CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: POGUE STYLE

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after jj got the keys, the ride was silent. we all seemed to be nervous for some reason.

"it'll be fine. it'll be fine with the phantom," jj assured us, playing with the chain. "she'll get out of here quick. woah, woah, woah." three cop cars were speeding down the road with their sirens on. it seemed like they had somewhere to be urgently. jj and i ducked down as kie kept her eyes fixed on the road.

"hate that i'm getting used to doing that," i let out after they passed.

"they're still looking. it's a good sign," kie said, thinking of the positives for the current situation we were in.

-

-

"there she be," jj opened the door, revealing the huge boat. "hey girl. a 1983 formula 402 sr1. the phantom. the first boat to make the run to bermuda in under 16 hours. forty years old! forty! and still the fastest thing that kildare's ever seen." seeing the way he talked so happily about the phantom made me grin.

"it's kind of a junker," kie countered.

"really? she's right there, kie. she can hear you," his tone hardened at her remark.

"i wish you talked to me the way you talk about the goddamn boat," i mumbled, joking with him.

jj chuckled lightly, "all you gotta do is ask, angel. but let's put it this way. you would not be smoking weed right now if she ever existed, okay?"

"in that case-" i walked up to the boat and kissed the side of it. "thank you phantom."

"i just hope it runs," kie shrugged.

"oh no, she'll run alright. she's faster than any of the cutters the boys in blue got," jj replied as we heard a motorcycle approaching.

"pope, finally!" kie chirped, turning around.

"hey there, what's going on? jj?" a voice that didn't sound like pope's called to us. rafe.

"jj, where's the gun?" i mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear.

"in the car."

"oh wow, elsie," he took notice of me while hopping on top of the phantom. "how you guys doin?" as quickly as possible, i made my way to the car so i could find the gun.

"whoo-hoo!" another voice boomed as i practically ran into another person. barry. "well, well," he held his gun up to jj's head as we all raised our arms. "see, don't think i forgot about me and you on the side of the road. i'm here because i want my motherfucking money!" suddenly, barry pushed jj down, and kie and i ran up to him. naturally, i felt two hands pulling me back, which belonged to the one and only rafe cameron.

"you know, i'm getting used to you having your hands all over me, rafe," i spat, struggling against his grasp.

"oh shut up. where is it?" rafe said, letting me go.

"where's what?" i asked.

"the fucking video, damnit!" he screamed, throwing me against the wall.

looking to my side, i noticed jj on the ground, and kie was slamming barry's head against the boat repeatedly.

"i have no clue what you're talking about," i stood back up, feeling slightly lightheaded. using all of my energy, i bashed into rafe, making him fall on the ground.

"i'll kill you if you don't give me it," he seethed as i kicked his sides repeatedly.

"yeah, yeah," i said as rafe grabbed my bad ankle, causing me to yelp in pain as i fell onto the concrete. before i knew it, the roles were reversed. he kept punching and kicking me in the head. feeling the blood pool in my mouth, i tried to my hardest to stay awake despite barely being conscious.

"you wanna answer that question again? where. is. the. video?"

"no matter what you do... you won't get that from me rafe," i coughed, the wind taken out of me. "it wouldn't be the first time you killed someone, you know what i mean? the first time kill might've been easy, but killing more than one person might cause more problems than it'd solve," like expected, he started hitting me again, even harder this time. finally, i saw jj get him off of me.

i struggled to stay awake as my head pounded like never before. "fuck," i groaned, attempting to get up. a ringing sensation went through my ears before falling back onto the ground helplessly. i felt myself fading in and out of consciousness. the last thing that i remembered was pope punching rafe to the right of me.

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"elsie, elsie," i woke up to my head cradled in jj's lap as he lightly tapped my cheek. after a moment, my head throbbed terribly and i felt the urge to fall back asleep. "no, no. try and stay awake for me darlin'."

my eyes wandered, noticing how we were back in the car with pope and kie in the front.

