“Makes sense,” Kim said. “Hire the best you can find. I hear a lot of our own former special forces are being used by security for billionaires and companies.”
The young officer just described Jake’s employment since he left the Agency. “Well, as it turns out, they were able to trace their source of income. To a certain degree. The money was deposited in their accounts in Andorra. That country is very secretive with their banking. But they were able to catch a transfer from a bank in Belize. That bank account is controlled by a holding company in the Cayman Islands. You sense a pattern here?”
“I believe so,” Kim said. “Obviously I knew about the Caymans and Belize, but I had no idea that Andorra was a big tax haven.”
“They’ve been stepping up once the Swiss and others in Europe started caving to the U.S. government who were concerned about terrorist funding, along with tax sheltering by their own citizens. It turns out the Andorran government has nothing to fear from our Federal government.”
“Where does the money come from after the Caymans?”
“They’re still working on that,” Jake said. “Breaking down the holding company. Looking at the principals and making connections. It might take a while, though. I was just in contact with an old friend at Interpol to see if he could help out.”
“Are there any contacts you don’t have?”
Jake’s phone buzzed and he checked the incoming text. He thanked the sender and said to Kim, “The NSA traced my friends to South Korea.”
“Seriously? Where?”
Smiling, Jake said, “They’re on the KTX from Gyeongju to Seoul. They’ll beat us there. I told you they were behind the men coming to my room tonight.”
“Will the NSA be able to keep track of them?”
“As long as their phones are on,” Jake said. “The better question might be why did they leave Gyeongju? Their men failed. They won’t stop until they get me. How do they know I left the city?” Jake thought about what Toni had told him after he turned over the professor’s work to her. The Agency had another leak.
Alex and Danko sat next to each other on the bullet train first class section. Sitting in the aisle seat, Alex glanced up toward the front of the car where two of their Korean comrades sat. Then he looked across the aisle at the man named Kwan, who was sleeping and looked like a college professor in his black slacks, white button up shirt, and his miss-matched blazer. The man’s salt and pepper hair was disheveled and could have used a comb days ago. Alex had no idea who Kwan really was, but the Lobbyist had told him to defer as much as possible to the man’s expertise in Korea. Apparently the guy had been working both sides of the DMZ in the intelligence game since he could shave.
Next to Kwan was the pretty young woman introduced to Alex as Ra Min Jee, but who went by the name Jee. Although she looked like a stiff breeze would knock her over, Kwan assured Alex and Danko that she was a former captain in the North Korean Army, spending most of her time there teaching Tae Kwan Do, before being hand-picked as an officer in the intelligence service. She had spent the last five years getting close to American soldiers and airmen — very close — trying to extract as much tactical information as her body could afford. It wasn’t clear how an active officer in the north’s intelligence service had gotten involved with the Lobbyist and his people. She had said nothing at all since they all got on the train outside of Gyeongju.
Finding it hard to sleep, Alex got up and stretched his legs. The monitor screen said they were currently cruising at 303 KPH. He wandered back toward the rest rooms and went in to try to relieve himself. But he was dehydrated. On missions like this he always forgot to drink. Only getting a trickle out, he washed his hands and splashed some water on his face, his eyes suddenly concentrating on the scar along his jaw line. His mind flashed momentarily to the incident that had got him his most distinguishing feature. Many thought that he had grown his hair to his shoulders to cover the scar. But he had simply gotten lazy in the past few years. Being on the road so much from his native Prague, he had not found a barber he could trust.
As Alex left the rest room, he almost ran into the North Korean officer, Jee.
With stoic insistence, Jee shifted her head and eyes for him to follow her. She was wearing tight black stretch slacks. How could he say no?
The two of them went between cars, an area that was much noisier than the passenger area.
She turned quickly and Alex thought she was going to strike him. But instead she grasped his jacket and pulled him to her, landing a passionate kiss on the lips. Even with her high heels, she had to go onto her toes and he had to lower his head significantly to make the connection.
Finally, she pulled away and backed against a metal wall, her eyes piercing through him. “How did you get the scar?”
“How did you learn to speak perfect English?” Alex asked her.
“I went to the University of Washington for my degree,” she said, with little affection in her voice. “Turns out it was nowhere near the American capital.”
“You didn’t like it there?”
“It rained a lot. But the classes were easy, since most Americans spend their free time drinking and fucking.”
“If you weren’t into those two things,” Alex said, a shrug, “it would be easy to distinguish yourself.”
“My GPA was not important. I already had a degree from my country. I was there for other reasons. Microsoft and other computer companies are in the area. You understand. You have a cigarette?”
Alex pulled out a pack of American cigarettes and flipped one up for her. Then he lit it for her and she took in a deep breath, bringing the end to a bright orange. Then he decided to have one with her, lighting up himself. He usually only smoked early in the morning or late at night. This was both.
“Kwan doesn’t let me smoke in front of him,” Jee said. “He’s a health nut. Doesn’t drink, smoke or, as far as I can tell, fraternize with women.”
“Maybe he likes men,” Alex surmised.
She shook her head and let out a stream of smoke. “I think he’s a eunuch. Our government cuts the balls off of a lot of its intelligence officers.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. Fewer distractions. They’d take our clitoris if they thought we’d ever find pleasure in sex.”
Alex took in a long breath and let out two perfect floating circles of smoke. “Do you?”
She looked into their car and then across to the car behind theirs. Then she reached down to his crotch and felt his hardness. “This will more than suffice.” She put out her cigarette and led him back inside to the rest room.
With one smooth motion, Jee pulled her stretch pants and underwear down to her knees. Then she turned and put her hands against the wall like she was being frisked by the police. Alex stripped his pants down and entered her in one smooth motion. The entire encounter was over in minutes. Then they dressed and went back out for another cigarette. But neither said a word until the cigarettes were done.
She stared at him until he said, “What?”
“I thought you might not fit.”
He smiled. “Sorry it was over so fast.”
Jee patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll do better next time.”
“Will there be a next time?”
She finally smiled, nodded, and then left him there alone.
He considered going out after her, but decided to have one more smoke to consider what he would do to her next time. His mind sequenced through just about every position he’d ever tried as he took great pleasure in this cigarette.
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