"Okay, do we know where this place is?" JJ questioned as he drove.
"The truck that took her had Kitty Hawk Adventure Therapy written on the side," Coral answered typing the name of the camp into her google search, "According to this it's on the other side of the island," she told him reading out the address to him.
"Shit, this is gonna take more than an hour," he commented.
Biting her lip, she nodded, "We can't leave her there, but my dad," she trailed off.
"I can take you back," he offered, "You can go with the others, I mean, it's your dad. I can get her out myself, I kind of owe her that after the whole money clip thing, and then I'll figure out how to get to South America."
"No, bad things happen when we get separated. We stay together," she told him before dialing Sarah's number.
"Hey," she greeted when Sarah picked up, "We got an issue. This place is clear across the island," she said, putting the phone on speaker.
"So, what does that mean?" Sarah questioned.
"It means we're gonna need about 8 hours for liberation," JJ responded, not taking his eyes off the road as he continued driving.
"Eight hours?" John B's voice bellowed from the phone, "We don't have 8 hours! We got a jet here waiting!"
"We're fully aware of that JB!"
"No, we can't, Coral….listen, we can't wait for you. This is Dad for fucksake!"
"Just like it's Kie for fucksake," Coral retorted, "She's family too and she's in trouble because of us. We can't leave her there, John B."
"Coralina."
"Just hold out as long as you can," JJ interrupted, "If you gotta go, we'll meet you there."
"Meet us there? It's South America! There is no we'll just meet you there," John B snapped, "It's a completely different country!"
"I know!" JJ exclaimed, "I'm working on it, Dude. Luckily I'm a problem solver so just stay in the matrix."
"The matrix?" Coral questioned, rolling her eyes, "What do you think you're Keanu Reeves or something?"
Opening his mouth to respond he instead squealed like a girl at the sound of a loud pop. Gripping the wheel, he pulled the van over.
"What the fuck was that?"
"I think it was a tire," Coral answered her brother, "Look, we gotta go. You gotta go. We'll figure it out," she said before hanging up the phone, "Now what?" she questioned, looking at JJ.
"This fucking piece of shit," he replied, kicking the dashboard angrily. Opening the door, he told her to wait there before walking back to open the back of the van.
"You know I'm not some helpless twit, JJ, I can change a tire too," she called back to him.
"I'm fully aware of that my darling, considering it was me who showed you in the first place," he responded, rummaging around in the back, "Just sit," he cut off turning to look over his shoulder, "Shit," he swore before turning to face her again, "Get down and stay down. Don't come out no matter what," he warned her.
"What?"
"Hide," he hissed before turning fully around, "Okay, fine, uh" she heard him say before hesitating. Sliding down in her seat Coral looked out the side passenger mirror. Furrowing her brow at the black car pulled up behind them she strained to hear the conversation, "And you shoot out my…my friend's tire!" she heard JJ exclaim, "That's not even my van!"
Hearing a gun cock, Coral pressed on her chest taking slow deep breaths as she listened, "You lost the load, JJ. Now instead of me getting paid, I owe them. Which I guess means you owe me, right?"
Blinking, in confusion she twisted in her seat to try and get a better look at who was back there with JJ.
"I know, Barr–" she heard JJ say before being cut off.
"Get in the car," the guy demanded. Peaking over the seat she could see JJ talking with a burly guy in a hat that looked vaguely familiar and a bald guy holding the gun.
"You heard him," the guy holding the gun said, "Get in the car," he told JJ motioning towards the car with the gun.
Glancing behind him towards where Coral was hiding, JJ took a deep breath before facing the two men "Okay, that's how it's gonna be? Look, I know you've heard the stories. About me and my friends, a little something called the Royal Merchant. A pile of gold. Is that ringing any bells?"
"I heard some bullshit."
"Well, that bullshit's real," JJ responded. "And yeah, we found it."
Snorting the guy who looked familiar rolled his eyes, "Yeah I saw. That's why you got a bunch of dudes throwing your furniture in a dumpster out back your house? You're living high off the hog, bro."
"Yeah, you're talking about the house that's being foreclosed. The cover? The one to throw off the scent? Rule number one don't do flashy shit, like pay off a mortgage when you're cashing in," JJ replied with an easy shrug.
"Stop. Let me guess. You, uh….you got the gold. It's buried somewhere in a barn, right? And if I just let you go right now, you'll run right there, you'll get it, we'll split it, right?"
