CH 3
General Hawthorn strode into the Governor's mansion in Austin. Inside was a full platoon of soldiers to keep him safe. The Colonel who met him saluted and said, "Sir, everything is going well, we have 80% of the state pacified and with military in charge."
"Very well, make it one hundred percent as fast as possible!" he stated.
"Your quarters are this way, follow me, Sir." The colonel said.
Leaving his guard outside his quarters, Hawthorn followed the Colonel in. Inside was a redheaded woman in a white dress. He stopped upon seeing her.
"Catherine Weaver?" he asked. "But, I heard you died."
"Incorrect," she said. She pointed an arm at him. Her arm grew long and silver quickly and speared him in the chest. "Is it you who are dead."
Once his body hit the floor, Weaver changed herself to look like him. She told the Colonel, "John, I will need to gather your Texas Guard officers and dispose of any PSR men. Hide the body, I shouldn't be long."
John Connor nodded. "I'll get rid of him. Tell me when you're ready for the meeting.
.
The white haired thinning man sat handcuffed to the interrogation table. Two men in Generals uniforms came in to sit across from him. They eyed him with disdain. He didn't even look up at him.
One General said, "The former general Watson, chief of Homeland Security, now captured and convicted of treason and destroying government records. What a fall from grace you've taken."
The white haired Watson shrugged. "You'll make up any charge to suit you."
The General pulled a recorder out and played John talking to the president. "Who's voice is on that tape?"
Watson listened and said, "I don't know. You tell me."
"Is that man talking to the President, John Connor?"
"Is he?" Watson asked.
"He claims to be."
"Sorry, I can't tell you if he is or not," Watson said.
The other General glared at him. "We know you know Connor's voice! If anyone knows him, you do. We need information!"
In a musing tone, Watson asked, "On who dropped a nuke on US soil? Sorry, can't help you there, but I bet you know who did it."
"We need to know if John Connor is still alive, and where he might be."
"Can't help you, I've been down here in maximum security, solitary confinement. I don't see anyone," Watson replied.
"Look, Watson, you make a deal with us, tell us what we need to know and we'll get you out of here."
Watson chuckled. "Like I'm going to believe that."
"We will obviously keep a very close eye on you, but you can have your own cabin, maybe a little land inside a fence of course, but you'll be out of prison. All we need to know if it is John Connor's voice on that recording."
Watson shook his head. "Either you are very desperate, or you think I'm that stupid. If you do let me out, you'll probably slip on say, letting me get a hold of a cell phone, or maybe a laptop and wait to see who I contact, hoping I'll contact someone of interest to you. If I don't then oh no, I had a terrible accident that no one saw. That about right?"
"We will get the information from you one way or another!"
Watson looked up and them and grinned. "I see. You are desperate. You're scared shitless Connor is alive. You know if he is alive, he'll be coming for you and you have no idea how he will be doing it. Yeah, I can see it in your eyes. You know hardly anything about him, do you? The most you know is he gathered the Governors to kick a lame ass false president out of office. Not knowing has you watching your backs afraid he'll pop out of the woodwork to turn your coup upside down and and get rid of all your cohorts. You know no place on Earth will be safe for you if Connor is alive."
"Do you recognize his voice!" the one general yelled.
"Sorry, my hearing isn't that good any more," Watson said with a grin.
"We can and will have you tortured!"
"Best of luck with that."
The one general stood up. In a growl, he said, "IF we leave now, you will be tortured until you talk or die!"
"Gonna get real evil on my ass, huh? Yeah, you're scared shitless all right," Watson said with a grin.
"Soon you won't be laughing," a General growled.
"And you'll still be shaking in your shoes," Watson stated. "By the way, dropping that nuke will be the worst decision you ever made."
The generals stormed out. Watson sat in place for another hour, then a guard came in quietly with a silenced pistol. "Weaver's orders, Sir," he said apologetically.
"Fine son, want me in any particular position?"
"Sir?"
Watson leaned forward and relaxed, looking away from him. "Just make it a clean shot. Whenever you're ready. Tell Catherine thanks, I get to avoid torture."
"I will, Sir."
The guard shot him in the back of the head, quickly checked to be sure he was dead then left.
.
Cameron watched Internet traffic with John Henry. They agreed to keep John Henry from being found, she would be activating all hacks and computer infiltration. John Henry was still their ace in the hole. He'd helped Watson wipe out all information about terminators and cyborgs, as well as removed any references to Weaver's three main plants that were now in full production. On his own 'dark net', he didn't eve us any main servers any longer, but his own that were scattered across this country and a couple others. His knowledge of the old Sky Net was coming in very handy now that they needed it.
