Unable to overcome negative thoughts, Tim could not find peace that night. He kept staring at the ceiling, wanting to cry with frustration, as he struggled to find hope. Luckily, Jon and Josephine no longer had to rely on him alone. Indeed, discovering that Caitlin’s boyfriend was in fact an FBI agent made him feel somewhat better. He was relieved to hear that he would not be prosecuted, but his freedom was the last thing on his mind. The one situation Tim desired the most was to see them, alive and well. Everything else was secondary.

David met him in the morning, with details and satellite pictures of the location where Jon and Josephine were being held. Incredibly, it was a small cabin, less than five miles north of the compound, just outside Green Mountain National Forest. Having no time to waste, he left New York City behind him, on that clear, early-March morning, wishing that he had been able to get some sleep the night before. The six-hour long drive to Vermont would utterly exhaust him.

The sight of the massive experimental structure in the distance made his heart sink. Part of him wanted to revisit the place where everything had happened, where she had captured his heart and turned his world around. Nevertheless, he pressed his foot hard down on the accelerator and sped by the right turn that led to it, believing that just being close to the deserted facility would fill his heart with sorrow. After all, Tim needed to focus on the task at a hand. A visit to the compound would only distract him.

It was 7:40pm when he spotted the cabin in question, on the right side of the road. The lights were off on the inside. The only light on was a small lamp, just above the front door. Only then did he realize how dangerous it would be for him to go there alone. There was hardly any vegetation around it. The closest tree was more than two hundred yards away. He would not have been able to approach it undetected, not even under cover of darkness. Tim would need hiding spots along the way and there were none whatsoever. Several cars were parked on the driveway. There were more than ten men walking around outside, all of them armed to their teeth. Tim had to avoid being detected. Staying at the top of the uphill road that he was on would give away his position.

“Staying up here would be suicide. I need to keep out of sight.” He thought to himself, putting his car in neutral. His Impala rolled down the downhill road. He eased on the brakes, bringing it to halt and put an earphone that David had given him in his ear.

“David, can you hear me?” He spoke in a low voice.

“Loud and clear,” David replied. “What’s your exact position?”

“About a hundred yards south of that cabin,” Tim replied. “Where are you guys?”

“My men are getting in position as we speak.” David informed. “Just sit tight.”

“Have you seen them yet? Jon and Josephine,” Tim asked quickly.

“Affirmative,” David hurried to respond, “They just brought them upstairs. They’re fine.”

Tim sighed in relief, running his hand through his hair.

“Let’s go over the plan, one last time. You get there: you demand they be released before you give them the money. This is important. If you give them the money first, they’ll kill you. On my mark, you run like hell. Don’t look back. You get in that car of yours and you get the hell out of there. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. We’re a ‘go’.”

Tim started the engine of his car and drove towards the meeting coordinates, understanding that the next few moments would be forever engraved deep in his heart and mind, regardless of the outcome of the operation. Glancing right, he saw his loved ones outside, a few feet away from the front door, with Laura standing between them, with a gun in her right hand and two of her men behind them. Three more of her men stood close to the road, staring at him as he came closer.

Tim stopped his car and turned off the engine. He grabbed the sports bag from the passenger seat and opened his door, feeling his heart ready to explode out of his chest.

“Frisk him!” Laura ordered, as he moved around his car. One of her men pointed his gun at him, while the other two carried out her order. The little light available was enough to tell him that their hands were still bound. Josephine did not resemble the attractive brunette he had fallen in love with. Several strands of her hair were covering a large portion of her face. Her purple sweater was badly torn; she was shivering from the cold. Jon had been beaten up quite badly. His left eye was bruised and his right cheekbone was swollen.

“He’s clean.” One of Laura’s men said.

“Bring me the money.” Her second command forced him to tighten his grip around the handles of the sports bag. The man on his right leaned down and reached his arm towards him, but Tim pulled it away from him.

“Let them go first.” Tim’s stentorian voice filled the air.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Laura smirked, raising her gun to aim at Josephine. “The money!” She cried. “Now!”

Tim did not have time to react. The deafening bang of a powerful weapon going off echoed in the wilderness. A single bullet whizzed past him, knocking the gun out of Laura’s hand.

“Run!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. In a split second, multiple, similar bangs tore through the night. Josephine and Jon started hurtling towards him, as the noise of the bullets became louder and louder. The man who had earlier tried to take Tim’s bag pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Jon. He pulled the trigger, just before two bullets penetrated his stomach and his chest. His bullet struck Tim’s friend in the right thigh. Jon fell hard to the ground. Amid a hail of fire, Josephine plunged towards Tim. Opening his arms, he grabbed her in midair. He landed flat and hard on his back and rolled them over. Laura’s men were not given a chance to use their guns. One by one, they were brutally gunned down. The remaining men in the back ran to their aid, but they shared the same fate. On the other hand, their boss was shot in the left arm. Laura tumbled onto the ground, screaming in agonizing pain. All of a sudden, the shooting ceased. Seconds afterwards, the piercing sound of sirens tore through the silence, as three ambulances sped down the road, followed by two, large, FBI SUV’s. Tim snapped his eyes open and looked down at her.

