XXXII.   wanna find peace of mind

      Pope informed the group about a man that worked for Ward named Gavin and that he assumed the Cameron man forced him to keep quiet about what happened on the Tarmac. Bridger sat in the backseat of Kiara's car with JJ as she drove them to the guy's house on the other side of the island. "If this guy was flying planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight lipped." Pope spoke.

"So direct approach gets my vote," said JJ and he cocked the gun back that he was holding in his hand.

"My vote is hitting you upside the head. Put that thing away!" Bridger snapped and lowered through weapon.

"JJ, no!"

"What!" Pope and Kiara scolded as well.

"Look, We gotta keep this simple or we'll never get John B off!"

"Pulling a gun on someone is not simple, Vincent Vega."

"Or we could just tickle the wire," Pope suggested and help up an AirPod case, showing it to them.

"What?" Kie questioned with furrowed brows.

"We tickle the wire. I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen on your Airpods." He elaborated while putting them in his ears. He held his phone out to the girl. "Say something."

She blinked. "Something."

When her words repeated in his ear, they perked up.  "Okay, we have audio." He told them.

JJ pursed his lips. "I still like my idea better." He grumbled.

Bridger sent him a narrow look. "I like any idea that isn't illegal."

"Aww, stop pretending you don't love my ideas." He teased and pinched his cheek.

He slapped his hand away and flickered his forehead.

After directing Kiara to where the man lived, they arrived in front of his house and she parked on the other side of the street. "Alright. Call, or, uh—yell if you see anything suspicious," Pope told her, stammering his words.

Bridger reached forward and patted his shoulder. "Good luck, buddy."

Kiara shook her head. "Don't do anything dangerous."

He sent her a slight smirk. "C'mon, I'm not JJ." He replied and got out of the vehicle.

The newcomer laughed. Funny, Pope. Bridge and I love third wheeling. It's my favorite thing!" JJ said with sarcasm.

"It's like watching a really awkward rom com!" Said Bridger, loud enough with hopes that Pope would hear him.

The two of them laughed while Kiara just rolled her eyes. It went quiet as Pope did his thing and Bridger awkwardly tapped his nails against the window. "How's it been going?" JJ broke the silence, the question directed to the girl sitting behind the wheel. "Y'know, with Pope and all?"

"It's good." She replied casually, the tone on her indicating that she didn't want to talk about it.

Bridger stopped tapping his nails. "Well, can I just say I did not expect you two to actually get together." He admitted and JJ nodded in agreement.

She just shrugged. "It just kinda happened, you know?"

"Right. Well, uh, in the bedroom—is he, like, kinda freaky, cause it's Pope, you know?"

The other two immediately looked at him like he was crazy. "Why are you asking?" Kiara asked after twisting her head around.

"Yeah, why are you asking?" Bridger followed and narrowed his eyes.

JJ looked between them and his jaw dropped open. "Oh, well, uh. . . I don't know. Just kinda curious — Just spitballing here."

"You don't need to spitball."

"Nobody needs to know every little thing that goes on in your head."

"I'm just talking!" He defended himself. He looked at Kiara again. "Okay, seriously, like, on a scale of 1-10,  is John B better,  or—"

"WHAT?" Bridger and Kiara shouted at the same time.  The boy reached his foot up and kicked his knee. "Dude, shut the fuck up."

"OW!" JJ objected and kicked his knee back. "That hurts!"

Kiara watched back and forth as the partners started hitting each other.

"Stop flicking my forehead!"

"Maybe I'll active more brain cells."

Pope came running back to the car and he climbed back in. "Okay, phase one complete." He announced to them. When he noticed the silence, he looked between them all and his eyes lingering to the boys in the back seat. "What?"

"I'm dating an idiot." Bridger grumbled.

JJ pointed a finger at him. "Engaged to an idiot." He corrected.

When it grew dark outside, they decided it was time to start the interrogation. "Why does she get to tickle?" JJ argued with Pope.

"Because she's the best tickler." The boy responded like it was obvious.

Bridger scoffed. "Oh yeah, that's the reason."

Pope sent him a look and Kiara took the phone from him. "Should I do an accent?" She suggested.

"Definitely disguise your voice."

The newcomer leaned up in his seat and poked his head out through the middle. "Ooh, do an Australian!"  He stated.

"How would you like me to talk?" She asked in a very bad Australian accent. 

He pulled a face and shook his head. "Eh, no, it's more like this," he told and cleared his throat. "How would you like me to talk?" He recited in the accent.

The boys looked at him with wide eyes. Wow, that's good, babe." Said JJ.

Pope quickly nodded. "Maybe we should make you the tickler."

Kiara rolled her eyes and dialed the man's number.  They leaned closer and waited as the phone rang.  When the voice came through, she cleared her throat.  "Hello—I can't." she immediately stopped.

"Just talk." He encountered her.

"Is Gavin there?" Kiara asked in her normal voice and held the phone close to her.

"This is Gavin? Who is this?" Gavin asked into the phone.

