CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
HOW TO CATCH A KILLER
(episode nine: the bell tower)

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TRYING TO SLEEP IN the back of Kie's car with John B on one side of her and JJ on the other had to be one of the worst nights of Haven's life, and rest assured, she'd had some shocking ones that Summer alone. They weren't sure where to go after smuggling John B out of the police station. The Chateau was definitely out of the question and there was no way any of their parents would accept a fugitive (albeit a framed one) under their roof with the police so hungry for justice. That left them with no other option but Kie's car parked on the side of the road as they waited for the sun to rise. Haven saw no other option but the ferry, but John B had made it known he didn't want to run away. It was easier not to say anything with a long night ahead of them, but after two fitful hours of sleep, her patience had worn thin.

For a while, the group just sat in silence. Haven eventually got sick of JJ elbowing her in the ribs and forced Kie into switching places with her, but she didn't find much relief in sitting beside a very out-of-it Pope. JJ had continued passing him blunts throughout the night, it seemed, and he sat staring out the window like the main character of a rom com contemplating life. Haven almost expected Kie to give him hell for it, but nobody had the energy to argue anymore. It seemed trivial compared to the ever-lasting blood on John B's hands and the radio announcing the hunt for Peterkin's murderer.

"And still, no arrest in the shooting of Sheriff Susan Peterkin. The state police have issued a statement regarding a local person of interest, a juvenile from—"

The radio switched off abruptly, prompting all eyes to turn to Kie as she leant back in her chair with a frown. She didn't want to hear it anymore. None of them did. But where gold had been the centre of their attention since Summer started, getting John B's name cleared was their new number one priority. Even JJ could admit that.

"Alright, let's game this out," he declared, his foot absentmindedly kicking the back of Haven's chair, much to her annoyance. "Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron or us? The accuser is a bigshot developer, kind of Lord of the island, got the governor on speed dial type of person. And the accused is John B, who is... pretty much a homeless sixteen-year-old boy at the moment."

"Thanks," John B scowled at him.

He was right, though. Haven had been saying it since before John B was even framed. Ward had power, and he wasn't going to give everything up for the freedom of a teenager from the other side of the island.

"Okay, man," JJ said, all the while ignoring John B's pointed stare. "Yucatan, alright? I'm saying that's the only option. What others do you have?"

If Arden was here, she would've made a smart comment about JJ's obsession with Yucatan, but the reality was that she still hadn't shown her face since the airstrip. Haven was beginning to get worried, but she tried her best not to show it with JJ's stress so obvious. Arden was out there somewhere with his kid, and he couldn't do anything about it. Thus, instead of a comment Haven was sure they would've appreciated from the girl just to lighten the tense mood, they were stuck with John B.

"JJ, enough of the Mexico bullshit, alright?" he snapped. "Sarah's going to bail me out."

"She did witness the whole thing," Kie reasoned.

"Thank you."

"And she's going to snitch on her brother?" Pope scoffed.

In all honesty, Haven didn't know what Sarah would do anymore. She and Rafe had never been particularly close, but was she so 'in love' with John B that she'd be willing to lock her brother up for life? For people like the Camerons, even ones like Sarah, family equalled reputation. Would she give everything up for a high school boyfriend?

"Look, it's not happening, bro," JJ sighed at John B's silence. "We've gotta get you off the island."

"The ferry," Pope insisted. "It's the only way."

Haven could tell John B was starting to consider it, even if he didn't like how much sense it made. You could only give up so much in the name of 'love' and a prison cell wouldn't do him and Sarah any good.

"Exit stage left while you still can. Before the entire island is on lockdown."

A siren pierced the air as the familiar flash of red and blue lights appeared in the distance. Haven let out a sigh of frustration and sunk back into her chair as Kie ushered the others to do the same. The police had been searching the entire night for them, siren after siren coming and going. How they hadn't found them, Haven genuinely wasn't sure, but each time she held her breath and waited for the vehicles to pass. Only once the sirens faded into nothing did a tiny bit of the tension fall from her shoulders. Another minute they'd managed to keep John B hidden. They'd need as many minutes as they could get.

