The Pogues had already docked and were walking down the deck towards the reporting station tent, where a bunch of people were shouting over each other, trying to get their problems taken care of. Kie and Pope remained outside the tent while John B and JJ pushed their way through the crowd to the counters, getting separated to different spots.

John B arrived first and tried to get the worker's attention. "Excuse me. Hey man, we found a boat," he said urgently. But the man didn't even look his way.

JJ arrived next, but her attempt to speak was immediately interrupted and drowned out by another woman screaming nearby.

"You're gonna wanna hear this," John B tried again, raising his voice over the chaos.

The man finally turned towards John B, but only to yell, "Hey! Calm down." John B felt annoyed; he was already calm, and the man quickly turned back to the lady complaining about her dog. John B glanced over at JJ, who seemed distracted, clicking a pen. He walked over to her, deciding it was time to give up. He grabbed the pen from her hand and threw it irritably onto the counter before storming out of the tent. JJ followed behind him, thinking he was being a bit dramatic, but she was annoyed too, so she didn't blame him.

"Well that went well," John B said once they rejoined Kie and Pope outside the tent.

"So what's the plan?" JJ asked, knowing John B isn't one to give up. She hooked her arm with John B's letting him know she's down for whatever he's planning.

"I know how we're going to find the guy who owns that boat," John B said, holding up the motel key as JJ had predicted.

"We don't know whose boat that is. It could be anyone," Pope chimed in, voicing his concern.

"I'm in," JJ chirped enthusiastically, already walking towards the boat, clearly showing her eagerness to proceed.

"Come on, I'll be lookout," Kie said rebelliously, following JJ, though not willing to be so rebellious as to actually participate in the breaking in.

John B patted Pope on the chest as he walked by. "Finders fee. Just saying," he remarked, teasingly. Turning around a few steps later, he spread his arms wide. "And hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice!"

Pope groaned, already giving in, as they knew he would. "Man," he muttered resignedly.

"Come on, bubba," John B smirked as they all loaded into the HMS Pogue, making their way towards the motel indicated by the key.

The trip was mostly quiet as they all daydreamed about what they might find at the motel. Finally, the motel came into view—it was old and beaten down, not at all where you would expect someone with a Grady White to stay.

JJ whistled. "I thought the Chateau looked bad." Not really, she loved the Chateau, but she knew it wasn't exactly up to normal people's standards.

"This is a shitshow," John B agreed.

"Motel or meth lab?" Kie chimed in.

"You be the judge," Pope answered her.

"Doesn't look like the type of place someone with a Grady White would stay," John B said, echoing JJ's thoughts.

"No, looks like somewhere someone with a Grady White would get killed," Pope shot back.

"Here we go," JJ said as they approached the beach. She pulled out her invisible radio and mimicked static noise. "This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue coming in for landing," she cheered as she hopped out of the boat onto the grassy inlet.

They tied off the boat, and John B looked at JJ.

"We good?" he asked, searching her eyes to double-check that she was really up for it. Like she wouldn't be!

"Yeah, we're good," she affirmed.

"All right, here goes nothin'," he said, as he moved to join her off the boat.

Before he could move, Pope stopped him. "Hey."

John B turned towards him, impatient. "Yeah?"

"Don't let her do anything stupid," Pope advised, nodding his head towards JJ. John B glanced at her, and she smirked.

"Oh, we will," she retorted mischievously.

John B smiled fondly and sighed, looking back towards Pope. "I'm not making promises."

"Yeah, I know," Pope sighed, exasperated.

Then, Kie was acting strangely as she handed the motel key to John B, and JJ didn't like it.

"Uh, be careful... I mean it," Kie said to John B, and JJ didn't like the look in her eyes. But she bit back her tongue from saying anything she might regret. What could she say anyway? John B didn't belong to her.

John B chuckled nervously, as if he could read JJ's thoughts. "Yeah," he muttered, stepping off the boat and nudging JJ lightly with his foot. "Let's go." Together, they made their way towards the motel. Unbeknownst to them, they missed the fist bump Kie gave Pope and didn't hear her ask him if he noticed JJ's expression. Lost in thought, JJ trailed behind John B.

"Why are these mattresses out here?" John B asked aloud, prompting JJ to look up.

"After a hurricane, they toss 'em out because they get moldy," she replied, her voice tinged with memories of her short-lived job at a motel, where she had been fired for absenteeism, mostly due to Luke Maybank's influence.

They ascended the stairs to the second story, but JJ couldn't contain herself any longer.

