"Morning."
"..."
The next day, Locke opened the bathroom door while drying his hair. Seeing Gwen step out of her bedroom just in time, he smiled and greeted her.
But Gwen simply glanced at Locke. Then, with complete indifference, she pushed him aside and walked straight into the bathroom herself.
Locke stood in place, lowered his head, and could not help but laugh softly.
He obviously knew why Gwen was being moody. It was because she had left her door unlocked for him last night, but Locke had never gone over.
There was nothing he could do about it.
By the time Locke returned last night, it was already close to four in the morning. Going to Gwen's room at that hour did not seem like a good idea, so he stayed away.
Evidently, Gwen was throwing a tantrum over this.
This...
Locke felt a bit amused. After all, the Gwen he knew and interacted with never seemed to get angry, at least not with him.
So my Gwen can actually get mad too.
Locke smiled. He looked down the empty hallway and listened to the voices downstairs. George, who always slept early and woke up early, was already down there helping Helen busy herself.
Locke turned around.
Click!
"...What are you doing?"
"I will help you wash."
"No need, it is too late."
"It is not too late, I can wash thoroughly."
"I am going to scream!"
"Then I am leaving."
"..."
Half an hour passed.
Helen looked at Gwen as she walked down the stairs with a flushed face and smiled.
"You look quite energetic."
Gwen twitched her lips and continued down the stairs. "Mom, let me help you."
Locke followed her down the stairs and greeted George, who was already sitting at the dining table. "Good morning, George."
George glanced at Locke, let out a reserved grunt, and said, "Let us eat. The precinct just called; there has been progress on the case."
Locke's eyes lit up.
Gwen came over from the kitchen holding plates for herself and Locke. She pulled out a chair and sat down. "Who is it, Dad?"
George looked at Locke, who had just taken a seat. "Have you heard of Buson Veach?"
Locke shook his head.
"Who is that?"
"An unlicensed private investigator. He said he found out from the newspapers that your photo album was selling like hotcakes, so he wanted to see if he could dig up some dirt on you and blackmail you for money."
"..."
Holy crap.
This must be the work of Mr. Nobody.
Locke thought to himself, displaying a perfectly timed look of surprise as he exchanged a glance with Gwen.
Gwen blinked. "For real?"
George nodded and said.
"Supervisor Colin from the FBI found the lead. That Buson Veach already confessed, and they even recovered the remaining bugs from his house. However, he bought those bugs from the black market, so the case was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security due to national security concerns."
Impressive.
So the FBI could know, and SHIELD could know, but the NYPD was the only one kept in the dark?
After all, whether it was the FBI or SHIELD, from a certain perspective, they belonged to the government just like the CIA, while the NYPD belonged to the local government.
So this was yet another classic textbook case of the feds teaming up to bully the local police.
But...
Locke looked at George with some curiosity. "Then how did he get into the Star Tower? The security at Star Tower is not weak at all, is it?"
He was very curious about how this part was explained.
George said, "A security guard at the main entrance let him in that day. In exchange, Buson Veach gave that guard a thousand dollars as a reward. Last night, after a whole night of psychological struggle, that guard went to the precinct to turn himself in and confessed to the transaction between him and Buson Veach."
Locke nodded.
Well, this excuse could not be called totally absurd, and it actually had a very high level of credibility.
Star Tower's security was indeed tight, but no matter how tight security is, it still requires people to guard it. If someone just directly bribes the guard, then walking in is no different from going home.
Hearing this, Gwen could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then she said somewhat speechlessly,
"Is this guy an idiot? Locke has money, but Locke also has a team of lawyers."
George chuckled. "As long as you catch Locke's dark secrets, no team of lawyers will be of any use."
With that.
George raised his head to look at Locke. "Fortunately, this Buson Veach confessed that he even walked around your apartment looking for any secrets you might have, but found absolutely nothing. Then right after he installed the wiretaps and before anything could even be recorded, you discovered it."
When saying this sentence, George seemed to look a bit disappointed.
Was it an illusion?
No, George is just hoping I have some dark secrets.
Locke's face darkened inwardly. On the surface, he glanced at Gwen and looked at George with the absolute confidence of a gentleman.
"Gwen knows where my money comes from. Last weekend at Star Tower, Gwen helped me organize my third-quarter income to make it easier to file taxes next year."
For last year's tax filing, Locke had handed it over to the Lawn Law Firm for help. But clearly, Gwen could not stand his behavior of wasting thirty thousand dollars for nothing. So, while consulting the family tax expert Helen, she also helped Locke methodically organize his tax receipts quarter by quarter.
So...
