I took the biggest hiatus that was unplanned... i am so sorry. I never planned to not update, and life just sort of happened.
I have about two more chapters left of this season... which means then we are on a break until season 4 is out... good news it sounds like they are starting to film that now.
Any errors that are in here are all mine.
The tension in the air lingered long after we got the tire changed on the Twinkie and we watched Barracuda Mike drive off. A deal had been made, we had a ride to South America, but the looming threat of the gold not being found stayed at the forefront of our mind. We had signed our deal with the devil and if we hadn't pulled our end of the bargain, Mike would make sure we paid for it. I found myself continuously looking out at the sideview mirror at the road behind us, expecting Mike to show up again.
"He's gone Roe," JJ said reaching across to my hand, anxiously spinning my necklace, pulling it away and squeezing it.
"For now." I mumbled. "But if this doesn't work..."
"It's going to work." He interrupted and I turned towards him scowling. He took his eyes away from the road for a moment, to meet my gaze and gave me a small smile. "Trust me." I closed my eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath. The remainder of the drive to the front gates of Kitty Hawk was quiet but as we got closer, we both leaned forward looking up at the camp and signs as we passed them.
"Jay... there's a guard." I stated, watching a guy checking the car in front of us.
"Awe shit." He cursed slowly pulling forward. As the van slowed down my stomach turned into a giant knot.
"Hold it right there, please." The guard gruffed as we pulled up to the gate. JJ forced the van into park and put on his cheesiest smile, putting his arm out the window.
"How we all doing?" he asked lightly.
"Can I help you?" the man asked ignoring JJ's original question.
"Hey there, uh... Sir." JJ started his voice cracking briefly forcing him to cough and clear his throat.
"We have some packages that we were asked to drop off." I quickly interjected.
"Uh, yeah... Camp counselor Laura..." he started, and I had to force my face to remain stoic as he constructed his lie. "I'm her brother, if that's all right, we'll be really quick, I promise, just in and out. That all right?" The question hung in the air as the guard seemed to think about the question, look at me and then at the back of the van contemplating the answer.
"Yeah, go ahead." He finally spoke, and I slowly let out the breath I had held.
"Thank you so much!" JJ smiled and the gears grinded together as he put the van back into drive. "All right, you all have a good day." Once we drove through the gate the trees opened into an area surrounded by cabins. There were groups of kids in every direction, some with councilors supervising, some without. The place looked like a glorified summer camp for dysfunctional teens.
"This place is massive." I said quietly as we continued to a parking area. "What's our next move?"
"Uh, ask for directions?" JJ shrugged turning the key to kill the engine.
"Okay." I breathed out stepping out of the van and squinted around the area. Finding a man standing on the deck of one of the cabins and put my hand above my eyes to block out the sun. "Excuse me!" I called out and the man looked at me, regarding me suspiciously, his eyes filtering between me and JJ. "Hi, um... we're looking for the main office or cabin thing, where is..." I trailed off hoping the man couldn't hear the nerves in my voice. After a brief second, he nodded towards a building to my right, and I followed his directions and saw a building a few yards away. "Right there?" I asked and the man nodded. "Thank you."
"Appreciate it!" JJ added walking around the van to walk beside me towards the main cabin. "Okay, so here's what I'm thinking. Together we look like a bunch of kids..."
"We are a bunch of kids." I mumbled as we climbed the steps.
"Yes, but I think I can get a message to Kie, or at least get a hint as to where she's at." JJ rolled his eyes stopping at the door lowering his voice.
"Jay this is serious, you can't joke you're way out of this." I said anxiously. He put his arms on my shoulder and met my eyes, the seriousness in his blue eyes eased my worry and I took a deep breath and closed my eyes nodding. "Okay... okay. I trust you." A smile formed at the corner of his mouth, and he looked up over my head quickly before leaning down and placing a small light pick on my cheek before opening the office door. Turning my back to the door, I strained my ears to listen through the open window at the conversation.
"How's it going ma'am? "Um..." JJ started but the door wouldn't latch, and he continued to try and shut it loudly.
"Uh... can I help you son?" A woman asked her voice conveying her confusion as JJ continued to struggle with the door.