"Just be careful, John B," she said, strolling up to him and lightly gripping his face with one hand, trying to sound playful though she was actually testing his reaction. She wanted to ask about Kie, but didn't want to sound jealous.

He brushed her hand away, saying, "God, you're so weird."

"What was that about?" she persisted.

"I don't know. Maybe she just wants us to be careful," he shrugged, hoping she'd drop it.

"Since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's been all…" JJ said, grabbing John B's shoulders and giving him a playful massage, affecting a seductive tone. "Oh, be so careful, John B!" She knew she sounded jealous, but she wasn't finished.

"Get off," John B snapped, annoyed.

"Just give me that John D already!" she persisted, even as he shrugged her off.

They're almost to the door now. "When are you going to swoop on that man?" JJ asked, unable to hide her interest.

"JJ, you know the rule: no Pogue-on-Pogue macking," John B replies firmly, though a flicker in his eyes leaves JJ feeling unsettled, stirring her jealousy. Maybe he does like Kie? "Besides, why do you care anyway? You're always flirting with Pope." His words hit JJ like a shock, leaving her frozen in place, stunned.

She burst into laughter, and John B looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if he genuinely thought she had feelings for Pope.

"Pope is like my brother, dude. You don't hit on your brother," she explained between giggles, trying to regain her composure. He seemed to accept her explanation, nodding as he turned to continue toward the motel room.

"You need help, and not just a little bit—but, a lot of help," John B quipped. JJ decided to drop the subject, at least for the moment.

"Is this us? Number 29," John B asked, stopping in front of a door and answering his own question. "This is it."

"Okay," JJ said, knocking on the door and playfully calling out in an unnecessarily high-pitched voice, "Housekeeping!"

When no one responded, John B asked, "Should we try it?"

"Yeah," JJ agreed, excited. "No power, no security cameras. No one's gonna know."

With that, John B turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open.

As they stepped into the empty room, their eyes settled on a lone black backpack resting on the bed.

"Huh," John B murmured, slightly disappointed. "Check the bag. See if there's a name on it somewhere." The door shut quietly behind them as he approached the backpack.

JJ began to explore the rest of the room. "A jacket," she remarked aloud, noticing it draped over a chair.

"Denim slides," John B listed in response.

"No name on the jacket," JJ confirmed after inspecting it closely. "But it's a nice jacket."

"Definitely over 50. He's got New Balances," John B announced, pointing to the shoes by the door.

JJ walked over to the nightstand and spotted a map and a yellow sticky note.

"Yo, JB, come here. Maybe this is where they were fishing," she deduced, pointing to a spot on the map that was circled.

John B stepped up beside her to take a look. "No, that's off the continental shelf. That's big swell. Nobody fishes there."

"Okay," JJ replied, nodded. John B would know.

John B found a smaller white note underneath the map with some numbers on it that JJ struggled to read. She had tried to learn before, but she felt like she couldn't grasp it—just like her dad always said. The words and numbers seemed to move on the page, evading her attempts to understand them. She had never told anyone about this struggle, though she suspected John B knew she had difficulty reading. He had tried to bring it up once, but she had become defensive and denied it, so he dropped the subject.

John B placed the note back down, indicating it must not have been important.

JJ headed to the bathroom to see if there was anything of value, while John B spotted the safe and decided to try his luck. As she searched, JJ listed random objects aloud.

"Ooh!"

"Find anything?" John B called out from the other room.

"Really awesome Dopp kit you won't let me steal," JJ remarked humorously, examining the items in the bathroom. Spotting some deodorant, she realized she was out.

"Yeah, because we're not stealing shit," John B replied sternly.

JJ casually slipped the deodorant into her pocket. Definitely stealing this, she thought to herself.

John B punched in random numbers, willing the safe to open.

Meanwhile, Pope and Kie sat in the boat, engrossed in conversation about Kie's biggest pet peeve: people not taking care of the environment. Suddenly, a police truck rounded the corner into the motel parking lot. Two officers, a male and a female, emerged and started walking purposefully toward the motel.

"Hey, cops," Pope called out as he spotted them first.

"Shit," Kie muttered under her breath.

"Call them," Pope urged.

"I can't. The tower's down," Kie stressed, her worry evident.

"If I lose my merit scholarship, I'm gonna kill someone," Pope muttered, but he followed Kie nonetheless as they trailed the officers to see what they were up to.

"Maybe they're not going up there," Pope said hopefully. "Maybe they're just looking for a room."

"He's pointing!" Kie deadpanned, and sure enough, Pope saw the hotel manager pointing out the room where John B and JJ had gone to the cops. Of course, we aren't that lucky. "They're going up there."

