*Pogue for Life* Outer Banks Book 3

The Dark Forest

Jo is just standing by the door.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" she asks him.

Buzz stands up from sitting on the couch.

"I knew you would be back here. You and I got to have a little chat." he tells her.

Jo sighs in frustration.

"Dad, it's been a long night. I would rather go to bed. We can talk later." she tells him.

She heads back toward her room.

"There won't be a later. Your Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Rodney are coming down in a couple of days. You're gonna go stay with them for a while." he informs her.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere!" she tells him.

"I think it's for the best. Your life here hasn't been good for a while now. And I blame myself for that. I let myself get roped in on the drama of the Royal Merchant." he says to her.

"Dad, please, I don't wanna go anywhere. My friends need me." she pleads.

"Your friends will be fine without you. Right now my main concern is you. You need to get put back on the right path." he tells her.

"And my cult religious aunt and uncle are the way to do that?!" she retorts sarcastically.

"I think a little Jesus in your life will do you some good." he says.

"Well, I don't. They will have just wasted a trip down here because I am not going. They would have to drag me off this island by my hair." she tells him firmly.

Buzz steps closer to his daughter.

"If that is what it takes to keep you safe from all of this dangerous shit, then so be it."

The look in his eye makes Jo tense up.

She knows that he's serious.

She takes a deep breath and tries to think of something to say.

"Dad, I know that you love me and only want the best for me. But forcing me to leave isn't doing either one of us any favors. I know that you're upset about the choices that I have been making, but you have to understand that I am not a little girl anymore. You can't keep babying me and expecting me to make the choices that you want me to make. I am my own person who just wants to live life. Sending me away will not help me like you think it would." she says to him calmly.

Buzz sighs in frustration.

"They'll be here in a couple of days. I expect you to be ready." Buzz tells her in a final tone.

She starts to feel tears in her eyes.

She puts a hand over her mouth so he doesn't hear her cry as he walks out the door.

Buzz is heading back to his truck when he spots Big John leaning against the side of it.

"I've been trying to call you. I came to show you. We found the other piece."

John unwraps the completed artifact and shows him.

"You found the other half?"

Buzz looks at it closely in awe.

"John B and I did. It wasn't easy either. I need you to come with me to meet with someone to have it translated." Big John tells him.

Buzz hands him back the gnomon.

"Listen, we've been through a lot together throughout the years. And you know that I'll do anything for you. But I'm done with the treasure hunting." Buzz tells John.