Sherriff Peterkin had been shot.

Killed, actually.

Elora didn't really remember how John B was able to articulate the whole story to them, but somehow, he had managed it.

They'd been on the runway. John B, Sarah, and Ward. Peterkin had shown up to arrest Ward for the murder of Big John, and she'd been halfway through it when Rafe showed up and shot her.

It had been Rafe.

Rafe Cameron had shot Sherriff Peterkin.

But the Pogues weren't stupid. They knew what was going to happen. Only four living people knew what had happened on that runway, and at least two of them were going to frame John B.

Ward would be believed. He'd managed to cover up the death of Big John, why shouldn't be manage to frame his son? Rafe would just go along with whatever he said.

Where Sarah's loyalties lay still remained to be seen.

However, although Elora was well up for the truth prevailing, she couldn't help but feel a massive gut feeling that going to the police station was not a good idea.

And of course, that's exactly where they were going.

"John B, what are we doing here?" JJ asked as soon as they pulled up in Heyward's truck.

"Somebody's gotta tell them what happened," was JB's shaky reply.

Pope was coughing in the back seat, still holding the joint.

"Woah, easy there, chief," JJ commented. "Damn."

Elora, who was driving, turned to see John B sat with his fists clenched, his whole body shaking.

"Alright, I'm gonna be real with you right now," JJ said to him. "You might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose. It's fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never trust cops, no matter what the circumstance is."

"Your old man's an abusive liar," Kie snapped.

"No, he's right, we shouldn't go in," Tyler voiced. "Take it from a former Kook, the justice system here's messed up."

"I agree with JJ and Ty," said Pope. Elle tried to ignore the small smile that crossed Tyler's face when the nickname crossed the boy's lips. "Fuck the police!"

"Well, you're high so it doesn't count," Elora retorted, looking around at all of them. "I don't know what you want to do, but I think he should go in there. For all we know, Ward's already given a statement saying he did it."

"Exactly, Elle!" JJ snapped. "They're gonna believe that fucker, so no matter what he says-"

"Peterkin looked out for me, alright?" John B spoke for the first time since telling them the story. They all fell silent from their squabbling and listened to him as he went on. "Tried to, at least. And they need to know."

Without another word, he opened the door of the car and got out, slamming it behind him.

Elora sat back in her seat, sighing heavily.

"You guys were no help," she said, running a hand through her greasy, wind blown red hair.

JJ scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Say that again when he's running out of there with five guns on him."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"ELLE! START THE CAR!"

Well, there wasn't five guns.

But John B was yelling, his legs carrying him as fast as they could as he jumped into the car just two minutes after he'd left it.

"What did you do?!" Kie yelled.

"The cops!" John B shouted wildly. "Elle, DRIVE!"

Elora did, turning the keys in the ignition and slamming her foot down on the accelerator.

"Stop the car!" She heard a cop yell behind them, but she had no intentions of doing so.

"What did you do?" Kie repeated as they got out the range of the shouting, John B relaxing somewhat into his seat, his whole body still very tense and his chest rising and falling rapidly.

He didn't answer them. Of course he didn't. Whatever had just happened in those two minutes was a lot, and Elora had no doubt that if John B wasn't number one suspect before, he certainly was now.

Which meant they were harbouring a fugitive.

Shit.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

The posters went up the next day at first light.

The Pogues couldn't go five metres without seeing a poster of John B's face, boasting a twenty five thousand dollar reward for finding him.

"Good news for residents of the Outer Banks," the radio in the car boomed out that morning, as the six of them all sat inside it, seats reclined back as far as they could go. "Dominion Power says their underwater transmission line, which will restore power to ninety percent of the area, should be functional within twenty four hours."

They all tensed slightly as the sirens started blaring, a police car driving right past them, before tuning back in again.

"And still, no arrest in the shooting death of Sheriff Susan Peterkin. The state police have issued a statement regarding a local person of interest, a juvenile from-"

Kie and Elora both leaned forward to switch it off, but the redhead was quicker, slamming her finger down on the button so hard it hurt.

"Let's game this out," JJ said, to try and not prolong the silence. "Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but... who are the cops gonna believe?"

