THE MOTEL was as dirty as it was scruffy as we neared it. The entire place looked like it was barely standing. Trees and bushes had been uplifted from the hurricane and were scattered all over the place, roof slats were missing and some windows had been boarded over with wood. The place looked a mess and even without the storm I couldn't imagine it being in a good condition then. It was definitely suspicious, why would someone have a room at such a dump.

JJ whistled lowly, "I thought the chateau looked bad." He muttered.

I nodded in agreement, "Tell me about it.. this place is a shithole."

"Motel or meth lab?" Kie asked.

"You be the judge." Pope replied.

"Doesn't look like the type of place somebody with a Grady-White stays." John B said and I nodded in agreement.

JJ pickled up the mooring line as we neared the shore. 

"No. It looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed." Pope retorted.

"It looks like a place anyone would get killed." I said.

JJ nodded in agreement with me, "All right. Here we go." He said before pretending to talk into an intercom, "This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin' in for landing." He said as he jumped off the boat and on to the shore, tying the mooring line down to stop the boat from moving.

"We good?" John B asked.

"Yeah, we good." JJ replied.

"All right. Here goes nothing." John B said.

Pope stood behind the wheel of the boat and leaned over the metal bar, "Hey."

"Yeah?" John B turned to him.

He pointed at JJ, "Don't let him do anything stupid."

"Oh, we will." JJ replied immediately.

"I'm not making promises." John B replied.

"Yeah I know." Pope sighed.

Kie turned to John B, "Be careful." She told him.

I looked away from them both and anywhere else as JJ called me. I turned to him with a raised brow, "Hey, you comin' with?"

I contemplated before nodding, "If I'm gonna be an accomplice I mays well get involved." I replied, standing up on to the cargo hold at the bow of the boat. JJ held his hand out for me to take while I jumped off and my feet hit the grass. I turned to him with a smile, "Why thank you, kind sir."

JJ grinned at me, "You're welcome m'lady."

"Christ." Pope muttered, "Mally you're in charge, all right?"

I laughed as John B jumped off the boat, hitting JJ's arm lightly, "Big mistake, Pope." I replied, walking backwards away from them as JJ and John B were in front of me. JJ grabbed my arm lightly and pulled me to face forwards and I walked in between the two of them, my hands in my pockets.

"Why are all these mattresses out here?" John B asked.

"After a hurricane they ditch 'em 'cause they're moldy." JJ replied.

I pursed my lips, "You know, for some reason I don't think that's true."

"Oh, yeah?" JJ asked, "Why's that?"

"Because you're the one who said it."

He rolled his eyes in protest, "Oh, c'mon Mal."

John B stopped walking and turned to us, "Where's the key?"

"Aha." I mused, spinning the key on my finger by the ring.

JJ put his arm around my shoulder, "Can always count on you." He said before grabbing the key out of my hand and tossing it to John B.

We walked up the stairs to the second floor and I was overly aware that JJ was behind me, most likely staring at my ass as I walked. When we reached the second floor of the motel I started searching for the room and behind me I heard JJ change the pitch of his voice, "Just be so careful, John." He said and I realised he was mimicking Kiara.

I rolled my eyes as we passed 211.

"God, you're so weird." John B muttered in reply and he picked up the pace, walking next to me.

"Dude, what the heck was that about?" JJ asked.

"I don't know." John B exasperated, "Maybe she wants us to be careful."

"Since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been, like 'oh, be so careful, John B'."

Exile meaning put into foster care on Figure Eight.

"Get off me." John B shrugged him off.

JJ completely ignored him, "'Oh just give me that John D already'."

I turned to him, "Seriously?"

JJ shrugged, "When are you gonna swoop on that, man?"

John B turned to JJ, "When you do." He replied.

I furrowed my brows and looked to JJ but all he did was shrug, pretending he didn't know what John B was on about. Did JJ have feelings for Kie?

