The Target (35 page)

B
Y THE TIME ELEANOR AND
her children came to, Robie and Reel had had their weapons taken from them and they stood with their hands behind their heads. Their faces were ashen and they swayed on their feet, looking nauseated and unbalanced.

“Oh my God,” said Eleanor as she rose, pulling her children up with her and then putting them protectively behind her.

Composing himself, Robie said to the North Koreans, “This place is surrounded. You’re not going to get away. If you surrender now, you will not be harmed.” He knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that the North Koreans didn’t care about getting away. He could see it in all their faces.

Five men and one woman. The woman was dressed as a pirate. She looked vaguely familiar.

Chung-Cha stepped forward and said, “We are here to right the wrongs of your president.”

Reel said, “Gotta tell you, this is not a great way to go about it.”

Chung-Cha said, “You and he were in our country. You took prisoners that belonged to us. Your country planned to kill our leader. For that you must and you will pay. All of you.”

Eleanor said, “I have no idea what—”

Jing-Sang fired shots into the ceiling. “Do not interrupt, woman!” he roared, as Eleanor, Claire, and Tommy dropped to their knees, shaking with fear.

Chung-Cha continued. “You will all die right here. This will be a message to the world that the evil empire of America cannot and will not attack our great country without retribution that is fierce and swift and noble.”

Robie said, “You’ll need hostages to get out of here. Five is unmanageable. Take me and my partner. Like you said, we were the ones over there. We took your prisoners. These folks did nothing. Leave them here and use us to get out of here.”

“We are not getting out of here,” said Jing-Sang. He pointed his muzzle at the floor. “We die right here. After
you
do, that is.”

“So this is a suicide mission,” said Reel.

Jing-Sang smiled and shook his head. “It is death with great honor.”

He looked at Chung-Cha. “Comrade Yie is the very best that we have. She has killed more enemies of our country than you could possibly imagine. Your deaths will at least be efficiently done, that I can guarantee.”

Chung-Cha sliced the air with her hand and Jing-Sang fell silent and took a respectful step back, bowing as he did so.

Chung-Cha slipped a pair of knives from sheaths riding on her belt. The blades were customized, serrated and slightly curved. She looked first at Robie and then at Reel.

Robie expected to see a face of pure hatred staring at him. Or perhaps he would only be looking at a blank face, all humanity long since driven from her.

But that was not what was staring back at him.

Jing-Sang said nervously, “Comrade Yie, we must hurry. We killed many of the enemy, but they will undoubtedly have more on the way.”

Chung-Cha nodded, said a few words in Korean, and then looked at Robie and Reel.

She said, in English, “I am sorry for this.”

Then she attacked.

She turned and gutted Jing-Sang with one of her knives, ripping upward. His gun fell from his grip but she snatched it before it hit the floor. She fired once, hitting the next man in the brain. With her free hand she threw her other knife and it plunged into the third man’s chest.

The other two men were stunned by Chung-Cha’s action but opened fire. However, she had gripped the third man, spun him around, and used his body as a shield, absorbing the fired rounds.

She then pushed him forward into the two men, dropped low, slid across the floor, and kicked the legs of the fourth man out from under him. As he fell, she pulled the knife free from the chest of the third man and raked it across the throat of the fourth man. Arterial spray covered her and the floor.

Chung-Cha never stopped moving. She somersaulted across the floor as the remaining man fired at her but missed.

Robie and Reel had grabbed the first family and thrown them behind the table again. Then the pair scrambled across the room to retrieve their weapons.

But they were not as fast as Chung-Cha. She had pushed off the far wall, flipping completely over the last man. As she went past him the thin razor line was revealed in her hands. She slipped the wire around the man’s neck while she was in midair, hit the ground on both feet, and pulled with all her strength, at the same time crossing her arms and forming an X.

The man gurgled once and then dropped to the floor, bleeding out a few seconds later from his nearly severed head.

Chung-Cha straightened and then dropped the wire. She turned to look at the devastation she had wrought. Five men dead, all by her hand, all in less than a minute. She was breathing rapidly, her eyes focused and her limbs tensed.

She turned to face Robie and Reel, who had their weapons now. They were pointed at her, but neither agent had a finger on the trigger guard.

Robie said, “You want to explain why you just did what you did?”

Chung-Cha looked back at Eleanor and her children as they slowly rose from behind the table. Eleanor put her hands over Claire’s and Tommy’s faces so they wouldn’t see the dead men.

“I hope that you are not hurt,” said Chung-Cha.

