SMOKE SIGNALS     /     OUTERBANKS
ੈ✩‧₊˚ written by catie . . . © vqnillascented
chapter twenty one  ━━ ' return to charleston'

THE SUNSET OVERHEAD was a beautiful purple-pink, but none of the four teens noticed it, too focused on getting inside the police station as quickly as possible.

Without a word, they slipped into Shoupe's office, JJ taking the gun out of his back pocket, tossing it onto the desk. It landed with a loud clatter, immediately yanking the Sheriff's attention away from his work on his computer.

Shoupe slowly lifted his eyes from the weapon up to the kids standing before him. "What's this?"

Alex leans against the back wall, knees throbbing from being scraped on the pavement, dried blood on her skin. JJ and Pope's clothes were still half-wet from the deep water, sticking to their legs with algae and dirt. Kiara was in the worst shape of them all ━━ covered in a thick layer of grime and sewage, her hair thrown up in a frizzy bun, some damp strands clinging to her neck and face. They must be quite the sight.

Taking a deep breath, Kiara responded, "What do you think it is?"

"So," Shoupe taps the weapon with a finger. "Y'all are telling me this is the firearm Rafe Cameron killed Peterkin with?"

"That's exactly what we're telling you." JJ nodded.

"It's also the same firearm that Ward killed my dad with." Alex closed her eyes, the words difficult to say. But all this pain, it could all become worth it very soon.

Shoupe sighed. "Where's his body, again? They had a funeral correct?"

"Closed-casket." Alex answered quietly.

"There was something in the sewer." Kiara added, backing Alex up. "When I was down there, it was something dead. It might've been him, maybe Ward dumped him down there to get rid of the evidence."

"George got in an accident at work," Shoupe coaxed, tone condescending. "He's in construction, that's not the safest business. Stuff like this happens, it's rare, but it happens."

Pope turned away. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

"I watched Ward Cameron kill my father." Alex leaned off the wall, raising her voice, anger bubbling up inside her chest. "Why the fuck would I make this up?"

Shoupe raised his hands. "Ward reported on what happened, said he was on site when George fell. Would you like to tell me why he would walk into this office," He stabbed a finger on the desk. "And lie straight to my face about a man's death, that he had actually killed himself."

"My dad!" Alex cried, frustrated at his choice words. George wasn't just 'a man.'

"Because Ward Cameron is a psychopath." JJ barked, stepping closer to Shoupe's desk, face wild and angry. Pope grabbed his bicep and yanked him back.

"You are not helping your case here." He waved a finger between JJ and Alex, and their eruptions.

"Are you at least going to send the gun in for ballistics and shit," Kiara motioned to the weapon, still just sitting there on the desktop.

"He's just gonna sit there and wax that damn mustache." JJ scoffed.

"Don't talk to me like that." Shoupe got to his feet, a warning look in his eye.

"JJ, stop it." Pope hissed.

Alex put her head in her hands, a overwhelming wave of hopelessness crashing into her. They were going to be ignored yet again. They had gotten physical proof of their claims, and still, they were being invalidated.

"Oh, I'm sorry." JJ cocked his head. "Did I hurt his feelings?"

Shoupe walked over to the door, opening it without a word. Then he faced the teens, who were all staring at him with baited breath.

"Get out." He snapped. "I have work to do."

Alex's knees nearly buckled at this, and she kept her face hidden. Hot tears were rising fast, sadness overtaking her rage.

Kiara jumped to her feet. "This isn't fair!"

"Y'all are smelling up my damn office." Shoupe waved them out the door.

Pope headed for the exit first, followed by Kiara, who shook her head at Shoupe, giving him a death glare on her way out.

Alex didn't move, hiding her glassy eyes behind her palms. She wasn't sure she could walk if she wanted to, her muscles too weak, too exhausted.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, guiding her towards the door. Allowing her muscles to relax slightly under JJ's grasp, she uncovered her face, lifting her chin high as she stopped in front of Shoupe.

"I hope Ward's paying you a pretty penny to cover his ass." She said, staring him dead in the face, voice calm and quiet.

Staying silent, Shoupe grabbed her arm, pushing her the rest of the way into the hallway. JJ shoved his hand off of her, getting all up in his face with a snarl. "Don't touch her, fucking pig."

"I've heard enough from you two." Shoupe pointed to the front door. "Out."

Kiara filed out the door, back onto the sidewalk without a word, JJ and Alex managing to follow her lead, biting their tongues for the moment. Pope paused in the doorway, turning back to Shoupe. "We brought you the murder weapon," he said calmly. "There's no logical reason for you not to send it in."