"Not exactly. Actually, it's a little sweeter than that. May I?" JJ questioned before moving closer to the men and away from the van, "Look, let's just forget about the Merchant gold. That's just the tip of the iceberg. We're going after the main course right now. All right? We're going after the mother lode. And that's the truth of why we need to get to South America. Okay? Mike, come on, man, I'm trying to help you."
Hearing the man's name, Coral sucked in a breath, "Barracuda Mike," she whispered. The biggest mover of drugs on the island, "What did you do JJ," she muttered, continuing to listen to JJ try and wheel and deal.
"So, yeah in this hand, you get the pleasure of beating my ass right here, right now. I honestly get that temptation. I really do. All right? But, in this hand, in this hand, Mike, you got a pile of gold sitting and waiting for you, and all you need to have is just a little bit of patience, okay?" JJ told him, "And a flight to South America," he added.
"You really want me to believe if I give you a ride to South America, you're going to uncover gold?" Mike questioned skeptically.
"He's telling the truth."
Whirling around all three of them looked at Coral standing by the back of the van, "Damn it, Coral," JJ muttered.
Ignoring the gun now pointed at her she approached JJ and Mike holding the bar of gold she'd brought back from the Bahamas, "This is just one bar out of thousands," she told Mike, "You give us a ride and you can have a pretty decent pay day once we get the rest."
Taking the bar of gold, Mike tested its weight studying it closely, "Where'd you get this?"
"From the pile of gold we already found," Coral responded, "And JJ's telling you the truth. The mother lode is waiting for us. Our friends are leaving as we speak for South America. We will find the rest, so, are you willing to give us a ride?"
Clicking his teeth, Mike studied her, "I think we could make a deal, Darling."
"Damn that was badass," JJ laughed as he and Coral drove towards Kitty Hawk, "You had him practically eating out of the palm of your hand."
"He's a man that knows one thing. Money," Coral stated, "And don't think you're off the hook as to whatever occurred that even got him involved. I mean, Jesus, JJ, Barracuda Mike? Was that your half-baked plan?"
"Hey, we needed a way to South America. The guys gotta plane that makes the trip on the daily," he retorted.
"What was he talking about?" she questioned looking over at him, "He said you lost the load. Were you moving drugs for him, JJ?"
Tapping his finger against the steering wheel he took a moment to answer, "We needed a ride, Coral, and I was gonna do anything I needed to do to get you there to save your dad. I'm not gonna apologize for that."
Sighing, she reached for his hand, "I love you," she told him.
Bringing their combined hands to his mouth he kissed hers, "I love you too," he responded, "Now buck up we've got a show to put on," he told her pulling up to the gates of Kitty Hawk, "Hey, how y'all doin?" he greeted one of the guards.
"Can I help you?" the guard questioned approaching the driver's side window.
"Hey, there uh, sir. Camp counselor Laura, I'm her…well we're her brother and sister," JJ said, motioning towards himself and Coral, "We have some packages to drop off to her. You know from home. Mama's home cooking," he improvised, smiling at the guard.
Nodding, the guard glanced at Coral before telling JJ to proceed ahead.
"Thank you so much. Y'all have a good day," JJ called waving as he drove the van through the gates of Kitty Hawk.
"Brother and sister?" Coral questioned grimacing.
"What about it? It got us through the gates, didn't it?"
"Well, I mean brother and his girlfriend would've worked fine too."
"It is a proven fact that blood relation gets past security every time," JJ stated.
"Baby, just because you think it it doesn't make it a fact."
"Considering we got in without a problem I'd say it's fact," he retorted, pulling the van into a parking space.
Looking out the windshield Coral snorted, "Look at this place. It's like a cult," she said watching a few dozen teenage girls doing chores throughout the camp. They all had some variation of the Kitty Hawk uniform on as they either mowed, gardened or hung laundry.
"Just stick close," JJ warned, opening his door, "I don't need one of these stepford children making off with you."
Pushing her door open Coral hopped out of the van meeting JJ around the front. Looking around at the militant style lines of girls walking through the camp she snorted, "It's like the children of the corn."
"You hate that movie," JJ said absently as he too looked around the camp, "I can't even drive past cornfields."
"Because Isaac and Malachai could attack us and sacrifice us to 'He who walks behind the rows'," she whispered, taking JJ's hand.
Laughing, JJ tugged her down the walkway, "Come on Vicky."
"That is not funny, Burt," Coral hissed.
Ignoring her JJ called out a greeting to a guard standing at the top of the steps to one of the cabins, "Hi there, sir, uh, I'm looking for….I'm looking for the office. Uh ,is there a main lodge or something?"
Pointing further down on the left the guard responded, "Down there."