"rafe did a number on me i guess," i said, resting my eyes, "we're not running late, are we?"

"no. and don't worry, pope took care of that dickhead," jj replied, massaging my shoulders.

"he's still gonna be after me," i sighed, touching the back of my head, only to see blood on my hand when i looked at it. "oh damn."

"we'll take care of you once we get john b off the island. we're almost there," pope turned around from the passenger seat. "here, drink some water."

"let me clean that up a bit," jj took a bandana out of his pocket and pressed it to the back of my head as i let out a wince. "sorry."

"jj, what exactly is that going to do?" kiara looked through the car mirror at the two of us.

"hell, i don't know. i'm not the smartest with this shit. i usually just leave it when it happens to me."

"so pope, you beat up rafe?" i smirked at him, to which kie and jj eyed at him with a strange expression i couldn't quite decipher. "what?"

jj shook his head. "nothing, angel. yes, he beat em' up."

-

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"dude, where is he?" kie paced back and forth as the four of us waited where we told john b to meet us. it was a few minutes past three, but it was likely he was just running late.

"give him a second, he'll be here," pope responded.

"he'll be here. he's coming. he'll be fine," jj added. all of a sudden, the sound of sirens came closer to us. "hey, yeah get back on the boat! get back on the boat, untie it."

"shit," kie cursed as we all watched as the police car door opened. but it wasn't shoupe or another cop. it was john b.

"wait, no way," jj grinned.

"no effing way," pope let out. we all had our questions, but now was not the time to ask them. we didn't have time.

"damn, jb," i chuckled, amazed at how he managed to pull something like that off.

"you've gotta be kidding me," jj said, still surprised.

"uh-"

"shoupe let me take it for a spin," john b joked, walking up to us.

"okay. that's believable. i'll buy that for now," kie hugged the fugitive.

"it wasn't easy bro, but i got the phantom for you. and she runs like she was made yesterday," jj tossed him the keys. "you ready to go?"

"where's sarah?" john b asked.

"she's not with you?"

"no. no, we got separated at the swamp. she said she was gonna meet me here."

"no, no, we haven't seen her man," pope chimed in.

"okay, well i'm not leaving without her," john b insisted, but he simply couldn't wait for her. the cops were more than likely tracking the cop car, and it was only a matter of minutes until they'd be there.

"john b, look at me. i know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time man. you've got plenty of gas, you've got plenty of food. once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to dismal swamp, okay? once you get there, lay low, alright? hang out for a couple weeks, and then go overland. cross the border at brownsville, you got that? brownsville," jj explained to the boy, who was obviously distracted. jj slapped his cheek, "you, hey! you got that?"

with a weak tone, jb replied, "yeah, yeah. brownsville."

"john b," i walked up to him. "i still got that proof. but you need to leave for now. i promise you this. you'll be back soon and everything will be back to normal."

"thanks, elsie."

"all right. saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. let's do this, yeah."

"hey, hey," john b turned around on the boat with tears in his eyes. "i'm sorry for, basically throwing us off a cliff with whole treasure hunt thing."

"hey, john b. we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" jj responded as we all laughed. "at least we did it together though, pogue style."

"pogue style," john b agreed, biting his lip to keep himself from crying.

"get out of here, please!" kie urged him.

"now. we'll see you in two months, down in mexico."

"love you," jj let out as john b settled down into the boat.

"hey wait, wait a second," he paused, "tell sarah i said goodbye, okay?"

we all nodded, signaling that we would do as he requested.

"don't forget, cross the border at brownsville, okay?" jj repeated.

"got it," john b replied. with a slight push from us, the brunette boy was off to mexico. we watched him until he was out of sight.

"i hope this shit works," i said to the three remaining pogues.

"don't worry, it will," kie assured me.

but she was so wrong.

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{1653 words}

shit we nearing the end. it's not gonna be the next chapter though. probs like five more or so!!

also it's rudy's bday🥺 loving the content so far

ally