So far they were monitoring every nation that were not friendly with with the old US, but were now becoming very friendly with the 'new' US with PSR directing things semi-behind the scenes. Cameron had found where the plane took off from that bombed Driftwood, and was searching for who hired the pilots or even who knew them. She found a missing person's report in Louisiana that matched one of the pilots who no longer existed.
.
Joan and Allison had only been in Austin collecting information for a couple days when Joan got a call while she and Allison were in their hotel room.
She answered her phone, "FB?"
"It's GJ," John said. "Got a possible ID on the wife of one of our pilots. Here's the address in Louisiana. Find out all you can."
Joan memorized the address, repeating it out loud so Allison could hear it too. "Got it."
"Good luck, call back when you know something."
"I take it we're going to Louisiana?" Allison asked.
"Yeah, let's go get Mr. Useless."
Joan went over to Josh's room and knocked. She waited and knocked again louder. "Hey, you in there?" she yelled.
The door opened to show Josh in his shorts. "You do know it's almost eight at night. What did you want?"
"Get packed, we're leaving," Joan stated.
Josh rolled his eyes. "Why now? Why not wait til morning?"
"Because we have to leave now. You coming or not?" Joan asked heavily.
"Ugh," he huffed. "Give me five." He shut the door.
Joan went back to her room. She and Allison packed up and were ready to go. They got their bags in the truck and waited. Josh didn't come out. Joan went to his door and pounded on it. "Let's GO!" she snapped.
He flung his door open. "WHY do you have to be so rotten?" he asked.
"We're leaving now. If your coming, move your ass," Joan growled.
"I am suppose to watch over you. I have to come!"
"Then you better hurry up," Joan growled and stomped back to the truck.
Getting in, Joan shut the door and started the truck. She pulled slowly out in the lot. Josh appeared half dressed and running with his bag in hand. "Wait!" he cried.
Joan did. Allison got out and motioned to the rear seat, "In back," she stated. Josh clambered in.
"You can't wait five minutes?" Josh cried.
"I waited seven. You're slow," Joan replied flatly.
"He was never like this! He was kind to people," Josh grumbled.
"I bet he wasn't a terminator either," Joan said flatly.
"Josh! Give up living in the past, it doesn't work!" Allison stated.
"If you can't then just shut up," Joan added.
Josh brooded, but at least he stayed quiet.
Early morning around 1 AM, Joan had to stop for gas, so they got some food drinks and a bathroom stop in also. They were still in eastern Texas, but would be there mid morning she guessed. Josh was sleeping, so they left him alone.
By 4 AM, Josh woke up and asked, "Are we ever going to stop?"
"We did, you missed it," Allison told him.
"I gotta pee."
"Find an empty bottle," Joan replied.
"Why do you have to be so mean to me?" he asked in a whine.
"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE A CHILD?" Joan roared back. "I would think having lived so long you would have learned something by now! Worse yet, do you even understand what has happened? Our whole town was fucking murdered! Do you even care about that? Just about everyone you knew there is DEAD! It was a malicious, evil attack on innocent people! I will tell you now, if you won't at LEAST shut the fuck up, I will behead you and throw your body in the river. DO YOU HEAR ME?"
"Your whiny ass is very annoying," Allison stated.
Josh hung his head and whispered, "Everyone hates me."
.
Thankfully, Josh kept his mouth shut until they got to Beaumont, TX, not far from the state line. They didn't need gas, but Joan stopped so Josh would stop his quiet whining. It was mid morning by now, and breakfast seemed like a good idea. They ate and after ensuring they all had bathroom breaks, they traveled the last 40 miles to this woman's house.
The area was suburban housing with trim yards. Driving along the street, Allison looked ahead and counted houses. Joan was also and came to a conclusion by the house numbers. The place that was the right address had no house, only burnt remains. It had been consumed by a fire.
"Well shit," Joan grumbled. She parked in front of the driveway, they got out.
"Coincidence?" Allison asked.
"Doubt it," Joan grumbled.
The woman next door came over in her sun dress and hat. "Excuse me, If you're looking For Tara Baker, she didn't make it. Her and her son died in that fire."
"We're sorry to hear that," Allison offered. "When did this happen?"
"A few days ago," the woman said with a frown. "I swear she had the most terrible luck! First her husband went missing, then a few days later, we get woken up by fire trucks coming to that huge fire! I mean the whole house was going up! The fire department sprayed our house down, and Mrs. Hanson on the other side to keep out houses from burning up!"
