Denmark Tanny

"We've gotta clean that wound," Sarah told John B as she pulled into her property.

"No," John B shook his head as he realized where she'd taken him. "Sarah I- I cannot be here."

"Okay, well, you have to trust me," Sarah tells him stubbornly.

"Yeah I did that one time already," John B spoke without thinking.

"We've already been through this. I didn't rat you out okay?" Sarah stressed. "So suck it up buttercup."

John B groaned but followed her anyway. He nervously looked around as she opened the front door, everything inside him telling him he doesn't belong here. "Hey, I don't think your old man would be happy if an ex-employee was bleeding all over his house."

"Ssh!" Sarah shushed him. "So don't bleed."

John B was flabbergasted but stopped talking and followed her quietly into the next room.

"Hey!" Ward's voice was heard coming down the stairs in front of them and for a second John B thought they were busted. "Jerry, don't tell me we can't renegotiate the rate.."

Sarah quickly ushered John B out of view of the stairs before her dad could spot him. She stood at the bottom and wore her most innocent face as her dad came into view and reached the bottom.

"We can absolutely renegotiate the rate Jerry. That's what we're doing right now." Her dad spoke into his phone.

"Hi," Sarah chirped.

"What are you doing?" Her dad asked, speaking away from the phone.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Shut the door. Come on sweetie," her dad asked as he passed her and walked out the door she had left open.

"Sorry," she called as he shut the door behind him. She then grabbed John B from around the corner and they ran up the stairs in case her dad came back in.

"Go in here. Sit down. I'll be right back," Sarah led him into a large sitting room with one wall lined with tons of books and a large painting of a black man. She shut the door behind him and he looked around as he waited for her to come back. He set his backpack on a small table along the wall.

"Woah," John B mumbled as he eyed a crystal chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling. That must be worth more than everything he owns combined. He reaches his hand up to run his fingers along one of the dangling crystal fringes.

The door reopens and Sarah is back with a water and first aid kit in her hands.

"Okay," Sarah says as she comes toward him and John B slowly sits down on a black leather couch. "Lift up your shirt."

John B clenched his teeth as his movements irritated his side. He goes to lift his shit as Sarah sits next to him and opens the first aid kit.

"That's gotta be disinfected," Sarah speaks out loud as she she pulls out what she needs.

"Wait is that rubbing alcohol?" John B groans internally. That shit stings.

"Yes," Sarah replied sternly as she soaks a cotton ball with it. "It's the only way to be safe. Close your eyes. On the count to three."

John B lays his head back on the back of the couch and prepares himself for the pain.

"Ready? One, two.." Sarah doesn't wait for three and John B yells out at the pain. God that stings. Sarah put a hand over his mouth shushing him. He clenched his teeth together but he shuts up.

"Are you kidding me," she snaps.

"Sorry," John B mutters through the pain.

"My god, never heard anyone whine like that before," Sarah says as she aggressively wipes down the wound with the disinfectant.

John B lifts his head up annoyed and smacks her hand to get her to stop. "Stop."

"Excuse you," Sarah snaps.

"Sorry," John B gasps as Sarah returns to cleaning up the cut.

"Who's uh, who's the dude on the wall?" He asks, trying to distract himself from the pain. The painting seemed out of place.

Sarah briefly looked up to where he was looking, then returned to his wound. "Oh it's Denmark Tanny, founder of Tannyhill."

"Founder?" John B asked curiously. The name sounded familiar.

"Mm-hm," Sarah affirmed.

"So, how did a slave found a cotton plantation?" John B asked her, wanting to know more.

"He was a free man," Sarah told him as she bandaged him up. "He's kind of a mystery. He showed up out of nowhere and paid for all the land around here in gold."

Wait. His head snapped to look at Sarah and he repeated her words back. "In gold?"

"Mm-hm." She confirmed again.

John B stood up no longer caring about the cut on side.

"Hey wh- I'm not finished, Sancho!" Sarah yelled at him. John B ignored her and walked over to his backpack to pull out his father's notes.

"Denmark Tanny.." John B mumbled as he scanned over a passenger log of the Royal Merchant. "I recognize that name."

Sure enough, there it read: Tanny Denmark.

"He- he was on the Royal Merchant," John B said aloud as the new information processed in his brain. "But there was no survivors."

He stared at the portrait on the wall in shock. He needed to know more. He spun around to face Sarah as she stood up from the couch and walked toward him. "Hey what else do you know about this guy?"

Sarah was confused why John B was so interested, but she decided to humor him while she lifted his shirt and finished bandaging his wound. "Uh when we first moved in, we found a diary, an almanac, a bunch of papers. Ward donated all of it to the state archives at Chapel Hill."

"Can I go see that?" John B asked her turned back as she returned to the first aid kit. He needed answers and he feels like a dog with a bone.

"See what?" Sarah asked him.

"The- the archives." He answered. "I need to see them."

I mean, I can get you in if you want. He's got a trustee pass." Sarah volunteered still not sure why it was so important.

"Yeah. Yeah I need that," John B spoke barely containing his excitement.

"To Chapel Hill?" Sarah questioned in disbelief.

"Yes. Right now," John B stated dead seriously.

"Why now?" Sarah questioned again.

"I- I can't tell you that," John B told her, praying she'd stop asking questions.

"More fugitive stuff?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh… fugitive adjacent, sort of," John B nodded. "It's um.. it's a matter of national security."

"I've just waited my entire life for someone to say that to me," Sarah snarked back sarcastically with a smile, unbudging.

"Look, god, I know this sounds crazy but I really need to borrow that pass," John B practically begged. "The less you know the better. Okay? You've just- you've gotta trust me."

"No, I don't trust anyone." Sarah replied back "Especially not with a trustee pass"

John B just stared at her incredulous.

"I need to go now," he told her trying to convey in his tone how serious it's is to him.

"Okay, then I'm coming with you," she shrugged. Absolutely not.

"No," John B refuted.

"Yes," Sarah replied confidently walking closer to John B. "One last mission and then I'm out of this dirty, dirty game."

She slapped his wound as she walked by causing him to grunt in pain. Why were girls so violent, he wondered, though admittedly Sarah had nothing on JJ. He wished JJ was here. She could've convinced Sarah to just give them the pass. She'd talk your ear off, but somehow she almost walks away with what she wants. John B doesn't know how she does it. Well, maybe he does now that he thinks about it. He's not exactly immune to it either. In fact he's pretty sure he's the worst of them all. He didn't go along with most of JJ's bright ideas simply because he believed them to be good ones, that's for sure.

"Come on. Let's go," she commanded as she walked out of the room. John B groaned internally. He had no choice but to follow.