[C h a p t e r 2 9]

Henry was startled awake at dawn, the sound of his mobile ringing on his bedside table breaking the silence of the room. Sleepily, he reached out to pick it up.

“Yobuseyo?” he answered tiredly into the phone, glancing at the radio clock on his bedside. “It’s 5:43 AM. You’d better have a good reason to wake me, whoever you are.”

“Then you’d better get your lazy all the way back here, Detective,” snapped Jiseok the Superintendent over the phone. “Holiday time is over.”

Henry sat up in bed, covering his mouth with a yawn. “I was growing bored anyway. Did something happen?”

Jiseok let out a tired sigh on the other end. “Dawn struck again last night.”

The news chased away what little fatigue Henry had left as he sat upright in bed. “Did he kill someone?”

“‘She’,” corrected Jiseok. Henry seemed surprised to hear this bit of information. “Her job this time did not go as smoothly as planned. She left two witnesses and a piece of evidence.”

“He – I mean, she – messed up?” Suddenly, Henry seemed to feel a spark of hope ignite within him. It seemed as if things were starting to look up. Perhaps he did have a hope of solving this case. “Then I’ll be there as soon as possible. Give me the details.”

Henry literally hopped out of bed, throwing the sheets back as he listened to Jiseok’s directions. As soon as Jiseok finished, Henry hung up the phone and quickly dressed before packing up his belongings, which weren’t many. He then stepped out the room, knocking on Donghae’s door next to him.

It took Donghae around two minutes before he finally answered the door. “Henry? What is it? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Henry ignored Donghae’s questions. “Something’s just come up. I have to head back now so I’ll leave you to check me out later. I’ve called a cab, so you guys can take the van back.” He shoved his keys into Donghae’s hand, patting him quickly on the shoulder before walking off.

Donghae glanced confusedly between the keys in his hand and Henry’s retreating back, scratching his head as he returned back into his room. “Wonder what happened…?” he said with a yawn, throwing the keys on the bedside table before collapsing back to sleep.

Amber and the others had returned to the mansion barely an hour after her fiasco of a mission. Both she and Taehyun now stood in Lee Soo Man’s office, watching the enraged Syndicate leader pace back and forth before his desk. He suddenly came to a stop before Amber, slapping her across the face loudly.

“You… are supposed to be flawless,” growled the formidable man, fury etched into every line on his face. He then slapped her again. “You… are never meant to make mistakes. Yet you let two witnesses live, and further more, you allowed them to take your ‘necklace’. What were you thinking, Dawn?”

Amber bowed her head, accepting Lee Soo Man’s rage. “I was not thinking, Master ,” she replied in a mechanical voice. Taehyun glanced at her out the corner of his eyes, marvelling at how tame she appeared before Lee Soo Man when just moments ago she had appeared all wild.

Lee Soo Man saw the glance and turned to slap Taehyun. “Useless idiot. Get out of this room this instant!” Taehyun hurriedly bowed at the furious boss, holding his sore check as he quickly left the room.

Turning back to Amber, he came to cup her face in his hands. “Dawn… Amber… Tell me… what is wrong with you? Why have you made such an amateurish mistake this time around?”

Amber met his eyes then quickly averted them. She could never bring herself to stare in the man’s eyes for too long. Swallowing her saliva nervously, she replied, “I am tired.”

Lee Soo Man cocked his head to the side, slightly confused by her answer. “Tired?” He then released her, only to slap her across the face again. “I have just given you nearly a week’s rest at my resort. How much more rest do you need?”

Amber continued to stand there in silence, softly chewing the inside of her bleeding lip. There were a million things she desired to rage at Lee Soo Man about. She wanted to tell him that she no longer wanted to kill, no longer wanted to be ‘Dawn’. But she knew there was no point. Lee Soo Man owned her life. He had destroyed her old one in order to turn her into this two sided person, his secretary by day and his assassin by night. She was fed up with life, tired with everything in general.

Lee Soo Man studied Amber’s emotionless face, letting out a heavy sigh as he went to collapse in his chair. He then rubbed his face, the action making him truly look like an old man. “Just… go, Amber. We’ll try to figure a way out of this mess later after we’ve all had some sleep.”

Bowing obediently, Amber turned and headed for the door. She then came to a halt, her hand on the doorhandle when Lee Soo Man suddenly said, “I know not everything was your fault. I know both of them was the one who put you into that tight situation. They will be punished accordingly.”

Amber only glanced at the ground for a moment, before she turned the doorhandle and exited the room. She proceeded down the hallway, coming to a stop when Key suddenly emerged from his room. He came to stand before her, holding her gently by the chin as he inspected her red cheeks and split lip under the incandescent light.

