ᴍʏ ᴘᴀʀᴀᴍᴏᴜʀ | ꜱ.ᴄᴀᴍᴇʀᴏɴ

three.

     "Cops."

Marley muttered aggressively. The three scrambled around the room as soon as they heard a hard, aggressive knock, signaling the presence of police officers. Observing JJ scrambling to place one of the stacks in his pocket, Marley snatched it from him and stuffed it in her waistband. Her smile spread across her face as she pulled the boy toward the window where John B had gone. Since Marley was the furthest one to the left, when she looked to her right, she saw John B with his back to the wall, trying not to get caught.

Both Marley and JJ gazed towards Kie and Pope in the HMS, giving them a mischievous smile revealing their teeth. When John B saw Pope's disapproving wave of his hands, he signaled for the two to remain silent with his hand. JJ also motioned for the two Pogues to calm down while leaning over his sister so he could observe the police officers in the motel room, which he was unable to do.

Inquisitive as to what the two police officers were doing, Marley peeked slightly to the side through a small opening in the blinds. As she watched Shoupe with narrowed eyes, monitoring his every move, her eyes widened, and her eyebrows furrowed as he held out one of the stacks towards the other deputy, saying something, then putting it in his pocket.

A few seconds later, Marley heard JJ mutter something under his breath at the sight, and both John B and her shared a look of astonishment. When JJ leaned slightly to the side, his shoulder hit Marley's, causing the gun to fall from JJ's pocket. Marley began to cringe as she closed her eyes. The three of them moved away from the window a little bit, expecting the police to investigate the sound. It is likely that they were looking for a way to emerge from the wall to hide. However, instead of emerging into the wall, they simply squeezed their eyes shut and hoped they would not be discovered.

Attempting to shift away from the window more than she could possibly manage, Marley flinched slightly as Shoupe aggressively opened the blinds from the inside of the motel. Standing there for a few seconds, he looked out the window in an attempt to find something. Marley and JJ both looked at their best friend with wide eyes, but all they received was a finger raised towards his mouth as he hoped the twins would remain quiet.

After finding no evidence, Shoupe ordered the other officer to exit the motel, and Marley released a breath she was unaware she was holding. For a few minutes, the three stood there until the police left the motel, Kie and Pope signaling that the police had pulled out of the motel and left, resulting in the three hiding Pogues making their way to the HMS Pogue.

"Well, that was fun," JJ chuckled as he sat at the end of the boat. "Could have warned us sooner."

"We would've, except Pope was on the math team," Kie retaliated, laughing. Marley sent Pope an amused look.

"You were on the math team?" John B asked in all seriousness.

"The cops took everything like it was a crime scene," Pope told them. He asserted his gaze towards the twins and eyed them down suspiciously. "Did you guys find anything?"

JJ glanced at his sister and then at the rest of the Pogues with a grin. "Did we find anything?" JJ asked rhetorically as he grasped the gun from his waistband and held it up in the air. Taking out the stack of cash she kept in her waistband, Marley held it up for the Pogues to observe, saying, "No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did."

"What the hell?" Pope exclaimed as he stood up from his seat, causing John B to take over at the steering wheel.

JJ also stood up from next to Marley so that he was face-to-face with Pope. "Dude, chill. Come on."

"Why would you guys take that from a crime scene?" Looking between the two twins, Pope shook his head frantically.

"Better than the cops having it." Marley shrugged from her seat.