One Journey Ends

Tara held her jacket closed tightly against the wind. The weather wasn\'t colder than any other typical day for the time of year, but breebreeze made it feel more blustery. She stared down at her husband\'s grave, as she always did, and felt a fresh wave of guilt and sadness pass over her heart. She still couldn\'t see how she would be to to continue with her life. The only thing keeping her going right now was her responsibility to Seka. If not for her foreign teenage charge, Tara would have given in long ago and had done with it.

She was surprised, to say the least, when Seka told her she\'d been waiting to eat with her when she got home from the supermarket. Tara hadn\'t realized the girl was so attentive to her patterns. She would have to make it a point to eat a little more when they were together so she didn\'t worry the girl. As gratifying as it was to learn that someone was concerned about her health, Tara found it uncomfortable and would strive to avoid it in the future.

From the corner of her eye, she noted Sven\'s approach and turned to greet him. \"How\'re you?\" she asked infusing her voice with a false brightness.

\"I am well, sweet,\" he responded smiling and taking her proffered hand. \"And you?\"

\"Other than some unnecessary excitement last night, fine.\"

\"What happened?\"

\"It\'s nothing,\" she waved her hand dismissively. \"Seka thought she heard something outside and the police investigated.\"

\"There was someone?\"

\"Well, there could have been,\" she shrugged, sitting down beside her husband\'s tombstone. \"There were footprints, but the ground is cold and they don\'t know how old they were.\"

\"If Seka says she heard something, e mue must have been a reason.\"

\"I believe her,\" Tara said. \"I\'m just not sure she heard a person. That\'s all. I feel like there\'s been so much fuss over me for nothing.\"

\"There are reasons that people fuss over you, sweet,\" he said gently. \"And if you have a man stalking you, no lead should be overlooked.\"

\"You sound like Sullivan.\"

\"Sullivan?\"

\"The detective working on the case,\" she sighed. \"He was annoyed with me bse Ise I told him I still don\'t want his officers following me at work.\"

\"He is doing his job.\"

\"I know. But I can\'t do my job if they\'re watching me. My supervisors will have a fit!\"

\"I understand, sweet,\" Sven held up a placating hand. \"But if your safety is at risk, I do believe I side with the detective on this.\"

\"Well, you don\'t have to worry.\"

\"Do I not?\"

\"No,\" she groused. \"Sullivan and his partner are going ask their captain if they can take turns shadowing me themselves so that no one can complain.\"

\"Ah, because they do not wear uniforms?\"

\"I guess.\"

\"Do not sound so angry, sweet,\" Sven chuckled. \"I am worried for your welfare, too. In fact, I was about to offer my services as well.\"

\"You were?\"

\"Why do you look so skeptical?\" he cocked an eyebrow \"Y \"You just seem more like the laid-back type.\"

\"I was in my country\'s army once, you know,\" he said neutrally. \"I was trained to protect myself and those around me.\"

\"You were?\"

\"You sound like a skipping record, now.\"

\"Sorry,\" she said looking down and giggling a little. \"I would feel more comfortable with you than them.\"

\"I could speak with Detective Sullivan, if you would like.\"

\"But what about your job?\" she asked looking back up suddenly. \"You\'re too busy to take time out for me. You couldn\'t take in Seka because of that.\"

\"You work primarily in the evenings and on the weekends, do you not?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"Well, my presence is not required for what my partner and I do at those times. He is more than capable of handling things alone.\"

\"What do you do?\" she asked curiously, realizing that for all of their time together, she still knew so little about him and his mysterious partner.

\"We are consultants,\" he answered somewhat evasively.

\"For what?\" she pressed.

\"Mainly for business finances.\"

\"Oh,\" she replied. Well, his reluctance made sense now. She supposed his clients preferred he kept des tos to himself. \"So you\'re sure your partner won\'t mind if you do this for me to keep the cops off my back?\"

\"I am sure Justin will not mind,\" he smiled.

\"Justin. That\'s his name?\" she couldn\'t help but notice his face soften slightly when he said it, either. There was a bit more going on here than she\'d been led to believe. But they deserved their privacy on the subject. She considered Sven her friend.

\"Yes,\" he answered. \"We are working on a small local business. I am sure he will be very agreeable to the idea.\"

\"Well, if you\'re sure,\" Tara said, rising to stand. \"Perhaps we should see the detective together?\"

\"An excellent idea,\" he grinned. \"Do you have time now?\"

\"I have a few minutes,\" she said, nodding over his shoulder. \"And seeing as his car is over there, we won\'t even have to go to the station to track him down.\"

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Sven called Justin as he waited in Tara\'s kitchen for her to change. His partner picked up almost immediately, causing the blonde man to smile.

\"It is just me,\" he purred into the small phone.

\"Never say \'just\' you,\" Justin replied with a smile in his voice.

