Working a lame barista job feels even worse when you're thinking about the fact that you could be finding 400 million dollars in gold anytime soon. Now that they had the drone and they had tested it in the water early this morning, it was becoming more and more real, they could actually pull this off.
But, until then, Lane was at work, serving rich people coffee and sandwiches and dreaming of the day where she can throw in her apron and walk out of here. But, until then there she was, tired out of her mind and wishing nothing more than to be out in the sun with her friends with no care in the world about money, or where their next meal would come from.
"Laney Laney Laney," JJ comes rushing into the cafe, his arms flailing as he catches the attention of all the other customers trying to sit peacefully and enjoy their coffee and food, "You will not believe what just happened to me." He manages to finish his sentence amidst trying to catch his breath.
"JJ, what are you doing here?" Lane frowns at him, wiping her hands on her apron as she walks out from behind the counter to stand in front of him.
"I'm helping Pope deliver groceries for his dad and I-" He puts his hands on his knees and leans over, still catching his breath, "I just went to the Cameron house to drop off an order and Rose was there and she was so flirting with me." He tells her, his eyes wide.
"That's...disgusting she is a grown woman," Lane remarks, talking slowly as she processes what he just told her.
"A hot, rich as fuck grown woman!" He exclaims and Lane waves her hands at him, physically trying to shush him.
"You ran all the way here to tell me that Rose Cameron tried hitting on you?" She raises her eyebrows at him
"Well...I couldn't text you the towers are still down." He reminds her like his reasoning should be obvious.
Lane rolls her eyes at him but she can't help and smile a little, "Well, my shift is basically over. Can I ride back on the boat with you and Pope?" She asks, starting to untie her apron as she walks back toward the counter.
"Yeah sure," He puts his hands on the counter and peers over it, watching her as she grabs her things. She grabs her bag from underneath the register and tosses him a sandwich when her manager isn't looking. JJ gasps, "I could kiss you right now." He says, unwrapping the sandwich and taking a big bite out of it.
"Wouldn't Rose get jealous, though?" Lane teases him as they walk out of the cafe. She may have technically been scheduled for fifteen more minutes but who cares? She was gonna be a millionaire any day now.
"Well, I think she may understand," JJ says before taking another bite, "You and I have history and all."
Lane laughs, "Ah right, Rose has nothing on our history together...except maybe a couple million dollars."
"Hey, money can't buy me love." JJ holds a finger up at her
"JJ, money can buy you anything." She shakes her head at him as she walks ahead toward the dock where she can already see Pope on the boat, ready to head back home.
"Pope! Dude, you're not gonna believe what happened to me." JJ yells, waving his hands as he runs ahead of Lane toward the boat. She keeps up with him to some extent and gets on not that far behind. "When I say count me in on all these grocery deliveries, Pope, I mean it." They both walk over to where Pope is driving the boat just as he pulls away from the dock. Lane drops her bag down and stands next to her friend, frowning at his straight face. To be honest, he looked pissed off and she never saw his resting face look quite like that. "What's up with you?" JJ asks when he doesn't acknowledge them.
"Pope, what's wrong?" Lane tilts her head at him and that's when she notices the mark on his forehead. Well, it wasn't really a mark it was basically a dent. "What the fuck happened?" She gasps, trying to pull his hat off. He swats her hand away and pulls his hat back down, not looking at either of them.
"Jesus!" JJ stands up, looking down at Pope, "What happened?"
"Rafe and Topper jumped me." He huffs, his eyes focused on the water ahead. "They said no pogues on their side of the island." Lane notices a tear slide down his cheek and her heartbreaks for him at the same time that her blood starts to boil.
"What are you gonna do?" JJ asks him, his jaw clenched in anger.
"I have something in mind," Pope says slowly and Lane looks between the two boys, placing her hand on Pope's shoulder, comforting him.
"Whatever it is, we're going to help you pull it off." She speaks for her and JJ.
Pope doesn't tell them what he's thinking of doing until he parks the boat across the water from Topper's new boat, "2020 Malibu, 24-MXC. World's finest wakesetter." The tree teens stand together, staring at the masterpiece in front of them. "Number one in quality, luxury, and performance." And it would soon be number one in being at the bottom of the ocean.
"This is war, Pope," JJ says, "They hit us, we hit them." He pulls a bandana over his face and throws on a pair of sunglasses. Lane follows his lead, putting on a baseball cap and tying a bandana across the lower half of her face. Pope takes his shirt and hat off, "Do it." He dives into the water. The plan was for Pope to grab the plug out of Topper's boat and swim as fast as he could back to their boat where they would make a clean getaway and Topper's boat would quickly begin to sink.
"You've corrupted another one, JJ." Lane remarks as JJ grabs the ladder to put on the side of the boat.
"You mean I've awoken another beast," He says, "You both had it in you all along, I just brought it out of you. And you caved before Pope."
"Yeah, I remember my first Kook sabotage." She sighs fondly, "Slashing Kelce's tires after our homecoming game."
