JJ reminded.

"If you believe that, but she's like what, eighty-five?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that."

"She's probably barely still kicking."

"Here. I'll go with you," Kie offered.

"Yeah." Sarah nodded.

"We'll wait for your signal," Pope said.

They stood and began creeping to the porch.

"Hey!" John B said. The two paused and looked back at him. "Be safe."

"We will." They continued to the porch.

Danny snorted.

"Be safe," JJ voiced softly, his hand against Pope's cheek.

"I'll be so safe," Pope whispered. He pressed his forehead against JJ's. "I'll be safe for you."

Danny smiled at John B's expense.

"Can you guys stop?"

"No," Danny countered. "Do more."

John B swatted Danny's shoulder. "Stop! I'm gonna kill you."

"But how would that keep us safe?"

Danny chuckled to himself and turned to watch the house. The light was still on, and he waited with bated breath.

JJ cleared his throat and said, "They said when Hollis disappeared—"

"That you should shut the fuck up!" Pope interrupted.

JJ whisted and shared a look with John B and Danny. "Wow, Pope," Danny whispered.

The light turning off captured their attention. Danny's shoulders released their tension.

"They did it. Go time," John B said.

"Let's get this over with," Danny muttered, and he and JJ stood and headed for the house.

Danny swatted at a cob-web and cringed. He gave a full-body shiver when he imagined the spider crawling down his back. "Jesus," he said and jogged further through the passage, past the old chairs and other decrepit furniture stored down here.

After they created a pully system with the rope to lower John B into the well, Danny asked, "Are you sure you want to do this, John B?"

Danny took post as the anchor and braced himself for the rope to travel across his body. John B nodded, half his body weight already testing the rope. "Nothin' to lose."

Danny sighed and nodded in finality to steel his nerves.

"Hey, boys. I have one request," John B said as he slowly descended.

"Yeah?" JJ said, voice strained from exertion.

"Don't drop me."

JJ let the rope slip through his hands. "Whoa!" he joked.

Danny nearly lost his balance at the weight shift. He groaned and dug his heels deeper. He wished he rolled his sleeves because he was already sweating. "Don't fucking do that again."

JJ glanced over his shoulder. "My bad."

"You're gonna die first, for sure," John B said.

They continued to lower John B into the well. "All right, just keep payin' it out nice and slow like that. Here we go. Keep goin'."

"I'm not having fun," Danny muttered mostly to himself. He could already feel the rope burn against his palms. Did they seriously need to use the oldest, most frayed rope in the history of mankind?

"Wait, hold on one second," JJ said after a while. He leaned back and adjusted the rope in his hold. "I'm gonna get situated."

Pope asked, "You good?"

JJ didn't answer. Instead, he lost his footing, fell down, and lost his hold on the rope.

"Shit!" Danny yelled as he was propelled forward. He ran into the support beam and winced. When JJ got hold of the rope again, Danny took a breath and backed away from the beam. He shook his head, trying to ignore the pain on his brow bone.

"I told you not to drop me!" John B hollered.

"You good, man?" Pope asked and peered into the well.

"What the hell was that?"

"Little technical difficulties."

"Keep going, slow!" John B emphasized.

"Okay, we're gonna start paying you out again, all right?"

"All right. Keep it comin'."

They slowly lowered him, inch by painstaking inch.

"Do you guys think keeping a secret is lying?" Pope asked out of the blue.

Danny frowned. He asked almost skeptically, "Where is this coming from?"

"Just something my mom mentioned. She thinks it is, but I'm not sure. My dad didn't tell her something about the shop, and they argued about it all night."

"I don't think so," Danny commented with a shrug. He winced when the rope dug deeper into his palm.

"I do," JJ said.

"Oh yeah?" Danny asked, doubtful. "You don't have any secrets? None?"

JJ pursed his lips and adjusted his stance. "No."

Pope laughed to himself. "Totally believable. I could name at least one secret right now."

JJ glared. He said instead, "How are you doing, John B?"

His reply of "Good" echoed up the well.

"Do you have any secrets, Danny?" Pope asked.

And it would have felt invasive had it been a conversation with anyone else, but Danny easily answered, "Oh, hell yeah. A ton."

"What?" JJ asked, nonplussed. "What are they?"

Danny scoffed. "Nice try, asshole. I think as long as you aren't covering something up, then it's not lying." After he said it, he realized how full of shit he was. So, maybe, apparently, perhaps he was a liar now.

His secret about paying the restitution was a cover-up. His secret about his father was inadvertently a cover-up.

But it was for the better good, so maybe he wasn't that terrible? He was just a liar sometimes?

"I think secrets are still lying, and since I am not a liar, I'll share. I'm feeling righteous," JJ said.

"How kind of you," Pope said and rolled his eyes. Danny snorted.

"Do you guys remember like the last week of school when I said I had to make up a test for Mr. Hessler?"

They hummed in acknowledgment.

"Well, that was true," JJ said, "But I didn't do that; I did Michelle Tucker in the girl's locker room."

"Shut up!"

"No, you didn't!" Danny said. He laughed and adjusted the rope.

"That feels really good. Glad I got that off my chest."

"Danny, it was me who accidentally killed your Rose bush," Pope admitted quickly.

"You fucking bitch!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to."

Danny spent all summer last year tending to the fickle bush, and when he came home from a trip, it was dead and rotten. He assumed it was a disease that killed it and complained to his friends for a week and made them accompany him to a flower shop to find something new.

"Wow, that did feel good," Pope said to JJ, ignoring Danny's scowl.

JJ laughed at Danny's face and said, "Come on, share with the class. You'll feel better."