Shoupe didn't say anything, and after long enough, Pope got the message and slipped outside with the others.

JJ kicked over one of the trash cans along the sidewalk. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled, running his hands through his dirty hair, rage wafting off of him.

"JJ," Kiara tried to calm him, to no avail. Alex collapsed onto a nearby bench and stared at the ground, chest void of any emotion.

"He's such an asshole," JJ snapped. "He can't even just sent the fucking gun in, just for shits and giggles."

"He is an asshole." Pope agreed, dropping his head.

"And shoving Alex like that?" JJ went on, cheeks flushed with anger. "After dismissing her, dismissing all of us like we're nothing?"

Kiara looked over at Alex then. "You okay?"

She just shook her head, eyes still glued on the concrete.

JJ quieted down, shoulders heaving as he caught his breath. "We'll figure something out, yeah?" He told her, tone suddenly calm and reassuring.

She just nodded again, slumping further down on the bench. "I just wanted...I wanted this all to be worth something." Her face crumpled in an instant, tears streaking down her cheeks. She ducked, hiding from the others, embarrassed, but they were already at her side.

Pope slid onto the bench beside her, JJ hovering behind him. Kiara hit her knees on the pavement in front of her, reaching for her hands. "We're here for you, Alex, seriously. You can talk to us."

"We'll come up with a new plan." Pope said, nodding fast, wheels already turning in his head. "We're not giving up. Not yet."

"Not ever." Kiara scoffed, as if the mere thought of no longer pursuing their cause was comical.

Alex lifted her face, sweeping over her friends. "Thank you guys, really." Finally, her eyes locked with JJ's.

He gave her a firm nod, determination in his stare. "This will be worth something, I promise."

She nodded back, actually meaning it this time. She felt truly supported, truly loved, truly cared about for the first time in a long while, maybe her whole life. She knew that she could talk to them about anything, that they'd support her no matter how much they didn't agree with her decisions.

And she believed them, when they told her that they'd figure something out. They always had, up until this point. None of them were going to give up ━━ not on their mission, not on getting justice, not on setting things right. 

And never on each other.

Alex traced the golden wax seal repeatedly, unable to believe what she was seeing. Beneath the pads of her fingers was a tiny wheat symbol, the same as what was embedded in the gold, pressed into the metallic wax.

"Tell me again how the hell you got this?" She kept her voice quiet, in respect of the Kildare County High School Library. She had gotten yet another text that dragged her from her own lessons - her track record so far this junior year wasn't looking so good. This time it was from Pope, simply a photograph of the letter.

"I was sitting in class," Pope responded, sitting in a chair across from her. "And this man came up to the door, asked to talk with me. Said he was sorry about how my scholarship meeting had gone, but that someone had heard about my story about the Royal Merchant. Then he just handed me this."

"Can we fucking open it already." JJ hissed, bouncing his knee anxiously, sitting backwards in his chair.

Alex tossed it to him, and he hastily opened it the second that in landed in his grasp. There was a folded paper inside, which he quickly unfurled.

"Out loud." Kiara commanded, leaning forward in her seat as well.

He scanned the first few lines then gave them a sheepish look. "It's in cursive. I can't read cursive."

Kiara rolled her eyes and snatched the paper from him. "Dear Mr. Heyward," she began to read aloud, the others huddling around her. "I am reaching out because U have material evidence that can exonerate John B. Routledge."

In an instant, the air was stolen from the room. They all exchanged a glance, eyes wide and mouths agape.

Kiara didn't waste another second getting back to reading, "It is of vital importance that you come and meet me in person at my offices at 27 King Street, Charleston at 8:00 p.m. sharp tonight." She made a face. "Please come alone. Regards, C. Limbrey."

"Charleston?" JJ's brow furrowed.

"It's like an eight hour drive plus the ferry." Pope calculated, getting up and pacing the room.

"King Street was four over from where I used to live," Alex said.

"Did you ever hear of a Limbrey?" Kiara asked, earning a head-shake from Alex.

"We have to leave right now," Pope hissed, voice urgent.

"'Material evidence'? What does that even mean?" JJ shook his head.

"It means he can clear John B." Kiara said simply.

"Oh shit," JJ threw his hands up, raising his voice. "Then we're going to Charleston."

The librarian at the front desk shushed him. He shrunk back into his chair.

"I gotta tell my mom." Kiara sighed.

"I don't." Alex scoffed. The others glanced at her. She shrugged, "It's okay, you can laugh."

