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"When I went back to Tannyhill, Rafe was on the phone with Ward, and he just kept saying, "My thing, this is my thing." He had to be talking about the cross." Sarah says

"Absolutely." Pope nods

"And he's coming into Wilmington tonight at eight o'clock." She says, "It's being shipped by train to Raleigh from there, but this is our chance to get it back."

"You get any other information?" Estrella asks

Kie leans forward and grabs the paper sitting on the table, "Uh, Sarah got the cargo number."

"Okay, well, that's a start." Pope says

"Yeah."

"I mean, they're definitely fencing that shit off as we speak." JJ says, "So we should probably get a move on."

"Sarah, you hear from John B?" Pope asks

"No, I mean, he's probably off somewhere with his dad." Sarah shrugs, "But the problem is they have the Twinkie."

"Our transportation." Estrella sighs

"Um..."

"I could ask Heyward for the truck." Pope says

"Uh, what?" JJ says, "Yeah, that's gonna go well."

"I know, but we have no other options."

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"Absolutely not!" Heyward exclaims

"This might be our last opportunity to go get that cross." Pope says

"Is that so?" Heyward says before walking off

"I could just get to the mainland..." Pope explains following him

"Oh boy."

"Pop, please! Come on!" Pope says, "This is about our heritage, our family. This is our thing."

"You wanna know what our thing is? Doing what we say we're gonna do. Keeping our promises. Exceeding expectations. You used to understand that!" He stammers, "Just..."

Cleo, Estrella, and Charlotte watch as Pope follows him back toward the counter, "And I still do! I still understand that. But, Pop, please, this is the last opportunity, and I won't ask you for anything else, and I promise you, I'm done, I swear. Please, please let me do this. Mama."

Mrs. Heyward waves him off, "Uh-uh."

Heyward turns to Estrella, "You on board with this?"

"You know wherever Pope is, I'm right there." She says

Cleo leans over, "Gotta strike while the iron's hot."

"Get off my counter!" Heyward yells turning away. Estrella's eyes go wide as Cleo jumps down. The girls follow Pope and Heyward outside.

"Pop, I know appearances are against me right now, but please, I will do anything I have to.
I'll work triple shifts. I'll never leave the house again. Just please let me go to Wilmington with your truck."

Heyward turns to Estrella who gives him a small smile before he turns to Pope, "Get out of here. Before your mama talk some sense into me, but you can't take my truck."

"Pop, we're going to need transportation."

"That is not my problem. I got deliveries. Somebody's got to keep the lights on." He says, "You know? Just in case you don't make it big."

"All right. Thank you so much."

"Yeah."

"I won't let you down."

"Promise." Estrella says

"Appreciate you, Pop."

"Don't break any laws." Heyward says, "Keep him out of trouble!"

"We'll try!" The girls yell

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The teens were now on a ferry making their way over to Wilmington. They sat at a table while JJ stood beside Estrella's chair.

"Honestly, the hardest part is gonna be security, all right?" JJ says, "So most of the guys are gonna be at the rail yard."

"Right, so, we'll need to find some place and guard it, maybe a little further down the line, like a whistle-stop." Pope says

"Yeah." Kie nods

"You guys are getting ahead of yourselves per usual." Cleo says, "We don't have a way
to transport the cross. What you think? On JJ's motorcycle?"

JJ groans taking his hat off, "That's not my fault. Oh, everyone. All right, all me."

"Okay, other options." Pope mutters

"Oh my God." Sarah says leaning forward

"Oh my God, what?" Estrella frowns as they turn around

"Is that Topper?" Pope says

"Why... is he everywhere?" Charlotte says

"Perfect." Pope says smiling, "Hey, Jay."

"What?"

"I bet you Topper has a way to transport the cross."

"Actually, Pope's right. He does have a rig."

"No." Sarah interjects

"Yes."

"No. Absolutely not."

"Yes, come on." JJ says, "Sarah, you already got him whipped anyway, all right? So why don't you just take one for the team?"

"What would John B say?"

"I think John B will completely understand." Pope says

"Hopefully." Estrella nods, "Think about the circumstances. It's about treasure."

"We can handle John B." Kie says as Sarah looks over at her, "Just talk to him."

•••

Estrella looked over JJ's shoulder as they sat on the other side of the boat to watch Sarah talk to Topper. She smiles and JJ waves his arms telling her to keep going as she looks toward them.

She turns back to him as Charlotte sighs, "Are we sure this is gonna work?"

"It's gonna work." They all mumble

Cleo turns to them, "Why so sure?"

"Because Topper is obsessed with her." Estrella chuckles

"And not like the cute kind of obsessed either." Kie mutters

"The creepy kind."

The teens keep their eyes on Sarah as she rambles to Topper. Seconds later, Sarah reaches forward and pulls Topper into a hug. Estrella smiles wide as the others give Sarah a thumbs up.

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"Well, there's like 1,000 trains here." Sarah says. It was completely dark out now, almost pitch black if it weren't for the lights in the distance. The teens had finally made it to Wilmington and had successfully found the train. Problem was, they couldn't figure out which one they needed to check.

"Well, we know it's car 750X on the track to Raleigh." Pope says

"Yeah, so now we just gotta find it." JJ nods

"Well, news flash." Kie says, "We're not getting out of here unnoticed with a giant cross."

"We won't have to. We can nab it somewhere further in the country." Pope says, "Just gotta figure out how to stop the train."

"Right." Kie nods still skeptical

"Leave that to me." JJ says

"How are you gonna do that?" Charlotte asks

"I got an uncle up in New Bern, right?" JJ says, "When he got tipsy, he'd just throw an old chain across the tracks, just for shits and giggles. And that old little chain would stop all the train traffic in coastal Carolina."

"A chain?"

"He's actually right." Pope says, "There's a low-voltage current that runs across all rail tracks. Throw a chain on it, you close that circuit. It would read as another train. Crossing lights come down. Science is actually pretty sound."

"Science. I knew my science." JJ says smiling to Estrella

"We're at a point where JJ knows his science." She says

"Well, we don't have a chain." Pope says

"No, but I bet Topper's dad has jumper cables in the truck." Sarah suggests, "Would that work?"

"Yeah."

"What's going on? Are we doing this or what?" Topper yells from below them

"All right, you all wait here. Me and Pope will go look for it and send a signal once we find it." Cleo says

"Do we actually have a plan right now?" Estrella chuckles

"Think we do." JJ nods with his hands on his hips

"That's impressive." Charlotte smiles

"Let's not jinx it while we're ahead. Come on." Pope says as they start walking along the trains

"Nobody ever listens to me." Cleo mumbles causing Sarah to giggle

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