Slave Again

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

It took longer than Min-Ho expected for his concoction to work on the young girl, but at last she slept solidly. Her body was heavier than her petite frame suggested as he hoisted her into the trunk of his car.

Most of Min-Ho’s money as a broker came from girls, but since the younger ones weren’t always willing to follow him into China, he supplemented his income by working as an ordinary border broker, escorting families, couples, stragglers, and anyone willing to pay to get out of North Korea and into the relative prosperity of China. Tonight, he had a pickup scheduled near Onsong, less than an hour’s drive away. A couple was waiting in the cabin he used for that very purpose. He needed to hurry. He had to get Sun away from her hometown as soon as possible. The last thing he wanted was for the girl to change her mind and run back to her family in Chongsong. Not only would he lose the yuan he knew Mr. Lee would pay for his find, but he might have to face whatever father, brother, uncle, or cousin would challenge him for trying to whisk Sun away.

Once he left, Min-Ho doubted he’d be returning to Chongsong — or any of the neighboring villages — for a long time. It was fortuitous the teacher had told him about this rare beauty. His contacts knew just what to look for, which is why Min-Ho paid them so well. With Sun sound asleep in the trunk and not due to wake up for at least another twelve hours, Min-Ho checked his rearview mirror and headed toward Onsong, where he hoped the couple was ready.

If they weren’t, he wasn’t about to wait for them. He pulled his car up alongside the cabin and shut off the engine. He had lost track of how many trips like this he had made. As long as his clients paid, he had no reason to remember their faces, their names, their stories.

He knocked on the cabin door. The couple was supposed to be ready. In fact, Min-Ho was a little late. When nobody answered, he let himself in.

From the moment he stepped into the cabin, the silence hung ominously around him like a fog. He held his breath. It wasn’t a set-up. He would have heard if there were men hiding to arrest him. He would have sensed their presence. But this ... it wasn’t just the silence of night. Clenching his flashlight, he made his way to the bedroom.

Min-Ho had seen death before, but never like this. A knife stab, several by the looks of it. Near the far wall was a puddle of blood with drops leading toward the door. Under ordinary circumstances, he might regret the loss of a paying client. But with Sun sleeping soundly in the trunk, he didn’t worry about a couple hundred yuan. Still, he grew even more resolute to leave the region for good. He wasn’t about to be linked to a murder.

Before turning, he scanned the room — a suitcase on the floor, a cloth bundle folded up in the corner, probably just a wad of clothes. There was nothing for him here, unless the man died with some treasure hidden in his pockets. Min-Ho spun on his heel and left the cabin without looking back. He didn’t need to prod around, hunting in pockets for aluminum when he had gold tucked safely away in the back of his car.

He heard the muffled screams as soon as he was out of the cabin. Cursing, he jogged to the trunk and forced it open. Sun’s foot flew out and barely missed his face. He frowned. His mixture was guaranteed to maintain its potency for twelve hours. It should work even longer on a girl as small as Sun. His supplier must have mixed something inert in the supply. He was glad he opened the trunk when he did. With the child hyperventilating like that, who knew how long it would be before she ran out of oxygen completely, especially once he got the car running again?

He vowed vengeance on his supplier but didn’t take the time to plot the fine details. He already had his hand on the backup in his pocket and forced a smile to his lips. Fingering Sun’s cheek, he crooned, “It’s all right, little one. You need to stay hidden for a while longer. It’s just like we talked about, remember?”

Her breathing didn’t slow. Min-Ho had to hurry to the border if he was going to make the exchange before morning. “This will help you rest.” Before Sun could protest, he pulled out the extra syringe and injected it into her arm in one smooth, practiced motion.

He sauntered back to the driver’s seat, kicking an old sandal that lay in his way, and had only rolled the car a few feet before his headlights captured an animal huddled in the road. He slammed on his breaks. The figure scampered away in slow motion, and Min-Ho saw the creature was human. “What do you think you’re doing?” He got out and stomped toward it, his fists clenched. “What’s wrong with you?”

The woman stumbled to her feet and eyed his car. Placing her hand on her side, she formed her lips into a slight pout. “I need help,” she confessed with a little tremor in her voice.

Min-Ho eyed the stranger. Her pants were steeped in blood. She could barely stand on her own. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Nothing could jeopardize his meeting with Mr. Lee. The woman steadied herself against the hood of his car. “You need to help me.” He didn’t respond. She reached into her pocket. “I have money. Lots of it.” Her voice was stronger than she first intimated.