None of them did, but they freed her from their worried glances.

"Look, if we do get it this time," Kiara glanced between all of them, making sure they're paying attention. "We are not giving it to Shoupe."

"Yeah, no duh." JJ agreed.

Pope rushed to one of the library's computers, typing something up on the keyboard. Kiara caught sight of him moving, and leaned over to glance at the screen. "What is it?"

Sighing, Pope shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I think whoever this Limbrey person is, they might be related to the captain of the Royal Merchant."

Alex and JJ sprung into movement then, getting their own look at the computer. He had pulled up an image and short description in the library's database of a man named Herman Limbrey. Just beneath the weathered photo of him in uniform, it read; CAPTAIN OF THE HMS ROYAL MERCHANT.

Alex felt her breath still. She glanced between the others, then whispered, "Well shit, we are going to Charleston."

The wind whipped through their hair and chopped up the waves as the four teens sat in the bed of Heyward's truck. Pope had...borrowed...it for their trip to Charleston.

Kiara stared at the rusting metal, mind clearly somewhere else. When Alex and the boys came to pick her up, she was in a screaming match with her parents. They threatened boarding school for her behavior as of late.

"Well, hey," JJ attempted to cheer her up, rolling up a joint between his finger. "I hear they got good weed at boarding school, though."

She scoffed. "I'm not going to boarding school. They're going to have to kidnap me, tie me up, and throw me in a van."

Pope sat in his own corner, reading and re-reading the letter repeatedly.

JJ lit the joint with a lighter from his pocket. "Well, I say, we just crumble some herb right now."

Kiara took the white cylinder from him with a weary smile.

"Hey, Kie, have you tried hitting John B back on that number?" Pope asked, finally setting down the letter.

"Like, twenty million times." Kiara said with a huff. "Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering."

"Well, until we hear from them again," Pope says. "We gotta try and clear his name. That's kinda all we got in the 'getting justice' department."

"I can't believe he and Sarah are alive." Alex found herself laughing, leaning her head backwards, letting the wind mess up her hair.

"You can't kill a Pogue." JJ reminded her, reaching for the joint, but Kiara offered it to Pope instead.

She smiled softly. "What Pope are you gonna be today?"

He stared at her for a moment, like he was weighing his options, but decided to shake his head and return to his letter. "I'm good."

She sighed, slumping back against the truck bed. "Good Pope. Boring Pope."

"I'll take that." JJ wiggled his fingers eagerly, and Kiara handed it over. After he had taken a hit, he extended it to Alex.

She got a sudden flashback to that Kook party, with all the drugs and other stimulants spread out before her, practically getting shoved at her.

JJ must've seen the panicked look in her eye, because he pulled back. "Don't worry about it." He said, then attempted to joke, "More for me."

"And me." Kiara piped up, snatching the joint back from him.

Alex stared at the two of them, and how easily they had accepted her boundaries, how they hadn't begged her or pressured her into trying anything.

Next thing she knew, she was holding out her hand. "What the hell?" She said, throwing caution to the wind with some of her nervousness eased.

Kiara exhaled smoke with a crooked grin. "Really? You, Kook princess, are gonna smoke weed?"

"Yeah, why not?" She extended her arm further, proving her earnest.

Kiara slapped the joint down in her palm, smile widening. "Can't wait to see this."

Alex lifted the stick to her lips, taking a deep inhale. A coughing fit overtook her as the smoke burned down her thrown, and with her shoulders heaving she gave the joint back. "Yeah," she choked out. "Not for me."

Kiara giggled, and JJ cheesed, enjoying her dramatic reaction. But Alex didn't feel made fun of at all.

On the back of the much-too-small truck, with the sea breeze spitting up onto their laps, riding on a ferry with several other strangers and their cars all around them, Alex felt at home.

The ferry ride was less than an hour, and then began the painfully tedious car ride to Charleston. They took turns driving when one of them would get tired, swapping seats around and trying to keep entertained by playing games and telling jokes.

Of course, the truck broke down with only two hours left, and Pope had to argue with a car mechanic he didn't know about fixing it as quickly as possible. They slept overnight in the truck bed, all crammed in the uncomfortable metal box.

Still, Alex was somehow content.

They left again for Charleston first thing in the morning, arriving just before eleven.

JJ parked the truck on the sidewalk in front of the designated address, the four of them scrambling to get to the front door, since the letter told them to get there the previous night. They were extremely late.

Pope knocked three times, loud and urgent. He turned to the others, looking a bit anxious. "You think that was too much?"

