Daniel Heinrich was at the porch of Kyle Henderson's house, he hesitated for several seconds before he knocked. He was never much of an acquaintance of the professor, they were much of just business partners. In Daniel Heinrich's mind, a man like Kyle Henderson, who had a Ph.D. and barely stayed out of school could never join him to make some extra earnings. Partially Daniel Heinrich believed Kyle Henderson met Adelaide Fox before he started associating with the circle like the one she used to be in. The legend of Miss Ade wasn't novel for him, he had heard countless times that she was the best agent Natural ever had and she was the key to build the Leontes empire. The Leontes tried their best to make Velika O'Sullivan the second Miss Ade, but even Velika O'Sullivan had to admit reluctantly, she was far away from her idol.
"A woman who was in Romeo's dream for years, maybe still now," Said Velika O'Sullivan with a shrug, "who also made today's Bryce Sanchez. How can I compete?"
Now Daniel Heinrich became more curious about what did that woman see in Kyle Henderson, even he was curious enough before when he didn't know who the wife was. He rolled up his sleeves neatly and knocked on the door.
Seconds later, the door was open, and the woman stood in front of him.
In Daniel Heinrich's memory, or more like part of it was made of imagination, he was expecting to see a charming woman with astonishing features that might even outrage Astoria Leontes. Perhaps because he had too much expectation, when he saw the woman, who had a smile on her face, standing at the doorway, he was a little disappointed.
She was a tiny woman, not even as tall as Velika O'Sullivan, who was at a pretty average height. The waves of her hair were sort of messy and dripped down aimlessly, her brown hair didn't seem styled exquisitely daily. There was no makeup on her pale, freckled face, she did have big, beautiful brown eyes, tiny, delicate nose, and thin lips, but there was no way for one to tell what she used to be and linked her to a seductive spy.
"How can I help you?" She asked in a soft tone, all she could remind Daniel Heinrich was the nice neighbor next door who potentially had three children.
"My name is Daniel Heinrich," He answered politely, didn't know if this was as nice as her cover, "And do you mind me asking if Dr. Kyle Henderson is home?"
"My husband is on some errands and will be back in around half an hour," She smiled again, stepped away and let him in, "If you don't mind, come in and take a seat, I'll get you some tea."
"It's very nice of you," He smiled back, the slight uneasy arose in his heart, this woman probably knew everything about him, but now she was pretending this was the first time she knew his existence, "Mrs. Henderson."
"Just Adelaide," She led him to the living room, "Or Ade, if you like."
Dangerous. Daniel Heinrich sensed the danger in the air, thought this woman looked nothing peculiar than ordinary people, out of the blue, he felt he had to be extremely cautious around her. Maybe it was because he heard more than enough of her stories, a woman who conquered both Romeo Leontes and Bryce Sanchez must be far away from ordinary, depict her not so outstanding features. He did meet her once before, but she remembered her being different, but that was years ago, perhaps as she aged and became more mature, she appeared to be different.
He doubted if she remembered him.
"So," She sat down in front of him after passing him the tea, and crossed her legs, "I'm not going to pretend that I've never met you, and have small talk about the weather, not today. And you know who I am."
She stopped, carefully observing his reaction. He squinted his eyes, signaled her to continue.
"I may be out of the business for a long time, but I still manage to get all the information," She laughed bitterly, "It's hard to see the empire you built up slowly falling apart."
"Why do you offer help?" Daniel Heinrich asked in a questionable tone, "I thought you want to stay as far away as you can."
"Yes," She still has that smile on, the smile he couldn't interpret and partially bothered him, "well, since Kyle is involved, I have to do something about it."
"Does he know about your old profession?" He asked mockingly.
"A little," She laughed again, then suddenly stopped, she looked directly into his eyes, and this stare gave him shiver, "But he does not know what level I used to be at."
Daniel Heinrich wanted to ask how she hid so well from her significant other, but he couldn't, her look told him to stop asking. This woman seemed nice and genuine but indeed she was the one with the most secret that Daniel Heinrich had never met in his life. She was a legend and probably will always be. He couldn't comprehend how she got out of his career without being hurt, or seriously hurt, depended on what sacrifice she made.
"How well do you know Velika O'Sullivan?" She asked with a frown.
"Not that well." He answered decently. Indeed, he knew some parts about Velika O'Sullivan, knew her struggle and scandalous past but he had no idea what she was trying to hide from him, even he was sure that she was far away from completely opening up to him.
"Oh dear," She laughed, "Why would you even try to pretend that you don't care?"
This woman was dangerous, Daniel Heinrich had this thought for countless times. It wasn't hard to assume, or more like for sure, that she knew everything even though she was never part of it. Adelaide Henderson observed everything under her eyes despite the fact she was gone for years. Daniel Heinrich started to wonder if she actually left the business behind or, she was secretly playing an important role in it.
Then he heard the door opened, Kyle Henderson was back, Adelaide Henderson stood up and went to give her husband a warm welcoming hug. Daniel Heinrich stood up with his teacup in his hand, gave the man a brief nod. Kyle Henderson was a middle-aged man, tall, average build with light blonde hair and light blue eyes, his skin was also pale he wasn't exposed under the sun very often, of course, he wasn't, he was a university professor. He looked friendly and Daniel Heinrich could imagine him being the well-dressed old man in the senior home talking to the staff there about his glorious past, how close he was to win a Nobel prize. Yes, Kyle Henderson looked exactly like how Daniel Heinrich remembered him.
