Three years after they said goodbye in Mexico, John is engaged to Kristen Blake, and Marlena is living a quiet, if not boring, life with Roman. One fateful choice, a flight to Seattle, and Stefano's desire to rip John from his daughter's life changes everything forever.

Marlena's life has been in a slow downward spiral ever since her husband Roman came back into her life six years ago. Struggling to be the perfect wife and the perfect mother is slowly killing her. Just when she felt like she was drowning a stranger walks into her life and changes everything.

In this story, John Black has decided to retire and spend the rest of his life enjoying time with his family, but his grandson is attacked, so John decides to go on one last mission to bring down the assailants. What unfolds depicts the author's idea of what could have been the last storyline for our beloved hero, had he been able to have one. It portrays the final days of John's life, as well as his death, and should be read with that in mind. It also continues the timeline of two previous stories, Whispers in the Dark and Just a Matter of Time and follows what the characters were doing after those stories ended, not the current storyline. Finally, this story was written with love and respect to the memory of Drake Hogestyn, who was an amazingly talented actor and, by all accounts, a wonderful human being. It is my hope that this story honors him and his legacy to Days of Our Lives. Please read it with discretion, and only as you are comfortable doing so.