"It echoed through the entire house, that's for sure." JJ teased. The building before them was massive, with white pillars holding up a big roof, the walls a beautiful, original red brick.

A few moments went by, and nobody came to the door.

"Maybe nobody's home." Kiara suggested.

Pope went to knock again, but the door swung open out from under her knuckles.

A man stared at the four teens on his porch, giving them a confused look through his scruffy eyebrows. Eventually his eyes landed on Pope, who he pointed a dirty finger at. "You must be Pope."

"Are you Mr. Limbrey?" Pope shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"Ms. Limbrey-" The man corrected him gruffly. "-was expecting you yesterday."

"I know, I'm sorry," Pope went on to explain. "My car broke down on the way here."

"Carburetor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville." JJ added.

The man's gaze shifted to him, his stare judgemental. "She was real upset when you didn't show up."

"We tried to call, but there's no number on the invitation." Kiara piped up.

"She also expected you to come alone." The man locked eyes with Pope again.

"I mean, these are my friends." Pope defended the three others standing with him on the porch. "They helped me find the Royal Merchant too. I━━"

"The instructions were explicit." The man cut him off, growing impatient. "Your friends can stay outside."

"We're kind of a package deal, man." JJ said, but Alex reached for his arm, starting to pull him away from the door.

"We'll be in the truck when you're finished, Pope." She gave him a friendly smile, as well as offering the man the same gesture. She was figuring out that it was best to say as little as possible and bite back all of the insults that were coming to mind. Especially at the sight of that man's encroaching unibrow.

She, JJ and Kiara made their way back to the truck, shutting themselves inside before daring to speak.

"That was really frickin' weird." Kiara hissed, glancing out the window to see Pope getting ushered inside.

"No kidding." JJ agreed, slumping down in his seat.

"Maybe it's confidential or something." Alex suggested, also staring at the now-closed doors, Pope and the man no longer on the porch. "Maybe it's illegal if we're there."

"Whatever," Kiara mumbled, then reached for the car door. "Alex, are there any gas stations nearby? I have to pee."

"Just up the road, next to the coffee house." Alex motioned down the street.

Kiara thanked her then left the car, leaving Alex and JJ alone. Nervous bounced around the inside of the vehicle, both of them staring out the windows at the giant house, waiting for Pope.

"So, any good restaurants or stops in Charleston?" After a moment, JJ's voice dragged Alex from her careful watch on the front door.

"Hmm," she thought for a moment. "Jerry's. An ice cream parlor by the beach. I used to go there all the time as a little girl."

His smile grew. "Well, how about I take you there when we get the money from the gold. We can get as much ice cream as we want."

Alex snorted. "Well, technically, I'll be rich too, so I could technically take you."

"You already are rich, ya Kook." He teased. "And your cut is coming out of Sarah's half, remember?"

"I haven't earned my own percentage?" She pouted, dramatically giving him the puppy dog eyes.

He let out a sigh, shaking his head with a smile on his lips. "Yeah. Yeah, you have."

She grinned, proud of how easily she had gotten him to change her mind. She went back to staring out the window, waiting for Kiara.

Something moved in the corner of her eye, and Alex whipped around to make sure that Pope wasn't running out or anything.

To her surprise, it was JJ, reaching out to her. He paused when they locked eyes, his hand a few inches from her thigh.

He pulled back, stuffing his hands into his pockets instead. "Hey, uh..." he stared down at his lap, his voice tentative and quiet.

Alex watched him, curious as to what he was about to say.

"Did..." He tried again, finally summoning up the courage to ask, "Did I ruin things yesterday? With Shoupe? I might've gotten too hot and messed everything up, when we were so close to proving what Ward did to your dad, and I didn't-"

"JJ," She cut him off, putting her own hand on his knee instead. "You didn't do anything wrong. I cussed him out first. You were defending me most of the time, which...I actually appreciated a lot."

A twinkle flashed across his gaze. "Really?"

"Really." She gave him a smile. "It's nice that you care about me enough that you'd threaten a cop for me."

"Oh, I'd threaten a cop even if I didn't have a good reason," He smirked, and this made her toss her head back and laugh.

The feeling of his hand landing on top of hers pulled her attention back to him.

His blue eyes are electric, more intimidating than usual, and she feels like she's suddenly under a microscope.

Her pulse quickens and her palms grow sweaty, which she really hopes he doesn't notice, since her hand is still on his leg.