From a certain perspective, Locke truly achieved complete transparency. He held nothing back and hid nothing from Gwen, directly proving with his actions that when they get married in the future, he will not do a prenuptial agreement.
Gwen said to George, "Yeah, Dad, every penny of Locke's money comes completely fair and square. What dark secrets could he have? At most, it is just underage drinking, but how can that count as a dark secret? You can't possibly hold onto that to threaten Locke into the police station. Besides, the station wouldn't take it seriously anyway, right, Dad?"
Generally speaking, underage drinking was indeed not taken seriously.
But this wild boar.
George glanced at Locke with a very bright smile.
Want to try me?
Locke also smiled very politely.
Helen watched from the side, feeling as if she were seeing a replay of the scene when her own father and George were together. She smiled helplessly and chose to stand on Locke's side.
"Locke is very good. Last month, when your precinct held another fundraising gala, what was the name of Tony Stark's secretary again?"
Gwen said, "Pepper, Pepper Potts. She is a friend of mine and Locke's."
Helen nodded. "Right, Ms. Potts. Didn't Ms. Potts also say she envies the love between Locke and Gwen?"
George rolled his eyes.
This is a total disaster.
He could not stay in this house any longer.
George drained the coffee in his cup, stood up, and walked toward the door.
"In short, the case is closed."
The underlying meaning was: Tonight when I come home, I do not want to see you in my house anymore.
'This is my home.'
George felt that he had absolutely no status left in this household.
What?
What about his sons?
Heh.
They were just background characters.
Watching George prepare to leave, Locke also finished eating the pancake in his hand and stood up.
"I should leave too."
The mission regarding Lorraine Broughton had not been completed yet.
If he stayed at Gwen's house, Mr. Nobody would not find an opportunity to recruit him.
What kind of situation was this.
Then again, being a CIA agent was not exactly a great gig either. Locke felt like he was practically rushing over to become a CIA agent himself.
But...
To complete a mission and make money, anything goes.
Originally, Locke was still thinking about how to find an opportunity to go back today. After all, if the case had not been resolved, Gwen would definitely not let him out of her sight.
He did not expect Mr. Nobody to have already thought ahead.
Forget it.
This could also be considered a show of sincerity.
Locke thought to himself.
He hoped that Mr. Nobody would come over quickly. After all, after hearing that the case was over and that it was just a false alarm, Gwen also expressed that she was going to Dr. Connors' lab to continue being an industrious intern assistant.
"Achoo!"
Manhattan, the open-air rooftop café of the Empire State Building.
Wearing sunglasses, Mr. Nobody rubbed his nose and smiled at his old friend sitting opposite him.
"After staying overseas for so long, the air of the homeland feels a bit unfamiliar."
Sitting opposite him, roughly the same age as Mr. Nobody and also from Langley, Hubble laughed heartily.
"Then let us swap positions."
Hubble, a veteran of Langley, had his own team just like Mr. Nobody. However, unlike Mr. Nobody whose responsibilities lay in the beautiful scenic parts of Europe, Hubble's primary area of responsibility was the Lubyanka.
Mr. Nobody laughed out loud.
"How are things over at the Lubyanka?"
Hubble shook his head. "How else could it be? You played the scene so perfectly, and you even intentionally leaked the news to those traitors who sold their souls for money."
Mr. Nobody said, "Look on the bright side. Once we are done using them and catch them, the money will still be ours. When the time comes, the car goes to me, the house goes to you. The old rules."
Hubble did not take the bait on that topic, instead asking curiously, "When do you plan to go?"
Mr. Nobody countered, "What about you?"
The reason Hubble appeared in New York was also to recruit an agent.
Jack Ryan.
He was originally a doctoral student. Four years ago, after the 9/11 incident occurred, the patriotic Jack Ryan abandoned his studies, joined the military, and became a Marine to head to Iraq.
Last year, because his helicopter was shot down, even under circumstances where he was heavily injured and practically unable to stand up, he dragged his comrade out of the danger zone.
Now, Jack Ryan was undergoing rehabilitation at a military post-war recovery center in New York, and Hubble had been observing him for quite a long time.
"In a few days."
Hubble glanced up at the sky.
"The weather forecast says there will be a rainstorm in a few days. I will go then. What about you?"
It was indeed about time to go. Otherwise, once Jack Ryan recovered, if he dived right back into the military, wouldn't he lose out big time?
"That works out perfectly. We can train them together when the time comes."
"You still haven't said when you are going to do your recruitment."
"When?"
Mr. Nobody put down the empty coffee cup in his hand, stood up, and buttoned his suit jacket.
"Right now, of course. You already know about him. If I go any later, a guy like you might try to poach him right out from under me. I am definitely not giving you that chance."
"..."