"We're gonna be landing about a couple hours out of Tres Rocas, at a farm," JJ said pointing at the map in front of him, "It's right here."
"A couple of hours?" Kie asked.
"Yeah, but Barracuda Mike says there's a bus into town we should be able to catch, so….," he shrugged.
"What if they're not there?" Kie questioned, glancing at a sleeping Coral.
Sighing, JJ folded up the map, slipping it into his bag as he too looked to where Coral was curled up sleeping, "It's really not an option. We're gonna find them."
"You guys should've never come for me. You should've went with the others," Kie told him.
"We weren't gonna leave you in some kookie children of the corn camp. Besides, I kind of owe you after that whole money clip thing."
"Yeah, we haven't dealt with that yet," Kie acknowledged.
"Yeah," JJ sighed, "Look I know it wasn't, like, cool or anything. And I know I said I wasn't sorry, but, like, I am, and I wasn't going to use it. I just took it to be a dick."
"I know. Despite some of the stupid things you do you're one of the smartest people I know JJ. You have a bright future; you just have to stop thinking you don't."
"God, you sound like a fortune cookie."
"Shut up," she laughed, shoving his shoulder, "You know I love you."
"Uh," he hesitated, looking at Coral.
Snorting, Kie shoved him again, "Not like she loves you, Dufus. You guys are my best friends, and after what I did to Coral last year, I want you to know I'll always be there for you guys."
"You really hurt her."
"I know and the worst part is that I didn't even realize it. What kind of friend did that make me? I promised myself I'd be better especially after she forgave me so easily for being self-absorbed."
"She understood it. She knew you were the little minnow surrounded by the Kook sharks."
"It still doesn't make it right that I basically ghosted her for Sarah."
"Well, if it's any help without you I doubt we'd be together."
"How so?" she questioned.
"I'm not stupid, as you stated earlier. She only turned to me because you weren't around. She was lonely and I was there," he replied.
Blinking, Kie slowly shook her head, "Maybe that was the reason at first, but she genuinely loves you, JJ."
"I know and I love her too. I have since we were nine years old, but it makes me wonder if we'd be us if things had been different."
"Things happen for a reason," Kie replied, "And maybe it would've taken longer for her to figure it out had things been different, but she would've eventually because you guys were meant to be together. Where's this coming from JJ? Are you still hung up on not being good enough for her or something?"
"She told you about that?"
"She tells me everything," Kie shrugged, "Including the things I don't want to know," she laughed looking at him pointedly.
Humming, he smiled, "The sex is good."
"Oh God, shut up!"
"I'm just saying," he shrugged.
"Anyway, get out of your head. Get out of your dad's head. Get out of her dad's head. Heck, get out of John B's head and just make her happy! The only thing that matters is you and her."
Nodding, he sighed, "Thanks Kie."
"Anytime," she replied, "And just so you know if you do make her unhappy, I'll kick your fucking ass," she threatened.
"Duly noted."
"Damn. Barracuda Mike's got this import export thing down," JJ commented.
Looking around the field at the workers moving cargo in and out of the plane Coral nodded in agreement, "We should probably get out of here before the el policia show up," she whispered as Kie walked out of the plane after changing out of her Kitty Hawk uniform.
"Yo, Barracuda, is that our executive coach to Tres Rocas right there?" JJ questioned, pointing towards a large yellow bus across the field.
"It is smart ass," Mike responded, "Hey. We have a deal, remember? You still owe me for that lost load."
"I remember all right," JJ told him before taking Coral's hand as they started walking towards the bus.
"Thanks for your help."
"You're welcome, Darling. Anytime," Mike responded to Coral before calling out to JJ.
"What?" JJ asked over his shoulder.
"Word of advice. This ain't Kildaire. Try and lay low," Mike warned.
"Sure thing, Chief" JJ waved above his head as they continued down to the bus.
"What do you think he meant by that?" Kie asked as they boarded the bus.
"Who knows," JJ responded with a dismissive shrug.
