Strawberry Sunscreen - JJ Maybank - Outer Banks

Chapter 35 - The Heist || Part 3

What had felt like minutes later for both the girls and the boys turned out to be merely seconds before the cover had flown off as the boys tumbled back. Elizabeth pulled Kiara upwards with her as she felt the pressure lessen on her skin. Both Elizabeth and Kiara sat back, breathing in the air that they had forever taken for granted.

Pope rushed to Kiara's side, while JJ held onto Elizabeth's shoulders. "Lizzy, you alright?"

Elizabeth took a moment to respond, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, just in desperate need of a shower." JJ stared at the girl for a moment before pulling her into a hug, embracing her. He closed his eyes and tried his best to ignore the smell coming from both the girls and the sewer water.

"I thought we might have lost you," JJ whispered into her ear.

"I'm still here," laughed Elizabeth in between coughs. "What about the worms?"

"Who cares about the worms," said JJ as the two distanced themselves, his arms still holding her shoulders as they stared into each other's eyes.

"This wasn't what we were looking for, right?" Kiara asked them as she pulled something from her waistband and held it out in her hands-- as she held out the gun.

Elizabeth fell backwards as she stared up into the sky, "Oh thank god!"

"We're gonna get this son of a bitch, man!" JJ stood to his feet as he grabbed the gun, drying it off.

"You did it, guys. You did it." The friends all shared a hug. "Come on. Let's get this to Shoupe."

The group began to walk back to their abandoned car. Elizabeth sighed, "Can we at least shower first or something?"

Pope sighed, "You really need to shower now? Can't you wait until after we turn the gun in?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't remember you being in the sewers with us."

Kiara spoke up next, "I could shower." Pope looked between the two girls with disbelief written all over his face.

"We finally have proof and you guys want to stall?" Pope asked, the two girls sharing a look and shrugging. "Hell no. You guys can shower when Rafe is in jail. For now, we head to Shoupe's."

Elizabeth sighed, "Fine, but if I hear one complaint from any of you about how we smell it's over for you." JJ just laughed as he watched the girl turn her attention away from her two friends and towards the car as she jumped into the back seat, JJ following behind her.

"What if he doesn't believe us?" Elizabeth asked as Kiara drove to the sheriff's station. The drive was short, the pogues high on adrenaline as they drove down the dark roads.

"He has to," JJ explained. "We have proof."

"What if that's not enough," explained Elizabeth. "What if we turn this over to him and he just disregards it? What if he and Ward are in this together?"

"Shoupe is a lot of things, but I don't think he's someone's puppet," stated JJ.

"I just have a bad feeling about him," the girl sighed. Kiara's headlights lit up the dark shadow of the sheriff's station as they pulled up.

"C'mon," said Kiara. "We'll never know if we don't try." Pope and Kiara both exited their respective doors, JJ opening his to slide out. As soon as he was on his feet, he glanced towards Elizabeth who had sat stationary in her seat. He motioned for her to follow him with his head as he nodded towards the building. The girl reluctantly opened her door and followed the blonde boy into the station.

"You again," one of the sheriff's spoke up.

"Hiya Gary," Elizabeth waved towards him. The grown man sighed and continued doing his paperwork. "Shoupe around?"