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꧁ － － － － － － ✧ － － － － － － ꧂
𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐢𝐱 — 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑦𝑠
POPE USED THE old fashioned knocker three times on the door at 27 King Street in Charleston, the four friends waiting anxiously to meet the person who had summoned Pope there. "You think that was too much?" Pope stepped back in line with the trio.
"It echoed the entire house. That's for sure. So they definitely heard it." JJ spoke, his hand on the small of Leilani's back, twirling the ends of her long curls.
"Maybe nobody's home." Kie suggested with a shrug.
Pope hit the knocker against the door twice more, the heavy door swinging open, revealing a man. He leant against the doorway and looked between the boys. His finger extended towards Pope. "You must be Pope."
"Because he's black?" Leilani said, always taking the opportunity to shame someone for being hateful. JJ pinched her skin lightly and Pope sighed quietly.
The man narrowed his eyes at her, but Pope spoke. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?" he questioned gingerly.
"Ms. Limbrey was expecting you yesterday." the strange man corrected.
Pope looked at his friends. "Oh. I'm... I'm sorry. My car broke down on the way up here." he said quickly.
"Carburetor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville. Sorry about that." JJ spoke, a neutral expression on his face.
The man looked at all of them. "Yeah, she was, uh, real upset when you didn't show up."
"We tried to call, but there's no number on the invitation. We got here as fast as we could." Kiara said, glancing at Leilani, whose eyes were trained on the man, thinking and planning.
"She also expected you to come alone."
Pope stepped towards the man. "I mean, these are my friends. They helped me find the Royal Merchant too. I—"
"The instructions were explicit. Your friends can stay outside." the man interupted.
"We're kind of a package deal, man." JJ tried to say.
Pope looked over at him. "JJ. It's okay. I got this. I'll be good." he promised.
Leilani shifted her gaze from the strange man to Pope. "We'll be right here." she promised.
Kie took Pope's hand. "Keep the car running." Pope whispered, and Kie nodded.
The man led Pope into the house, shutting the door behind him. Leilani, Kie and JJ walked back to the car. Leilani's knee bounced up and down out of nerves, but her hands shook again for an unknown reason. Her movements were painfully slow, almost lethargic. Leilani thought she was getting better, but she was even worse today. "Think he's going to get whatever we need to clear JB?" Leilani asked aloud. Clearing John B meant finally getting justice for her father, and Leilani would do whatever it took to make that happen.
