Judith quickly said her goodbyes, as she had no business there. Tim found himself back at their accommodation, realizing he should rest, but somehow, he couldn't. Holding the address where he was supposed to go the following day—to Lenny, about whom he knew nothing, he hesitated. What should he expect? Judith, who seemed to navigate on this island so well, had suddenly disappeared, leaving him still puzzled about many things.

He wondered if Peter at the restaurant would consider him an enemy. Could Peter help him locate Mara? He may not need to involve Lenny, an authority member, and could put Mara in danger if he realized who Tim was looking for. On the other hand, Peter might be more efficient in helping him. Tim needed to find out if he had Peter's trust, but being with Judith placed him in the opposing camp. It was worth probing into, but he needed more courage to return to the restaurant and risk fate. It was too risky.

So, he stuck to the original plan: rest now, then visit Lenny tomorrow. Sleep wouldn't come, though he felt tired and hungry. He sat up in bed and started walking somewhere, unsure where. His thoughts raced through his mind. He had three days to find Mara—if that was even her real name—convince her, or rather, figure out what was between them and save her from here.

He walked toward the beach, realizing that apart from when they swam across, he had yet to go down to the shore. He had seen the soothing waves of the sea a few times from the car, but that was his only connection to it. Why was this so important? He didn't understand it, but the past day's events, the rush, always brought him back to one comforting image: seeing the sea from the car. The sight of the sea calmed him.

When he reached the beach, he felt the same calm. He watched the soothing waves and succumbed to their call. He left his sandals on the shore and walked into the water. The water was pleasantly warm; it didn't feel cold as the sun didn't warm up his body. He was almost alone on the beach, except for someone walking a dog and a couple sitting on the shore, embracing each other.

He swam pretty far into the sea until he could no longer hear his swirling thoughts, only feeling the pain in his arms and the ache in his breath. He was tired and not used to such prolonged swimming. He turned back towards the shore, and as he looked at the shore, he was struck by the stunning view. The blue-gray outlines of the mountain range behind the promenade, the deep blue sky filled with countless stars, and when he lay on his back, he saw the Milky Way above him. His ears were underwater, and he heard the sea's hum. He never wanted to forget this moment, no matter what happened in the coming days.

When he felt rested enough, he began swimming back to the shore. It was pleasant to reach the shore again; the person with the dog and the couple had disappeared, leaving him alone, panting as he searched for his sandals. He found them but didn't put them on, holding them in his hand as he walked barefoot back to his accommodation. As he walked, his clothes dripped with water, but he didn't care.

Tim had difficulty waking up the following day and left in a hurry, still sleepy. He headed to see Lenny, who worked in an office building. Tim thought there was probably no police force on the island, but this building reminded him of a government agency's headquarters. There was no sign indicating what the place was, but the grumpy face of the receptionist and the fact that they called to announce his arrival suggested it was indeed an official place. When he went up to the designated floor, a young man with blond hair appeared from behind one of the doors and waved at him.

"You're Tim, right? Judith has told me a lot about you, that you're looking for a woman who's a runaway and might be among the employees. Come on in!" He welcomed Tim warmly and led him into a small room, which he unlocked with a key. To Tim's surprise, he didn't have to stare at a computer screen; instead, he had to search through physical printed files from boxes. It felt like the Stone Age, Tim thought. On the floor were numerous boxes, dated and stacked in towers.

"Wow, are there this many?" Tim was horrified, not wanting to spend hours there. He realized he had overestimated the system.

"The problem is that we have the files of everyone who has ever worked here. The boxes are dated, and you're lucky you only need to check those without an end date, as I assume the woman you are looking for is still here."

Lenny's suggestion was a good lead, and he could also narrow down the starting date. So, he only had to go through three boxes. Lenny was very helpful in sorting out the women's files for Tim, so he only had to look through those.

"I hope I recognize her; I've only seen her once, but she was very suspicious," Tim explained. "I'll set aside those who resemble her even slightly."

"Should I sort them by hair color, too, perhaps?" Lenny offered.

"She might have dyed or cut her hair, which wouldn't help," Tim declined.

Tim felt Lenny wasn't watching his every move and seemed genuinely helpful. Perhaps Judith had overthought the situation, but Tim still took care not to raise any suspicion about Mara. He had already set aside five files in the "resembles her" pile, carefully choosing the least similar ones. He had gone through two boxes and worried she might not be in the last one either. Lenny neatly arranged the previous box of female employees, and few were left.

"Lenny, could I get a glass of water? I'm a bit thirsty," Tim asked.

"Of course, I'll get it right away. The dust can dry out your throat, and plenty of that here."

Tim quickly flipped through the remaining files, and as soon as Lenny left, the last one was Mara. Her hair was blonde in the picture, but he immediately recognized her by her kindly face. The name on the file was Patricia Lubica, and her workplace was a receptionist at the Hilton Hotel. This fact stunned Tim because the hotel was nearby; they passed it almost daily. If she worked there...

Lenny returned with the glass of water, and Tim pretended he hadn't finished yet, sighing more and more to let Lenny know that. "Unfortunately, I didn't see her among the files. Or maybe I didn't recognize her from the pictures."

"Maybe it would be worth checking the suspicious ones in person?" Lenny suggested, quickly gathering the files from the "suspicious" pile. He photocopied them and readily handed them to Tim. Tim thanked him for his kindness and felt very sorry for the five women he might have randomly put in jeopardy.