They'd been on the bus for less than an hour when JJ struck up a conversation with one of the locals. Nonchalantly asking about the legend of El Dorado.
"So right here you have Tesoro. Up here, Orinoco, right. And they say up here, El Dorado," the local who had introduced himself as Tomas told them, drawing shapes in the dusty seat next to Kie.
"Who says?" Coral questioned.
"All the world," Tomas answered.
"If all the world says it, why hasn't it been found?" Kie asked skeptically.
"Some people say it doesn't exist," Tomas replied, "Some people say it's hidden, and only one special person can find it. But most people say it's maldito."
"Maldito?"
"Cursed," Coral and Tomas said together, "Si," Tomas nodded, "Over the years, people that go up, they don't come back," he told them before turning back around in his seat.
Swallowing Coral reached for JJ's hand, "Hey, that's not gonna happen to us," he assured her.
"I just want to find my dad and brother."
"We're going to," Kie said in an attempt to sound positive.
"Thanks guys."
"Hey, P4L," JJ reminded her, lifting their hands and kissing hers.
"Damn right P4L," Kie agreed.
"I think we're here," Kie said as the bus began slowing down.
"Thank God," Coral huffed, "This bus is the most uncomfortable thing ever. I think my ass fell asleep an hour ago," she complained.
"Welcome to Tres Rocas. This place makes the Cut look like the Taj Mahal," JJ commented looking around.
"I think it would be fun to explore," Coral told him.
"All right, so how we gonna find them?" Kie questioned.
"I'm working on it," JJ replied, "Tres Rocas is fairly small, all right? Don't worry about it. We'll find them, okay?"
"Oh, I'm not worried about it," Coral laughed, "Cuz they're literally right there," she stated pointing out the bus window to where Pope and Cleo were both running down the street towards them.
"You gotta be kidding me!" JJ exclaimed, "We haven't been here for two minutes!" he laughed before sticking his head out the open side of the bus, "Como estas,amigos?" he greeted with a wave.
"What the….Hey!" Pope exclaimed, catching sight of JJ's blonde head, "Run! We gotta go!" he called banging on the side of the bus.
"What?"
"We gotta run!" Cleo repeated hurrying after Pope.
"You gotta be kidding me," JJ muttered.
"Already? We just got here," Kie complained jumping down from the bus.
"Always with the running. Why can't we just walk somewhere ever," Coral added following Kie off the bus with JJ behind her, "What's happening?" she questioned Pope and Cleo as they rounded the back end of the bus.
"Singh's men are right behind us," Pope answered, "They're after us. We gotta think of a plan."
"Okay, why don't we just hijack the bus?"
"This bus?" Kie questioned looking at JJ in disbelief.
"It goes like ten miles an hour, JJ" Coral reminded him.
"I'm just spitballing, guys, okay?"
"Guys! They're coming now! Hide!" Pope yelled, noticing a black Jeep pulling up across the street.
"Fruit stand!" Cleo cried, leading them behind the fruit and vegetable tables set up along the roadside market, "Duck!"
Peering through the rows of fruit Coral sucked in a breath recognizing the men, "That's Ryan and Fenton, the one I stole the phone from," she whispered to JJ.
"They're talking to Tomas," he whispered back watching the two thugs with guns talking with the man they'd spoken to on the bus.
"He's sending them away," Coral realized as Tomas pointed off in the complete opposite direction then where they hid.
"All right. Fenny! Come on. Let's go. Let's check down the alley," Ryan called back to Fenton as they walked back to their jeep. Climbing back into the jeep they sped off down the road.
"Welcome to South America," Cleo muttered sarcastically as they all stood back up and moved out from behind the stands.
Hurrying up to Tomas Coral thanked him for his help, "You must get out of here. They'll be back," Tomas warned.
Nodding she thanked him again before turning back to her friends, "Where are John B and Sarah?" she questioned, "None of you were answering your phones."
"I'm pretty sure JB didn't have his phone," Pope told her, "And we were a little busy running from Singh's men."
"And I think Sarah gave her phone to Ward," Cleo added.
"Uh, I'm sorry…..What?"
