Reel looked at Robie in relief and then turned back to Jerome. “I can’t tell you what this means.”
“I think I know. Wasn’t too long ago that yours truly needed a helping hand, or I might not even be here.”
As they were leaving, they had to explain to Min that she would be coming to live with Jerome and Julie. Sook had agreed to help out until Min’s language skills were strong enough. At first Min clung to Sook, but Julie kept delicately enticing Min away from him until the little girl finally took Julie’s hand and walked off with her.
They told Jerome that all the paperwork would be completed and then he would officially become Min’s guardian.
“Surprised the government is making it this easy,” said Jerome. “I thought their motto was the more paperwork the better.”
“Well, the government wants to put all this behind them as fast as they can,” explained Robie.
On the way back Reel drove, and when she made a turn that would take them away from Robie’s apartment, he instinctively knew where she was going.
The place was in rural Virginia. It was small and out of the way. But it had beautiful views of the foothills of the Blue Ridge. It was only about seventy miles from D.C., but it could have been seven hundred.
Reel parked the car and she and Robie got out. The sun was dipping low into the horizon, burning the sky red. The wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping. Rain was coming in and it would soon turn wet and miserable. Yet, for now, right this very minute, there was a simple beauty here that was bone-deep and undeniable.
They opened the rusted wrought-iron gate and made their way down the uneven grass path. They passed mostly old tombstones and grave markers. Some leaned at precarious angles; others were ramrod straight.
Near the end of the path and on the left was the newest gravestone here. It was white and resembled those at Arlington National Cemetery.
It was simple in design but powerful in its inspiration.
The inscription matched the design’s simplicity:
YIE CHUNG-CHA, WHO FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT UNTIL THE END
No one knew when she had been born or where. And no one knew how old she was. And while they knew the exact date of her death, there did not seem to be a good reason to mark her grave with that violent fact.
Reel stared down at the white stone and the hump of dirt. “That could be us down there.”
“It would have been, but for her.”
“We are like her, you know that.”
“There are similarities,” Robie admitted.
“How do you think she feels, being so far from home?”
“I’m not sure the dead are really concerned with that. And for her, North Korea wasn’t much of a home, was it?”
“I’m glad they didn’t send her body back. She belongs…well, I think she belongs here. It’s sort of just…right.”
“It’s peaceful enough. And after all she’d been through the lady deserved some peace.”
“Like you and me.”
“Yes,” agreed Robie.
“I didn’t know her, though I wish I could have had the chance. But I know beyond doubt that I will never forget her.”
“She’s left a piece of herself here. In Min.”
“And now she’s given Min the chance to have a life. We can help her with that life.”
“We have helped her.”
“I mean more than giving her to Jerome and Julie.”
Robie looked surprised. “Do you want to do that?”
“Yes. And not just because we owe it to Chung-Cha.”
Reel knelt down next to the grave and brushed a few leaves off the freshly turned dirt.
“It’s because, well…”
She rose and placed a hand over Robie’s. “It’s because it’s something people should do.” She paused. “Even people like us.”
“Even people like us,” agreed Robie.
They turned and walked off together as the light gave way fully to the dark.
Acknowledgments
To Michelle, for more reasons than I can list.
To Mitch Hoffman, for being a great editor and an even better friend.
To Michael Pietsch, Jamie Raab, Lindsey Rose, Sonya Cheuse, Emi Battaglia, Tom Maciag, Martha Otis, Karen Torres, Anthony Goff, Bob Castillo, Michele McGonigle, Erica Warren, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing for doing your job so well.
To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs Baker, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, John Richmond, and Melissa Edwards, for supporting me in every way.
To Nicole James, best of luck in your new adventure!
To Anthony Forbes Watson, Jeremy Trevathan, Maria Rejt, Trisha Jackson, Katie James, Natasha Harding, Lee Dibble, Stuart Dwyer, Stacey Hamilton, James Long, Anna Bond, Sarah Willcox, Geoff Duffield, and Jonathan Atkins at Pan Macmillan, for continuing to keep me at number one in the UK and being so bloody good!
To Praveen Naidoo and his team at Pan Macmillan in Australia.
To Arabella Stein, Sandy Violette, and Caspian Dennis, for taking care of me so well.
To Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy, for your outstanding audio performances.
To Steven Maat, Joop Boezeman, and the Bruna team, for keeping me at the top in Holland.
To Bob Schule, for always being there for me.
To auction winners Linda Spitzer and Andrew Viola, I hope you like your characters.
To Roland Ottewell, for a great copyediting job.
And to Kristen, Natasha, and Lynette, for keeping me reasonably sane!