─☼☼☼─

𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙋𝙏 upon them by the time they finally made it to a mechanic. The tow truck had taken almost two hours to get to them, probably because it was the only one within a fifty mile radius. 

In that time, JJ and Charlotte had played so many games of hot hands that she was sure there was some sort of permanent damage.

Even now, hours later as she picked up a keychain from one of the hooks, Charlotte winced at the pain in her hands. 

"I told you two to stop playing that." Pope chided as he watched her pained movements. "You probably bruised your hands."

Charlotte smiled, amused by his parent-like instincts...usually it was her who was mothering the rest of the group. 

"Come on, Pope. It's called making the best of a shitty situation. Sorry JJ and I didn't run off and do whatever the hell you and my sister were doing."

Thirty minutes into their stranded waiting game, Kie and Pope had disappeared into the tree-line, and Charlotte didn't even want to begin to guess what they were doing. 

Pope ducked his head slightly in embarrassment. "We weren't doing anything." He assured meekly. "We're never doing anything." The latter part of his sentence was muttered and full of what sounded like resentment. 

She didn't really want to pry, but Charlotte also didn't want to brush off whatever was bothering him. "Don't take it personally." She suggested with a small shrug. 

"What do you mean?" He wondered, looking over at her with curiosity. 

Charlotte's eyes strayed toward the outside of the shop where Kie and JJ were arguing about something by the truck. "You know how Kie is. She's a free-spirit...wild child, if you will. She cares about you, Pope. She's just not sure how to show it."

He swallowed a lump in his throat, following the older girl's gaze. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Okay." The garage-owner interrupted, slapping a piece of paper down on the desk between them. "There you go."

Pope grabbed the paper, looking down at the numbers that were scribbled on it. Charlotte did the same, her eyes circling the total that was underlined at the bottom of the invoice. 

"Are you serious?" Pope balked, his grip tightening on the paper. "Three seventy?"

"Well, yeah, man. That thing was close to death when it rolled in here. I did what I could." The mechanic responded, his country twang strong as he chewed on a toothpick. 

Reaching into her wallet, Charlotte pulled out her credit card. "Pope, it's okay. The truck needed fixing, there's nothing we can do about it now."

A frustrated sigh fell from his lips as he shook his head. "Charley, I can't let you pay for it. Won't your parents be pissed?"

"It's my own money." Charlotte shrugged, handing her card to the mechanic with a forced smile. "I'm an adult...I can spend my money on whatever I want. And besides," She sighed as she watched the man run her card, "We're already a day late...what's one more thing?"

Truthfully, Charlotte was less worried about how her parents would react to her being gone an extra day. Instead, she was concerned about Kiara. She was already treading on thin ice, and this was sure to add another significant crack to the surface. 

"Okay." The man muttered, sliding Charlotte's card back toward her. "Y'all are good to go. Have a nice night...and stay out of trouble."

Stifling a laugh, Charlotte nodded. "Yeah, we'll be sure to do that. Thank you."

If only that man knew they trouble they were bound to get themselves into...

"Let's go!" Pope called to the other two as they exited the shop, keys dangling from his index finger. "We'll find someplace to park and crash for the night."

Charlotte huffed as she pulled herself into the front seat. "We could just get a motel, you know."

"No." Pope argued as he started the engine, Kie and JJ piling into the back. "We're not spending any more of your money."

"Pope's right, Char." JJ announced. "We gotta save the moula for real emergencies."

"And sleeping in the middle of nowhere isn't a real emergency?" She argued, turning to look at him with an incredulous expression. "What if we get murdered?"

Pope pulled out of the mechanic shop, shaking his head with a small snort. "We're literally going to meet some random person who told me I have to come alone and you're worried that sleeping in a field is what's going to get us killed?"

"No─well, yes." Charlotte shot back. "I'm worried about all of it. This whole thing is giving me the creeps."

"I'm with worry-wart over there." Kie agreed. "This whole trip is turning into a recipe for murder."

