Dark as Daylight Ch. 14

Joe stood behind Laura and said, "Think hard, you might call me tall; what did you call my fiancé'?"

"Oh crap, I called her tiny."

Tom got on his knees, and crawled over to Laura. He put his head at her feet and begged her to forgive him.

"It was a slip inside my brain. It came out of his mouth without thinking. Please don't kill me."

"No, Thomas, I am not going to forgive you. I am going to let this one go by, and not punish you. You had better pray that between now and tomorrow, when I leave, you don't slip up again. If you do, you and I are going to visit the gym. It will be broadcast all over the ship, just as the fight between Joseph and I was. I will not be as nice to you as I was with Joseph. I love Joseph, and that's why I didn't hurt him too badly. When I'm finished with you, you may need hospitalization for 6 to 8 weeks. You will be drinking through a straw, and have your legs in traction. When I'm angry with someone, I am not a very nice person."

"Laura, you will not see hide, nor hair of me, until you are in Washington. I will send you an email just to verify that you have arrived safely. At that time, I will begin breathing again."

"Keep that promise, and your jaw will be in one piece. Your Achilles tendons will not be hyperextended, and your Patella tendons will not have to be reattached to the rest of you knee bones. It is a very painful operation, with an extensive recovery time. Worse still is the amount of rehabilitation time you will have to go through, especially when it's both legs are involved. I understand it is exceedingly painful."

"Laura, I promise, I will be good. I will be an angel, until you leave. I will be invisible. You will not know I am here, or that I ever existed."

"Keep your promise, Thomas, and I will keep mine."

"I'm going to help you my friend. I'm going to try to keep her in bed for as long as I can stay awake. I disappointed her yesterday, after we made love five times. She is insatiable. I have rested, and nearly put to sleep permanently. I will try, on my life, not to disappoint her today. Is that okay with you my dear?"

"I think we should have something to eat first. Then you can try to keep up with me."

"Do you remember that spanking I said I was saving for a rainy day?"

"Yes."

"I think it just started to rain."

"Look through the skylight; it's sunny outside."

"Not where I'm looking my love."

"You are getting very thin-skinned over minor infractions."

"Who decides if there are major or minor infractions?"

"When it comes to my bottom, I do. When it comes to your bottom, I do."

"You find no problem with that decision making process?"

"Nope, none at all."

"Well, since you are the lower court, and I am the higher court, I overrule your decision. When it comes to your bottom, I will make all the decisions. When it comes to my bottom, you can make all the decisions. I want us to have equal justice under the law, in our bed, on the kitchen table, in the bathroom, on the couch, in centerfield, on the 50-yard line. You said you are afraid of me. I never want you to be afraid of me. If I do something wrong, I want you in my face telling me what I did wrong. I don't want to guess. If we don't communicate, we are going to have a very difficult marriage. I want a marriage that everyone envies. I want a beautiful easy marriage between us. We can do this Laura, please never be afraid of me."

"Breakfast, then we will see about a late night snack."

"Lady, you may be 5 foot nothing, but you are going to kill me."

"I told you Joe, it's been a very long time since my last man. I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Are you determined to catch up on 20 years of missed sex, in 5 days?"

"Of course not, we have a three-day weekend coming up!"

"Tiny, you are going to kill me."

"What did you just call me?"

Tom ran away from the couple, as fast as he could.

"I called you what you are, TINY. It is my new nickname for you."

"To the gym, NOW!"

He pulled her to him, and stuck his tongue into her mouth, until it reached her belly button.

"Why do you think I called you TINY? I wanted you to invite me there before you left me. I know all your tricks, and this time, I'm going to kick your ass until tomorrow when you leave. Every bone in your body is going to ache when I make love to you."

"Men a lot larger than you have said that to me, and wound up in the hospital instead. Get your gym clothes big boy, plus bandages, and antiseptic. You are going to need a lot of them."

"That's a big talk coming from a MIDGET. Let's see what you can do with it."

"Joseph, you are a dead man."

"If I am 'Why Do I Need Bandages?"

