The Target(125)

Min sniffed. “That smell is not so nice.”

“It’s fishy. It’s not bad. There are far worse smells.”

Min looked at her and nodded. “There are far worse smells,” she repeated.

Soon they turned down a winding lane with high grass on either side. The ocean was visible on three sides. The cottage they pulled into sat by itself off the road. Chung-Cha cut off the engine and opened the car door. She and Min pulled out their bags and they walked together up to the front door.

“Who lives here?” asked Min.

“We do, for now.”

The inside of the cottage was quaint and neat, and when Min found that she had her own room and bed she was astonished.

“Just me?” she asked Chung-Cha.

“I will be in the room next to it. You will be fine. But if you feel anxious, you will know where to find me.”

They had not eaten since lunch, so Chung-Cha prepared a meal from the contents of the refrigerator, which had been filled for their visit. They ate and drank hot tea and watched the sun finish its fall to the horizon.

“It looks like the sun has dropped into the water,” said Min as they watched out the window.

“Yes, it does.”

Min spent the next hour going around the house and seeing what was there. The owners had left toys and board games in a closet. Min had pulled some things out and was playing with them, but she did not like it when Chung-Cha was out of her sight for very long.

Chung-Cha sat in a chair after hitting a switch, which caused the gas fireplace to turn on. When Min saw the flames spring out, she rushed over, her face filled with horror.

“We have to get water to put it out!”

“No, Min, it is all right. It is the way it works. It gives off heat. See, draw close, like this. It feels good.”

She and Min stood in front of the fire and let it warm them.

An hour later Min fell asleep on the couch next to Chung-Cha. Now Chung-Cha could get to work.

Since she understood that the mission was not expected to produce any survivors, she had to think some things through. When she had, she pulled out her phone and studied the images on there. The three Cassions stared back at her. Mother, daughter, son.

Next she looked at images of Will Robie and Jessica Reel. She could just tell they were like her. They looked strong and capable and unafraid of anything.

As Min quietly snored next to her, Chung-Cha went through all the files and details once more.

The plan was still in progress because they did not yet have an exact itinerary for the first family. In fact, there might not be one, since this trip was apparently not really part of the official schedule but an impromptu decision.

They were all aware, from recent news stories, that the NSA and other American intelligence agencies listened to everyone in the world, so the use of their phones to communicate, even via text or email, was deemed to be too risky on the island, even if they used code. The thought was that any communications on the island, with the First Lady and her children here, would be given heightened scrutiny.

But it was not as though they could freely congregate and continue their planning. A group of Asians doing so would be a red flag and could sabotage their mission before it even began.

But they had to communicate. And they believed they had arrived at a plan to do so while staying below the Americans’ radar. And Chung-Cha had devised a way for Min to play a part in that.





Over the next several days Chung-Cha and Min drove and walked through the town. They made treks along the beach. They collected shells and threw pebbles into the ocean. They watched seagulls glide across the sky and ferries race across the water.

Chung-Cha had her ears open for any snatches of conversation about the people who would soon be coming here. And details were learned, because Americans apparently liked to gossip.

While they were eating chowder in a local café several men came in. They wore jackets and khaki pants and had earwigs and looked quietly professional. They took a table near Chung-Cha and Min. While she pretended to listen to Min, Chung-Cha eavesdropped on the conversation the men were having. She learned some important details, including exactly when the party was arriving and how.

After they left the café she stopped to write some things down and then she and Min went to their car and drove off. She pulled into a gas station. Chung-Cha eyed the small windowed office where a clerk stood behind the cash register.

She folded up the paper she had written on and handed it to Min.

“Do you see the man in there?” she said, pointing. Min looked in that direction, saw the clerk, and nodded. “You will take him this note while I put fuel into the car.”

“What does it say, the note?”

“It’s unimportant. I’m just giving him some information he needs.”