chapter ninety-four

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ALL JOHN B KNOWS is that their father is in South America. Not incredibly helpful giving that South America was large in land, meaning they'd likely never find him. It's frustrating to not have any solid leads on where their father could possibly be but they have to start somewhere.

And that somewhere is some professor's house. The same professor who was at the site. The only issue with going to this professors house is... he's dead inside that house. They agreed to be quick, in and out, before any cops potentially show up and blame a couple Pogues for being murderers, but, hey, that's happened before and it'll likely happen again in the future.

They walk in the house and the first thing Brooklyn sees is... "There's no body."

"Sowell was right here," John B states.

"They've already been here, John B," JJ tells him. "They sent in the sweepers and now probably decontaminated this entire room so there's probably nothing left. We should get out."

"Maybe there's something left," John B inputs.

"What are we looking for then?" Brooklyn asks.

"Anything that has to do with an archaeological dig," John B answers.

"Ah, yes, that really narrows it down," she responds sarcastically. "We'll just look around for friggin anything."

JJ checks the kitchen, Brooklyn skims through box after box while John B rummages through draws and closets. John B mutters a couple words to himself while they continue to look but right now there isn't much hope of anything.

JJ is snacking from the fridge when John B snatches Brooklyn's arm. JJ pokes his head out of the fridge to John B's calls, "What is it? Snack time? What are we doing?"

"You know what? I feel very judged right now. There's an entire bird in here that'll just go to waste, okay?" JJ speaks and Brooklyn grins as this is the most JJ thing he could do. "I'm not gonna let that happen. It's not like I'm stealing it. No one else is gonna eat it. I was like, "I'll take the nutrients that this beautiful bird gives me and fill the tank," all right? Bee, do you want some?"

Brooklyn shrugs and joins his side while her brother examines some photo he had retrieved from the floor. Brooklyn and JJ are snacking on actual food, after days of not eating much, and John B is calling both their names again.

They join his side, still chewing on meat, while John B tells them what he's found. ""Local expedition team departs for South America,"" he reads off of an article.

"One of these guys that professor?" Brooklyn asks.

He points to one man and Brooklyn nods. "Holy shit," John B curses and Brooklyn furrows her eyebrows, confused. "The last things Sowell said before he died was "Neville.""

"And what does that mean?" JJ questions.

"Right there." JJ and Brooklyn read Neville Persaud from the article and realise that he was the expedition guide. "So Sowell said, "Five people on the expedition," right? Three of those people died. Which leaves us with two."

"Sowell. Neville. He's the last one alive," JJ recalls.

"Yeah, I think Sowell was telling me to warn him," John B says.

"We need to find Neville, boys," Brooklyn says, planting both hands on their shoulders and pushing them towards the door.

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JJ knew a guy with the same last name of Neville so, of course, they're related in JJ's mind.

That's how they find themselves at some ranch, where apples are being washed and people are wearing straw hats. John B is very clearly panicking as he doesn't trust that JJ actually met a guy last summer with his cousin when he was doing his... growing business.

𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 ᡣ𐭩 𝐨𝐛𝐱Where stories live. Discover now