"I can tell you are Italian. Your head is as hard as stone. Stop talking and get to the gym."

"I think you should start. I need fewer steps to get there then you do."

She swung at him, but he caught her fist before it got to her intended target. He kissed her, which made her more furious than she already was.

He yelled, "Turn on the television's boys, and girls. She's about to get her ass kicked."

Laura turned fire engine red. She jumped up, and ran to get her gear.

Joe walked towards their room, very, very slowly.

Laura exited their room, and was walking back towards the stairwell. As they passed, Laura gave him a mule kick that surprised Joe, and he landed on his face.

He didn't say anything. He continued to their room, picked up his gear, and proceeded to the gym.

The guys were seated in front of the large televisions, and sent him off with a chorus of, "Give her hell, Joe."

Tom yelled, "Don't let her cut your balls off. You may need them in the near future."

"I called her some of your favorite names Tom. She may remember who called her those names first. If I lose, she may come after you next. Be prepared."

"You son of a bitch. Why did you have to bring me into it?"

"I thought it was the least I could do for you, after you pushed the two of us together."

**********************

When he reached the gym, he looked through the small glass opening to see where Laura was. She didn't seem to be anywhere, and he didn't trust her. She could be behind the door opening, which would be foolish, because he could trap her behind it. She could be laying against the doors open area, waiting to hit him with another vicious kick.

He wasn't taking a chance on that either. She could be in the sauna, or the dressing area, which he doubted, because too much time had passed. He changed his clothes in the hallway, out of a preponderance of caution, and decided to try something different. He put his clothes in his bag, and took one more look into the room to see if she appeared. The room was still empty.

As quickly as he could, he pushed the door open as far as it would go. The door was still in the process of opening, as he hefted his gym bag towards it. His gym bag was still in the air, when he stepped back against the railing, and pushed himself forward towards the open door. After 3 quick steps, he jumped high, parallel to the floor, landing in a tuck, completing a forward roll.

When his feet touched the ground he never stopped moving. He ran to the far side of the gym, looking in the mirrors to see where she was.

She was right behind him, screaming at him. He foiled her initial attack plan and she was angrier than a wounded boar hog.

Joe stopped at the mirrors, turned, and waited for her attack. His legs, back, and sides were no longer subject to her attacks. She could only attack him from the front, and he was invincible from this angle. He was taller, with longer limbs to keep her attacks at bay. It was impossible for her to do anything to him, unless he made the mistake of leaving the wall. Joe had no intentions of doing it.

Laura went to kick his abdomen. Joe pushed her feet to the side, as if they were reeds of wheat. He grabbed her hips, pushed he to the floor, kneeled on her back, and smacked her rear end brutally. Laura screamed, but was able to move away from him.

She taunted him to come away from the wall, but he wouldn't move.

"Tiny, I told you I learned your tricks. Now, if you want me, you have to come and get me. In the open, you are superior to almost any person that attacks you. I am not going to give you that pleasure. I am going to beat you, until your black and blue. Do you want to give up now, and come back to our bedroom peacefully, or not?

"Tree monster, I brought an ax with me. I'm going to cut you down to size, piece by little piece. First your ankles are going to go, then your knees. By the time I get to your hips you are going to beg for mercy."

"Little Midget, your plan has one major flaw: you have to get to my ankles first. In order to do that you will have to start sliding, or throwing your body at me, from at least 3 feet away. During that one half second, one of my size 14 shoes will come in contact with the closest part of your body that approaches mine. It will hit you, with 220 pounds of force behind it. If it is your face; I hate this part; I may knock out some of your perfectly aligned teeth, as well as you. If it is your feet, you'll wind up spinning like the dial on a spinning wheel. When you stop spinning, more than likely I will have a knee on your back or in your gut, at which time my fist will greet your face or chest. I don't wish to hit your bosoms, because that will keep me from playing with them later today. I could spend some time destroying your thighs, and calves, but you do have to walk down the aisle at the opera, Saturday night. You will be wearing a beautiful gown, and I would hate to have you wear it, while sitting in a wheelchair.

