They went into the house carrying their small suitcases.
The town house’s interior was spacious, far larger than Chung-Cha’s apartment, but it was barely furnished. They were shown to their room upstairs and set down their bags. The man and woman ignored Min but showed Chung-Cha the respect her position entailed.
“We brought the girl toys,” said the woman. “They are in the basement. She can use them while we speak.”
Chung-Cha led Min to the basement, a large, mostly empty room. There was a stuffed bear, a book that Chung-Cha knew the girl could not read but that had pictures, and a large red ball.
“I have some work to do upstairs, Min. You will stay and play with these things, all right?”
“How long will you be gone?” Min said uncertainly.
“I will just be upstairs.”
“Can I stay with you?”
Chung-Cha said firmly, “I will just be upstairs. You will stay here and play.”
Chung-Cha left the girl there, but as she walked up the stairs she could feel Min’s gaze burning into her. And she felt a pang of guilt that was not easily swept away.
They met in the kitchen that was situated on the main floor at the rear of the town house. By now two more people had joined them, both men and both North Korean. One of them was the groundskeeper at the White House. They sat at the table, where pictures and files were laid out for Chung-Cha.
“There is a local team in place,” the groundskeeper, whose name was Bae, informed her. “And it will be ready to go at a moment’s notice, Comrade Yie. And it is an honor to have such an esteemed servant of the Supreme Leader here to assist us.”
Chung-Cha looked at him over the file she was holding. Buried shallowly in his compliment was a complication.
Assist?
“Thank you, Comrade. It will most certainly take a team to accomplish this goal. I am grateful to have someone such as yourself behind me.”
Bae’s cocksure look quickly faded.
She could not blame him for trying such a thing. But she was relieved that he had backed down. Otherwise he was a liability and would have to be treated as such. There was no room for error here. The Americans were too good at what they did. It was said they caught every electronic message sent around the world from every phone or computer. Chung-Cha had even heard that they had invented some device that could read one’s mind. She hoped that was not the case, or they might have already lost this fight.
The others guided Chung-Cha through the files and pictures over the next several hours. Chung-Cha’s mind occasionally would drift to Min downstairs playing with her toys. But then it would snap back and focus on the matter at hand.
She studied the pictures of the three people: mother, daughter, and son. They were innocent, of course, but then not innocent because they were related to the American president, who was her enemy.
Then she was shown two other pictures.
Bae said, “This was taken outside of Bukchang.”
The enhanced photo showed a man hanging on to the skid of a chopper. The image had been blown up such that his face was fairly clear despite the darkness.
“This scum killed our brethren at Bukchang,” said Bae. “He stole the filth Pak’s family from us. We are told he was wounded in his escape. And that the guards nearly brought the enemy’s helicopter down with their gallant rifles.”
Chung-Cha peered down at the image of Will Robie. Her immediate thought was that he was a capable man. Hanging on to the skid of a chopper fleeing enemy fire was not easy.
She was shown another photo. It was of a woman walking through an airport.
“In China,” explained Bae. “Shortly before the attack on Bukchang. We believe she is an American agent. We believe that she arrived with the other man. There was a report of one being a female. And I saw these two together at the White House after Bukchang was attacked.”
Chung-Cha stared at the picture of Jessica Reel. She was tall and lean and in her hardened physique Chung-Cha saw much strength.
“I understand there was a traitor with them?” she said.
Bae nodded. “He talked with one of the guards. He was North Korean. He was undoubtedly brought with them for his language skills and perhaps knowledge of Bukchang.”
“He might have been a prisoner there,” said Chung-Cha. “Some have escaped and fled to America.”
Bae spit on the floor. “Filth!”
Chung-Cha looked at him. “And why am I being shown these people?”
Bae looked at the others and then back at her. “They must be killed too.”
“But not by me?”
“That remains to be seen, Comrade Yie.”
“I cannot be in two places at the same time.”
“We will see,” said Bae. “We will see. But whatever the course, I will be behind you all the way, Comrade Yie.”
The two locked gazes until Chung-Cha again stared Bae down. As he looked aside, Chung-Cha returned to the files, but her mind was a long way away.
Chapter
64
CHUNG-CHA AND MIN HAD eaten some dinner prepared by the woman who had come with them here. Then Bae had departed and the man and woman had gone upstairs to their rooms. That left Chung-Cha and Min. Min’s eyes were droopy but she said, “Can we go for a walk?”
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” said Chung-Cha.
“Please, just for a few minutes?”
Chung-Cha looked out the window. It was dark, but that held no fear for her. It was true she had no weapons with her. Those would be provided later. But she was a weapon. She had heard that America was crime-ridden, with gangs on the streets attacking people, killing, raping, and robbing. She had seen no sign of this at all, either in New York City or here. Still, they might be out there.
“Just for a few minutes,” she said to Min, and the girl smiled.
They walked hand in hand around the residential development, which was well lit by streetlamps. Min looked at all the parked cars and said, “Americans must have much money.”
“I suppose,” said Chung-Cha. She had been thinking the same thing. She looked at all the houses, where the lights burned bright and steady. In Pyongyang one was lucky to have an hour’s worth of light at night. And there were more cars in this one parking lot than she had seen in all of North Korea.
They watched as a man and woman and their two small children came out of their house and headed to their car. The man smiled and said, “Hello.”
Chung-Cha greeted him back.
“Are you moving into the neighborhood?” asked the woman.
“What?” asked Chung-Cha.
“We saw you arrive earlier. Are you moving in, or just visiting?”
“Just visiting,” said Chung-Cha automatically.
The woman looked at Min. “What’s your name?”
“Her name is Min,” said Chung-Cha. She added in a more polite tone, “I’m sorry, she does not speak English.”