"I have a message for one of your campers here. Um...uh, her name is Kiara, uh Carrera." JJ finally said, giving up on the door and walking further into the room. "She's here, right?"
"Unfortunately, we're not allowed to do that," The woman stated. I bowed my head, we needed to find Kie if we were going to get to South America. "You're not even supposed to be here on campus." I instantly felt the knot grow in my stomach and my breath catch as I looked up and cautiously glanced at everyone around us. The lady was right, we were definitely out of place, it would be easy to find us and kick us out.
"Okay, it's just that... just that it's a very important … may I sit?" JJ continued, and as he spoke, I kept an eye on the Twinkie and the man I had spoken to earlier. He seemed to be ignoring the eye sore of a vehicle, but I'm sure he was suspicious. "It's just a very important matter."
"Oh, I'm sure it is sweetie, but we have a policy." This woman wasn't going to give in easily. "No contact from the outside world for the first six weeks." I found myself rolling my eyes at that comment. We had been stranded on an island with no contact for a month, this camp was bullshit and their idea of fixing someone by forcing them away from who they are, pissed me off.
"Right." I could almost hear the wheels turning in JJ's head as he started to formulate a lie. "Ma'am it's actually a family matter, and I'm... I'm related to her, I'm her cousin. So, look, I know you got a policy and all, but there's just been something that happened recently that... you know what? I'm getting a little emotional right now, so I think I should go. I'm sorry. I shouldn't even be here, like you said so I'll leave you alone. But before I leave, could you just let her know, um... Just that, uh... Marley didn't make it?"
'Marley?' I mouthed scowling.
"Who's Marley?" The woman asked.
"Marley's her best friend." JJ continued. "A Siamese mix..." a cat. Marley is a cat... so this lady must be a cat lady. JJ was pulling on her love for animals. "...and um yeah it was really sudden, and uh... You know...the mailman was coming at 40 miles per hour so..." JJ's fingers snapped indicating the impact of the fictious mailman and cat. "He's in a better place now, but um... could you just let her know for me? I'd really appreciate that. Thank you, ma'am. You have a great one."
The door to the office opened and JJ left grabbing my hand and pulling me down the steps quickly.
"Marley?" I asked.
"It was the only name I could think of on the fly." JJ shrugged. We both ran to the other side of the camp hiding behind one of the cabins. Peaking around the side we watched as the woman JJ had spoken to leave the building and walked to a separate smaller cabin a few buildings over.
"JJ look." I whispered, pointing to the deck where the woman stood talking to Kie. Kie looked confused as the woman spoke, finally catching on to the scheme and feigning tears and sadness. The woman embraced Kie, and I smiled. "Damn. You did it."
"Did you doubt me?" JJ asked.
"Never." I rolled my eyes. "But seriously, we need to go. The guards know we were dropping something off, and the Carrera's know the Twinkie. We have to get it out of here before they call, and we get caught."
"Shit." JJ's face fell as the situation we were in became clear. Nodding we both ran back to the Twinkie, trying to be as calm as possible when we passed people. JJ awkwardly waved at the guard as we left the gate and once the camp was out of our rear view, he hit the gas before pulling over. "Okay so we lay low until tonight."
"And then what?" I asked sliding the side door open and sitting on the edge of the van. "We can't drive the van back there in the middle of the night."
"We'll leave it here as a decoy in case they come after us." JJ explained holding his hand out. "Let me see your phone." Narrowing my eyes, I handed him the device and waited as he started typing on it. "Mike will pick us up on our way towards the plane, and then we will be out of here."
"And we're just going to trust he's gonna be there?" I asked cautiously.
"If he wants the gold and money..." JJ mumbled still engrossed in the phone. Nodding I turned back looking over the field behind him. "Alright now we just wait." he said, handing the phone back and sitting beside me. JJ pulled my arm lightly and I moved to sit next to him and laid my head on his chest closing my eyes.
"When this is done, I want to sleep for like three days." I said quietly. I felt his chest move as he chuckled.
"Me to baby." he sighed running a hand over my shoulder and squeezing me tightly.
