Whew

Whew! That was fun. Thanks for taking the time. Thanks for supporting the story. I am conflicted about the ending. Let me know what you think. Sheila

Final Chapter

Marshall was amazed at how easy it had all been. Wearing civilian clothes, he stood up in court while Conchita Alvarez neatly vacated his deal; leaving the DA with no choice but to refile the charges.

Marshall expected to be taken back to prison, but he was whisked down the hall instead to a conference room. Inside, there was quite a party going on. Mary and Stan were there as well as Judge Gomez, and a couple of others, he couldn't put names to.

Mary hadn't been in the courtroom earlier, and he'd been relieved. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to finish what he'd started the day before. She smiled at him, and he winked back, but it was forced, and he suspected she knew it.

Introductions were made, and he met a weirdly pretty man named Burnside and another judge. Judge Gomez was the first to alleviate his confusion. "I suggested we have this meeting to help guide the ADA as he considers re-submitting charges in this case."

Burnside frowned. "I wasn't asking for any guidance."

She cocked her head. "And yet you would have benefited so very much from that guidance. I, and others, am tired of your heavy handed and reckless tactics. First, you allow an investigation to stay within the Dallas PD with the chief suspect still on the payroll. Then you come up with these draconian charges for Mr. Mann when the man who actually transported her over state lines get a slap on the wrist."

"You understand deals, your honor—"

The other judge interrupted him. "I'm in agreement with Isabel. We are coming down on the only person who showed concern for Ms. Torres' welfare. It makes no sense."

"He broke laws!"

"Actually, his primary infraction is federal and not really the business of this court."

"Am I going to be bullied into this?"

Isabel Gomez smiled. "If it works, we will,…and we'll enjoy it. Honestly, Burnside, you have enough on your plate with explaining how this didn't land in more appropriate hands until now."

For a moment, everyone braced for Burnside to really blow, but he didn't. He took a deep breath and smiled. "It won't be said that I am not a graceful loser."

Mary rolled her eyes and Marshall couldn't help but smile at her. Burnside got up, still looking like he'd just stepped out of an expensive men's magazine and left.

"Damn! That's what I'm talking about!"

Stan put on hand on Mary's arm. "Now, we have to address the federal piece of this."

Marshall sat back and waited. This was the part that mattered more than anything to him. His pride was wrapped up in his identity as a federal agent. As a felon, he would never be able to do law enforcement again, jail time or not.

"I stayed up half the night working out a deal on this. It's the best we're going to get."

Marshall threw up his hands. "Don't leave me hanging, Stan."

"You don't go to jail. You don't lose your job, but I am suspending you for a month: no pay. I don't want to argue about this."

Marshall slapped the table hard and narrowed his eyes at his boss. "You'll get no argument out of me, Stan."

"Good because the good fairy over here acted like the service should be throwing you a party."

Mary shrugged. "It seemed excessive. I think we could go back and sit down—"

"No! I take the deal. Smother her, Stan."

Mary laughed. "I figured that would wake you up."

Stan smiled. "I knew better that to let her anywhere near that negotiation."

Marshall swallowed. "So I am not serving any more time?"

"No."

"Okay," He stood up, his legs feeling a little unsteady. "I..uh, what's the procedure? I can just walk out of here?"

Conchita Alvarez smiled. "I walk you downstairs to Judge Ramos, and he signs your order of release. It won't take us more than half an hour."

Marshall nodded. "I want to thank…all of you have done so much."

Isabel Gomez nodded. "Marshall, we need more men like you in law enforcement. Rosita Torres and other young women like her need people who want to know her as a person. She wants to go back to school because you encouraged her. Rosita is going to stay with me for a while. I could use the company, she needs a place while the trial is in session, and she can finish school. It means a lot for me to see a young Hispanic woman who has been exploited; turn her life around, and choose a meaningful future."

"She always had it in her."

"But no one else was looking for it, Marshall. Thank you."

He nodded. "Tell her I'm going to keep in touch."

Conchita stood up. "Come on, Marshall. Let's get this done."

………………………………………..

With his freedom secured, Marshall went out to deal with the other crisis in his life. Mary jumped up from the bench where she was waiting. "I hear you got some old green junker. How about we leave it behind and got back to Albuquerque in style."

"Rusted Ford Probe style?"

"Is there anything better?"

He stopped. "You know, Mary, I don't think I'm going back to Albuquerque just yet."

She screwed up her face. "Rosie is fine. The Dallas office is all over it."

"No, it's not Rosie. I just need some time to think. I thought maybe I'd drive down to the coast somewhere."

"We don't have time for that. Stan wants me back on the job come Monday."

He shook his head. "Not both of us, Pumpkin. I think I'm going to do a little traveling all by myself."

"Why?"

"I have a lot crowding my head right now, and I have nothing pulling me back to Albuquerque right now. I got a month off, you know."

Mary frowned. "You should come back with me. I…we can hang out; I'll know you're doing okay. Jinx will make you brownies, and Squish can…stay as far away from you as possible."

