He kept the gun aimed.

* * *

Hana realized that she’d made a horrible error. The woman she’d despised her entire life was blameless. Truly, her only sin had been falling in love. Her punishment? A lifetime of banishment to a place of unimaginable horror, where problems were sent to be forgotten—without consequences.

Her mother had no choice.

But her father had possessed many.

This nothing of a man was the cause of all her agony. For an instant she was sad that her mother was gone. A feeling of longing, similar to what she’d felt for Sun Hi, filled her heart. Fourteen years she’d pondered this. But only in the past few minutes had she truly understood the depth of her pain.

And she knew what had to be done.

One hand held her gun. The other she slipped into her pocket and found the original sheet. She’d removed it from the stack while still on the train with Howell, crumpling it into a ball. Howell had liked that, saying nothing, only smiling at her desecration.

He killed your lady, she’d said to Howell. Not me.

And the American had nodded his understanding.

She displayed the ball of paper to her father.

“Are you insane,” he said. “Those fibers are eighty years old. We may never be able to open it back up.”

The wad rested on her open palm.

She turned and, with a flick of the wrist, propelled the ball through the air and onto the burning candles. Her father gasped and rushed to try and stop the inevitable, but the fragile paper quickly disintegrated.

“You bitch,” he screamed.

She heard the word that every female prisoner had been called since birth. She’d come to associate that slur with defeat, but for the first time in her life she actually felt empowered. She’d conceived, planned, and executed her every move, down to the final part, the one that would deny her father all that he sought. She stared with defiance into his angry eyes, knowing exactly what he would do.

And he did not disappoint her.

He aimed his gun and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Malone had not expected Kim to shoot his daughter, but the man had done so with no hesitation. Hana Sung destroying the code was perfect. Kim was now dead in the water, unlikely to have any copies or facsimiles. Everything had happened on the train, and Kim had not even known its significance until Howell told him. Kim was surely counting on leaving here with everything in his possession, figuring it out later.

But now that plan would never happen.

* * *

Hana felt the bullet slam into her stomach, then pass right through her. The pain was at first unnoticeable, then excruciating, radiating upward and exploding in her brain.

“I gave you life,” her father said. “Gave you freedom. I could have left you there to rot, but I didn’t. And you repay me with this?”

She needed him to finish. It was time for her to die. She should have died long ago with Sun Hi. Instead she survived and spat upon her friend. The shame from that had never left her. For a long time she’d debated what to do. Kill her father? No. Then she would be no better. Instead he must be offered the opportunity to kill her, and his choice would be telling.

Blood gushed from the wound, and she fought to stand.

She would die on her feet with no expressions of pain—strong, determined, and silent—like Sun Hi. Maybe they’d see each other once her spirit traveled to wherever spirits went. She hoped there was a place. What a shame if there be nothing but blackness.

One final insult swelled inside her.

More of her redemption.

She spat at her father.

But he stood too far away for anything to touch him.

He shot her again.

* * *

Malone rose up and aimed his gun downward just as Kim fired for the second time. Sung dropped to the stone, blood oozing from her in ever-widening rivulets. He assumed she was dead.

“Drop the gun,” he said.

Kim did not move, keeping his back to him, but the North Korean said, “American. You must be Malone. I saw you in the train station.”

“I told you to drop the gun.”

“Or you’ll shoot me?”

“Something like that.”

“She was a lovely girl,” Kim said. “So much like her mother. A shame she was also a fool.”

“You kill your children easily.”

“The choice was hers, not mine.”

He kept the gun aimed, amused at how Kim thought a little small talk would buy him time to assesses his options.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any.

“I tried to love her,” Kim said. “But I assume you saw what she did. Burning that sheet, which you surely know about.”

“It’s done,” he made clear. “This is over. The only question is, will you walk away in one piece.”

“Of course I will,” Kim said. “Why would I not? You stand above me, in the balcony. I can tell from your voice. And I am down here. I doubt you will shoot me for no reason.”

“Turn around. Nice and slow.”

He’d purposefully not repeated his command to drop the gun. Kim slowly turned, the pistol still firmly gripped at waist level. He saw the sound suppressor at the end of the barrel and now knew why the shots had been so muffled.

“I’m going to leave,” Kim said. “Here are the remaining papers.” He tossed them to the floor. “As you say, this matter is over.”

“Except for the five murders you’ve committed.”

“And what would you do? Try me in a court? I doubt it. The last thing America wants is to provide me with an open forum. I may not have the answers, but I can ask enough questions to cause the United States a lot of embarrassment.”

That he could.

Which actually begged the question that the arrogant fool apparently wanted answered.

Would Malone shoot him?

He lowered the gun and decided to give the bastard a fighting chance.

“I see,” Kim said. “This is to be my trial.”

The challenge had been issued. Leaving here meant going through him. Kim’s daughter had pegged him right. This man’s family had ruled millions of people for a long time. And they’d accomplished that feat through lies, force, violence, torture, and death. Never had a single person voluntarily voted for them. Their power was hereditary, dependent on corruption and brutality. Placed under a microscope, or exposed to the light of day, or even debated in the simplest terms, their evil quickly came into focus. They would never amount to anything where people possessed a free and informed choice.

“Just you and me,” he said.

Kim stood rigid, the gun at his waist.

He knew Stephanie Nelle wanted this problem eliminated. She hadn’t said as much, and never would she. Officially, the United States did not resort to assassination. But it happened. All the time.

“Is this a duel? A shootout? Like in the westerns?” Kim chuckled. “Americans are so dramatic. If you want me dead, just shoot me.”

He said nothing.

“No, I don’t imagine you would do such a thing,” Kim said. “You don’t seem like a man who kills for no reason. So I’m going to toss my gun down and leave. That’s much better than me being given a public trial. We both know that. Then this matter can truly end.”

Kim’s thin lips twisted into an acrid smile.

Ordinarily, he’d agree, but there was the matter of Larks, Jelena, and Hana Sung. The waist-high wall before him shielded his gun from Kim’s view. His right thumb slowly cocked the hammer back and clicked it into place. Kim’s arm with the gun straightened and he began to aim the weapon toward the floor, as if about to discard it. Malone kept his gun at his side, wondering if Kim might actually call his bluff and walk away. But men like Kim Yong Jin always thought themselves smarter than others, and this version did not disappoint him.

Kim swung his arm around and up.

Malone raised the gun and

fired, all without the benefit of a solid aim, but he did not miss. The bullet tore through Kim’s chest and hurled him backward. One hand shot up for support but found none. The weapon pinwheeled out of Kim’s hand.

He knew what had to be done.

He fired two more shots.

* * *

Isabella heard retorts.

Definitely gunfire. Both she and Luke turned toward the source.

The cathedral.

They rushed to its main doors and found the latch open. They each assumed a position on either side of the stone jamb. Luke pushed the wooden slab inward. Its hinges whined some resistance. She stole a glance inside, the gun gripped with both hands. Past a small vestibule and into the nave, she saw a body lying in the center aisle. Luke spotted it, too.

“Malone,” she called out.

“I’m here. It’s all clear.”

They both relaxed their weapons and entered the church.

Tags: Steve Berry Cotton Malone Thriller
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