"Sarah's not a pogue, John B."

"Yeah," JJ agreed persistently. "You can't stay here, man."

And so it was decided. John B eventually gave the all clear for them to move, to which Haven quickly started up the car and drove them to the wharf before he could change his mind, as she knew he would. Each passing car was a source of anxiety, but no one seemed to suspect anything as the three in the back laid down to stay out of sight. Finally, after the longest ten minutes of Haven's life, she pulled up to an incredibly busy port. All of the ferries were stationary by the jetties, people mulling around in a mess of confusion. Haven had the terrible feeling that the lockdown JJ spoke of was already in full swing.

"Someone should get out and look around," Kie suggested as John B sunk further into his chair. Being so exposed as a wanted criminal was testing fate. The saying hiding in plain sight would only work for so long.

"I'll go," Pope decided, popping open his door and stepping outside before any of them could protest.

"He's going to get us caught," Kie grumbled as they watched him stumble slightly while attempting to close the door behind him.

Haven let out a sigh, "Guess I'll go, too."

She clicked off her seatbelt, stepping outside, keeping her head down low as she joined Pope on the footpath. He gripped her hand tight as they weaved their way through the crowd, doing their best to seem like the average couple out on a stroll instead of the friends of a so-called murderer trying to help him flee the law. It took them a few minutes to find anything with so many people surrounding them, but the giant red 'ferry closed' sign on one of the notice boards was unmistakable. As was the painfully familiar wanted poster depicting John B's face in one of his recent school pictures.

"Pope," she breathed out at the sight of it. "Pope, look."

She dragged him closer to the board, snatching the poster down quickly before shoving it into his hands. He frowned for a moment, confused, before realisation also dawned on him.

"Well, shit."

Someone brushed up against Haven's back, prompting her to step closer to Pope with wide eyes. They were way too exposed, and holding John B's poster felt like holding a loaded weapon and waiting for someone to shout 'gun!'

"Come on," she said, and tugged on his hand. "The others are waiting."

The group was quiet as Haven scrambled back into the passenger seat. John B and JJ were keeping to themselves but Kie was fed up with constantly pushing the latter's elbow out of her side and struggling to get comfortable with John B spread out across most of the seat. Haven felt her pain but refused to switch spots again, especially with Pope standing outside the driver's door like he was trying to draw attention to them with his frantic chatter.

"Jesus, Pope, can you act normal?" Kie snapped as the boy began to pace around nervously.

Pope just ignored her, snatching the poster from Haven's hands to shove in their faces. "So the ferry's closed, and there's this."

"What is this?" John B frowned as Kie cursed to herself. "What, guys?"

JJ took the poster from Pope with a startled laugh. Not the response Haven initially expected, but then again this was JJ. "Wow, John B, this is a good framer of you."

John B scowled and looked away from him. If shit was bad before, it was ten times worse now that twenty-five thousand dollars was on the line.

"Okay, so the whole island's lookin' for John B now," Pope stated the obvious. Finally, he listened to Kie's persistent nagging and got inside, slamming the door with intensity just to piss the girl off. The sound drew some stares in their direction, prompting Haven to smile sheepishly while the rest quickly ducked down again. Hopefully, to outsiders, it simply looked like a high school lovers' spat and nothing more.

"I don't mean to point out the obvious here, but that's a lot of money," Haven said once she was sure no one else was watching. "A lot of people on The Cut would kill for that — okay, kill might not be the right word..."

"That doesn't matter right now," Kie sighed. "What are we going to do?"

JJ just shrugged and smirked down at John B. "Congratulations, man, you're now famous."

"...Thanks, JJ."

"Back on topic," Haven coughed. "Put your thinking cap on, JJ, we need a plan."

"Thinking cap?" he repeated with a scoff. "What are you, my grandma?"

"Isn't your grandma dead?" Pope asked much to Haven's surprise.

