Chapter 30
"Honey, I'm home." Tex called out when he came in, he was filthy and smelt that distinct aroma or sweat, grease and that scent one got from welding for long hours.
"Welcome home," Barbara said as she came down the stairs. Tex frowned in confusion as he looked to the Redhead walking down the stairs. He looked around to make sure he was in the right house.
"Hi." Tex said to her. "Am I in the right house?" he asked her.
"I have no idea, but I hope son. I'm Barbara Miller." She said introducing herself. Tex smiled at the woman's spunk and was delightfully surprised it was Miller's mom but now up close he could see the familiar resemblance in the same colouring of eyes, skin and hair. They shared the same eye and face shape.
"Miller's Mom. Hi, it's a pleasure to meet. I'm Tex Nolan." he said, he placed down the box of food and held out his hand to her. She smiled as she shook hands with him. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting to see you for a few weeks." he said.
"Yes, plans changed and things went a little awry. I'll let my son explain." Barbara said.
"Where is he?" Tex asked as he moved to the box and started unpacking the contents.
"Next door with your daughter looking for something. I can't remember what." Barbara said as she was glad her son warned her about Tex as the man looked like a wild one with his wavy long hair and beard. He was in dire need of a shower and a haircut in her opinion but he had a warm demeanour that was incredibly welcoming and disarming.
"What about Kara? she around?" Tex asked wondering where everybody was. Not that he expected a parade every afternoon he came home but he just liked to know where everyone was at.
"Her partner is in the hospital and you should be aware the police are outside watching the house waiting for a Larrin Taylor to show up. Apparently she's a murderer." She told him. Tex nodded not reacting to the news with shock as Barbara expected but then she'd seen her son lie to the police which said she was missing a large piece of information.
"Huh, murderer of food?" Tex asked her with a smile as he'd seen the car out the front. He hadn't guessed the police or that they were looking for Larrin but it would explain the empty house. But he was a patient man so he could wait for answers. He knew if it was dire he'd have been called back immediately. "She was at the Inauguration ball with the President. I watched her pack away two entrees, a steak and two desserts in less than two hours." he said with a smile as Barbara as he moved to the stereo system and picked up a Steely Dan CD. He popped it into the stereo system and hit play letting the music filter through the years.
He moved to Barbara who looked completely baffled by his calm state. "Larrin isn't a murderer, she's a sweet young woman who's survived hell. Just like the rest of us." he assured her in a low voice so their voices were muffled by the music.
"I didn't say that I believed them or I was worried Mr Nolan. I trust my son, he lied to the police to protect her." Barbara told him in a low tone, smart enough to know what he was doing. Even if it was tempting to sing to the song as she really loved the song playing.
"Call me Tex and good. Is there anything I'm missing that I should know?" Tex asked her.
"I'm in the dark as much you," Barbara told him.
"Where's Wolf?" Tex asked hoping she could at least answer him that much.
"Still somewhere in Milwaukee. It's a long story that I don't know all the details of." Barbara told him.
"No problem. I'll find out later." Tex said with a smile as he moved back to the kitchen to continue unpacking the contents of the box. "You want a cup of coffee or tea?" he asked her, he knew he should really have a shower but decided it could wait until he had a moment to relax.
"Sure, tea would be lovely." she replied as she sat down at the dinner table and watched him. She wasn't sure what to do as she was a guest in the house and Tex seemed to be on top of it all that he didn't really need her help.
"I assume you're staying for a few days or more." Tex said as he filled the kettle with water and placed it on gas stove and turned on the heat to boil the water.
"Yes, my son didn't want me to stay in Iowa by myself." Barbara replied.
"I recommend staying out of Wolf's room." Tex advised her as he set up the mugs on the bench and went for the tea. "We only have Peppermint tea, that ok with you?" he asked her.
"Yes, and I've seen Wolf's room. It was interesting." Barbara said with a chuckle.
"Australians have a real peculiar sense of humour but they are good to have around." Tex said with an amused smile.
Larrin wished she hadn't drunk her cup of soup as she felt like it was going to end up all over Andrea's small dining table that was really meant for two people. Andrea had brought Captain Chandler and Commander Slattery into the kitchen slash dining. Mike was in the kitchen area with Andrea fussing over her skills in reheating canned beef stew while Tom sat to Larrin's right at the table looking at her. To say Larrin was uncomfortable was an understatement.
"I'm not going to lie to you; Larrin, you're in trouble and you think you know it too. I want to believe you're innocent in all of this but I need you to tell me what's going on." Tom said to her as he sat back in his chair and looked at her. Like he was trying to assess her, for what Larrin had no clue. But this whole situation was just weird as Mike and Andrea looked positively domesticated with each other and bickering like an old married couple. While Larrin knew Tom was interrogating her, she knew so because he reminded her when her Dad would interrogate when things in the house went missing or someone ate something they shouldn't have.
Larrin didn't really know where to begin and frankly she didn't know these people. She knew Wolf trusted them, and that should be enough but it wasn't because in telling them what they obviously wanted to know. It meant her confessing to things she wanted to forget. Things she most definitely didn't want Wolf to know.
"Your brother wants you evac-ed to Norfolk. The police here are looking for you in relation to four murders in Colorado." Tom told Larrin, he and Mike had pieced together Wolf's garbled message. It had been easy when they knew the only think Wolf would ask of them was to look after his sister.
