Ben couldn’t stop scanning the parking lot for threats. While he’d taken some time off his training, once he came back to work, he was on point. He knew he had to stop second-guessing himself. The only problem with gut feelings is they're almost all reactive. You get them right before the shit hits the fan, and there's little time to prepare. He didn't want to be unprepared. He should have done his own research.
The adjustment period between passing standard training and feeling healthy in the field was a gap he needed to bridge sooner rather than later. Ben decided to throw himself into the job. As soon as he loaded the bags, he dropped to his hands and knees to roll onto his back. He went around the car’s undercarriage with a mini flashlight he kept on his keys, but there wasn’t anything there. No tracking devices. Nothing looked out of place.
When he finally crawled from underneath the car, he caught the look of bewilderment crawling across Tara’s face.
“Are you okay, Ben? What are you doing?” she asked, maintaining her spot a few yards away from him.
“I needed to check to be sure there weren’t any tracking devices on the car.”
She furrowed her eyebrows together, “Of course, there are tracking devices in the car, it’s a rental! A rental that I’m driving across the country. I’m sure they want to know where their car is. Can we go, or is there something else you want to check the car for? Any bombs attached to the ignition or under the front seats?”
"I hope not," he sighed. Ben opened the door for her to get inside, wondering how her attitude shifted so drastically from the night before, where she was saying his name in her sleep.
“I need coffee,” Tara grumbled.
“I think there’s some in the hotel, or we can hit one of those fast food joints I saw off the highway.” He understood the need for caffeine, but it shocked him a bit to watch Tara wake up in the morning and not enjoy it.
“That’s fine,” her voice hurried out, “Let’s just get out of here.”
The drive was silent until they got breakfast and coffee. Once they did, the tension in Tara’s shoulders slacked as she settled into the passenger seat for the next leg of their trip.
“Is everything okay?” Ben finally asked her.
“Yeah,” she with her voice distant, “No? I don’t know.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me about your dream last night, or why you looked at me like I was crazy back there in the parking lot?”
“I don’t know.” She fidgeted in her seat with her right hand, pulling and rubbing the fingers on her left hand nervously.
Ben took his hand off the steering wheel to rest them on her nervous tick. “You do know. Take a deep breath. Try counting backward from ten.”
He gave her a moment to compose herself.
“I don’t think you need to do that,” she finally said after a few minutes.
“Do what? My job?” he asked with concern.
She swallowed a hint of her worries, "Yes, I mean, no! I mean, I'm not important enough, and neither are these artifacts for someone to want to blow them up, or us for that matter."
“I don't want you to worry about the precautions I'm taking, okay? Just because I'm looking for it, doesn't mean that I'm expecting it. It's a part of the protocol for me, my personal checklist. I also need you to remember that these pieces we are transporting are worth over a hundred thousand dollars. Carrying anything worth that much usually means someone else wants it. The kind of people who would want something like this aren't going to ask for it politely. I just like to be overly prepared for whatever can happen. I didn’t mean to scare you. Seeing as I did, I want you to know that I carry a gun too. It’s in that small box in my duffle bag. I’m supposed to be carrying it on me now,” he thumbed the edge of his shoulder holster, “Doesn’t do me any good there, but I do want you to know that I will carry it if necessary.”
Before Tara had the chance to respond, Ben ripped his hand away from hers to grip the steering wheel. He’d caught a glimpse of the pickup truck gaining speed on them from at least five or six cars back. While he wasn’t in the mood for any kind of chase, he was happy to know his gut wasn’t wrong. Someone was following them. Ben was sure they were about to be run off the road.
9
“Oh, my goodness!" Tara screamed as Ben pushed the small SUV into increasingly higher speeds. Fear raced through her as she gripped the seat belt across her torso, turning her head to see out of every window as if she’d be able to identify the car or the person chasing them. She was thankful they were on a stretch of highway with little traffic, but she began hoping a cop car or trooper would intervene in the madness.
The pickup truck behind them sped up and tapped the rear bumper. It jerked Tara forward, but the seat belt snapped her back into her seat forcefully. The rapid thump of her heart against her chest drowned out everything around her. Tara's pulse and the sounds of her own frantic breathing filled her ears like she was buried inside of a box. She kept looking around, trying to figure out what was going on when she finally locked eyes with Ben.
Tara watched his lips move, but when she tried to listen, fear blocked the sound. Ben’s voice came through like a loudspeaker once she snapped out of it, “GET DOWN!”
Tara buried her head into her lap with her arms shaking over her