"Sorry, Mary, but I just need a little time."

"Why?? Everything is good. It's all back to how it was."

"I almost got you killed."

She threw up her hands. "Well, I'm as good as new now."

"I gotta' do this."

Mary paced a few steps and then whirled around. "This is about yesterday, isn't it? You said things, but it doesn't matter. We'll just go back to how it was."

Marshall closed his eyes and sat down on the bench. "I got to figure it out for myself."

She kneeled in front of him, her hands on his knees. "It's okay. We'll forget it. It'll be fine."

"I still need some time."

She stood up. "I just got you back, Marshall."

He smiled. "I was gone for a week."

"Longest damn week of my life."

"It's going to be okay, Mary. I'll be home soon."

She bit her lip. "Please Marshall, don't overthink this. Don't complicate it. What we have…is as close to perfect as anything I've ever had. I don't want to lose you again."

Marshall stood up, shaking his head. "Pumpkin, you're not going to lose anyone."

"Please come home with me now."

He shook his head and reached for her, but she backed away. "Damn it, Marshall."

He winced as she trotted away from him down the hall.

……………………………………………

The day was hot, but it was tempered from the cool wind coming in from the gulf. He buried his toes deeper in the sand, his eyes focused on a trawler floating in the distance. He adjusted his straw cowboy hat and sighed deeply for the 3rd time in an hour. To his left, an older man paced back and forth in front of the surf. To his right, a woman sat on a towel, alternately speaking and crying to some unknown point on the horizon. Off to her right were a couple of young people who spent the better part of their time intricately entwined with one another.

The motel was rundown; its heyday had been back in the 50's before the big hotels had gone up a few miles to the east. Now only a few rooms filled even in the peak season. The flamingo pink had peeled off most of the clapboard, and the bar and grill had been reduced to a refrigerator full of Budweiser and a fry vat. Still, it was clean, and no one questioned him.

A look in his calendar told him that he had 10 more days before he was expected back in Albuquerque. He wasn't feeling ready to go back; on the other hand, he wasn't feeling unready. Each morning, he'd get up and take a run. Estella would fry him a couple of eggs, two pieces of bacon, and half a mango. Then he'd wander out to the beach and sit. By mid-day, all of them would have found their way onto the beach, and they would all retreat into their inner journeys; staring out on the water, walking, sitting, seeking shade; all waiting for something in their souls to right itself.

It was 21st day that she showed up. The pool he'd set up with Doug and Rhonda put the 21st between Rhonda's 18th day and Marshall's 24th day. Doug had put his money on her being a no show because he in the midst of his own life's despair.

Still she surprised him. He was expecting to show up in the evening, impatient and rude, but she came in the middle of the day, and sat down next to him in the sand. For the first

couple of minutes, neither said anything, and then he let a smile spread across his face. It was infectious, and he turned to see her grinning as well; the ocean breeze blowing her blonde hair about her face.

"I came for you."

"Tracked my credit card."

"Yup."

"I was going to come home."

"I couldn't wait that long." He let her envelope him in her strong, brown arms. He closed his eyes and leaned into her. After a few moments, she reached over and grabbed his hat off his head, pulling it onto her own.

"What have you been doing all this time?"

"Sitting."

She screwed up her face. "Really?"

"Yup. I highly recommend it."

"The place is kind of rundown."

He shrugged. "It's nice enough."

"So you just sit?"

"And watch the horizon and think. I run every morning, and at night I sit with Rhonda and Doug, and we drink Budweiser until the kitchen runs out."

"Who are Doug and Rhonda?"

He pointed at the woman on the blanket talking to the surf. "Rhonda comes here every year for about10 days, and talks to her son. He died five years ago in a plane crash, and she comes here to find him in the sky."

"Weird."

"She finds it cleansing." He pointed over to the man pacing. "Doug over there absconded with 300,000 a week ago from his brother-in-law's heating and air conditioning business and headed for Mexico. But he couldn't make himself cross the border. He spends his days summoning the courage to go home and face the consequences."

"Should we do something?"

"It's more meaningful if Doug makes the decision to return home himself."

"Does he know you're law enforcement?"

"Yeah, but I'm giving him space. He's going to get there. I have full confidence in him."

She gave him a strange look; then caught sight of the young couple lying together in the sand. "What's their story?"

"That's Jodi and Pearson. They've discovered that they love one another and have become addicted to it. They spend their days desperately clinging to the euphoria they have now. We make fun of them at night after they sneak off to make love. The truth is that they're perfectly nice, but we're a bit jealous, I guess."

"You've found a little family here."

"We're all a bit desperate right now. I think that's what binds us."

She took a deep breath. "I've thought a lot about you and I these last few weeks."

He looked up in surprise.

"I…uh want to try this. I want us to be together."

His eyes widened. "Damn! No one put any money on this outcome."

"I…want you back, and I think this is the right thing. I think we can do this."

"You sound a little like a volcano virgin on her last day."

