The Way to Eden

Tara watched Eden gingerly lower herself into a chair at the kitchen table and felt a sense of guilt. She knew she was justified in what she'd done to the woman, but it bothered her nonetheless. She'd been trying so hard to put that side of herself back into mental storage and it was unnerving to see how easily it could burst forth again. She'd just returned from her walk and was still trying to come to terms with herself. She'd gone to her first husband's grave, feeling another sense of guilt for staying away so long. She knew Ben wouldn't have faulted her if she could communicate with him. But she faulted herself.

He'd been the first to help her recognize that she was a normal and viable person who deserved to find some happiness in life. When he was killed, she'd not only regressed back to her self-conscious ways, she'd made a subconscious attempt to join his fate. She'd even almost allowed two psychos to kill her without a fight. But Sven and Justin foiled those plans. Then they'd tried to reach her but found the only way was to interact with her through training. And then she became someone else - Rio Angele. Rio could shut her emotions down and handle any problem. Tara took great comfort in Rio's strength and quietly stepped back to allow her to deal with life.

But Rio had been slowly deteriorating with each new fight. While Rio handled her opponents without difficulty, she was dependent on Tara to anchor her to sanity. And with Tara taking a mental sabbatical, Rio did have trouble remaining unaffected by the pain she caused. It no longer mattered that the men she fought were guilty of assault, rape, sometimes even murder. Rio began to only see the pain. And it was killing her that she was the cause. Then Jeff walked into her life and brought his friends and family with him. They turned her world on its side and shook her up. And Shannon finished the job by forcing her to merge Rio back into Tara. She didn't know how she managed to survive, but she was grateful she did.

Jeff squeezed her shoulder, jolting her out of her thoughts and she turned her attention to him.

"Don' beat yo'self up ova tha, baby," he whispered, gesturing to Eden. "She doesn' blame ya."

"I know," Tara sighed. "I just feel awful, though."

"So, ya wouldn' do it agin, then?" he teased.

"Like hell," she growled with a grin. "You're stuck with an ass-kicking little sister and that's the bottom line."

"'Cause Stone Col' said so?" he asked helpfully.

"No," she returned in her Russian accent. "Because Rio said so."

"Tha's m' girl," Jeff smiled and moved to Eden's side.

Tara was about to take her seat when her cell phone rang. She picked it up absently, thinking it would be Shannon again. An uncertain female voice greeted her however and she was instantly alert.

"Is this Tara?" she asked shyly.

"Yes," Tara replied with a frown. Eden and Jeff were instantly drawn to the concern in her voice and watched her avidly. Sven, Todd and Nora came into the room at that point and noticed the silence. They waited expectantly to see what was going on.

"My name is Marina," the girl went on. "You don't know me."

"I figured that," Tara replied trying to keep her tone neutral. She couldn't help the bad feeling she was getting suddenly.

"Shane gave me this number to call," Marina said nervously. "He asked me to call you to tell you he was all right."

"Where is Shane?" Tara asked.

Jeff's expression darkened immediately. Tara locked eyes with him and shrugged.

"He's staying with me," Marina said. A car honked loudly in the background, followed by a conversation not so far away in Spanish. It was almost indiscernible, but it was there.

"Are you going to South Beach tonight?" a male voice asked his companion.

"No," came the low reply. "I think I'll just stay around Calle Ocho tonight."

Then there was nothing but traffic sounds, as the speakers moved away from Marina.

"Can I speak with him?" Tara asked.

Marina hesitated and that was all Tara needed to know that he was indeed in trouble. She'd thought he was holed up in his house recovering from his match with Triple H. She bristled as she remembered watching it. There was definitely a case for unnecessary roughness.

"Marina?" she prodded gently but firmly.

"He's . . . indisposed."

"Indisposed as in how?" she asked a little more aggressively. "If I don't get to speak with him immediately, I will call the police."

"You d-don't know wh-where he is."

Now Tara was getting annoyed. She looked at Sven who had been standing close enough to hear both sides of the conversation. He turned to her and grimaced, then nodded.

"Judging by the sounds and local conversation, I'd say you're not far from Calle Ocho," Tara grunted out. "Now put Shane on or deal with the Miami police department.

Marina gasped and hung up the phone. Tara counted to 25. Of she didn't hear from the girl or Shane by then, she'd call the police. No more fooling around. The phone range when she reached 19.

"Yes?" she hissed without preamble.

"Here he is," Marina said breathlessly. Then she heard the phone transferred over to someone else.

"'Lo?" Shane greeted her. "Tara?"

"Shane? Where in the hell are you?" Tara cried, not even bothering with niceties.

"Hell if I kno'," he sounded equally annoyed. "I jus' rememba lettin' a pretty girl inta m' house an' she ask'd me where Jeff is. When I tol' 'er I didn' kno', I woke up 'ere."

A thumping noise was heard. "I'm fine tho'," Shane suddenly said.

"Is Marina still there, then?"

"'Course," he answered.

"She close enough to hear me?"

"Naw, Tara, I'm not hurt."

"She's there, but she can't hear me, is that it?"

"Yeah, I kno'," Shane continued his charade.

"Listen carefully and keep your expression neutral," Tara said. "You're in Miami, probably near Little Havana. I gather you've been kept inside."