“It seems you messed up seriously this time around, Amber,” he said once he’d finished his observation. He let her go, smiling sympathetically. “My father truly is a cruel man to do this to a girl as pretty as you.”

He then moved to Amber’s hair but she stepped back warily. “If you do not have any business with me, Master Key, then I shall excuse myself.” She was about to walk off when he suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

“Is that necklace important to you?” he suddenly asked. Amber turned to stare at him and he smiled back down at her. “Is it the same as the one I found in that tin of yours nine years ago?”

Amber’s eyebrows furrowed in suspicion as she glared back up at Key. “If it is, then so what?”

The right corner of Key’s mouth curved higher into a lopsided smile as he released Amber’s arm. “Then that explains why you stuck a knife in that man’s shoulder.” He then returned to his room, pausing at the door. “I wonder… will the one who originally gave you the thing find it?”

Amber stared back at him mildly surprised and this caused Key to laugh. He opened his door and walked in, his laughter still echoing back into the hallway through the closed door. Amber continued to stare at his door, at a loss for words. What did he mean by that? Did he find out about Henry? For some reason, Amber began to grow worried. It was as if Key’s time abroad had changed him into a more dangerous man than his father, completely different to the spoilt teenager she had first met all those years ago.

The mansion was a buzz of activity as reporters and police staff alike filled the premises. Henry squeezed his way past the reporters, ignoring their incessant questioning as they tried to probe him for answers. He then made his way over to where Jiseok and Lay both stood at the mansion’s doorway, both in a heated discussion with several other police officers. Their conversation broke off as they saw Henry approach.

“You’re finally here, Henry,” said Jiseok as he took a step towards him. Lay followed behind as the others walked off to give them some space.

Henry glanced around at the scene surrounding him. “I take it she killed more people than only her target?” he asked when he saw several body bags lying near the steps.

“Six in total. And all by herself, too,” replied Jiseok with a shake of his head. “I’m still amazed a woman was behind all this.”

“Women can be strong, too, Superintendent,” . “How many more times do I have to tell you that?”

Jiseok exchanged a small glance with Henry that said, ‘Women!’ “Anyway, at apparently 11:47 PM last night, one of the security guards noticed a black shadow making its way through the garden. The security cameras-” Jiseok pointed at the black domes below several of the lamp posts. “- are hooked up onto two networks, an inner and an outer. When they began noticing Dawn, the guards began to wonder why the lasers hadn’t tripped or why the cameras on the outer wall hadn’t Show her climbing over. They went to do a check and found that the cameras were, in fact, playing a loop. They also found that the lasers were off, even though the monitoring system said they were still online. Unfortunately, by the time they realised that, Dawn had already reached the room and they then heard several gunshots being fired.”

He then turned, leading Henry over to where an ambulance was located. Inside were a woman and a child, mourning with silent sobs over the dead Kim Hyun Woo’s body. The sight tore at Henry’s heart as he was suddenly reminded of Josephine.

Jiseok then led them away, heading over to where a police van was parked, picking up a small plastic zip lock bag. “Those two witnessed Dawn killing Hyunwoo but due to the trauma, we haven’t been able to get anymore information from them besides the fact that Dawn is a woman. However-” He paused as he lifted the bag up to Henry’s eyes. “The girl managed to snatch this necklace from Dawn. We are intending to-”

Henry had suddenly snatched the bag from Jiseok, his eyes growing wide as he recognised the necklace. It was absolutely identical… there could be no doubt about it. The merchant he had bought it from had said that it was one of a kind, his very own design. So why was Dawn wearing this exact same necklace?

Both Lay and Jiseok exchanged a worried glance with one another. “Is there something wrong, Henry?” asked Lay.

Henry snapped out of his thoughts as he peered up at their suspicious glances. He then handed the necklace back to Jiseok, shaking his head. “Nothing… I just thought… I might have seen this design somewhere…”

Jiseok raised a brow as he turned to peer back down at the necklace. “It does seem like one of those cheap ones you can find anywhere. Although, I have to admit it would probably have been difficult to find it with a heartshape so unique.”

Henry continued to stare at the necklace in Jiseok’s hand, deep in thought. He was sure the necklace was one of a kind. He had even gone looking for the same merchant again back in Gangnam Do to make him another one after Josephine had died. But now, it had suddenly reappeared. As his superintendent continued to describe the rest of the details about the case, he couldn’t help but think: what did Josephine’s necklace have to do with Dawn?

Tbc.

Henry found the necklace!! Told you this chapter would be obvious. AAAAND as to why i called Amber as Dawn it's actually no particular reason nor isit link i just felt the name would be right for a mysterious killer... teehee

Next Chapter: Back to the past - Josephine goes to retrieve something precious...