Of course, they knew the police were looking for Larrin. So Mike had asked for more information as he wanted to let all of the crew on leave be on the lookout. The police had been happy to hand over copies of what they had. The same file that Tom had on the table with him now.
He and Mike felt it was time they spoke to Larrin directly. Though now that Tom was looking at Larrin, he just wanted to put her on the next plane to Norfolk and not bother asking question. He knew Wolf earned at least that much respect. But Tom felt there was more at stake, with Val working hard to de-crypt the files Burk said was on the Valkyrie Network. He needed answers, Val told him it would be hours until she had anything as the files were large.
"Larrin, your brother asked us to protect you. So whatever you have to say, it won't change that. But to help you, we need to know what's going on." Tom promised her, Larrin nibbled nervously on her bottom lip looking at him with a conflicted expression. At least that's how Tom read her as her face was slightly swollen and bruised that he had to admit he could be confusing it for pain. Her posture was that of a wounded animal trying to make herself appear smaller and unobtrusive.
"I don't want Wolf to know." Larrin said, she hated how her words sounded, she clutched her broken arm to her chest hugging it in it's cast as she leaned forward hunching her body. Tears ran down her face as she knew that once she told them, they'd look at her like she were a monster. The only silver lining she could think of was that the people in this room wouldn't see her everyday so she wouldn't have to worry about them judgement on a daily basis.
"What you say will stay in this room." Tom promised her.
"You know, you really need to rest." Doc told Wolf as she found his sitting up in his bed looking at the girl in the bed next to his.
"Do you have a real name?" he asked her, he couldn't lay down and rest when his sister was being tracked by a monster. Cameron had told him about one of the leaders of the Scavengers searching for his sister. He knew it couldn't be any other woman as he highly doubted there was another 5ft 8 brunette named Larrin running around America. He'd pushed Cameron for more information but the man felt it wasn't worth sharing and so then Wolf demanded to be given transport to get back to St Louis but that hadn't gone down well either. So here he was stuck.
"If I could remember it, I'd tell you." She told him with a smile, he blinked at her unsure of how to take that. Her smile just broadened. "I was 'sport', Lt Commander Burk saved me. I woke up with no memory of who I was, but I could tell you all the names of the bones in your hand. Suture wounds and everything else a doctor could do within reason. Just came to me like breathing does but who I am, where I came from; all a blank." she said before she sighed and sat on the bed beside him and looked to the girl with him.
"So you don't remember anything of your past or what happened?" he asked her, he couldn't imagine how she coped with it but then he realised that she just worked and that her general apathy was her way of coping.
"Nope, got a lot of scars that tell me that I probably don't want to know. The other doctors here think we need a headshrinker to crack me open but we haven't found one. So I'm just like her but functioning." She told him with an gesture to the girl on the bed opposite them.
"What happened to her?" Wolf asked gesturing to the girl that looked so much like his sister.
"Burk tell you about the Scavengers and how they run down people?" she asked him, Wolf took a calming breath as he thought of Larrin in St Louis while he was stuck here. He had no way of knowing if they got his message, he couldn't get to them because even if he could push through his injuries; he had no transport or weapons to get to St Louis. Even he could get a car he was still roughly 4 hours away as long as the roads were clear.
"Yeah," he told her, he needed to trust in the Nathan James people to keep her safe. Something he struggled with given they had no clue what was going on and frankly he knew he'd feel better being there.
"Some of them have particular tastes." Doc said to him.
"Yeah, I know about that." Wolf said.
"She's a type, she earned Texas a two month reprieve and extra supplies. I think I was her once." She told him. Wolf looked at her in confusion, "Naturally a redhead but my hair was brunette when I woke up no memories months ago. But our injuries are too similar to ignore. Cut to the side of the neck, burn scars and the other markings of a woman who was held captive for a while before running for her life." Doc said, tears came to her eyes and Wolf reached out and touched her on the shoulder. She flinched slightly at the contact but relaxed and gave him a tight smile.
"I'm ok, I don't remember what happened which like I said is for the best." She told him, blinking away the tears and clearing her throat.
"My sister looks like her." Wolf said as he let his hand drop away from her, "She's in St Louis and we all thought it was a slice of preserved society safe for everyone." Wolf added as Doc cursed under her breath.
"But the ship you came in on is military right?" she asked him.
"Yeah, she's with my friends. I know they will keep her safe but it's hard to sit here and do nothing." Wolf confessed. She gave him an empathetic smile.
"I know that feeling well." She said wistfully.
"Tell me you every try signing a peice of paper?" he asked changing the topic completely, she gave him a strange look. "To find out your name. Signing your name is fairly second nature as we do it alot. I'd assume a doctor would sign a lot of paperwork." he offered, her smile brightened as she leaned across the end of his bed and pulled his chart off the end and showed it to him.
"Mmm yeah, we tried that. I have hideous handwriting." She told him as he looked down at the signature on the paperwork that was obviously hers and it was just an indiscernible scribble. Even her normal scrawl was like looking at a foreign language. But then he just assumed it was medical jargon or hoped as much.
"I see." Wolf said.
"Yeah, it's ok. 'Doc' works for now" she said taking the chart out of his hands and returning it to the end of the bed. "Or at least it will until world order is restored and I'm put out of service due to not having a recognisable identity and proof of my education." she said with a shrug.
"Well, you never know you might get conked on the head and everything will come back. Won't have to worry and carry on as you are." he offered.
"Yeah, I think I'd rather avoid further bodily harm if I can help it." She told him with a smile.
