The Deep End » Outer Banks [JJ Maybank] BOOK ONE

VIII: Lighthouse

lighthouse
noun. a tower or other structure containing a beacon light to warn or guide ships at sea.

⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓

While Lee wanted to be excited at the prospect of finding the gold and getting the money, a feeling of dread was beginning to settle in her stomach. Somehow, they would have to find the gold and then collect it—and Lee couldn't simply dive into a shipwreck and pick up that much gold. Not to mention the legal issues there would be getting into an old shipwreck and the struggle of converting the gold into usable money. Assuming that they were even able to do all of those things, there would also be targets placed on their backs instantly. If word got out that they had found the gold, the whole group would live in fear. What the square groupers were willing to do to the crew just on the chance that they had information on the wreck was a perfect example. Lee knew the square groupers were nothing compared to the greedy Kooks of Figure Eight.

The only good news, in Lee's mind, was that it seemed less and less likely drugs were in any way involved with this ordeal. Her chances of having a slightly-less-than-cordial run-in with Barry were decreasing exponentially.

As soon as Lee and her friends had arrived at John B's house, she forgot all of her worries and hurried into the house, desperate to see the contents of the envelope. They gathered to watch John B in his father's office and Lee noticed that John B must have cleaned the mess from when his house was robbed. Aside from the bullet lodged in the wall from Lee's subpar shooting skills, the house looked normal.

She watched in disdain as JJ took a bite out of moldy bread and then immediately spat it back out. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of food, but seeing the mold seemed to quell the hunger for a little longer. Her fingers trembled with something between anxiety and excitement as she looked at the envelope in John B's hands.

John B seemed unfazed, tearing open the envelope as his friends watched apprehensively. The first thing that he pulled out was a large map of the North Carolina coast with several markings on it. Lee focused on a rough drawing of a storm, about twenty miles south of the farthest point of the Cut.

"X marks the spot," Pope said, pointing at an X drawn in permanent marker just south of Kildare Island.

"Longitude and latitude," John B observed, running his finger under a set of coordinates just left of the X. "Wait, there's somethin' else in there," he continued, reaching into the envelope again.

He pulled out a tape recorder and Lee stared at it in confusion, wondering why John B's father would leave a tape recorder with the map. She hoped that it would provide detailed instructions for them, but John B's dad had never been very straightforward before.

"What's that?" JJ asked, staring curiously at the tape recorder.

Kiara sighed, "It's a tape recorder, dumbass."

Lee nudged John B's shoulder in encouragement. "Play it, John B."

He glanced up at her and Lee could see the fear in his brown eyes. She gave him a nod, smiling gently.

"Dear Bird," the recording began, John B's father's distinct voice echoing around the otherwise silent house. It had been a long time since Lee had heard Big John's voice, but she recognized the scratchiness of it immediately.

"Who's Bird?" JJ asked John B.

John B was staring at the tape recorder in wonder as he said, "That's what my dad called me."

Lee placed a hand on John B's shoulder comfortingly. She couldn't imagine hearing her father's voice for the first time since he had left. It would certainly shake her to her core, so she could only try to empathize with John B.