Eleanor slowly shook her head, but her face betrayed her bewilderment.

“I’m okay,” she said slowly. “We’re okay. Thanks to you.”

Chung-Cha turned back to Robie and Reel.

Reel took a cautious step forward. “That was the most amazing piece of close-quarter combat I’ve ever seen,” she said admiringly. “But like my partner said, why?”

“We were sent here to kill them,” said Chung-Cha, indicating Eleanor and her children. “The others always intended to do this.”

“But not you?” asked Robie.

Chung-Cha did not answer right away. “I do not know,” she said. “But in the end I could not kill this family,” she added. “I just could not.”

“Change of heart?” asked Reel with a skeptical look.

“I do not have a heart,” said Chung-Cha firmly. “I am from Yodok. I will always be from Yodok. They took my heart many years ago. You cannot grow another back.”

“Yodok,” said Robie. “Then you were…?”

“Yes.”

Reel studied her more closely and said, “I’ve seen you before. Near the beach. You were with a little girl.”

Chung-Cha nodded. “Her name is Min.”

Tommy spoke up. “She was dressed as a frog. She told me she was ten. And that she needed help or something.”

Robie looked at Chung-Cha with incredulity. “You brought a child on the mission?”

Chung-Cha said fiercely, “Min is not involved with any of this. She is innocent. She is just a little girl. From Yodok too. She still has her heart. Do not take it from her. Please do not. She is just a little girl who knows nothing.”

Reel looked at her. “Why did you bring Min here?”

“I told my superiors it was for part of our cover. That Americans do not think badly of children.”

“But the real reason?”

“To get her out of my country. To give her…a chance…elsewhere.”

Chung-Cha reached into her pocket and slipped out one of the poison vials. “None of us were supposed to survive this,” she said.

Robie said, “Death with great honor?”

“Including Min,” said Chung-Cha slowly. “But I…I could not let that happen. She has done nothing wrong. Min is just a child. An innocent child.”

“Then I don’t think you lost your heart at Yodok either,” Reel said quietly.

Robie added, “But it was still extraordinary to turn on your own team.”

“I…am…just…tired of it,” said Chung-Cha simply, and her limbs relaxed as she said it. “Of it all.”

Robie and Reel exchanged a knowing glance. He said, “What is your name? Other than Comrade Yie.”

“Chung-Cha.”

“Who were those men, Chung-Cha?” asked Reel, indicating the dead.

“From my country. Their identities do not matter. There are many just like them back home. There will always be many just like them back home.”

“I won’t lie to you, Chung-Cha,” said Robie. “You’re in a world of trouble. Even with what you did here.”

Eleanor said, “But surely saving our lives will count for a great deal.”

“You’ll have to cooperate and give a full debriefing,” said Reel. “Exactly how you were able to get here undetected, how you knew of their itinerary, how you breached security—”

The shot rang out and the bullet pierced Chung-Cha’s neck.

Robie and Reel looked over at the curved staircase. A young deputy was holding his pistol in two shaky hands. He smiled and yelled, “I got her. I got the little Asian piece of shit.”

Chung-Cha did not fall right away. She simply stood there as blood poured down her front.

Robie screamed, “No, you idiot!” He lunged for the deputy and knocked the gun out of his hand.

Reel was able to grab hold of Chung-Cha before she fell to the floor. She gently laid her down. She saw the bullet’s entry wound and stuck her fingers inside it, trying to close the struck artery, but she couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. She tore off her shirtsleeve and pressed the cloth over the wound, trying to stanch the bleeding.

“Come on, stay with me. Come on, Chung-Cha, look at me. Focus right on me.” She turned and screamed, “Robie, we need an ambulance. And we need it now!”

Robie had already hit 911 on his phone. And this time the call went through. But as he ordered the ambulance he looked over at Chung-Cha and knew that it was too late.

She was already chalk white and covered in blood.

Reel looked down at her, cradling her head with one hand while keeping the cloth pressed against the wound with the other.

Chung-Cha lifted her hand and touched Reel’s face. In a voice that grew weaker with each word she said, “Her name is Min. She is ten. Please help her.”

“I will, I promise I will. Min will be fine. But just don’t give up. Help is coming. You’re going to be okay. Don’t leave. You’re going to make it. I know you can do it. You’re…you’re the best I’ve ever seen.”

Chung-Cha did not seem to be able to hear her. She was now mouthing the words over and over.
Her name is Min. She is ten. Please help her.