"That sounds terrible," Joan offered.
"Oh it was!" the woman agreed. "I asked about Tara, the Policeman only said she and her son didn't make it. They were inside asleep, and apparently a gas can in the garage was found on it's side. From what they said, it tipped over, a rat or something did it, and the gas leaked out then was set off by the pilot light for the water heater. They never had a chance."
Joan and Allison looked at each other. Neither of them had a doubt this rat was human sized and worked for that PSR organization. Any proof left of the pilot's name, who he worked for or the fact he even lived was most likely in that house. When Tara had reported him missing, she'd earned herself a target on her back. "It sounds like she didn't," Joan agreed.
The remains of the house had police tape around it. Joan wanted a closer look. "Allie, I'm going to look around a bit. Be right back."
"Do not cross that yellow tape," Allison warned.
"I won't." Joan assured her. She would get close to it though.
Some evidence would be gone. Burned away or taken away. Joan walked closer and scanned the ruins. In the piles of ash and blackened remains, she noticed something. They looked just like they had fallen. There were no foot tracks or signs someone had dug into the ruins. The woman had said this Tara and her son had died in the fire. If she did, why wasn't her body looked for? How did anyone know she was in there?
Joan strolled around the ruins, studying them. No place did she find them disturbed. No place did she find any imprints of anyone stepping in the ruins, let alone digging in them. The night of the fire, even if the house had already collapsed, no one would have been able to get into the extremely hot house to even eyeball her body. That man the neighbor lady talked to either knew Tara and her son were inside, or had been told to say that. He was covering up.
Joan walked back down the driveway to see a pair of soldiers join Allison and Josh by the truck. The neighbor woman had gone home. Joan noticed they both had their rifles cradled in their arms. Not threatening, but also not far from it.
The dark haired one asked Joan, "Excuse me Ma'am, but that's a crime scene. What were you doing?"
"Crime scene?" Joan asked. "The lady next door told me the fire was accidental. How did it turn into a crime scene?"
"I, ah, don't know, but police tape is up, you can't go in there."
"I didn't I just walked around it looking. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened here?" Joan asked.
He motioned to her, Allison and Josh," I will need to see some ID."
"Why is that?" Allison asked.
"Just, ID, please," the soldier said apologetically.
"It's routine, honest," the blonde haired solder said.
Joan reached into her long coat and pulled her wallet. She opened it and showed him her Driver's license Cameron had made for her. "Joan Taylor," she said.
"Allison Tanner," Allison said, showing the other soldier hers.
Josh shrugged, "I ... lost mine."
"He's an idiot," Joan grumbled, eyeing him. "If you want to take him away, be my guest, he's a pain in my ass," she told the soldier.
Both soldiers laughed. The darker haired soldier went to hand her ID back, then stared at Joan as if seeing her for the first time." Holy ... You're Joan Connor, the quarterback!"
The other soldier looked closer at her. "Oh. My. God. It IS her! I got a full sized poster of you in your Austin Uniform on my wall!"
"Wow, this is... wow!" the dark haired soldier beamed.
Joan grinned and them and took her ID back. "I'm Joan Taylor now, guys. But it's nice to meet fans."
"You know what the NFL did to you was not right!" the dark haired soldier stated.
A check of their vitals showed Joan they were happy to see her, they weren't pretending. "Yeah that wasn't right. Neither was the nuke they dropped on my town."
Both men's jaws dropped. "We heard that was just a rumor." the blonde soldier said.
"No, an attempted cover up," Joan stated. "Me and Allie get home to find the place is devastated. Our house mates were all dead, so was all the fish and alligators in the lake, the woods were on fire. It happened guys. I've been searching for those responsible. I found the plane that took off and never landed, from control tower records I know who flew it, but there is zero information on him. His wife, Tara, turned in a missing person's report on him three days after that nuke destroyed our place. I come to see her and find her house burned to the ground. Supposedly, she was in there when it burned, but looking around, I see no evidence of anyone digging through the ashes to find her remains. The only evidence her husband even lived was in that house. Someone torched it and destroyed her and any proof of who he was working for."
"You... you're serious!" the dark haired soldier said.
"Come see for yourself, the ashes have not been disturbed. They would be if anyone was looking for her body. I must ask, how whoever reported she died in that fire, knew she was in there." Joan offered, "My guess? She was murdered before the house was burned down, maybe her son also. Someone is covering up their misdeeds. Someone with authority, nearby. This reprobate is murdering whoever they like and I want his ass."
