Alone Together • JJ Maybank

Forty Nine.

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The padlock clicked as JJ twisted the key and I breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of the heavy metal chain falling away. Watching on as he pushed open the door, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness, revealing the white boat inside.

"Hey, girl." JJ cooed as he approached the boat. It was bigger than I expected. A little old and clearly not used in a while, but the size made me feel a little more confident in our plan for John B to escape.

"A 1983 Formula 402 SR1." An amused smirk grew on my face as I watched JJ pull at a tatty old sheet and introduce us to the boat, a proud look on his face the entire time. "The Phantom."

I looked at Kiara, noticing she was also stifling a laugh at JJ's enthusiasm. "It's a... nice... boat." I hummed back to JJ as Kie furrowed her brows at me.

"Nice?" He glanced back towards me momentarily before looking back at the boat. The small glimmer of shock and offence was clear in his eyes at our lack of excitement, which only made my amused smile grow wider. "This was the first boat to make the run to Bermuda in under 16 hours. Forty years old. Forty! And still the fastest thing that Kildare's ever seen."

"It's kind of a junker." I not-so-subtly elbowed Kie's side as she spoke, trying my best to hide my smirk as JJ turned around and shot her a glare.

"Really? She's right there, Kie. She can hear you."

I lifted my hand to disguise my smile as I walked away from Kie's side, pretending to occupy myself by inspecting the boat that JJ was clearly so in awe of.

"Let's put it this way." He carried on as I made my way around to the other side of the boat. "You would not be smoking weed right now if she never existed, okay?"

"Is it... she... fast?" I corrected myself as I called back, running my hand over the edge of the boat.

"She's faster than any cutters the boys in blue got."

The sound of gravel under tires pulling up outside had me walk back towards the front of the boat while JJ and Kiara were still on the other side. "Pope, finally!" Kie exhaled, relieved that he had finally turned up and we could get going.

I walked past the tow bar that JJ was securing to Kiara's car, glancing back over my shoulder to see him locking the last of the chains when I bumped straight into someone with a thud. Before I even had the chance to react, an arm secured around me forcefully while a hand slammed across my mouth, preventing me from making a sound.

I recognized him instantly. The guy who tried to steal the gold from us at the side of the road. The drug dealer that JJ robbed. Barry. "Make a sound and you're dead." His warm breath blew across my face as he muttered in my ear before forcefully spinning me around so that my back was pressed against his chest. It was only when he readjusted his grip on me that I felt the gun held to the side of my head.