"The rich fuckers with the money to pay them off," Elora said in a sigh, clenching her fists so hard her nails cut half moon prints onto her palms.

"Exactly," JJ nodded. "So, the accuser is a bigshot developer, kind of lord of the island, got the governor on speed dial kind of person, and the accused... is John B, who is pretty much a homeless sixteen year old boy."

"Thanks," John B shrugged.

"Shit," Tyler pinched his eyebrows together.

JJ looked at him, grinning in irony. "Bet you're wishing you never became one of us."

Tyler looked round at him, pressing his lips together.

"Well, I can't exactly say I'm happy about all this," he said carefully. "But... I do have to say that if I was still a Kook I'd be back home, believing every word coming out of Ward fucking Cameron's mouth. And I don't wanna be like that."

JJ nodded, taking this in.

"Yucatan, right? I'm saying that's the only option," he said firmly, turning to John B. "I mean, what other option do you h-?"

"Enough with the Mexico bullshit, alright?" the brunette shut him down. "Sarah's gonna bail me out."

"She did witness the whole thing," shrugged Kie.

"Thank you!"

"And she's also the daughter and sister of those two psychopaths," Elora said, her tone becoming somewhat sarcastic.

"Yeah, it's not happening, bro," JJ said to him. "We've gotta get you off this island."

"The ferry," Tyler immediately said, as another siren came into earshot. "It's the only way."

"Guys, just get down," Kie said dejectedly. They all sank back further into the car as the police car sped past, John B sighing.

"Sarah's not a Pogue, John B," Pope said what most of them were thinking.

"Yeah," nodded JJ. "You can't stay here, man."

Elora switched her gaze to look at Tyler, who was looking at her. Their eyes connected, which wasn't what she was hoping for, but also offered her more comfort than she could hope for.

"Right," she said, maintaining eye contact with Tyler. "Ferry."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

FERRY CLOSED

"Shit," Elora growled, her fists clenched tight together as she looked at the sign on the notice board, before running back to the car.

"Ferry's closed, and, uh, there's a poster of your face literally every centimetre," she announced as she dived back in next to Tyler.

"Okay, okay, alright," Pope was a bit jumpy, and somehow, he was driving.

"Pope, can you act normal?" Kie demanded.

"Okay, so, the whole island's looking for John B right now," Pope summarised.

"Yeah, and they're offering a shit tonne of money to whoever finds him," Tyler added.

"Congratulations, John B. You're famous," said JJ.

"Okay, guys, we gotta get to the HMS," Kie said. "It's small, no running lights-"

"It's at the Chateau, Kie," John B said flatly.

"Let me think, just give me a second!" Pope said jumpily. Then his eyes went wide. "JJ."

"What?"

Pope turned to face him. "Does your dad still have that boat? The cigarette boat, the Phantom? The one he used to race!"

"Maybe," JJ got noticeably more tense at the mention of his dad.

"You could get right up the coast, no problem!" Pope finished.

"Okay, look," Kie said, before anyone else could speak. "The surf's running from three to four-"

"And I don't know where the keys are-"

"Well, find them-!"

"Okay, I'm-"

"Why is nobody thinking?" Pope said.

"Jesus, how much weed did you give this boy?" Elora said, hand on her forehead. "He's fucking-"

"Guys, guys!" John B said hurriedly, shushing all of them as he pointed out the window at a little boy who was pointing right at-

"Can we go?" Pope demanded, honking the car horns three times.

"Pope, stop it!" Elora yelled.

"That's not gonna-"

"Mum, look!"

Shit.

All six in the car froze as a little Kook boy with his mum outside pointed at the car. "It's that guy! That guy, right here!"

"Shit!" Kie cursed.

"Pope, fucking drive!" Elora yelled.

"We get twenty five thousand if we find him!" The little boy continued to scream.

Then, as if this couldn't get anything worse, a man appeared at the window above John B.

"Hey!" He yelled, knocking on the window before yelling to the police. "He's right there!"

"Pope, DRIVE!" Elora shrieked.

"I found him first!" The little boy shouted.

"Yeah, like hell you did, you little basta-"

"FUCKING DRIVE-"

And Pope did, accelerating straight into another car in front of them.

"Pope, jeez!" JJ yelled.

