𝐀 𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄, 𝗋𝖺𝖿𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗇

6: "𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚕𝚢."

With the sun shining down on the civilians of the Outer Banks, the very next day, the five teenagers found themselves sitting on John B's porch, listening to JJ explain what had happened at Lana Grubb's house earlier in the morning. The sound of JJ making noises and the rooster could be the only thing that was heard throughout the entire place.

"And then we were right outside like this. And all we hear is just, "Bam! Bam! Bam"! Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. Alright? And I'm just looking at him, like--" JJ continues, stopping himself. "Wait, first off, look at this shit."

Walking over to the twins and Kiara, the three scrunch up their faces when he bends down, using his hands to ruffle his blonde hair, specks of paint falling from his short locks.

"That's dandruff, disgusting." Kie comments in disgust.

JJ stands back up, pointing at it. "Look at all that. Alright? That's paint. At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death."

"Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Y/n questions, receiving a nod. "Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like?"

"Anything we can bring to a police report?" Pope suggests.

"Burley." JJ replies after a moment.

Pope raises a brow. "Burly?"

"That's not very helpful." Kie murmurs.

"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage. I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers. I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers... they're square groupers."

"They're square groupers, like narco square groupers? Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?" Pope asks.

JJ nods, taking a hit of his vape. "Yeah, man."

"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie." Kie intervenes.

"Okay, what does this square grouper look like? Specifically? Because apparently you don't know what to look for!" Y/n observes, speaking over the blonde.

"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental polaroid's the entire time. I was under duress, okay?" JJ exclaims, his voice cracking a little. "But I can tell you... I can tell you by the way that Ms. Lana was screaming... that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man. It's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I'm not liking this very much."

"Okay, why would they want the compass?" Kie questions.

"That thing's a piece of shit. You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to." Pope comments, pausing as he glances at the brunette beside him. "No offense, John B. I know it's in your family--"

"The office." John B interrupts.

Y/n's brows furrow. "What?"

"My dad. My dad's office." John B repeats, walking into the house, the others following. "He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. We used to laugh at him all the time about it, like he was actually gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it."

Kie nods as they stop in front of the office door. "Yeah, for when he gets back."

At her words, Y/n, Pope and JJ share a glance. Kiara soon notices, giving them a look as if to silently not bring up the sensitive topic. John B doesn't seem to notice their exchanged glances as he unlocks his father's office door, walking inside with the others trailing behind him, glancing around.

"Y/n and I have slept over here like six hundred times," Y/n begins, walking in. "and I've never seen this door opened."

"Here, look." John B speaks up, placing a pin board in front of them. "This is the original owner, right here."