"Appreciate it," JJ waved.
"Holy shit," Coral tugged on his hand as a cement pillar with a bell on top caught her attention, "I told you this is some religious cult, and the cherry on top is that a Kook is responsible for it," she said, motioning to the inscription on the pillar.
"Dedicated to the glory of God and in loving memory of Kathleen Kent Thornton," JJ read the inscription. Tightening his grip on her hand he tugged her behind him, "We gotta get Kie and get the fuck out of here," he said leading her towards the office.
"How do you wanna play this?" Coral questioned as they climbed the steps of the cabin holding the offices.
"Like we always do. We wing it," he replied, letting go of her hand before opening the door, "How's it going, ma'am?" he greeted as they entered the office.
"Uh, can I help you?" the woman sitting behind the desk questioned looking at both of them suspiciously.
"Yes, ma'am" JJ answered, approaching the desk with Coral next to him, "I, well we, have a message for one of the campers here. Um….Uh, her name is Kiara, uh, Carrera. She's here, right?"
"Unfortunately, we're not allowed to do that. You're not even supposed to be on campus," the woman responded disapprovingly.
"Okay. It's…..it's just that it's very important….May we sit?"
Hesitating the woman motioned to the chairs in front of her desk. Sitting down JJ continued talking, "As I was saying it's a very important matter, ma'am," while Coral looked around the office.
"Oh, I'm sure it is sweetie, but we have a policy. No contact with the outside world for the first six weeks."
Right. Ma'am. It's actually a family matter," Coral cut in, "And, uh….I'm….We're related to her. We're her cousins. 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 emotional," Coral fake cried into her hand.
"Sorry," JJ apologized putting his arm around Coral's shoulders as he helped her from the chair, "We shouldn't even be here, like you said, so we'll leave you alone," he told the woman steering Coral towards the door.
"But before we leave, could you just let her know," Coral said, breaking away from JJ and stepping back towards the desk, "Um…just that, uh….Marley didn't make it."
"Marley?" she heard JJ mutter in confusion.
"Who's Marley?" the woman questioned.
"Marley's her best friend," Coral responded, "A Siamese mix, and, um, yeah, it was very sudden."
"Yeah," JJ jumped in picking up the story quickly, "You know, uh…the mailman was coming at forty miles per hour so…" he snapped his fingers indicating a quick death, "He's in a better place now. But, um, could you just let her know for us? We'd really appreciate it."
Wide eyed, the woman nodded.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Coral smiled.
"Okay, well we have to get back for the funeral," JJ said, taking Coral's arm and pulling her towards the door, "You have a good one," he said, opening the door and waving as they left the office.
"That was fucking genius," he complimented as they descended the stairs.
"She had a huge picture of her cat sitting on her desk. She's probably in there crying right now," Coral responded, "Okay, let's hide and see if she goes and tells Kie. She'll lead us right to her."
"My brother is texting me now. Wants to know where we are," Coral whispered from where she sat next to JJ in the woods surrounding Kitty Hawk.
"He must've given up on you answering his calls," JJ responded, scanning the camp for any sign of movement.
"Well, you said we're on stealth mode here," Coral reminded him, "I didn't want to get into a screaming match with him. I don't know why we couldn't just grab Kie earlier when we saw her."
"In broad daylight? Have I taught you nothing?"
"I'm just saying. It would've been better than skulking through the woods back here. And John B just sent another text; they had to leave so we definitely missed them."
"Shhh," JJ shushed her, as a security guard riding around on a golf cart drove past their hiding spot, "We knew we were going to miss it it's why we struck a deal with Mike," he whispered once the coast was clear, "Okay, let's go," he said moving onto the path leading towards the cabin they'd seen Kie in earlier.
Sticking to the shadows they made their way to the cabin climbing the steps quickly. Using the crowbar he'd taken from the Twinkie JJ popped the lock off the door.
"Kiara?" Coral hissed, pushing the door open. Walking into the small one-bedroom cabin they looked around confused.
"She was just here. Where'd she go?"
"I told you we should've just nabbed her earlier," Coral muttered. Sighing, she ignored JJ going on about proper hostage extraction as she scoured the tiny cabin for any sign of Kie. Black lettering written on the wood of the bunk bed caught her eye. Moving to it Coral laughed as she ran her fingers over the writing on the bunk, "JJ, I say this with love, please shut up and come see what Kie left for us to find."
Huffing he snapped his mouth shut and came to stand next to her, "Pogue all the way," he laughed as they stared at the words P4L Cabin 6 written on the wood.
