𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒗𝒊𝒊. 𝒋𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒚

"I THOUGHT THE CHATEAU LOOKED BAD."

Tatum hummed, keeping her hand in her left pocket at all times. There was no way she was letting her friends step a foot out of that boat without the protection of her pistol - even if Kiara would kill her for brining the thing along. But what she doesn't know can't hurt her.

"This place is a shitshow," John B agreed with a nod.

"Motel or meth lab?" commented Kie, her eyes switching back and forth from the sketchy building and Tatum's dirty wound.

"You be the judge," said Pope, standing beside Tatum and eyeing the weapon peaking out of her pocket. He didn't comment on it. He might be her best friend, but no amount of cheek-kisses would magically make his fears disappear. Everybody in Outerbanks knew how unpredictable Tatum Quinn was, and being her friend only made you even more cautious. Not even JJ would drop his guard around her with such a deadly weapon. One wrong word, and it would be over. Or maybe she would simply be bored that day, and decide that murdering someone might be fun.

"Doesn't look like the type of place somebody with a Grady-White stays," John B pointed out.

Tatum nodded. "I think Joseph stayed here to do a film once," she said, using all her will-power to not scratch out the stitches in her arm.

"So, probably a place someone with a Grady-White gets murdered," said Pope, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his chest when she took her hand off the pink gun. Tatum, noticing his relieved reaction, turned to face him with furrowed eyebrows. She understood why people were so cautious around her, and she usually liked that, but when it was her friends, it stung worse than a wasp. It made her realise that, at the end of the day, nobody ever really trusted her.

"All right, here we go," said John B as they approached the swampy grass.

JJ smirked and covered his mouth, speaking as if he were on a radio as he said, "This is your captain speaking. HMS Pouge comin' in for landing."

Tatum grinned, already forgetting about Pope's uncomfortable reaction to her, and clapped her hands childishly. She loved breaking into places. She loved the rush it gave her - the adrenaline. She loved the idea of getting caught - the thrill of a life behind bars. Most kids were terrified of it, but she was a Quinn; she'd die in a cell whether she liked it or not. It was her destiny.

JJ jumped out first, tieing the boat to a log as the others prepared for the next step. John B was determined for a mystery, Pope was almost peeing himself at the thought of getting into trouble, Tatum wanted to dance in delight, and Kiara just hoped nothing went wrong - especially considering JJ, Tatum and John B were the ones to actually go in. The trio nobody could trust together, because they found absolutely everything hilarious and always ended up doing something stupid.

"We good?" asked John B, ready to get going.

"Yeah, we good," answered JJ, finishing the knot.

Tatum jumped out of the boat excitedly and wrapped her arms around the tall blonde.

"Hey," said Pope before John B got off to join them.

"Yep."

He pointed at their dancing, irresponsible friends. "Don't let them do anything stupid."

JJ and Tatum paused and looked up at them. "Oh, we will," said JJ, while Tatum was silently begging Pope not to bring up the gun. Kiara would murder her. In the most brutal way possible.

"I'm not making promises," John B told him, because he knew there was no stopping the two of them once they were started.

"Yeah, I know."