"What she said," JJ said pointing at Coral.
"Oh yeah, we should probably catch up," Pope replied.
"You think," Kie responded, wrinkling her nose, "Where did Ward come from?"
"Showed up with Rafe at the airstrip. He'd apparently been stabbed."
"Who stabbed him?" Coral questioned confused.
"Uh….could've been anyone who's ever met him," Pope replied with a shrug, "Anyway a fisherman saw him out on Skinners so he got on the plane with us."
"You let him on the plane with you!" JJ exclaimed, "So, like, he's here in South America?"
"Couldn't exactly kick the guy off his own plane," Cleo responded.
"He didn't get off the plane when we landed," Pope assured them, "And we watched the plane take off again so he should be in Guadeloupe by now."
"Okay, so we need to find Sarah and John B," Kie said, bringing the conversation back to their two missing friends.
"Oh, shit, Tomas was right," Coral spoke up as she stared down the street, "They're coming back. We've gotta go," she told the others pointing towards the black jeep once again heading back their way.
"Get in the bus," JJ told them, "I know, I know it's slow as fuck, but we can blend in and get the hell out of town."
"And where do we go?" Pope questioned as they climbed into the bus ducking down between the other riders as the bus pulled away from the curb.
"I've got an idea," Coral responded, pulling out her phone.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Babygirl."
"It's our only option. Who else do we know in South America?" she questioned, "Well other than Singh and Ward, apparently, and I don't think either one of them are going to be rushing to help us."
"I get that, but I already owe the guy and I don't think he particularly likes me," JJ responded.
"Well, he likes me so," she replied, shrugging as she began to text.
"Who's she texting?" Pope asked.
"Barracuda Mike," Kie answered.
"Oh…I'm sorry…..what?!" Pope exclaimed, "Why is the closest thing Kildaire has to a mafia king here in South America? And why in the world does Coral have his number!"
"Oh yeah, we should probably catch up," JJ responded.
"Got anything to protect yourself?" Mike questioned as they all trudged through the woods together.
"Uh, we're woefully unprepared," Coral answered.
"That's what I was afraid of. Here," he said, handing JJ a burlap sack.
"What's this?"
"Machetes," he answered, "You'll need them," he told them stopping at the edge of the riverbank where a small boat was waiting for them, "Look, I asked around at the landing today. Your buds did leave this morning. I was able to get directions to El Tesoro though. Pretty loose. Only Jose knows the real way, but it'll get you in the right zip code, maybe," he told Coral, handing her a folded-up map.
"It's a start," she said, "Thank you for this."
"Well, if you actually make it out alive you can thank me then."
"Encouraging," Kie muttered as she boarded the boat in front of Coral.
"And JJ."
"Yeah?" JJ answered Mike sitting down at the back of the boat ready to steer the rudder.
"You owe me, dude. Ten times," Mike told him, "Good luck."
"Perfect," JJ mumbled as Mike pushed the boat away from the bank and out into the stream, "You call him for the favor, and I end up owing him," he said to Coral steering the boat upriver.
"Sorry," she apologized.
"Hey, if it saves Big John then I don't give a fuck," he told her.
"Okay, guys, I think this is El Tesoro," Pope announced while studying the crudely drawn map that Barracuda Mike had given Coral, "The trailhead to the mountain is supposed to start here."
"This is definitely El Tesoro. Right there's Fenton and another one of Singh's men," Coral said pointing towards the docks, "I don't see Singh though."
"We lost them on the river last night. They're probably an entire day ahead of us," Kie commented.
"I can't help this piece of shit couldn't keep up with them," JJ griped.
"Hey, it's because of you that we were able to hide before they saw us."
"I don't think they were interested in us. They were moving too quickly," Pope reminded them, "I think they were after John B and Sarah."
"How did they know where to go? I didn't see my father with them," Coral said remembering the day before when JJ had driven their small boat off towards the riverbank after catching sight of another boat moving quickly towards them from behind.