And then she said quite clearly with her last bit of breath and a final burst of fire, “I am Chung-Cha. I am young but very old. Please help me.”

Then her mouth stopped moving and her eyes became fixed.

Reel just sat there frozen for a long moment, and then gently laid the dead woman’s head down on the floor. She looked up at Robie, tears in her eyes. She shook her head once. Then she rose, shoved the deputy out of her way, and walked up the stairs.

T
HE ATTACK ON THE FIRST
family had driven the two countries nearly to war, but a diplomatic stalemate was reached that allowed the North Koreans to save face and kept the administration from having to reveal potentially embarrassing and politically damaging facts about the planned coup on the North Korean regime. The Nantucket attack was blamed on rogue elements within North Korea, their actions denounced by the leadership.

There the matter was laid to rest. At least for now.

The North Korean team had infiltrated the town hall by virtue of their Halloween costumes. They had killed a guard near the rear door, entered that way, and then sealed off the building, killing the inner cordon of guards as they went along. The lone deputy who had shot Chung-Cha had finally gotten into the building, seen what had happened, and followed the sounds to the cellar, where his shaky aim had still proved lethal, unfortunately for Chung-Cha.

Robie and Reel had received the heartfelt thanks of the president and his wife, and their children. They were told that they had earned the status of unofficial members of the first family. Tommy was more hero-struck than ever. But both he and his sister were being given counseling to help them cope with what they had seen and endured. Claire was clearly not herself, her brashness struck clean from her. Now it seemed that her brother was supporting her, which might actually have been a good thing for both of them.

Eleanor had warmly embraced Robie and Reel as they were leaving the White House.

“My children and I owe you our lives,” she said.

“No,” replied Reel firmly. “We all owe our lives to Yie Chung-Cha.”

After the White House meeting, Robie and Reel sat in Robie’s apartment. They had learned a lot about Yie Chung-Cha, through the information pipeline that was the CIA. What they learned had made Reel even more depressed than she already was.

“She survived all that. All those years at Yodok, having to kill her own family to get out of that hellhole? Starvation, torture, killing on behalf of that rogue nation. And then saving our lives. For what? To take a bullet from an overzealous cop?”

“He didn’t know, Jess,” said Robie. “He thought she was the enemy.”

“Well, she wasn’t,” snapped Reel.

“You know Pyongyang wanted her body returned there,” said Robie.

She nodded. “But we didn’t do it. She’s buried here.”

“Why do you think she did it?” asked Robie. “I mean really?”

“I took her at her word. She was tired of it all, Robie. Just like I am.”

“I guess.”

“She was better than us, you know that, don’t you?”

“She probably was,” agreed Robie. “I’ve certainly never seen anyone take out five opponents the way she did.”

“When she pulled out her knives and looked at us I knew she wasn’t going to attack us,” said Reel.

“Why? I mean, I thought she looked conflicted, but she told us she was sorry about it.”

“Did you ever tell someone you were sorry before you killed them?”

Robie sat back in his chair and thought about this, and then finally shook his head. “No.”

“She did it for Min.”

Robie nodded again. “For Min.”

“Pretty ingenious the way she got the girl out of the country like that.”

“Well, if she thought the way she fought she would have made one hell of a chess player.”

“Six steps ahead,” said Reel thoughtfully.

“Right.”

“Blue Man seems to think that tensions will simmer down between us and North Korea.”

Robie said, “Until they start to boil again.”

“I’ll take a little peace and quiet for now.”

“Won’t we all.”

“Which brings us to Min.”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Do you think they’ll go for it?” Reel asked.

“Well, everything is in place, so now all we can do is ask, Jess.”

“Then let’s go ask.”

“You sure?” he said.

“As sure as I am of anything these days.”

Robie grabbed his car keys and they set out.

They had had to jump quite a few hurdles and work their way through various agencies, but then an opportunity had presented itself. They had recruited Kim Sook to help them and he had readily agreed.

They made two stops on the way and then completed the drive to the big town house in northern Virginia. Robie had phoned first and they were waiting for them.

Julie Getty opened the door. Standing opposite her were Robie, Reel, and Sook.

And Min.

The little girl was dressed in tights and a long shirt with sneakers. She had a yellow ribbon in her hair. She was well scrubbed but her face was red for another reason.

She had been crying.

For the loss of Chung-Cha.

And she was scared.

“Hey, guys, come on in,” said Julie warmly.

Her guardian, Jerome Cassidy, had recovered from his injuries at the hands of Leon Dikes’s men and was waiting for them in the family room. He was middle-aged and lean, with long grayish hair neatly tied back.