It seemed to catch JJ off guard too, for he just blinked at the boy before bursting into laughter. "High Pope is so sassy, I love it."

"Well, I don't," Kie cut in angrily. "Guys, we've gotta get to the HMS. We need small, no running lights—"

"It's at the Chateau, Kie," John B said.

"And I wonder if the cops got that entire place staked out," JJ hummed to himself. "Let me think... oh, yeah, they definitely have that place locked down."

Kie sighed in defeat. "Yeah, copy that."

"Okay, then we'll think of something else," Haven insisted. "Even if we have to steal you a boat, you're already in trouble with the law, what's the worst that thievery could do?"

"Haven, I can't steal a boat—" John B began incredulously before Pope frantically shushed him, "Let me think, let me think! Just give me a second."

The high was clearly blocking any coherent thoughts that might've been going on in that head of his. Haven sighed to herself, glancing over her shoulder at a stressed John B. She felt bad for him, but she didn't know what else to offer. "Think about it, man. A stolen boat is better than prison."

"That's it," Pope gasped.

"I wasn't being serious..."

He just waved her off and leaned around to catch JJ's attention. "Does your dad still have that boat? The cigarette boat, The Phantom, the one he used to race."

"...Maybe."

"Then you could get right up the coast, no problem," he told John B, but JJ wasn't so certain, "It's not going to be easy, Pope. I don't know where the keys are."

But Pope wasn't listening anymore. He simply nodded along to Kie's murmurs about the surf while pushing the keys into the ignition. It took him a couple tries, and only once it actually roared to life did Haven realise she'd left the front seat open to the high one.

"Pope, maybe you should move over," she said. "I can drive us just fine."

"No, I've got this," he insisted before glaring at the road ahead. "God, why's nobody moving forward!?"

"Pope..."

"Can you relax?" Kie scoffed. "JJ, how much weed did you give him?"

The next couple of seconds went by in a blur. John B was reading over his wanted poster with a frown, JJ was grumbling to himself about how difficult Pope's idea actually was, all the while Kie was nagging him yet again about giving weed to Pope. Speaking of Pope, he started slamming on the horn when the cars in front refused to move out of the way.

"Pope, stop it," Haven snapped as he leaned his head out the window to shout at the other drivers. "Pope, for fuck's sake! You're going to give us away."

"Mum, look!"

Everybody froze at the unfamiliar, high pitched voice, even Pope. A little boy and what looked to be his mother were standing nearby, and the child had caught sight of John B leaning up in the backseat. He started pointing at him with wide eyes, his mother confusedly following his line of sight before her eyes also lit up with realisation.

"Shit, we've got a snitch," Kie hissed. "Haven, drive."

"I would if Pope moved," she snapped, to which he scowled and shook his head.

"I can drive, okay?"

"You'll be driving us to prison if you don't hurry up!" she shouted as their sell-out's cries drew more attention towards them. "God, if that brat wasn't a kid, I'd get out and kick his ass to the sharks."

The car suddenly shook as frantic fists knocked on the back window. A man had wandered over and was pressing his nose against the glass, smiling in glee at the sight of a terrified John B. He began shouting over to two nearby police officers, police officers that Haven recognised from the night before. Fortunately, they were momentarily distracted by the little boy stomping up to argue with the man, but they were running on borrowed time.

"Pope, just drive," Haven sighed as he struggled to kick the engine into gear.

"Pope, turn the car on!"

"I'm trying," he hissed at Kie before turning back to face the front.

He managed to get the car running but instead of reversing the fuck outta there, he pressed down on the accelerator and slammed right up the rear of the car in front of them. Haven spluttered as her seat belt dug into her ribs, but braced herself the next time he pushed up against the other car.

"Pope, back up," Kie was screaming now. "The other way!"

But he kept pushing and pushing until eventually the force of their car shoved the first one out onto the middle of the road. Pope mounted the sidewalk to veer around it, tyres screeching as they took off with the police screaming after them. Haven clung to her door for dear life as Pope swerved around the corner, their friends shouts for him to stop going in one ear and out the other as he put all his focus into just driving in a straight line. They swerved around another corner onto a quieter road than the last, but one that was filled with people nonetheless. People crossing the road.

