Thalassophile // JJ Maybank

Chapter 16

I look around the boat for anything that looks out of the ordinary. I notice the cargo hold in the wall of the boat. I grab the key from around my wrist, sticking it into the hole. I pull the lid off, revealing a big black duffel bag. I pull it out of the hold, struggling as it catches on the lip. I brace my feet against the floor, yanking the bag out of the hold.

I swim out of the boat with the bag. The bag drags against the water, making it heavy. I swim up, toward the boat. I stop at the t-shirt again. Panic fills my body when I spot a second boat next to ours.

I glance down at the gauge. I had one minute left before I was out of the air and it didn't seem like the boat was leaving. More panic was beginning to rise, my fingers tingled.

I look down once again. I had five seconds left. I suck in one last breath. The alarm begins to ring out, informing me I had run completely out of air. I glance back up at the two boats.

My lungs had begun to burn as I lost air. If I was above water tears would be burning in my eyes in fear.

I glance back up when I hear the whirring of an engine click back on. A flood of relief fills me as I swim back up toward the surface.

I resurface with a loud gasp, inhaling as much air as possible. I cough, choking on the water that I had inhaled as I ran out of oxygen. The three on the boat reach down pulling me up and out of the water.

"God, don't scare us like that." JJ stresses.

"Find anything?" John B asks.

"Uh, yeah." I breathe out. I pull the bag up out of the water, tossing it onto the boat.

"You okay?" John B asks another question.

"Yeah. I ran out of air." I respond.

"You scared the hell out of me." JJ voices, reaching down to pull me out of the water. He sets me down on the boat.

I step away from the blonde, shrugging off the scuba gear. "Don't touch me." I tell him quietly, so that only he could hear.

"What the hell, Frank?" JJ asks me.

"You heard me." I tell him. I turn back to the other Pogues. "Who was on that second boat?"

"Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... Took care of them." Pope responds.

"Yeah, you kinda missed the show." John B adds.

"Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o' clock." Kie announces, looking at another boat cruising through the Marsh.

"What?" JJ whips around.

"Do you recognize that boat?" Pope asks.

"I've never seen it." Kiara answers. "What are they doing back here? The Marsh is closed."

"Probably something similar to us." I speak up. Kiara shoots me a glare.

"Let's not stick around to find out." JJ says.

"JJ, get the bowline." John B instructs.

"Yeah."

"Should we wait on 'em?" Pope asks.

"No? Are you nuts?" I ask in shock.

"Guys, don't wait for me. Go." JJ demands, lifting up the anchor.

"Let's go!" Kiara yells.

"Pull out the stern." Pope says.

"I don't like the look of this." John B states, watching the boat.

I glance over at it. I notice the boat was headed right toward our own. "Oh god."

"Are they coming for us?" JJ asks.

"Maybe they're fishing for drum." Pope tries.

"Go, go, go, go."

"Let's go!" Kie demands.

"I'm going act natural."

The whir of the other boat gets louder as they speed up. "Guys, they're speeding up. They're following us." I announce.

"This can't be good." Pope agrees.

Seconds later a loud bang rings out. I feel a hand grip my shoulder and pull me down toward the floor of the boat.

"What the hell was that?" I ask, glancing at the owner of the hand.

"Gunshots." JJ responds. "Stay down."

"Oh my god, we're gonna die." Pope voices fearfully.

More gunshots ring out. JJ keeps a hand on the back of my head, shielding my body with his own. His other hand still rests on my shoulder.

"Shit, Pope. Move!" I hear Kiara demand.

"Get down, Kie!" John B yells at the curly haired girl.

I try to look up at what was happening but JJ holds me down. "Stay down, Franklin." He whispers to me.

I hear Kiara let out a grunt before the whirring of the other boat comes to a stop. I finally pick my head up, noticing the other boat had stopped in the middle of the Marsh behind us. The only thing trailing us now was the waved from our own boat.

We all stand up, cheers escaping out lips due to our escape.

Awhile later we find ourselves at a dock. It was starting to get dark out, making everything slightly hazy.

John B ties the boat off to the dock as the Pogues climb onto the wooden surface floating in the water. He quickly rushes down the dock before setting the black duffel bag on the ground and kneeling before it.

"What do you guys think it it?" Kiara asks as we all gather around.

"It's gotta be money or something, right?" John B asks.

"That or a couple of keys with street values from the low- to mid-mils!" JJ guesses in anticipation.

"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope snaps.

I look up at him with a quirk in my eyebrow. "That was a little unlike you." I speak up.

"She speaks." John B voices, looking over at me, a small smile on his face. I can't help but roll my eyes playfully at his comment. The boy looks back to Pope. "She's right. That was a rare outburst of emotion."

"Okay, you guys are literally killing me with anticipation. Just open the bag."

"Jeez." JJ mumbles at the boys impatience.

"We almost died over this."

John B pulls the bag open, revealing a large canister. He tries twisting it open but fails. He sticks the canister between his thighs to get a better grip before twisting the top off. He dumps the contents into his palm.

"Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass." Pope says annoyed.

JJ runs his hands through his hair, pulling his cap off. He glances back at our friend that had gone silent as he stared at the now open compass. "Dude, what? It's not worth anything."

"This was my father's." John B mumbles still analyzing the brass object.