When they looked into each other's eyes, both of them looked concerned.
"What brought you here, Heinrich?" I asked the professor in a low voice with a slightly defensive tone.
Daniel Heinrich noticed Adelaide Henderson gave him a deep glare before she went into the study, leaving the two men in the living room. The atmosphere was indescribably intense.
"I know you who you work for." Daniel Heinrich said dryly, he tried his best to sound nice, but he failed, "And I'm hoping you can do me a favor."
"What makes you think that?" Kyle Henderson laughed ironically, he put down his briefcase and sat down on the sofa, "Everyone in the business knows you are the primary target, along with that woman named Velika O'Sullivan. Why would I step my foot in this dirty water?"
"Do you want to stay in this forever?" Daniel Heinrich rose his voice a little, "I presume you can have a more than decent life if you only work as a professor. Are you sure you like to do a side career dangerous like this?"
"You don't own the right to judge me." The professor sounded aggressive and offended, "I need support for my recent social experiment."
"Would it be easier if you are free?" Daniel Heinrich questioned back, attempted to sound sincere, "You have a family. I hope you can be generous and do me a favor, then we can all get out of this together, don't make your wife worry, Henderson."
Kyle Henderson kept silence while Daniel Heinrich stared at him directly into his eyes, they just stared at each other in a partially creepy way. Then, the German put down his teacup and sighed, he left the house without looking back, he knew his duty was completed and all he had to do was wait for the professor to get back to him. Patience was all he needed.
###
Velika O'Sullivan wiped off the steam on the mirror with her left hand, her fingers were long and pale, with distinguished bones. Emotionlessly, she stared at her reflection, her hair is about shoulder length, the blonde highlight has almost completely faded away, her dark hair was wet and messily scattered on her cheeks and she had no intention to flip it away.
Then she turns back, there were several quotes on her right shoulder, she just got these tattooed several months ago, just on the opposite side of the dragon tattoo. With all the tattoos and piercing she had, she was a perfect example of a rebel, which she denied being one. She sighed, finally flips the hair back, and put on an old T-shirt, slowly she walked to the kitchen barefoot. The floor was ice cold, she was awakened by the coldness, she grabbed the coffee she makes before she went to shower and made her stop in front of the huge window in her living room.
She sat down on the couch, placed her legs on the tea table, suddenly she saw the tattoo she had a long time ago on her right calf, the sword with a snake climbed on it, she seemed forgot about its existence until today she surprisingly discovered it again. No doubt she had a lot of tattoos, each representing a period she went through, they were like stamps, witness the road that she had taken.
The dim, orange light of the lamp gave her cozy and relaxing feelings, like she was in the arm of the night, being hugged, patted, and protected. Perhaps out of her career, or the long-term loneliness she had for years, she was always insecure, even after she became neighbors and partially close friends with Daniel Heinrich. Sometimes she was disappointed at herself, her insecurities were growing more and more recently, perhaps she already used to have someone around, and whenever Daniel Heinrich was late from work, or on a trip, she found herself have trouble sleeping, she was constantly worried that someone would pay a malicious visit to her when her partner in crime was out of reachable distance.
Nearly twelve, and she was still wide awake. She was aware even she goes to bed now, she couldn't sleep, this troubled her and agitated her as she gradually becoming the type of woman she hated, the yawning, depending type.
A year was too long for her, long enough to start over and regardless the consequences before, but she never let her cautions faded away, she kept racking with all the sources she could have her hands on for what Astoria Leontes was up to, she figured her former alliance was studying for a doctoral degree in the university for the biology major, this surprised her and made her wonder what that woman was up to. However, Velika O'Sullivan devoted herself to restarting her life, and she made it, then she regretted it.
People just can't get everything they want, just can't, when they get things they long for, most of the time they figure it turns to be even worse.
The clock struck twelve, a new day began in the dark, she believed darkness is the mother of brightness, all the hopes are born in desperation, and that's how she got her life.
She stood up to dump her cold coffee in the sink, she didn't bother herself to switch on the light, for some reason she enjoyed walking in the dark, the feeling of unknown attracts her, the enthusiasm of exploring strange and dangerous things are still there in her heart, though she thought she had buried them, hid them, shoveled them away, they were there and will always be there.
She was 27 now, and Daniel Heinrich was 30, normal people at their age already settled and had a family, but not them, probably never would be them. Indeed, she wanted to settle down, had a real husband and children, but she couldn't, her job wouldn't let her live a normal life like that, she had to hide everything she had under the table, so was Daniel Heinrich. She kept thinking about what she could get after the end of this so-called war for years. Either Romeo or Astoria Leontes came into power would not do her good. Just like her existence bothered them, their existence also troubled her. Velika O'Sullivan was not a killer, she always had the soft spot when she had to kill someone she knew, even only a little. However, at this stage, regardless of how reluctant she was, she had to admit that the only way for her to put everything to an end was to terminate both the Leontes.
"Heinrich," She said abruptly one morning when she was smoking again, "We have to kill the Leontes."
"What?" He wasn't quite awake yet, but he was already in shock.
"They need to go," She said firmly, "This is the only way for us to stay safe for the rest of our lives. They want us dead and vice versa. It is a real game now."
Daniel Heinrich was silent for a few seconds then he sighed:
"I agree."