High Tide // JJ Maybank

Chapter 3

"I never doubted them." JJ announces as we all climb down the stairs of the Wreck.

"I owe you 5 bucks." Kiara agrees with a laugh.

"Hey, Kiara, I need those setups done by five!" Kiara's mom calls out to her.

"There's other people that work here." Kiara announces.

"None of 'em are my children!"

We keep walking down the dock, away from the restaurant.

"I feel that on a deep, emotional level. I understand that." Pope says as we all set our backpacks and things down so we can sit down.

"So are we gonna go the Bahamas or what?" JJ questions as he leans against the dock.

"Dude, there's no way we're getting to the Bahamas." Pope speaks up.

"John B will get nabbed sooner or later. So if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it yesterday."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" I question.

"I'll tell you how we do it." JJ announces.

"So you have it all planned out?" Pope asks skeptically.

"Actually I do." JJ confirms as he paces back and forth.

"Oh boy." I mumble.

"Hey, hold on, Kat. I haven't even said anything yet."

"Let's hear it then, J."

"We kidnap Rafe." JJ says simply.

"We what?" I ask incredulously. "Babe, that's a terrible idea."

"We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait til he starts squawking."

"You know, torture's a war crime." Kie pipes up.

"Yeah," Pope adds. "So how exactly do you plan to clear John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony."

"All right, we'll, what do you got, Pope? I was trying to keep it simple. You know, one stop, and we're done."

"Guys, all we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there in the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered. We just have to find whoever that was and get them to confess on record."

"How are we gonna do that?" I question.

"A little light espionage." Pope smirks.

"A little ghost recon." JJ adds.

"Woogity woogity." Pope says wiggling his fingers.

"Woogity, baby." JJ agrees, reaching out to the boy.

***

"If this guy flew planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight lipped." Pope speaks up from the seat behind me in my car.

"So then direct approach gets my vote." JJ announces, pulling out the gun and cocking it.

"Absolutely fucking not." I say looking over at the boy.

"No, what?" Kie agrees.

"Put the gun down, man." Pope instructs the blond.

"Guys!" JJ argues. "We gotta keep this simple, or we'll never get John B off."

"Or just tickle the wire." Poor states.

"What?" Kie asks confused.

"We tickle the wire." Pope repeats. "I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on your AirPods." He hold the phone up to Kie after putting the AirPods in his ears.

"This is the Kookiest shit I have ever heard you say." I speak up.

Pope ignores me. "Say something." He tells Kie.

"Something." She repeats.

"Okay, we have audio." Pope announces to all of us. "I think that's his house over there." Pope gestures to a house to the left of my car. "All right, honk... or.. yell or something if you see anything suspicious."

Pope begins to unbuckle his seat belt, he looks back over at Kie.

"Don't do anything dangerous." She tells the boy.

"Come on, I'm not JJ."

"Funny, Pope. I love double dates, it's my favorite thing."

Pope disappears around a corner, no longer in sight. The car fills with silence for a split second before JJ speaks up.

"How's it been going, you know, with Pope and all?"

"It's good." Kie answers quickly.

"It's good. All right."

"Did you really have to ask?" I question uncomfortably.

"In the bedroom, is he, like, kinda freaky, 'cause it's Pope, you know?"

My mouth drops open as his question, my eyes widen as I look over at him. "No. Stop it. That's enough." I certainly did not wanna know what Pope was like in bed.

"Why are you even asking?" Kie asks..

"I don't know. Just kinda curious. Just spitballing here."

"You don't need to spitball. We could sit in silence."

"Okay, but ranking wise..." JJ gestures different levels with his hands as he speaks.

"Oh, you're still asking?"

"Yeah, I was just curious."

"You're still curious."

"Is John B better?"

"JJ Maybank!" I cut him off. "What are you doing?"

"Well I know I'm the best, so I wanna know where they fall after me."

"Ew, stop." I look away from the boy, catching Pope running back toward the Jeep. He flails his arms as he runs. "Oh he has to be the worst in bed."

Pope flings my back door open, climbing into the back of the car behind me. "Okay, phase one complete." He announces as the rest of go silent. He looks at the three of us with a confused look. "Are we all good?"

"Yep, good." I answer too quickly. "Let's just leave, yeah?" I say putting the car in drive.