They'd watched Singh and four of his men drive right by where they'd hid. It was clear they knew exactly where they were going. JJ had attempted to keep up with their boat, but Singh had easily disappeared from sight with how fast they'd been traveling.
"Do you think someone tipped them off?"
"It's better than the alternative which is they got the location from my dad and then killed him," Coral answered Kie.
"That's not even an option so don't think that," JJ told her.
"We gotta get past them somehow," Cleo voiced, bringing the conversation back to the two men standing guard at the dock.
"I've got an idea," Pope declared, instructing JJ to steer their boat towards a small fishing shack across the river.
"You really think this will work?" Coral questioned wrinkling her nose as Kie scrawled a note on a loose piece of paper. Taking the note Pope attached it to a fishing pole he'd found in the shack, "It's all we got," the boy replied before handing the pole to JJ.
"Alright, batter up."
"Baby, that's the wrong sport," Coral commented as JJ prepared to cast the pole towards where Fenton sat lounging in a boat at the dock.
"Okay, then heave ho," he said before casting the pole. Watching the hook fly as the fishing line was cast out Coral gave the thumbs up when the note landed in Fenton's boat, "Direct hit!"
"What did the note say?" Cleo asked as they watched Fenton reading the paper.
"In five seconds, you will hear a gunshot. That's your warning, the next shot will be at your head," Kie told them.
"It's been five seconds," Pope said, taking one of his firecrackers out of his bag. Using JJ's lighter he lit it and threw it across the river.
"I'm sorry, but why do you have those?"
"I packed for every possibility," he answered before throwing another one, "Is he buying it?"
Watching Fenton yelling, the girls laughed, "I think so," Cleo answered.
"They've surrounded us!" Fenton yelled before firing his gun into the surrounding river.
"Pope, return fire! Return fire!" JJ exclaimed.
Handing a firecracker to JJ, Pope lit his and threw it before giving JJ his lighter so he could do the same to his.
"There's too many of them!" Fenton yelled, "Let's get out of here!" he shrieked as he and the other man jumped in their boat and took off back down river.
"I can't believe that worked," Coral said astonished.
"Think we're getting better at this," JJ laughed.
"Oh, yeah," Pope agreed as they did their little bro handshake.
"Hey, hey. Ain't no time for celebrating. We didn't do nothing yet," Cleo told them.
"That's fair," Kie said as the two girls walked back towards their boat to grab their bags.
"I thought we did something," JJ muttered.
"We did."
"Well done soldier," JJ laughed, clapping the other boy on the back.
"Alright, troops, move out," Coral said waving her hand towards where Kie and Cleo had gone.
A few hours later Coral was lagging behind with JJ while Pope and Cleo had hiked ahead with Kie somewhere in the middle of them, "First we're running all over hell and creation and now we're hiking," Coral complained.
"Treasure hunting is a real workout," JJ responded smiling when she simply flipped him off, "Oh, Babygirl, I can feel the love," he mocked as they hiked up to where Kie stood staring up the hill.
Catching sight of Pope and Cleo kissing at the top of the hill Coral awed, "They're adorable."
"Pope!" JJ yelled, "Hey, we couldn't find anything. You guys find something?"
"JJ!" Coral and Kie hissed at the same time, "You ruined their moment," Coral admonished smacking the boy in the stomach.
"Yeah, the path leads this way!" Pope called, pointing ahead of him.
"The amount of times someone has interrupted us I say it's payback," JJ told her as they climbed the hill behind Kie joining them at the top.
Looking off in the distance Coral recognized the three stone structures, "That's Solana," she told them pointing, "I recognize it from the drawing we found at Professor Sowells," she reminded JJ.
"So, that's where we need to go," Pope declared.
"At least it's down hill," Coral quipped as they made their way down the other side of the hill and into the surrounding jungle.
"Holy shit," JJ breathed out looking in wonder at the stone structures as they finally made it to Solana.
Noticing the round stone in the center Coral walked towards it, "This was in the drawing. That thing my dad has, The Gnomon, goes in the center," she told them, "John B called it the Temalacati," she said, running her finger over the glyphs on the structure.