We started moving back towards the camp as the sun began to set. JJ had a bandana over his mouth and led us through the trees as we snuck through the camp.
"It's this one." I hissed pointing to the cabin across from us.
"You sure?" JJ questioned and I smacked his arm and rolled my eyes playfully. Ignoring his comment, I walked past him and ran quietly towards the cabin and up the stairs, JJ following close behind. Standing to the side of the door I looked out over the campground as JJ crouched in front of the door working on the lock. "Got it." he whispered as the lock clicked open and he pushed the door open. The cabin was dark, but it was clearly empty.
"Where the hell is she?" I asked, going to the bathroom and looking behind the door.
"This was the cabin, right?" JJ said walking to the back of the room running a hand through his hair. I moved to follow him but stopped at one of the bunks, my fingers tracing the letters written on it.
"JJ look." I called quietly tracing over the P4L written on the wood. Turning towards me he walked to stand behind me and squinted through the dark at the bunk. "Cabin 6." I whispered.
"Alright let's go." he nodded, and we both exited the cabin we were in quickly and went back out to the yard. I pointed to each cabin, counting quietly under my breath until we reached cabin 6. Climbing the steps JJ went to grab the door but I reached for his wrist quickly pulling him back.
"You stay here, I'll go get her." I stated.
"What... why?" he questioned, offput by my statement.
"This is an all-girl cabin, what do you think they're going to do, seeing a guy breaking into the cabin in the middle of the night?" I challenged.
"But..."
"Just stay out here." I rolled my eyes, ignoring his annoyed expression. Slowly I pushed the door open and despite my effort to make as little noise as possible the door had other plans as it squeaked, and the sound echoed through the room. Turning to the door, I glared at the inanimate object like it could defend itself. Whispering in the room made my heartbeat quicken and I turned to watch girls sitting up in their bunks staring towards me.
"Shit." I cursed walking slowly through the room trying to shush the girls questioning who I was. "Kie... where are you?" I whisper yelled, trying to see through the dark at each girl.
"Who is she?" I heard someone to my left ask.
"What is she doing here?"
"She's gonna get caught."
"Just shut up." I said more to myself annoyed at the girls hushed voices. "Kie, Kiara..."
"Rowyn?" I heard my name come from one of the back bunks, and a familiar head leaned forward on the top bed.
"Oh, thank god." I stopped my pursuit through the room and bowed my head, letting out a sigh of relief. Looking up again, Kie was crawling across her bed and down the ladder before running towards me. I embraced her, squeezing her tightly.
"I didn't think you guys would come." she whispered.
"Are you kidding me?" I pulled back slightly smiling at her. "We're family. Of course, I was coming to get you out."
"Thank you." she said, and I nodded hugging her again.
"Okay, we gotta go... like now." I said and she quickly pulled away, running to her bunk and grabbing a bag before running towards the door with me. The girls in the room started talking louder, some cheering, some complaining, but all the noise made me cringe as I tried again to quiet them with no luck. Running out the door JJ hugged Kie laughing with her.
"Marley?" Kie asked looking between JJ and myself.
"It was all I could come up with on the fly." JJ shrugged.
"Okay, can we mull this over later, like when we aren't in the middle of some mind warping summer camp?" I groaned pushing them down the steps of the cabin. We ran down the path and towards the exit looking over our shoulders periodically.
"Okay, uh, can't really go through the front gate." JJ said leading the way down the path before veering to the right through a field.
"I never thought I was gonna make it out." Kie exclaimed happily before kissing her hand and waving it at the camp sign as we passed it. "Mwah! This place can suck it!" I giggled and put my hand over Kie's shoulder as JJ led us through the tall grass.
"You said that to my dad?" Kie whispered to me as we continued closer to the road. We were far enough away from the camp that the area around us was pitch black.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm not welcome at your house anymore." I shrugged.
"Hey." Kie stopped and pulled my arm back, so we were standing a few feet from JJ. "Thank you."
"Kie..." I tried to brush off her words, but she shook her head and pulled me into a hug.
"I'm serious." she mumbled into my shoulder. "Thank you, for standing up for me and for coming for me. For not leaving me there."