"Besides." John B said, "You know the rule, no Pogue-on-Pogue macking."

"Didn't stop you two though, did it?" JJ retorted and his voice sounded quite cold.

I turned to him and pushed him in annoyance and he hit a mattress that had been left against a wall, "Piss off, JJ."

I didn't like it when anyone brought up that night. John B and I regretted it, we recognised it as a mistake and we wanted to move on but there was always one, reminding us constantly of what we did.

"Dude." John B said to JJ, recognising my annoyance, "Don't."

"Whatever man." JJ replied, holding his hands in surrender.

John B rounded on him again, "Besides, you're the one who's always hitting on her."

"Dude of course I'm hitting on her." JJ replied and I rolled my eyes, "She's a super-hot, rich, hippy chick slumming it with us."

Alright, ouch.

"And I'm always hitting on Mally too." JJ defended.

"Uh, right here." I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, hi." He grinned at me before looking at John B, "Look, I know that door's locked because I've tried it. Have you?"

So maybe he didn't like Kie in that way?

"You need help." John B told our friend, "Not like a little help, a lot of help."

"I agree." I nodded before I stopped outside a room, 229.

"It's like every girl who just has a heartbeat." John B said, "You're like, 'uhhhhh'."

"What? It's not a big deal." JJ muttered in defence and I cleared my throat.

They both turned to me and I pointed towards the door.

"Is this us?" John B asked.

I rolled my eyes, "No, I just fancied pointing out the wrong door for the crack of it."

"You know I always admired your sarcasm, Mal." John B replied and he turned to JJ, "This is it."

"Yeah?" JJ asked and I leaned against the wall as I watched him knock on the door, "Housekeeping."

I rose my brows as he changed the pitch of his voice, "All right, which seven year old girl died and possessed you?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I dunno, one from Figure Eight I guess."

"Oh my god." I rolled my eyes.

"Should we try it?" John B asked us.

"Yeah, go ahead." I replied and JJ started speaking in Spanish.

I looked at him open mouthed and he grinned, "Impressed?"

"Surprisingly." I muttered in response.

John B got the door open and I turned my flashlight on, walking between the boys and inside first. The motel room was empty and it was made up like no one was living in it. There were two duffle bags and that seemed to be about it.

"Check the bag." John B said to JJ as I looked around, "See if there's a name on there somewhere."

The door closed and the motel room got significantly darker with both shutter blinds closed.

"I got a jacket." JJ muttered.

"Denim slides." John B said and I walked over to him.

"Denim slides?" I asked and he pulled them out and passed them to me, "Oh look at these bad boys." I mused, "Who'd wanna leave these behind?"

"No name on the jacket." JJ said, "It's a nice jacket though."

I pulled it out of his hands, "Put it down, JJ, we're not here to steal."

"Definitely over 50." John B told us, "He's got New Balances."

"What the ugly ones?" I asked.

"No." He grimaced, pulling the shoes out, "The old ones."

JJ dropped the duffle and walked over the bedside table, leaning over and looking at something, "Yo, guys come here. Maybe this is where they were fishing?"

I walked over and peered over JJ's shoulder at a map, "Let me see." John B said.

"Here. Right there."

I picked up the yellow sticky note with the coordinates on and shook my head while looking back to the map, "Nah, that's off the continental shelf." I told them. Both boys turned to me, looking quite shocked and I rolled my eyes, "Yes I know what the continental shelf is. It's Big Swell, all right? Nobody fishes there."

"She's right." John B agreed.

"Okay." JJ nodded and we walked away, checking out the rest of the motel room.

"Coffee."

"Standard." JJ replied, "Tissues for when you get lonely."

"Oh, 'cause you'd know all about that." I teased with a smirk.

JJ shook his head, trying to hide a grin and he walked into the bathroom, "Oooh."

"Find anything?" John B asked.

"A really awesome Dopp kit you won't let me steal."

I walked to the bathroom and leaned on the doorway, "I already told you we're not stealing anything."

