Chapter 28 Pillow Talk
Flapjack, despite his interest and being invited as an integral part of exploring the Krell outpost was consumed with other concerns. Dr. Renfro was recovering but had a minor setback in a bout with pneumonia. He knew Mary Lou was alone in the house where her father had been shot. Flapjack could only wonder how that felt. He had been so involved with Martin and the search for the missing miners he had little time for other concerns. Thinking about his dead friend snapped him to a perspective about what Mary Lou must be experiencing.
The explorers could do without him for a few days. He didn't want to presume that Mary Lou could not do without him. They were both strong and each could live without the other. What he accepted was they had both made a conscious decision that life was better with each other than without, especially when facing emotional burdens such as Mary Lou was experiencing now. He pushed the rover as fast as he could on the road to Barnardsville, only slowing when coming dangerously close to the shoulder, or worse, a drainage ditch. He wanted to get to Mary Lou fast, but preferably more alive than dead.
He swung the rover up the driveway to the Renfro house and fishtailed wildly on the gravel before coming to a hard and skidding stop at the front entrance. He had called Mary Lou before hand and in just a single beep of the horn, she emerged from the front door with a small travel bag in one hand and her shoes in the other. Before she entered the rover, she flung the bag and shoes in back and jumped into the front seat, practically attacking Flapjack where he sat. He didn't resist and returned the hugging, mauling embrace.
“We're really going to do this?” Mary Lou asked, panting from her brief sprint to the rover.
Flapjack took her shoulders and pushed back slightly to get a good look into her eyes. “I see Julius, my best friend and how happy he is with Sheila. I see J. J. Adams and how happy he is with Alta. Damn it, makes me jealous that I could be happy with you and have just been stubborn enough not to ask. I used your father's approval as a dodge but he gave it so I have no excuse. I want no excuse, no further delay. Not several months waiting, but now.”
Mary Lou giggled and pulled Flapjack closer to her, giving him a devilish eye and whispering “Get over here you dirty old man.” He did and backed away once more while hitting the accelerator to make some engine noise as a distraction.
“I'm sorry I asked you over the phone. It wasn't supposed to be that way but I knew then I wanted nothing more in the world than to be with you. I didn't want to wait any longer.” Flapjack betrayed the image of the hardened and cynical miner he played so skillfully but Mary Lou kept quiet as she watched that solitary tear drop from his eye and onto his cheek, rolling down and then losing itself in the gray stubble on his face.
“Reverend Holland is waiting for us.” Mary Lou said as she released her hold on Flapjack.
Flapjack took a longing look, smiled and yelled “Sweetheart, get me to the church on time!” and hit the accelerator hard, kicking up dust, dirt and gravel as the rover fishtailed down the driveway. She could barely hear what Flapjack said but it sounded like “It's the Ambassador Suite tonight darling!”
…
“Why so grim?” Sheila asked as she slipped under the sheet and wiggled closer to Julius.
“Because I can't keep my hands off you once I get started, but there is something that has to be done first.” Julius sounded calm but there was a slight hint of trouble in his voice. He was lying on his left side and propped up on his elbow with a look that said desire, but held back the passion.
“I thought you quit.” he said to Sheila, which stopped her from moving closer to him and causing her to look down at the pillow under her right arm.
She didn't want to face him, not yet. She knew what was coming. “You heard from Jimmy Greer?” she asked, fairly certain of the answer.
“Yeah, and he sent pictures too.” he replied, turning his head up to look away from his wife and at the ceiling. “There is only one person I know on this colony that can handle a knife with that skill. Hell, it's a signature just as sure as if you had written it out with a pen on paper. Stitch mark cuts on both legs with precision that a surgeon would be hard pressed to match. I remember the first time I saw that on Cron, and I was thankful someone knew how to get those agents to talk and save so many lives.”
“How foolish of me.” Sheila said as tears welled up and started dropping on the pillow case.
“No Sheila.” Julius said as he turned his gaze from the ceiling to Sheila, placing his right hand on her shoulder. She was lying motionless and quietly sobbing. “Perhaps something else but not foolish at all.” Julius knew that Sheila thought of Mary Lou as her daughter, even though the 12 year old had a mother when they first met. “The guy that tortured and killed Mary