Never the First || Outer Banks

Chapter 7

Back aboard the HMS Pogue, "Did you guys find anything?" Pope asks, slumping dejectedly against the side of the boat.

JJ smiles smugly, glancing at Toby. "No, I don't think so." Then, he pulls the gun out from his back pocket, faking surprise, "Oh yeah, we did!"

Extricating the cash, Toby waves it around in front of their faces and flicks his brows suggestively up his forehead. "Who wants breakfast, lunch and dinner?"

All eyes go from the gun, to the cash, then back to the gun again when they realise exactly what it is JJ swings lazily around between his fingers.

"What the hell?" Pope bursts, jumping up and away, eyes wide.

Kie scowls, inching back, "Dude, what?"

John B lowers his head, but he's visibly trying not to laugh, somewhat chill now that they're away from the scene. As soon as Kie sends him a hard look, he drops the smile.

"Better than the cops having it!" JJ argues with Pope.

"To be fair, we didn't mean to." Toby throws the stack in the air, and catches it again, glancing at JJ. "At least, I didn't mean to. But it's in my hands now, so we might as well enjoy it, right?"

Kie rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship," Pope says, low and quiet, staring out into the open with wide eyes.

Toby winces and moves over, patting him on the back. "No, you're not. Nobody'll know."

From the other side, JJ shushes Pope, pressing the barrel of the gun against his lips. The action even has Toby inching forward to push it away.

"At least you have us, right?" JJ says, patting Pope's face gently.

Deadpanned, Pope pushes him away, and even ducks away from Toby's arm. "I'm living the nightmare."

They might as well be, when they get back to land only to find the paramedics gathering around a very still body.

Scooter Grubs.

Who just so happened to own a Grady White.

The same damn boat they just found, the same hotel they stole from.

Pope's panting when he joins them at the Chateau an hour later, pointing frantically between them. "Okay. So, um. . . we didn't see anything. We don't know anything." He swipes his hands across the air to get his point across, "We need to have total and complete amnesia."

"Actually, Pope's right for once." Flicking his lighter closed, JJ stands, "See, I agree with you sometimes." He looks across at Toby, who knows exactly what he's gonna say as soon as he winks. "Deny, deny, deny."

Toby rolls his eyes good-heartedly from where he's situated on the railing, knee up for his elbow to rest on.

Guilty, Kiara shakes her head, "Guys, we can't keep that money."

"Okay." JJ scoffs, turning around from where he's leant against the porch railing, "Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara."

In fact, half the phones they own come from Kiara's hand-me-downs.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise it's bad karma." Kie scowls at JJ.

Pope adds, "Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too. We gotta go dark."

"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." JJ nods, pointing over at Toby.

The two of them have a habit of bouncing off of each other when no one else agrees. Mindlessly loyal.