He greeted Robie, whom he knew, and was introduced to Reel.

“Julie’s told me a lot about you,” said Jerome.

“Just the unclassified parts,” amended Julie with a smile.

Julie sat next to Min and said, “I’m Julie, Min.” Then she said a few words in Korean, some of which Min understood.

Sook laughed. “Not bad. But you need practice.”

“I know,” said Julie with a wry grin.

Min said, “I am Min. I am ten.”

“I’m fifteen, five more than you,” replied Julie.

Min smiled but did not seem to understand this.

Julie took one of her hands and counted off the fingers. “Five, this many.”

Min nodded and counted to five in Korean.

“That’s right,” said Sook. “Very good.”

Jerome said, “So, Robie, you filled me in a little bit on this. But I’d like to hear more.”

Robie explained what he could about where Min had come from. And then what they had come here to ask. Could Min live with them?

“She can’t go back to North Korea,” said Reel.

“And traditional foster care can get a little tricky with her situation,” explained Robie. “I know it’s asking a lot, but you two were the first ones I thought of. Min can’t understand English really. Hell, she can’t understand a lot of things. So if you can’t do it, she’ll never know we even asked you.”

Julie said, “I’ve always wanted a sibling. And being a big sister would be really cool.” She looked at Jerome. “What do you think?”

“I think what with all this little girl has been through she deserves some friends. And maybe we’re a good place to start.”

Reel looked at Robie in relief and then turned back to Jerome. “I can’t tell you what this means.”

“I think I know. Wasn’t too long ago that yours truly needed a helping hand, or I might not even be here.”

As they were leaving, they had to explain to Min that she would be coming to live with Jerome and Julie. Sook had agreed to help out until Min’s language skills were strong enough. At first Min clung to Sook, but Julie kept delicately enticing Min away from him until the little girl finally took Julie’s hand and walked off with her.

They told Jerome that all the paperwork would be completed and then he would officially become Min’s guardian.

“Surprised the government is making it this easy,” said Jerome. “I thought their motto was the more paperwork the better.”

“Well, the government wants to put all this behind them as fast as they can,” explained Robie.

On the way back Reel drove, and when she made a turn that would take them away from Robie’s apartment, he instinctively knew where she was going.

The place was in rural Virginia. It was small and out of the way. But it had beautiful views of the foothills of the Blue Ridge. It was only about seventy miles from D.C., but it could have been seven hundred.

Reel parked the car and she and Robie got out. The sun was dipping low into the horizon, burning the sky red. The wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping. Rain was coming in and it would soon turn wet and miserable. Yet, for now, right this very minute, there was a simple beauty here that was bone-deep and undeniable.

They opened the rusted wrought-iron gate and made their way down the uneven grass path. They passed mostly old tombstones and grave markers. Some leaned at precarious angles; others were ramrod straight.

Near the end of the path and on the left was the newest gravestone here. It was white and resembled those at Arlington National Cemetery.

It was simple in design but powerful in its inspiration.

The inscription matched the design’s simplicity:

No one knew when she had been born or where. And no one knew how old she was. And while they knew the exact date of her death, there did not seem to be a good reason to mark her grave with that violent fact.

Reel stared down at the white stone and the hump of dirt. “That could be us down there.”

“It would have been, but for her.”

“We are like her, you know that.”

“There are similarities,” Robie admitted.

“How do you think she feels, being so far from home?”

“I’m not sure the dead are really concerned with that. And for her, North Korea wasn’t much of a home, was it?”

“I’m glad they didn’t send her body back. She belongs…well, I think she belongs here. It’s sort of just…right.”

“It’s peaceful enough. And after all she’d been through the lady deserved some peace.”

“Like you and me.”

“Yes,” agreed Robie.

“I didn’t know her, though I wish I could have had the chance. But I know beyond doubt that I will never forget her.”

“She’s left a piece of herself here. In Min.”

“And now she’s given Min the chance to have a life. We can help her with that life.”

“We
have
helped her.”

“I mean more than giving her to Jerome and Julie.”

Robie looked surprised. “Do you want to do that?”

“Yes. And not just because we owe it to Chung-Cha.”

Reel knelt down next to the grave and brushed a few leaves off the freshly turned dirt.

“It’s because, well…”

She rose and placed a hand over Robie’s. “It’s because it’s something people should do.” She paused. “Even people like us.”

“Even people like us,” agreed Robie.

They turned and walked off together as the light gave way fully to the dark.