"You know I helped to." JJ chimed in from where he knelt by the side of the road watching us. I rolled my eyes at his comment but wrapped my arms around Kie squeezing her tightly.
"I will always have your back Kie." I whispered.
"This is sweet and all, but we need to get going." JJ said after a few seconds. Kie and I pulled away smiling at each other, both of us wiping our eyes from any stray tears that tried to escape before moving to kneel beside JJ on the side of the road.
"Okay, so where are we going?" Kie asked looking at the empty road in front of us before looking back at JJ. "Is it this way?"
"Yeah, it's...it's..." JJ stood up and we followed him down the dirt road. "Right up here..."
"Why'd you park so far?" Kie scowled looking at me and I just shrugged,
"Yeah, that's a long story." I answered. "but we aren't going back to the Twinkie."
"We aren't?" she questioned stopping. "Then what are we doing? Are we walking to town? What about South America?"
"There's only one road into Kitty Hawk, and with the camp and your mom knowing what the Twinkie looks like, I thought..." I cleared my throat and raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay, Roe thought that it was best to leave it as a decoy."
"Oh, John B is going to love that." Kie laughed. Before I could respond we heard the echo of sirens getting closer, the red and blue lights started to flash against the darkness of the area around us.
"That's a cop!" JJ exclaimed grabbing my arm and pulling me back towards the tall grass at the side of the road, Kie followed as we all laid on the ground just before a cop car sped down the road we had been walking on. Once the siren disappeared into the distance we slowly got up and JJ looked at us with a smirk. "That's what the decoy is for."
"Okay," Kie nodded. "But now what... are we hitchhiking?"
"Not quite." JJ said stepping into the middle of the road looking into the distance clenching his jaw.
"What's he doing?"
"We missed Ward's plane, but I got another plan." JJ answered her before I could. "Come on man, where you at dude."
"For the record I still don't approve of this plan." I said kicking a rock at my feet and crossing my arms.
"What plan?" Kie asked.
"Here he comes," JJ said excitedly looking at us and waving his arms in the air from the center of the road. "Dude, come on!"
"Who the hell is that?" Kie asked, turning to me. The car sped towards us before skidding to a stop in front of JJ.
"Kiara, I want you to meet someone." JJ smiled walking around to the passenger side of the car opening the door.
"Is that..."
"Barracuda Mike." I nodded with a sigh. JJ pulled the seat back and gestured for Kiara to go in.
"Mike, Kiara, Kiara, Barracuda Mike..." JJ introduced them as Kie skeptically stepped into the back of the car.
"Bus is waiting, all aboard." Mike called out the door as I stepped forward and turned to JJ before getting in beside Kie.
"I still don't like this..."
"Trust me..." JJ whispered his hand lightly tracing up my arm. I met his eyes and searched them, but all I saw was hope and I closed my own eyes and took a deep breath. Stepping back I slid into the back seat and looked at Mike.
"Surprised you even made it Mike." I said.
"Said I would." He smiled and I rolled my eyes. "We made a deal princess."
"Don't call me that." I groaned.
"What deal?" Kie asked.
"Planes ready right?" JJ asked quickly as he got in the passenger seat looking at Mike.
"Plane is ready... it's been ready dude. Let's go." Mike responded, turning back to the wheel and pulled away from the side of the road. JJ cheered excitedly as we drove through the night, and I felt my stomach ached with nerves as we got closer to our destination. Before long Mike veered off the road and drove into a field where a plane was idling. Once the car had stopped JJ was quick to get out of his seat and pull it forward, helping Kie and I out.
"Direct flight to South America on Barracuda Airlines." he said, opening his arms to the plane with a smile. "What more could you ask for?"
"Are you sure?" Kie asked.
"You got somewhere else to be?" JJ asked with a grin, and she just shook her head with her own smile slowly walking towards the plane. I followed anxiously trying to calm my nerves. "Hey hold up." JJ called over the engine of the plane. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me closer to him. "I know... I know this is crazy, and … I have given you every reason to run and leave, to not trust me... but I promise..."
"JJ, please don't." I shook my head and gave him a small sad smile. "No promises this time."
