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.