Chapter 102 edited

The parking lot sprawls beneath a fading sky, cracked and littered with shards of glass and pebbles. Two deputies step out of the motel office, their movements crisp and deliberate. Their silhouettes cut sharp lines against the neon motel sign flickering overhead.

Behind the rusting Twinkie, Pope crouches low, breath shallow, eyes darting. Cloak and dagger. He peers around the edge, spotting the median strewn with loose gravel. Desperate, he grabs a handful, winds up, and hurls them at the second floor. The pebbles rain down halfway up the wall.

Kiara's voice slices through the tension. "That was pathetic. Didn't you ever play baseball?"

Pope bristles. "I was on the math team."

"Mathlete, not an athlete," Kiara mocks.

Sarah leans in with a sheepish grin. "Hey, I wasn't athletic either."

Kiara scoffs, scooping up her own handful of pebbles. She rears back with confidence, eyes gleaming. "Watch and learn."

Inside Room 212:

Kage kneels before the closet safe, brow furrowed. His fingers hover over the keypad, punching in numbers.

JJ leans against the wall, unimpressed. "Genius plan. Just keep guessing until it opens."

Kage pulls out a crumpled scrap of paper, eyes flicking between it and the keypad. Beep. The light blinks green. The safe clicks open.

A thick stack of cash gleams under the fluorescent light.

John B's voice is hushed, stunned. "JJ... you gotta see this."

JJ saunters over, eyes widening at the sight. "Holy—did that really just happen?"

He reaches for the cash.

John B grabs his wrist. "Don't touch it."

JJ ignores him, but his hand pauses as he spots something else: a black handgun tucked in the back. His fingers hover over it.

Silence.

The buzz of Kage's phone shatters the stillness. An alert flashes: Scooter Grubbs. Dead. Deputies en route.

Kage's voice is tight. "We need to go. Now."

John B tenses. "Why?"

"The guy who owns this place is dead. Cops are coming."

JJ mutters, "Shit. Shit. Shit."

Kage grabs the gun and shoves it under his shirt. "Window. Move."

They scramble to the bathroom window, clambering onto the narrow ledge. The wind bites at their faces as they press against the side of the building.

Kage, nimble and focused, scales the motel wall with ease, vanishing onto the roof.

JJ wobbles, arms flailing. John B grabs him, steadying them both.

While outside the motel manager, a wiry man with a nervous twitch, approaches Room 212, flanked by two deputies. VICTOR SHOUP, grizzled and broad-shouldered with a cocky swagger, adjusts his belt. Beside him, TERRI PLUMB, sharp-eyed and fresh-faced, surveys the scene with quiet intensity.

The manager fumbles with a keyring, his hand trembling."Been running this place fifteen years. Never seen anything like this."

Shoupe gruffly replied."First time for everything."

The manager offers a shaky smile as he hands over the master key.

Shoupe to Plumb, eyes gleaming."Rookies get first crack. Open it up."

Plumb hesitates for half a beat before slotting the key into the lock. The door creaks as it swings open, revealing a dark, stale-smelling room. Dust motes swirl in the beam of Shoup's flashlight.

Inside Deputy Shoupe and Plumb move methodically, snapping on gloves. The manager hands them a master key before retreating. Shoupe cracks open the safe, inspecting its contents. His fingers linger on a manila envelope. He slides out a photograph, studies it briefly, then tucks it back.

Plumb speaks up. "Shouldn't we log everything?"

Shoupe smirks, splitting the cash and tucking half into his pocket. "Welcome to the program, rookie." He offers her the other half.

Her hesitation flickers for only a second before she accepts it.

Outside:

Kiara, Pope, and Sarah sit low in the Twinkie, barely visible behind the dashboard.

Kiara whispers, "What do you think's happening in there?"

Pope's eyes narrow. "Nightstick City."

They freeze as the deputies exit Room 212, dragging evidence bags and duffels. The deputies glance toward the Twinkie, but without suspicion, they climb into their cruiser and drive off.

Pope cracks the door open. "All clear—"

John B, JJ, and Kage appear from the shadows, breathless and wild-eyed. JJ struts toward the Twinkie, grinning.

"Could've given us a heads-up, you know."

Kiara shrugs. "We would've, but Pope was busy reliving his mathlete glory days."

Pope scowls, but before he can retort—

Sarah questioned."Did you find anything?"

JJ flashes the cash from under his shirt, then lifts Kage's shirt, revealing the gun.

Kage yanks his shirt down, glaring.

Pope's face pales. "You didn't take that from a crime scene, did you? Oh, God. I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship."

Kage's voice is calm. "Relax. Deputies skimmed the cash themselves. They're not reporting any of it."

JJ slings an arm around Pope. "Who needs scholarships when you've got friends like us?"

Pope shrugs him off. "I'm living a nightmare."

Kiara's tone sharpens. "We need to leave. Now."

Sarah nods. "That was too close."

The group scrambles into the Twinkie. The engine sputters to life, and they peel out of the lot, leaving the flickering neon sign and the stench of corruption behind.