Rixon's Cove was somewhere that the Pogues went only when something really important needed to be said, so Lane can't stop her leg from bouncing in anticipation after they build a fire.
"Hey, guys, so like my dad is already going to kill me, so what is this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks.
"Yeah, I missed out a butt load of tips tonight by running out so this better be worth it." Lane sighs, rolling the sleeves up on her shirt.
John B does finger guns at JJ, "Might as well tell him, man. Before we're gaffed."
"You ready for this?" John B looks around the group who is boiling over with anticipation.
"Yeah," Kie says, leaning over in her seat.
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B reveals.
"Oh my god, here we go again with this." Pope rolls his eyes. If he pissed his dad off yet again because of another wild goose chase he was going tobe seriously pissed.
"No, hear him out, alright?" JJ nudges Pope
"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island."
"Are you serious?" Kie looks between John B and JJ, "Oh my god."
"I'd like to voice my skepticism," Pope says, folding his hands together.
"I'm sure you would, Pope," John groans as he stands up from the log he is sitting on, "but may I present you with my evidence, sir?"
"Proceed." Pope allows it.
"So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B leans down to grab a folded piece of paper from said backpack and holds it up as his first piece of evidence.
"Who the hell is that?"
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck," John B explains, handing the letter to Lane, "Check this out."
"Wait, I know about this,' Lane says as her eyes scan over the letter, "my dad helped the Cameron's go through all the stuff in Tanny Hill when they moved in, he gathered it all and took it to the State Archives after authenticating it."
"Yes, exactly," John B snaps his fingers at her, "slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship but my dad, he found the complete manifest." Lane passes the letter over to Kie so that she can see for herself, her attention completely on John B as he explains the rest of his theory, "So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his farm. Drum roll, please," The group-minus Pope-slaps their knees to create a type of drum roll, "Because that farm is...Tannyhill Plantation."
"Tannyhill?" Kie asks in disbelief.
"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves and then he sold a shit ton of rice which pissed off all the white planters, and then, they decide to lynch him." Lane reaches over and snatches the letter from Pope, wanting to take another look at it, "The day before they're coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."
Lane squints her eyes at the end of the letter, 'Harvest the wheat in parcel nine near the water?" She reads off the "coded message" looking up at John for confirmation.
"Except, there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B bends over to point at the end of the letter where there's a drawing of a gold bar and a bushel of wheat in the middle.
"Holy shit-" Lane jumps up, pulling her mom's necklace out of her shirt, "That's-that's what is on my necklace. The gold! The wheat! My parents knew."
"Exactly," John B grabs her shoulders, "Lane they were this close to finding the gold and now we can finish what they started. All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."
"Okay, so this might actually have a small chance of being true..." Pope trails off, still being skeptical as JJ marches over to John B and gives him a hug, lifting him off the ground.
"I'm so proud of you right now," JJ says passionately after he sets him down and pulls away
"Thank you," John cups his face, "That's really sweet of you."
"Okay, so, guys," Pope brings them back down to earth, "What's the plan?"
"Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight, she's gonna bring an original survey map-"
"Hold on." Kie cuts him off and Lane raises her eyebrows, her arms immediately crossing over her chest at the mention of Sarah Cameron, "Sarah? W-why Sarah?"
"This is gonna be good," JJ says, taking off his hat. Lane pokes him in the chest and looks him in the eyes as if to ask him what he knows, "Just...let him explain." He whispers
"Sarah, um, she-she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday." John B explains, "And that's where I got the letter."
"You were in Chapel Hill yesterday with Sarah Cameron?" Kie's face scrunches up in disgust.
"That's where you were yesterday? And this morning when I was freaking out for your safety?!" Lane exclaims
"He was mackin on her." JJ spills the beans
"I wasn't macking on her.'
"You were totally macking on her."
"I was not macking on her, I was using her for access."
"There was access alright..."
"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kie breaks up the banter between dumb and dumber, asking a legit question.
"I was just trying to get into the archives!"
"Is that a yes?" Both Kie and John B are raising their voices, the moment getting more heated and if it came down to it, Lane was totally on Kie's side.
"You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe?" Lane can sense Kie's offense and she doesn't blame her. John B was bringing in the one person on the island that Kie seriously hated, "What about the T-shirt company, bro?"
"I was just using her for information." He defends once again.
"Why don't I believe you?" She asks
"I'm trying to make us filthy rich, here. So that we can pay off a boat, or send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." John B stutters, trying to plead with the group to work with him, "Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"
"Well right now you look like the type of person I want to punch in the face so yeah," Lane mutters under her breath but John B can hear her loud and clear.
"You don't know her yet," Kie says, "I do! You can't trust her."
"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club." Lane points to Pope
"And he called me a slut while also trying to strangle me." She adds on.
"Rafe and Sarah are too different human beings." Lane rubs her face. If he wasn't macking on her then why was he defending her so much?
"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ turns the attention to Kie.