"No, listen." He shook his head, his grip tighter on my arm. "This promise... this time... I can't promise this will work out, and I can't promise nothing will change, but I love you and I can promise that won't change." I smiled up at him and reached my hand up to his face, my thumb stroking his cheek before I leaned up on my toes and lightly touched my lips to his.
"Love birds! Let's go?!" Mike yelled and I pulled away, JJ was still holding my arm and we turned to the plane.
"El Dorado?" JJ asked and I took a deep breath nodding.
"To El Dorado." I said and we walked towards the plane. My feet stopped at the edge of the ramp into the plane.
"Scared of flying?" Mike asked with a chuckle, and I glared at him.
"No." I rolled my eyes. "Landing... I have a problem with the landing." Without any further explanation I followed JJ onto the plane and towards the front, taking a seat beside Kie on a crate. The inside was lit bright by a red light as the doors shut and Mike climbed past us to the cockpit.
"Let's get the hell outta here." Mike called and slowly I felt the plane start to pull forward and lift into the air. Closing my eyes as I felt the pressure around us change. Cargo planes were different, and it didn't take long before the heat started to make us sweat. I pulled my sweatshirt off and leaned back, closing my eyes.
"We're gonna be landing about a couple hours out of Tres Rocas, at a farm." JJ said holding a map out beside me, laying it over my lap. We had been flying for several hours but it was clear we were getting closer to our destination and Mike started communicating with someone and was looking at his radar more. "It's right here."
"A couple of hours?" Kie questioned.
"Yeah, but Barracuda Mike says there's a bus into town we should be able to catch..." JJ explained, and I looked skeptically at Mike before back and Kie who didn't seem convinced.
"And we can trust him? Mike?" Kie asked.
"Normally, no." I sighed. "But... right now we don't really have a choice."
"What kind of deal did you make with him?" she asked, looking between us and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and avoided meeting her eyes thinking back to the deal I had made with Mike, the deal JJ wasn't happy I made either, but it had worked, he was helping us.
"Nothing important." I answered flexing my hand that was still wrapped from the fire. JJ scoffed and I looked up and glared at him. "It isn't."
"That's not cryptic at all." Kie answered. "What if... what if there not there?" she asked, changing the subject. I looked up at JJ. The thought had crossed my mind too. We were flying to a new country, one I wasn't sure we would come home from, on the whim, and hoping that John B and the others would be there.
"If there not there..." JJ sighed. "Then free vacation." he smiled.
"Adventure." I added and Kie smiled at us leaning onto my shoulder. The landing was smoother than in the Flying Fish, but not by much. I had my eyes closed and my hands clenched around JJs as the plane bounced and skidded around us, until it finally came to a stop and Mike got up to lower the back doors.
"Damn," JJ whistled as we walked down out of the plane and looked at people moving around the open field starting to offload the product from the plane. "Barracuda Mike's got this import export thing down."
"Jay look." I pointed to a trolly-like bus a few yards away.
"Hey, yo! Barracuda is that our executive coach to Tres Rocas right there?" JJ asked.
"It is smart ass." Mike rolled his eyes and JJ smiled. Kie started towards the bus, and I looked back at Mike. "We have a deal remember."
"We know."
"You still owe me for that lost load." he narrowed his eyes and I felt JJ's hand tense I mine.
"Mike..." I stated glaring at him. "We got it."
"Okay, hold on." Mike sighed and I stopped, JJ stood right behind me, I could feel his arms tense as he placed his hands on my arm ready to pull me behind him. "I get it, I'm an asshole, and a scary prick... and I don't know what kind of trouble you kids are in just... just remember that this ain't Kildare. Try and lay low."
"Sure, thing Chief." JJ nodded and pulled me with him towards the bus. Looking back at the field, Mike was already gone. Stepping up onto the bus, JJ and I sat beside Kie and waited for it to drive off, and towards our next adventure.
Again I am so sorry, and if you are still reading this thank you for continuing to come back and support the story.
Just like in the story... i can't promise i will update right away but i can promise that i have two more chapters in me and in this story that will be posted.
Comment, like, subscribe... all the above... i love hearing ideas and thoughts that can help me excel and grow as a writer.