“Are you ok?” He asked, his voice full of anxiety, his chest rising up and down.

“I’m fine.” Josephine nodded and replied in a sweet soft voice that was almost an inaudible whisper.

“God damn it!” Jon’s painful cry drew Tim’s attention. He jumped up, rushed towards his friend and dropped to his knees beside him, looking down at the gushing wound on his leg.

“Jon!” He yelled. “What happened?”

“Hey, big Tim,” Jon said, his voice low as a faint smile formed on his face. “We finally worked together. That’s what happened.”

Tim then grabbed his friend’s wrist and led it to his wound.

“Put pressure on it.” He commanded, pressing his own hand against Jon’s.

“Aaargh!” Another cry of pain left Jon’s lips. “Take your hand off, man! You’re killing me!”

“Sir?” A strong, manly voice filled his ears. “Please, step away. Let us do our job.”

“Take care of him.” Tim spoke, looking up at the paramedic.

“Good job.” David interjected. “Great job, really: you stayed calm; you didn’t panic; amazing.”

“Thanks,” Tim said, standing up. “Where is she? Who fired all those shots?”

“She’s going away for a long time.” David smiled, casting a pleased glance right. Laura was being loaded onto a stretcher. “I called her father; he should be here any minute now. Look behind you.”

Tim did as told. More than a dozen men, dressed in dark uniforms and powerful rifles in their hands were coming their way.

“Hey, have you ever thought about joining the police force?” David asked. “We could use people like you.”

“I’m not cop material, David.” Tim stated. “Besides, I have a rap sheet.”

“You have balls of steel, Tim.” David tried using a firmer tone of voice. “I saw the whole thing. You protected your girl. Ok, so you can’t become a police officer. How does the job of a…” He paused and took a short step towards him… “Fireman sound?”

“Not bad.” His answer was quick, “But I can’t think about this right now.”

“I understand.” David said with a nod. Then, he leaned over him and whispered in his ear:

“She’s right behind you.”

“It’s just a flesh wound.” A paramedic informed them, as they passed by him. “He’s going to be fine.”

Tim slowly turned around, taking a deep, cleansing breath. Josephine was not behind him. In fact, she was more than ten yards away from him, walking slowly down the street with a green blanket wrapped around her, and her back turned to him. Her attitude puzzled him. He had just shielded her from fire and yet, she didn’t seem interested to thank him. However, a simple “thank you” was not what Tim wanted from her. He demanded an explanation, no matter how painful it would be.

“Doc?” His masculine voice forced her to stop. “What’s the matter, doc? Are we not even speaking to each other now?”

“Thank you, Tim.” Her feminine voice was shaking; still, she would not turn to him. “You were very brave tonight. Go home. Please, go home.”

“Screw this,” he muttered. Tim strode towards her, quickly closing the gap between them. “Thank you?” His voice rumbled like thunder, as he spun her around to face him. The moonlight reflecting off her teary eyes broke his heart. “What are you talking about? You left me!

“And I came back…” She whispered, in a voice thick with emotion, as a tear toppled over the edge of her right eye. “I wanted that job, but I couldn’t leave you behind. I missed you so much… She told me, Tim. She told me everything about…” Her voice broke, as one more tear rolled down her cheek. “Last night.”

“You had left!” His loud voice shook the wilderness. “We were over!”

“You could have had sex with anyone you liked.” Josephine sniffled. “It’s not the sex that bothered me. You went out with her. You tried to replace me with the woman who ruined our lives; the one responsible for Paul’s death. I’m sorry, Tim. I can’t forgive you for that.”

“Says the one who decided to play God,” Tim’s voice was dripping with irony. “You’d do anything to find that cure, wouldn’t you? Including getting a man killed.”

“I think about that every day and every night!” She screamed, while the vein in the middle of her forehead seemed ready to explode. “I’ll never stop thinking about it... God…” She sucked in a deep breath, her lips trembling. “I can’t stop picturing you with her. I just can’t. It doesn’t matter what you say or what you do. I’m sorry. I really am.”

Tim dropped his face into his hands, unable to believe his ears. Josephine’s words had shattered his world, destroying all hope he had of being with her again. The cold feeling inside him returned. This time, she would not be there to make him feel warm inside. Tears rushed down his face. His pain overwhelmed him so much that he could not force a word out of his throat. But, even if he could speak to her, he knew that his attempts to convince her to come back to him would be futile. After all, Josephine had just proved to him that even saving her life did not matter. In her mind, he was beyond forgiveness.

The click-clacking of her high heels was slowly fading out. Tim slid his hands down his face, desperate to catch one last glimpse of Josephine. She was heading towards one of the ambulances.

There she is: the girl, who avoided me like the plague, because she had a crush on me, is just walking away from me. The one who made me believe I could be better: the girl that left me; then, came back for me; the one I risked my life for: is leaving me once again. Why, doc? Why won’t you give us a chance? Maybe you have a point. I don’t know. I was vulnerable, baby. That’s a lame excuse, but that’s all I have. Goodbye, Joey. I miss you already…