"Yeah, I can see why," The dark haired soldier said. "So far, you don't know who it is."
"I know who it is not, and this thug will kill anyone who gets close to the truth, or knows anything about it," Joan stated. "For your own safety, please don't even tell anyone you saw us here."
"This is some heavy shit," the blonde whispered as he stared at nothing.
"It is, and deadly if the wrong person finds out you know anything," Joan stressed to him.
"Fuck me," the dark haired soldier whispered, staring at the ground.
"Guys," Joan said firmly. "Let me do the investigating, I know how to deal with the bad guys. I don't want to see either of you get hurt."
"We can take whoever this is in and put him in jail," the blonde said.
"I don't want him in jail," Joan said smoothly. She pulled her katana and said, "Their asses are mine. I will chop their heads off and stick them on poles for all to see. They are wanton killers, and I will treat them as such." She put her sword away. "Allie, Josh, we're leaving." She walked towards the truck.
"Joan!" the dark haired soldiers called, and ran up to her. He scribbled on a note paper and handed it to her. "If there is anything I can do. Anything at all to help out, give me a call, OK?"
Joan offered him a smile. "Thank you. Really though, you're better off not knowing and say nothing about any of this."
Getting back in the truck, Allison asked, "So what now?"
Joan shrugged "Report what we found and watch those soldier guys a bit. The only way they got here as quick as they did was if they were assigned to watch to see who arrived."
.
San Marcos was nothing. The initial military commander had come in with his platoon of troops to take over. A platoon of SWAT was waiting for them. The Mayor had the PSR troops disarmed and put up in a barracks. Ten of them immediately begged to defect, or join the closest Texas guard once their families were guarded from the PSR. The Commander was allowed his own 'office' in the town jail, all but new laws he was to implement went against every state and local law. They were rejected by the City Council.
All Bob and Connor did was verify the situation was under control, then move north to head for NYC.
The second day of their travel put Bob and his group in Tennessee. Here too, the 'pisser' group had a bad name. Anyone who promoted them was beaten by those who heard them. The Governor had rejected military control, and again, police and Tennessee Guard surrounded, disarmed and jailed PSR members on subversion charges.
Getting their hotel for the night, Connor got a room for himself and one for Bob and Malinara. Before they got back to the Jeep to go to their rooms, Connor put a hand on Bob's shoulder and stopped him.
"Hold up," he said quietly to Bob. "I know it's been rough lately. That girl Malinara does need some of your attention."
Bob winced. "She wasn't supposed to be here."
"No, she wasn't, but she is. She is clinging to you for support. I know you lost loved ones. She did also. Why do you think she came? Why do you think she went on so much about what she wants if she dies?" Connor asked.
Bob eyed him.
"She's scared, Bob," Connor stated. "Despite how she acts, she's scared and she needs comfort from you. Reassurance from you that you are on her side. Stop ignoring her and prove you will be there for her as she is trying so hard to be there for you." He then handed Bob his room key. "Take tonight to give her what she wants the most, attention from you."
"I do have two wives who are also out doing their best to stop these hoodlums," Bob stated.
"Yes, and they are. They are not here, Malinara is, and she needs her master. SHE is your immediate concern."
"She's not a slave any more."
"Don't matter what you call it, in her eyes you are still her master, the only one she needs is you. Don't let her down." Connor said firmly.
Bob nodded. 'Yeah."
"I saw a liquor store, I'm going to get a bottle of Glen Finnen. Want something?" Connor asked.
"Thanks but no. I really don't feel like drinking," Bob said in a shrug.
"Well at least hold that girl tonight, even if you don't feel like it. Talking to her will help as well." Connor said then went off to go get his bottle.
Somehow Connor had zeroed in on the one thing Bob didn't even want to think about. He went back to the Jeep. Of course Anne had wandered off with Connor. He got in and drove over to their room. "Let's get our stuff out," he said.
Bob opened up the back. Malinara knelt backwards on the second seat and handed him things out, then crawled out the back herself. He closed the Jeep up and led her over to the room and opened the door.
"Got my key?" she asked.
Bob shifted his bag so he could put an arm around her. 'Don't mind sleeping with me tonight do you? I think we need to ..."
"That's fine," she said quickly and went in with him, almost pushing him in. Just as quickly she shut the door. "I ahhh, do think we need to ... talk," she said meekly.
Bob put his bag on the dresser, Malinara did to, eyeing him with liquid eyes.
