MI MILAGRO, JJ maybank

Chapter 23- How did it end?

Finally dawn broke, signaling the start of the most complicated part of the plan: getting John B and Sarah off the island.

JJ, Maria, Kiara, and Pope were preparing the escape boat, packing what would be needed to keep them alive until they reached solid ground, with no fixed destination in mind.

Kiara paced with furrowed brows and gnawed nails in frustration. "Where are they? We agreed to meet here!"

JJ, though equally nervous, tried to stay calm. He knew John B wouldn't mess up the plan; everything would go as they had planned.

"Don't worry, he'll be here soon," he assured, tucking a couple more blankets into the loft.
Maria thought it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than his friend. Maybe he was right, maybe this time the plan would execute perfectly and they would have a good future, drama less and blessings filled.

However, in the distance, police sirens began to sound, seeming to draw nearer.

As they all turned, they saw a police car approaching cautiously. Maria's heart raced. She thought the whole plan had gone to hell, that they'd catch John B, throw him in jail, and Ward would keep the gold.

"JJ?" Pope exclaimed, looking at his friend equally terrified. He was filled with uncertainty, not knowing if he should stay or bolt. Fight or flight?

"Everyone get on the boat! Let's go!"

Maria was about to untie the boat when she saw the person stepping out of the patrol car wasn't Shoupe. In fact, it was the last person they would expect to see coming out of a police car.

"Vamos, no me jodas! (Don't mess with me!)" she murmured with a smile, seeing that, to everyone's surprise, it was John B.

She ran, dropping what she was doing, to her friend, engulfing him in a hug. John B didn't hesitate in hugging her back, of course, but he wasn't carrying the same splendid huge smile she did. In fact, he wasn't smiling at all.

"Hey, what's with the face?" She separated from the hug, still hanging her arms loosely around his neck, "Where's Sarah?"

John B didn't respond, looking equally as confused as she did. He looked over her shoulder, his eyes wondering around the familiar faces. However, one familiar face in particular was missing. This made his heart skip a beat, but not in a good way.

"Wait, she's not here?"

Maria turned her head slightly, half expecting John B to be kidding. She frowned, looking behind John B trying to find her friend, her hands starting to sweat and her mind to spin. This was definitely an obstacle in their plan.

"What do you mean she's not here?" Maria looked at her friends, who stood next to the getaway boat, "I'm going to try to contact her"

She picked up her phone, with a million missed calls and text from her dad and Rose. Before she was going to be severely punished, but now she was going to be locked in her house forever.

"Madre mía, a mi me matan! (Oh god, they're gonna kill me!)"

"What wrong princess?" JJ inquired, seeing how her face turned white at the sight of the notifications she had missed.

"My dad, he umm... he tried to contact me" she looked up from her phone, "Let's just say I haven't exactly responded"

She was not kidding. In her phone, there were 50 missed calls, 23 voicemails, and a million text messages. This only meant one thing: her grounding would be one she would never forget.

Still, she decided not to read the text messages, fearful of whatever her dad and stepmom had written. After all, ignorance is bliss, right?

"Hey, you know what? Who cares," she chuckled, trying to brush it off even though she was clearly fearing what was waiting for her when she got home, "I'm going to be locked in a tour forever, might as well use my liberty for good. I'm going to call Sarah"