MARLBORO NIGHTS [JJ MAYBANK]

straight smugglin'

SCOOTER GRUBBS WAS DEAD. They found his body in the marsh, waterlogged and gray. It was quite a shock to the community; Scooter and his wife Lana were always nice to Karolina, whenever she saw them out and about. She felt horrible for poor Lana, but there was nothing they could do except feel guilty about having the money and gun that JJ stole from the motel room, which they discovered to be Scooter's.

Karolina and her friends lounged around on the deck of the Chateau, also known as John B's house, waiting for Pope to finish his nervous pacing and join them. When he finally did, he demanded, "We didn't see anything, okay? We don't know anything." He pointed at JJ, who flicked his lighter on and off silently. Pope spun around to point at JB, who leaned against the porch railing. "We need to have total and complete amnesia."

"Actually Pope's right. For once," muttered JJ, swinging his boots back onto the floor. Pope looked at him in silent shock. "See, I agree with you sometimes," JJ grinned, standing from the chair, "Deny, deny, deny."

Karolina shook her head, disagreeing. "Have any of you seen a cop show ever? The truth always comes out, so we might as well tell the police before we look even more suspicious when they find out we stole cash from a dead man."

Kiara nodded along. "We can't keep that money, either."

JJ sighed, shooting her a glare. "Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara." Karolina gave him a look, crossing her arms and furrowing her eyebrows at his low blow. Kie ignored him, looking to Pope. "We have to pass that on to Lana Grubbs, otherwise it's bad karma."

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too. We gotta go dark."

Karolina pressed her lips together, falling into the chair that JJ abandoned. She thought it over. It wasn't likely the police would excuse their breaking and entering, especially not since they stole something from the crime scene, and that would be forever stuck on their permanent record. As long as they spent the money quickly and stashed the gun somewhere no one would find it, things would work out fine, right?

"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree," said JJ, looking at John B to gauge his response. He sighed, running a hand over his baseball cap. "I don't agree."

"What? Why?"

John B walked over to Karolina's chair, leaning against the arm so he could see his friends as he spoke. "Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about, right? Same dude that was buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole- I mean, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas!" He gestured to the sea. "We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than forty bucks in his pocket and all the sudden he's got a Grady-White?" John shrugged, glancing over to see Pope and Kie's reactions. He raised his eyebrows. "Just sayin'."

Pope let out a frustrated groan, standing abruptly and marching his way outside to the end of the pier, picking up a fishing pole. John B wasn't finished though- he needed everyone on board for what he was about to pull off.