In a pleading tone, Bob ranted, "Mal, look, ever since we got attacked, I've been kinda numb, OK? I mean, the first thing I saw when I woke up was Hanna's half skeletal body. It was a disgusting sight that I didn't want to believe it was Hanna, but I knew it was. To have that happen to her made me sick. Absolutely sick! Such a pretty, sweet girl to have that happen to her was a huge shock and completely wrong! There is no way she deserved to die like that, and now I know what we're doing now is dangerous and I do not want that to happen to you, or anyone else. Mal, I was mad you came because I'm afraid you will die too and I don't know if I can handle that!"
Malinara hugged him, he latched onto her tightly. "I do not want you to die! I will do anything to prevent that!" he said with a sob.
"I don't want you to die either," she said in a throaty tone.
That made Bob let out a chuckle. "You don't get it, Mal. I did die out there with Hanna. Physically, yeah, I was burned up too but I came back. I can't die for real." Petting her hair he added, "You can. You damn near did. Please, hon, I don't want you, Joan or Allison to die on me. We already lost Hanna, Jo, Dina and Dan. I have no idea what happened to Bruce. I know Joan and Allison are pretty tough. You, I worry about."
Malinara melted into him. "I know, but understand I worry about you too. Robert, you are my life. Yes, I miss Hanna, she was too sweet and nice to have that happen to her. She was my friend for a long time. If I lost you, then I think I'd want to die with you. I'm nothing without you, Robert, so I have to try and protect you."
Bob sniffed and wrinkled up his nose. "Is that me, or you?"
Malinara giggled. "Maybe a bit of both? We should probably get in the shower."
"Yeah. A nice long shower?"
Malinara lifted her head to gaze at him. "I think a long hot shower would be wonderful."
They kissed.
Getting undressed and kissing, the kissing turned hot. They were in the shower for nearly ten minutes before they turned it on. Bob didn't know how long they made out under the water, but it was long enough for them to become wanting. Lifting Malinara up by her butt, He got inside her and she gripped him tight to her with her arms and legs. After the passionate sex that lasted long enough to use up the hotel's hot water supply, They dried each other off, climbed in bed and after more kissing and fondling for a while, held each other close.
It was a release of pent up emotion as well as a verification of being loved they both needed. Cuddled up tight in the Spoon, Malinara held Robert's hand tight to her chest, her head on his other arm that ended up holding her side. Even with the horrible happenings these last weeks, there is no place she'd rather be. When she was in Robert's arms, it just felt like home.
.
With Johnson City's mayor back in charge, and the new provisional Governor, John Connor, removing the martial Law in Texas, Jackie and Duncan were scooted off to Oklahoma, then Kansas.
Oklahoma had their Governor assassinated and didn't like the federal government sending them a General to rule over them in a Martial Law. In a midnight session, their congress appointed a Provisional Governor to take his place. The General sent here saw the animosity towards him and agreed to let the Provisional Governor stay in power and watched their congress ban the laws he'd been ordered to implement. The Oklahoma Governor also made a mutual defense pack with Texas and Kansas to fight together against any further federal involvement in state affairs.
John Connor was pleased with this. Other states were very unhappy as well. With them, Congressional leaders followed suit, and demanded that the president lift Martial law in the states that did not want it 'for their own safety'.
On the opposite side, PSR people pressured the President to call up a draft to recruit or impress more soldiers into service to 'put down' the growing rebellion against him. The President also found out his daughter in College (despite secret service protection) was beaten and raped while her guards had been busy keeping some 'protesters' at bay. It was hinted to him that worse things could happen if he didn't get control of the situation. He was urged to call in UN peace keeping troops that happened to be from China.
Cameron kept John abreast of the developments happening in Washington. She also informed him that China was preparing to move 'UN' troops from their shores to California to assist. So far, they had gathered 75,000 troops and 300 fishing boats to be guarded by 10 warships, and the numbers were growing.
John looked at his strategic map. Yes, they were gathering support, but the administration was calling for foreign support. No matter how he looked at it, a war was quickly brewing. From the latest intel, 40% of US troops were resisting the PSR, as 65% of the navy was and 55% of the air force. Just this morning, Tennessee and Florida had rejected the Martial Law order to join Texas, Oklahoma and and Kansas. Virginia was also leaning heavily to reject Martial Law.
It was beginning to look like the North VS the South all over again. If possible, John wanted to avoid that. Especially with China gearing up to send plenty of help for the PSR under the guise of a peace keeping force. This was really turning into a massive football.
.