"Pope, slow down!" Haven screeched as a familiar head of blonde hair stepped out onto the asphalt. "Pope!"

She squeezed her eyes shut but the impact of Arden Kim's body on the windshield never came. The car squealed to a stop, horn beeping all the while, just inches before her legs, as Haven came to find when she finally mustered up the courage to look again. Pope had popped the door open and was bounding over to their stunned friend, but Haven's heart was still pumping wildly in her chest. That was terrifying, but the nearing sirens were so much worse.

"Pope, fucking drive, man," JJ shouted as the boy ushered an unsteady Arden into the back seat. She crammed herself in on JJ's lap, clinging to his neck considering she couldn't use a seatbelt. One more broken law to add onto their list of felonies.

"I'm going, I'm going," Pope waved him off as he ambled back into the front seat.

"Pope, hurry up," Haven screeched as familiar flickers of red and blue appeared on the rear-view mirror. She'd have forced him to switch seats had she not known it would take too much time. At this rate, it would be a miracle if they even got the car moving again.

Fortunately, Pope seemed to like listening to Haven when he was high. He nodded early and hopped into his seat, ignoring the seat belt hanging by his side as he took the car out of park and immediately put his foot flat on the accelerator. They sped off around the corner, Arden giving an audible squeal of surprise as she almost got flung into the front seat.

But just as quickly as they got moving, they were met with another hindrance. Haven barely had time to think before Kie pointed at a mailbox and Pope was tearing right through it. She almost threw up as fear took over. Suddenly, it was night again. Her father was in Pope's place, the mailbox was a tree, and the tears trailing down her face were streaks of blood, her father's and her own. She blindly reached into the back for somebody to grip onto, knowing realistically that her father was long gone and this wasn't real. But the pop of metal as the mailbox and car collided were too familiar for comfort. She managed to find John B's hand for a second as he was the one right behind her. He squeezed back until they were separated by a fuming Arden wriggling into the front seat and situating herself between Pope's legs like a child.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to die today."

And with that, she pressed her foot down on the gas and the car was steady. Haven sat back for a moment to allow her heartbeat to settle, still feeling uneasy even now that it was Arden in control of the wheel. At any moment, she expected Pope to want to take over again, but it seemed that something, or someone, had caught his attention instead. Haven looked over at the sensation of eyes on the side of her face. Pope. He was grinning at her, absolutely giddy, and Haven would have smiled back had she not feared throwing up on his lap.

"You're so pretty, you know that?" Okay, so she couldn't smile, but blushing like a maniac wasn't out of the question.

"You're gross, you know that?" Arden muttered under her breath. "Just get a fucking room already."

"I would," he nodded eagerly, to which Haven's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "I would look for one, Ard, but you know what? I'm not ready to be a dad."

Arden had to bite down on her lip to try and not burst into laughter, but JJ didn't hesitate to cackle at them.

"Okay, I see why you didn't want me to give him weed now."

Kie just sighed and shook her head. "Took you long enough."

But just as soon as the calm moment came, it vanished. Pope nudged Arden's foot away from the accelerator, prompting them to swerve around for a second before he pressed down on the brake and almost sent them crashing through the window, again.

"Pope, I swear—"

But Pope wasn't looking at Haven anymore. "John B, get out."

"What? No!"

"No, he's right," JJ insisted. "We'll draw the cops and you run."

"Shit," John B sighed, but he knew it was the better plan of the two.

If they got caught and he wasn't with them, at least they'd bring him some extra time.

"I'll get the rig and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay?" JJ shouted as he pushed the door open and swung himself out. "Three o'clock tomorrow at the dump!"

With that, the door slammed and John B bolted for the trees. Haven watched over her shoulder as he ran, but soon the car carried them out of sight and they were separated once more.

It was all on John B now.