"You didn't tell me the douche was gonna be here," Coral said, noticing Topper mingling with party guests.
"My parent's invited the whole island," Kie responded.
Humming, Coral looked around, "I don't see the Haywards," she stated.
Glancing around, Kie wrinkled her nose, "I'm sure they were invited."
"Probably," Coral agreed, "Pope's been like MIA. I texted him last night and got no response. JJ said he went off the deep end when he found out about what Rafe did to the cross. I guess Cleo talked him down."
"It's so messed up what Rafe did."
"What did Rafe do?" asked a voice from behind them. Turning they found Sarah standing behind them with a wine glass already in hand.
Looking around the party crowd Kie suggested they go somewhere more private.
"Sounds like a plan. I've gotta tell you two what I found out," Sarah told them as Kie led them through the crowd to one of the standing tables set up on the perimeter of the party.
"So, what did my brother do?"
"He stole the cross. Replaced it with the crate of tires, and then melted it down into smaller bars of gold," Coral told her.
"Oh God, does Pope know?"
"He does," Kie confirmed, "He's with Cleo as far as we know."
"My whole family is toxic," Sarah said, "So, why stop with just Rafe? The text from Wheezie was actually Ward. He's here. On OBX," she told them.
"Of course he is," Coral responded, rolling her eyes.
"Are you kidding me Sarah? That doesn't even make sense. Wards on this island? Like, the same island we are on?" Kie questioned in disbelief.
"Yes, he's back," Sarah confirmed, nodding.
"The second I see him, I'm turning him in, I swear."
"I'll call Shoupe for you," Coral told Kie, smiling at the idea of Ward being arrested.
"I swear, I don't know how you do it, Sarah. Every time I wanna complain about my dad, I just think about your dad."
"Oh, glad to be of service," Sarah replied, sarcastically poking Kie in the shoulder.
"Works every time," Kie laughed.
Laughing, Sarah took a sip of her drink before nearly choking on it, "You didn't tell me Topper was gonna be here," she said, catching sight of Topper in the crowd.
"Anna and Mike invited the whole island. Why is that a problem for you, Sarah?" Coral questioned, wincing as Kie kicked her from under the table.
"Of course not," Sarah answered quickly, "Shit, he's coming over. Just be nice," she told Kie and Coral.
"I mean I don't really need to be," Coral muttered.
"Hey, how's it going?" Topper asked, walking up to their table.
"Good. How are you?" Sarah responded, glancing at the girls as they both turned their backs to her and Topper.
"Good," he replied, "Um, I'm..Well, I don't wanna blow your cover or anything, so I'll just keep it low key. I know we're not public or anything."
Making a face at Kie, Coral leaned closer whispering, "What does that even mean?" she questioned as Kie shrugged.
"Hey Kie! Hey Coral! How are you?" Topper asked.
Turning, both girls gave Topper their fake smiles, "Oh, hey. I didn't even see you, bro," Kie raised her glass at him.
"What's up bestie? How's the family?" Coral responded, "My brother's doing well, thanks for asking."
Blinking, Topper glanced at Sarah, "Uh, yeah, okay, did you, uh, do these decorations here? It's beautiful."
"Yep, party city," Coral responded.
"It's a great selection," Sarah added.
"Cool. Well, um, cheers," he said, holding his glass up to Sarah.
"Cheers," she responded, clinking glasses.
"I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see you around."
"Just take it easy on those," he said, pointing at her wine glass, "Pace it."
"Yeah," Sarah responded, taking a swallow from her glass.
"Bye Kie, Coral," he said, before turning around and disappearing into the crowd.
"At least he kept it short."
"Hang on. Please, excuse me," Mike called over the crowd from where he stood on the dock, "Thank you," he said as the crowd quieted down, "Um, I just want to say a few words, and I'm not much into giving speeches, but I do want to say thank you for coming out and thank you for your support after a rough few months. I want to say thank you to our daughter for being here," he said, finding Kie in the crowd.
"Embarrass me anymore," Kie whispered to Coral making the other girl giggle
"Hey, we love you," Mike said, saluting her with his glass.
"Love you too," Kie called, raising her own glass.
"But most of all," Mike continued, smiling down at Anna, "Come here," he said holding out his hand for her, "Thank you Anna," he told her as the crowd cheered, "For fifteen years, for making this restaurant a symbol of our life. I love you."
"I love you," Anna responded, smiling.
"Figure eight, the Cut. Everyones together here. As one island," Mike said "So, thank you for putting up with us. Cheers," he said, raising his glass as the crowd echoed his sentiments.
"Oh, they're beckoning me," Kie noticed her parents waving her over, "I'll be back," she told the girls before walking away to where her parents stood.
"Psst, Sarah. Coral," came a whispered voice from behind them.
Turning they found John B standing behind the low fence that ran the length of the docks. Smiling, he came around the end of the fencing and hurried towards Sarah, "Hi," he greeted scooping her up in a hug, "Long time no see. I gotta talk to you," he told her, pulling away to look at her.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute. Where's JJ?" Coral asked, looking around for him.
