pretended to listen to Min, Chung-Cha eavesdropped on the conversation the men were having. She learned some important details, including exactly when the party was arriving and how.
After they left the café she stopped to write some things down and then she and Min went to their car and drove off. She pulled into a gas station. Chung-Cha eyed the small windowed office where a clerk stood behind the cash register.
She folded up the paper she had written on and handed it to Min.
“Do you see the man in there?” she said, pointing. Min looked in that direction, saw the clerk, and nodded. “You will take him this note while I put fuel into the car.”
“What does it say, the note?”
“It’s unimportant. I’m just giving him some information he needs.”
“How do you know him?”
“I know him from our country.”
“Why is he here?”
“Just take him the note, Min. Do it now. And he will give you something in return for me.”
Min opened the door, looked back once at Chung-Cha, and then hurried into the little office.
Chung-Cha pumped gas while she watched Min. She gave the man the note and he in turn gave her a piece of paper, along with some candy from the rack next to the register. He smiled and patted Min on the head.
When Min returned to the car, she handed Chung-Cha the note and held up the package of chocolates.
“Can I have these?”
“Just one. Save the rest for later.”
Chung-Cha slipped the note into her pocket.
“You’re not going to read what the note says?” asked Min as she popped the candy into her mouth.
“Later, not here.”
They drove back to the cottage.
While Min went off to play, Chung-Cha looked at the note. It was written in code, and not in Korean, just in case. They had used English instead.
She read through the contents twice to make sure she had missed nothing. Then she let out a small breath as she heard Min laugh. The TV was on and she must be watching her cartoons.
It must be good to laugh, thought Chung-Cha. It must be very good.
Chapter
68
IT LOOKS LIKE A BABY’S bib,” observed Reel.
“Or a bikini bottom,” replied Robie.
They were in a private jet descending into the airport on Nantucket. Looking at the island from this altitude had prompted their respective descriptions.
“Mars, Venus,” said Reel wryly.
“Guess so.”
Eleanor Cassion and her children were riding up front with their protection detail. Special motorcade cars were being ferried over. If the president had been coming, the logistics would have been far more daunting.
“Settled in 1641, about forty-eight square miles of land and about fifty-eight more of water. Fifty thousand people during the summer, about a fifth of that during the rest of the year,” said Reel. “They call the island the ‘little gray lady of the sea’ when the place is fog-bound, which it apparently is a good deal of the time. But on that island is some of the most expensive land in the country. Highest point is Folger Hill, about one hundred and nine feet.”
Robie stared at her. “Aren’t you just the fount of information.”
“Google makes everybody a genius.”
The jet touched down and came to a stop. Reel and Robie grabbed their bags and headed for the exit.
Claire Cassion made a point of stepping directly in front of Robie in the aisle. Her mother and brother were just ahead of her. The Secret Service were already outside the plane making sure everything was okay before the family exited into the waiting SUV.
Claire had on skinny jeans, heels that made her much taller, and a Yale sweatshirt. She glanced back at Robie. “Enjoy the flight?”
“I enjoy every flight where the plane lands on its wheels.”
She laughed. “That’s really funny. Handsome and a sense of humor, pretty impressive.”
The place where they were staying was within easy walking distance of the downtown area. There were two buildings: a large main house and a four-bedroom guest cottage. The Cassions and their staff would be in the main house. The protection detail was in the guesthouse. Robie and Reel were given rooms in the main house.
After she’d unpacked, Reel came into Robie’s bedroom, which was next to hers.
“Feeling privileged to be bunking with the Cassions?” she said as she perched on the bed.
Robie put the rest of his clothes away and said, “Jury’s still out on that.”
Reel looked out the window. “Never been here. Looks nice, if a little surreal. Like a Ralph Lauren ad.”