Jehovah

Chapter Ten & Epilogue

1st of December

Josie stood in the kitchen of her new apartment, looking over the Anacostia River silently, while she drank her coffee. Absentmindedly playing with the dog tags she rarely took off, Josie sighed at the fact that it had been six months since Connor had left to tie up loose ends. She thought back on the morning she had left his house in Virginia, when they had stood next to her car for almost fifteen minutes trying to say goodbye, and it still pained her that Connor had not returned yet. Connor had promised he would come back, but Josie had never imagined it would have been so difficult to wait on him. It was not that she had found someone new, or was even interested in that prospect, but more of an aching that Josie could not shake. The only things that alleviated the feeling were the weekly emails she received from him and the visits from members of the team.

Josie shook herself out of her funk and began to get ready for the day. She had submitted her resignation to New York University the day after she had left Connor's house, having decided that she did not want to spend her life doing something she did not enjoy. She had spent several weeks at her father's farm while he was on vacation, using the downtime to reach out to her contacts at Interpol and other agencies, letting them know she would be working as an independent contractor full-time. It had not taken long for Josie to receive several job offers in the D.C. area, necessitating a move down to Washington when she accepted a position with the Smithsonian Institute in acquisitions. The entire team, minus Connor and John, had been on-hand to help with the move, providing much-needed relief from dwelling on the fact that Connor was still gone. That had been four months ago, and Josie had been out of the country three times, tracking down rare pieces and keeping them off the black market. The Smithsonian had provided her an office and an assistant though she was often not in her office unless conducting research.

Now Josie was facing the prospect of a two-week vacation after she ran into the office to sign some paperwork. The two weeks were looking more to be more stressful than relaxing considering the complete radio silence she was enduring from the team. The team had been gone on assignment for two weeks already without a word, plus Connor's emails had stopped more than three weeks' prior. Josie sighed greatly before walking to her bedroom to get dressed for the metro ride into downtown. She quickly dressed in a sweater, jeans, and calf-high brown boots. Josie picked up Connor's dog tags and pulled them over her head and swept her hair out from within the chain. She only took the tags off to shower, keeping them close to her heart was her way of having Connor around during this tough time. Grabbing her leather jacket and gloves, Josie walked out of her apartment with coffee in hand and headed towards the Metro station down the street.

By the time she made it to her office, Josie was in a better mood and greeted her assistant, Jackie, with a smile.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be taking vacation time."

"I am, I am," Josie said with a laugh as Jackie followed her inside her corner office. "I have some paperwork to sign for Carl in the Ancient Near East Department, and Foster in Egyptology wanted my opinion on the newest exhibit. I'll be here an hour tops, and then I'll be on vacation."

"Yeah right," Jackie said as she grabbed the coat Josie had flung across the desk and hung it up for her on the coat rack. She did not believe that for a second, but Josie barely paid attention to her assistant's sarcasm as she left for the Ancient Near East Department. Jackie went back to her desk to order lunch for both herself and her boss, considering she was willing to bet her paycheck that Josie would still be at the Smithsonian well past lunch.

It was almost six in the evening by the time that Josie made it back to her office. What was only supposed to be an hour visit had kept her at the office for several hours, especially when the department heads realized she was in the building. She had sent Jackie home an hour before, even after the offer to stay late, so the area around her office was empty and quiet. When Josie opened the door to her office, she stopped in alarm at the sight of a man standing at her windows with his back to her.