"Dude, back up!" Kie snapped.

Pope's driving was shaky, and very unlike himself. Obviously the weed was starting to kick in.

"Watch out!" Kie shouted, as Pope drove straight towards a small bollard. "POPE, POPE, WATCH OUT-"

She got the car to turn just as he was about to hit it, sending the four in the back flying.

"Oh my god!" Pope was yelling, shit eating grin on his face.

"What the fuck?!" Kie was screaming.

"I should be the last one to tell you this, but you are not okay to drive!" JJ added.

Pope, however, didn't listen to either of them and slammed his foot down on the brakes, causing them all to fall forward a bit in their seats.

"John B, get out," he said. "We'll draw the cops, you run."

"Tyler and I can go with you," Elora said. "That way the group the police are looking for is bigger than one person."

"Yeah, you two go as well," nodded JJ. "I'll get the rig and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, alright? Three o'clock, okay?"

"Got it!" Elora yelled, as they all jumped out the car.

"Three o'clock tomorrow at the dump!" JJ yelled as they ran off into the woods, the car speeding off without them.

And then speeding off into the woods.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Kook back yards were nice.

Elora's legs burned as the three of them ran, her slightly behind the two boys as they vaulted the fence into a line of Kook back yards. They were littered with swimming pools, sunbathers, parasols, and holy shit they were clean.

But she only had a second to think all this before they were running round the back of one, sirens and police cars surrounding them on all sides.

John B led the way, the sky getting darker and darker as they ran round the side of one house, a huge white wooden thing, to see an open garage.

JB wasted no time in sprinting in, and Tyler and Elora followed him. Tyler, meanwhile, had a huge frown on his face as they ran in.

"What's wrong?" Elora asked him, John B diving underneath a metal shelf.

"Nothing, I just- I thought I recognised this house," Tyler said, as he turned and slammed a hand down on the button that shut the garage door.

He and Elora didn't really have to hide. They were there as a protection for John B, and to help distract the police if they came anywhere near him. However, Tyler didn't hesitate to sit down against the wall, and Elora didn't take long to decide to join him.

It still didn't feel natural, him interlocking their fingers. Sure, it felt good, and comforting, but it wasn't a slick moment yet, and Elora still felt relatively nervous when it happened.

But their hands fit together like puzzle pieces, as if they were always meant to find each other. And as Tyler squeezed her hand tightly and their eyes met, those damn blue eyes, Elora wouldn't have it any other way.

"You alright, JB?" She whispered in the darkness, turning her head away from Tyler's to see the curled up figure of the boy underneath the shelf.

The answer she got back was cold and bitter.

"What do you think?"

𔓘𔓘𔓘

It didn't take long for the sirens to sound.

Or for there to be a loud knock on the garage.

"Anyone in there?!"

Instantly, John B scrambled up, and so did Elora and Tyler, their hands pulling apart. All three of them paused for just one second to look at each other and then they were running in the direction of the door out the garage, into the house.

They hadn't thought this through.

Elora knew this. She knew that if they opened that door and went into the house and someone was there they'd be in huge trouble, but she also knew that they needed to get out of here before the police opened up the garage.

But they hadn't thought it through.

And she knew this properly when they walked urgently through the house, trying to find a way out, and ran into someone.

But not just someone.

Kelce. Sat at his table, eating some cereal, looking at them with eyes as wide as golf balls. She wasn't sure who he looked at more incredulously, John B or Tyler.

The three of them froze equally as fast though, heart rates all increasing by tenfold.

Shit.

"John B?" Kelce said, standing up from his seat. "Tyler? Elora?"

Tyler swallowed, putting his hands up. "Hey, man."

"Hey," John B nodded, following suit and putting his up as well. Elora did so as well, hoping no one could see how much she was shaking.

John B was looking at Kelce, at the wary expression on his face. "Just- just listen to me for a second, relax-"

"Man, what are you doing here?" Kelce demanded.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Yo, man, I know what you did!"

"He didn't do shit-" Elora tried-

"And you, Tyler!" Kelce continued to yell. "Your mum's going mad, man-"

"Kelce, give it up-"

"Get outta my house, br-!"

