"OKAY, SO WE'RE DRUG SMUGGLING?" LEO ASKED. JJ had found a possible way to get them to South America, but it involved doing something for Barracuda Mike who worked at Rockfish. It was one of the shadier places in the Outer Banks, and that was saying something. The Maybank boy had tried to explain it to them in a way that did not seem so bad, but no matter how he put it, they knew what he really meant.

The blonde boy rolled his eyes, shaking his head, and they knew that he was going to tell them the same bullshit that he had been for the last half an hour. He repeated, "It is just farmers who brought organic seeds from South America that we are gonna unload."

"It's a drug-smuggling operation," Bree concluded. There was no way that he could spin it so that it wasn't. They were unloading drugs for fucking Barracuda Mike so that they could get a ride on his old, run-down plane to South America. Every single part of the plan sounded awful.

JJ just glared at her, wondering why she had to be such a party pooper. "Do you wanna get Big John or not?"

"Look, this has to work out, all right?" John B told him. Everything in the world seemed to be going against them all of the time, so it was unlikely that that would happen. "I doubted him, and I blamed him. And all this time, he was just trying to protect me. And now he's been abducted, so I kinda need a bit of a—"

"John B, no! Okay, listen, listen. I know. You know who you're gonna have to trust right now? Papa J. Okay? I got this, 100%," JJ told him, and they all stared at him with doubt in their eyes. Just the fact that he called himself Papa J was concerning enough.

John B sighed, "I mean, 60% would be good, honestly."

"Holy shit, look at that thing. It's like an RV with wings," Leo pointed out as they approached the plan. It looked like a rectangular metal box with wings and an engine taped to it. Bree was honestly extremely concerned that it was going to fall apart at their feet in the next few seconds.

"Shit, they're already unloading," JJ muttered, and he ran over to the people unpacking the plan and putting things in the truck. "Yo! We aren't late, are we?"

Barracuda Mike was leaning up against the plane, and he shook his head. "No, there was a change of plan though. You four are gonna drive the truck up to Elizabeth City to make the drop. The address is in the truck. There'll be a dummy car for you to use to come back. The plane'll still be waiting."

"Right. Okay, so, um, you just want us to drive the truck?" JJ asked, but the others were looking at him like he was insane. It was one thing to unload some bags and throw them in the trunk, but to be caught with that much drugs on them would be catastrophic.

John B grabbed his best friend's shoulders and spun him around, and the others joined the circle as he muttered in his ear, "Hey, hey, this is not what we talked about. This is way more dangerous."

"It don't matter what we talked about. In for a penny, in for a pound. You do this, you get your ride. - If not, you know how this works, right?" Mike said, and Leo shot Bree a look as if to ask 'How what works?' "Now, Highway Patrol is changing shifts as we speak. This is the window. Take it to the drop house on Prospect. Directions are in the truck. Any luck, we'll have you back before sundown"

"Any idea what's in the back?" John B asked once they were on the road. They were all crammed into the front seat of the truck, thanking God that it was a continuous cushion and not two regular ones. They could not exactly say no to Mike at that point, so that was where they were.

JJ rolled his eyes because he was well aware of what they were carrying. "Yes, John B, I know what's in the back. And it's gonna be fine. It's gonna work out. Okay?"

"I am sick of your bullshit plans, man. No, I'm just saying this might top the time you told me to fake appendicitis in jail," the Routledge boy told him, and Bree laughed at the memory.

"That was an awful plan," she confirmed, turning to Leo to explain. "John B was in jail, and JJ had him fake appendicitis. And we stole an ambulance so that we could pick him up, and it turned out being some other random dude. So, we just had to leave with this prisoner, and we had no clue what to do with him."

"And that almost worked," he added, and Bree and John B shook their heads quickly. "Get the map out. I have no idea where I'm going," he said, and the Calloway girl grabbed the map at her feet and pointed to where they needed to go, holding it up so that he could see.

Leo looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw the police car pulled over on the side of the road. "Cop. JJ, JJ, there's a cop."