\"I am at Tara\'s,\" Sven said softly, mindful of the officer in the living room.

\"What?\"

\"She has asked me to look after her while she is at work.\"

\"Why would she ask that?\"

\"She said the police wished to do so, but that she would risk losing her positions if they alerted her supervisors of their presence.\"

\"I see,\" Justin answered. \"And police are not very good at blending in with the crowd.\"

\"That is what Tara said,\" Sven chuckled as Tara entered the kitchen in her work clothes for the department store shift. \"So I offered her my services. She said she would feel more comfortable if I were with her instead. I told her you would not mind, but I am not sure she believes me.\"

\"Put her on the phone.\"

\"Are you certain?\"

\"Trust me.\"

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Sven smiled at Tara engagingly while handing his phone to her. She looked up quizzically at him but he merely widened his smile and nodded. Slowly, she took the phone and held it up to her ear. \"Hello?\" she asked in a small uncertain voice.

\"Is this Tara?\" a gravelly mono-toned voice asked. It sounded vaguely familiar, yet she couldn\'t place it for some reason.

\"Yes, it is,\" she replied. \"Who\'s this?\"

\"I am Justin,\" he said quietly. \"I have heard much about you.\"

\"Uh, all good, I hope,\" she said becoming a little more relaxed, though she\'d be hard-pressed to explain why. It must be that this man was a friend of Sven\'s, she decided. She normally took a greater time warming up to strangers.

\"Yes, all good,\" he confirmed. \"You know Sven a little by now, I am sure.\"

\"He\'s been a very good friend to me,\" she nodded as she spoke. \"I don\'t know what I\'d do without him.\"

\"I know the feeling.\"

\"He tells me you won\'t mind if he tags along with me for a while,\" she said, getting to the point. \"Just to placate the cops while I\'m at work.\"

\"It is definitely not a pem,\em,\" Justin said in his smooth, relaxed tone. \"I can do much of this case without him during the afternoons and evenings. And there is nothing going on during the weekend.\"

\"You\'re sure?\"

\"I am positive,\" he assured her. \"He would only be worried about you if you refused him now.\"

\"I guess,\" she smiled.

\"I know.\"

\"Well, thank you, Justin,\" she said. \"I hope you both know that I appreciate this.\"

\"You are most welcome, Tara.\"

With that, Tara handed Sven back his phone and went into the bathroom to fix her make up.

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\"Too bad she does not know that you have been doing this for a few weeks now,\" Justin said when he was sure that Sven had come back on the line. \"Maybe then she would know you are more than capable.\"

\"Very funny,\" his lover replied. \"I am glad that I can do this for her.\"

\"The policeman is still there, is he not?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"He is likely listening, then.\"

\"I am sure,\" the Scandinavian said neutrally.

\"Well, then you cannot say much, can you?\"

\"Sadly, no.\"

Because Sven was on the other end of the line and not in front of him, Justin knew the blonde man couldn\'t see his delighted smirk.

\"So then you cannot respond to me when I tell you how much I am looking forward to your homecoming tonight,\" he teased Sven unabashedly. \"And what I will do to you . . . with you when you get here.\"

\"Uh . . .\" Sven choked out. \"No, I cannot.\"

\"I think I will just lie in wait for you,\" Justin said grinning over his partner\'s predicament. \"When you come in, I will just strip you down and ravish you.\"

\"Like the first time?\" the blonde man in amusement.

\"Ah, there, you ravished me, if I recall.\"

\"Funny, I do not remember it hapng tng that way,\" Sven laughed.

\"Well, you did start it.\"

\"And you did finish it.\"

\"Are you suggesting that you return the favor to me tonight?\"

\"Indeed.\"

\"I look forward it to then, love.\"

\"As do I.\"

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The man strolled around the department store past the shoe department. There she was. That was the woman who was housing his property. This woman\'s name was Tara Connors. Husband, recently deceased. He knew theanesanese girl Henderson had imported for him had ended up in this woman\'s care. What he didn\'t know was how.

The woman was small and thin. She seemed to still be mourning her mate fiercely. Her expression seemed cordial enough for her customers, yet her smile never reacher her eyes. He would consider putting her out of her misery when he recovered his property, he decided. It was the least he could do to repay her for her involvement.

Across the small shoe room, he saw a young thin man watch the woman in rapt attention. He smiled as he recognized him from the previous night. This was the fool the police were searching for. Perfect. Now any action he took would immediately be assigned to this nitwit. He didn\'t know why the young man was stalking the woman but he wouldn\'t look a gift horse in the mouth. Whatever he decided to do, he would have to make sure all signs pointed to this young man. He had to come away unscathed as usual.

This would have to be his last Japanese girl for a while, he knew. His other project was coming of age and demanded his full attention. Besides, the national attention his hobby was garnering was doing nothing for his desire to remain anonymous.