The mobile home looked in need of repair. Lewis hated warehouses. He didn't like basements, or overpasses or anything that might be conventional for delicate business deals such as these. Tara stepped on the wooden steps that wobbled under her weight. She knocked then waited on the third step so the door wouldn't hit her when it was opened.

"You're early."

"You're earlier."

He nodded, looking around the trailer park seeing a handful of children playing.

Lewis was a talker. A thin long nosed bearded talker. Tara hadn't been there for five minutes, and in that brief time he shared how much his wife was getting on his nerves about spending time with his girlfriend. The trailer smelled like must and wet cat. Tara didn't pretend to be sympathetic. She wanted her money.

There was always a feeling of pleasure and accomplishment when her plan came to fruition. The planning had taken three weeks. The private owner was very protective of his collection. There were several pieces she noted off in her head with an idea that she might return or at least keep tabs on the collector. The crown sat in a case and the second one on Lewis's desk she saw opened with her money. It was from the Byzantine era. Religious inscriptions were separated by red jewels that went around the band.

She went over to count while he continued to talk. She had drowned him out to concentrate on the numbers. That was a mistake.

Tara saw the movement from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't react fast enough. She felt the knife sink into her side. It was silver so obviously its owner had preconceptions about what she was. The pain was bearable until he twisted it. She clenched her teeth from the pain grabbing the arm of the hand it belonged to pulling it away and pushing his body as well. She stepped back with the knife still inside her glaring at the double crossing human. A disgrace to his species, or a poster child Tara mused as she kicked him in the knee. She heard it pop. Cringing from the pain she yanked the blade out her shirt and pants soaked in blood.

"What's with motherfucker's trying kill me?" she seethed.

Tara was not happy about the mess. Using the same blade she stabbed him in the hand when he reached for his phone. He cried out in pain, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Silver didn't kill her, but it hurt and being wounded by the silver instrument would slow her healing.

"Don't kill me."

The thief didn't relish seeing someone fear her. It was pathetic to watch him beg for his life. Tara could spare him. Let him live another day to fuck someone else over. For what? She looked at the unimpressive crown, it wasn't her taste, but someone had put a lot of work into it. Made of gold it had an ancient weight. He had given her the location and the mark. It had all been fairly easy to take with careful planning. If nothing else in her life made sense of fit, taking things that weren't hers was her therapy if anything else. She was good at it and she liked it.

Tara would have asked why if she didn't already to know the answer. She never trusted Lewis. For some reason or another he always had the best leads. He gave her a hard time about paying when she delivered on time. Tara remembered having to withhold merchandise because of his unwillingness to stay true to their contract. These small incidents separated over a decade or so gave her enough insight to know this had been business. He had the crown and he had the money, he wanted both. He didn't have the capacity for anything more involved than greed.

She didn't give him a chance to stoop any lower begging for his life. She pulled out her pistol from her back holster under her jacket and pulled the trigger.

"Fucking mess," she glowered. She ignored the mess she made concentrating on her ruined wardrobe. Gathering both cases she stepped out of the mobile home. Broad daylight she headed toward her car placing both cases behind the driver seat.

She jerked when she felt something connect to the back of her heel. A small dark blond curly haired boy on a plastic motorcycle, looked up at her with large eyes. His left was blue and his right was green. She thought it was odd and it reminded her of a movie she couldn't remember the name of.

"Is that kool-aid?"

Tara gazed around then at the shirt he pointed at.

"Sure," she stated moving toward the driver seat closing the door.

"My mama gives me a sip cups when so I don't get dirty. You're real dirty," his eye widened in emphasis of how affected he was by her appearance.

"Yea," she looked from the trailer she just left. Blood on her hands did make her dirty.

Tara didn't see anyone else. This kid was just riding around a trailer park without adult supervision?

She felt her phone vibrate. It was probably Lafayette. She'd text him later. Right now all she wanted to do go was go back to the mansion and shower off death.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

It was a strange idea. One she would never have considered on her own if she hadn't been texting Tara consistently for a week. Somehow Lafayette's phone found its way in her vicinity around the same time Tara texted him. She didn't question it because she knew it wasn't coincidence. Lafayette had it in his head that she needed to know how Tara felt. For reasons that were still unclear Tara didn't talk to her directly. Posing as Lafayette for a small part of the day made her feel less than insane. During one conversation her lover shared that her work was done. She had planned on staying a little longer to give Pam as much time as she needed to think. Her first reaction had been deleted. She texted out of character and she would have given herself away. The news didn't sit well with Pam. They'd been separated long enough. Though, as Lafayette no matter how persuasive Tara couldn't be swayed to believe differently. A strange idea manifested in Pam's head and then graduated to several steps involving a visit to the Southern state of Louisiana where she knew Tara was staying.

Lafayette didn't join her. She wouldn't close the club and lose business over a small matter of visiting a woman she wasn't sure she wanted to live with for the rest of her life. She wanted her now, and that was good enough for Pam. Surely, it had to be good enough for Tara. She contacted Bill and relied on his secrecy. When she arrived at the plantation home Sookie toyed with the idea of not letting her in.

"Please," Bill gestured for her to come inside, "you are welcome, isn't she Sookie."

