VI. I'd risk it all for you

      Dylan remembered one day the public pool when a kid accidentally fell into pool and was drowning. She was the closest lifeguard and so she jumped in quickly to have the little boy. He was a weightless child at only the age of six but he was scared which meant he was thrashing around. Dylan vividly remembered swimming to the bottom of the pool and wrapping her arms around his small body. She pulled them to the surface and he wasn't breathing. CPR on a child is different than CPR on an adult. But she managed to do it and she saved him.

It was a great skill to know. Dylan took pride in knowing that she was capable of saving lives. But the downside was always constantly worrying for people's safety, much like she was doing right now. Dylan cheated on her finger nails with extreme nerves as she thought about her best friend being down in the marsh, not knowing if he was dead or alive.

Kiara watched her. "DJ, your chewing is making me nervous." She commented.

Dylan paused. "Why do you think I'm doing it?"

Pope slowly grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her mouth. "Don't worry. He's gonna be fine."

She tried to smile but she couldn't.

He saw a police boat making its way to them and his eyes widened. He quickly dropped her hand. "Shit!"

"Guys, that's the police." JJ announced when he stood up.

Dylan groaned and threw her head back. "Oh, can we not catch a break?"

"Yep, that's the police."

"Just act frickin normal." Said Kiara and she fidgeted in her seat, pushing her wet hair over her shoulder. 

Dylan,  Pope, and JJ stood up from their seats and acted like they were having a conversation. She sat her hands on her hips and leaned side to side, trying not to appear nervous. "Morning officers!" JJ greeted cheerfully when Shoupe and Plumb pulled their boat up beside theirs.

"Evening."  Shoupe responded and he handed Pope a rope to tie the boats together.

"JJ, tie this off."

"How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?"

Kie and Dylan looked at each other, acting shocked.  "No, we did not know that." Said Dylan.

"No, wow. Why's it closed?" Pope asked while trying to fight back the tremble in his voice. 

"We're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." Plumb explained. "You see anything?" 

Shoupe looked at Dylan. "Dylan, you're the detective of the group. I'm sure you've probably been looking in interest." He said suspiciously.

Pope moved slightly in front of the her and subtly held his hand back. Dylan took his hand and started messing with his fingers. She looked at Shoupe and shook her head, a tight smile on her lips. "No sir, I haven't. I wouldn't want to mess with a crime scene that has nothing to do with me."

"No boats? Nothing?"

The group of friends stayed quiet. Dylan popped Pope's finger. He flinched.

"Where's your friend you always hang out with?"  Shoupe continued, looking around for John B. He here?"

Dylan and JJ looked at each other. "He's working." Kiara answered.

"Hmm." The officer hummed. He still wasn't convinced. "I'm gonna check your little boat out, okay?"

Dylan's eyes widened and he climbed from the police boat and onto theirs. "Yeah, hop aboard. You wanna check, uh, check her out." Pope stamped and squeezed the girl's hand that was still attached to his.

Shoupe held up a life jacket. lYou got another one of these?"

"Yea-Yeah, of course!" JJ stuttered. "It's in the hold."

"Show him." Kie ordered.

"Yeah,  here we go." He lifted the latch that held the life jacket and showed it to Shoupe.

The officer hummed in approval. He began walking around the boat and peered his head to look in the water.

"Uh, be careful there. You don't wanna slip." Pope warned.

The four friends glanced at each other in fear. They knew John B was out of air but if he came up now, they would be busted. The hot air grew thicker as the waited for Shoupe to give up his search. "All right." He finally said.

"All right?" Dylan breathed out.

"All right." JJ repeated.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Shoupe asked the group.

She nodded with a tense smile and continued to mess with Pope's hand. He and JJ hummed in agreement.

"You let us know if you see anything on your way out."

Pope nodded quickly. "Will do. Will do."

JJ saluted him. "We'll be gone soon, sir."

"Yes, you will." Shoupe confirmed and he and Plumb sped off.

When they were out of sight, Dylan released a huge breath and suddenly felt dizzy. "If I have to do CPR I'm going to kill him myself." She swore.

They all leaned over the side of the boat and searched the water for John B. "He's definitely out of air." Pope confirmed.

John B's head popped out of the water and he gasped for air. "Oh,  thank fuck!" Dylan exhaled and grasped her chest.

"Don't scare us like that again." Kiara scolded.

"How'd it go down there? Find anything?" Asked JJ in a hurry.

"Did I find anything?" John B repeated and pulled out a bag from the water, plopping it down on the boat.

"Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!" He cheered proudly and they began helping him into the boat.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe good?" Dylan questioned him frantically.

"I'm good, DJ. Just ran out of air." He replied while still breathing heavily.

