They’d all flown from Croatia earlier. She and Luke were headed on to the United States tomorrow. Malone had suggested dinner and a layover in Copenhagen. Luke laid his travel bag on the hardwood floor while Malone tossed his on the stairs. They’d retrieved both of them from the Zadar airport before leaving. Luke had told her that Malone lived upstairs on the fourth floor. What an interesting life this ex-agent had forged.
Malone had said little since last night. The bodies of Kim, Hana Sung, and the two foreign agents had been taken by the Croatian police. She doubted anyone from North Korea would claim them. Howell’s corpse was assumed by the U.S. embassy and would be shipped back home. Malone was right. The president had issued a full pardon, so Howell had died a free man. Secretary Levy had called and told her to hand over the sheaf of copied documents to the embassy for destruction. She was to personally witness the shredding and she had, just before they flew west.
The bookshop was closing, the store manager heading home. Malone locked the front door behind her as she left. All of this had started late Monday night in Venice and ended twenty-four hours later in Croatia. People had died, more than she’d ever witnessed, one of whom she herself had taken down.
Her first kill.
It happened so fast that she hadn’t had time to digest the implications. On the plane ride Luke had sensed her reservations and explained that it never got any easier, no matter what the circumstances, and Malone had agreed.
“There’s no internal investigation in the spy business,” Malone told her. “No suspension with pay. No press attention. No psych evaluations. You shoot, they die, and you live with it.”
And he spoke from experience.
He’d killed Kim.
“It’s all tidied up,” Malone told them. “Everybody who knows anything is dead. The documents are gone, the code destroyed.”
Including, she knew, everything from Howell’s anonymous email account, which the Magellan Billet had already accessed and erased.
“How about you two,” Malone asked, pointing to she and Luke. “All good between you?”
“He grows on you,” she said.
Luke shook his head. “Don’t sell yourself short. You take some adjustin’ to deal with, too. But I’d do it again.” Luke held out his hand, which she shook.
“Me too,” she added.
“You both did good,” Malone said. “And I second what Frat Boy said. Anytime, Isabella.”
Secretary Levy had been sketchy on the details from his end so she asked Malone, “What happened in DC?”
“Let’s have some dinner and I’ll tell you what I know.”
*
Stephanie sat in Edwin Davis’ White House office, which was located down the hall from Danny Daniels. She and Joe Levy had returned from Pittsburgh last night. To alleviate any concerns she’d sent a text to Edwin confirming that everything was under control and that she would make a full report in the morning. So she and Danny now sat alone, in the office of the chief of staff.
“You going to tell me what happened?” he asked.
She reported the events in Solaris, culminating in the death of Kim and his daughter. The documents had been retrieved and destroyed, including the crumpled sheet of paper. Then she described her ruse in Washington and how she diverted the Chinese, allowing her and Joe Levy an open-field run to what Mellon had left behind.
He chuckled. “Now, that was the perfect turkey decoy. Good job.”
She also told him about the ambassador’s call and his warning on the North Koreans.
“Which might also explain something that happened overnight,” he said.
He told her that China had declared a “red line” on North Korea, proclaiming that it would not allow any war, chaos, or instability on the Korean peninsula. Peace, their foreign minister had declared, can only come through denuclearization and they would work to make that happen. The days of pointless confrontation were over.
“That’s downright revolutionary,” Danny said. “They flat-out told the North Koreans that they better straighten up and fly right or else. And Pyongyang can’t ignore Beijing. We may actually be able to get rid of the North Korean nuclear program. That announcement was another way for China to show they’re on our side.”
“Generous of them, considering their antics here.”
“I hate that Howell had to die, though. That man wasn’t stupid. He made a lot of sense.”
Nothing remained that could cause them any problems. When she and Levy burned what Mellon left, they effectively ended everything. Was it the ethical thing to do? Probably not. But it certainly was the smart play. Little would be gained by raising questions about the 16th Amendment. The United States of America was a world power and nothing could be allowed to interfere with that status. People had paid their taxes for decades and they would continue. Only one thing bothered her.
“You realize that there are people in prison for failing to pay taxes,” she said. “Who have no business there.”
“I know. I’ve thought about that. Before I leave office, I’ll pardon the ones I can. We’ll couch it in some neutral manner, like nonviolent federal offenders with a sentence of so-many years or less. That way it doesn’t solely zero in on tax evaders. That should work. I’ll make that right.”
She knew he would.
In the end she, Edwin, Joe Levy, and Danny would know it all. Cotton, Luke, and Isabella Schaefer would know some, but they were seasoned agents, sworn to secrecy. So things were safe.
“How about the people at the National Gallery?” she asked. “They okay?”
“There were some ruffled feathers. The director didn’t appreciate me ordering him around. And he wasn’t happy that one of his paintings was desecrated. But when Edwin told him that his budget next year would be increased by twelve percent he said I could abuse him anytime.”
She smiled.
Always a dealer.
“You’ll be glad to know that Luke may have met his match,” she said. “Cotton tells me that Ms. Schaefer from Treasury handled him, and herself, with style.”
“You thinkin’ about hiring her?”
She shrugged. “I’m always on the lookout for good people.”
“Joe Levy might fight you on that one.”
Always a possibility.