“Geeze, Tara. Where are you, and how much is the bail?"
"I really want you to let that go, Eddie. You had to bail me out one time in Atlantic City for that drunk and disorderly with the resisting arrest charge. All the charges were dropped mind you. You're treating me like I'm some irresponsible wild child dancing to the beat of my own tune."
“But you are-” he whined.
"No," she said succinctly, "I was. I haven't been in any kind of trouble for nearly three years, and you guys never want to let me forget it. You're treating me like I'm some sort of screw up."
There was no way that she was going to tell him what happened now. He was on a rant, but a part of her wished her Dad was the one doing the lecturing. Edward Samuels Sr. couldn't care less about her escapades anymore. She'd driven him crazy during her teenage years. Her early twenties left him grey, and her choices of degree, career, and men made him sink into a cave of indifference, leaving the responsibility of looking after Tara to her baby brother.
"You're not a screwup, Tara," Eddie's voice cut into her thoughts, "I just want to make sure you're safe. Despite what you may think about us, your family loves and cares about you. Enjoy your trip, oh wait, what were you calling to tell me? Something about law enforcement?"
"Yeah, I was in a bit of a fender bender, but don't worry. I wasn't driving, and the security company was bonded?These incidents are covered. I don't want you to worry. In case my name flashes across any of your friends' police blotters, I'm okay."
“I definitely don’t like the sound of that. What’s the name of the security company and the agent escorting you again?”
Tara sighed, "White Stone Security and Benjamin Reynolds. Ben is great at his job. Please don't worry too much. You know where I am anyway. I know you have my phone geotagged."
“Well, I’d be a crappy private investigator if I didn’t know how to keep tabs on people worth keeping tabs on. You’re right, though, you haven’t been in trouble in a while. I’m sorry I flew off the handle a bit. It’s just with you gone and no one hearing from you, I thought the worst.”
“You also didn’t think to call Danny.”
Eddie groaned, "You know we're not exactly speaking, right?"
“Why not? What did you do now?”
"She…” he made some very audible grunts before taking a deep breath, "I was working a case, and I may have brought some unwanted attention to her bar."
"Oh yeah, she's going to kill you. Buy her some pretty frilly things, some flowers and make her happy."
"One, she's not my girlfriend, so she doesn't get apology gifts. Two, Danny doesn't like girly stuff, so if you want me buried under the bar, then yes, Sis, that's great advice. And three, if you know any of your antiquities dealer friends who can get a hold of a vintage English switchblade to give her, so she doesn't bury me in a barrel of whiskey, I'd greatly appreciate it."
Tara laughed and smiled, “You two need to stop fighting and start loving each other the way I know you do. Either that, or you really must have done something crazy at the bar. I was kidding about the frilly things.”
"Bad dudes came in, and she had to close up for a few days and do damage control for a can of worms I unintentionally opened."
"Here, you are worried about me and my mess. You do whatever my best friend tells you to do to avoid whatever craziness you have going on over there. I'll put out some feelers for the knife, which she will love, and I will stay out of trouble, so you have one less thing to worry about. I promise nothing else is going to happen to me."
"Wait a minute! What do you mean, "nothing else"?!"
"I love you, bye!" Tara laughed as she hung up the phone. Leave it to her brother to remind her why she's on this trip in the first place, recalling the incident at the museum that left her job security shaky and feeling like a professional mess up. With a quick glance to Ben, who's making his way to the car, she realized he was right and that she needed to take this trip much more seriously. The stakes are a lot higher than she ever imagined.
4
The smile beaming across Tara’s face made Ben wish he’d been the one to put it there. He started to hope that shared time and experiences together would lead them to that point where it could be him. The thought of Tara in his life beyond this mission resonated with him on a deep level. The nagging feeling in his gut pinged him again. They had to get out of there. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that whoever was after them would come back to see if Tara recovered or if the artifacts were still at the scene. He had to get them back on the road.
When he got inside the car, Tara was fully engrossed in the pages of the file on her lap. She barely moved when he opened the door. Ben didn’t want to disturb her, so he pulled out and began driving to the next stop on their journey.
“How are you feeling?”
She inhaled deeply as if snapping herself out of her studying trance. "Fine, really. I got chewed out by my brother a bit, and then that reminded me of you and how you told me to take this gig more seriously, so here I am."
“Can I ask you
