✯ North Star ✯

Part 6

"Okay I swear he was here. He was here" John B says
"John B I- " I start to say
"No I swear he was here all right?" John b tells me
"Okay" I nod
"I'm not crazy. Look that's the boat right there. Okay? And he was sleeping inside right there.
Look uh you believe me." He asks me
"I... I mean..." I say sighing
"Right?" John B asks me
"Hell,I wouldn't believe him either." I hear someone say and I turn to see big John walking over
"Hello Stella" Big John says
"Big John?" I ask still in shock
"What- Oh my God." I mumble
"Come on Stella" Big John smiles opening his arms. I walk and give Big John a tight hug
"Where did you go?" John B asks him
"Or should I say Mrs. Routledge? Welcome to the family Stella." Big John smiles
"Where the hell did you go?" John B asks him again
"I can't-" I mumble still in shock
"Come on son. It's a day of celebration. Bring it on in boy." Big John says
"Surprise." John b smiles hugging me

"Okay while you're out looking for your city of gold I'm gonna go home and steal some clothes and maybe a phone if I can find it" I tell John B
"See you later. Road to the mother lode." John b says
"I'll be back" I tell him
"Six o'clock back here. Don't be late." John b says giving me a kiss

I took a quick shower considering no one was home. I grab a bag and start packing some clothes when I hear someone in another room.
"Yeah they said um two days on the transfer. It's in the works though so no worries." I hear. It was rafe
"Yeah yeah. Yeah I'm upstairs why? You said you wanted to talk about something. What's up?" Rafe asks
I stay as quiet as possible as I walk closer to the room
"Wait are you being serious? I was just with you. What changed since then? What are you talking about? Dad no no." Rafe says as I walk past but I freeze when I hear him say dad
"Dad. This cross is mine. You're taking it from me. Listen this is something that I got through my work and now you're trying to make yourself feel better by giving away my shit? And you didn't even tell me? Oh my God. Stella!" Rafe yells and I jump back thinking he saw me
"There it is! That's it! Yep knew it. There it is Dad! Any more of my shit you wanna steal from me to impress Stella? Who doesn't give a shit about you." Rafe tells him
"For the record this is bullshit. Okay? This is my thing. But of course you can count on me. One second. Okay Wilmington. Tomorrow night. Car 750X. Got it." Rafe says writing it down
I start to walk away but the ground creaks
"Hey. Hang on. Hang on. One second." Rafe says
Rafe starts to walk into the room I'm in but I slip out the other door
"Hello?" Rafe says
He circles back around as I walk out of the door going further into the room. Thank goodness we have so many doors
Rafe grabs his phone then walks out
"Yeah from the wharf to the train yard. Yeah." He says then walks down the stairs and out the front door.
"Yes. I got it okay? Yes sir. Shit!" He says

I run out of the house looking for Sarah and Kie.
"I went back to grab clothes and a phone and you're not gonna believe this" I say.
"Rafe is back." I tell them
"For real?" Sarah asks me
"Yeah. I saw him at the house. I don't think he saw me but I think the cross is coming back to Wilmington tomorrow night." I tell them
"What?" Kie asks me
"Yeah" I nod
"Does Pope know?" Kie asks
"Not yet. I was gonna tell him at the Chateau." I say
"He can't. He's on lockdown." She tells me
"Okay. Um... Then... I'll hit up Pope and then maybe you go to the Chateau and see if John b is there, if he is you fill him in." I tell Sarah
"Can you tell JJ?" I ask kie
"Yeah I gotta talk to him anyway" kie says
Sarah starts to walk and before kie can I speak up "What happened with you and JJ?" I ask her
"We just got into a little argument" kie tells me
"About?" I ask her
"I basically told him I had a thing for him" kie says
"What did he say?" I ask her
"He said I couldn't possibly feel that way about him and then he ran off" she says
"He ran off?" I ask her
"Got on his bike and left me in a cloud of dust literally." Kie says
"Well we all know that's a JJ thing. He can't ever express his emotions. But go talk to him, he will come around" I tell her
"I hope so" she says
"Yeah well I know so" I smile then walk out

