“Well tell me then!”.

”Welcome to where time stands still
No-one leaves and no-one will
Moon is full, never seems to change
Just labelled metally deranged
Dream the same thing every night
I see my freedom in my sight…”

**

Parking my car outside Marshall’s studio, throwing a glance around and seeing that his Chevy is nowhere to be seen. And I start worrying. And I don’t know why but something, here, plays a wrong note.

I open the dashboard and take my Beretta 8000F Cougar. Great gun. 9 mm Luger caliber. Frame in aluminium alloy. Carbon steel slide and barrel. Slide covered with Bruniton. A compact pistol designed for law enforcement. Good accuracy out of a compact package. I put it in my shoulder holster and zip my jacket.

Then I close my eyes. For the very first time since this whole matter started, I close my eyes and take a long sigh, my hands resting on the steering wheel. For the very first time in these last few days, I allow myself to be afraid. I am scared and I cannot allow myself to be. I need to be cold. I need to do all the things that need to be done. And I need to do them fast because this is a downward spiral and I have a feeling we don’t have so much time left.

I think about Cassandra for a second and the image of her beautiful face appears in front of her eyes. I cannot catch my breath realizing that the last time I saw her, she was scared and shocked and needed me to be there, by her side. But I wasn’t there. That’s the reason why they took her so easily.

I guess I am walking in Shane McCutcheon’s shoes, now. I guess I walking on the path she was walking on one year ago. John James Sanders didn’t take Carmen physically, but still he had kidnapped something from her. He had stolen something priceless. Her memories. Her son. Their son.

And now, somebody kidnapped my wife and my son. And I would like to shout at the top of my lungs but I can’t. I didn’t want to live this life anymore. I didn’t want Cassandra to live with a man that put his life in danger everyday. I just couldn’t. i wanted to give her something much better than that. One year ago, I wanted to give Shane and Carmen something better than what they were having.