THE GOLD WAS MOVING THE NEXT DAY.

emery called terrance as soon as the first truck drove by the house. he had luckily contacted all of his friends the previous night, meaning that they were all ready as soon as he needed them to help the gold sabotage operation. emery dialed amelia's number into her phone as soon as they got to the other side of the fence, the backpack over her shoulder containing all their clothes her the next day's event, and climbing into the passenger side of the truck.

"did you find out where it's going?" emery asked as soon as the call connected. she had gotten amelia to talk to rose and find out where the gold was moving by getting rose to slip up and accidentally let the location slip, which turned out to be easy after about three glasses of wine.

"it's going to odyssey aviation, can you find that?"

"i'm sure i can can." emery replied, smiling as she did. "you're the best, love you forever, be home soon."

she hung up, directing john b to terrance's house where they were all planning to meet that morning. while john b drove, emery was finding the best routes to the airstrip.

"okay, terrance is gonna need lookouts at the bridge and in town, if we can slow them down and send them on a detour to the back country, we can get them there where no one will see.

"how many trucks did you see?" mara asked.

"one, but i guarantee you ward's planning for a hijacking." emery added, climbing out of the truck while still looking at all possible routes for the gold to take. "either way if we get them on this dirt road by themselves, it'll be a piece of cake from there."

"right, how do we do that?" mara asked.

"it's terrance, he'll figure something out." emery assured as john b stopped the truck in front of the house.

"do you actually know what terrance's plan is?" john b asked.

"he said something about him and cleo having guns, us taking the truck, i don't really know." emery replied nonchalantly as they stepped inside the house.

"armed robbery?" john b confirmed.

"technically, yes." emery nodded, the trio moving to the back porch. "but hey, if you wanna sit this one out, be my guest."

"emery, are you sure about this?" john b asked, emery nodding immediately. "don't feel like you have to do this for me."

"i'm doing this for all of us, john b." emery retorted. "when we started looking for the gold, it was for your dad, but now i feel like we've worked so hard and it's right there. if it means pointing an empty gun at rafe and ward, so be it."

"who said anything about empty?" cleo asked from behind the group, emery and mara smirking at her as she loaded a handgun. "you said you know where the golds going?"

"yeah, my mom found out for us." emery nodded, cleo motioning for the group to go inside where terrance was sitting in front of a computer.

"work your magic, blondie." he said bluntly, letting emery put the address of the cameron's house and the airstrip in.

"wards taking the gold from paradise island to a private airstrip here." emery explained, pointing at the highlighted locations on the screen. "if we stop the gold before it gets to the plane, we're right as rain, but i've been to the airstrip before with my family. once the gold goes in, it isn't coming out."

"there's only two roads that'll take you there." terrance pointed out. "we want him in these cane fields right here, south of the airport. that's where we'll spring the trap."

"and where we come in?" mara asked, terrance nodding.

"get in the truck." he said bluntly, directing the trio out the door. terrance took them to the cane fields where they were going to run the truck through.

"now you three are gonna be dumped off right here. they're gonna come from that direction." he said, pointing back towards town. "once cleo and i get daddy on the ground, you guys can take the gold."

"we're hijacking two trucks in two days?" mara asked.

"the most excitement we've had since getting shot at in mrs. crain's basement last time we tried to get this gold." emery said nonchalantly, terrance glancing at her questionably before motioning for the group to get back in the truck.

"so we just need a distraction? a detour?" mara asked when they were back at the house, emery nodding.

"i can help with that." cleo said smoothly, smiling and winking at the girls, motioning for them to follow her.

"HOW DO TWO LITTLE RICH GIRLS LIKE YOU GO FROM LIVING IN PARADISE ISLAND TO LIVING IN THE STREETS DODGING THE COPS?"

cleo asked as the three girls walked through town. she had brought them along to help her plan out their distraction for the trucks, and had been attempting to make small talk since they left the house.

"i don't know, became friends with john b." mara stated flatly.

"fell in love with john b." emery added.

"big mistakes, blondie more so than you." cleo said to mara. "only got yourself to blame for that one."

"i guess." emery replied.

"it's better not to care." cleo added.