"Do you think they were here?" Pope asked as they moved to join Coral around the Temalacati.
"Cheese and rice!" Cleo exclaimed, stumbling into Pope as she backtracked from the other side of the structure, "Dead body!"
"Holy fuck!"
Moving around the stone Coral blinked at the body of a man lying on the ground, "It's one of Singh's men," she recognized, "Something bad happened here."
Wrapping his arm around her shoulders JJ steered her away from the body, "It seems like it, but the brighter side is that it's not Big John, John B, or Sarah laying there."
"I know," she agreed, "But then where the hell are they?" she questioned just as a very loud explosion shook the ground around them.
"Well," JJ said, "That sounded like John B right there."
"Come on, it came from this way," Pope said, leading them back into the jungle towards the explosion.
They hadn't gone more than a mile before Pope suddenly stopped turning to them quickly with his finger over his mouth indicating to be quiet. Motioning them forward he pointed off in the distance.
"Is that Ward?" Kie whispered.
"I thought you said he left on the plane," Coral hissed.
"He did. He must've come back."
"I say we follow him."
In agreement with Kie they took off after Ward following him up a steep embankment. Sucking in a breath Coral sighed in relief at the sight of her father, brother, and Sarah being confronted by Ward.
"So sweet, you know? One big happy family, huh?" Ward said sarcastically.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Sarah questioned.
"I'm too tired to hold my hands up, Ward," Big John said, "So if you're not good with that, you can just shoot me now."
"Well, watch what you wish for, my old friend. We might come to that," Ward replied.
Wide eyed Coral finally realized Ward had a gun trained on the three in front of him, "He has a gun," she whispered.
"Put the gun down," she heard Sarah demand.
"Shut up, Sarah. You have it all, don't you, John? Now you get everything, huh?" Ward questioned moving to take something from Sarah, "Thank you sweetheart. You get to go home, back to Kildaire. Live happily ever after. With your son and daughter that love you. And my daughter….who hates me. I'm sorry John. I don't think I can allow that."
"All right, so what are we gonna do?" Pope whispered.
"Is this ride or die?"
"P4L," Cleo responded, pulling her machete out
"P4L," they each stated as they all pulled their machete's out.
"P4 fricking L!" Coral exclaimed, charging out of the jungle with her friends. At their yelling Ward turned his gun on them.
"Come on! You're outnumbered Ward!"
"What are you gonna do, shoot us all?"
"If you gotta shoot somebody, Ward, shoot me," Big John called from where he was leaning heavily against a rock.
Turning Ward pointed his gun towards Big John, "Or me," John B said standing in the path of Ward's gun and Big John.
"Stop," Sarah demanded, stepping in front of John B, "Enough," she said, moving until her chest was pressed into the gun.
"Don't!" Ward cried.
"You're not gonna kill all of us," Sarah said, "I know you won't. I know you. You forget that I know you," she said, putting her hand over his on the gun, "You can't," she whispered, pushing his hand down and taking the gun from him.
"I couldn't. I couldn't do it," Ward cried, cupping Sarah's cheek.
"Yeah? Well, I can!"
Turning they found Singh's man, Ryan, walking towards them with a gun aimed at them all.
Taking the gun from Sarah, John B aimed it towards Ryan.
Scoffing, Ryan moved his gun to aim at Big John's head, "Toss it," he demanded.
"Take it easy, bud," Big John said, "Your boss is dead. You got no reason to do this."
"I can think of a few reasons," Ryan responded, "Toss it," he once again instructed John B.
Sighing, John B tossed the gun down as Ryan moved away from Big John coming to stand in front of them with his gun pointed at them, "Thought you'd end up with the gold, eh? All right, nobody move," he instructed picking up the gun John B had dropped, "My mate back there is dead. Because of you," he said, looking at Sarah, "You go first," he said pointing his gun at her.
"No," Ward uttered and then everything happened so fast. Ward charged Ryan at the same time Ryan fired the gun. Crashing into him, Ward threw them backwards right off the edge of what ended up being a cliff with a very steep drop.
