Chapter 22

Sunday, November 23, 1997 – Los Angeles

Enos and Soonie were married at a small chapel in Falls Church, Virginia. After setting up the interview with Interpol, Cooter had insisted that some random officiate in a civil ceremony wasn't good enough for such a momentous occasion.

If Soonie hadn't been feeling so under the weather, Cooter would have taken them out to dinner afterward. But her cold deepened throughout the afternoon, and by the time they got back to the hotel in D.C., she was drinking over-the-counter cough syrup like it was going out of style. So Cooter arranged to get Soonie to a doctor on Friday while Enos was at the US National Central Bureau, headquarters of Interpol in the United States.

Friday evening, after Soonie was asleep, Enos finished the letter to Daisy and packed the box he'd brought with him to DC.

By Saturday afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Strate were back in Los Angeles. Enos had spent the first three days of his marriage taking care of a sick wife. He was grateful for every snotty, sneezy minute of it.

Thompson stopped by early Sunday morning to bring the box of Enos's personal items from the office and to go over any new information about Kate which had come in since he and Soonie left for Washington. After he finished filling Enos in on what little further information there was, he asked, "Kay feeling any better?"

"Yeah, the doc in DC gave her a prescription for the cold and somethin' to make her sleep. Said she mostly needs rest. He gave her some Dramamine to help her sleep on the plane. Said it would also help with the jet lag."

"Going to be a long flight to Seoul," Thompson said.

"Thirteen hours."

"Guess it's too late to talk you out of this?"

"Yep," Enos said in his best Thompson impersonation.

Thompson smiled despite his best efforts. "I suppose I had that coming."

"Yep."

"Okay, okay."

"You look a little green around the gills, Tommy. Somethin' else on your mind?"

It was the first time Strate had called him that. Elektra called him Tommy all the time to needle him when their paths crossed while working with their respective teen programs. Mallory had made Strate's suspension one week. He had made Thompson's stint with the high school cadet program a six-month gig. So far, he hadn't found it to be all that terrible. 'Oh, well,' he thought, 'that nickname was better than 'Eagle Eye' or Angela Kim's version, 'Double E.'

"I was wondering," he cleared his throat, "if you would mind if I asked Elektra out."

"You mean like...on a date?"

"Yep...yes, on a date."

Enos thought about the implications for a few seconds with some amusement at Thompson's obvious discomfort.

"First off," he said, trying to appear serious, "why are you askin' me? You need my approval?"

Thompson took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I guess I am." he sighed. It wasn't easy for him, especially since Strate seemed to be enjoying it a little too much.

"Even though I'm old enough, I'm not her Daddy."

"Maybe not, but she cares a lot about what you think. And you and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot. If you remember, she had a front-row seat."

Enos wasn't sure how to react to being asked for parental approval. Although, if everything worked out with the custody proceedings, he would have to start getting used to having a daughter whose would-be beau might someday present him with the same kind of dilemma.

Enos played with his wedding ring and made Thompson wait a few more seconds for his answer.

"Then, I don't have a problem with it. But if I hear about you gettin' outta' line–"

"You'll kick my ass even if it gets you busted all the way back down to fetchin' Sheriff Coltrane's corn dogs. Yep. I got it."

Saying goodbye to Aaron took its toll.

Inez had resigned herself to E's marriage to Kay and giving up his badge. She was having a hard time with how Aaron was taking the news of what would happen next. When she picked up Aaron at the airport on Saturday morning and told him about his Uncle E going away for what may be an extended period, her son had become unusually quiet, almost sullen.

He'd wanted to ditch classes and jump on the first plane to LA when Inez had called to tell him what happened Halloween night. She'd managed to talk him out of it, then. She'd only called so he wouldn't hear about it some other way. While in Boston, Aaron kept in touch with friends still in LA, friends who knew how close he and his Uncle E were.

So, Enos took the time, while Soonie slept, to spend the rest of Sunday morning with Aaron, sitting on the back steps adjacent to the driveway where they'd had many a game of H-O-R-S-E or Twenty-one. They talked about the classes he was taking, the girl he was sort of seeing, the friends he had made – anything other than what was taking Uncle E away to a place situated only thirty-five miles from North Korea.

"It's not like I'm gonna' be gone forever," Enos told him. "Besides, you have school and a girlfriend to keep you busy. And baseball season will be here before you know it."

"And what's going to be keeping you busy?" Aaron asked.

Aaron took political science and was acutely aware of the climate between the two Koreas with Kim Jong Il's finger now on the nuclear button in North Korea. The fact still wasn't what most concerned the boy.

"I know you and Mom aren't telling me something. I'm not a kid anymore."

"I know you're not, and I'm real proud of the man you turned out to be. There's some things I can't talk about right now. Your Mom understands."

"Yeah, she probably does. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Inez had given them their space without interfering and only came out the back door when it was time to remind E he had to catch a plane in about four hours. So, she gave him a quick hug and let Aaron walk with him to his truck.

"We'll keep in touch. And I don't wanna' find out your grades are slippin' because you're spendin' too much time courtin'."

Enos gave Aaron the usual bear hug and held on to it a little longer.

"No, Sir," Aaron said, gripping him tighter. "Thanks for everything, Dad. I love you."

"…I love you too, son."

Sunday, November 23, 1997 - Los Angeles, L.A. International

The last 'hasta la vista' was at LAX. Turk drove Enos and Soonie to the airport to take the truck back for storage at his house. Enos hadn't expected it to be much of a goodbye; they rarely said the words to each other. The nature of Turk's work took him undercover for long periods. And now that he was so deeply involved in the drug task force, they had less time to spend hanging out.

And then there was Soonie. When he thought Daisy was the only woman for him, he had plenty of time when Turk was available. When Soonie came along...well, things changed. So they had seen little of each other in the past six months.

"Ya' know, Buddy-roe, when we come back, I expect to see a wedding band on Shawnee's left hand." Enos proudly pointed to the fourth finger on his left hand and added, "We all have to go some time."

Turk chortled, "I'll think about it. Now you two better get on the plane before it leaves you."

And for the first time in nearly seventeen years, Turk Adams hugged his best friend, his brother, like he might never see him again.