Sink or Swim || Outer Banks || JJ Maybank

Chapter 6

John B had sent a text to the group chat that there was a mandatory Pogue meeting at the Chateau after their meeting with Ms. Lana. Pope and Kiara sat on one side of the porch while Sarah stood next to John B who was spinning the compass around in his hand as if it would magically give him all the answers.

"Wait, you saw the guys that shot at us?" Sarah questioned, her eyes going between the Routledge siblings.

Madison sighed as she sat on the floor between JJ's legs in front of the chair he was sitting in. He carefully picked paint chips out of her hair. "The way Ms. Lana was screaming..."

"Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like?" Kiara asked as she turned her full attention to Madison.

Pope also leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Anything we can bring to a police report?"

Madison and John B locked eyes.

"The compass wasn't in the boat!" They heard a man yelling inside the house as they hid beneath the window outside. The siblings shared a look, at least they knew they were on the right track. "Where is it, Lana?"

"I don't know!" Ms. Lana screamed through her tears as another crash came from inside the house making Madison jump.

John B put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from trying to bolt back to the Twinkie.

"Is that paint?" She felt the wall behind them shake at the impact.

He put a finger up to his mouth reminding her to keep quiet, "Yes, it's paint."

There was the unmistakable sound of glass breaking and Madison closed her eyes. She hadn't really thought about her and John B going to talk to Ms. Lana by themselves because that was all it was supposed to be, talking. But now, she was regretting not having JJ there with her.

"JB, I think we should go."

He hushed her again and went to peek around the front of the house as he heard the guys from inside, "Let's get the hell outta here, man."

"JB, please, can we go?" Madison didn't care if he could hear how scared she was because as much as she wanted to find her dad she wouldn't be able to do that if she was dead.

John B ignored her, peering around the edge only to push right back into her side as the men left the house. "It's the guys that shot at us in the marsh."

Madison dug her fingernails into his arm, keeping him in place until they knew for sure the men were far enough away they wouldn't see them. She didn't let go of him when they walked up the stairs or through the front door, taking in the disarray the house was in. She only let go when her eyes landed on Ms. Lana laying on the bathroom floor, the top half of her body propped up on the wall.

"Holy shit, Ms. Lana?" Madison ran over, dropping to her knees next to the woman who was hysterically crying.

John B pulled a hand towel off the counter and handed it to Madison who held it against a gash on the woman's forehead. "Do you need a doctor?"

"No!" Ms. Lana shouted at them trying to pull away from Madison. "No cops. Please. You shouldn't be here."

Madison adjusted herself on the floor so she wouldn't kneel on any glass and placed the rag back to her head. "They are gone, okay? I promise. They left, it's just us."

"Did you know them?" John B questioned, trying to get any information about the compass or who those men were who tried to kill them. "Does it have anything to do with this?" He showed her the compass and she fully pushed Madison away causing the girl to fall back, cutting her hand on a piece of glass. "This was our fathers and Scooter had it."