Molly Wescott ~Rafe Cameron~

Chapter 7

I got there fifteen minutes late and I saw them all on JB's porch. "Look who finally decided to show up." Kie teased and I sighed.

"Sorry I got tied up at the Cameron's." I explained and JJ shot me a look.

"Molly listen we don't have time for innuendos about your sex life right now okay?" I gave him a confused look.

"That's not what I-"

"John B and I were almost killed this morning." My eyes widened at this. JJ started telling us all about how they went to Lana Grubb's house to get more information on what Scooter was doing that night. John B also handed me a compass which is apparently what was in the boat that everyone wanted so bad. The compass was his dad's, so no one knows how it ended up in Scooter's possession. They also filled me in on how after they retrieved it two guys started trailing them on a boat and shot at them but thankfully they got away.

"So you saw the guys that shot at us right?" Pope asked JJ who paced back and forth anxiously. "What did they look like? Any description we could bring to like a police report?"

"Okay uh..." JJ paced back and forth. "Burly." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at the ridiculously vague description.

"Burly?" Pope questioned annoyed.

"Yeah." JJ responded still looking panicked.

"That's not very helpful." Kie told him.

"Like the type of guy who would work at my dad's garage." JJ tried to describe them. "I mean you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers."

"Yes we know."

"I can tell you with full confidence these guys, these killers, are square groupers." JJ took a hit from his pen in an effort to calm down..

"Like narco square groupers?" Pope asked. "How would you describe them because clearly you don't know what to look for."

"I wasn't taking mental polaroids the entire time man I was under duress!" JJ defended himself. "But I can tell you by the way Ms. Lana was screaming these are some serious hombres man." My heart pounded fearfully at this. What the hell am I getting myself into?

"The office." John B stated and went inside. The others and I got up and we walked towards the locked door. "My dad kept it locked because he was afraid of his competitors coming to steal his Royal Merchant research." He unlocked it before opening the door.

"I've slept over here like 600 times, I've never seen this door opened." Pope said, and I looked around the room amazed. There's maps and journals, and different historical items all over the place. Clearly Big John was super into the Royal Merchant.

"Check this out." JB pulled down a board with his ancestors on it and explained how the compass got passed down to all of the different generations of Routledge's, but also mentioned how all the owners had unfortunate deaths. The thought made my stomach sink.

"Dude you have a death compass." Pope remarked.

"Yeah seriously get rid of it." JJ backed him.

"Yeah we definitely don't want to get cursed by whatever voodoo is in that thing." I agreed with them.
" The soldier's used to hide messages In the compartment." JB realized and he unscrewed it. " I walked over to see that his dad had carved Redfield into the compass.

"How do you know it's his writing?" Pope asked.

"He made his R's weird like you see." JB showed him it.

"What's Redfield?" Kie asked.

"Besides the most common name in the county." Pope said.

"Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding?" JB proposed and I gave him sad look. All of us know his dad is gone, but he's been holding onto hope that by some miracle he survived. I guess I don't blame him. His dad is the only family he has left and if I didn't see a body I probably wouldn't want to believe it either.

"A clue come on that's-" Pope stopped when he saw the glare Kiara sent him. "If it's a clue it might be an anagram?"

"An anagram! Yes!" JB handed Pope a blank piece of paper to figure it out.

"How can you concentrate with that thing constantly crowing at you?" Pope asked, referring to the rooster John B has that will not shut up.

"JJ loves the rooster." JB replied.

"I love the rooster." Kiara added. We tried to help Pope figure out what it could be and suddenly JB stood up in front of the window.

"Guys! Somebody's here!" We looked out the window to see two guys and I felt my heart rate pick up.

"Guys please tell me that is not the same guys from yesterday and this morning." JJ stood beside me to get a better look and once I saw the panic on his face I realized it definitely is them.

"Is that them?!" Kiara asked worriedly, and he nodded.

"This is sub-optimal." Pope replied.

"John B I told you man why-"

"Hey JJ look at me." JB cut him off. "Where is the gun?"

"The gun is-it's-in my backpack, which is on the-on the porch." JJ realized, and ran to go get it. He ran back in and shut the door quickly.

"Where's the gun?" l asked him.

"They're on the porch guys!" He whispered.

"JOHN ROUTLEDGE!" They yelled, and my eyes widened. "GET OUT HERE!"

"We gotta leave!" Kie hissed, and we all scrambled to get the windows open, but they're painted and sealed shut. I could hear them destroying the house and I watched as Pope and JJ scrambled to try to get a window open.

"Do something!" I hissed and JJ gave me an annoyed look.

"What do you think we're doing huh?!"

"ROUTLEDGE!" The voices are getting closer and my hands are shaking at this point. I looked at JB who's standing in front of the door.
"WHERE THE HELL IS THAT COMPASS?!" Kie found something sharp and they managed to cut the paint so we could open the window.
Suddenly they started pounding on the door. "YOU BETTER NOT BE IN THERE!" The window went up and we all rushed out and ran to hide in the chicken coop.

I tried to ignore the smell of the hay and chicken poop we're getting ourselves covered in. Us being in the coop pissed off the rooster even more and it kept crowing, which is totally going to give us away. "Pope do something shut it up!" JJ hissed through gritted teeth.

"Pet it or something I don't know." Kiara pleaded as tears streamed down her cheeks. The chickens clucked more angrily and I realized that they're going to catch their attention. It was crowing more and more and JJ grabbed it, snapping its neck, making me cover my mouth to keep from crying in shock. He looked at it like he couldn't believe he just did that. One of the guys had started walking towards the coop, and I practically buried myself in Pope's side hoping to god he doesn't catch us. Then thankfully he stopped.

"Ratter! What the hell are you doing man?! Let's go!" The other yelled, and they got in the car, along with a few crates full of his dad's research and then left. I let out a breath of relief and realized that tears had been falling down my cheeks as well. I really thought we were going to die. I looked over at JB to see him looking just as fear-stricken as the rest of us. Once the car was out of sight, John B crawled out first helping all of us out after him. No one said anything for a minute and finally he broke the silence.

"Let's go." He told us and the rest of us shared a confused look but followed him to the car anyway.

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