Denial || An OBX Story

Chapter Six

John B leads Maddie, Kiara, Pope, and JJ to the coastguards hut. There were so many people there to complain about missing dogs, storm damages, sunken boats, and tons of other things that the coast guard probably couldn't even help.

John B pushes through the people to get to the main desk with Maddie who was only half a step behind him. John B leans on the desk and looks at the people complaining about their diabetic dog that had gone missing in the storm. They sounded delusional but they figured it could be interrupted. "Hey, excuse me." John B tries to interrupt.

JJ appears on the other side of the desk, "Hey, can, we... we found a boat." He says with his finger pointed in the air. He looks at the guy hoping for eye contact but he doesn't receive any. He looks over at Maddie who just shrugs her shoulders.

"You're gonna wanna hear this." John B speaks up again, making the man's head turn towards his.

"Hey! Calm down." The man shouts making the room fall quiet.

Maddie is quick to take a step up. "I think you're the one that needs to calm down." She says as John B tries to push her back. "Asshole." She mumbles, while crossing her arms over her chest.

John B decides to give up and grabs Maddie's wrist and pulls her around to JJ. He uses his free hand to pull the pen out of JJ's hand and slam it back into the cup before telling him to leave.

Maddie pulls her arm out of John B's grip as he turns to leave. She looks back at JJ and nods at the pen. He smirks and picks it back up as he and Maddie leave side by side.

"Well, that went well." Pope says sarcastically.

Maddie rolls her eyes. "Thanks, Pope, I didn't realize." She replies, making Pope look at JJ.

JJ puts his arm on John B's shoulder, "So, what's the plan?" He asks as John B pulls the motel key from his pocket.

He holds the key up and looks at Pope as he waves it in the air. "I think I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns that boat."

Pope is quick to shake his head no, but Maddie and Kiara are looking at each other with smiles on their faces. "No, no, we don't know whose room that is." Pope says in worry, "It could belong to anyone."

JJ hardly lets Pope finish his sentence before he grabs the key from John B's hand. "Me and Maddie are in."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Maddie wraps her arm around Pope's shoulders. He drops her arm off of his shoulders but she ignores it and places it back making him shake his head. "I didn't know I couldn't answer for myself, JJ."

"I read your mind." He winks.

"Really?" Maddie asks with a slight chuckle. "Then what am I thinking about right now?" She challenges him, making him smirk.

"Me." He says quickly and slyly. "Naked." There was that smirk in his voice again. But this time, Maddie was actually looking at him. Now, she could hear and see it.

She furrows her brows. "You wish, but you weren't even close." She takes her arm from around Pope's shoulders and steps towards JJ and pats his chest. "Better luck next time."

"Dude, are you in or not." John B asks in frustration.

Maddie looks at him as she runs a hand through her hair. "Of course I'm in."

John B smiles and then tosses Kiara the keys. "Come on." She says, stepping off of the pole she was leaning on. "We'll be lookout."

Maddie walks past Pope, poking his side and then signaling JJ to follow her as she catches up with Kiara.

John B pats Pope's chest as he passes him, "Finder's fee." He suggests. "Just sayin." He turns around and looks at Pope once more, "And, hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice."

"Man."

"Come on, bubba."

Maddie and Kiara walk side by side as JJ follows close behind, sticking his vape in his mouth and looking up at the sky.

They all walk back to the Chateau to get the H.M.S Pogue. As they go, they decide who is going to sneak into the room and how long they planned on investigating for.

When they got back, John B quickly took the wheel and began driving to the motel in which they'd never even heard of.

JJ whistles when the Pogues finally get a look at the beaten. "I thought that chateau looked bad." He comments.

"The chateau does look bad." Maddie reminds him with a swift roll of her eyes, "And you literally make ninety percent of the mess."

"This place is a shitshow." John B adds, making the group nod their heads in agreement.

Kiara decides to pitch in, "Motel or meth lab?"

Pope shakes his head as a shiver runs down his spine. "You be the judge."

"By my judgment, it looks like there's nothing valuable here." Maddie shrugs, "But I'm still going up, whether someone comes with me or not."

"Weren't you listening while we were talking about who was going up?" John B questions her, receiving a quick shake of her head. "Me, you, and JJ. This doesn't look like a place someone with a Grady-White would stay." John B finishes, making Maddie smirk.

"No, this looks like the type place someone with a Grady-White would get killed." Pope talks again. But, Maddie slaps her hand over his mouth, telling him to stop being so scared and to let the 'professionals' do all of the work.

Their small boat continues toward the land that the motel say on. It was a gloomy day out, some post-storm clouds still hovering in the air above them.

"Alright, here we go." John B let's JJ know so that when they hit land, he doesn't flip off the front like earlier that morning.

JJ starts using his radio static voice again, "This is your captain speaking. The H.M.S. Pogue coming in for landing." He holds a rope and leaps off the front of the boat, hollering as he falls. He leans over and ties the rope to a rock that seems deep enough into the ground.

"Are we good?" Maddie asks, starting to get impatient.

JJ ties one last knot. "Yeah we're good." He reassures her, offering his hand out to Madeline to assist her off of the boat.

She willingly takes his hand and steps down before speaking in a British accent, "Thank you, good sir."

"It was my pleasure, madam."

John B turns to walk off the boat. "Here goes nothing." He says. It was difficult to tell if he was nervous or if he just wanted to get it over with.

"Hey." Pope stops him. Making both JJ and Maddie drop their heads back in annoyance. After John B acknowledges him he begins to speak again. "Don't let them do anything stupid." He nagged.

"Oh, we will." JJ replies.

John B turns to look at JJ and Maddie. "I'm not making any promises." He tells him truthfully, earning a 'Yeah, I know' from Pope.

"Be careful." Kiara starts.

"Oh here we go." Maddie mutters to JJ, making him snort and smile at her.

Kiara hands the motel key to John B only breaking eye contact for a second or two. John B smiles awkwardly at her. "I mean it." She says dully, noticing that he was smiling.

"Yeah." He says much quieter than he expected to. "Let's go." He calls, hitting JJ's shoulder who was looking confused at the event that unfolded in front of him. They both follow him, shooting each other an unsure look, than a sly smile. "Why are all these mattresses out here?"

"After a hurricane they have to ditch them because they're all moldy." JJ answers honestly.

Then, off they were. A motel they've never heard of, with a stolen motel key from a recently sunken Grady-White. What could possibly go wrong?