𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦

"Dude, where is he?" Kie exclaimed, waiting impatiently for John B. "Give him a second. He'll be here," Pope reassured her.

"He's coming. He'll be fine," JJ was trying really hard to convince everyone John B was fine. Including himself.

"He better have Sarah with him, otherwise..." Tatum looked up at JJ, concerned about her best friend.

The sound of a wailing siren rang through their ears, and a deputy truck pulled up into the space in front of them.

"JJ!" Kie shouted.

"Hey, yeah. Get back on the boat," JJ yelled out to Pope, "Get back on the boat. Untie it."

"Shit," Kie put her hand on the boat. Cops were never good to add to the equation, nevertheless, the door opened.

"Oh my gosh," Tatum sighed.

"Wait. No way," JJ shook his head in disbelief. "No f'ing way," Pope droaned.

"I'm sorry."

"You've gotta be kiddng me," JJ chuckled, grinning from ear to ear.

John B fucking Routledge stole Shoupe's cop car, and made a run for it, "Shoupe let me take it for a spin."

"Okay. That's believable. I'll buy that for now," Kie embraced John B in a hug, filthy and dirty.

"It wasn't easy, bro, but I got the Phantom for you, and she runs like she was made yesterday," JJ jingled the keys in his filthy little hands. "You ready to go?"

"John, where's-where's Sarah?" Tatum looked in the car to see if anyone else was in there, and to her dismay, there wasn't.

"She's not with you?" John looked in between Kie and Tatum.

"No, we thought you were together," Tatum said, worry dripping through her voice. "You better hope Sarah didn't get picked up by the cops, John B."

"No, no we got separated in the swamp. She said she was gonna meet me here."

"No, we haven't seen her, man," Pope squinted his eyes from the sun. "Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her."

"John B, look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay?"

Tatum watched JJ give John B instructions on how to get away. This whole thing seemed so surreal to her. Her best friend was wanted for murder that her...she didn't know what to call him, commited.

"Once you get there, lay low, all right? Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that? Brownsville."

John B looked back at Tatum, a look of regret on his face, a look of fear. He was just a teenager, escaping false arrestion.

"You-hey! You got that?" JJ grabbed John B's head as he stared off.

"Yeah, yeah. Brownsville," John B looked down at the ground, thinking about the last month, and how it was his last month in the Outer Banks.

"All right. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Let's do this. Yeah," JJ said as everyone climbed off the boat to push it away.

"Hey. Hey," John B's face was red from tears, "I'm sorry for basically...throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing."

"Hey, John B, yo...we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right? At least we did it together, though," JJ wrapped his arm around Pope's neck, "Pogue style."