"No, seriously, should we peel?" Kie asked again, her voice nervous as they watched the cops enter the room.

Pope glanced back at her, his heart racing. "Maybe," he replied tersely.

They exchanged a quick, tense glance before Pope turned his attention back to the motel room, keeping a vigilant watch on John B and JJ standing on the ledge outside.

From the window ledge, JJ and John B looked at each other, eyes wide with tension, silently urging each other to stay calm. They each took deep breaths as they heard the male cop order the female cop to check the bathroom inside the room.

John B cautiously moved to peek inside the window, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening, while JJ pressed herself as close to the wall as possible.

"What are you guys doing?" Pope whisper-yelled from the boat, his voice filled with concern as he watched John B and JJ on the window ledge.

"Oh my god," Kie moaned quietly, unable to believe the dire situation they were in.

John B put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet, as he carefully held onto a drain pipe for support.

JJ felt so nervous that she almost wanted to laugh from the rush of adrenaline, but she quickly bit her lip to suppress it. She threw Pope and Kie a "keep it down" sign, motioning for them to stay quiet, before tightly gripping the drain pipe on her side of the window.

John B peered into the window once more and saw that the cops were digging around in the safe. He watched as the male cop pulled out some papers and handed them to the female cop.

"Go ahead. Throw these in a bag, would you?" the male cop instructed.

"Yes, sir," the female cop replied dutifully, taking the papers from him and stepping out of John B's field of view to presumably bag the papers.

Inside the room, the male cop continued to dig around in the safe. He pulled out a stack of bills and held it out to the female cop.

"Sir?" the female cop asked, hesitant.

"Everybody's gotta dip their beak," he replied gruffly.

"What the fuck?" JJ whispered to John B, who was equally taken aback. She had decided to brave peeking in just in time to witness the cops being… well… dirty. She wasn't that surprised, but it still rattled her.

The female cop took the stack of bills reluctantly. "Right, right. Dip their beak," she muttered, her discomfort evident, but she didn't resist her commanding officer.

"Do you believe-" JJ started to whisper, but she jerked a little too hard and the gun fell out of her pants, making a racket as it hit the ground with a thud. She tried to catch it, but nearly lost her balance on the ledge, grabbing onto the drain pipe tightly. Her eyes clenched shut as she internally scolded herself.

On the other side of the window, John B mentally slapped himself. Of course, JJ hadn't put the gun back. He regretted assuming she had in their rush to get out.

The silence was piercing as they waited, their breaths held, hoping they wouldn't be caught. The blinds of the window were raised up, and they could feel their hearts pounding out of their chests.

Pope and Kie went back to looking nonchalant, trying to appear as though it was just a typical afternoon chilling in their boat.

Each second seemed to stretch on for hours as John B and JJ clung to the ledge, waiting anxiously for any sign of discovery.

JJ looked over at John B, feeling panicked, but John B met her eyes and put a finger to his lips, reminding her to stay quiet. Despite the tense situation, he looked more confident than he probably felt, and it helped her to calm down.

He maintained eye contact with her, silently conveying reassurance and strength, as if he knew she was struggling. Which, to be fair, he probably did. She could never hide her feelings from him.

John B could see the slight panic in JJ's eyes, and he wanted to grab her hand to comfort her, but instead, he settled for holding eye contact. It seemed to work, as he noticed her breathing even out and the wild glint in her blue eyes soften. He knew that look meant she was on the edge of fight or flight mode.

He felt a warm swell in his heart, grateful that he was there with her. He knew he was the only one who could calm her down when she got like this, and he cherished that trust she placed in him. It wasn't easy for JJ to trust, and he sometimes felt anger at the world for making her so wary, but he pushed those feelings aside.

After another tense moment, they heard the male cop address the female cop. "Alright… let's go. No one's here." The door opened and closed a second later, and John B and JJ let out a collective sigh of relief.

They waited an extra moment to ensure the cops weren't coming back, then John B opened the window and they climbed back through it.

"Well, that was fun," JJ said, attempting to lighten the mood, but her voice came out shaky.

"You okay?" John B asked, concerned. He stood in front of her and gently squeezed her shoulders. She nodded in response, grateful for his support.

Not wanting to stick around any longer, John B and JJ quickly exited the motel room and made their way down to the boat. JJ made a side trip to retrieve the fallen gun and tucked it back into her pants securely.

They untied the boat, climbed in, and Pope skillfully maneuvered the boat away from the motel, with Kie keeping a watchful eye behind them.

"You could've warned us sooner!" JJ chuckled to Pope and Kie, feeling relieved now that the immediate danger had passed.

"We would have, except Pope was on the math team," Kie explained cryptically.

"You were on the math team?" JJ asked Pope, not entirely surprised by the revelation.

"The cops took everything like it was a crime scene," John B interjected, cutting into the small talk.

"Did you guys find anything?" Pope asked, his curiosity piqued.

JJ decided to show and tell. She stood up confidently. "Find anything? Nah, not really. Oh wait, actually…" With a mischievous smile, she pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills and a gun, holding them up for all to see.

"What the hell?!" Pope exclaimed incredulously, glaring at her as if she were out of her mind.

"Dude what?" Kie chimed in, equally shocked.

"Dude chill, come on," JJ retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Why would you take that from a crime scene?" Pope pressed, his tone heavy with concern.

"It's better than the cops having it," she retorted, recalling how some of the cash disappeared into the officers' pockets.

"You serious?" Kie eyed her, clearly judgmental. But they didn't understand. Kie was wealthy, and Pope was comfortable. They would both leave this place after school. They didn't know what it was like to live her or John B's life, and none of them understood the fear of going home, where carrying a gun felt like the only way to maybe feel safe. Who were they to judge her? JJ thought, but she didn't voice these thoughts. John B remained silent, though she knew he shared their sentiments.

"I'm going to lose my merit scholarship," Pope stressed dramatically.

"Hey, hey, shh," JJ tried to comfort him, placing a hand on his back. She wasn't letting go of the gun. "At least you have us, right?" she teased, unable to resist.

"I feel like I'm living a nightmare," Pope groaned, walking away from her.

They decided to return to the reporting station and attempt to report the boat again, hoping for a finder's fee. When they arrived, the place was still bustling. Opting to wait it out, they found seats near some familiar faces from their school.

As they settled into their seats, they noticed a stretcher carrying a body being unloaded from a boat. A distraught woman rushed over, crying uncontrollably.

"Who's that?" John B asked the group, his curiosity piqued.

"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm," one of the girls replied, pulling out her phone. "Check out this pic I got."

She showed them a picture that JJ wished she had never seen. "A dead body. Insane," the girl remarked with an unsettling cheerfulness. JJ couldn't help but think she should spend more time with Pope.

"Holy shit," John B muttered, and something clicked in JJ's brain.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ asked.

"Somehow that dirtbag copped a brand new Grady White. Everyone's out looking for it," one of them replied.

The Pogues exchanged excited glances. They swiftly made excuses and hurried back to the chateau, not wanting to risk being overheard.

'This day turned out to be quite the mystery,' JJ giggled to herself. 'If we got a dog, we could be the next Scooby gang.'