Hearing a thump, Coral gasped, dropping her machete as she staggered into JJ, "What just happened?" she whispered.
"Sarah," John B breathed out as he moved to her side as she slowly walked to the edge of the cliff. Gasping, she turned her face into John B who wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed.
Gripping JJ's hand, they walked to the edge with the others looking down at Ward's body at the base of the cliff. Stunned by Ward's sacrifice it took several seconds to realize Pope was calling both her and John B over to where he stood, shaking her father.
Dropping JJ's hand Coral hurried to his side, "Daddy?" Noticing the blood covering his left side she looked up at her brother, "What the fuck happened?"
"He was shot," he answered, "Okay, Dad, we gotta get you out of here," he said as he and Pope both lifted Big John up by his arms. Draping her father's arms over their shoulders they led the group back out of the jungle.
Several hours later they finally made it back to El Tesora with John B and now JJ practically dragging Big John back to Mike's boat. Laying Big John down they all climbed in as JJ once again took control of the rudder as he drove them back downstream.
"Booker, he's lost a lot of blood," Coral whispered.
"I fucking know that," he whispered back taking a shirt from his bag he moved the rag Big John had been using and pressed his clean shirt to the wound. It was covered in blood within minutes.
Swallowing, Coral looked at JJ before pulling out her cellphone.
"Who are you calling?" John B questioned, squinting at his sister.
Ignoring him she hit send on the contact screen, "Mike," she breathed out once he answered.
"What trouble did you get into now?" Mike asked.
"It's my dad. He got shot and he's losing a lot of blood," Coral answered.
"Well shit. How close are you?"
"I don't know. Maybe an hour," she responded looking at JJ who shook his head holding up two fingers, "Maybe two hours."
"Get him here as fast as you can. I'll be waiting," he told her before hanging up.
"What did he say?" JJ asked.
"He'll be waiting," Coral replied.
"Who will be waiting?" John B asked.
"Barracuda Mike."
"Why do you have Barracuda Mike's number on speed dial?"
"How else do you think we got here?"
Opening his mouth to argue with his sister, John B snapped it shut as Big John groaned in pain, "Hey, hey, hey, Pop. Hang in there, okay?" he said, taking his father's hand while Coral took the other.
"Daddy, we're gonna get you help," she assured him.
Sighing, Big John smiled drowsily at them, "Bird and Bug. We did it," he whispered, "You told her, right? We found it together."
"Yeah, on the hike back down to El Tesoro. I told her about translating the Gnomon and finding the underwater cave and about the gold. How we found El Dorado," John B assured him.
Nodding, Big John closed his eyes momentarily before reopening them, "Sarah," he smiled at her before looking at John B,"You gotta hang onto this one," he told his son. Reaching back John B took Sarah's hand as he nodded.
"JJ," Big John called looking at the boy, "You take care of my little girl."
"Of course," JJ responded as Coral shook her head.
"Daddy, you're gonna be fine," she whispered.
"You take care of each other," Big John continued looking at the twins, "I know that I wasn't any great shakes as a father," he said.
"Stop Dad," John B interrupted.
"But you….you were the best son any man could hope for," he continued, ignoring John B, "And my Cory girl, my Bug, you were the best daughter. I want you to know that," he trailed off.
"You can tell us when we get home, okay? Almost there."
"Okay," Big John whispered, closing his eyes.
"Hold up. Look, Dad. Look," John B told him, pulling out a rock of gold from Sarah's bag. Placing it on Big John's chest he lifted his hand placing it on top of the gold.
Smiling, Big John opened his eyes as he gripped the gold, "I'll see you. I'll see you on the other side," he told them before closing his eyes for the last time.
"Dad?"
"Daddy?"
The end till Season 4! I have the 18-month scene written however I'm waiting till next season to post. 18 months is quite a long time where things could happen, and I have questions. Like what happened with Rafe?! What happened with Topper pressing charges?! How did Kie's parents go from despising her friends to celebrating them?
Thank you for reading and hope to see you when Season 4 drops!