"What would you prefer to babysit some nukes? A sultan's nephew as he goes out to party in Hong Kong?"
“I want to get on Search and Rescue,” Benjamin admitted.
“We talked about this, at length,” Rork dropped his playful demeanor, “Until you pass your psychiatric evaluation, the answer is no. Be happy you’re cleared to work. I’m telling you, as your boss, that if you don’t get over this hump, you’ll be lucky to work a desk. I know you said you’re okay, but until Dr. Alvarez clears you for tactical, we can't have you out there on Search and Rescue. Not yet. I know you'll get there, just do the work. If you want to speed up the process, you can make additional appointments.”
Benjamin cut him off, “No. The shrink is already working on me twice a month. That’s more than enough time. I just don’t want to be given easy jobs because you guys don’t think I can handle it.”
Rork placed a firm hand on Ben’s shoulder, “I know you can handle it. You’re the best. Despite what you think, this assignment presents more than a few challenges. Take your time and go over the file. Take note of what you’ll be transporting too. I don’t know too many babysitters escorting artifacts that are part of a multimillion-dollar collection.”
“What?” Ben couldn’t stop his eyes from bulging as he scanned the dossier again. “They’re leaving the responsibility of this to me and some woman from the museum?”
“It’s not the entire collection,” Rork laughed, “Just a dagger and a scabbard, the cover of the dagger.“Study the dossier. This has to be low key. In all events, Whitestone is bonded and insured for full coverage, including the museum’s liaison escorting the pieces. You’ve got your hands full. We don’t want to lose our bond or you.”
“Does she carry a gun? Can she fire a weapon or protect herself ?”
Rork shrugged, “If she could do what we do, they wouldn’t need us now, would they? He paused and looked at his friend and said, "This will help get you back into the swing of things while letting you get some paid time away from the office."
“I came back to avoid taking more time away.”
“This is a job, Ben,” Rork made his way out of the conference room, calling back to him, "Suck it up and get it done. Wheels up in two days!"
Ben left the conference room with something nagging at him. He couldn’t separate regular work anxiety from his gut feeling. It had been too long. Rork was right. He couldn't do anything tactical with his confidence wobbly and instincts screwed up. Perhaps this trip could help set him straight. He was oddly relieved to have a challenge even if his gut was uneasy.
He sat down at his desk to look up more information on the job. Ben decided to put his trepidation to the side and embrace the assignment as if he’d asked for it. It didn’t take long for him to be interrupted. Rork’s brother, Tate, knocked on the door before stepping inside of his office, refusing to wait for permission to enter.
"Heard you're going on a trip," Tate smiled, taking the file off of Ben's desk. "The woman is smoking hot, bro.”
“I’m sure she’s happy to have your stamp of approval, but I don’t care what she looks like.”
“You should,” Tate chuckled, “You’re going to be stuck together in a car for practically 2 weeks, sharing hotel rooms and everything. It definitely helps that she’s gorgeous. I hope she’s not a slob.”
“Tate, get out,” Ben pointed him toward the door, “You know how this goes anyway. No intimate relationships with clients.”
“Technically,” Tate dragged the word out, “She’s not the client. The museum and that artifacts are the clients. So, you can do whatever you want with her.”
Ben shook his head, "No, thanks. I've been through enough these past few months to know that’s a bad idea.”
Tate narrowed his gaze at Ben to tell him, “I know you’re going through a lot, but don’t let that guilt eat you up. You’re too good an agent for Whitestone to lose you. I’m joking about the girl. I want you to knock this one out of the park. I miss seeing your ugly mug around here.”
Ben rose out of his chair, “You want to hug it out?”
“This is what I mean,” Tate returned to his jovial mood, “A few months off the job and you come back soft as mush. Seriously, you got this. Call me if you need me, I’m home for the next few weeks with my current client.”
Ben nodded his appreciation, watching his best friend leave his office. Despite the jokes, he enjoyed having a group of guys he could rely on that pushed him to be better. He returned to reviewing the file with the hope of shaking off his reservations about the case. He just didn’t feel like there was enough security for what Whitestone was hired to do.
He brought up pictures of the artifacts, comparing them to the photos in his dossier. The dagger was about 18 inches long. Its blade was a rusted metal, most likely iron ore, but the handle was pristine. It shone brightly of polished gold with intricate engravings. The accompanying sheath matched the gold of the dagger handle. He could hardly believe he’d be the only person escorting the liaison with these artifacts.
Ben shifted his attention from the pieces to the woman. Tara Samuels was striking. He wondered how she would be during this trip. Only time would tell.
3
Tara learned the hard way not to let Danielle get her drunk 48 hours before she needed to be on a cross-country flight. She’d spent the better half of her days off recuperating when she should have slowed down to take her assignment seriously and carefully study the file. The flight from JFK to LAX went as smoothly as it
