Two years ago.
Daniel Heinrich sensed that something was off about his mission. Though even he couldn't pinpoint it, he had horrible feelings about it like he was going into a trap that specially set up for him. Indeed, he thought of turning down this operation, but somehow, he felt this would be the closest call to discover more about Velika O'Sullivan, the woman who escaped and threatened him.
The name Velika O'Sullivan haunted him for the past month. Her name wasn't in the government files and it wasn't in any file that he could access. Maybe she lied, that wasn't her name, this thought almost convinced Daniel Heinrich until one day he sneaked into the locked file room of his company and found a document with her name in the very corner.
With excitement, he opened the folder but was more than disappointed by what he saw. The only thing written on the paper was her name and her age. On the bottom had a sentence in very fine print, addressing 'for further details, please refer to intel center. Authorization required.' He already tried to access the intel center; the online platform only could be accessed by the higher authorized persons in the organization. Daniel Heinrich was no doubt one of them, but he wasn't permitted to view her file, if he couldn't access it, then the only person could view it in the whole company would be his boss. Daniel Heinrich was firm about his thought that something was up in the air, or more like a conspiracy behind the secretive existence of Velika O'Sullivan.
Another thing he was extremely concerned about was his boss, Brian Braddock, he trusted Braddock. After all, it was Braddock who helped him accomplished his revenge and gave him a position that solved his financial problems. However, the deeper he searched for Velika O'Sullivan, the more suspicions Daniel Heinrich developed about his boss, he began to question how much power Braddock held in his hands.
The first time he had his concern was when he went to ask Braddock for authorization. Before that day, he believed they were close like brothers, and Braddock gave him a hundred percent trust, but later, he realized that everything was more complex than he presumed. Braddock rejected his inquiry and told him this was something he should keep his hands off. The expression on Braddock's face gave Daniel Heinrich the idea that his boss was afraid of certain things or certain people. Because when he heard the name Velika O'Sullivan, he was first surprised then looked terrified.
"Daniel," Braddock told him when he left the office, in a very kind and caring tone, "Don't try to find answers that you don't want to know."
Two days later when he went to deliver some paperwork to Braddock, he heard his boss talking to a woman inside the office. He quietly moved near to the window and peeked inside. Braddock was standing in front of her while she was sitting comfortably in the chair with a coffee mug in her pale, slender hand, and she had her chain up when she was talking. Right at that moment, Daniel Heinrich knew something serious was about to happen. That woman there resembled someone he knew, or at least he thought he knew, and when he finally realized who that was, he was sure that he slightly trembled.
Soon after that, he went on his 'lethal but worth it' mission, looking forward to seeing through the disguise of Velika O'Sullivan, and hopefully return alive. His mission was to get a famous painting from his old friend, well, not exactly a friend, but someone he had known for a long time, Bryce Sanchez. Daniel Heinrich had been in business with Bryce Sanchez for nearly five years, and the latter was the most wanted target of the international police. Of course, he had his source of protection. Though Daniel Heinrich, who had had a fair understanding of the principle about how Bryce Sanchez operated, every time he encountered the job that had Bryce Sanchez involved, he considered the transaction lethal, since he might be betrayed for a higher price, there were many people wanted his life more than that painting.
He was half anxious half delighted when he came back from dinner and found his hotel room door was partially open. She was here.
Quietly he went inside with a pistol in his hand, he heard music, a very soft song like a whisper in the ear. The window of the living room was open, the breeze gently blew up the curtains and she was in a red dress, lazily sitting in the armchair, buried herself in the shadow created by the dim light of the lamp, with her eyes closed and red wine in her hand.
"I thought you would take me to dinner," She said in a shiftless tone, slowly opened her eyes and glanced at him, "I even dressed up for you."
"Maybe next time." He answered, hiding the pistol behind his back.
"It's just me here." She stood up slowly and walked towards him, with a smile on her gaunt face.
"Alright," He frowned and said indifferently, "What do you want?"
"I'm here to threaten you," She still had that smile on, now she was intimately close to him, he could smell her floral-scented perfume, "You are running nowhere, Heinrich, you are trapped."
"Don't underestimate me," Daniel Heinrich smirked, "You know I can kill you right now."
"You can, but you won't." Velika O'Sullivan whispered into his ear, he could feel her warm breath, "You love to play, we all love to play."
"Where did you get that confidence?" Said him bitterly.
She laughed, took a sip of her wine, then erased her lipstick on the goblet. Velika O'Sullivan touched his face with her fingertip, traced along his cheekbone, then she kissed him.
He kissed her back like they were lovers who finally reunited after a long time of separation.
"I don't, but I just know." She winked at him, he smirked again, took over the goblet from her.
"I'll take this." Said him. She nodded, walked towards the window, sat on the edge of it, then pulled out a string from above, which she set up earlier, and disappeared in the night.
"Goodnight, Daniel Heinrich, I'll see you soon."