Pope and Kie racked their brains, desperate to think of a way to warn their friends before the cops reached the room.

Inside the motel room, John B continued to struggle with breaking into the safe, his frustration growing palpable.

"Punching shit at random. That will… definitely work," JJ remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes in disbelief.

John B's eyes lit up suddenly. "Wait a second," he exclaimed, rushing back to the nightstand where he picked up the note JJ couldn't read. Some sort of realization crossed his face as he brought the note back to the safe.

JJ, not paying attention to John B, was studying the map again, trying to connect any clues to the red circle. "Wait, my cousin said you can catch swordfish here," she mused aloud, though she knew it was a stretch. They were grasping at straws.

Meanwhile, John B began punching in the numbers from the note into the safe's keypad, focused on unlocking it.

"Nah, that wouldn't make sense. What about a surf spot?" JJ continued, her mind racing with possibilities.

The lock on the safe clicked open. Score.

"That could possibly be it," JJ continued rambling, still absorbed in her thoughts and not noticing that John B had successfully opened the safe.

"Holy shit," John B gasped as he swung the safe door open, his eyes widening at what he found inside.

"Is this a surf spot?" JJ asked, still unaware that the safe had been opened. Oblivious should be her middle name.

John B pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills from the safe, his eyes widening at the sight. And there was more.

"Have you heard of shoals?" JJ continued, still not paying attention, lost in her own thoughts.

"Uh… JJ?" John B interjected, trying to get her attention.

"Hm?" JJ responded, still distracted, but she looked back at John B.

"You're gonna want to see this," John B said, excitement in his voice as he held out the stack of money for her to see.

Finally realizing that John B had cracked the safe, JJ's eyes widened with excitement. She hurried over to him to see what else was inside.

Outside, Pope and Kie hurried as fast as they could without being spotted, moving to the side of the motel where the window to room 29 was located. They finally had a plan.

"Stand back," Pope instructed Kie, relieved to have a chance to possibly impress her.

"Okay, you got it," Kie said, standing back.

Pope picked up a rock and threw it up, but to his horror, it didn't even come close to hitting the window. In fact, it was a humiliating throw, and Pope's cheeks reddened a bit.

"Didn't you ever play baseball?" Kie asked, disbelieving at his failed attempt. She then bent down to find another rock. "Dude!"

"I was on the math team," Pope defended himself.

Inside, JJ peered into the safe, her eyes immediately drawn to the gun lying next to the stacks of cash.

"Dude, dude, dude!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"You grabbed the gun!" John B said anxiously, eyeing the weapon with concern. All that money and she grabs the gun?!

"This is a SIG Sauer," JJ exclaimed excitedly. She knew her stuff, what could she say.

John B moved to grab the gun from her, but she dodged him. "Put the gun back, JJ!"

"This is a fucking expensive gun, man! Just bam, bam!" she exclaimed wildly, pointing the gun around the room, pretending to shoot.

"Hey, think about it. We're not stealing anything," John B tried to convince her, hoping he wouldn't have to wrestle the gun away from her.

Outside, the cops were nearing the room. Kie threw the rock and it hit the mark!

Meanwhile, John B was preoccupied trying to persuade JJ to put the gun back. JJ pulled out her phone and handed it to John B.

"Just take a picture of me. Right here," JJ insisted, striking a pose.

"You want me to take a picture of you?" John B deadpanned, unsure of JJ's seriousness.

"Yeah!" JJ exclaimed enthusiastically, posing with the gun pointed up in front of her.

"Make our own incriminating evidence? Is that what you're talking about?" John B asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. JJ had to admit, he had a point.

Outside, Kie threw another rock, and this time John B and JJ heard it.

"Wait, what is that?" JJ asked, intrigued, as John B peered through the blinds out the window.

John B saw Kie and Pope below, mouthing the word 'cops!' He jumped to the other side of the room and peered out the window. The cops were already outside the door.

"Cops," he whispered urgently to JJ, his eyes wide.

JJ quickly shoved a stack of money into her pocket and tucked the gun into her pants, while John B tore the window open. They both stepped out onto the ledge on either side of the window, staying out of view from inside the room.

"Kildare County Sheriff's Department!" the male cop announced loudly after knocking at the door.

Pope and Kie raced back to the boat, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Should we peel?" Kie asked, breathless from running.

"We never leave a Pogue behind," Pope replied firmly, watching the motel closely. He noticed John B and JJ standing on the ledge outside the window, their breaths held.

Inside the room, the cops entered cautiously.