"Okay, okay. It's okay. Just play it cool," he replied, clearly trying not to panic. As the others protested, wondering why the hell his hand was going up, he smiled while passing the car. Bree tried to reach past him and grab his arm, but it was no use. "Hi, officer." Once they had passed, he turned back to her and asked, "Why'd you touch me?"

"Don't wave at cops! Rule number one of driving a U-Haul! We've been in the car for five minutes," John B groaned, running a hand through his hair. He could not believe that JJ would be so stupid. They looked in the mirror and saw the officer climb into his car.

They were officially panicking, and the car was pulling out to follow them, turning his siren on. He was one hundred percent coming after them. JJ began yelling, "Dude, goblin mode, all right? We gotta lose him, okay?"

"Goblin mode? What's that even mean, JJ?" Bree asked, but she honestly wasn't sure if she even wanted to know. The other boys seemed to have no clue what the hell he was talking about either. He turned the truck into the woods and parked it in the trees. He jumped out of the truck and shouted for the others to follow.

They were leaving the truck full of drugs that was probably at least a couple thousand dollars and running from the cops yet again. As they ran, John B told him, "Okay. I swear to God, if we get through this, I'm gonna kill you!"
"You probably won't have to because Barracuda Mike will first," JJ pointed out.

They ran all the way back to the Twinkie, which had been parked about a quarter of a mile from the plane. John B caught his breath and said, "My dad is somewhere in South America right now, probably with a knife to his throat, and what are we doing? Moving weight? In goblin mode?"

"How many times will you complain about me trying to help save your dad?" JJ asked, and Bree knew that that was going to lead to a fight. She grabbed Leo by the shoulder and pulled him back, letting him know that there was nothing they could do but stand back.

The Routledge boy retorted. "Help is the exact opposite of what you're doing right now!"

"You know what? You're right. You're absolutely right. But you know whose fault that is?" the Maybank boy questioned, rolling his eyes. He pointed at his best friend accusingly, answering his own question. "You and your treasure-obsessed father."

They had gotten closer, and they began kind of wrestling. It looked really stupid from the sidelines, but Bree was sure that it was pretty heated from their point of view. Her eyes widened, however, when she saw the Sheriff vehicle approaching, and she grabbed both boys by the ear and pulled them apart so that they were aware of what was happening.

"You boys okay? And lady," Shoupe greeted as he stepped out of the car. His eyes lingered on Leo in confusion, trying to recognize him, but he quickly moved on. He reached under the Twinkie and pulled out a black box. "Tracker. Makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on you hoodlums."

"That feels illegal," Leo commented.

Shoupe just ignored him, and someone said something over the radio. "We just found a U-Haul full of drugs out near 158. Y'all wouldn't happen to be involved in that, would you?" His eyebrows were raised, but it seemed more like a statement than a question.

"You see that? That's profiling, guys. And I really don't appreciate it. Just 'cause we're Pogues, you think we're drug dealers? No, no! We're not that desperate now, Shoupe," JJ rambled, and it seemed to be throwing the man off of his rhythm just a little bit.

"You've been too busy beating people up and breaking up parties," Shoupe concluded with a nod, and all of their eyes widened. Bree did not know why she was surprised that he was looking for them for that considering the majority of the Kook population had been there to witness it. "I hate to break it to you, kid, but I've got a warrant. Topper's pressing charges. Hands up against the van."

"Woah, woah, woah. Do you know what Topper did to John B?" Leo questioned, trying to get in the way of him trying to handcuff John B, but there was nothing he could do. He was under arrest.

The Routledge boy shook his head. "Shoupe, this time, I didn't even do anything, okay?"

"No, but I know what your boy here did," the Sheriff answered Leo's question. "He beat him in front of the whole town and kept beatin' him after he was down. And Topper may be a douche, but you know better than that."

"Shoupe, I get it, okay? But I can't be locked up right now. I don't have time for this," John B pleaded, but the man wasn't budging. They weren't really expecting him to after everything that he had done against them. He was definitely not on their side.

Bree watched with a disbelieving expression as John B was stuffed inside the car, and they all ran up to the window to talk to him. She said, "Don't worry, JB. We'll get you out soon. Just hang in there."

