One Journey Ends

At four o'clock, Justin opened the door and motioned for Sven to follow him to the staircase. He'd told the blonde man earlier that it was better to avoid running into people and the elevator would be too risky. He ascended the stairs with his partner following on his heels. It had been and uncomfortable half-hour with Sven in the closet and he was hard pressed to figure out why. There was something eerily familiar about the Scandinavian but he couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps he was getting too old for this kind of work. He found that keeping track of the details was becoming tedious.

For his part, the blonde man kept up extremely well, as if he was no stranger to the job himself. He hadn't asked any naïve questions or complained about Justin's methods. He had objected to using violence once when a more discreet technique could be used. That had raised the dark haired man's eyebrows, but he allowed Sven to take the initiative and found that it was a preferable way to go after all. His new coworker was making himself useful.

Justin reached Henderson's office first and reflexively reached an arm back over Sven to flatten him against the wall. He was bewildered by the blonde man's wry smile but had no inclination to ask him about it now as he picked the l The The office was empty as expected, the lights turned off for the day. The two men wasted no time moving to the file closet and jimmying it open. The folders were neatly labeled and in order so it would be easy to find what they needed.

Sven started thumbing through them looking for the one Andre said he'd wanted. Justin watched him as he worked, drawn to his quiet strength. He hoped this mission didn't last much longer as he was beginning to grow concerned with his new interest. Suddenly the blonde haired, blue-eyed man looked up into his eyes and smiled widely, holding a file up with one hand and closing the drawer with the other. Oh, yeah, he thought as they made sure everything was as they'd found it. This would definitely turn out to be trouble.

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"Brain dead?" she repeated the doctor's words slowly, turning them over in her mind. It was so surreal for her to comprehend. "Are you positive?"

"I'm afraid so, Mrs. Connors," Dr. Fuller nodded sadly. "We've run every test and he's been unresponsive to them all."

"But it's only been three days," she pointed out anxiously. "How can you be sure?"

"I'm very sorry," he said, turning to leave her and Ben alone.

She looked at her husband lying in the bed and felt a wave of denial rise up within her. He can't be gone, she thought. He just can't be. Just last week he'd been planning the nursery with her. How can he be gone? No, it wasn't true. There must be some mistake. He would wake up soon and set everything right, just like he always did. He had to. She took her seat beside his bed and held onto his arm. The baby kicked and she brought his hand over her womb to feel it. Surely he wouldn't leave his baby behind.

Nurses came and went as the day passed into night. She rarely left her husband's side except when she needed to feed her unborn child or relieve herself, as the toilet in the room wasn't working. Tony, one of Ben's friends, had come by this afternoon, but other than that there were no visitors. Ben's parents had apparently meant what they said and wouldn't be coming to see their youngest son. She felt another pang of guilt for causing the family rift and shifted in her seat as she remembered her last meeting with them.

"He shouldn't be with you," her new mother-in-law said bitterly. "He has such a bright future. I hate that he's wasting it on you."

"Mom . . . ," Ben admonished.

"Don't interrupt your mother when she's talking," his father interjected glaring at Tara like she was the anti-Christ.

"I'm sorry Benjamin, that's how I feel."

Tara had only bowed her dark blonde head and stood by silently, allowing the woman to verbally assault her because, truthfully, she was used to hearing such things.

"I'm an adult," Ben exploded. "I have the right to make my own decisions!"

"So we're good enough to feed and clothe you and put you through college and graduate school, but not to tell you how we feel about this impulsive decision you've made?" his father shot back. "You're only twenty-three, how the hell do you think you're going to survive on your own, let alone take care of a wife?"

"I work, too," Tara said meekly.

"As what?" his mother sneered.

"Leave her alone, mom!"

"She got pregnant on purpose, Benjamin," she turned to her son enraged. "She just wants to get her hands on our money!"

"No she doesn't," Ben screamed. "And neither do I!"

"Careful what you say, son," his father warned darkly.

"Same to you," he grunted. "Come on, sweetheart, let's go. It's obvious we're not welcome here."

"She surely isn't," his mother spat.

"Then neither am I," Ben said softly urging Tara to the door.

"She's going to bring you to a bad end," his mother called after him as they left his childhood home. "You'll see. She's gold digging trash!"