JJ leaned forward, sticking his head between Pope and Charlotte. "I hope they kill me first so I don't have to watch you guys die."

Charlotte turned her head slightly to look at him. "That's...morbid."

"I actually think it's pretty romantic." He argued, shooting her a grin as he settled back in his seat. "Don't worry, Charles, I'll protect you until my dying breath."

Kiara rolled her eyes. "JJ, do you ever get sick of flirting with my sister who is totally not into you?"

"Who said she wasn't into me?" He argued, quirking a brow. "You should see the looks she gives me when you guys aren't watching."

Charlotte let out a laugh. "And what looks are those, J?"

He winked at her. "You know, lover."

Pope chuckled as he pulled into an empty field, parking the truck under a huge tree. "You guys are so fucking weird."

"Come on, Pope." Charlotte teased, leaning back to take JJ's hand. "You and Kie can flirt all the time, why can't we?"

He glared at her, killing the engine. "I hope the murderers kill you two first so I can watch." He muttered, throwing open the door. 

"Oh, come on!" JJ called after him. "Don't be jealous of our love, man!"

Kiara opened her door, trying to smother her smile as she looked at the other two who were still holding hands in mock affection. "You two are idiots." 

Once she was out of the car, JJ leaned forward. "They don't understand our love."

Charlotte shook her head with a false look of longing. "Not at all."

─☼☼☼─

By the time morning had rolled around, Charlotte had a horrible kink in her neck and a pounding headache. 

Her and JJ had fallen asleep next to each other the night before, and they had somehow ended up with JJ spooning her so tightly she could hardly move. She had been forced to smack him numerous times just to get him to finally release his grip on her. 

Now, two hours later as they neared Charleston, she could barely keep her eyes open. The quiet chatter of the other three kids floated through the air, but they were rather reserved as well. It seemed everyone was either too on edge, or too exhausted, to engage in much of a conversation. 

 Just when it seemed she had finally begun to doze off, Charlotte was jabbed in the ribs with an elbow. Her eyes opened slowly, landing on her sister who was watching her with a slight look of unease. "Char, get up. We're almost there."

Groaning, Charlotte swiped a hand over her face in an effort to awake herself. "Do you think they'll let me take a nap when we get there?"

Kiara rolled her eyes as JJ flipped the letter around in his hands, once again studying. "So, tell me again what we know about these people."

"They're fancy." The eldest Carrera responded, taking a sip of her water bottle. "They've had like three governors in the family."

Of course, the minute Charlotte had received the Limbrey name from Kie, she had hopped right on Google, hoping to find all the information they would need. 

"Yeah." Kiara confirmed as they pulled onto a street full of exquisite houses. "They've run Charleston for, like, three hundred years."

JJ glanced out at the house they were currently stopping in front of. "These Kooks make our Kooks look like Pogues."

And honestly, he was kind of right. 

The houses were bigger than any on Kildare Island. They were large colonial homes, their presence crowding the streets of Charleston with their large gardens and perfect properties. 

"You sure this is the place, Pope?" JJ wondered, eyes locked on the mansion in front of them. 

"Pretty sure."

Charlotte shifted in the back seat, her eyes scanning the house for any signs of imminent danger. "Okay, we should make a─"

She was cut off as JJ threw open his door. "Let's go."

"─Plan." Charlotte finished her interrupted sentence, muttering it to no one but herself as she followed JJ out of the car. 

She had absolutely no idea what they were about to walk into, and part of her was afraid it was the last thing they were ever going to do in life. 

But, hey, at least if they got murdered here, their parents couldn't murder them for being late...right?

Stopping in front of the gates, Charlotte glanced up at the tall fence, her eyes snagging on the spikes that littered the top of it. 

"Talk about home security." JJ observed, his attention also on the spikes. "Are those spikes to keep people out?"

A heavy weight settled in the air as Charlotte, Kiara and Pope's eyes strayed toward one of the outbuilding on the property. 

