try begging
"It's a military secret, so if the report causes any disruption to the operation, you'll also be in trouble in many ways."
The coffee table was a mess. The ashtray was filled with cigar ashes and butts. There was only one glass next to a half-empty bottle of whiskey. And in front of the empty telephone receiver was a pair of women's shoes.
"Okay, let's do that."
Leon let out a weary sigh as he roughly placed the receiver on the hook as soon as the call ended. Grace had been making a big splash by shooting guns inside and outside the ship, so the press was in a tizzy. He was dizzy at the reports that local newspaper reporters were rummaging around the scene.
The chase was not over, and the clean-up of this incident was only just beginning.
It's an incident.
The reunion after a year turned out to be an incident that shattered all hopes and expectations.
"under...."
Leon suppressed something that threatened to burst out of his chest with difficulty and let out a laugh instead. He roughly threw the cigar he was holding into the ashes and stood up, causing the tie he had carelessly thrown onto the sofa to slip and fall to the floor.
Leon stared at the unpleasant sight for a moment, then walked away without picking up his tie. Everything from this hotel room to his life was already a mess. It didn't matter whether he added one more flaw or not.
I opened the window wide. A cold wind blew in, but I didn't feel cool at all.
The window was facing the harbor. This morning, the pier, which had been so crowded that there was no room to step foot, was now empty and covered in thick darkness. The ship I was supposed to be on had already sailed away long ago.
Even though I knew it was meaningless, I kept going back over the events of the day in my head. If only I had done this, if only I had done that. I asked myself these questions over and over again amidst these regrets.
Where did it go wrong?
But in the end, we were faced with the unpleasant conclusion that it was all wrong from the start.
Leon turned his gaze beyond the harbor to the city, brightly lit. The search had been going on for nearly ten hours, but had yielded no results. The vehicle Grace had used to escape had not yet been found.
I searched department stores and all kinds of stores, but there was no testimony about a young woman who went into a shoe store with only one shoe on or who bought a large quantity of baby items.
That's ridiculous. Even if the woman doesn't know, the child probably needs more than one thing.
Leon stared at the suitcase spread out on the carpet. Inside were piles of women's and children's clothes and other items.
There was no gold in the bag, as if they had all been sold. There were two or three fake IDs, but they were all Grace's.
There was nothing that gave away the child's name.
I asked the person who had been in charge of the departure inspection, but he could barely remember the information about the child written on the woman's fake passport. Even if he did remember it, it might have been fake.
In the end, all we could do was guess that it was a girl based on the clothes and testimony.
Leon, who was staring at the colorful clothes decorated with ribbons, lace, and floral embroidery with shadowy eyes, suddenly gave himself a dispiriting sneer.
When I first searched through the bag to find a clue that could help me track down the suspect, I had spread out the clothes in a haphazard manner and piled them up. Then, when I saw that the clothes of the woman and the child were starting to show wrinkles that had not been there before, I couldn't stand it any longer, so I opened them up one by one to put them back in their original shape.
Just like preserving relics in their original state.
The moment the bonnet, which had been neatly placed on top of the pile of baby clothes, was blown away by the wind and rolled down, the twisted smile on Leon's face disappeared. He immediately closed the window and picked up the bonnet that had fallen on the carpet.
Just like when I first picked it up at the dock this afternoon.
Leon sat on the sofa, holding a white cloth in his hand. The bonnet that the child had left behind was heavily imbued with Grace's body odor and the baby's scent. The scents that he knew he missed and the scents that he didn't know he missed mixed together and poured into his lungs, making his heart beat pleasantly but also painfully tight.
He felt like he was sinking right before his eyes. While he was struggling in the sea, the land had disappeared into the fog. Leon, who didn't know where to swim, might have been destined to drown in the sea.
I now know that it is harder to have something and then lose it forever than to never have it. But I have come to realize that it is better to lose it forever than to have only the vain hope of getting it back.