"He's down on the other side of the docks hiding in the Pogue," John B answered, "Something about pissing off Kie's dad," he told her, waving his hand back towards the dock.
Not sparing her brother or Sarah another minute, Coral turned and hurried away from the party on a search for JJ. Coming around the fence she headed onto the dock stopping short at JJ ducked down hiding behind the fence.
"What are you doing?" she questioned.
Popping up he glanced over his shoulder towards the party, "Didn't think it was a good idea to head in there."
"Probably not," she acknowledged, "So, what did you two find out?"
"We found Neville along with two of Singh's men out on Doe Creek."
"Singh's men? Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, but we left them stranded and got Neville out of there," he assured her, "And the most important thing, we got a location. Something about Venezuela and some place called El Tesoro. I don't know, John B has a map. So we need to get down there as soon as we can. Like yesterday," he told her.
"Yeah, of course. Now that we know where, we just need to figure out how," Coral agreed.
"What are you two doing?"
Turning to find Kie standing at the fence Coral smiled, "Oh good, I don't need to go find you. JJ and John B know where my dad is so we gotta go."
"Right now? Coral, we're in the middle of something," Kie reminded her, waving her arm back towards the party, "You promised my dad no more running off. Do you even have a plan?"
"We're working on it," JJ told her, "Right now we came to get you guys and then go find Pope and Cleo, then get to South America."
"South America? Right now?"
"Yeah, Pogue's over here waiting. We gotta go," JJ said, pulling on Coral's arm.
Hesitating, Coral looked at Kie, "Are you coming?"
"Coral, you promised, and JJ, I mean, you come in here after stealing from my dad like everything is all good, like let's go to South America. I mean, are you even going to apologize to me?"
"So, that's a no for you?" JJ questioned not answering her.
"You're just going to ignore it?"
"All I'm hearing right now is you don't want to be part of the plan to save Big John. So, no big deal, go back to your kook party, and we'll see you later," JJ responded, tugging on Coral's arm.
"JJ, that's not fair."
"Fair? Your dad's up for execution, Coral. We need to be figuring out how to get there not wasting time worrying about some Kook's money, which by the way I'm not sorry about," he said, looking at Kie, "Okay, I actually needed it. In fact I might've been able to use it to get us to South America to save Big John. Now, let's go," he said, taking Coral's hand, and tugging her down the walkway towards the Pogue.
Looking over her shoulder, Coral mouthed 'sorry' to Kie who stood at the fence watching them leave. Reaching the Pogue they climbed aboard, "That was unnecessary," she scolded.
"Unnecessary? No, what's unnecessary is worrying about pissing Kie's parents off when your own needs our help."
"I'm fully aware of the situation my dad is in, and I'm all for whatever we need to do, but I also respect Mike and Anna. They gave me a job, JJ, that allowed us to keep living this last year while my dad left us on our own. He's my dad and I love him, but I don't respect his choices," she responded, crossing her arms as she sat on the bow.
"I'm sorry, Coral."
"Tell that to Kie," she replied, staring off across the dock refusing to look at him.
"Where have you been?" Coral questioned John B as he finally came down the walkway.
"What happened?" JJ asked, noting the look on his best friend's face.
"What happened? She cheated. That's what happened," John B responded, angrily, "After everything I've been through, she's off hooking up with Topper. I mean, what the hell?"
Raising her eyebrows, Coral scoffed, "I can't believe she told you."
Narrowing his eyes, John B looked down at his sister from where he stood on the dock, "You knew?"
"I found out just before the party. This is the first I've seen you since this morning so don't act like I was keeping anything from you."
"Look, the clock's ticking. Let's just go. We don't need her or Kie," JJ said, coming to stand next to Coral, "Let's get out of here," he said, motioning for John B to get into the boat.
"John B, what are you doing?" Coral asked, when instead of getting into the boat he stood watching the party, "Booker, get into this boat right now."
"Dude, don't even go back there," JJ called as John B started walking back towards the party.
"This isn't going to end well," Coral said, climbing out of the boat to stand on the dock, "JJ, he's confronting Topper," she told him, before making her way back towards the party knowing JJ was following behind her.
From what she could see John B was talking to Sarah one second and the next he'd turned and slugged Topper causing the other boy to fall to the ground, "Fucking Christ," she muttered, as she and JJ took off running.
By the time she and JJ reached them Mike had pulled John B from Topper and was shoving him away yelling for him to leave the party.
"Hey, get off him!" JJ yelled getting in between Mike and John B. Grabbing her brother's arm, Coral hauled him back and away from the party.
"This is what I'm talking about Coralina!" Mike yelled, "All three of you get out of here!"
"You happy Sarah?" John B yelled over Coral's head as she and JJ dragged him away, "She's a cheater. That's who she is. I should've known."
"John Booker, do you have any fucking idea what you just did?" Coral questioned, angrily shoving her brother towards the Pogue, "Get the fuck in the boat!"