THEY RAN INTO THE VILLAGE AND FOUND A PLACE TO HIDE OUT. They were in some kind of stable or something because it smelled like horseshit, but it was hidden. For a minute or so when they first started hiding, John B stood at the window thing and kept lookout. Cleo asked, "They coming?"

"I don't see anything," he answered, but he continued to stand there for a moment, clearly not convinced that they were safe because they really weren't.

The blonde began panicking, and he began urging them to get thinking quick, despite the fact that it was his plan that had gotten them there in the first place. "So what's the plan now? What's our plan B? We just kicked the hornet's nest. We gotta think of something quick."

"We do something to their guys, they're gonna do something to Kie," Bree added. That was what they had to assume. There was a very small chance that Singh was going to let them get away with whatever the hell it was that they pulled back there.

JJ just continued to rant, though. "My bad! That one's on me! Why did we leave that island? Ooh, ooh, wait, wait. I got something. What if I offer myself up as a hostage? Hear me out, hear me out. What if I got inside the walls, did the Trojan horse type thing? That's how wars are won!"

"That's not how a Trojan horse even works," Pope informed him, shaking his head at the boy because that really was just not how it worked.

"Okay. Fine," the Maybank boy replied, rolling his eyes. He and Pope continued to argue while the rest of them kind of tuned them out until anyone came up with something. "What do you got? This is usually where you got the moves, bro, all right? Remember Spock? We could really use him right now."

Bree drifted asleep after a little bit because she was so freaking exhausted. She slept horribly the night before, and they had done so much that day already. It was ridiculous. She was woken up about an hour later by JJ hitting her hard on the shoulder. "Hey, guys. Wake up. Wake up! Guys! I got something!" They all stirred and looked over at him with confused expressions as he stared down at the phone "'Meet me at the pin at 6:15. P4L.'"

"We're supposed to believe that's Kiara?" John B asked, rubbing his tired eyes. He had a point. There was nothing promising them that that was kie.

"I don't know," Pope responded, equally as wary. They had not had the best luck with that phone. Or at all. They needed to be extremely cautious from then on about everything if they were planning to make it out of there alive. "This all could be a trap. It's exactly how he set us up last time."

JJ moved to take a seat on higher ground. "He knows we got the phone, and he knows he can't track it so..." Singh would most likely be desperate for any other way he could lure them in somehow.

"We go out there, and bam, he's got us," John B finished for him.

Cleo rolled her eyes from where she was standing in the corner of the room, and she looked like she wanted to punch someone. She groaned out, "Sometimes you guys can be so stupid."

"I'm sorry?" Pope questioned, wondering what the hell had gotten into her. She seemed so incredibly done with them.

"You get beat so bad you flinch even when someone's trying to help," she answered, moving so that she was standing in front of them. "P4L. It's Kiara, man! No way she sent that as bait. They'd have to kill her. We gotta help her." She brought up a very good point. "Come on, man. You're all just sitting there, just flinching. Let's go."

There was a moment of silence while they all glanced at each other. Bree was the first one to speak. "I mean, we have to check, right?" They could not just ignore the possibility that it was probably Kiara because they were scared that it might be Singh.

So, they went to the marina, which was where the pin was. They were all crouching behind some crates, keeping an eye out for anything and everything that could possibly be a trap. Bree was less focused on the trap part and more focused on spotting her friend, though.

"Guys. Singh's men could be posted up literally anywhere," Pope pointed out

"Gimme the phone. I'll take care of this," Cleo ordered, and she had asserted her dominance so much that day that JJ was quick to hand it right over, scared that he was going to get yelled at or something. She examined the pin and scanned the vehicles in the marina before pointing at one right in front of them. "That boat, that's the pin. The white one right there."

JJ stood up, and Bree looked back to see him tuck the gun that they had taken from Singh's men in the back of his pants. She questioned, "What are you doing?"

"There's one way to find out," he answered, ignoring their protests and yells for him to come back. He stepped out onto the dock, his bucket hat on, and he just began searching around for their friend.

And then there she was.

Kiara was standing on the boat that Cleo told them she would be on, and she grinned at the blonde boy. She quickly climbed down and sprinted over to him, embracing him in a hug. Bree breathed out a laugh of relief as she stood up, and she was so glad that Kie was okay. She ran over to them and practically pelled JJ of of her so that she could hug her next.

"I didn't think I'd see you ever again," the Carrera girl told her, and she laughed out. She could not even respond because she was so happy. All she could do was just squeeze her like she was going to disappear again.

《✵》

JOHN B HAD GONE BACK FOR HIS FATHER. He was convinced that somehow, someway, the church bells meant that his father was alive, and he had insisted that they go back without him. He would find another way. Bree had been talking to Pope about something on the boat when they realized that they were going to need gas.