Tim didn't care if it looked suspicious to go straight to the hotel from Lenny's; he wanted to find out as quickly as possible if the file was accurate. Was she working as a receptionist? He showed his ID to the hotel doorman, who promptly opened the door for him.

Stepping into the hotel lobby felt like entering another world. The spaces were vast, with no ceiling in sight—well, there was one, but a transparent glass roof illuminated a sprawling tree in the center with natural light. Tim didn't recognize what kind of tree it was. Its gnarled brown branches ended in red leaves. It was beautiful, and he almost thought it wasn't real, but the fact that they had placed it under the glass roof to bask in the sunlight suggested it was a real tree. Around the tree were sofas and tables where guests chatted and enjoyed the pleasant environment. There was even a real piano with someone playing it. The walls and columns were decorated with stucco of all sorts of colorful shapes.

Tim felt dizzy from the luxury, but Mara was the only one who really captivated him. She stood at the counter, with no one in front of her, engrossed in something, looking down. Her blonde hair, tightly pinned back in a bun, looked strange but suited her.

Tim watched her, savoring the moment of finally seeing her and knowing she was okay. He didn't know his next move or words; his plan had only gone as far as finding her. Mara seemed to sense someone was staring at her from the entrance because she suddenly looked up directly at Tim. She was stunned.

Then she stepped back, opened a small door, and called someone because another woman in the same uniform appeared to take over at the counter. Mara walked toward Tim slowly and deliberately. When she almost reached him, she signaled for him to follow her, not through the main entrance but through a smaller door farther away.

It must have been a staff entrance because it opened to the side.

Tim was speechless as they stood facing each other. "So here you are, you found me..." Mara began uncertainly, and Tim realized she might think she was in trouble.

"Is Mara your real name?" was Tim's first question to her, then quickly added, "I'm not here as a gatekeeper. I want to help you because it's only a matter of time before they find you..."

The girl frowned, not entirely understanding the situation. "Ahh, so you want to help?"

"Yes, I want to make up for the mistake of letting you through. I want to take you back," Tim yelled out.

"You're confusing me. So, did the authorities send you? I don't understand..." The situation was confusing, and Tim realized he needed a more concrete reason.

"Look," Tim began, "I think I fell in love with you because I haven't been able to get you out of my head since we met. And I'm afraid you'll get into trouble here, so I came over to check if you're okay."

A weight lifted off Tim's chest. But the girl was puzzled.

"Wow! That's a bit intense! But you came because of me? And you're not working for the authorities?" Mara asked, and Tim could honestly deny working for Zack since his job there would start on Monday, two days from now.

"Because of you, and I'm not with the authorities."

"This is crazy... but Tim, remember? I have a mission here. I can only leave once it's done... I need to deliver the invention..."

Tim thought the resistance had insufficient information since the prototype was already with Zack, and Bernardt was also about to sell the documentation to Zack. "If you want, I can help..." Tim began, not entirely understanding himself. "But I'd need you to complete everything in two days. You can't be here by Monday..."

"Do you know something? What's happening on Monday?" Mara asked, concerned.

"I can't tell you, but promise you'll cross back with me on Sunday night." Tim was determined for the first time, and his hand caressed her face. He didn't know where he found the courage, but he traced her lips with his fingers. He had dreamed of this so much! Tim heard her say something but couldn't focus on the words. He was captivated by the shape of her mouth. When Mara instinctively wetted her lips, he couldn't resist any longer. He pulled her closer and kissed her. Mara was surprised but didn't resist. He was feeling her lips on his like magic.

Tim was over the moon with happiness. Mara began to plan, thinking she needed to introduce Tim to some resistance members because they knew where the documentation could be found. But for that, they needed to trust Tim.

"Tim, you might have to prove you genuinely want to help. I admit I'm still a bit uncertain... no one has ever done something this kind for me..."

Tim still had his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead. "I'll go with you anywhere, and I want to be with you constantly for these two days to ensure nothing happens to you."

Mara laughed. "It might be smarter if I introduce you as someone already on our side. You already know Peter..."

Tim's face darkened slightly. "Yes, Peter, he's the cook at that oddly named restaurant, something rooster..."

"Exactly, The Rooster. So, if we both stand up for you, the others will believe you're one of us." Mara smiled encouragingly.

"There was a bit of a scuffle at the Rooster yesterday... Dash was there with his gang. Peter might have misjudged the situation and might think I'm with the authorities... I just needed the information on where you were, so I contacted them. But I have nothing to do with them otherwise..."

"I heard about it. You were there?" Mara frowned. "Were you the one with the black briefcase?"

Tim suspected that this would be challenging. He wanted to convince Mara that he was on their side, which meant he was also starting a relationship with a lie. Was it a good idea? But maybe, once they got through this, Mara would understand that he did it for her good.

Tim nodded, trying to explain. "To find you, I had to do certain things. That was one of them. But didn't Peter tell you that it's thanks to us there wasn't a bullet storm?" He smiled reassuringly at Mara. She leaned in and kissed him, then pushed herself away.

"I need to get back to work now. I finish in the afternoon. Will you come for me? Then we can discuss everything."

They agreed, and Tim spent the rest of the day planning to prove to Peter that he was trustworthy.