"how about you?" emery fired back. "how'd you get stuck with terrance?"

"father left, granny died. was kicked out on the street." cleo said bluntly. "i had to find a way to take care of myself."

"damn." mara whispered.

"so i was sleeping on a local dinghy when the mooring broke. i wake up and i hear someone yelling 'you know how to tie a bowline?'" cleo explained. "it was captain terrance. i went on deck, i've been with him ever since. it's not the best of times, but i gotta do what i gotta do, right?"

"you made living on that ship survivable." mara said. "honestly, i'm glad someone was there to keep terrance in line or we would've starved."

"stubby's security." cleo ignored mara, both girls turning to see the boy piggy-backing a small child. "not the brightest bulb, but you ain't gotta watch you back with him. terrance on the other hand? he's a ramgoat. anything that's in his way, he'll ram it over. always stay two steps ahead of him and never really trust him."

"yeah, figured that out the hard way." emery retorted.

"wait here." she instructed, walking towards the kids, emery and mara watching from behind her as she approached the group. "who wants to make some money?"

she was immediately met with jumping children running towards her, all of them chanting that they wanted to be the ones to make money.

"but wait." she silenced them. "i need a favor first. listen up." the said, guiding the group of about fifteen kids away from the open so she could give them their jobs, emery and mara both smiling.

"we're gonna be rich." mara mumbled.

"yes we are." emery replied quickly, the two leaning against the beams of the overhang, waiting for cleo's return.

THE GOLD WAS MOVING THE NEXT MORNING.

the trio had stayed at terrance's house so they could be there early enough to set up their traps and ensure all their detours were in the proper spots to slow down the trucks.

"ready to go?" emery asked john b. she and mara were both wearing long sleeved blue button downs and hats, the clothes under being dark. they had bandanas tied around their necks that could easily be pulled up and over their faces to hide their feature.

"let's do this!" cleo called, holding up a handheld stop sign that she and terrance would be using to stop ward from driving any further down the road. emery and john b trailed behind mara, who had fallen behind stubby.

they got in the back of the truck while terrance and cleo rode up front. terrance stopped, not saying anything as the three climbed out, making only driving away once john b signaled they were all out of the truck. they drove about fifteen feet ahead of them before pulling off the road and setting up their detour signs as john b, emery, and mara all climbed up behind the weeds.

"now we play the waiting game?" mara whispered, emery nodding as she sat down on the grass.

"i feel like i'm on criminal minds." emery mumbled. "except for i'm the criminal, y'know?"

suddenly, her phone buzzed, and stubby's number appeared on her screen.

"they got a truck and two defenders." stubby said over the phone.

"but it's just ward and the gold, right?" emery asked.

"it's two in the truck."

"two?" john b asked, emery and mara exchanged a disgusted look.

"rafe." emery said, mara nodding.

"two defenders, front and back." stubby stated over the phone. he had added terrance to the call.

"are they armed?" john b asked.

"to the teeth."

"pistols?" terrance asked.

"aks." stubby confirmed.

"shit is about to be hot." terrance said quietly, hanging up the call, emery doing the same. john b grabbed a handgun from his backpack, loading it and placing the safety back on as he shoved it in his pocket. a moment later, their phone dinged, a message coming through from one of their watchers.

just crossed the bridge.

"here we go." john b mumbled.

"yep." emery whispered back.

after about five minutes, they saw the truck coming over the hill. no backers either.

emery and mara quickly pulled their bandanas over their faces, john b wrapping one around his own face as they moved to the edge of the patch of grass they were hiding, emery staying crouched down near the ground.

"what's going on?" ward called to terrance and cleo.

"road's closed. nobody coming through!" cleo exclaimed, keeping her stop sign raised.

"well, can you let just one truck through?" ward tried to reason. "we just... we kinda gotta get through today. we got a delivery that-"

"massive sinkhole." cleo shut him down quickly. "i don't think so. sinkhole, massive." she added, she and terrance still approaching the truck, cleo on rafe's side and terrance on ward's.

"im really begging you guys. if-" ward started, but stopped abruptly when he realized terrance had a gun raised and pointed at him.

"let me see your hands." terrance said in a freakishly calm tone for someone who was currently holding another person at gunpoint.

