{ LIVING THE POGUE LIFE }

{54}

"I can't believe it," Brie shook her head, the grin on her face still nowhere close to fading. "They're alive. They're actually alive."

"I know," Kiara bit her lip with excitement.

JJ reached over and squeezed Brie's hand, and she squeezed back just as hard. Brie had prayed for this, and each time she did she could never bring herself to actually believe it. Now it was really happening. She still had her best friends. She still had her family.

"So what's the plan?" JJ asked, "Are we going to the Bahamas?"

"There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas," Pope shook his head.

"Why not?" JJ frowned. "I thought we were supposed to be helping our friend."

They all sighed in unison at JJ's response. He waved his arms at them in exasperation.

"JJ that takes money," Brie reminded him, her tone soothing. "Also, we're bound to get caught out by the cops...which John B will be doing sooner or later, so we need to find a way to clear his name."

"Yeah," Kiara agreed. "And we need to have done it, like, yesterday."

Both Brie and Pope nodded slowly. Brie could see the wheels turning in sync behind Pope's eyes. They seemed to work as a team when concocting elaborate plans. Brie came up with a completely insane plan that could end up going horribly wrong, and Pope stayed level-headed and would negotiate some of the elements until they ended up with a plan just crazy enough to work.

"I'll tell you how we do it," JJ cut in.

Brie, Kiara and Pope all stared at him in anticipation. Brie gestured towards him with her hand, a skeptical expression on her face.

"Go on," she urged.

"We kidnap Rafe."

"What?" Kiara snapped, frowning at him. "That's your big plan to clear John B's name? You want us to go after a psychopathic murderer?"

"Yeah," JJ nodded in determination. "We kidnap him, stick a gun in his mouth, and just wait until he starts squawking."

Brie rolled her eyes but underneath she could feel the faint smirk that she was trying so hard to hide. He was totally insane.

"Okay, as much as I would love to be on board with that," she said, "I just don't really see it working out for us."

"Yeah," Kiara agreed, making a disapproving face. "You know, torture is a war crime."

"One that would land you in a prison cell," Pope added. "How exactly do you plan on helping John B from there?"

JJ sighed in defeat and threw his hands into the air. Brie watched him with a smug smile and shook her head at him. He hated when she was right,

"Okay, well," JJ snapped, "What are your brilliant ideas then? My plan was pretty simple."

He sat down on the sofa and Brie came over to sit beside him, sitting so close that their legs pressed against each other. JJ gave her a small smile. She hoped that the contact was as comforting for him as it always was for her.

"You guys," Pope said, "All we need is a material witness. We watched Ward's plane take off for the Bahamas with the gold. Ward sure as hell didn't fly it, which means that there was someone else there on the tarmac the day that Rafe shot Brie and the Sheriff."

JJ winced at the mention of the incident, and Brie unintentionally brought her hand up to her injured shoulder. She felt JJ's eyes on her as his leg tensed against her's. She placed a hand on his knee to comfort him and leaned into him ever so slightly.