Prologue:

Donghae paced the room impatiently. His wife and kids had just phoned in to tell him that they had reached Macau safely.

Thank heavens for that.

He pulled back the curtains a bit. Outside, in front of the main gate of his villa, he could see police cars. There were two policemen stationed in front of the door. He knew that there were other patrol cars and policemen in the periphery of the villa.

They will be here for the rest of the night.

He let the curtains fall, hiding the window and the police cars beyond. The uneasiness he had been feeling since the emergency briefing he had attended at the President’s office was still stuck near his throat. He remembered with vivid accuracy the tinge of green on the President’s face as he had briefed them on the association of assassins who were targeting the Ministers; three of them were already dead. It meant that the President was most probably the main target, the big fish. The President had declared a state of emergency within the Ministries—he didn’t want the story to be publicized because it would make the public anxious.

“Mass anxiety leads to massacre,” the President had said.

He promised police protection for all the Ministers and their families had been safely removed from Korea lest they should come in harm’s way.

Donghae was restless tonight—he was young and brave, and he had been very successful in the Ministry. The kind of police protection he was receiving would definitely ensure that no one could touch him. But even then, his heart was heavy.

They are ruthless. And they dare to leave clues behind.

The murders were brought about by a dreaded assassin. No one knew who he was but he called himself Knightingale; after every murder, he left behind a card on the dead body with his name printed on it. He was thought to be the leader of a group of assassins who helped him to execute the operations, but he dealt the death blow in all cases—all the victims were shot from above, a single bullet passed through the skull diagonally and lodged into the heart. All the three murders had been executed in the same way; the bullets were always found in the heart. No one heard anything, not even family members.

Donghae was aroused from his thoughts as he saw a silent figure standing behind him. He almost jumped.

“It’s me,” a low voice said reassuringly.

“Oh Agent I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“It’s ok, Minister. I just came to tell you everything’s good. The police patrol would be here the entire night. You can go to sleep peacefully. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“You’re leaving?” Donghae sounded disappointed.

“I’m sorry Minister, I have work to do. We have a meeting in ten.”

“But, why can’t you guys stay as well? Our safety would increase ten folds if you did.”

“Minister, there are only 8 of us and 13 Ministers. We’re trying to figure out how to catch this man, this Knightingale. In that way, everyone will be safe.”

Donghae nodded. “I wish you luck, Agent. And give my regards to the Chief.”

“Of course, Minister. See you.”

The man left as silently as he had entered. He nodded curtly at the policemen standing guard. Once he was in his car and was speeding away towards the office, he dialed a number.

“How did it go?” a deep-set voice asked from the other end.

“All set. All police protection in place. Even a fly cannot enter.”

“Very good.” There was a pause. “Tonight will be Lee Donghae’s last night.” The line went dead.

A chill spread through him as he drove through the clear roads.

Minister, I hope you have said your prayers.

---

A ginormous thanks to riikaa-chan of ☆ ⓢPARKLE ⓛIGHT ⓡEQUEST ⓢHOP♕ for the poster, that grabs the mood of the story so well! And also a thanks goes to mickeywithoutears, the owner of the shop for her support.

Another ginormous thanks to random_reader of ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ ۩ Graphic Request Shop for the awesome background. I'm really very lucky, I get all the cool graphics, just the way I want them.

Thanks guys.