"Why not?" JJ asked.

I shook my head and walked away, "Klepto."

JJ was a mild kleptomaniac, both Jonn B and I had agreed on it. He had a habit of stealing small things — mainly from his boss — so that they wouldn't notice and you wouldn't either unless you saw his pockets or his bag at the end of a day.

John B pulled a cabinet open and I sat down on the bed, looking at the hidden safe. He started plugging numbers in randomly.

1-1-1-1

"Seriously?" I asked him.

"You got any better ideas?" He asked me and turned back to the safe, "One, one, one, two." It flashed red again in his failure.

"Punching shit at random." JJ noted, "That will... definitely work."

"Right?" I agreed.

John B sighed, "Wait a second." He muttered, getting up and walking back to the bedside table. He picked up a small piece of paper before taking it back to the safe.

"I dunno." JJ said out loud, looking at the map again, "I don't know about this second one. The coordinates, they... wait. My cousin said you could catch swordfish here."

"Your cousin?" I asked with an arched brow.

"Shhh." JJ replied, "It wouldn't make any sense. What about a surf spot?" He turned to me. I got up off the bed and wandered over again, shining my torch on the map.

"Doesn't look like a surf spot to me."

JJ looked at me, blue eyes staring right into mine, "What about shoals?"

I shook my head, "No, JJ."

"Um.. you're both gonna want to see this." John B said and we both turned to see him kelt down by the open safe, waving a wad of cash.

"The hell?" I asked, walking to John B and looking at the cash in his hand before looking into the safe. It was full of dollar bills, brimming with them actually, and a couple of files and a gun.

JJ leaned over my shoulder and picked the hand gun up in amazement, "You grabbed the gun, of course you grabbed the gun." John B said in despair as JJ stood up.

"This is a SIG Sauer!" JJ exclaimed.

"Put the gun back." I hissed at him.

"This is a fucking spendy gatt, man!" He said in excitement, "Just... bam, bam." JJ started pretending to fire the gun around the room and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, dude." John B said, pulling back on his shirt, "We are not stealing anything."

"Just take a pic of me. Right here." JJ said.

"You want me to take a picture of you?" John B asked unimpressed.

JJ got himself into a pose, "Yeah, dude like—"

"—Do you want to make our own incriminating evidence JJ?" I asked, "Is that what you're talking about?"

"Oh, come on guys."

I shook my head when I heard something tapping off the window JJ was standing behind. I furrowed my brows and walked past him, opening a slit in the blinds and looking through.

"Wait, what was that?" JJ asked.

I saw Pope and Kie stood underneath the room and looked under the blinds completely. They started jumping and pointing quietly, "Cops, cops!" I saw them mouth.

I dropped the blind quickly, "Oh shit." I muttered, jumping over the bed to get to the window by the doorway.

"Mal, what is it?" JJ asked me.

Instead I opened a slit in the blinds, peering through discreetly to see if it was true.. and low and behold....

I stepped away from the blinds and looked to the two boys with wide eyes, "Cops."

Then they knocked on the door.

"Shit." I muttered, running back over the bed and to the window as John B forced it open.

"Kildare County Sheriff's Department!"

John B got the window open and climbed out on to the roof quickly and I poked my head out to look at the ledge. It was pretty small and there was no way three of us were going to fit on together. I turned to see JJ stood by the safe, "JJ!" I hissed, "There's not enough space!"

He walked over to me quietly, "What do you mean?"

"There's not enough space on the ledge for us both."

I heard keys jiggling in the lock and JJ looked at me quickly, "Go, go, c'mon. Get out." He helped me on to the table and out on to the roof, "I've got an idea." He said, following me out, "Okay, Mal put your chest to the wall."

"Alright." I nodded, trying not to look down as John B slid the window down.

"Okay, okay." JJ said and he grabbed on to the pipe besides me, standing behind me. He pressed his chest against my back tightly and looped one arm around my stomach while holding the pipe for support with the other.

