“Bet it made a good place to hide,” Luke noted.
“I thought so. Then I met Jelena and decided it was a great place to hide.”
Howell sounded upbeat for a moment.
“You’re going to have to string Kim along and keep him dangling,” Malone said. “Use the truth. Less thinking on your part that way. Lies can be tough to keep straight under stress. He’ll want to hear the story, so tell him bits and pieces, but never the whole thing.”
“Isn’t that risky?” Luke asked. “He knows too much already.”
He shook his head. “He’s not going anywhere. We just need him rocked to sleep until that train stops in Solaris. I’ll be there, waiting.” To Howell, he said, “Luke and Isabella are your backup. We have the upper hand since Kim doesn’t know they exist. But watch out for the daughter. She’s the wild card. We know nothing about her, except that she likes to stick people with needles.”
If this played out right, he should be able to corner Kim in a remote Croatian village, a hundred-plus miles inland, with nowhere to go. International communications would exist, but be spotty at best. And how many Koreans could be there? His places to hide would be few, his escape options limited. All in all, an excellent trap.
“One thing,” he said to Howell. “You cannot ever let him think that you know Jelena is gone. At that point your value to him becomes zero. He will kill you.”
“I get it. I know how to play this game. You forget I’ve been on the run for three years.”
“What about the Chinese?” Luke asked.
“Still an unknown, but Stephanie is working on finding out, as we speak, if they’re really here.”
Luke nodded. “In this part of the world, they use a lot of freelancers. So you never know from where they’ll strike.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Howell said.
“It’s not good,” Malone said. “The Chinese and North Koreans want what Kim has, and they’ll kill any of us to get it.”
“We won’t let that happen,” a new voice said.
He turned and saw Isabella.
“That’s the main thing you and Luke have to be worried about,” Malone made clear. “Let Howell handle Kim. You two make sure that any strangers stay out of this. If trouble is coming, it will be with you.”
The envoy from the embassy rounded the corridor and reentered the American Corner. Malone had sent him on an errand, which apparently had been accomplished. The man in the bow tie now carried a leather briefcase.
“You got ’em,” Malone asked.
The envoy laid the case on one of the tables and opened it, removing two semiautomatic pistols. Malone took one, then handed the other to Luke. The envoy reached back inside and produced a third.
“That one’s yours,” he said to Isabella.
She palmed the weapon.
The envoy gave them each a spare magazine.
“What are you going to do with Kim, once you have him?” Howell asked.
That was a good question, one he and Stephanie had yet to answer. He could guess what she’d like to happen. There was no way they could allow a prosecution. That would be way too much of a public forum. Hiding him away was both impractical and ineffective. No. Dying was what she’d want. Just like a month ago in Utah, with another fanatic. That had turned out okay for Stephanie, not so much for himself. In the process, he’d lost someone he cared a great deal about.
But that was then, and this was now.
He motioned to Howell. “Send the email to Kim.”
*
Kim had re-donned his clothes, which the hotel had cleaned and pressed. Hana’s had likewise been rejuvenated. She’d already dressed and was downstairs checking out their options for leaving. His watch read 6:40 P.M. This day had turned out to be quite eventful. He was still disturbed by the news report of the six executions, made even worse by a second report on the slaughter of his other half brother’s entire family, which also gained worldwide press attention. Not that he harbored any special feelings toward any of them. They were essentially strangers. But the message being sent his way came loud and clear.
Dear Leader was angry.
The fate of his own children and grandchildren weighed heavy. If any doubt existed about whether they could become targets, it had been erased by what he’d read today in news accounts. Some observers had postulated that the entire execution story was false, fabricated by journalists with a bias against North Korea. That happened quite often, actually. Just another repercussion of a society having totally closed itself off from the world. But he knew with certainty that his half brother’s family was gone. That was the way of the Kims. Nothing would interfere with their grasp of power. His younger half brother surely knew about the lost $20 million. And though he hadn’t been responsible for that fortuitous occurrence, he would definitely shoulder the blame. No way existed for him to protect his children or grandchildren but, to be honest, he had no desire to do that. They’d all abandoned him when he was replaced, their loyalty quickly transferred to their half uncle. Time for them to see the error of their ways. Kill them all, for what he cared.
The laptop dinged.
He’d been waiting nearly half an hour for an answer to his question. How do you suggest we accomplish all this?
Take the 7:40 p.m. train east from Zadar to Knin. I’ll be on it. Have Jelena with you. What you want is located in Solaris. We’ll talk on the ride.
He hit REPLY and said he would be there.
The door opened and Hana reentered the suite.
“Two men are lurking downstairs,” she said. “They’re here for us.”
Another chill frosted his spine.
The battle had just drawn closer.
Thankfully, Hana was here. He’d learned to trust her. Fourteen years in a labor camp had honed both her suspicions and her survival instincts. The storm was gone, though the day remained dreary. Nightfall was not far away, and they had less than an hour to make the train.
He stared at her and said, “We must leave.”