The Pogues

Getting Killed for a Compass

Cassie hit JJ's chest to grab his attention. His head turned at the gesture and he murmured a, "Shit," under his breath.

Cassie finished for him, "Yep, that's the police." Kiara pushed her hair back and leaned against the boat as Cassie stood up next to the wheel. Kiara huffed, "Just act frickin' normal."

The siren blared again as Pope took the rope from the deputy, "Evening, officers."

Cassie smiled and ran a hand through her hair, "Evening." Pope handed the rope to JJ, saying, "JJ, tie it off." JJ grabbed the rope and tied it with their own so they wouldn't drift down the channel. The sheriff gave a small smile, "How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?"

Kiara, JJ, and Pope were terrible actors. Cassie pushed in front and gave an innocent face, "No. No. Wow. We didn't know that." Finally, Kiara put on her actress face, "Why, why is it closed?"

The deputy gave a skeptical smile, "Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down. Seen anything?"

JJ shook his head, "No. No boats. No." The deputy looked at the four before interrogating again, "Where's your friend you always hang with? He here?"

"He's working," Cassie gave a great smile to the deputy which seemed to calm him down, but when he saw the looks between Kiara and Pope, he was interested. "I'm gonna check your little boat out."

Pope smiled through his teeth, "Yeah, hop aboard. You wanna check-- uh, check her out."

He boarded the boat as JJ pulled out the life vests for the deputy to see as Cassie walked around, trying to make sure that everyone looked as normal as possible. The deputy thanked JJ and checked for all the other ones for the safety of all on board. Cassie internally groaned inside, did they really have to do this now?

As if he read Cassie's mind, he continued to press, just to frustrate them. He worked his way to the edge of the boat, making Pope and JJ fake some concern. "Be careful." "Be careful. You don't wanna slip." He took out his sunglasses and put them over his eyes, glaring at the water, hopefully able to see something. As he walked back, he smiled, "Beautiful day."

"Sure is," JJ smiled. The deputy stepped onto his own boat, "Let us know if you see anything on your way out." Cassie smiled, "Will do."

JJ squinted at the deputies, "We'll be gone soon, sir."

As soon as the boat was out of earshot, they grabbed the side of the boat and looked over. They couldn't see any sign of him as Pope huffed, "He's definitely out of air." But as soon as it was said, John B's face popped up out of the water, letting them all breath in relief. "There he is!" JJ exclaimed as he pulled he watched Cassie help John B out of the water. Cassie patted him on the back, "You okay?" He nodded in response.

JJ positioned himself to lean on Cassie, "How'd it go down there?" Pope wondered as well, "Did you find anything?"

"Did I find anything?" He pulled out a black bag from the water. JJ walked over in delight, "Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!"

Cassie watched as Kie checked on Jon B while the boys looked at the bag. "You okay?" she asked, giving a certain look that Cassie made note of. John B continued panting, "Yeah, I ran out of air."

She put her hand on his bare chest, "You scared the shit out of me."

"Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... took care of 'em," JJ interrupted, taking John B's attention from Kiara. As they hurrahed, Cassie spotted another boat, "Hey guys." JJ turned and put his arms around her body, "We're going to be filthy rich." She shook her head and pointed, "Bogey."