The letter from Grace on that table reads:
Daisy, Sally, and Grace Riddle are dead. You killed them.
So forget it.
You tell me to forget about it because it's all over, but you only do things that shake my heart.
Grace Riddle left him with a ladylike graceful farewell and a sly, seductive kiss. Even the cruelty was carried out with such loveliness that she did not want to forget it. It was clearly intentional.
You are torturing me.
With hope.
I thought Grace didn't give me a chance. Now I see that she throws me a chance to chase, like throwing a bone to a hungry dog. But she doesn't give me a chance to catch her. She throws me only a hopeless hope, like throwing a bone without any flesh attached to it.
It's bad.
Leon stroked his bonnet and let out a vain laugh.
Grace, you're really bad.
As the laughter grew louder, Leon suddenly buried his face in his hands, holding up the bonnet.
His shoulders began to shake. His sadness seeped into the cloth that had only traces of the woman and child.
º º º
Baby, please stay there.
Grace desperately prayed as she ran down the street at dawn. For some reason, all the taxis had their doors locked and wouldn't let her in. Did that son of a bitch incite her?
"ha...."
My breath was ragged and my legs were aching, I wanted to collapse, but I couldn't stop.
If we're late, Ellie will be taken away.
As soon as she turned the corner and saw the townhouse with its lights on, Grace ran to it and threw open the door.
"My dear, are you here?"
It was too late. Grace despaired the moment she came face to face with the man holding Ellie in his arms.
"Maa-."
Ellie, whose nose was red from crying for a long time, reached out to her.
"Ellie, I'm sorry about Mom."
As Grace ran to hug the child, the man twisted his body to hide the child.
"Give it here."
Grace rushed to take Ellie away, but no matter what she did, she couldn't defeat him. She was always so helpless in front of this man who had everything.
"I told you to hand over my daughter!"
"Your daughter?"
The man snorted.
"How shameless to throw something away like that."
Grace, who was momentarily speechless out of guilt, pounced again and demanded.
"Who are you calling shameless now? I raised this child all this time! I alone!"
"Alone? Are you trying to show off? Who told you to raise her alone? Grace, I prepared everything for this child. And it's all your fault that I couldn't fulfill my duty as a father."
She clenched her fists in anger, but couldn't bring herself to swing them. When Ellie, startled by the commotion, began to cry, Grace gritted her teeth and took a step back.
"You fucking son of a bitch."
Despite the swearing, the man's expression did not turn sour. Instead, the corners of his mouth twisted upward into a mean smile.
The coat was thrown to the floor. On top of it, the sweater, blouse, and skirt fell one after another. While Grace revealed herself naked, the man watched with eyes that were gleaming with desire for conquest. The man, who was born with greed, used all kinds of dirty tricks to have even her, the most insignificant being, even though he had everything.
"It turned out the way you wanted. Congratulations."
She untied her bra and muttered fiercely through her teeth. As she took off her underwear, the man's eyes, which had been cold, began to heat up. Grace glared at her throbbing neck and untied the garter string that held her stocking band in place, then pulled down her bloomers without hesitation, revealing her lower body.
"Up to there."
The man stopped Grace, leaving only her stockings on, and then leisurely approached her.
"Take off your clothes in front of a child. How vulgar."
He took off the trench coat he had on his shoulders, put it on Grace, and dragged her into his bedroom.
The moment the door opened, Grace flinched. The window was barred.
"Here... ."
For some reason it was a bedroom in a separate building and not a townhouse.
"Come in."
The man dragged her to the familiar bed, pushed her roughly, and carefully placed Ellie on the bed. The man, who was standing at the foot of the bed and looking down at Grace, swallowed like a lion who had seen its prey. He unfastened the cuffs on the end of his shirt sleeves and gave Grace an order.
"Spread it out."
She opened her legs obediently, glaring as if she was going to kill him. The man rolled up his shirt sleeves and climbed on top of Grace in his suit.