Waves

t h i r t y - o n e

~PRESENT~

"He's not answering." Sarah cried, the tears running down her cheeks, leaving them soaked with the mascara smeared underneath her tired eyes.

"Just...try it again." JJ spat, encouraging Sarah to dial John B's number again.

John B hadn't been seen or heard from since the previous night, when he ran off from the beach after Sheriff Peterkin was shot. Amelia could feel the nerves building up inside of her, feeling uneasy over where her best friend could possibly be. Sarah was distraught because her boyfriend was missing, and JJ was distraught because his best friend was also missing.

The thoughts of last night replayed through Amelia's mind. She still felt sick to her stomach from watching the sheriff laying in the sand, covered in blood right in front of her. She knew that John B wanted to get away from here, knowing that Rafe had given his name to the police. Amelia, Sarah and JJ all knew that John B was innocent. But JJ had insisted that the police would never believe the Pogues over Rafe. Rafe had the benefit of being a Kook. They had no idea where John B had went, and they had just spent the last hour trying to reach him, but no matter how many times they called he wouldn't pick up.

"I'm trying, JJ! It's not going through."

"You know what, fuck this." JJ said, standing abruptly from his place on the couch, reaching down for Amelia's hand. "We have to go look for him."

Amelia shook her head. "J, we can't. You know we can't."

"She's right. You know the cops are already suspicious of us."

Amelia wanted to go look for John B more than anything. They all did. She hoped that he was safe, wherever he was. But being that they were all at the beach last night when Sheriff Peterkin got shot, they were already possible suspects.

"I'm not going to sit here and watch my best friend get blamed for a murder that he didn't commit."

Amelia let out a groan as JJ bolted out the door, quickly standing to her feet and grabbing Sarah's hand, pulling her out of the door behind her. She spotted JJ already in the van, patiently waiting to see if Amelia and Sarah would come with him. Amelia pulled open the back door, climbing in after Sarah, and Amelia no more than closed the door and JJ was backing out of John B's chateau.

"JJ, do you even know where to look?" Sarah asked, and Amelia could see the worried expression take over her face as she asked.

JJ drove the van down the highway as fast as he could, not caring for a second about being pulled over. "No, but I know someone who might."

Amelia's mouth dropped open as her eyes scanned over Kiara's house, spotting her sitting on the front porch with Pope. "JJ, you're actually kidding right now, right?"

JJ turned his head to peer back at Amelia in the back of the van, shifting slightly in his seat before reaching his hand back to take hers. "Mel, I'm sorry, but I know she knows something. John B and Kiara have a weirdly close relationship, and if he was going to tell anyone where he was going, it would be Kiara."

He shifted the van into park, pushing open the door to climb out, quickly rushing to where Kiara and Pope were seated. Amelia climbed out of the back with Sarah, sighing in annoyance as Sarah gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I can't fucking believe this."

She watched as Kiara's eyes shifted uncomfortably onto Amelia. She stood, glancing to JJ with a small frown before placing her hands on her hips and letting out a sigh. "He took the boat."

"Wait, he told you?" Sarah asked Kiara.

Kiara nodded. "Yep. He's headed to the Bahamas. He said he's going to stay at the Cameron's vacation house." She licked her lips nervously. "I don't know if you have seen the news, but he's all over it. They're looking for him. And there's a bad storm rolling in."