Kiara shook her head. "You scared the shit out of me."

"And me! I thought I was gonna have to do CPR on my best friend." Said Dylan and she smacked his arm.

"And the cops were here. But uh, we took care of them." Pope informed with a nod.

"My bad."

"Yeah, you kinda missed the show brother."

"Guys, bogey, two o'clock." Kiara brought to their attention.

They all turned and saw a boat coming through the marsh. Pope squinted his eyes. "Do you recognize that boat?"

He looked over at Dylan and she met his eyes. She shrugging. "I have no idea."

"I've never seen it," said Kiara. "What are they doing here? The marsh is closed."

"I don't know but let's not stick around to find out." JJ replied wary.

Dylan nodded. "Agreed. JJ, get the bowline."

"Yeah." He walked to the front of the boat to bring up to anchor.

"Should we wait on them?" Pope suggested.

"Hell no. If the marsh is closed and they're out here, they could be dangerous."

"She's right. JJ, hurry up!" Kiara rushed him.

"Guys, don't wait for me! Go!" JJ ordered in a panic.

"Let's go!"

"Pull out the stern!"

John B rushed to the driver's seat. "I don't like the looks of this."

JJ pulled the stern up. "Are they coming for us?"

"Maybe they're fishing."

The boat began to speed up and that's when Dylan saw it was two men driving. "Nope!" She exclaimed in fear. "John B, go!"

"Go, go, go, go!"

John B drove the boat at quick speed down the water and the boat behind them started following them quicker. "Go into the marsh." Pope hissed to the driver.

"Go!" Dylan ordered with panic in her voice.

"I'm going. Act natural." John B told them and drove the boat into the marsh.

She shifted frantically in her seat and stared biting her nails again. Or what was left.

"Hey guys, they're following us!"

"Dude, you gotta go faster."

"I'm going."

"Gun it!"

John B increased the speed of the boat and the wind made Dylan's hair flow wildly in her face. Gun shots suddenly went off and she screamed. "What the fuck!" Pope shouted.

Another gun shot went off and Dylan fell to the knees to cover her head. "Guys, get down!" She shouted at them all.

"John B, get down!"

More gunshots rang through the air. Pope dropped to her side and practically hovered his body over hers. "We're gonna die!"

Kiara stood up and tried keeping her balance as she looked for something on the boat. Dylan looked up as best as she could and saw her. "Kie, get down!"

John B looked over his shoulder. "Get down, Kie!" He ordered but she didn't listen.

Kiara tossed a large net from the boat and into the water. The boat that was chasing them got hung in the net and they abruptly stopped, giving the Pogues enough time to get farther away.  John B step on the gas hard.

Dylan lifted her head and looked around, seeing that they got away. "Holy shit." She shakily said.

Pope looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and they both got up. "Is everyone okay?" She asked the others.

Kiara nodded. "We're good."

"John B?"

"I'm okay, Dyl."

"JJ?"

"Holy shit! We just almost fucking died!" He exclaimed.

Pope looked at her and nodded. "He's okay."

The sun settled below the horizon until it was completely dark. Dylan and Kiara's heads rested against each other. The fear from earlier still got to them. Kiara curled a piece of her hair around her finger.

Pope sat on the opposite side of JJ. The group was silent. His eyes caught Dylan's from across him. He smiled, silently asking if she was okay. She smiled back, telling him yes. It was dark but even he could see the shine in her dark eyes.

John B parked the boat by the docks and they all started to get out. They gathered around him as he crouched down with the duffle bag. "What do you guys think it is?" Asked Kiara.

"Dead body?" Dylan suggested. Pope's eyes lit up.

Kie looked at her oddly. "How could a dead body fit in a duffel bag that size?"

"Human dismemberment." Answered Pope. Dylan looked at him and smiled, making him smile back.

"Definitely not a dead body. It's gotta be money." Said JJ.

John B nodded. "Gotta be money."

"That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to-mid mils!"

"Can we just open the bag?"  Pope bursted out.

They all looked at him with shock. "Wow Pope, that's a rare outburst of emotion." JJ said.

"Very rare." Dylan agreed.

Pope looked at her with a sheepish look and he sighed.  "Okay, you guys are killing me with anticipation. Open the bag. We almost died over this."

Dylan chuckled and the others agreed. John B slowly unzipped the duffle bag. She found herself gripping Pope's arm as she watched. Their faces fell when he pulled out a compass. "I think I would have preferred a dead body."

Pope groaned. "Oh,  wow. Yep, that's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass." He rambled sarcastically.

But John B was still staring at the compass in shock.  "Dude, what? It's not worth anything." Said JJ, feeling aggravated.

John B's next words sent chills down Dylan's spine. "This was my father's."