Ballistic Force(82)

Na-Li was stunned. “I can go?”

“Yes,” Yulim told her. “Now. Come along, I have business to attend to.”

Na-Li stood, her knees trembling. She feared that Yulim was toying with her and that as soon as she came within his reach he would grab her. But he stood back and waved to her impatiently.

“Don’t try my patience!” he snapped.

The young woman nodded and walked past Yulim into the main room of the bungalow. Ahn had already left. In his place, a guard was waiting for her. Yulim instructed the man to take Na-Li to the poppy fields, then turned back to the woman and told her, “I’ll want to see you again later. I have a special surprise in store for you.”

Na-Li looked at the commandant but said nothing. She turned and followed the guard out of the bungalow. There was another man standing at the bottom of the steps, clearly waiting for an audience with Yulim. The man leered at the woman and pursed his lips.

“You’re the one I would have chosen,” Sergeant Dahn Yun-Bok told her.

Na-Li lowered her eyes, avoiding the undercover agent’s gaze as she walked past him. She didn’t know what business the man had with Yulim, but she was grateful that it didn’t concern her. Of course, there was still the chance that, as Yulim had suggested, she might be brought back, in which case she knew she might still find herself placed at the mercy of the man who was now taunting her.

Fresh tears welled in Na-Li’s eyes, but she forced them back. As the guard escorted her down the walkway leading back to the prison yard, she tried to clear her mind of everything but the idea that soon she and her family would be free. It was a futile exercise, however, because as soon as she reached the prison yard, she was distracted by the sight of Ji Rha-Tyr. Her boyfriend had stopped his hammering at the rock pile and was watching her. Rha-Tyr was expressionless at first, but when the man working beside him pointed out Na-Li and said something, several prisoners began snickering among themselves and suddenly the teenager snapped. He flung aside his sledgehammer and charged the man who’d prompted the sniggering, fists flying. One of the blows connected and sent the other man reeling to the ground. Rha-Tyr dived on top of him and continued to pummel away.

“Take it back!” he shouted.

Na-Li cringed as she watched the other prisoners rush over to pull her boyfriend off the other man. She knew that some obscene remark about her visit to the bungalow had likely caused the outburst, and when several guards strode toward the rock pile with their rifles raised, Na-Li froze with horror, afraid that Rha-Tyr’s attempts to defend her honor was going to cost him his life.

Thankfully, however, the guards were intent only on restoring order. They told the other prisoners to get back to work, then led Rha-Tyr toward another area of the yard, where he was handled a shovel and ordered to start unloading ore from a cart that had just been hauled down from the mountains. The teenager angrily scooped his first shovelful and pitched it to the ground, then stole a quick glance at Na-Li, offering her a quick wink and grin.

Na-Li smiled back, tears streaming down her cheeks. The guard beside her prodded her gently and told her to move on. Wearily, she turned away from her boyfriend and strode past the barracks to the work area where mechanics were just finishing the repairs on the jeep that would take General Oh back to Kaesong. The general was standing next to the vehicle, staring across the prison yard at Yulim’s bungalow, where Dahn was still awaiting his audience with the commandant.

“I need to take this woman to the fields,” the guard told Oh’s driver. “Can you give us a ride?”

The driver glanced at Oh, who nodded absently. Once the mechanic closed the hood and stepped back from the jeep, the others climbed aboard. Oh sat up front next to the driver while Na-Li and the guard crammed their way into the back. As the driver was starting the engine, Oh took a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Na-Li. The young woman was startled by the gesture, but before she could respond, Oh had turned from her and was fumbling with his cell phone.

The jeep began to pull away from the camp. Na-Li dabbed the tears from her eyes, taking consolation that soon at least she would be working alongside her mother. She would tell her that she hadn’t been molested, but there seemed no point in worrying her with Yulim’s remark about having a surprise in store for her. Hopefully, whatever business that had diverted the commandant’s attention would continue to take up his time and she would be left alone for the duration of their captivity.

One more day, she kept telling herself. One more day and this will be over….





CHAPTER FORTY-THREE