"I remember that," JJ smiles, "That was a great night." He says. She wasn't sure if he remembered what happened later that night, as in, when they kissed. "For many reasons." He adds. Lane turns her head to look at him and he looks right back at her. He did remember. They share a short moment before they realize Pope is back and climbing up the ladder, "Wow, you did it." JJ smiles at him as Pope holds up the plug as proof, "I am so proud of you right now, holy shit."
"Welcome to the dark side." Lane smirks, helping him back up onto the boat.
"You guys," Pope wipes some water off his face as he stands up and looks the two friends in the eyes, "You can't tell anybody."
"Oh, no, yeah. Totally dude." JJ shakes his head.
"Definitely not, lips are sealed." Lane mimics zipping her lips.
"No, I'm serious." Pope reiterates, "Not Kie, not John B. Nobody." Lane is a little hesitant but JJ agrees right away.
"Yup, got it. Gimme that." He takes the plug from Pope and tosses it into the water. Destroying all evidence.
"Okay, let's get out of here," Lane says urgently, pulling the bandana off her face.
After meeting up with John B and Kie for an evening of surfing, the gang heads back to the Chateau. Lane is sitting in one of the chairs between John B and Pope while Kie and JJ are sharing the hammock. "You really think it's out there? Like, no bullshit?" Pope asks John B after there's a beat of silence, referring to the gold.
"My father thought it was." John B reminds him.
"But do you?" Pope presses further.
"After hearing his voice on that tape, I think I do." Lane smiles softly at John B. Even if he was leading them on a wild goose chase, he was doing it because he trusted his father more than anyone. "JJ believes." He adds.
"Wow, JJ, do you really believe?" Kie asks dramatically
"We talkin 4 mil?" JJ joins the conversation.
"400 Mil." Everyone corrects him in unison.
"I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks," The blond closes his eyes and settles into the hammock. Lane chuckles at him but her laughter, along with everyone else's, dies down when she sees Lawson walking toward them.
"I figured I'd find you here." He says a not-so-happy look on his face as he approaches the teens, "Where have you been, Fallon? I haven't seen you at all in like two days."
"I've been working? With my friends? It's not my fault you're never home when I am." She stands up from her chair and crosses her arms over her chest.
"You have to check in with me. You can't just be running around the island withou-" His eyes fall to the necklace around her neck and he stops midsentence, frowning at her, "Where did you get that?" He asks.
Lane looks down at the gold pendant, biting her lip nervously. She knew this moment would come she just didn't want it to happen in front of her friends, "It was mom's." She mumbles.
"Yeah, I know it was mom's, where the hell did you get it?" He demands. Everyone around them is tensed up now, waiting for what the siblings would say next.
"You don't have to be such a dick! Mom wanted me to have it, John B's dad said so." She informs him, her blood boiling. Shouldn't he just be happy that she now had something else to remember her mom by?
Lawson rolls his eyes at his baby sister, "Stop acting like you know everything." He says slowly, "If you really knew anything about mom and dad's death you would know that his dad," He points right at John B, "is the reason that they're dead."
John B jumps right out of his seat, "Excuse me?" Lane puts a hand on his chest to prevent him from getting in Lawson's face. She knows from experience that it doesn't end well.
"You kids act like you know everything in the world but you don't understand the half of it." Lawson scoffs at them.
"Then explain it to me," Lane steps up to him, "otherwise I'm forced to believe you just enjoy yelling at teenagers because it's the only thing that brings you joy in life."
Her brother's jaw clenches, "Everything that I've hidden from you all this time was to protect you. You were so young when mom and dad died that I couldn't bear telling you that because his dad," He points to John B, "got them involved in some crazy treasure hunt, looking for gold that probably doesn't even exist, and it stuck a target on their backs."
"Mom and dad died in a car crash, Lawson-" He cuts Lane off.
"Yeah, that's what everyone told you because you were eight." He hisses at her, "What they didn't tell you, was that the reason they were driving so fast that night of the hurricane was that they were running from someone who was shooting at them." Lane's heart drops into her stomach, "Or that their breaks were tampered with, which is what caused them to go over the bridge in the first place."
"Why are you just now telling her this? Why does no one else know?" JJ steps in, walking up behind Lane who feels like the world is starting to spin in slow motion.
"I was protecting her from the truth, sometimes it can hurt people more than it helps them." Lawson explains, "And the sheriff's department ruled it an accident, even despite the evidence. I only know because Sheriff Peterkin talked to me about it directly, before she threw the case out." He looks down at Lane who's eyes aren't focused on anything in particular, she's staring into space. "Our parent's death was no accident, they were murdered."
Short chapter, but a big reveal at the end. I debated adding this in so soon but I felt like you guys needed to understand why Lawson is such an asshole, he's just got a lot of pressure on him. I also feel it's huge for Lane's development as a new character for you guys. Also, sorry for the late update, with everything happening in the world it felt insensitive to spend my time writing. Let me know what you think!