chapter 9.
do i look like him?

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Back at the chateau, josephine watches with anticipation as pope lowers the amulet inside a mason jar, "woah, it's working."

"you are a mad scientist." john b exhales, sinking into the couch between sarah and pope. "where did you learn how to do that?"

pope shrugs, remaining focused on his experiment. "chemistry."

john b looks confused. "i was in chemistry."

"yeah, we didn't take the same chemistry." jo chuckles at this retort as pope uses a spoon to slowly remove the amulet from the jar. "i think it's ready."

"woah, the barnacles are gone." joey comments as cleo awes. "would you look at that."

"that's gold-gold." john b leans forward, holding a finger to the amulet. "look at that right there."

pope pulls it away. "don't touch! that's nitric acid."

"is that writing?" jo leans in, gesturing to the back of the amulet. pope turns it around in his gloved hand, examining the back before prying it apart, revealing the amulet to be a locket with more writing inscribed on the gold inside.

"that's hebrew." john b guesses. "i'm pretty sure."

jo shakes her head. "no, i think it's arabic. look at the way the squiggles go."

john b turns to the girl with a look of both shock and pride. "right..." josephine was no longer the naive little girl he'd taught how to surf; he didn't know she lived the last four years convinced her only way out was to be smart. by the age of ten, jo had entirely committed herself to studying,not playing like normal ten year olds. her brain felt so full sometimes she worries that it might burst; a problem so opposite her brother she knew he'd never relate.

"we should at least figure out what it says if so many people are willing to die over it." pope adds, jarring josephine from her thoughts. "anybody read arabic?" joey didn't, although she recognized the pattern of each letter.

john b chimes in. "hold on, i know a guy. well, I don't know a guy, but my dad did." he rambles. "he used to play pool with this Muslim dude that lives down off bayline."

"all right, just be vague about what that is." pope re-wraps the amulet in its cloth, passing it to john b. he turns to josephine. "cleo and i'll go get kie and jj. you wanna go with sarah and jb, or us?"

"i'll come with you." josephine decides easily. she needed to see with her own eyes that her brother really was fine. until then, she wouldn't be able to believe it.

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The trio had just pulled into the parking lot when kiara bursts through the hospitals exit, racing to the truck. "jesus christ." wedged between pope and jo, cleo spots her first, twisting in her seat to call out the open window. "how you climb up a tree in a hospital?"

josephine grows anxious noticing the absence of her brother. "uh, where's jj?"

"jj's coming!" kiara shouts, hopping into the bed of heywards truck. "drive! go!" pope steps on the gas, rounding the corner of the parking lot just as jj rushes out a side door of the hospital. kie shouts and pope slams in the breaks. "come on, get in!"

the blonde throws himself into the trucks bed and josephine sticks her neck out the open passenger window. "are you okay?"

"yeah." jj pants heavily, shouting over the wind as they speed off. "you know that guy that tried to kill us down at the wreck?"

"he was there!" kiara finishes. pope twists his neck, calling to the couple in the bed as he drives. "at the hospital with you?"

"yeah!" jj gestures to his upper arm. "he was getting stitched up where i got him with the harpoon gun."

"i got this." kie holds up a folder. "i swiped his file, got an address. downtown pelican somewhere."

jo cocks an eyebrow. "what are we supposed to do with that"?

"what do you mean?" kiara forgets jo is not quite used to being a pogue anymore. she had left her bravery in the year two thousand twenty. "pay him a visit!"

"exactly." jj agrees with the brunette. "we find out who this goon is, jo. five against one? i think we could take him."

it's popes turn to raise an eyebrow. "you're gonna make your baby sister fight a potential killer?"

"ah, shit." jj curses as though just remembering his responsibility for the girl. "okay, so, four against one. i still think we could take him."

kiara shoots him a look. "or we get there first and just scope it out. see what we're dealing with."

"i'll be ready for him this time." jj leans against the back of the trucks cab, a determined look on his face. jo can't control the butterflies pounding anxiously against her stomach lining; she had become accustomed to this feeling. they never went away entirely, anyhow.

she looks around wearily as pope pulls up to the oceanic hotels pier. " are you sure this is the right place? this is the pier."

"it was the address in the file." jj shrugs, turning his body to speak into the cab. "he probably just gave a fake address. i mean, that's what i would've done."

cleo looks suspicious. "you guys really think he's here?"

"yeah, i don't know." jo never really counted on any of jj's plans to actually work. she reaches for the door handle nonetheless, popping it open. "but i need some fresh air."

jj shrugs in agreement, hopping out of the truck bed. "might as well take a look around." kie joins the siblings as pope and cleo remain in the front seats. the latter quips, "we'll hold down the fort."

"so, what's your plan if you actually find this killer?" josephine asks, trailing behind the older couple. she presses her thumbnail into the pad of her index finger anxiously, ignoring the itch in the back of her mind demanding she grab a fresh bandaid from her small backpack immediately. you can wait till you get back. you're not touching anything. just count by sevens and chill the fuck out.

"run." and then jj says this and joeys face does not look fucking chill. "i'm kidding, all right?" the older blonde backtracks, bringing color back into his sisters face. "we detain, extract, investigate."

now it's kiara's turn to be skeptical. "how are we gonna detain?"

"uh...i mean, like, sneak up on him." jj stumbles, clearly making this up as he goes. "spy-like."

"okay, so...we're undercover?"

"exactly."

"just act like we're on a date."

josephine snickers from behind the couple. "if he knows what that even looks like."

jj shoots her a glance over his shoulder. "what'd you mean, "if i know what that looks like"?"

