Carson Keller used to think her biggest problem was their rivalry against the Kooks, but that was until buried secrets rose to the surface. Now her biggest problems included a dangerous treasure hunt and a hot-headed teenage boy.
✰ season 1-3 ✰
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AS READY AS THEY COULD BE, the six teenagers stayed in their assigned spots for the plan, hoping this would actually work. Maybe JJ was right in that they had the home-field advantage, but they were sure Singh would be coming armed and dangerous. They had to do everything right or they were seriously screwed. JJ began screaming as he lured the men through the abandoned hotel.
"Why do we ever listen to him?" Carson whispered.
"Did we really have a choice for this one?" John B replied.
"Shut up, I think he's coming," Sarah said. The three of them were tied up against one of the poles to act as the cover.
"Alright, keep your hands still," the man with the gun ordered.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're tied up here," Carson couldn't help but retort. He stepped forward right into their trap, falling hard and fast through the hole in the floor. Cleo and Pope fought the man, but suddenly another man showed up with a gun pointed directly at them. Carson and John B locked eyes before he nodded, knowing what he had to do. He quietly walked over to the edge of the hole before dropping down directly onto the armed man. JJ snatched up the gun and handed rope to Pope to tie them together.
"Alright, y'all, let me see those mugs. This is going to your boss, man. Come on, smile," he said as he took a photo of the two men. "For the record, they thought this plan wasn't gonna work. Alright, just sent that to your boss. Time for stage three. Hostage swap. We're gonna give your boss here a little ring-a-ling, so hang tight." JJ dialed Singh's number.
"Mr. Portis. Do you have Miss Carrera's friends?" a man's voice, who was presumably Singh, spoke on the other end of the line.
"Yeah. Yeah, we... we found 'em," John B said. "Listen, my name is John Booker Routledge. We have your men tied up, and they're in for a really, really... really harsh time if you don't give us Kiara back right now. Like right now. And I mean that."
"Convincing," Carson muttered. Singh must have thought the same because he began laughing.
"Kill them."
"What?"
"Kill them. Go ahead and kill them, John Booker Routledge. It doesn't matter to me, you know. Just know that if you do, the hotel is surrounded, you know. All of you inside will die."
"We gotta go," Sarah said as she looked out of the side of the building to confirm that he was telling the truth. "We gotta go right now!" They all sprinted through the building to find the best way out. That just so happened to be an elevator shaft.
"Gotta be a better option, right?" John B said. "This is like the Hawk's Nest part two. I'm not doing this."
"I think we need to think about this from a risk-reward perspective," Pope said.
"Okay. Risk, they find us and we die. Reward, we get out and live," Carson said. "Perspective done." Without waiting for another opinion, she leapt forward and grabbed a hold of the elevator wire. Sarah and Cleo were right behind her, leaving the boys to fight about who was to go next. The girls had reached the bottom when shots were suddenly being fired and John B was now falling down the elevator shaft, bringing JJ down with him. "That's one way down." She reached down and helped JJ up while Sarah did the same for John B. Cleo once again led the way as they sprinted through the town to get away. Once they were safe, they took a moment to catch their breath and once again think of their next move.
"So, what's the plan now? What's our plan B?" JJ said. "We just kicked the hornet's nest, so we gotta think of something quick."
"JJ, calm down," Pope said.
"Calm down, Pope?" JJ said. "We do something to their guys, they're gonna do something to Kie."
"That was your idea!" Sarah reminded him.
"Yeah, I know that was my idea, okay? My bad, that one's on me!" he said. "Why did we leave that island? Ooh, wait, wait. I got something. What if I offer myself up as a hostage?"
"So they can have both you and her?" Carson said.
"Hear me out. What if I got inside the walls, did the Trojan horse type thing?" he said. "That's how wars are won!"
"That's not how a Trojan horse even works!" Pope said. Carson was getting too frustrated to listen to them argue anymore so she just plopped herself along one of the hay bales and closed her eyes. The rest ended up following suit not long after. They had been doing so much running and fighting that their energy levels were depleted. It wasn't long after, however, that JJ was waking them all back up to read a text message that he had received on the phone.
"'Meet me at the pin at 6:15. P4L'," he read aloud.
"We're really supposed to believe that's Kiara?" Sarah doubted. They all started to debate whether or not it was a trap when Cleo stepped in.
"Sometimes you guys can be so stupid," she said. "You get beat so bad you flinch even when someone's trying to help. P4L. It's Kiara, man! No way she sent that as bait. They'd have to kill her."
"Makes sense to me," Carson decided. "Let's go."
✰
"That boat, that's the pin. The white one right there," Cleo announced. JJ pulled out the gun to get it ready before tucking it into the back of his pants.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked him.
"There's one way to find out," he said as he pulled the hat up to cover his head for somewhat of a disguise. "Stay there."
"Just let him go. He's got this," Carson said. At this point there was no stopping him, so they would just have to hope it wasn't a trap.
"Better to stay hidden in case he needs help," Cleo said. JJ slowly walked forward and surveyed his surroundings, trying to determine if Kiara was really there or not. It was when she emerged from the boat that they all let out a sigh of relief. Kiara ran forward and wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same for her. Carson didn't know why, but for some reason she felt a pang of jealousy in her stomach watching it. She was sure it was just due to the exhaustion that she was feeling from the recent events, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling as the rest of them got up to reach their two friends. She was beyond relieved to see Kiara though, so she joined in the group hug and forced herself to push it down.