Duncan had gotten him and Jackie side by side rooms for the night. He took his bag into his room and moved to go shut the truck doors when he heard a wailing cry sound out. Running to Jackie's room, he found her kneeling on the floor by the bed, holding the bed for support as she wailed out in racking sobs. He picked her suitcase off the floor and put it on the dresser, then sat on the floor in front of her, leaning against the bed.
Jackie glanced at him red eyes with tears streaming down her face. "He's DEAD!" she wailed. "We had so much we were going to do! We'd ... just started!" a few hitching breaths and she cried, "We loved each other! We were so good together, Daniel was perfect, but now he's DEAD and he'd never coming back!"
Duncan sat and let her wail on until she quieted down into heavy sobs. He then offered, "It's never easy to lose one you love. Despite what people say, it never gets easier when they die. You just, harden yourself against it better. I guess that's the best way to put it. You're always going to miss them and you're always going to second guess everything, wishing you could change it. You can't. What happens, happens, and you have to live with it."
He took a deep breath. "I know Carol wanted to stay with me and Bob, to be happy for as long as possible. That didn't happen. She got one nanite treatment from Joan and then, we get bombed. It wasn't enough to save her. I really wish she could have had enough to survive."
Jackie quieted down and wiped her face with a palm. "I know, we all lost someone." she said in a rough tone.
"Don't make it easier. If anything, it's worse. You feel like you don't mourn enough for one person."
Jackie looked a him. "Yeah, I do feel worse, It's like I thought Daniel's death almost didn't mean anything to me at first."
"You were in shock," Duncan explained. "So much happened in so little time. We had to start moving right away, we didn't have the time to mourn if we're going to beat these PSR guys. It's just hitting you now that Daniel died, isn't it?"
Jackie sniffled a bit more, then turned and sat by him against the bed in the same pose. "It is. For some reason, I saw the bed and thought about Daniel, and it hit me. He's gone forever, and he's never coming back."
"That's normal," he assured her. "You know, it's been... wow, over 400 years now and I can still see Betty's face. See her smile. We wanted to get married, but it didn't happen. She died. I've never forgotten her nor will I ever. I even visited her grave a while back. She was the bright spot in my life and her dying made me want to die with her. You don't ever forget one you love deeply."
Jackie was quieter now, listening to him. "Duncan, did you ever have another love?"
He chuckled, "Yeah, much later I met Amanda. I found out though that, well, she and I are only good for short stints together. We're buddies for a few years, the we kinda drift apart. The other woman I did want to marry and was in love with was Tessa, that was only 20 years ago or so. We got along fantastic, she was witty and beautiful," his face dropped. "Then she was shot and killed for pocket change." He shook his head sadly. "I really miss her too. Again, I thought we were going to spend 50, 60 years together. But it wasn't to be."
"That's what I thought with Daniel," Jackie said weakly. She let out a snort. "Then comes this big bomb and blows all our dreams away."
"That it did," he agreed. "Jackie, just remember even if you get revenge, even if you kill the guilty one yourself, it's not going to fill that void you have in you now that Daniel's gone. I know that by experience too. Time, a long time will help some, but it's never going to go away. When the conflict is over, let it go and be done. Don't make the mistake of keeping up the hate and agony. Nothing good ever comes from that."
Jackie cracked a quick smirk. "Sounds like you've been there."
"Too many times," he agreed.
"As least I have a wise partner with me," Jackie offered.
Duncan chuckled lightly. "I try. I'm just telling you what I've found out from experience."
"Thanks. Talking about is does help ... some." Jackie offered.
"At least I helped some," Duncan said with a quick grin. "I'm sure you will love again eventually. Don't push it, it will come when you're ready."
"So are you like a Dad now?"
"Nope, just offering some advice as a friend," he told her. He got up and said, "You'll learn to cope with it. Right now, I'm gong to unpack and get some sleep. we have to be going again in the morning."
"Night, Duncan."
"Night, Jackie."
Jackie thought about Daniel as she got ready for bed. One thing that she really liked was they swapped heartfelt songs back and forth. Daniel had started it, and they just kept going. Laying down, she the thought of one last song for her love that she'd heard. She began singing it like a prayer. It wasn't perfect, but she was sure Daniel would appreciate it.
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights headed for Spain,
oh and, I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel
Must be the clouds in my eye
Ohh oh,
Daniel my lover,
you were so kind and dear
Do you still feel the pain
of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died
You see more than I
Daniel you're a star
in the face of the sun.
Her eyes leaked tears, but she kept singing her last song to Daniel. She did not want to disappoint him.