"I didn't do it! Just listen!" John B pleaded.

"Don't try to talk to me! I know what you did!" Kelce yelled.

"If you'd fucking listen-" Elora snarled, but JB cut her off.

"Just- just listen to me, please!" He yelled, as Kelce picked up a kitchen knife. "Put the knife down-"

"You just invaded the homeland, bro," said Kelce, holding the knife tight. "I'm warning you, man-"

"Get that knife away from us," Elora snarled.

"You need to get the hell outta my house right now," Kelce said, turning it on her.

Tyler shook with rage, shoving Elora behind him somewhat as he looked at John B.

And all he did was mouth "now".

"Hey!" Kelce yelled as they legged it round the corner, looking for an out.

"Shit!" Elora screamed as they rounded a corner with no outside door.

John B, meanwhile, ran through the first door they saw, wrenching it open and letting the other two in before slamming it shut just behind Kelce, holding the handle down.

"Shit, shit, shit-" Elora leaned against the wall of what appeared to be a laundry room, her heartbeat thrumming in her ears as next second, they heard a slight laugh.

Kelce had stopped trying the door.

Which must mean-

"Kelce?" Tyler yelled, starting forward to try the handle, confirming what all of them already knew.

It was locked.

"No," Elora groaned, her hands pulling at her hair. "No, no, no, no-"

John B tried the handle again, but it wasn't budging. "Hey, man. Hey, hey, hey-"

"You're in the house of pain now, man, you hear that?" Kelce's voice was muffled yet taunting. "I got you! I got you, man!"

"Fuck!" Tyler yelled, slamming his hands on the door.

"Oh, and Tyler," Kelce added. "Don't worry, I'll make sure and bring your mum here as well. Just for a little catch up, you kn-"

"Yeah, fuck off, bro-"

"I'm sure she'll be very interested to hear about how you're dating a Pogue-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Tyler yelled, pounding at the door again.

Kelce just laughed. "Yeah, have fun with that."

Elora didn't know if he left, but she did know that he didn't say anything after that.

She collapsed against the wall, hands in her hair, shaking her head.

"Hey," Tyler's voice was nothing more than a murmur as he knelt down opposite her, gently holding her hands and taking them out her hair. "Hey, look at me."

When Elora didn't, he repeated himself more firmly. "Look at me, Elle."

When those blue eyes met his, he swore he could die happy now. Happy because those eyes were looking at him, and not at anyone else.

"It's gonna be okay," he told her, his voice low. "We're going to be fine."

Elora shook her head, her eyes clouding over. "You don't know that."

Tyler took this in, sighing slightly.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "But I do know that you usually are."

"That was before all this shit started," she mumbled.

"And I also know that I'm with you," Tyler went on. "And I'm never going to leave, Elle, ever. I promise."

Elora looked at him, her eyes a mixture of wonder and awe and confusion and happiness, and her heart constricted.

She still didn't know if this was just a phase for him. Where he hung out with the Pogues for one summer and then dumped them and went back to the Kooks. But the way he was looking at her right now told her that that was nonsense. Because Tyler would always be there for them. For her.

And she wasn't sure if she believed it yet. But maybe it was true.

"Tyler-"

"Knock, knock!"

Kelce's voice was menacing and terrible. Elora wanted to punch straight through the door and into his face at the sound of it.

"Hey!" John B instantly said. "Hey, Kelce! Hey, buddy, just- just let us out-"

He tried the door again, but to no avail.

"Let us the fuck out of here right now, Kelce!" Elora yelled.

"Not gonna happen, not even for a pretty girl like you, Elle!" Kelce teased.

"Shut the hell up!" Tyler growled.

"Well, regardless, you're not getting out of there," Kelce grinned. "Word on the street is you have a bounty on your head, bro!"

"It's not- no, it's not what it seems-"

"Twenty five K cash money, dead or alive?" Kelce was grinning, Elora just knew it. "Isn't that right, John B?"

"You son of a bitch- let us out NOW!" Elora screamed, kicking at the door.

As she tried to kick it in, she heard a small amount of whispering from behind the door. Clearly, Kelce wasn't alone.

When everything fell silent, however, she turned away from the door, foot aching, eyes threatening to spill.