The blond rolled her eyes crossing her arms. She gave a slight nod noticing Bill searching for a specific response. "You are welcome to come in," she stated quickly. Turning away she headed up the stairs where Tara's room would be. The dark skinned woman would sit in her bed either reading or texting. The woman had a boring life when she wasn't out stealing and turning into monstrous beasts, or maybe she lived so boringly because of it.

"I'll get her for you," she smiled with faux warmth.

She wasn't surprised to find Tara holding a book in her hand asleep against the bedpost. She had come home earlier that day upset. It wasn't the conventional emotional upset, but Sookie noticed it in the subtle difference she glared or talked to her. She was noticeably different.

"I don't think you understand the concept of personal space," Tara grumbled when she opened her eyes to Sookie straddling her. The weight was warm and not too heavy, and only she would take liberties like this. Without opening her eyes she would have guessed her visitor.

The blond smirked holding herself up with both her arms positioned on the sides of Tara's head. "Educate me," she pushed into the woman at the bottom with her pelvis.

"No," she grumbled picking at the corners of her eyes. Yawning she sat up, Sookie remained on her. And it was this compromising position that greeted Pam she grew tired of waiting for the blond to return with Tara.

"Am I interrupting?" Pam came in with one hand on her hip stopping a few inches from the bed. She looked like she wanted to flick Sookie off like a pest, a bug.

Sookie lowered her eyes to Tara. In this position she was slightly taller. Before the blond could distort the situation Tara barreled on, "Sookie was just leaving."

She didn't look surprised to see Pam. She didn't look happy to see her. When Sookie left she turned her head to the door left wide pen. Pam walked over to it to shut it and lock it. Her hand remained on the handle when she rested her back on the hard door. Their eyes met.

"You're here."

Tara shifted on the bed to face Pam. She stifled a groan returning on her back. She hadn't healed entirely, but by the end of the night she should be good as new.

"Does that mean you have an answer?" she asked when the blond wasn't forthcoming.

"I came here to tell you I want you. I didn't know I had to take a number."

Tara chuckled against her will. "That's a bit harsh."

"You and Sookie dry humping caught me off guard, sue me."

Tara rose from repose. The thief rubbed the back of her neck started toward the blond. She reached for her hand, but Pam didn't submit to the pull immediately. There was a part of Pam that knew Tara didn't care for Sookie in the way that warranted the threatening feeling the Bill's lover elicited. Though, it didn't help that Tara was underneath Sookie the first time she saw her in months.

"I suppose that's fair."

The dark skinned woman pulled her hand away and returned to the bed sitting on the edge closest to the bed post. Pam noticed she favored her side. Curiosity made her step forward, "what happened to you?" she nodded toward Tara's side.

"I had a disagreement with my buyer."

Pam quirked her brow tilting her head to the side.

"I got a little beat up. He got really dead."

"You need another line of work," Pam frowned when she pulled up Tara's shirt slowly. There was an angry line where the blade pierced skin. If she had been human it would have been fatal. The smell of blood hit her nostrils and her eyes sought out the source. From the bathroom door she could see clothes stained in red peaking out.

"Are you going to make a honest woman out of me?"

"Is there enough time in eternity for that?"

"We could make time," Tara suggested pulling Pam's hand away from her side, drawing it into her hand. She looked at the pale thin hand smiling at its unassuming size. Pam was an answer, a mystery, and idea, and a dream that she wanted, but it all came down to what Pam wanted to be.

They could do this cat and mouse game for the rest of their lives.

"You're still wearing the ring," Tara smiled looking at the other hand still on her hip.

Pam rolled her eyes moving the said finger under Tara's scrutiny. "It won't come off. Nothing works. I've tried."

"I figured that's how you were spending your month."

"I even went as far as to sleep with someone else," Pam responded. She watched Tara's face carefully. I wasn't a truth that she wanted to tell, but it needed to be put out there. Tara needed to know how far she had gone to quit her. The body didn't help instead if anything it solidified the thief fulfilled her in way a one night stand wouldn't. For some people lucky with the gift of common sense this was a no brainer, but love confused Pam. The vampire swallowed human emotions until they were indiscernible or gone. Love was a strong emotion to swallow and deny and it proved too defiant to be beaten down by her will.

Tara mulled over the news. If there was more she wanted to hear it now rather than later. "Just one?"

"Just one."

"Did she help you decide?"

Pam thought about it seriously, "yes, and Lafayette, and you."

"I guess Lafayette might be the genius he likes to think he is."

The statement confused Pam.

"The text messages."

The blond woman returned her hand to her hip and pulled the other from Tara's grasp. "You knew?"

The dark haired woman shrugged, "everyone needs a little reassurance. I figured you could handle it if I said I missed you if you thought I was talking to my cousin."

"You thought I would fall for that?" she asked incredulously.

Tara grabbed her by her waist and threw her to the bed hovering over her. "You did fall for it," she replied smugly.

Pam didn't want to admit to be being figured out and deceived. She tried to sit up on her arms, but Tara wasn't budging. "Move."

"No."

"You lied to me."

"You cheated."

Pam narrowed her eyes at the statement.

"Try that on someone who doesn't know what separated means."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"It was pleasant."

Tara pulled back ready to stand. She had asked the question, but it was hard to ingest the honest answer. Pam grabbed her by her shirt before she could pull away further. She liked the darker woman close. She felt, for lack of a better word, safe. She wanted Tara around her and inside her and she wasn't ready for her to leave yet, if ever, if she was being honest.

"But the whole time I wished it was you."