haven murphy had nothing to lose. everything was different after sarah cameron's birthday party, the night her father died. haven just didn't feel right in her own skin. then, on a whim, she befriended pope heyward and got sucked into a wild goose h...
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CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE: WATERS RISING (episode eight: the cross)
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"I JUST DON'T GET it," Pope explained, pacing back and forth in front of the newly covered grave of Cecilia Tanny. The others were strewn out around him, listening attentively to his string of thoughts. "I mean, you guys saw the map. He hides his gold so no one finds it for a hundred and seventy years! And then he sends a message to his son, Robert, to come here to his mother's grave. But the message never gets to him. And Denmark wanted him to find the cross, so I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like—"
"Like we missed something?" JJ cut him off. From her place sitting cross-legged at John B's side, Haven looked up to see her cousin standing beside the twinkie, peering through the Angel Oak's branches with wide eyes.
"JJ," Arden frowned at him. She was sitting opposite Haven, next to Sarah. "What is it?"
By now, everyone was looking at him curiously. With the Twinkie now parked beside the tree, he was able to climb onto the roof of the van, gesturing them over with a frantic, "Guys, come here!" Haven allowed John B to tug her to her feet, the two of them watching eagerly as Kie and Arden followed him up onto the roof.
"That looks like—"
"The painting in the Island Room."
"Oh, my god," Arden gasped, before a smile tugged at her lips. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
JJ frowned then. "What do you mean? Ladies first."
Haven's eyes narrowed at the familiar statement, Arden's doing the same as she put a hand on her hip. "Oh, no, JJ Maybank," she exclaimed, causing him to wince and Kie to smirk as she stood between them. "You're not doing this again. We risked our lives in the storm drain, it's your turn."
"But the pecker thing—"
When Arden's lips pursed, a dangerous red tint appearing on her face, JJ went deathly quiet. Knowing the others wouldn't protest him taking one for the team, he heaved a heavy sigh, and turned to face the hole in the tree like a soldier preparing for the battle of his lifetime.
"Look," Kie snickered down at them. "He's scared."
"I'm not scared," he scoffed, rising to the bait as Haven knew he would. "I've got this."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Arden repeated her previous words.
At last, JJ reached into the tree, feeling around the space for a moment. "There's something in here," he said, to which Haven leaned forward with a combination of anticipation and wariness. A look had flashed across JJ's face, followed by an almost unnoticeable smirk that was smothered as he let out a sudden, heart-wrenching scream.