"I swear, JJ, if I fall off this roof there's going to be hell to pay." I threatened.

He held me tighter, his head by my ear, "You won't fall." I whispered to me, "Promise."

My heart hammered in my chest. This call was too close, I didn't mind running from cops or security guards but if we got caught here we were as good as toast.

I watched as John B peered through the gaps in the blinds to check on the cops and I looked through too. They were stood by the safe, looking at it contents and I watched as Deputy Shoupe pulled a wad of cash out.

"Everybody's gotta dip their beak." He said.

My jaw dropped and I looked over to John B with wide eyes. From behind me, JJ leaned to see and I heard him whispering, "What the f—"

"Right. Right." The second officer replied, taking the cash but not putting it in the evidence bag, "Their beak."

"Oh my god." I mumbled.

John B looked to us and JJ whispered to him over my shoulder, "Do you believe—"

He stopped when we heard something clattering to the roof before sliding down the tile and hitting the ground, creating an even louder sound. If the cops didn't hear it drop on the the roof slabs they certainly heard it hit the ground.

I covered my mouth with my hand in shock as JJ pushed himself further against my back. He rested his head on my shoulder and I turned to him, there was literally about three inches between our faces, "What was that?"

He cringed and I saw the way his face twisted, "That may or may not have been the gun."

I exhaled sharply in shock, "JJ, are you fucking—"

He wrapped his hand around my mouth suddenly while tightening his arm around my stomach as I leaned against the wall, this was literally the only form of support we had right now. The blinds pulled open and I saw Shoupe looking out of the window. If he moved a centimetre to the left he'd see John B and a centimetre to the right JJ and I.

I was that on edge I could feel my heart beat echoing in my ears.

"All right." Shoupe said, turning away from the window, "Let's go, no one's here."

JJ removed his hand from my mouth slowly and I exhaled shortly, leaning my forehead on the cold brick of the motel.

"Fucking hell." I muttered as Shoupe and the other officer left the motel room, closing the door behind them. John B opened the window again and I turned my head back to look at JJ, my eyes in level with his lips before I looked up to his eyes, "I can't believe you stole the gun."

He only grinned at me in response.

• • •

We'd gotten back to the docks just over an hour later and headed for the coast guards tent again although when we arrived the place was swarming with cops. JJ and I jumped off John B's boat following after him, Kie and Pope and I noticed an ambulance there too.

"The hell is going on round here?" JJ asked me, his arm slung round my shoulder casually.

I shrugged, "Beats me."

The five of us found a seat with some other Pogues and we sat down casually, JJ and I stood on a box to get a better look. We watched as the cops and EMT's pulled a body on to a stretcher, wheeling it down the docks as a woman ran towards them crying.

"Who's that?" John B asked.

"It's Scooter Grubbs." A girl John B was sat next to said, "He was out during the storm."

My eyes widened, "Scooter Grubbs?" I asked, leaning forwards to see her and she nodded, "Oh my god, my dad knows him. They used to be pals."

"Check out this pic I got." The girl said and I looked to see her showing Kie and John B a picture of Scooter's body, "Dead body."

"Why the fuck would you take a photo of him?" I snapped, looking from her phone up to her.

My friends looked at me as did she, "What you're telling me you wouldn't take a photo of a dead body?" She asked me.

I narrowed my eyes in shock. Was this girl serious, "No I wouldn't because it's disgusting."

JJ wrapped an arm around my stomach and pressed me further into his back, "Hey, hey, hey." He muttered into my ear, "It's okay, clam down."

"Well it's not okay." I turned back to look at him, "It's wrong."

"I know." He replied to me.

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

"Somehow that dirtbag copped a brand new Grady-White." The girl told us, "Everyone's out looking for it."

I leaned back into JJ's chest and rested my head against him. Why is it whenever something happened on this damn island we were always somehow involved?

• • •