"No." Charlotte muttered, voice gravelly. 

Kiara pointed to the building. "The slave quarters are over there."

"These spikes were to keep people in." Pope declared, his eyes dark. 

Letting out a shaky sigh, Charlotte clapped her hands together. "Okay." She announced, breaking the unease. "Let's do this thing."

Pope nodded, reaching out to pull open the gate. It swung open, screaming on its hinges. 

"The first sign of danger, and we run, okay?" Charlotte verified, returning to that plan she had wanted to form from earlier. "We're no help to John B and Sarah if we're all dead, yeah?"

The other three nodded, each of their eyes swivelling around the property as they made their way to the front door. "Yeah." Kiara breathed, nodding at her sister's words. 

Stopping at the front door, they all let out shaky breaths, unsure of what was to come when that door finally opened...if it finally opened. 

"Here goes nothing." Pope muttered, reaching out to pick up the large metal knocker. 

He knocked three times, the noise loud and booming as it seemed to reverberate through the entire structure. 

"Was that too much?" He wondered, looking back at the other three with uncertainty. 

JJ looked over at him. "It echoed the entire house. That's for sure. So they definitely heard it."

Kiara, who looked terrified, spoke with a shaky voice. "Maybe nobody's home?"

"Or, they're in the back sitting room having a spot of tea and it'll take them, like, twenty minutes to walk the length of the entire house to get to the front door." Charlotte offered, her voice mocking.

JJ let out a snort as Pope glared at her for a moment before reaching out and knocking again. He was in the middle of his second attempt when the door flew open. 

Subconsciously, each of them took a small step back, their eyes wide as they regarded the man in front of them. 

He had to be late thirties or forties. He was a white man, and honestly not what Charlotte was expecting. He didn't look as put together as she was picturing. 

His eyes danced between JJ and Pope, disregarding the two girls in the back as his eyes finally settled on his target. "You must be Pope."

Charlotte wasn't sure how he knew which one of the boys was Pope, but it made her uneasy either way. 

Pope nodded slightly. "Um..." He looked back at Charlotte and Kie before looking at JJ. Each of the other three held their steady gazes, trying to remain calm. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?" 

"Ms. Limbrey was expecting you yesterday." The man corrected, the displeasure evident in his voice. 

"Oh. I'm─I'm sorry." Pope answered, taken aback for a moment. "My car broke down on the way up here─"

"Carburetor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville." JJ interjected, his gaze locked on the man who was apparently not Mr. Limbrey. "Sorry about that."

The man finally took his gaze off of Pope, his eyes shifting to JJ. "Yeah. She was, uh, she was real upset when you didn't show last night."

Kiara spoke for the first time since the door opened. "We tried to call, but there was no number on the invitation."

"And besides," Charlotte cut in, sick of the apologies. "It was an eight hour drive for us to get here anyway. We did the best we could."

His eyes settled on her for a moment, face twitching for a moment before he looked back to Pope. "She also expected you to come alone."

Pope turned slightly. "I mean, these are my friends. They helped find the Royal Merchant too. So─"

"Yeah, well the instructions were explicit." Not Mr. Limbrey declared. "Your friends can wait outside."

"No way." The words flew from Charlotte's mouth before she had a chance to stop them. When the unnamed name regarded her, she slapped on a fake smile. "I just mean that we don't know you, sir. So I would really feel better if we went inside with Pope." Her voice was dripping with fake sweetness.

"Yeah." JJ agreed. "We're kind of a package deal, man─"

"JJ, Charley, it's okay." Pope assured, looking between the two of them. "I've got this." He then turned to Kie. "I'll be good."

"Yeah." Kiara assured, taking his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "We'll be here."

"Keep the car running." Pope muttered, low enough for only Kie and Charlotte to hear. 

And then he stepped into the unknown house with the unknown man, and Charlotte couldn't help but feel like this was not going to end the way they wanted it to. 

─☼☼☼─