𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 // 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌 \\

Chapter Thirty Two

The pogues left school immediately after the final bell rang. They were now at the back of the wreck. "Just for the record, I never doubted them." JJ said as they trudged down the stairs. "I owe you five bucks." Kiara laughed. "Hey, Kiara, I still need those setups done by five!" Anna told Kiara. "There are other people that work here!" Kiara called back, leading the group to a secluded area. "But ain't none of 'em my children." Anna called back, jokingly.

"I feel that. On a deep, emotional level, I understand that." Pope joked. The pogues walked over to a coupe of benches. Kiara and Pope sat on the back of the bench with their feet on the seat. Valerie sat on the bench beside Pope while JJ leaned on the back of the bench next to Kiara. "So, are we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ asked.

"There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas." Pope replied. "John B will get nabbed sooner or later." Valerie stated. "Yeah, if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it, like, yesterday." Kiara agreed, pointing at Valerie. "I'll tell you how we do it." JJ stood up straight before sitting down next to Valerie. "So you have it all planned out?" Pope eyes moved with JJ. "As a matter of fact, I do." JJ responded. "We kidnap Rafe."

"I'm sorry, what?" Valerie looked up at him, confusion written all on her face. "We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking."

"You know, torture's a war crime." Kiara rested her hands on her knees. "I thought it was a good idea." JJ shrugged. "So, how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony."

"Alright, well what do you got, Pope?" JJ fired back at him before adding, "I was just trying to keep it simple. You know, one stop, and we're done."

"Guys, all we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it." Pope looked around seeing if anyone caught on. Valerie did. "He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered." Valerie looked up at Pope who violently nodded. "We just have to find whoever that was and get them to confess on record."

"How do we do that?" Kiara asked Pope. "A little light espionage." Pope shrugged. "A little ghost recon." JJ joined in. "Woogity-Woogity." Pope started holding out his hands for Kiara and Valerie. "Woogity, baby!" JJ yelled as he and Valerie wiggled their fingers together as their own sort of high-five.

The four pogues got into Kiara's car. "If this guy was flying planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight-lipped." Pope stated from the front seat. Kiara drove the pogues while Valerie and JJ sat in the back with Valerie behind Kiara. JJ loaded his gun as he said, "So then direct approach gets my vote."

"JJ, no." Pope snapped, turning around. "No. What?" Kiara looked at him in disbelief. Valerie shook her head at JJ. "Put the gun down, man." Pope swatted at his hands. "Guys! We gotta keep this simple, guys, or else we'll never get John B off." JJ reasoned.

"Or we just tickle the wire." Pope said, a little more calmly. "What?" Kiara asked, turning her head to see Pope holding airpods. "We tickle the wire." Pope repeated. "I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on your airpods." Pope put the airpods in his ears. "Say something." Pope held his phone in front of Kiara. "Something." She shrugged.

"Okay, we have audio." Pope smiled. "I think that's his house over there." Pope pointed to a house across the street. Kiara nodded, stopping the car. "Alright, honk or, uh, yell or something if you see anything suspicious." Pope told Kiara. "Don't do anything dangerous." Kiara nodded at him. Valerie and JJ shared a look in the backseat. "Come on, I'm not JJ." Pope replied, getting out of the car. Kiara smirked, looking back at him.

"Funny, Pope. Love third-wheeling. It's my favorite thing." JJ sarcastically answered. "How's it been going, you know, with Pope and all?" JJ leaned on the window. "It's good." Kiara replied, not looking away from the window. "It's good? Alright." JJ paused looking at Valerie who pulled out her phone.

"In the bedroom, is he, like, kinda freaky, 'cause it's Pope, you know?" JJ asked. Kiara looked at him with confusion as Valerie scrunched her face, but didn't look away from her phone. "Why are you asking?" Kiara asked JJ. "I don't know, just kinda curious." JJ looked out his window. "Just spitballing here." JJ added. Kiara was disgusted as she slowly turned her head back to her window.

"You don't need to spitball. We could sit in silence." Kiara said. Valerie nodded, still staring at her phone. Kiara could see what Pope was doing from her window. "Ranking-wise--" JJ held up his hands. "Oh, you're still asking?" Kiara looked at him. "Yeah, I was just kind of curious-" JJ continuously raised one hand over the other. "You're still curious." Kiara pushed her lips together, showing that she was annoyed.

"I-Is John B better?" JJ blurted. Valerie snorted, quickly covering her mouth with her hand to be quiet right after. "What?" Kiara shouted at him. "Okay." JJ replied, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. Valerie finally looked up from her phone to see JJ leaning back in his seat with an awkward face while Kiara raised her eyebrows at him.

"Okay. Phase one is complete." Pope said once he got back in the car. Kiara looked forward, pushing her lips together. No one answered as they awkwardly looked around at each other. "Everything... Are we all good?" Pope asked, confused. "Yeah, all good." Kiara mumbled. "Okay... Now we wait a little longer." Pope said. The pogues nodded.

When it was darker, it was time to start their plan. "Why does she get to tickle?" JJ asked Pope, gesturing to Kiara. "She's the best." Pope shrugged. "Should I do an accent?" Kiara asked, holding up her phone. "Definitely disguise your voice." Pope nodded, pointing at her.

"Disguise my voice how? How would you like me to talk, like this?" Kiara spoke in an English accent. "Not like that." Valerie and JJ shook their heads. "No. Batman." Pope said. "Batman." Kiara said in a deep voice. "There you go." Pope pointed at the phone, signaling for her to dial.

"Spot-on. Let's do it." JJ whispered from the back. Kiara put her phone on speaker. "Hello?" The man, Gavin, answered. "Hello." Kiara started in a deep voice before shaking her head. "I can't. I can't."

"Just talk." Pope whispered back at her. "Hello?" Gavin asked again. "Is Gavin there?" Kiara asked, dropping any accents. "This is Gavin. Who's this? Hello?" Kiara took a deep breath before telling him. "I know what happened on the tarmac."

"Um... who's this?" Valerie could hear Gavin nervously laugh. "It was Rafe Cameron. But you already knew that, and you lied about it." Kiara spoke confidently. "Okay. Who is this?"

"We're gonna prove it, you're guilty."

"Alright, you're gonna tell me who this is right now."

"You could have saved her, Gavin, and you didn't. And you're not getting away with this."

"Listen to me! Who is this?" Gavin's voice boomed louder through the phone. Kiara rolled her eyes, hanging up. "How was that?" She asked. "Yeah. I was scared. Good job." JJ replied.

"Alright, we tickled the wire. Phase two complete. Now we wait and listen." Pope said.

"Okay." Kiara nodded. A few minutes later, Gavin got in his car and started to pull out of his driveway. "Alright, here he comes. Stay down." Pope whisper yelled. Kiara and Pope pulled their seats back. Valerie moved her head on JJ's lap while JJ moved his head down to her back. "He didn't see us, he didn't see us." JJ whispered. Kiara and Pope quickly moved their seats back up. "Hit it." JJ said.

"Go, go, go, go." Pope repeated. "Wait, my seatbelt." Pope yanked on his seatbelt. "Are you seriously buckling up right now?" JJ yelled, impatient. "Yes, I'm buckling up right now!"

"You don't need it right now." Valerie groaned as Kiara moved the car forward to turn around. The pogues turned, staring to follow Gavin's car. "Let's hope this works." Valerie whispered to JJ. JJ responded with, "It better."