"Yeah, a vacation isn' th' wors' thin' tha' could 'appen ta me," Shane responded.

"I have one guess who took you," Tara went on locking sad eyes with Eden. "Serpentina?" Eden's eyes flashed with guilt and horror. Jeff absently grabbed for her hand while he listened.

"Yep, tha's wha' I thought," Shane said.

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Eden's mind went numb. She should have known that snake wasn't through with her. She watched Tara speak with Shane with a cold sense of dread. How could her new "family" want her now? They knew she was the cause of this latest fiasco. Tara's eyes held no malice, but she's been able to keep her feelings in check before. Jeff was rubbing some feeling into her hand, but she attempted to ignore it. She couldn't possibly be welcome in this house after this. They would at least let her leave so she could protect Jeff from Samuel, though, she mused.

She turned sad eyes to Jeff and looked at him longingly. He turned to her after a moment with a questioning glance. It turned to understanding and finally to firm denial. No, he wouldn't let her go, she realized. He would follow her if she left, too. This was getting very complicated.

Then her own cell phone rang and she struggled to grab it.

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Jeff heard Eden's phone go off and picked it up, holding it away from her. She looked angry but sat with her hand held out. He looked over to Sven for support, but the blond man just waved it to her. They wouldn't know what happened unless Eden answered it, so Jeff reluctantly handed it to her, but he also pulled her into his lap so he could hear what was said on both sides. If it was her trainer, he would let her know without doubt that she wasn't going anywhere.

"Hello?" Eden said uncertainly in the phone. Her eyes locked with Tara's again, sharing silent support. The small currently redheaded woman was still talking with Shane but gave Eden her attention and a small smile to show all was still fine between them. Eden drew a huge measure of relief from that.

"Sin, my dear," Sergei's congenial tone through the line.

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Tara was very afraid of what was being said on the other side of the table. Sergei? This is very, very bad.

"I'll get the police after her immediately," she said softly to Shane so that Eden's phone didn't pick up her conversation.

"No need," Shane assured her.

"Huh?" she asked, nonplussed.

"Marina's takin' good care o' me," Shane said.

"Is this for show, or do you not want me to call the police?"

"I'm sure I'll be back inna few days a' mos." he said.

"Police," she said again. "Yes or no?"

"No," he said emphatically. "Gimme a few days an' if ya don' hear fro' me, then call me on my cell."

"I don't like this Shane," Tara said. "Matt will never forgive me if his best friend gets hurt."

"Matty ain' gonna be mad," Shane said. "Tell 'im I said so."

"Fine, no police," Tara said. "But I'm coming down there."

"No need."

"Don't care."

"Tara . . ."

"Shane . . ."

"I'm fine."

"I'll see you soon," she said.

"Yo' right," he sighed. "Lata, girl." The connection was then severed.

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"Sergei?" she squeaked. "It's a surprise to hear from you."

"And it is a surprise to call you," he said. "I expected you to be 'out of range', as they say."

"No, plans change," Eden replied in her best effort to summon up Sin's cool wit.

"No doubt," he replied. "How is your trainer?"

"Samuel is fine," she said through gritted teeth. "To what do I owe the honor of this call."

"Serpentina is very angry that you have not shown up for your fight," he sighed. "I tried to tell her you were out injured, but she threatens to injure everyone in the company. She will kill my business."

Eden listened with a heavy heart, She felt bad for him, but she was in no condition to fight the baldheaded freak now. And she still had to figure out what to do about Samuel.

"I really am injured," she said. "What can I do?"

Sergei sighed again. "I am in deep trouble now," he muttered.

"Maybe I can talk to her?" Eden ventured.

Jeff eyes turned hard and angry, but Eden just shrugged. Meanwhile, Tara had positioned herself next to Eden's ear to hear what was going on.

"I will try that," he said and put the phone down. Eden heard a door open and waited. She didn't wait long. The door flung open again and the phone was snatched up. Then Serpentina was hissing into it angrily.

"S-s-s-sin," she said with all the venom she could pack into the word. "I hear you are injured. Is-s-s-sn't that a sh-sh-shame?"

"Cut the shit you baldheaded bitch," Eden growled. "Stop threatening Sergei. I won't back out of my fight."

"I want you now," the snake ground back into the receiver. "And if you don't comply, I'll kill one your boyfriend's-s-s-s friends-s-s-s."

"I don't have a boyfriend," Eden growled. Jeff jumped a bit and narrowed his eyes. She rubbed his hand apologetically and blew him a silent kiss. His eyes widened in shock then he gave her a small smile.

"You will comply," Serpentina said. I won't wait any longer. Sh-sh-shane Helms-s-s-s-s' life is-s-s-s-s at s-s-s-stake."

Tara got a gleam in her eye and grabbed the phone. Eden watched in horror.

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"Who the fuck is this?" Tara growled into the phone in her best Texas accent. Jeff watched her in awe, evidently just realizing the extent of her skills. She grinned at him as she sat back in a chair next to his, which he still occupied with Eden.

"Who is-s-s-s this-s-s-s?" Serpentina returned.

"Sin's sister," Tara returned evenly. "Now who are you?"

"Well," Serpentina replied. "This-s-s-s is-s-s-s interesting.