"i mean, you've never been on a date."

"i've been on a—we've been on a date." jj scoffs, making a show out of reaching for kiara's hand.

"have we?" kiara giggles, joining in. "name one."

the blonde boy pauses, thinking hard before giving up. "okay...we're on a date right now."

"with your little sister right behind us?"

jj curses, fumbling with his pocket and pulling out a couple dollar bills. he shoves them at josephine, nodding to a vendor further down the pier. "go get yourself a snow cone or somethin'."

joey shrugs, happily taking the bait. "okay." she heads down the dock, approaching the man behind the snow cone cart. "hi, can i have a small cherry snow cone please?"

"small cherry?" he clarifies and josephine nods, handing him a dollar bill in return for her snow cone.

cherry snow cone in hand, she leans against the piers wooden railing, keeping a close eye on the older teens at its far end. jo knew jj wouldn't leave her behind, but at the same time, did she really? she used to, but she doesn't really know her brother. not anymore, and she hasn't for a while. she's been on her own four years now; it'd take far longer than the five days she's been back on kildare to get used to having a family again.

"...they have the piece, but not for long." josephine curiously turns her head at the low voice, noticing a man and woman conversing not far from where she stood. the man had a suspiciously wounded arm, wrapped tightly in gauze. "and after that, the blue crown."

jo pretends to be intensely focused on her snow cone, ignoring the red flavoring melting onto her hand. "it'll get done." the man adds. josephines fingertips are now stained red.

the woman steps away, standing toe-to-toe with the man. "i'm sure it will." she turns, heading in the opposite direction.

josephine abandons the rest of her snow cone, shoving its paper cup into the mouth of a nearby trash can. she walks briskly and with purpose to the other end of the pier, finding jj and kiara debating jumping off the railing and into the water. "hey, what did this scuba killer look like?"

jj swallows an insult about josephine interrupting their moment. "uh, burly, sweaty. mustache, kinda scruffy." he gestures to the bottom of his chin and jo bites back an insult on his horrible description. "yeah, helpful. which arm did you stab him in?"

kiara answers for the blonde, as she's sure jj would be useless for this question. "his right, why?"

"that him?" josephine juts her head to the side and the older teens follow her gaze, face paling. "shit."

"yeah, we gotta go." jj climbs atop the piers wooden railing, extending a hand as he helps kiara up. josephine widens her eyes. "uh, what are you doing?" jj risks a glance towards the fast approaching man—eyes squinted with anger and determination. "jo, come on. theres no other way."

"i can't swim!" josephine protests, heels digging into the wood flooring. she hadn't been in a single body of water since the age of nine; she was sure she'd sink straight to the bottom, not to mention the fact that just a single millimeter of seawater contained about one million bacteria. there was no fucking way josephine was going to—

"hey!" the man warns, spotting the two teens ready to jump. jj begins to grow restless. "of course you can swim, now come on!"

"yeah, four years ago." jo retorts, unmoving. she hooks both thumbs through the straps of her small backpack. she'd need a lot more than handsoap if she got into that water.

jj rolls his eyes as though her genuine fear is nothing but an inconvenience. "we don't have time for this, jo. come on."

he looks angry and impatient and just like their father. jo shudders, shaking the resemblance from her mind. jj notices her pale facial expression and exhales with regret. he never wanted to remind her of luke. "i'll catch you, i promise. i won't let you drown."

jo parts her lips to argue again, deciding against it as the man from the dive begins breaking into a run. she curses, shrugging off her backpack and tossing it over the railing to the sand below. "if i'm under that shit water for more than five seconds i'm murdering you." she states, sticking a foot between the wooden planks and climbing on top.

"don't worry, j." her brother assures once more. "we'll jump first. wait till we pop up, then jump. i'll pull you right out, i promise. i'll catch you." while jj didn't entirely understand his sisters fear, he knew it would be impossible to settle, especially now. they had no time to waste.

he's only ever broken one promise to her before but that had been plenty enough to destroy jo's trust in her brother entirely. she glances over one shoulder, eyes widening as the scuba killer breaks into a run, and comes to the startling conclusion that she has no choice but to trust jj maybank.

josephine nods reluctantly, nerves evident on her face. jj grabs kiara's hand and they inhale greatly before leaping off the pier. jo watches as they bob to the surface before jumping herself, hitting the water sharply. the moment she goes under she feels a hand find her own, yanking her upwards. jo gasps, welcoming the salt air. "go, go, go!" the trio frantically paddles for shore and josephine is the first to reach the beach, determined to swipe her bag before any sand makes its way inside.

"guys, we gotta go now!" pope and cleo race towards them, panting and pointing to the pier above. "we saw the guy, he's up there on the pier."

"yeah, we know." josephine scoffs, clipping her bag back around her waist. she needed to change the bandaid now. "thanks for the heads up, guys."

"we tried!" pope hisses, cursing as he notices the guys gaze trained on them from above. "shit, he sees us. we gotta go—hurry!"

the teens sprint back to the truck and josephine hops onto the bed, followed by jj and kie. the young teen rips open her backpack, clawing at a box of bandaids. remove old. hand sanitizer on wound. apply new.

kiara eyes the younger girl curiously. "uh, what are you doing?"

"changing the bandaid." jo pants, far too focused on her task to care about revealing her secret. "in just a single drop of ocean water there's one million bacteria, and i have an open wound." she squirts a pump of hand sanitizer on the pad of her index finger, wincing as it works its way inside. "i gotta change it now or it'll get infected." too focused, jo misses the weary look kiara shares with her brother.