He doesn't seem to notice her nerves. Or if he does, it only fuels the intensity of his stare. Finally, he speaks, after what feels like hours to Alex but was probably only a few seconds. "But I do care about you. A lot."

She finds herself staring at his mouth, surprising herself with how unexpected and yet, strong the magnetic pull between them was becoming.

There wasn't the initial urge to jump his bones when they first met, which was usually a requirement for Alex to feel any sort of feelings. Not that he was unattractive, he was definitely easy on the eyes, but there was a kind of instant tension with the other men that she went for.

Like with Rafe, no matter how much she hated to think about the fact that she ever liked him, there was this warm hum that ran through her bones when she first laid eyes on him. That wonderfully delicious sensation carried it's way through their connection, their interactions.

But there was nothing else there. When they talked, they had nothing in common. When they fought, they both wanted to one up each other, not fight for their relationship, for what's right. When something went wrong in her life, he wasn't there.

He wasn't there.

JJ had always been there.

He had always held her when she cried, made her laugh when she was in a bad mood, fought for her when she needed a little support. She felt safe when he was with her, believed him when he told her she's be okay.

JJ was so much more than just a warm hum in her bones. He was a fire. A long-lasting, consistent, soft and comforting fire.

Her heartbeat was wild in her ears, a kind of nervousness that she had never felt before raging through her. What if she screwed this up? She wasn't an easy person to love, to defend. She made stupid decisions, said mean things, hurt people's feelings and ruined good things.

She couldn't screw this up.

Her chest trembled as she tried to breathe, attempted to calm her nerves. She didn't want to kiss him, didn't want to make things weird if that wasn't what he wanted, didn't want to put out that comforting fire that they had built.

But God, did she want to kiss him.

She moved her gaze up to his eyes, seeing that he was watching her carefully as well, scanning her face. She wondered if he was having as much of a crisis as she was.

Before either of them could speak, or sort through their racing minds for what to do, the driver's side door was flung open. Kiara stuck her head in at them, yelling, "Pope's in trouble! We gotta go!"

JJ and Alex wasted no time, adrenaline fueling them as they jumped out of the car, following Kiara across the street and down an alley. "I saw them take him outside," she cried, gasping for breath as she led the way. "Then I heard grunting."

JJ hoisted himself over the brick barrier, into the Lambrey's back garden, surprising the two girls. They exchanged a look before following his lead.

Alex stumbled when she landed, taking a minute to steady herself, her mind still a bit foggy.

Pope was on the ground, wrestling with the man that had opened the door.

Kiara was already lunging for a discarded taser on the ground, pulling it away from either of them.

"Pope, we gotta run!" JJ yanked on the back of his friend's shirt. Pope got the message, getting out of the man's grasp and starting down the path.

Kiara was right on his heels as they ran for another space in the stone barrier to hoist themselves over. JJ waited for Alex to catch up, groaning at her when she stopped to get in one last kick to the man's stomach.

"Come on," He grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to where Kiara and Pope were making their escape.

Alex landed better this time, able to regain her balance and run to truck more efficiently. They all flung themselves inside the car, JJ behind the wheel, wasting no time to turn the key.

"What the hell was that?" Kiara yelled over the groan of the engine.

Pope was out of breath. "Those people are crazy!"

JJ whipped the truck around, tearing down the street and away from the tall, strange house.

The sound of tires squealing behind them filled the air, and Alex turned around, seeing that the gruff man in his own car was right behind them. "He's following us!" She cried.

JJ yanked the steering wheel, turning down a one way street, despite Pope's pleas to obey traffic laws.

The car chase continued, both engines revving and tires wailing wildly.

"I'm gonna lose him." JJ declared before making another rough turn, tossing the others into their walls and windows from the force.

Just then, the engine let out an awful noise, smoke billowing up from below the hood. The truck stalled, trapping them down another narrow alleyway.

"You said he fixed it!" JJ cried, slapping the steering wheel out of frustration.

"He did!" Pope fired back.

"We'll have to run!" Alex was already opening her door and jumped out into the dirt road.

The others followed suit, able to keep up a good pace despite their burning lungs, powered by pure adrenaline. They tore out of the alley, making a screeching onto the main road.

And coming face to face with John B and Sarah.

catie speaks!

oops 🤭 CLIFFHANGERRR

sorry that this chapter was a bit longer than usual, there was just so much to cover! fighting with shoupe, jjalex being cutesy, epic car chase, and of course...a cliffhanger!!

any thoughts? theories? 👀

anyways, thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed it, please vote and comment if you enjoyed, follow be he notified when i update!

virtual hugs,
catie!