Please give up now. You see I have defeated you, by using my brain. I have figured out all your attack profiles. As long as you cannot attack me from the back, or sides, you cannot win. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to see you in braces, affixed to your new teeth. I don't want you to have to explain to your brethren at the FBI that a hired gun beat the shit out of you, because he figured out how to do it. You may be able to use my battle plan against someone else someday; who knows?"

Laura knew she could not win, unless she tempted him to get away from the wall. As she told him before, he is a hardheaded Italian, and is as dense as stone. She could either get hurt, or brutalized trying, or do the right thing and surrender.

She raised both hands, "I hate doing this, but you're right. If you don't come away from the wall, there is nothing I can do to beat you. I need access to every part of your body, and you're not giving it to me. I give up.

"You Win!"

Joe walked away from the wall, and Laura walked towards him. They kissed, and in an instant, Joe was on his back, and she was looking down at him, while straddling his chest.

"I told you I hated doing it."

He flipped her over and smiled down at her.

"Did you think for one second I didn't expect you to do that to me? There is a bed waiting for us. I want to survive that three-day weekend."

"What are you doing Thursday night?"

"I'm getting ready to leave Friday."

"I have an airline ticket, and a hotel room, in Washington, starting tomorrow morning. Do you want to join me?"

"You want to turn a 3-day weekend into a 4-day weekend? Hell, I'll even buy the meals."

"You don't have to, I'll put it on my government credit card."

"You would lie on your government credit card?"

"I will not lie. I will ask you a few questions about protecting the Attorney General, while he was here. It will make it a business meeting."

"That's splitting hairs."

"Do you want to join me Thursday, or stay here with Tom?"

"I will have the boys change my airline reservations."

"You may be easier to train than I thought."

"I was potty trained, by the time I was 11 months old."

"Your mother must have been so proud of you."

"My mother had nothing to do with it. My grandmother looked me straight in the eye, and said 'You will.'

"I did; under penalty of death."

"I take it your grandmother is a very formidable woman."

"If you put my grandmother in a room with J. Edgar Hoover for 2 minutes, Hoover would be yelling to get out of that room, before the 2 minutes was up. Hoover could have his gun out, and my grandmother would have her rolling pin. No one fooled with my grandmother, when she had a rolling pin in her hand."

"You can stand between me and your grandmother, when you introduce me."

"I was hoping you would stand between me and her. I haven't been to Italy in 3 years because of this project. I haven't called my folks in several months. I'm afraid to call them now, because I haven't called them in such a long time."

"Tell them what went on here the last few days. Tell them you've been preparing for this attack for so long that you've had absolutely no time to yourself. You've been building walls, and setting up traps and minefields, and when the attack came, the intelligence you received was wrong. You are expecting between 600 and 1000 of the enemy to attack you, and it wound up to be more than 1500 men coming from 3 directions. Don't tell her what you had opposing them unless she asks. You're not lying, you're just not telling the entire truth."

"I think I'm going to like being married to an FBI woman. When she retires after 30 years, we can retire to wherever she wants to go, as long as it is in Italy. Otherwise, my family will send out their goon squad, and kidnap us."

"They don't do that anymore; do they?"

"My Family Would Never Do ANYTHING LIKE THAT: "NEVER."

**********************************

55. Stumbling Stumbleweed

Delicious asked, "Doctor Finch did Zoey's blood level indicate the use of artificial birth control?"

"No, it did not."

"Did it show she was using any illicit drugs?"

"Absolutely not."

"Was there anything in her blood levels that would indicate why she has had such a turnaround in her moods over the last 120 days."

"I was asked to do a psychiatric evaluation of Mrs. Luck, and I did so over a period of 2 weeks, with a total of 22 hours of discussion. Zoey was very forthcoming during that time, and I must applaud her for her honesty. When she was a very young child she went through a period from when she was 2 years old, until she was nearly 17, when no doctor could diagnose what was wrong with her. She went through the best doctors in the United States, and some in Europe. She was tested and retested and given medications that did not help. Her moods were often enough to have doctors kick her out of their offices. It wasn't until one day, when her father was visiting a business partner, Doctor Even Luck, who made an offhanded remark, "Put her on birth control pills."

