Breathing Blue | OBX | Sarah Cameron

𝖘 𝖊 𝖛 𝖊 𝖓 𝖙 𝖊 𝖊 𝖓

"Okay, the library's not open all night, so we need to hurry," Sarah said as we got out of the building setting off and walking quickly, me and John B having to do an almost jog to catch up to her. We managed to find a taxi and it didn't take us long to arrive. "So, the library's on the other side of the student centre. Have either of you ever been here before?"

"I've never been to a college in North Carolina, no," I answered and JB nodded in agreement.

"That's a gap in your training. How do you like it?" I thought about it for a moment.

"So far, so good." I eventually said.

"So, my dad went here," She said and I nodded "And then his dad went here, and then his dad's dad went here."

"That's pretty rough," I said as we walked along next to her.

"Yeah, I know. He would have an absolute aneurysm if I didn't go here, which is kind of annoying, but what can you do? What about you?" She looked to John B. 

"Uh... college has never really been on my radar, so..." He was cut off by Sarah's phone ringing. She put her finger in front of her mouth to tell us both to be quiet, she then dragged me away from John B and we went over to a tree just out of sight from him which I didn't decide to question and stopped as she answered the phone. She told Ward she was just at my house and got me to say hello to help her case. He got off the phone pretty quickly and we both giggled slightly.

"So?" I questioned.

"I told him I was spending the night at Scarlet's house and it was a change of plan so we all went to yours, no biggie."

"Ohh, and what would he think if he knew you were on a dangerous mission with me and JB?"

"I'd be hanged for treason."

I gasped, "As a pogue sympathizer?" 

"Mm, and a secret foreign spy."

"Oh my goodness, you've gotta be carefully fraternizing with the enemy, Valerie." I imitated being on the phone with her as she leaned back against the tree. "Wait a minute. Did she kidnap you? Or drug you?" 

"No, I came of my own recognizance, following a lead." She said in a french accent.

"Ohh. Do we know this enemy?"

"You do. One of them anyway. He used to work for you." I covered my mouth in pretend shock. 

"No, no, no. It's not the scuba thief, is it?"

"He is not what you think. And neither is his Spanish associate, she is quite the professional."

"Goodness gracious, they're working some good psyops on you, Val. She's a smooth operator." 

"No, she's not." She giggled and I stood looking offended. "She's really clumsy. And she has a little heart tattoo on her hip she tells no one about." I looked at her in confusion as to how she knew that since I very much tried to keep it hidden since it was a stupid drunk thing back in Australia. "And she has absolutely no idea when to make a move," I smirked and we started to head back over to John. "But I think I might be able to turn this one, sir."

We made our way into the building and up the stairs. "All right, Vlad, it's time to play the truth game."

"Again?" He asked.

"Why the hell are we here?"

"Look, Sarah, I already told you. I can't tell you."

She looked towards me. "Okay, well, intel on the mission is the price of the ticket, and I'm the only way you're getting in. It's your choice. I have to know."

"Okay," He sighed. "On pain of death?" She nodded. "We're on a treasure hunt." She started laughing and looked at me when both of us stayed serious and she stopped.

"Oh, shit, you're serious."

"Look, I have reason to believe that Denmark Tanny was the sole survivor of the Royal Merchant wreck. Look, I-- I know this sounds crazy, okay, but I'm pretty sure he got away with 400 million in gold, which is how he would have been able to buy Tannyhill. And I think the location of that treasure is in his papers. That's why we're here." He explained which was a relief for me since I hated the secret keeping.

"You said 400 million?"

"That's a lot of Bubble Wrap." He said.

"I'll talk to the librarian."

"That's a fantastic idea."

It didn't take much for the lady to take us to the library after she found out Sarah's name and sang her father's praises for a while for donating the tanny materials. We went up the stairs to the part of the library where the stuff was and got out the boxes and started looking through them. 

"It says that Denmark used the moneyhe made from Tannyhill to buy slaves and give them their freedom," Sarah told us. "It saysthat he was accused of inciting revolt. This is before the Civil War."

"That's why they hanged him," I added. We searched for a bit longer until we found a letter Denmark Tanny wrote to his son on the day he died in a language only they understood. John B took a picture of the letter and then we put the boxes back before we left.