The Devil's Sweetheart

Leena was tired of detailing all the places she visited for three long years. "I feel like my cheeks have thinned, Devin. I am going to stop now."

"I am sorry for that darling. Now you can sleep happily." He whispered pulling the blanket up to her chin but Leena tossed it aside. Unexpectedly, she remembered a thing she wanted to discuss with him and instantly got up from the bed. "I forgot to show you an important thing."

"What is it?" He turned his attention to her, throwing the file aside.

"You need to close your eyes for that."

"If it is something about banana again, I don't want to see." He stubbornly declined.

"Don't insult my baby bananas," Leena pursed her lips into a pout. "Just close your eyes, idiot. You are wasting time."

"Alright." The moment Devin closed his eyes, Leena scurried off to another room and in a jiffy, she appeared in front of Devin with a case in her hand.

"You can open your eyes, now." Leena opened the box, with a smile, she raised the picture to his eye level. "Ta-da." Like a child, she squealed when he opened his eyes and looked a the picture.

He attentively gazed at the picture where a girl was sitting next to the boy. The boy is certainly him but the girl...

Leena's mood turned sour seeing his complicated expression. So, he doesn't remember at all.

"Is this kid you?" Devin was a little wary about it. The features of the little girl looked similar to Leena but he was still not certain. He doesn't want to slip his tongue until he was sure.

"You finally realized?" Leena studied his face with mocking eyes. "It's you and me in the picture." She barked.

Devin was not able to comprehend whether he was seeing or hearing things. He grabbed the photo and looked at the picture where he was kissing Leena on the cheek. We knew each other since we were little? So, this is what dad told him on that day? Even fates brought us together?

"Don't you remember us, Devin? You must be around six years when the pictures were taken." Leena asked again hoping that he might have recalled it at least now. Since she was so small and doesn't remember, she wanted to hear their stories. How Devin was coaxing her when she was crying? She could have asked aunt Eve but hearing from Devin would be a thrilling experience.

"I_I_" Devin sputtered unable to come up with an excuse. When he was four, he remembered the day his dad bought a remote car and he even remembers his grandfather's gift when he was five. To hold Leena's hand and kiss her on the cheek, he must be close to her. But why can't he remember anything about her? Nothing was making sense to him.

"I can't recall, Leena." With a sigh, he confessed with a downcast look, and Leena's trances shattered again.

Seeing the sullen look on her face, he pulled her closer and whispered. "I am sorry, darling. I will ask dad or mom about our stories and I will tell you all the naughty things we did in our childhood."

"Do you think I can't ask them by myself?" Leena barked at him. She was mad. Every time, she asks him, his reply would be the same. He did not hit his head anywhere but why can't he remember things? He has no idea why he likes photography and he doesn't even know why he named his private jet Raven. Leena wondered how he has been named as one of the highest IQ people. He has taken several IQ tests and received the highest scores but doesn't remember the crucial things in his life.

"I am sleepy. Good night." She muttered and went under the blanket. She doesn't have any mood to talk with him now.

"Are you mad at_"

Before he could finish his last words, she covered her face fully and turned to the other side.

She started the cold war!

"If I bring her a dress, she would jump and kiss me." He grumbled under his breath and went into the other room where he has hidden the papers and pictures that he brought earlier.

'It's not safe to put it in this home. I have to transfer them somewhere where Leena can't see." He opened the letters and studied but there was no clue about them. Just then he received a message and opened it to see it was from Kurt.

[KW: I am coming back to New York permanently ]

[Vincy: What made you change the decision suddenly]

[Kurt: To catch Elysian]

Catch Elysian? Why did he think that Elysian is in New York? Devin wondered.

....

A few hours before...

Leaning on his chair, Kurt closed his eyes trying to think of the possible ways to solve the puzzle. For the past two months, his thoughts would always drift to the puzzle except when he was working on a case. He used to watch crime movies in the free time but now the time has been occupied by that bastard. Abruptly, he got up and banged his hand on the table in anger. "Just you wait, bastard. I will put you under the bars one day for torturing me."