"e're gonna fix it. We're gonna get down to South America and save your dad. I promise. Okay? You'll be fine. I'll figure it out. We'll save your dad. Okay?" JJ assured him, and as the car was pulling away, he shouted after it, "You hear me, John B? We're gonna get him!"

《✵》

SARAH BAILED JOHN B OUT OF JAIL. That was something that was definitely unexpected, but all of the Pogues, including Leo, met up at the Chateau that night because there were a couple of things that needed to be sorted out. Kie, Sarah, and John B all had some apologizing to do. Sarah was making a good start by returning the Routledge boy back home, but she had something else.

"I have something I want to share with you guys," she announced just as Bree wrapped her arm around Kie. They had spoken before and worked out what needed to be worked out, which wasn't a lot. She just said that she couldn't come to South America with them right them, and Bree cursed at her dad. "I can get us down to the Orinoco."

They all whipped their heads toward her. They had been half paying attention, but that got them listening. Cleo eyed her suspiciously. "Okay. And how's that gonna happen?"

"My dad's gonna let us use the plane," she answered, and everyone quizzed her to clarify that they were thinking of the right dad. It was Ward, the one that had tried to kill John B, stolen the gold and the cross from them, tried to kill them multiple times. That dad. "We lay low tonight, then wheels up first thing in the morning. I talked to him. He'll do it."

"So we trusting Ward now?" Pope asked, and the rest of them nodded in agreement. He was definitely on some mission to pretend to get them to South America and then steal their maps and leave them there or something.

"Trust Sarah," John B said, and they all looked around at each other for a moment before nodding and collectively agreeing that that was enough. Sarah looked pleased that they were trusting her, even after everything that she had done.

The Pogue party continued that night, and all of them seemed to have paired off. John B and Sarah were doing God-knows-what in his room, Cleo and Pope were off somewhere, and Kie and Leo were talking and laughing from the couch while the remaining two watched them from the kitchen. JJ asked, "Well, don't they look all happy and cute?"

"Yeah, who would've thought?" Bree agreed, and they stood in comfortable silence for a second, cracking open beers. He stared at her as she looked ahead, but she could feel his eye on her. She wondered what he wanted.

"About what happened on the boat...were we actually about to make out?" he questioned, and she laughed, causing beer to almost come out of her mouth. He smiled at her reaction, continuing, "I'm just asking because after John B pointed it out, I was like, 'Wait.'"

"You're so stupid," she told him, shaking her head and laughing. She honestly had no clue what was about to happen on the boat, but there was a good chance that it was going to be kissing.

There was another pause between them, and he waited for her to finally look over at him and look him in the eye to tell her, "I'm sorry about what I said back in that container and at my house. I didn't mean any of it. I just... I was just scared."

"Of what?" she asked, and she had placed the bottle down on the table and turned toward him to listen. She was captivated by him, and she wanted to know everything. She had never felt that curious about anyone before, and it was terrifying.

He licked his lips, hesitating as he stepped forward a little bit. His voice dropped so low that anyone standing a foot away would be unable to hear it, but she was right there. He murmured, "Of you. And how you make me feel." His words sent shivers up her spine.

"How do I make you feel?" she asked, and her skin burned as his hand moved to grab her waist.

"Stupid," he answered, and he could barely breathe as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. He continued, "So incredibly stupid because I look at you, and I feel like I'd do anything for you."

She knew what he meant. It was scary how foggy her brain got when he was that close to her, how she couldn't think of anything else when he was looking at her. She told him, "You make me feel stupid too."

"I do?" he asked, and the familiar smirk that he always wore made its way back onto his face. He was pleased with that, despite the fact that she knew that he knew that she liked him, that he made her heart race like no one else did.

She nodded. "Yeah, so stupid that I can't think when I'm around you."

He did not need to lean far to get their faces close enough to touch, and he grabbed her chin with his finger, tilting her head up. He lowered his face so that his lips brushed against hers. The action was hesitant, like he was testing the waters, but the slight touch made her body scream. Her eyes flickered open for a moment, and that was when she saw it.

The house was on fire.