Tara now looked at Ben's lifeless form and felt another wave of revulsion at the memory of the prophetic words.

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Sven went through the file methodically looking for the information he knew Henderson was hiding. There it was on one of the last few pages of the file. A list of clients who bought the young Asian girls the sleaze ball imported. Sven saw red as he remembered his friend's daughter, or rather her body.

The Japanese girl, an only child, had been only sixteen and was so full of excitement over her upcoming school year to be spent abroad in California. Her father was quite proud of her stellar grades, which had earned her full academic financing for the venture. He'd told Sven he was only sorry her mother hadn't been there to see their daughter's success. She'd died from illness when the girl was three.

The girl had left only a week before when Sven received the distressed call from his old friend. He was beside himself as he hadn't heard from her since she'd left and the school couldn't get in touch with the American liaison, who had handled the arrangements. The blonde man had immediately retraced her movements but lost them when she arrived in Los Angeles. He had been dredging up leads from his former informants when he came across a murder spree in Oregon involving young Asian women. Her body had been found with her identification, indicating a bold assailant.

He'd finally tracked the crime all the way here to Boston and could think of only one man he wanted to help him handle the mattee loe looked over at Justin who was pulling up files from the Internet, combing them for more clues. It was time to tell him the truth about this mission. The Scandinavian could only hope he'd still be willing to help find the killers afterwards.

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Justin was willing to bet that there had to have been an incident in the Boston area, if this is where the operation originated. He wondered briefly why Andre had found this particular case interesting then looked up to find Sven watching him apprehensively. He immediately knew the blonde man was the reason and waited expectantly for the explanation. Sven didn't try to put it off.

"You have figured out that I have a connection to this case," the Scandinavian's accent washed over him melodically. "You know that I am Andre."

Justin raised a quizzical eyebrow but made sure nothing else betrayed his surprise. He hadn't known Sven had been his employer all along, but he intended to play it off as if he had. He sat back in his chair and studied his partner with interest.

"I suppose you want to know what I am doing investigating this case, yes?" Sven went on undaunted.

"Yes."

"One of the deceased girls was an old friend's daughter," he replied without much emotional inflection. But Justin watched closely and could see the man was working hard to hide his true feelings.

"And you are trying to avenge her?" he asked the blonde man.

"It is not that," he insisted softly and Justin noticed the vein pulsating in his jaw. "She was all this aging man had as his wife died long ago and he has no other children or close relatives."

"What do you intend to do to the killers when we find them?" the dark haired man asked fascinated. Sven began to intrigue him more and more.

"I intend to bring them to justice for what they have done."

"But what kind of justice?"

"I will not kill them myself," Sven answered. "I am no longer in that line of work."

Even more curious, Justin thought. How much would his partner be willing to reveal to him? He would push further and see.

"You were once an hired killer then?"

"I was no assassin," Sven muttered darkly. "But there was a time when I did not worry so much about crossing that line that separated me from those who were."

"Those who were?" Justin asked getting up to turn and face him, man to man. "Those like me?"

"I do not think you are an assassin either."

"What do you know about me, Andre?" he asked mockingly. "I may have done a few jobs for you but this is the first time, to my recollection, that we have ever met."

Sven inclined his head in agreement. "It is the first time we have met each other," he said. "But it is not the first time I have seen you."

Justin waited silently for further explanation.

"I saw you on the Euro star last year," the Scandinavian man admitted gently. "I am not sure why I am drawn to you. I only know that when this problem arose you were the only one that came to mind for assistance."

"You have no other contacts from your past?"

"I do nrustrust those I have known before."

"How do you know you can trust me?"

"I do not know for sure," he said. "I can only say that my instincts are strong where you are concerned."

Justin didn't know quite how to take that bit of information. The man had practically admitted to stalking him for the past year and based it on an instinct. Still, the dark haired man didn't want to sever ties with Sven just yet. He would go forward for now and see what develops. He nodded to the blonde man and gestured to the computer on the table behind him.

"There was an incident here in Boston four months ago involving a Korean girl who was found raped and beaten," he said with no emotion. "She was examined at Mass General first because she was still breathing when they found her. We could go there and see what we turn up."

Sven smiled at him gratefully.