"I know what happened on the tarmac." The girl continued slowly and nastily.

"Who's this?"

"It was Rafe Cameron. But you already know that and you lied about it."

Bridger grabbed JJ's hand and squeezed it as he listened to the conversation intensely.

"Okay, who is this?"

"We're gonna prove it. You're guilty. You could have saved her, Gavin, and you didn't, and you're not gonna get away with it." She finished and ended the conversation. She looked at the three boys. "How was that?"

Bridger clapped his hands. "Spot on performance." He praised.

"I was scared. Good job." JJ agreed.

Pope let out a sigh. "All right. We tickled the wire. Phase two complete." He said and out the AirPods back in his ears. "Now we wait and listen."

JJ et out a dramatic sigh and he leaned back in his seat. He slouched and grabbed Bridger by the collar of his shirt. He pulled him down and their lips collided into a quick kiss. Bridger smiled into the display of affection and he pulled back slightly. "What was that for?"

JJ shrugged with a smirk. "You're mean but I happen to find it very attractive."

Bridger rolled his eyes but continued to smile and he kissed him again.

Soon after Kiara ended the phone call, Gavin run out of his house and get into his car. When they saw the bright headlights, Pope told them to get down out of sight. "Okay, go, go, go!" He urged the driver.

Kiara started the car and began to follow Gavin. She kept a close distance but close enough so Pope could still hear. "Do you hear anything?" She asked him.

"It's Ward. He's talking to Ward!" The boy quickly said while listening to the conversation.

"Ward?"

Bridger and JJ leaned up at the same time. "What's he saying?" The brunette questioned.

"Get closer. I can't hear." Pope encouraged and Kiara sped the car up a little but still kept her distance. "He's talking about negotiating something. Gavins got the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin." He explained to them. "I think he's using it as exploration. Leverage."

Bridger gasped. "Blackmail!" He exclaimed and hit JJ's shoulder.

"Wait, he's pulling over." Kiara said in a panic as Gavin began to slow down. "What do I do? Do I pull behind him?"

"Uh–Uh, do around the corner!" He encouraged.

She listened to him and quickly went the other way. "We're going to lose him!" She exclaimed in an extreme panic.

"I can't hear anything. Shit!" Pope hissed when he lost the connection. "I'm losing the signal. I can't hear him."

JJ groaned when he saw them coming up to a constriction sight. "What the hell is this?"

"I fucking hate construction workers!" The brunette cursed in annoyance.

"Pull in here and back up."

But before she could, truck came right behind them immediately. "Are you kidding me?" Kiara groaned in disbelief.

Bridger rolled down his window and climbed out, his upper body hanging out. "Ayo, my friend's lost a limp here. We gotta get to the hospital!" He shouted at the people.

JJ panicked and quickly clutched his leg. "BRO,  THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!" He shouted out and started screaming in pain.

Kiara shook her head at them. "You two are so stupid."

Suddenly, Pope jumped out of the car and JJ stopped screaming. "Pope!" He yelled his name.

"Where are you going?" Kiara hollered.

"Pope!" Bridger called out after him but he was ignored. "God dammit." He groaned and they got out of the car and started running after him. 

They chased him through many backyards until they passed by a group of kids swimming in a pool.  "Sean?" JJ said in disbelief. "Ah, this is where you live,  you Look!"

"Nice pool, man!" Bridger shouted when he ran by.

They finally caught up to Pope and saw him crouched behind a bush. They surrounded him and crouched down to his level. "Hey, what is it?" Kiara quickly asked.

"He's . . He's meeting Ward right now. We gotta go."
The boy panicked.

"What are we waiting for? Let's move our asses!"  Bridger shouted and they took off running again.

Much to their disapproval it started to rain. The group followed Pope quickly to where Gavin and Ward were meeting. They peered over a fence and Pope pulled out an old camera. "Nice camera. Where'd you dig up that device?" JJ made fun of him. "Why don't you just use your phone?"

Pope gave him a pointed look. "Well, first of all, I like my antiquity electronic. Second of all, this is a telephoto," he explained. "It allows me to get a close image from far away."

"I like it, Pope. You do you." Bridger spoke, standing on the other side of JJ.

"Thank you, Bridger."

"Lord of the dorks." Kiara snorted.

"For definitive proof of witness payoff, we're gonna need quality glass," he told her but she only looked more confused. When he looked back ahead of him,  he saw Ward. "There he is!"

"Yo, get down," said JJ and they all ducked down to keep from behind seen.

They saw Gavin appear and the two of them met half way on the road. Bridger perked his eyes over the fence and narrowed them, trying to see through the rain.

""Where are you doing you son of a bitch?" Pope muttered while peering through his camera. The two men disappeared into the constriction sight. "No! No, no, I'm losing him!"

"Hang on," JJ responded and Bridger watched him quickly run behind them and scope out the building next to them. After finding what he was looking for, he hollered back at them. "Hey, yo, I found something. Come here!"

They followed him to where he was standing and they saw that he was pointing to a latter on the side of the building. "Gotta go up top!" Said the blonde.

