CHAPTER 29
1534 Words
CHAPTER 29
Roger had better things to do tonight than fight with his wife. Like sleep. “All I said was I don’t trust him,” he said, frowning as he put on his pajamas.
Juliette studied her husband from over the top of her lenses. “Think he’s undercover?”
Roger tugged on the drawstring of his silk pants. “Probably not. But he was hiding something.”
Juliette took off her glasses. “Benjamin sent him. That’s got to count for something.”
“You already know how I feel about Benjamin.”
“If you can’t trust your own security guard, then why don’t you fire him?” she retorted.
Roger shrugged. “He’s yet another one of your pets. Far be it from me to get in the way of you and your mission to win the Nobel Peace Prize one starving refugee at a time.”
Juliette turned her head sharply, and her curls whipped across her cheek. “It’s more meaningful than printing baby board books all day, isn’t it?” Roger waved his hand like he was trying to rid himself of a pesky mosquito. Juliette crossed her arms. “So what are we going to do about Mr. Lost Sister?”
“What do you mean, ‘What are we going to do?’”
“Well, if Benjamin thought to send him to us, he obviously needs something.”
“Then why didn’t Benjamin help him out? I’m sure a vigorous young man like him knows the way to the hotel district.”
Juliette sucked in her breath. “Benjamin is a hard-working, big loveable teddy bear. And he’s a Christian.”
“What’s that got to do with it?” Roger muttered.
“You have no reason to doubt that boy.”
He pressed his temples. “I don’t know. I’m tired, it’s been a long night. Let’s just get some sleep.”
He rolled onto his side, but Juliette remained sitting up in bed and tugged on his shoulder. “So you’re just going to forget this guy ever came to our door, is that it?”
Roger turned toward his wife but didn’t sit up again. “Look, if he needs more help, he’s welcome to come back to us. We can assess his needs just like any other refugee and figure out what we can do for him. Does that make you happy? Can we go to sleep now, please?”
She yanked her brush through her hair. “And you don’t think it’s slightly strange that a mere few hours after you promise to pray about resuming our rescue ministry in the hotel district, a young man comes to our door, asking us to help him find his lost sister?”
Roger squeezed his eyes shut. His head was throbbing. “He didn’t ask us to help him find her. He just asked for some clothes so he wouldn’t get arrested the moment the police laid eyes on him.” He turned off the lamp on his side of the bed and waited for his wife to do the same. He needed to be up early to take care of his paperwork for the month. He didn’t have time or energy to waste arguing all night long.
Juliette, however, didn’t seem to care. “I still think if you were more open-minded to this whole thing then you’d at least consider that this guy’s visit might be Providence. I mean, you were asking God to give you a sign, weren’t you?”
Roger huffed. “Baby Cakes, can we just talk about this more in the morning?” He tried to soften his words. “I’m tired. We’re both grumpy. I already told you I’d pray about this, but I can’t even do that if we spend the whole night bickering. Think about Eve. She’s probably heard every word we’ve said.”
“That’s nothing new.” Juliette was going at it so hard with her brush, Roger wondered if she’d have any hair left by the time their argument was over. “I just think we should have gone with that boy. Followed him. Helped him look around.”
“When you say ‘we,’ I assume you mean me. That’s what bugs me the most about this whole brothel-rescue business. You’re welcome to fill your free time with any type of ministry you set your heart on, but you’ve been fixating on brothel ministry since you and Eve started talking about it, and that kind of work eats up a whole chunk of my time, time I don’t have if I’m to keep running this printing business to put our daughter through eight full years at Harvard.”
“I just have this nagging feeling about it.” Juliette finally put down her brush and collapsed on the bed. Roger knew what it was like to have a nagging feeling, but he kept his mouth shut. The sooner they finished talking, the sooner he could get some sleep. He scooted down on his pillow and wrapped the comforter around his body. When his eyes were closed, he heard the creaking of springs. Juliette swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m going downstairs.”
Roger rolled his eyes. “What do you think you’re going to do?”
“I’ll figure something out.” Juliette slammed the door behind her. Roger pulled the comforter up to his chin and sighed.
***
Juliette spent twenty minutes opening cupboards and then closing them again. Whenever she reached the end of the row, she went back to the beginning and repeated the entire mindless procedure. Roger wouldn’t recognize a sign from God if it fell down from heaven and split open his thick skull. It was bad enough her husband just stood by while she was accosted by a homeless bum. Now he was sitting back, doing absolutely nothing when there was a poor girl who needed rescuing just a few kilometers away. Roger had said he would ask God for confirmation. What did he think tonight’s visitor was — just some pickled cabbage?
Juliette slammed the pantry door a little harder than she meant to. “Nothing to eat?” Roger’s voice was sharp. She turned around, but her retort was surprised out of her when she saw him zip up his coat.
“What are you doing?” Juliette demanded.
“I thought God already told you. There’s a girl out there in trouble. Who better to risk his reputation to find her than me? If you’re lucky, I’ll have a new brothel babe for you to adopt by morning. Wouldn’t that be sweet of me?”
Juliette glanced down at him over her glasses. “Are you really serious?”
“You said you wanted me to rescue a girl. Well, here I go. I’m off to rescue a girl.” Roger strode past, swaying his arms in exaggerated arches.
“You’re not worried about the managers recognizing you?” Juliette wondered if she should go after him.
“Oh, I’m plenty worried.” He paused and flung his hands out to his sides. “Last time I was there, they threatened to castrate me if I remember right. But you know, my wife can be a very persuasive woman. And it seems like God has it out for me, too, because he sent a messenger tonight to tell me how right you were. We’re supposed to jump back into brothel rescues only two weeks after sending out the Secret Seminary graduates. You were absolutely correct. I just wish I had realized it as soon as you did.” Roger doffed an imaginary hat and feigned a bow.
“You’re really going to the hotel district? Now?” Juliette leaned against the counter. Should she take him up to bed?
“That’s absolutely right. Because far be it from me to ignore the call of God himself, who was so considerate to pass his marching orders on to you first. Don’t worry. I’ll be home in time to get ready for work first thing in the morning, if the hotel managers don’t call the police to arrest me on sight, that is.”
Roger marched himself out the door into the dark night. Juliette gawked after him, her hand still on one of the open cupboard doors.
***
Agent Ko made sure nobody could overhear before dialing the number for headquarters. “It’s me. I’m scheduled to check in with the director.”
“Hi there, Ko. The director said you might call in today.”
“Chun-Hee?” Ko thought about ending the call right then.
“You recognized my voice. How touching.”
“How could I forget? It’s got that squealing-pig quality that’s so endearing.”
“Nice one. Well, how are things? I’m just dying to hear how that little security guard from Yanji is doing.” Chun-Hee’s voice dripped with sarcasm, but Ko wouldn’t be baited.
“Digging fences. Not much else.”
“You must get terribly bored,” Chun-Hee sang out in a nasally tone. “How long do you think the director plans to keep you there?”
“As long as my country needs me.”
“That’s right,” Chun-Hee taunted melodically. “Serving the Party one tray of tea at a time. Not quite what we expected when we were at the Academy together, I’d dare wager.”
Training with Chun-Hee was the last thing Ko wanted to think about. “Does the director have any messages for me?”
“Just one. He says to tell you they found the spy named Simon. I take it you knew him?”
Ko smiled inwardly but wouldn’t gloat. Not now. There would be time for that later. “Yeah. Anything else?”
“Not officially. You can go back to caring for your little American family. And call me if you ever get in trouble, all right? For old time’s sake. It’ll be just like the Academy.”
Ko punched the button to end the call before Chun-Hee could say anything else.
- Writer