I look up at the tv which has all of our faces everywhere
"Four Kildare teens who went missing nearly six weeks ago are now reported alive safe and back on Kildare Island. Now a live update from the sheriff's department. Yeah after six weeks the six teens that had been missing from Kildare County have returned been reunited with their families.
We're still waiting for details about their journey, but I'm sure they have quite a tale to tell. We also got word that the father of one of the teens John B Routledge who's been presumed dead for a year now has also returned alive and well. Wonders never cease. Right now we're just trying to get those kids settled back into school with their families. They've been through a lot." The news says
"The teens were down in the Caribbean with two other Kildare teens Sarah and Stella Cameron the daughters of disgraced real estate magnate Ward Cameron,who confessed to the murder of Sheriff Peterkin two months ago. All the teens back, safe and sound on Kildare Island and John Routledge back from the dead. That's about as good as a result as we could hope for." The news guy finishes

JJ, Kie, Sarah, Pope, Cleo and I are at the Chateau. With no sign of John b
"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." I tell everyone
"Absolutely" Pope says
"And he's coming into Wilmington tonight at eight o'clock. It's being shipped by train to Raleigh from there but this is our chance to get it back." I tell them
"You get any other information?" Pope asks me
"Uh Stel got the cargo number." Kie says
"Okay well that's a start" Pope tells us
"Yeah" Kie nods
"They're definitely fencing that shit off as we speak. So we should probably get a move on." JJ says
"Stel have you heard from John B?" Sarah asks me
"No I mean he's probably off somewhere with his dad. But the problem is they have the Twinkie." I tell them
"Our transportation" Pope sighs
"I could ask Heyward for the truck" Pope suggests
"Uh what? Yeah that's gonna go well" JJ scoffs
"I know but we have no other options" Pope tells us

"Honestly the hardest part is gonna be security all right? So most of the guys are gonna be at the rail yard." JJ says
"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. We don't have a way to transport the cross. What you think? On JJ's motorcycle?" Cleo says
"That's not my fault. Oh everyone. All right all me." JJ says
"Okay other options" Pope says
I sit up straight and see Topper standing at the bar.
"Oh my God." I mumble putting my head down
"Oh my God what?" Cleo asks me
"Is that Topper?" Pope asks
"Why.. is he everywhere?" Kie says
"Perfect. Hey JJ?" Pope says
"What?" JJ asks
"I bet you Topper has a way to transport the cross." He tells him
"Actually Pope's right. He does have a rig" JJ says
"No" I say looking at them like they are insane
"Yes" JJ says
"No. Absolutely not" I tell him
"Yes come on. Ella you already got him whipped anyway all right? So why don't you just take one for the team?" JJ tells me
"I think I've taken plenty for the team" I mumble
"What would John B say?" I ask them
"I think John B will completely understand. Think about the circumstances. It's about treasure." Pope tells me
"We can handle John B later if we need" Sarah tells me
"Just talk to him" Kie says
"You owe me like times 10 now" I tell them walking off
Topper and i make eye contact and he looks surprised but excited to see me so I put the best fake smile on

"I just can't believe you're here. I saw the news.
I... I texted you. I didn't even know if you were alive Stella. How are you? You okay?" He asks me
"You know Top um things are a little tough right now" I tell him
"Yeah? Tough how?" Topper asks me
I look at JJ who is far behind topper but I see him gesturing to get on with it
"We've been after this... family heirloom of Pope's which is why we were gone. And we ended up losing it and unbelievably there might be a chance that um we could get it back tonight. In Wilmington." I tell him
"Okay" Topper says
"It's crazy" I tell him
"Okay. How... how can I help?" Topper asks me
"No no I can't ask you to do that" I say
"No seriously" Topper tells me
"Topper I feel like if I ask you just like the person that you are-" I start to say
"What do you mean the person I am?" Topper asks me
"No I didn't mean it like that. I guess I mean you're such a giver Topper. You're just such a helper and I feel like if I ask you-" I say
"Stella that's just... that's just who I am. That's just the way I was raised. And anyway remember when I said I would do literally anything for you? Remember that?" He asks me
"Yeah." I nod
"I meant it. Unlike some people who will just say whatever to get you to go along with whatever they want. I'm not that person okay?" He tells me as I see JJ still gesturing to hurry it up.
"When I say something I mean it" Topper says
"I need your truck" I blurt out
"My dad's truck? Oh my God. He would literally kill me. He's super anal about it." Topper tells me
"So are we. We're super anal. Were like... we... we.. we'll take such good care of it." I tell him
"You put me in a tough spot. I know I said I'd do anything but-" he says and I step closer to him putting my hand on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry about everything. I totally understand. You have no reason to help us. Actually you have all the reasons not to help us-" I tell him
"Why do I feel like I'll regret this?" Topper asks me