Perfect Storm | JJ Maybank [3]

eighteen

HEARTBEAT THUDDING IN her ears and her hand tightly gripped in JJ's, Jo ran as fast as she could. Singh and his men would no doubt be on their tail, and running uphill was no easy feat.

It wasn't until they'd been running for at least twenty minutes that Jo noticed her father was falling behind. She frowned, because earlier he'd been pushing onward at the head of the group and complaining about the kids lagging behind. He tugged on JJ's hand to get him to stop, nodding behind them at her father. "I'll be right back."

JJ nodded and fell into step beside Sarah since John B had the same idea. Jo came up behind her brother just as he was trying to usher Big John forward.

"You go on ahead," he panted. "I just need to catch my breath."

John B glanced back at Jo, who stood a pace behind with her hands gripping her backpack straps. She met his gaze and furrowed her eyebrows again, silently conveying her concern.

"Dad, what the hell was that at Solana?" John B said next. "Were you really gonna let them shoot us back there?"

Big John bent over to press his hands against his knees, peering up at his son. "Come on, give me some credit, kid. Sarah and JJ just beat me to the punch."

"Really?" Jo challenged, raising her eyebrows. She sighed and glanced at John B briefly. "Always about the treasure, right? Come on, we gotta go."

Big John stood back up with a groan and Jo turned around, not wanting to cause an argument.

"Wait, wait, wait. Jesus, dad, what the hell happened?"

John B's voice made her turn around. She scanned him nervously, her eyes zoning in on her father's bloody hand gripping his abdomen. Her eyes widened and lips parted, worry quickly flooding back into her veins.

"What?" He glanced down at his stomach and shrugged. "Oh, yeah. Just got grazed, I'll be fine. Just got beat up a little bit. That's okay."

Jo wanted to believe him, but his weak and raspy voice and the blood coating his hand didn't help his case.

"Are you sure?" Jo spoke up worriedly.

Big John stood up fully and patted her shoulder. "I'll be fine," he repeated. "Come on, we gotta go. Double time."

JJ and Sarah stopped a few yards ahead to catch their breath and give the Routledges time to rejoin them. When Jo came into view as they mounted the hill, his body automatically relaxed with relief. He smiled at her and grazed her hand with his, the action calming Jo's nerves.

"Alright, come on," Big John said between heavy breaths.

"Shhh," Sarah hushed then, holding her hand up in the air. "Listen. Listen, listen. You hear that?"

Jo furrowed her brows, straining to hear whatever Sarah was talking about. Amidst the birds chirping in the trees, she could hear a low humming frequency, almost like the ones in meditation videos Kie sometimes played.