Kurt stopped cursing when he received a message.

[Sylvia: Can you pick my daughter at school and drop her home? My husband is out of the station and I am at the fieldwork. I can't reach in time if I start now]

[Kurt: Okay]

Kurt didn't have work for the moment, so, he drove to the school and waited for Sylvia's daughter sitting in the car. When he heard a knock, he lifted the door and smiled at the girl.

"Lately you have become a busy body, Kurt baby. You don't visit home at all."

"That's why I have made time for our little summer today." He ruffled her hair and opened the door for her.

Once they reached the home, Summer insisted Kurt stay until her mom arrives. Since she didn't have any work, Kurt agreed.

"Wait for a while. I will bring some snacks." Summer dashed throwing her backpack on the couch.

Kurt slumped on the chair and grabbed the piece of paper from his wallet which he always carries with him. Not before a minute he started, he got a call and went out of the house to take it.

Just then summer came and looked for Kurt but he wasn't there except a piece of paper lying on the table. "It seems to be a puzzle." Being an enigma zealot, she would hunt for puzzles.

But the code seemed very tough even for a puzzle lover like Summer. What could it be? Summer grabbed a pen and began formulating permutations and combinations with the puzzle.

[CRO2RH03SN030BE]

At first, she couldn't understand anything but the more she looked at the line, the more she felt familiar with the words.

CRRHSNBE02...

She strikes off the line and thought of another method and wrote lines after lines until she was satisfied. Finally, when she rearranged, summer was shocked.

CR(02) RH(O3) SN(03) BE(0)

"OMG! Chromium, Rhodium, Tin, and Beryllium. They are chemical compounds." Summer squealed in excitement.

"CR(02)is chromium dioxide, Chromium with two molecules of oxygen. CR's atomic number is 24, and the two molecules of oxygen would sum it up to 16 and the total would be 24+16 which is equal to 40. RH03 total atomic value would be 69, SN03 would be 74 and 0BE would be 20" Summer calculated the atomic number of all the compounds and wrote the final answer in the paper.

[40 69 74 20]

"But it doesn't make any sense. It's just random numbers."

Just then Kurt entered ending his call and when he saw Summer holding the paper, he dashed towards her and grabbed it.

"You shouldn't_"

His thoughts halted when he saw the calculations in the paper."D_id you solve this, summer?"

"Yeah. But I don't think there is a connection_"

"I have seen these numbers somewhere," Kurt interrupted. Where did I see? They seem familiar.

Just then Sylvia entered the house and looked at Kurt seriously analyzing the puzzle again.

"Can't you keep that puzzle for_"

"Quickly bring the map, Sylvia." He blasted at her giving no room for talks.

"O_kay." Can't he see it on his mobile? Even then, Sylvia went into the study room and brought the map.

Kurt scanned the map attentively. Being a civil servant, he solved many cases and he felt that the numbers are related to a place.

And he found it.

He grabbed the pen and circled the coordinates around a particular place. The numbers perfectly sit well with the puzzle except for the last number.

He reanalyzed the puzzle and made slight adjustments.

"0BE: Beryllium's atomic number is 4 and if I combine it with 0 it would be 04. The final result would be 40 69 74 04."

That's it. They are the latitudes and longitudes of a place he highlighted on the map.

"Statue of Liberty's coordinates," Sylvia exclaimed with a gasp.

"New York," Kurt was amazed by the result. Indeed, Elysian has lived up to his expectations. Two levels he has to decode to get the clue of his where abouts.

"Is this what he is trying to tell? Elysian is in New York. He was telling me to catch him in New York." Kurt's happiness knew no bounds. He finally found the traces of his enemy.

"Thanks a lot, Summer. You were a great help today." He hugged the girl and walked out of the house in a frenzy.

Right when he entered the car, he messaged the director in charge of the New York field's office.

[Marianee: Does my offer still holds?]

[Kurt: It's always a yes]

[Marianne: I will meet you at the New York office soon]