When all of the noise stopped, and the car came to a halt, Tara refused to pick her face up from between her legs. It wasn’t until she had Ben opening her door and yanking the seatbelt from around her. He slid his arm under her thighs and around her back, lifting her effortlessly out of the car. She found her arms draped around his neck as he sat her down on the ground.
“Tara,” he called to her for what could have been the hundredth time, “Tara, it’s Benjamin, Benjamin Reynolds. Tara Samuels, Miss Tara Samuels, I need you to look at me.”
He hooked his finger under her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his own. She wasn’t present, still in shock. Ben never left her side as he pulled out his phone, “Yeah, Rork, we need to talk. I gotta take care of Miss Samuels, but I’m going to need a video conference. We’re in the middle of something heavier than a simple parcel transport.”
Tara wanted to hear the rest of his conversation, but all she could think about was if they had crashed. She’d never see her parents again, her brother, or Danielle ever again. The people she loved and cared about didn't have any idea she was nearly run off the road. The worst part was she didn't know why.
When she let reality set in, Ben held a bottle of water up to her lips. There was so much worry in his eyes, interestingly she actually found it sweet to see how much he cared.
"Can you hear me?" he asked with his voice coming in much more clearly than she remembered.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Where are we?” she finally managed to squeak a few words out, “What was that all about? Why? Why? Wh-”
Just when Tara thought she had herself together, she began to shake uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her cheeks as feelings of helplessness took over.
“Come here,” Ben pulled her into his arms, scooping her off the ground and into his chest. She hadn’t any idea where they were, but she felt the softness of a bed underneath her.
She curled into a ball without drawing the covers over her, but still managed to feel the blanket of warmth on her. Her eyes closed, and her panicked mind put her to sleep before her fears let her do anything else.
When Tara woke up, she sat straight up, looking at a face on the large TV screen that seemed to be talking about her. The handsome face on the screen motioned to her, forcing Ben to swivel around in his chair. He pushed a button on a remote that let the man on the screen broadcast his voice around the room.
A hotel room, different from the khaki calamity, but another hotel room all the same. Ben sat down next to her, taking her small delicate hands into his own. “How are you feeling?”
"Exhausted," she told him while running her tongue across the roof of her parched mouth, "What the hell happened, Benjamin?"
“Ben, I don’t like this. I want to put you two on the jet to fly you in.”
“Tara Samuels, meet Rork Calhoon,” Ben nodded toward the screen, “My boss and owner of Whitestone Security.”
“You know we can’t do that. MoVA isn’t paying for a jet,” Ben reminded his boss.
Tara scoffed, “I’m lucky I’m being paid for this excursion. What’s happening?”
Ben gave her half a smile, “It seems we’re being followed. I lost the guy when I hopped off the highway to come into this town. I don’t have any clue if we’re still in California, or if we’ve made it into Nevada or Utah.”
“Why would Dr. Barrett send me to get something that other people are after? I’ve transported exhibit items before without any security at all-”
Ben shot her a surprised look, “I don’t like that. Don’t do that anymore.”
She rubbed the top of his hand, “MoVA doesn’t pay for private security escorts. Nine times out of ten, no one knows when priceless artifacts are moving from one location to another. Why is this one getting us rammed off the road? Oh no! The rental! Is it okay? Is the car, okay? Were we shot at?"
“No,” Ben shook his head, “They were just trying to get us to pull over. Once we got into the heavier population of this town, they broke away.”
"You keep saying they," Tara sighed, rubbing her forehead, "There was more than one person in that car?”
“Not that I could see,” Ben patted the top of her hand.
“Alright, Reynolds,” Rork interjected. Ben and Tara nearly forgot he was there. “I ran those partial plates you gave me and pulled some snapshots off the traffic cams. The truck was rented from the same spot as your rental from LAX. Did you see anybody following you at the airport?”
“No, Rork!” Ben told him with frustration. “I didn’t see anyone. I felt like we were being watched last night, but when I checked it out, there wasn’t anything or anyone out of the ordinary. Something’s going on here, Rork.”
“I know. I’m going to reach out to Dr. Barrett to see what I can find out about these artifacts. Local PD is on the way to take your statement. We’re going to charge MoVA for any incidents not given to us in the preliminary dossiers that force us beyond the scope of our duties,” Rork paused, shifting his attention to Tara. "I understand that you took some samples of the pieces when you picked them up, Miss Samuels?"
“Yes. I had planned on sending them ahead as soon as we passed a parcel carrier."
“Ben, I’m