Bridger climbed up the metal latter and was careful not to slip because of how hard it was raining. His hands were shaking with anticipation. When they got to the top of the roof, the group quickly ran to the edge and crouched down again. Bridger's shoulder bumped with JJ's.

"You rolling, Pope?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I see them." Pope confirmed.

"Let's catch a criminal, my friends," the newcomer announced. He looked at JJ with a wide smile. "Hey, that can be a name for our podcast."

JJ's eyes lit up at the information. Not too long ago, the couple had a conversation about what they would do when they got the gold. The blonde boy had the bright idea for them to start a podcast together. At first, Bridger thought it was a stupid idea seeing as JJ didn't have a filter and he would say something either really dumb or offensive, but after a while, he thought it actually sounded fun.

"Ward just handed Gavin something. I think it's a duffel bag." Pope announced what he was seeing.

"Guys, I think this is a payoff."

"Money for the gun?" Bridger guessed and JJ hummed in response.

"Gavin doesn't look happy about something. It looks like he's yelling at Ward."

"Why?" Kiara questioned.

"I don't know, but he sure looks mad." He replied. It went silent again as Pope observed what was happening, but after a minute, they heard a curse leave his lips.

They quickly looked at him. "Dude, what's up?" Bridger questioned.

"I dunno. They're fighting over something. They're really going at it."

"Ward's kicking the shit out of Gavin." Pope broadcasted.

"Dude, what the fuck is happening?" Bridger said out loud stressfully.

"Holy shit. Ward's got a gun!"

"I bet that's the murder weapon." Kiara said with wide eyes.

The boyfriends glanced at each other with the same jaw tightened expression. Bridger wanted nothing more than to jump down from the building and beat Ward's ass for everything that happened but he knew better. They needed to be smart about this. He'd get his revenge one day.

His heart rattled in his chest when a gunshot went off,  echoing in the air. His hand automatically touched JJ's arm and his eyes went wide. "What the fuck was that?"  He cursed loudly.

"What is going on?" Kiara whimpered from the other side of Pope.

"Tell me you just got that." JJ pleaded and he started to shake.

"Enough to out this asshole away from life."

"That's my boy." The brunette declared and let out a shaky breath of absolute shock.

They started to get up but JJ urged them back down when he saw Ward come running out of the constriction sight. They poked their heads out slightly and watched him. "I think we should go, right now."  He panicked. "Pope, you have enough, right?"

Pope nodded. "Yeah. . . Hold on, he's coming out.  Think he's looking for the gun."

Bridger watched intensely as they man starting shouting and cursing where the drain on the street was. "I think the gun went down the drain. He's looking for it." He vocalized.

Before any of them could do anything, Kiara stood up from where she was crouched. They immediately turned to her. "What are you doing, Kie?" Asked JJ.

The hippie girl ignored him and turned herself to face where Ward was standing. "What is wrong with you?"  She shouted in pure anger.

Anxiety creeped in Bridger's bones. "What the hell are you doing?" He hissed at her.

"Murderer!" 

JJ quickly stood up and out his hand over her mouth.  "Get down!" He ordered.

"Are you crazy?"

"Kie, I would never say this on purpose but please shut the hell up!"

"I don't care if he hears me. He's a murderer!"

"Yeah, and he's gonna murder us, Kie!" JJ shouted in anger.

"Guys, he sees us!" Pope said in a panic.

Bridger quickly stood up. "Okay, we gotta go, now!"

At his words, the group began running back to the latter. It was still pouring rain. He climbed down after Pope and Kiara urged them to hurry but he was worried about falling because of how slick the ladder was. Suddenly, he heard JJ yell out in pain and his foot collided with his face.

Bridger ended up falling on Pope and he felt his nose start to bleed. "Ah, what the fuck, JJ!" He shouted in pain and grabbed his nose.

"Sorry. So sorry!" Kiara exclaimed.

JJ immediately went over to help him. "I'm sorry,  babe. I didn't mean to." He quickly said and helped him up. 

He kept groaning in pain and his nose started to throb.  Blood coated his hand. When his eyes trailed over to Pope and saw him crouched on the ground, his eyes went wide and he froze. "Oh god," he muttered and move forward. When he saw the broken pieces of the camera, he started to freak out. "Oh god, did I do that?  I'm so sorry, dude!" He rapidly apologized.

JJ rushed to his side. "You're kidding me. You fumbled it?" He shouted.

"I kinda got tumbled on!" Pope shouted back and his eyes went to Bridger.

"I got a foot the face!" The brunette's voice broke and he removed his hand from his face to reveal his bleeding nose.

JJ motioned to Kiara. "She stepped on my hand!"

"I was trying to hurry!" She defended herself. Her attention turned to Bridger. "You made him break it!"  She shouted at him.

His jaw dropped. "Me? We wouldn't have to hurry if you didn't blow our cover!" He shouted back angrily.

"Okay, hey, we don't have time for this. Let's go!" JJ immediately stopped them and he tugged on the boy's arm, pulling him with him.