Kiara was driving, so that had to go up and tell her. Bree continued what she was saying as they walked up the stairs, and Pope had been looking at her the whole time. So, she knew something was off when he froze, and his face dropped. She furrowed her eyebrows before following his line of sight, and she stopped mid-sentence.

Kie and JJ were inches apart, and she had her hands on his hips while one of his was on her waist and the other was on the wheel behind her.

Bree had no clue how she felt in that moment. Actually, that was a lie. She knew exactly how she felt. She felt gutted at the sight. She had never felt worse in her entire life, and she had been shot at and had gold stolen from her and her friends. But she did not want to admit that to herself because she wasn't allowed to feel that way. JJ was not hers, and he never had been.

As soon as they noticed the two people standing there, JJ and Kie jumped apart, realizing how it looked. Bree could not speak, and she was thankful for Pope for just saying. "Just wanted to let you guys know that we should probably stop for gas." She realized that he was probably feeling something similar to her because of Kie.

The Calloway girl just spun on her heel and ran down the stairs as fast as she could. She did not get far, however, because Kie was on her heels. "Bree, wait!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to— I'm sorry," the brunette girl replied, finally turning back. She felt bad for causing such a scene when it was something that really should not matter to her.

"No, you didn't. Nothing was happening," Kiara insisted, shaking her head frantically. She seemed intent on making sure that her friend knew that she would never do that to her. Bree knew that, but she also knew what it felt like to get caught up in the moment. "I know it looked that way, but he just fell. It was nothing I swear."

Bree put her hands up in surrender, trying to let the girl know that it was okay, even though everything in her wanted to say that it wasn't. "It's fine. It's really fine. You do you."

"No, I would never do that. I know that y'all have something, and I would never get in the way of that," the Carrera girl promised. She had seen them kiss at the bonfire, and from that moment on, she knew that they had something unlike anything else she had ever seen. "I don't know what happened between you guys, but that's not my business."

"We don't have anything. We never had anything. So, it makes no difference to me," Bree assured her. JJ had made it clear in that container on the cargo ship that all he wanted was to be friends, nothing else.

Kie sighed, and she did not want to question it any further. She was just pleading with Bree to forgive her and believe her that it did not mean a thing. "It wasn't anything. I promise."

"Okay," Bree answered, and she believed it because she desperately wanted to. Kiara let her walk away once she said that, and she went to sit on the back of the boat on her own. She wanted to take a nap and just not have to deal with everything going on at that moment.

They stopped for gas, and Pope and Cleo got off the boat to go get it as well as some food. Bree was still at the back when JJ approached, standing behind her. "Hey," he greeted. She glanced back at him to let him know that she heard him, but she said nothing in return. "I just wanted to talk about what happened earlier."

"Kiara already talked to me, don't worry," she informed him.

However, he seemed to want to be sure that she knew that he cared, that it was not just Kie trying to preserve a friendship. He also wanted to preserve their...ship, whatever it was. "I know, but I just wanted to make sure that you knew that nothing was happening."

"I know," she replied with a nod, and she made room so that he could down on the bench next to her. There was a short pause between them while they both looked out at the ocean before she spoke again. It took almost everything in her to say, "It wouldn't matter if something was happening."

"What?" he asked, his head shooting over to her, trying to make sure he heard her correctly.

She could not look him in the eye and lie to him, so she just continued to watch the waves. She explained, "I mean, we're just friends, we're all good, so if you wanted to..."

"I don't want to. Kie is great and all, but..." he trailed off, his eyes trained on her, scanning her face for something that told him that she was lying, that she didn't really mean it. He didn't want her to mean it at all. She hummed, waiting for him to finish his sentence. "Nothin'. You really wouldn't care if something was happening?"

"Why would I?" she asked. She was being cold, and she knew it. But she did not know any other way to address the situation. The only other option was to tell him that she really did care and kiss him right there, but she couldn't do that.

He nodded slowly, licking his lips. "Right. Right."

There was another pause where she really contemplated what she was going to say. She knew it was an awful idea, but she was kind of annoyed at the moment. So, she decided that she was going to be petty. She commented, "I thought you would, though. Didn't think you'd want to 'mess up the dynamic of the group.'"

"B..." he started, knowing where she was going with that. She was referring back to what he said in that container, giving the reasons that listed for not wanting to be with her after she made out with him at the bonfire.

Despite his interruption, she continued, this time looking right at him so that he knew that she was made. "I mean, you guys are pretty good friends, and there's the rule."

"Gabrielle!" he shouted, and she shut up. It was the first time that he had ever used her full name, that any of them had. It felt weird, but it made her stop talking. She knew how unfair she was being, how mean it was of her to say that.

"I'm sorry. That was stupid and immature of me," she apologized, running a hand through her hair and exhaling. She stood up and wiped her sweaty hand on her shorts before informing him, "I'm gonna get some sleep."

"Wait, I—" he started, trying to stop her, but she was already gone.