"don't do anything stupid." cleo added, reaching through rafe's window and putting her knife to his throat.

"that's your cop killer, cleo." mara whispered sarcastically under her breath, john b nodding in agreement as the trio continued to watch what was happening on the highway, waiting for their signal to get in the truck.

they watched as ward and rafe were instructed to get out of the truck, how cleo and terrance didn't back off at all while they were giving them orders, which consisted of moving the closed road signs and barrels they had used to block the road off so that the truck could drive through.

then, when rafe and ward were told to get on the ground, terrance gave ward a smart-mouthed remark about his identity before turning to the trio that was still nestled in the tall grass.

"okay. it's time to go." john b said, emery nodding.

"let's heist this shit." she mumbled, terrance looking up at the three of them and motioning for them to get in the truck.

"go! go! hurry!" he called to the three, briefly turning his back on ward, who seized the opportunity to peer at who exactly was taking his truck and gold, the man sitting up almost immediately.

"emery? mara?" he asked.

"get down!" terrance demanded.

"girls!" ward shouted, pretending to be happy. "you're alive! your families have been worried sick, they'll be so happy when they find out."

"don't talk to them! stay down!" cleo demanded.

"stay back!" john b said firmly.

"hey! stay down!" cleo shouted, leaving rafe unattended so she could get ward back onto the ground. "do not talk to her!"

seizing his opportunity, rafe stood up again. terrance had ahold of the back of ward's shirt, the man yelling desperately at the two blonde girls, who were both standing behind john b. the brunette boy suddenly drew the gun from his back pocket, holding it up and aiming it at ward while cleo and terrance demanded he get back down.

john b moved his finger to index the trigger, but rafe had a gun of his own, which he pointed at the three pogues.

"hey!" cleo yelled, attempting to shove rafe's arms to the side, but he had already fired the gun. all three of the pogues flinched at the sound, john b immediately dropping his gun from it's raised position and turning to the girls. terrance hit ward in the back and cleo grabbed rafe's pistol.

"we gotta go." john b told the girls, emery yanking the door of the truck open and practically shoving mara inside as she climbed in behind her, john b getting in the drivers side.

"go! hurry!" terrance yelled.

"you're cowards!" rafe screamed at the truck, john b making sure to flip him off as he drove past, making emery smirk.

emery turned around, watching as terrance and cleo got in their truck, driving around the backer truck that was following behind them.

"shit. they're coming. shit." john b mumbled, shifting up a gear as he drove as fast as he could down the road, but the gold was weighing down the truck. that and the fact that emery figured this truck wasn't meant to move that fast to begin with.

"it's too heavy." emery commented. "the gold's too heavy. you're not going much faster than this."

"there's no way we can drive faster right now?" mara asked.

"i'm going as fast as this hunk of shit can go." john b retorted.

"john, they're right behind us." emery warned.

"hold on, okay?" john b said suddenly.

"wait- what?" emery asked.

"john b, what?" mara questioned at the same time.

"just hold on!" john b yelled, throwing the truck into neutral and turning the wheel hard, making the truck lean in a way the girls worried it might tip before suddenly crashing back down to be road level and continuing on a road that went to a field, where emery heard the escorts continue past them from behind.

"those bitches are blinder than crain." she mumbled, taking her hands through her hair as john b drove the truck straight into a patch of cane so they were out of sight if the escorts turned around, the routledge boy smiling as he looked in the back of the truck.

"guys. guys, we got the gold. we did it-"

"guys." mara mumbled, her voice weak. emery's head snapped in her friends direction, the stevens girl looking down at her stomach, emery's face paling at the sight.

"that's blood." she whispered, looking at the crimson color that was staining mara's shorts, the source being an obvious wound on her abdomen. john b, however, hadn't realized what was going on and was still celebrating over the gold.

"guys." mara mumbled, this time a little louder in the hopes of getting john b's attention, the routledge looking over at the two girls who's faces were both pale.

"oh shit." he whispered, mara looking at her hand that was the same color as her shorts.

"i got shot." she mumbled.

kens speaks 🪐

dun dun dunnnn

mara unknowingly chose this outcome for herself so she can't even be mad at me