"Let's go find Cabin 6."
Moving through the darkness they dodged security walking the camp as they searched for the correct cabin. Finding it they hurried up the steps.
"Wait, don't use that. You'll break the door," Coral whispered, grabbing the crowbar before JJ could use it on the door.
"Do we care?" he questioned pulling out his wallet, "I mean it's called breaking and entering for a reason," he muttered, flipping through the cards in his wallet.
"Don't use something you care about, you know, in case you break it," she said as he pulled out a card.
"It's a library card," he showed her before turning to the door, "Where I got a library card beats the hell out of me," he said sliding the card into the door frame.
Easing the door open JJ handed the card back to her, "It's my card," she hissed as they moved into the cabin together.
"That has no place in my wallet," he retorted, "Now, Coral love, I say this with love but shut up and find Kie."
Moving through the room they hissed Kie's name as they checked beds for their curly haired friend, "What are you doing in here?" questioned one of the campers as she snapped her light on above her bunk.
"Hi there," Coral greeted, "We're just looking for someone so go back to sleep," she whispered, swearing under her breath as more campers sat up turning their lights on.
"Uh, sorry. Sorry to bother y'all," JJ apologized, "Hello, everyone. I know this looks bad. We come in peace. We're just looking for someone. We need to find her uh yeah, we're looking for," he was cut off by Kie's voice.
"Me."
"Kie!"
Climbing down from the top bunk, Kie ran to them hugging them both, "How did…..How?" she questioned looking between Coral and JJ.
"I told you we'd find you," Coral reminded her.
"But your dad."
"John B and the others already left. We've got our own ride, but we've gotta go if we're gonna make it on time," JJ told her. Nodding Kie ran back to her bunk and grabbed her bag and shoes.
"Let's get the fuck outta here!" she exclaimed.
Leaving the campers chattering away in excitement the three ran out of the cabin and down the steps. Hitting the boardwalk path JJ directed them to go right towards the woods, "Can't really go through the front gate!"
Hurrying through the woods JJ led the way out and around the camp towards the road running into Kitty Hawk, "I never thought I was gonna make it out!" Kie exclaimed as they ran, "This place can suck it!"
"Wilderness camp," Coral scoffed, "You're lucky we got you out of there before you turned into one of the sheep."
"She's no sheep. She's a pogue," JJ called over his shoulder.
"Damn right!" Kie exclaimed, "Where are we going?" she questioned as they trudged up the embankment to the road, "Why did you park so far?"
"Kind of a long story," JJ answered, helping the girls up to the road, "But, um, because there's only one road into Kitty Hawk. And with the camp and your mom knowing what the Twinkie looks like, I thought it'd be best to leave it as a decoy. There should be," he paused, turning to look over his shoulder, "Shit….that's a cop. Go. Cop! Cop! Cop!" he exclaimed, pushing the girls to duck down out of sight.
"And that's what the decoy's for," Coral said, standing up and moving back into the road once the cop passed them by.
"Okay, so what are we hitchhiking?" Kie asked.
"Not quite," JJ answered, "We missed Ward's plane but like Coral said we have another plan. He should be here any second," he told her, looking down the road, "Come on, man. Where you at, dude?"
"Who the hell is that?" Kie questioned at the sound of tires squealing as a black car came racing down the street towards them, "Is that Barracuda mike?" she asked, confused.
"Yep," Coral replied as JJ pulled open the passenger side door.
"Bus is waiting! All aboard!" Mike called, "Hop on in here," he invited.
"The plane is ready?" Coral questioned climbing into the backseat with Kie.
"It's been ready, Darling."
"Someone needs to explain this to me," Kie whispered as Mike drove them out to a large field where his plane was waiting for them.
"I took JJ's half-baked plan, added some sugar and spice and essentially baked a cake," Coral responded waving her hand around the car.
"I don't even know why I questioned it," Kie laughed.
"Direct flight to South America on Barracuda Airlines," JJ said as Mike pulled the car in behind the waiting plane, "Next stop El Dorado."
"Come on, let's get the hell out of here," Mike told them, pushing his door open as JJ did the same. Climbing from the car the four ran towards the plane.
"Alright, find a place to park it and hold on tight," Mike told them as he closed the cargo door before calling for the pilot to take off.
"We're gonna find John B and the others, rescue your pops, and find the gold," JJ said as the three of them settled down amongst the cargo on board.
Gripping his hand as the plane taxied and took off Coral leaned over and kissed him, "Thank you. Thank you both," she said looking at Kie.
"Pogues for life," Kie responded.
"Pogues for life."