You stumble out of the main entrance and clumsily shuffle down the steps. Unable to muster the strength to continue, you slump down against the guard rail of the moderately-sized Atlas sculpture on the large, paved entryway in the center of the garden. The heat from the flames of the apartment building on fire behind you is warm on your back, the raindrops feel heavy on your head. You glance down and move your hand to reveal a gunshot wound in your gut. You'll bleed out long before help ever arrives, not that any is coming. You had pleaded with Jimmy and Sasha but neither of them had wanted to get involved.

It had never been about revenge. They took your little girl, they did God knows what with her, but you had come to terms with it long ago. No, this was more about ensuring that it never happened to anyone else ever again. Even so, an enormous weight feels as though it has lifted from your shoulders. A burden you have carried for such a number of years you didn’t bother to count.

You raise your head and survey the area. What was once an immaculately kept apartment grounds now holds the appearance of a horrific battlefield, features in ruins and littered with the corpses of traffickers. Tire tracks in the mud lead from your armored van to a huge hole in the reinforced concrete wall at the perimeter. Through the hole you can see the Dendrick skyline, silhouetted by a sunset just beneath the smog. It is a rare and beautiful view.

You close your eyes and tilt your head back. The rain on your face is refreshing. Your mind wanders, flitting from memory to memory. It finally comes to rest on one in particular. It was spring and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Your daughter and you had made the trip from your condominium on the Presidium to the park around the corner and were now linked, arm in arm, spinning around and around and singing a silly little tune. You remember her laughter like it was yesterday. She must have only been six or seven at the time. As the memory plays out, your mouth broadens into a smile and you let out a sigh of relief. “It’s over… see you soon, my sweet sunshine.”