MARLBORO NIGHTS [JJ MAYBANK]

tickle the wire

"HEY KIARA- I DO NEED THOSE SETUPS DONE BY FIVE!" hollered Anna Carrera to her daughter, as the four Pogues left The Wreck.

Kiara hummed, ignoring her. "There are other people that work here!" She was smiling, though.

"But aint none of 'em my children!"

Pope chuckled, as they approached the end of the dock, where then felt was a safe space to talk about their plan to clear John B's name. "I feel that. On a deep, emotional level, I understand that."

"So, are we going to the Bahamas, or what?" JJ asked, throwing his bag down on the seat. Karolina looked at him skeptically. "There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas." It seemed as if Old Karolina was back in some ways, especially when it came to dousing his bad ideas. He couldn't complain, really. At least she was acting like herself again.

"John B's going to get nabbed sooner or later," Kie said, looking at Pope. "So if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it yesterday."

JJ stood up suddenly, nodding his head. "I'll tell you how we do it."

Pope narrowed his eyes. "So you have it all planned out?" He shared a look with Karolina.

JJ nodded again. "As a matter of fact, I do." He raised his eyebrows, splaying his hands out. "We kidnap Rafe."

Pope blinked. "I'm sorry- what?"

"We kidnap Rafe, tie him up, and stick the gun in his mouth, and just wait till he starts squawking." He made a "gun-in-the-mouth" gesture with two of his long, ringed fingers, and Karolina's eyes locked on them as he bent them a bit. Hm.

She bit her lip, grabbing his hand by the wrist. "As satisfying as it would be to stick a gun in Rafe Cameron's mouth... that's a horrible idea," she said, lowering his hand.

"Yeah, you know, torture's a war crime..." muttered Kie, giving him a deadpanned look.

"So how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell?" asked Pope, rhetorically. "Because that's a felony."

JJ scoffed, sitting next to Karolina. "All right, then what do you got, Pope?" He shrugged. "I was just trying to keep it simple- you know, one stop and we're done."

"Guys, all we need is a material witness," the dark haired boy explained. "We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads, with the gold inside of it." They looked at him, curiously. "He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered."

"We just need to find whoever it was and get them to confess, then take it to Shoupe," Karolina finished, realizing where he was headed. He nodded, shooting a finger gun at her. "Bingo."

"So how do we do that?" Kie asked, looking at Pope. He grinned slightly. "A little light espionage..."

JJ shared his mischievous look. "A little ghost recon."

Pope extended his hands. "Woogity woogity?"

They each tickled his fingers. "Woogity, baby!"

｡･:*:･ﾟ★ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

"IF THIS GUY flew planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight-lipped," Pope mused, as Kiara sped down the road. They'd figured out who the pilot was- a guy named Gavin who lived in a small house between the Cut and Figure Eight.

JJ pulled his infamous gun from his bag, grinning at it. "So then, direct approach gets my vote."

"JJ no-" Pope tried talking simultaneously with Kiara.