Never the First || Outer Banks

Chapter 5

"Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?"

"No," John B moves across the floor, towards the compartment, "but we're about to find out."

JJ hangs over the side, squinting into the water. "Dude, it's too deep."

"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ. " John B grins, hauling an anchor from the trunk and winding the rope into Toby's reaching hands.

"Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front."

John B climbs onto the side, standing with the anchor to his chest. "That's fine. Toby will." He makes kissy noises.

Winking, Toby points at him, "I gotchu."

"John B." Kiera scolds, pursing her lips.

Chuckling, he meets her narrowed eyes, "What?"

"Diver down, fool." Pope salutes.

Toby swings his arm around Pope and mimicks his action, "Diver down."

John B takes a breath, "Diver down."

JJ comes up from behind, "Yeah, he is." And with one big shove, John B is plunging into the river with the anchor to his chest.

Toby jolts forward to lean over, watching brown hair disappear the deeper he goes.

It's silent for too long a moment.

"Should we go get him?" Pope asks, fidgeting with his hands.

Only then does John B emerge, causing a domino of relief to seep out of their shoulders. He pulls himself onto the boat next to Toby, sweeping his hair out of his eyes.

After all their questions, he shakes his head and holds up a key, "No. No. I found this motel key."

"A key." Pope throws his hands up in the air.

"Yes, a key, Pope."

"Great! We salvaged a motel key." JJ groans, turning away.

Toby takes the key from John B's hand to examine it, bringing the letters closer to his eyes.

"Forgot your glasses?"

"Don't need 'em." Toby glances at him. He shakes the key and grins, "I dunno about you, but I wanna know where this leads to."

Kie cuts him off when the boat starts moving, Pope at the steering wheel, "Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard. Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."

"Ooh,"

"Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks, Agatha, ya batch."

Telling the coast guard ends up being a bust, the building filled to the brim with people talking over each other about one thing or another the hurricane caused.

"Well, that went well."

"So, what's the plan?" JJ drops an elbow to John B's shoulder and leans against him.

Toby swings around John B's other side, mirrors JJ's stance and plucks the key from the former's hand, "We go where the key leads us, right?"

"Find the guy who owns the boat." John B nods.

Pope immediately disagrees, shaking his head, "We don't know whose room that is." He gestures, frustrated, "It could be anyone." 

Toby clicks his tongue to get JJ's attention and tosses him the keys. JJ throws them overhead to Kiara, "I'm in."

She grins, "Come on. We'll be lookout."

Toby claps his hands together, excited, and skips forward until he's walking alongside Kie. JJ meets them a second later, smoke hanging from his mouth.