P4L | Outer Banks | JJ Maybank

El Dorado

"Soooooooo... This is your third treasure hunt?" Lilia asked with a chuckle. "In the past few months?"

Kiara shrugged. "Yeah."

Lilia whistled softly, looking out at the water of the river they were floating down.

Cory glanced down at her hands, fidgeting nervously. Even if Barracuda Mike was helping them again, going out of his way to get them this rig and the directions to El Tesoro, being around him still gave her the creeps after their encounter the day before.

JJ reached over, grabbing onto her hands and holding them still.

"And Cory, you've been kidnapped... two–"

"Three," Cory interrupted.

"Three times," Lilia said, grinning as she took in the tragic story.

JJ scoffed. "Four if you count her father locking her in the laundry room less than a week ago."

Cory rolled her eyes. "Four if you count that."

"Wow," Lilia mumbled. "Kie? How many–"

"Twice," Kiara said monotonously, looking out over the river.

Lilia nodded along before glancing to the last girl on board.

"Never, surprisingly," Cleo smiled.

Pope raised his hand. "Once–"

"No one asked," Kiara joked, giving him a smile. Pope flipped her the bird in response.

The rest of the ride was pretty silent, as the truth of it all settled over the teenagers.

They were barely even 17-years-old, and here they were, stuck in South America on yet another treasure hunt.

Lilia even seemed to be feeling it. Her usual smile had dropped, and she was now fidgeting with a little pink surfboard keychain that was attached to her keys.

After floating down the river for a while, Pope forced JJ to pull it over, parking it behind a load of hanging leaves. The sun was almost fully set, and they knew they shouldn't continue on in complete darkness.

In the safety of the drooping leaves, the girls all laid their heads down to sleep, leaving Pope and JJ to keep watch.

And that they would, until they next morning, when a much more interesting boat floated down the river before them.

"That's Singh and his men."

Cory could hear JJ and Cleo's hushed voices as they began to wake the others (Cleo took over for Pope at one point when she woke in the middle of the night, only to find he had fallen asleep anyways).

When the name 'Singh' hit Cory's ears, it seemed to work quickly, pulling her out of her groggy slumber with a jolt.

"They're not looking for us," Cleo added.

"Yeah, they're moving real quick," JJ said.

Cory glanced around nervously, finding Pope, Kiara and Lilia were all coming out of their sleep as well.

"They're looking for John B and Sarah," JJ said frantically, yanking himself to his feet. "They're gonna know where they're headed. We gotta go. They're gonna need us."
Despite how tired the others were, they pulled themselves to their feet and began to help JJ untie the boat from their little spot on the side of the river. In no time they were cruising about a hundred feet behind the other boat.