Min-Ho raised an eyebrow. “How much?”

“Three hundred yuan.”

He snorted. Under normal circumstances, that amount would be enough to at least pique his interest. Tonight, with a once-in-a-lifetime investment sedated in his trunk, he wasn’t so easily swayed. He opened the car door and lowered himself into the driver’s seat. He had wasted enough time in Onsong already. He turned the key in the ignition and rolled the car slowly toward the road that would take him to the border, to riches. The woman took a faltering step. Min-Ho expected her to stumble off the path and out of his way. Instead, she staggered into the middle of the street, collapsing against his car as he slammed his boot down on the breaks.

He lowered his window and flung out his head. “Are you crazy?”

The woman lay with her chest on top of the hood but finally managed to slide over and open the passenger door. “I’m going across the border with you.” She slunk into the seat next to his.

“What makes you think I’m crossing the border?”

“I know what kind of business you do.”

Min-Ho shrugged. “Lots of folks think they know somebody else’s business.”

The woman narrowed her eyebrows. “You’re taking me with you.”

“Listen, lady ...”

“My name’s Mee-Kyong. And I told you, I have money.” She pulled a thick envelope out of her pocket. Min-Ho eyed it and then squinted to see if he could detect a bluff. She held his gaze without blinking. “I know who you are, and I know what you do. My husband hired you to come and take us across the border. I’ve got your payment here. Now let’s go.”

Min-Ho frowned and picked at a pimple. There was no reason at this point to deny her assessment. “And where is your husband?”

She crossed her arms. “We were attacked. The assailants left us both for dead. Turns out they were only half right.”

Min-Ho noted the twitch in the woman’s eye. “So they beat you up, killed your husband, and left?” he asked. She lifted her chin and nodded. “And they didn’t take your money with them?”

She pursed her lips together. “It was hidden. Now, are you going to honor my late husband’s arrangement? Here’s double the payment since now I’m the only one you have to transport.”

Min-Ho picked at his cheek. Could this woman somehow ruin his plans for the girl from Chongsong? He peeked in the envelope. There was enough money to cover bribes for an extra passenger. She wasn’t as young and fresh as Sun, but he could probably even get a little from Mr. Lee for her as well. Min-Ho sighed and put the car into drive. The stranger said nothing, but he noticed her smile out of the corner of his eye.

They had only been driving ten or fifteen minutes before something pounded in the back of the car. For the second time that night, Min-Ho cursed his fraudulent supplier. He watched his passenger out of the corner of his eye to determine if she had noticed anything. Sun was supposed to be comatose by now, and he didn’t have to time to stop.

A kilometer or two later, there was no way to keep ignoring it. The girl in the trunk was screaming loudly enough for her voice to carry over the engine’s sounds.

“What are you hiding back there?” Mee-Kyong sneered. “A pack of wild cats?”

“I’ll check on her a little later. This isn’t a safe place to stop.” If he was lucky, she’d fall back to sleep. Why wasn’t the medicine working?

Mee-Kyong crossed her arms. “Her? You sure you haven’t got more than one back there?” Her voice dripped with disdain.

“We’re not stopping now.”

Her body tensed up in the passenger seat. “You are stopping now, or I’m getting out of this car. You won’t see a single won of my money.”

He chuckled. “Nice try. But you’ve forgotten that I’m the one holding the cash.”

“Not anymore.”

Min-Ho glanced at the envelope in her hand and tried to hide his amusement. He knew plenty of moves that would disarm her in an instant, but for now he would humor her. After all, Sun wouldn’t bring him any income if she suffocated back there. With the concoction behaving so erratically, he probably didn’t have much choice. He drove for another minute with his jaw set, and then he pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Have it your way.”

He took the keys out with him and headed to the back. When he opened the trunk, Sun blinked up at him, the skin pulling against her collarbone with each shallow breath she took. He removed the tape from her mouth as gently as he could, and then he leaned down and scooped her up. “I’m so sorry I had to do that, little one. You know why, though, right? You’ve been so brave for a girl.”

“My shoe. It flew off my foot when you opened the trunk the last time.”

“I’ll get you another one,” Min-Ho promised absently.

“Are we across the border yet?” Sun’s voice was hoarse.

He shook his head as he carried her to the back seat. “We have a little longer to go still. But I thought you’d be more comfortable in here. You promise to be good, don’t you, and not to cry or make much noise?”

Sun nodded with wide eyes. “I’ll be good.”