"She's like-a spitting cobra." Kie rubs her thighs with the palms of her hands, staring into the fire like she's bringing up past trauma. "First, she-she blinds you and-"
"This is a bad analogy."
"It doesn't matter!" Lane shouts at Pope, "What matters is that Kie doesn't trust her and she has a reason for that."
"Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take." Kie looks back up at John B, pleading with him through her brown eyes.
"Regardless if that is true or not," He sighs, "She has the map we need and I told her to meet me at the Hawk's Nest." Lane sticks her tongue against the inside of her cheek, "So if we want to find the gold, that's where I have to go."
Silence falls over the group as everyone thinks it over in their heads, "Well, this is probably a good time to bring up the fact that Lane and I definitely made out earlier." Lane instantly turns and smacks JJ in the arm, "What? I thought we were just letting everything air out."
"What voice inside of your head told you that this was an okay time to bring that up?" Lane waves her arms around in anger.
"You guys made out?" Pope asks, his eyes wide.
"Yeah, my man," JJ reaches his hand out towards Pope, expecting some sort of high five or reward but it definitely does not come.
After Lane threatens everyone to drop the subject and focus on the issues at hand, it's decided that they should all head to the Hawk's Nest and retrieve the map from the one and only Kook Princess. Lane is in the passenger seat, everyone else in the back while John B drives the van. No one else is at Hawk's nest at this time of night which made the storm rolling in even more ominous. "Hit it boys! Recon mission!" Pope slides open the back door and Lane starts to hop out of the passenger seat.
"Yo! Uh, so, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself." John B turns in his seat to tell everyone the dumbest conclusion he has ever come to.
"Really?" Lane raises an eyebrow at him
"What?" She scoffs at him and rolls her eyes, slamming her door shut, 'Look, I just don't wanna spook Sarah with the Peanut Gallery."
"I just don't understand why we're involving her at all." Kie sits forward in her seat.
"Kie, we're not involving her, okay?" He looks at her in exasperation, "It's just-like, uh, a business meeting." JJ mimics dick sucking with the joint in his hand which makes Pope burst out into laughter, "Look, once we get what we need we cut her loose, alright? Plus, we need the map."
"Promise me nothing's happening between you two," Kie demands.
"Nothing's happening, Kie."
"I'm being serious." Her tone doesn't waver, "This isn't about you, this isn't about us. It's about her." Kie explains, "Dude, she's gonna get inside your head. Just promise me nothing's happening between you guys."
"I promise." Kie watches her best friend's eyes and while his words are what she wants to hear, she can't help but feel like they aren't what he really means.
"That was really believable." JJ blows the moment
"A hundred percent believable," Pope adds on.
"Anyways, um, I'm gonna take care of business." John B grabs his bag off of Lane's lap and she crosses her arms over her chest as he climbs out of the car and heads off to his little date.
Despite the music playing on the radio, the van is silent for a moment before Pope speaks up again, "Kiara, holding onto your grudge is like drinking poison and hoping Sarah will die."
"Pope that doesn't make any sense." Lane turns around in her seat, "If Kie wants to hold on to her grudge she can do that for as long as she wants." She smacks him on the top of his head.
"Ow," Pope winces, "Why don't you hit your boyfriend? He agrees with me."
"He's-" JJ gives her a look before she can finish her sentence, "Don't look at me like that we haven't talked about it yet.'" Lane throws her hands up, "I would have liked for it to stay private before we had the chance to talk about it but you wanted to brag."
"I mean," JJ smirks a little bit, "Can you blame me?"
"Did you guys hear that?" Kie asks and everyone goes dead silent, Lane leaning over to turn off the music. Over the distant rumbles of thunder, they can hear a faint cry for help
"Please, somebody help."
"Oh, wait, no I hear that." Everyone falls out of the van, running in the direction that John B walked, hoping to find the source of the yell. They start booking it once they can put the voice to Sarah and realize that something could be wrong with John B.
Lane's heartbeat picks up as she sees John B on the ground, Sarah holding his head against her chest, "Sarah, what happened?" Pope asks as they all finally make it to the pair.
"I don't know what to do. He needs help." Sarah sobs as Lane drops to her knees next to John B, "Topper shoved him."
"Where the hell is he?" JJ demands, looking around for any sign of the prick.
Lane's hands shake, "Sarah, lay his head down." Her voice is shockingly calm compared to how freaked out she was.
"Please go get help, I don't care who just call someone." Sarah pleads as Lane examines John B's body.
"Hey, Johnny can you hear me?" There's a faint groan but it's barely there, "Open your eyes."
"Pope go get help." JJ says, "Go!"
"Come on, John B you can't leave me too." Lane whispers, running her hands through her hair as she tries to ignore the fact that Sarah just leaned down and kissed him right on the lips. So much for nothing going on between them. But Lane didn't have the compacity for that anger right now, she was too worried that her brother would never open hs eyes again.
"Please, John B."
I know that was short and kinda quick but I really wanted to get to the next episode. Let me know what you think! What do you want to see more of?