Zoey's father, Dycke Schneider, nearly laughed it off, until Doctor Luck said it again. One month after they put Zoie on birth control pills, her moods stabilized. Since that day, until the period you mentioned, 120 days ago, Zoey was as normal as you and I. I cannot say this as a scientific truth, but I will guess that 120 days ago all of the chemicals that were in the birth control pills she was taking have left her body, and whatever chemical imbalance she had prior to taking them, has returned."

"Doctor Finch, how far along is Zoey?"

"Zoey is in her 27^th week of pregnancy."

"How long is a normal pregnancy?"

"A normal pregnancy is 39 weeks."

"When would it be safe to take the baby from her?"

There was a roar in the auditorium, that had Monty banging her gavel on the desk.

"I will remind this quorum that this was a question, and questions and answers are part of any normal trial process. Please keep your reactions to yourselves."

"Please continue Doctor."

"With the equipment we have here, the earliest we could take a baby, and hope for a good outcome, would be around the 33^rd week. However, I must warn you, it would have to be an emergency situation, because I would not do it under any other circumstances.

Speaking for Doctor Daniels, I know she would not do it. She has not had any surgical experience to date, although she has assisted me in several operations. You are not talking about a walk in the park, when you are talking about a cesarean section and removing a baby from its mother almost 6 weeks before it's normal birth. Now is the time its lungs are growing to maturity, and its brain is expanding. The old adage, "You don't want to fool with mother nature," is truest at this point. I want all babies I deliver to go to term, unless there is an overriding need to take the baby from its mother early."

The audience was raucous in its applause.

Monty was banging her gavel again to keep them under control.

"I will remind you this is not a quiz show. You are going to be voting on the lives of 4 people. A husband, a wife, a child, and an unborn child. You should be thinking about them, not applauding. We have been at this for 6 hours already, and I know my ass is tired. Delicious how many more witnesses do you have?"

"I can cut it down to one if you'd like Monty. I'll just call Gordon to the stand. I think that will be enough."

"May God have mercy on us. Gordon Luck to the stand."

Teddy got out of her seat, and walked over to Gordon.

"I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap. You tell the truth right?"

"I'm going to tell the truth Teddy; I promise."

"Remember, even though I am not here, God is watching you."

"Teddy, God is always watching us."

"I think God like you."

"I hope so. I like her. I don't pray a lot, but I pray, and ask for thing for our people. Go take your nap; I'll see you at dinner."

"Okay, I see you later."

*****************

"Gordon Luck, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"Yes I do."

Delicious asked, "One day prior to the picture being taken, and spread all around this ship, did you love your wife?"

"Yes I did."

"Did the picture change all that?"

"No."

"If the picture didn't change your feelings for your wife, what did?"

"Her indifference to other people's lives. You've heard the testimony from the people she hurt. When I questioned her about it, she didn't care. I questioned her about each one of them, and the effect on their lives, and she didn't care. You heard from 9 witnesses, and they all testified today about how she didn't care about how her indifference effected them. That's what changed. She went from the wonderful woman I knew, to a person that only cared about herself. The Zoey I knew would have done anything for anyone. The Zoey I was talking to didn't care about the man I put in the brig for 2 weeks and lost his rank. She didn't care about the 7 men and women who were on duty in the security area, watching out for all of us, and each one of them had to spend one day each, in the brig, because of her. There was no empathy in her at all. All she kept saying was I was angry that she got her picture. She was partially right, I was angry, but for the wrong reason. It was a private moment between 2 friends. I've known Monty, since I was 4 years old. It was a congratulatory kiss, because she was going to get married. Now, I don't know if that's going to happen, because of this uproar. I will be absolutely devastated if it doesn't happen. Everything I know she taught me, and because of one stupid stunt, caused by my wife, my world has been turned upside down."