Danny immediately knew the two secrets like his own personal Tell-Tale Heart. He forced himself to think of lighthearted stories instead. "Uh—oh! It was me who ate all the cookies at the Bone-yard Christmas party."

"Dude, we know."

"What? You didn't know that."

JJ nodded. "Yes, bro. Kie has pictures of you holding the platter in her scrapbook."

Danny furrowed his eyebrows. He must have been more drunk on the Eggnog than he thought.

"Oh, hey," Danny said when he looked down at the rope by his feet. "Only 15 feet left, guys."

"Are you getting close to the bottom?" Pope asked John B.

"I can't tell. Just—just keep goin'."

They continued to lower him down.

"Whoa! Stop!"

Danny grunted and pulled the rope still.

"I'm hangin' over some sewage-water lookin' shit."

Pope asked. "You want back up?"

"Keep goin', I guess. . . Okay, okay! I'm at the bottom."

"How is it down there?"

"It's worse than I thought."

Danny frowned. He didn't know if that was possible. John B was already swimming in shit.

"You find any gold?" JJ asked.

Danny took the time now to roll his sleeves. He wiped the sweat from his brow and stretched his fingers.

"Uh, nothin' yet. Wait. I think I felt something with my foot." It was quiet for a moment, but then John B erupted in screams, "JJ! Hey, pull me up! Pull me up! Come on, man! Go!"

"Pull him up!" Pope said, and they all pulled on the rope.

"Come on! Pull me up! Come on! Pull me up! Pull me up! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait! Hey, I think I found something."

"Hey, John B! What'd you say?" Pope asked.

Danny strained to keep the rope steady.

"Just give me a minute. Hold on."

The rope went slack, and Danny stumbled into the wall. "Shit!" he cursed and rubbed his already bruised shoulder, courtesy of Kie. "What is he doing?"

Pope shrugged.

"Go!" Sarah yelled abruptly as she and Kie ran down the stairs. "Guys!"

They stopped next to Pope and JJ around the well, panting and out of breath.

"What's going on?" Pope asked.

Danny rounded the beam and placed his hand on Kie's shoulder. "You all right?"

"Mrs. Crain! She's up there! She tried to kill us with a fire poker. We gotta go."

Danny shared a look with JJ, his eyes wide.

"We locked her in the parlor," Sarah added as she bent at the waist, hands on her knees.

"Okay, that's code red," JJ said and crouched before the well. "John B! Get back on, man."

They lined along the rope and prepared to pull. Pope counted them off, "Three, two, one, pull!"

The rope was slack when they pulled, and they all fell to the ground.

"Shit!" Sarah said.

"Where is he?" Danny asked, alarmed.

"John B!" JJ yelled.

They all dropped to their knees around the well, searching for John B. "Guys. Sh!" Pope said.

JJ asked, "What's he saying?"

They heard John B call their names but couldn't make out anything else.

"Yo, he's drowning!" JJ concluded. "We gotta pull him up!"

Danny ran to the rope and wrapped it around his hand.

"Hey, John B! Get back on the rope. We're gonna pull you back up, okay, buddy?" Pope said.

They pulled him up, but it wasn't as fast as Danny would have liked. "Come on, pull!" he said, just as a gunshot blasted by his head.

Everyone dropped to the ground, and the rope pulled tight on his hand. Danny grunted as he tied it off around the support beam. "JJ!" he yelled.

Another blast sounded, and Danny flinched. He saw Kie and Sarah thankfully run out.

"That's buckshot!" JJ said, and he and Pope scrambled up. "Go!"

Danny made sure the barrel wasn't pointed in his direction and sprinted over to the well. He pulled John B up, and they ran out of the basement.

"Woo!" John B yelled in excitement.

"Go!" Danny yelled as they sprinted through the yard and hopped the wall. "Shit!" he cried when the blast knocked bits of rock in the wall loose.

"Go, go, go, go!" Danny urged, and they ran after the van. Danny grabbed John B's arm and whipped him into the van, and followed right after. He pulled the door shut and slumped against it, his chest heaving.

"JJ, drive!" Sarah said.

Pope added, "Go, man!"

Danny propped his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his hands. His shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"Are you okay? Are you shot?" JJ asked as he drove them away. He looked over his shoulder at John B and Danny.

"I think I'd know if I was shot, right?" Kie asked and patted her hands over her body.

"Danny?" JJ asked in concern. He glanced over his shoulder and the road every other second.

"I'm good."

"You look disgusting," Pope said to John B. He was covered in a thick layer of mud from head to toe.

"God, you smell like ass," Kie said and wrinkled her nose.

Danny smelled his hand and recoiled. He wiped it on his sweater.

"What the hell just happened?" Sarah asked, still breathless.

"All-time Pogue Hall of Fame, baby," JJ answered.

"Hell, yeah," Kie said and patted his shoulder. "That bitch is possessed."

Sarah nodded. "That bitch can't aim."

"How does she move that fast?" Danny wondered.

"She's possessed. She's blind."

"Like Master Yoda," Pope said. "It makes no sense, scientifically."

Kie said, "She does yoga. Pilates." She looked down at John B. "What is that?"

John B cleared the mud from his hand, and gold shone in its place.

"Dude!" Danny cheered and shook John B's shoulders.

"No, you didn't!" Sarah said in disbelief.

"We did it, baby! I did it!"

They all erupted into cheers.

"We're gonna be rich!" Kie said. "Like Kook rich!"

"Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook!"

*****

Secrets, secrets are no fun...

Thanks for reading, my loves! Let me know what you think!

xoxo

R