The next morning, Helen woke up with the exact same sense of tension. She checked her phone for incoming messages, but she was bitterly disappointed. Marcus had not contacted her yet. She could suspect his fate; yet, she had no way of finding out more about him. Browsing through the internet somewhat appeased her. There were no reports on any crimes in New York, but still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad had happened to him.

Every hour felt like an eternity. Helen refused to leave her hotel room, checking news websites every few minutes, desperately seeking information. Her attempts to reach him over the phone were futile; she always got his voice mail. In a state of panic, she even called a few police stations in New York, asking if there had been any accidents. The answers that the officers gave her were all negative, puzzling her even further.

By late afternoon, she was starting to lose hope. Olivia and Michelle tried to comfort her, maintaining that his phone could have run out of battery, but they both failed, miserably. Helen could not think of one good reason why Marcus would not contact her. According to her, he would find a way to let her know that he was alright. Her friends understood. Neither Michelle nor Olivia argued with her and chose to remain by her side, until she heard some news about him.

More than twenty four hours after her arrival at their hotel, Helen was so frustrated that the air around her seemed too thick to breathe. Rising from her bed, she began to put her clothes on, as Olivia and Michelle looked at each other in shy relief.

“Ok, I’ve had it,” Helen groaned, pulling up the zipper of her jeans. “I need some fresh air.”

“Finally,” Olivia said on an exhale. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere but here,” Helen muttered. “I feel like I’m going to suffocate in this room.”

“There’s this great Italian place, a couple of blocks away,” Michelle suggested, as her friend put on her shoes. “What do you think?”

“You guys go ahead and eat.” Helen spoke too fast. “I’m not hungry.”

“Not even for a pizza? Really? Come on, girl. You need to eat something.” Michelle’s mellow tone moved her; yet, food was the last thing on Helen’s mind.

“Please, don’t pressure me, Michelle.” She made her voice sound sweeter. “Like I said, you can eat anything you like. Let’s just get out of here, ok?”

“Ok, now I’m even more worried,” Michelle confessed. “I mean, you, turning down a pizza when you’re this upset?”

“She’s beyond upset,” Olivia spoke her mind. “Helen, let’s do what you said. But, I need you to do something for me first.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t lose faith,” Olivia explained in a deep and confident voice. “We’re talking about a man who’s survived a desert war, for God’s sake. He will come back to you. You just have to believe it.”

“This is a whole different war,” Helen heaved a long, heavy sigh. “He said it himself: He didn’t know if he’d survive. You should have seen him, before he left. He was frightened.”

“Even the toughest man can break,” Olivia pointed out. “You had just been through a terrible ordeal. I think it’s only natural.”

At that point, Helen’s phone rang. Her heart thumped in her chest, as she noticed the New York area code on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Weir?” An unknown, bass-deep voice was on the other end of the line.

“Yes, this is she.”

“Good evening, ma’am. I’m Captain Charlie Boyd; I’m with the New York Police Department. Are you the owner of a 1997, Toyota Hilux? License plate Golf, November, Oscar, Seven, Alpha, Juliet?”

“Yes. Why?” Helen’s voice was filled with agony.

“We just found it, burning, on New York State Route 97, a couple of miles east of Narrowsburg.”

“Burn…” A whisper of despair fled her lips. The world around her turned into a blur of dark colors, the color leaving her face, as her phone slipped through her fingers. Helen’s legs lost the strength to keep her upright. She swayed back and forth, her eyes closed, her stomach tumbling, as Olivia and Michelle stared at her in utter disbelief. Helen fell to the floor face down, her head inches away from Michelle’s feet. Her friend dropped to her knees beside her, before Olivia jumped over her. Bending down, she picked up Helen’s phone from the floor.

“Hello? My name’s Olivia Ralston, I’m Helen’s friend. Who is this?” She asked with a voice riddled with tension and fear.

“Captain Charlie Boyd, NYPD. I just told your friend we’d found her truck, burning on NY 97. There was a dead body in it. Do you know if she’d lent it to anybody?”

“Oh, my God…” Olivia whispered while gripping her hair, as Michelle tried to roll Helen over onto her back. “Yes, she had.”

“Do you have a name, ma’am?”

“No!” Olivia yelled, jerking her head in a spasm of despair. “I don’t know him!”

“I’m sorry. I just asked because identifying the body would be extremely difficult. He’s been badly burnt.”

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Olivia hung up and tossed it across the bed, as Michelle gently slapped Helen in the face. She fell to her knees beside her, biting her lower lip, as she reached towards her. Michelle raised her gaze to meet Olivia’s. The sorrow that was written all over her face and her watery eyes gave her the information that her friend had been dreading.

“No…” She whispered, covering her mouth with her hand, as she shook her head sideways. Helen opened her eyes to slits, as two tears streamed down Olivia’s face. She jolted up, her breath short, as she frantically looked around her. Settling her gaze on Olivia, she recalled the police officer’s phone call. Her world tumbled down around her. She felt her heart shattering into a million pieces, as Olivia circled her left arm around her neck. Her friend pulled her close, as sadness overtook her whole being. Helen pressed her face against Olivia’s chest. Gut-wrenching pain in her chest, burning as if a fire was scorching her insides, caused her to burst into loud, wailing sobs. Her worst fear had come true. She would never again lay her eyes on the face of the man in which she had fallen so hopelessly in love. Her “dark angel” was no longer among the living. In a twist of fate, Marcus had been taken away from her. Now, Helen had to find a way to live without him…