INDIANA II JJ Maybank (Outerbanks)

chapter eight

The next morning she woke up with a pounding headache due to the alcohol she had consumed the night before. A slight bruise had started to form on her back from when Topper had pushed her.

She made her way to the kitchen and jumped as she saw Sheriff Peterkin standing in her living room.

"Go and get your brother." Sheriff Peterkin said as Indi made her way to her brothers room to wake him up.

"JB, Peterkin is here for us." She told him as they made their way back to the kitchen where the Sheriff was waiting for them.

"Sorry to barge in like this but DCS called. They wanted me to check in on the two of you. See how you're doing." She said to them. "See how you are beside the-" She motioned to John B's bruise on his eye.

"We're good." Indi smiled at the sheriff.

"Oh yeah no we are great, yeah fantastic. Uh, thank you for coming by." JB said and started to clean up the empty bottles around the house.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, but I heard a few things that worried me." She started moving to the picture frames on the wall. "Let me see if I can remember."

"Oh yeah. One of the things I heard was that your uncle Teddy, your guardian hasn't been in the state for three months."

The twins looked at each other in panic. Before Indi spoke up. "Yeah, no that's not true."

"You don't have to say anything. I know it's true, I called the school." Indi swallowed, she knew where this was going. "They said you John used to be a good student, but now you're failing all your classes." She turned to Indi. "And you used to be an outstanding student, but now I guess you are just average. Quiet sad don't you think?"

"Actually I'm just failing one class. History and the dude is a dick, he has it out for me-"

"I heard there was a fight on the beach yesterday and a gun was involved." Peterkin interrupted him.

"Okay a gun? Did I get into a fight, of course. But a gun? No way." John B said.

"That's okay, I know who it was. I'll get to him." She said. "But all I'm worried about right now is that you two are in a safe home."

"We are in a totally safe home. You see?" Indi chirped in.

"Yeah super safe." John B confirmed. "And beside uncle T is coming back."

That was another lie. She knew uncle T wasn't coming back to them. He hasn't reached out to them in months.

"That's what he told you?" Peterkin asked, "If he's coming home, I think you should be able to stay."

"Exactly!" Indi said.

"But if I stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. Tit for a Tat." The cop looked at the twins.

"What does Tat mean?" JB asked the cop.

"Let me see, how can the two of you help me. Oh I know. So a body was found in the marsh yesterday." She looked Indi in the eyes. "Were you in the marsh yesterday?"

Indi looked at John B so he replied for her, "Yeah we were fishing for some drum."

"You catch anything?"

"Nah, we were skunked."

"Strange, fishing's usually good after a storm. All sorts of things get stirred up. Did you guys come across a wreck yesterday?"

"No." Indi replied this time.

"You skimmin just above the surface. No down here is foster care, juvie. Pretty big drop for smart kids like you." The cop showed at the bottom of an imaginary scale. "Up here is you and your friends doing whatever you want. Outer Banks or foster care on the main land." She threatened them, "You guys are one inch above the surface, If I were you guys, I'd start flapping my wings. Now are you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?"

"Yes." Indi replied, trying as hard as possible to sound confident.

"It's better if you didn't, you understand. Now I'm going to look the other way, as long as you stay out of the marsh." She turned away from them to walk out the door.

"I've got dogs living better than this!" was the last thing she said before she closed the door and John B engulfed Indi in a hug to calm her down.

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"Look, I'm calling it off. Alright?" John B said to us. "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me and Ind with DCS."

"And you believed her?" JJ questioned.

"Yes I believe her JJ." John B responded.

"An actual cop, John B. You believed an actual cop." JJ said and threw another stone.

"Look all I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple of days and she'll help us out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one pulling a gun." John B said angrily to him.

"You know what I should have done? Should have just let Topper drown your ass." JJ snapped back at him.

"Topper was gonna drown me?" John B questioned, clearly fed up with JJ's bullshit.

"Sure looked like it. Hell he even touched Indi!" He responded.

"Funny." JB scoffed.

"I mean, have you even looked in the mirror?" JJ asked. He was right, her brothers eye looked horrible.

"Come on, tell me some more. Come on." John B said.

"Guys come on stop it." I tried to stop them. I knew John B was trying to push JJ's buttons on purpose.

"They always win, don't they. Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!" JJ said and hit the buoy making Indi flinch. JJ saw her flinch and slightly calmed down because he didn't want to scare her.

"Look, it's okay!" Kie shouted at him.

"No it's not okay! It's not." He was still angry at Topper almost drowning his best friend but mostly for laying a finger at his girl. "They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it:" He pointed at John B. "I know you do!"

He turned around to Pope. "And I understand why you don't want to go. You're the golden boy, you got way too much to risk." He turned to Kie. "And you? I mean you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you even bother?" He then looked at the twins. "But us three man. You, me and Ind, we got nothing to lose! We really don't alright." He started to shout.

"And I know it didn't use to be that way for the two of you."

"I don't want to talk about this." John B said. "I don't want to talk about it!"

"So that's it?" JJ asked.

"Just get out of my way." He said pushing JJ out of his way.

"John B listen to me. I have a plan. You got the key to Camerons bog boat right?"

"No" JB lied. Of course he had a key, he worked for that stupid Kook family.

"There's scuba gear inside there. We just borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that's gonna save you man. You don't want to see Indi going to foster care now don't you? You know, they don't send rich kids to foster care?" He said throwing his arms around his shoulders.

And that is what convinced John B. The urge to protect his little sister. Even if he knew he should have stopped listening to JJ's plan a long time ago.