"We have to find a way out of here."

It was just those words that caused all three of them to begin looking around for things to pick the lock with.

A small pin, a clothes hanger, literally anything might work.

But there was nothing like that in the room.

"Look, Kelce, just- just let me out, man, alright?"

"Yeah, Kelce isn't here, bro, it's Topper!"

"Oh, well this just gets better and better," Tyler remarked loudly and sarcastically, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, hey Ty!" Topper sounded smug. "Been a while since we've caught up. I mean, mum wasn't pleased you stole money but she's even less pleased you're hanging out with a gang of murderers-"

"Shut the fuck up, Topper-"

"And dating one of them as well? She's going to-"

"I'm not. Dating. Elora," snapped Tyler.

Topper just chuckled. "Guess it all worked out for me in the end, huh?"

"Fuck off," his brother advised him. "I'm exactly where I want to be."

"Oh, of course you are."

"Look, Top, just let us out please!" John B begged.

"Nah, not really feeling that, man, just cut the bullshit, alright?" Topper snapped, sounding angry for the first time. "Like, you're in some deep shit now, man-"

"Listen to me!" John B yelled, pounding the door. "I didn't kill the sheriff!"

"Nice one," shrugged Topper. "Just tell me my dear brother doesn't have a crush on your little redhead friend and have it done with-"

"Topper, I'm about one second from tearing this door down just so I can see your face when I punch it," Elora informed him.

"Okay, okay," Topper shrugged. "So, uh... if John B didn't shoot Peterkin, then wh-"

"It was Rafe!"

All three of them had yelled it in unison, all equally pissed off at this boy on the other side of the door.

"Sarah was there," JB added in the silence that followed. "She saw the whole thing!"

"Oh, it was Rafe, sorry, my bad!" Topper sounded sarcastic.

"You sadistic fucker-" Elora snarled as she banged on the door.

"I get it man, you don't believe me, and honestly, if I was you I wouldn't believe me either, but..." John B interrupted her, speaking rationally. "I get it, right? You hate me because of Sarah."

"You knew we were boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" Topper said after a small pause. "Mm?"

John B nodded. "Yeah, yeah. My bad."

Topper chuckled sarcastically. "And, um- I got another question."

"Go for it, buddy."

Topper scoffed slightly. "Did you fuck her? Hmm?"

Now, Elora hadn't known anything about this, but she could tell by the way John B was looking right now that it was true.

However, the word that came out his mouth was. "No."

"No? You sure?"

"No, I-" JB paused. "Yes, I- I didn't know-"

"Yes or no, John B?" Tyler demanded, raising his voice.

"Okay, look, man! Yes!" John B yelled. "We- we did it- we did it... once. Okay? But maybe don't use the f-word, that sounds kinda gross."

"Jesus christ," Elora rolled her eyes, pressing a palm to her forehead.

"That's my bad, man, I'm sorry, what word would you like me to use?" Topper's whole tone was dripping in sarcasm.

"I don't know, any other word," John B shrugged.

"Okay, the l-word?"

He paused. "What l-word?"

"Love?" Topper demanded. "Huh? Do you love her?"

"Topper, just let us out this fucking room and then you can have a gladiator fight for the lady's hand," Elora said sarcastically.

John B meanwhile, was saying. "Look, I don't know-"

"You either love her or you don't, man!"

"Fine! I'm in love with her!" John B yelled. "And I know that hurts... but, uh... I'm in love, man."

He was smiling like a fucking movie character, and Elora wanted to laugh and slap him simultaneously as the sirens sounded in the background.

"It's over for you, man," Topper said seriously. "This is it. Your wild little adventure, it's over."

There was a second before he mentioned another of them.

"You too, Ty," he said, his tone hard to place. "How did you think this was gonna go, you hanging out with the Pogues? I told you, they're nothing but trouble, and did you listen?"

"I'm glad I didn't," Tyler said dejectedly, as all three of them sat against the door.

Topper shrugged. "Well, I hope you enjoyed it, bro. Cause whether it's the police or mum that gets to you, you're going down either way."

And even the universe enjoyed mocking them. Because next second, a voice sounded from outside the house. It was Shoupe, who was no doubt the new sheriff now Peterkin was gone, yelling at them from a megaphone.