"What!? I'm here. I'm sincere. Why are you making fun—"

He grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over. Form a moment, they wrestled, and then he had her pinned to the sand, breathing heavy. "I'm not making fun…Okay, so I am…a little."

"That was an interesting move."

"I'm improvising…and discovering that I'm find it quite satisfying to have you in this position."

"What now?"

In the distance, Rhonda gave him a thumbs up and he responded with a wink and a wave.

"Great! So all your little motel freaks get to watch you score."

He rolled off her and lay on his side looking at her. "There's no score, Pumpkin. We're not ready for the game."

She lay on a propped elbow and frowned at him. "What?!"

"We take it slow."

She moved in a flash, and before he could react, she was straddling him. "I…am so lost right now. You want me, right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, pretty much since the day I met you."

"And I'm giving myself to you…so what is the frickin' problem?"

"Mary, you're not ready for what I have to give."

"I'm a big girl, Marshall. What you got?"

He reached up and tucked her a lock of her hair behind an ear. "You're not ready for a man to stare into your eyes, and tell you he's never met anyone so exquisitely beautiful."

"I like it when you tell me I'm pretty."

He stroked her cheek. "I love to look at you. Every part of you seems exactly right to me."

She screwed up her nose. "Aww, come on, Marshall."

He shook his head. "Do you see, Pumpkin? You're just not ready."

"Don't make it so complicated!"

"I'm not ready either. I've had a rough month. I need a break from fear, and believe me when I say that having you in my bed would be a bit intimidating for me just now."

"I'm so confused right now." She climbed off him and sat down cross-legged in the sand.

He rolled back onto his side and reached for her hand. "We don't get to do casual. We've been through too much. We already feel too much. It's too much of a commitment right now for either one of us."

"What are we going to do, Marshall?"

He sat up next to her. "When I first got here, I thought you didn't love me and you never would. It took me a few days to realize that you might love me, but the fear that you would screw it up was holding you back."

She looked out at the water. "My relationships never last."

"You're so sure you'll screw it up."

"And then I would lose you." Her eyes started to water.

"But it's not just you, Sweetie. I'm also scared. I could push too hard, and then I would lose you."

"So we forgot about it like I wanted to do all along."

"Is that what you really want?"

Before she could respond, he had his hands on her face, and his lips were brushing hers. She moaned, and reached for him as to pull him in further, but he resisted. Softly, he explored her mouth, taking his time to savor her carefully. His touch was delicate, yet deliberate. Then he migrated to her neck, stopping to nuzzle her behind one ear. Before she could reciprocate, he pulled away and looked at her. "I'm going to be waiting for that moment when you're ready for a man who gives you this; a man who wants every part of you. That's the moment for you and me."

She searched his eyes. "What if that moment never comes for me?"

"Then I will grow old knowing that I didn't run when it got tough. I did what I could do, and that's all a man can ask for in life."

She reached for him, and he grabbed her wrist, but she was ready for this. She deflected his grasp, and caught his neck; pulling him down into the sand with her. "If this is going to happen, we both have to call the game." With that, she pulled him in for a kiss as big as the Grand Canyon.

"Mary!" He pulled away. "I had this all figured out."

She scrambled after him. "That was your problem. This is something we have to figure out, not just you."

"Okay," he lay flat on his back, succumbing to her advances, and looked up at her. "You win."

She smiled broadly. "We take it slow, Cowboy, but we're not going to overthink it. That little bit we just did where you nibbled on me? Well, I'm not waiting for some kind of perfect moment before I get some of that again. We throw out all that perfect moment zen shit you're so fond of, and just be honest with one another. You want honesty?"

He nodded.

She took a deep breath. "I do love you, and it's more than just a "Marshall's the brother I never had" kind of love. I am scared. I'm frightened of commitment, and I'm terrified of being hurt. So is everybody."

"You're not everybody."

"Yeah, but that's why you looooove me."

"Come here. Let me do that nibble thing again." She leaned over and closed her eyes while he quite artfully attended to her. After a few moments, she whispered into his neck. "So what's our plan for tonight?"

He leaned up on an elbow. "You see Doug over there. He stopped pacing a few minutes after you showed. I bet he's come to his decision. So tonight, we're having fresh grouper, and Estella's famous spaghetti. I'm leaving the green junker for Estella's son. Then we'll sit with Doug and Rhonda and drink Budweiser we run out. We should be there while he embarks on this new journey."

She stroked his cheek. "You're one of a kind. I'm a lucky girl."

"Does that mean we can drive home by way of the famous grave tour?"

She furrowed her brow. "What?"

He sat up. "I made a list of famous Texas graves I have always wanted to visit: Sam Houston, LBJ, Charlie Goodnight, Dan Blocker plus a few more. We can probably make two a day. How does that sound?"

Mary fell back into the sand. "God, I've been taken in by the biggest dork in the Southwest."

"Hey Pumpkin, if you come up to my room, the dork will show you his map…and possibly some other things."

She swung at him, but he feinted to the left, and took off running. She pulled off her shoes, and took off after him.

The End