“Oh my goodness.” Tears welled in her eyes as her hands began to shake, “I need my phone. My brother is going to want to know what happened. And, Danny, she’s going to be worried sick.”
“Danny is the bartender, right?”
“Yes.”
Ben nodded, “Okay, tell me about her while we look for your phone.”
3
Tara appreciated Ben going out of his way to keep her mind distracted from their current situation. She obliged him with stories from memories long ago as they sorted the wreckage of the room, "Danielle and I met in tenth grade, I think. I don't remember honestly. We never went to the same school, but we always ended up traveling the same commute together."
“Commute?” Ben asked as he flipped the mattress up to lean against the wall.
"Yeah, everybody in New York commutes to high school. I was going to one school, and she was going to a performing arts school. I'm still mad she took a year off. That year off turned into postponing her college career indefinitely. She owns the bar, and decided to put all of her attention on that, so school was out of the question. It became an unnecessary expense."
“She owned a bar right out of high school?”
Tara giggled, “Yeah, I guess that doesn’t happen too often. Tara’s mom is like some rocker goddess who travels all of the time. She opened the bar and had a friend of hers running it, but when Tara graduated, her mom’s friend quit. Tara already knew the business inside and out, so it just made sense.”
“Is she happy?”
Tara shrugged, “I guess so. I mean, yeah, she is happy behind that bar when I think about it. She loves it.People gravitate to her. She brings the place to life.”
"So her not going to college upset you, why?" Ben continued to move around the room, hoping to find Tara's phone somewhere.
"She got into so many prestigious schools, including Juilliard and the Curtiss Institute. I guess I wanted the opportunity for her more than she did. She doesn't even enjoy playing music seriously. She has an ear for music and perfect pitch that I assume she got from her mom. I guess I don't want her to waste her gifts.”
"I understand that. My friends get pushy about me not wasting my talents too. Look! What's that?" Ben pointed to something small and black that was sandwiched between the bedpost and the wall. He moved the massive bed effortlessly, and Tara picked up her device. Turning it on, she said a silent prayer. It flickered on, the screen was intact, but that all too familiar battery with the lightning rod through it flashed across her screen with two angry chirps.
"Since you need a charge, let's get you into the car. I want to talk to the cops a bit more before we head out. I want to make sure the motel has all of our contact information for the claim they're going to file for the damage to the room."
Tara’s face dropped. “I wonder what Dr. Barrett is going to say about this.”
“Whatever he has to say will have to be about his budget not being suitable for artifacts so valuable.”
"I don't understand that, either. I thought these weren't as valuable since he chose me to accompany them."
"While you're charging your phone," Ben grinned, "I'm going to need you to go over the file for this trip. It will be a lot easier for both of us once you get an idea of the scope of this transport."
Tara nodded and let Ben escort her to the car parked in front of the manager's office. It was another SUV, a lot bigger, and with black tinted windows. The cost of gas alone for the gargantuan vehicle made her cringe. Still, she hoisted herself into the passenger seat to already find her suitcase in the backseat along with the artifacts case next to it. Her purse hung by its strap around the back of her chair. The car started without Ben in the driver's seat, which confused her for a moment before she looked up to see him standing there, pointing the key fob toward her from the manager's office.
After plugging in her phone, Tara called her brother, Eddie. It didn't take long for him to pick up. Before she could get a word in, he fired out questions, "Where are you, Tara? Mom said she went by your place, and you were gone. No note, no phone calls, no anything. Your suitcase is missing, and she's driving me crazy. Is everything okay?"
Tara could just kick herself for not telling anyone she was taking off, "I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm on a business trip for the museum. We're transporting some artifacts from LA."
Eddie cut her off, "We? Who is with you?"
Tara blushed with embarrassment, not wanting to tell her brother about Ben as though he was the latest guy to ask her on a date. She sighed and led with honesty, knowing he could tell when she lied anyway, "Benjamin Reynolds is the security agent MoVA hired to protect the artifacts. We're driving back from LA now."
“What?!” he shouted.
“Relax, Eddie.” She laughed, “I can see that vein bulging all the way from here.”
“And where is here, Tara?”
Tara looked around, “Nevada, I think. You really should calm down, Eddie.”
“Calm down? Calm down! You take a trip across the country and don’t think to tell your family? What about, Mom? The least you could have done was tell her!”
"Oh, come on! You only care because Mom's been bugging you. I'm an actual adult, you know. I don't have to run my decisions by you or anyone else. Get off my case, you're starting to sound like, Dad."
"Well, someone needs to since you're making stupid impulsive decisions again."
"This wasn't impulsive! You're acting like I decided to take off and hitchhike my way from California."
“Which you’ve done by the way!” he shouted.
"That wasn't from California, it was from Jersey. Hitchhiking is basically like Uber without