"Alright, John B, and your two accomplices, Elora Easton and Tyler Thornton! It's Shoupe out here! We've got you surrounded, we don't want anymore bloodshed! We're coming in!"

But whilst Elora and Tyler listened to this against the door, exchanging hopeless looks with each other, John B was turned round, still looking for an exit.

"What a misunderstanding, bro, like everyone thinks its you," Topper said sarcastically.

"John B..." Elora murmured, turned round as well now, pointing to a small opening at the back of the room. It was a vent, she thought, but it could be easily removed.

John B looked at Elora in awe. "You're a genius," he told her.

"Kildare County!" Shoupe's voice came, sounding much closer than before.

"Yeah, we're back here, sir!" Topper called.

"Listen, we're not gonna have enough time to get all of us out so you go-" Elora said wildly to John B, kneeling down and getting the vent off with surprising strength, revealing an opening out onto the back of the house.

"Alright sir, they're right in there," Topper said, as John B started to get out the vent hole.

"Alright, I got it from here, son," assured Shoupe.

Topper didn't miss a beat. "No mercy, alright?"

Tyler rolled his eyes.

Elora, meanwhile, was helping John B slip out. "Come on, come on, come on-"

"Alright, John B, this is the end of the road!" Shoupe shouted, just as the boy managed to escape. "Elora, Tyler, you too!"

"Good luck," Elora hissed after him, before standing her up next to Tyler, whole body tense as Shoupe unlocked the door.

She stood next to Tyler, gripping his hand.

"Hey," he whispered to her. "We're together till the end, alright?"

Elora nodded, because she couldn't say anything else, their hands slipping together again, interlocking like second nature.

"Put your hands on your head, I'm coming in!"

They didn't put their hands on their head, but as the door opened and Shoupe looked around, seeing both of them but not John B, they didn't think it was a problem.

"Shoupe! You got him?" Another officer called.

"No," Shoupe answered. "But I got his two accomplices."

He turned to Elora and Tyler, raising his eyebrows. "Where is he?"

Tyler shook his head. "We don't know."

"Mr Thornton," Shoupe looked done with the bullshit. "If you cooperate, we'll be less inclined to-"

"He escaped," Elora said. "But we don't know where he went."

Shoupe raised his eyebrows at Tyler, wanting to know if this was true. The blonde nodded, confirming the story.

Shoupe looked at them, up and down. "Since I have no grounds to arrest you, I cannot. But I might want a statement from both of you and you will come out of this house with me right now. Mr Thornton, your mother's here to collect you."

Shit.

Elora felt the way Tyler tensed as the word 'mother' passed the cop's lips, and silently vowed that whatever hell was waiting out there for him, she'd help him through it.

"Come on," Shoupe said, beckoning them forwards.

Elora realised too late that moving out the way of the vent meant Shoupe could see it open, which meant-

"He was here! He slipped out the vent in the laundry room!"

"Shit," Elora cursed under her breath as she squeezed Tyler's hand, walking out into the hall as Shoupe shouted at the other officers.

Topper was also there, looking confusedly between Elora and Tyler.

"He was here, I swear, he was-!"

"Get out the way, son!"

Outside was a sea of people, police cars, shouts and sirens. Shoupe led Elora and Tyler down the steps, both of them squeezing their eyes shut and wincing at the noise.

"He went out the back!" Shoupe roared to the crowd that had formed. "I want three deputies in to hit the backyard right now, come on, let's go!"

"We'll get him for you, sheriff!" A boy that Elora realised was Rafe Cameron called out.

Laying eyes on him now, knowing everything he'd done, made Elora want to scream, to run at him, to punch, kick and slap hi-

"The suspect is unarmed, alright?!" Shoupe shouted. "If you ain't sheriff's department, go home!"

Shoupe led Elora and Tyler down the steps of the house, the blue police lights being the only thing illuminating the dark night. Elora squeezed Tyler's hand once, and he squeezed back twice.

They were fine. John B was out, and he'd be able to run. They'd got out the situation, and they weren't going to get arrested.

They were fine.

But that was before the shout.

"Tyler David Thornton, get the hell over here!"