"Oh, this is lovely. My old and dear friend Sara," Jung-Su said. "And you are here as a translator, are you not?" He spoke to the other members of his party and introduced her in Korean. She bowed slightly as each one in turn took her hand. Jung-Su took her arm and kissed her on the cheek.
She started shaking and tried to pull away, but she heard Blue's voice like velvet in her ear, "Take it easy, Sara. I promise I'm very close. Oh, and Bob's here too. He asked me to tell you that he'll give you his knife so you can cut off genitalia. Uh, preferably not mine okay?" Then she heard him say to Bob, "Genitalia, really college boy? I can think of a better word."
A smile was on her face when Jung-Su pulled away. Sara didn't care if he mistook it for acceptance.
"Where is your friend, Sergeant Grey? Oh, I am so sorry. I heard that you two were not together anymore. If I had only known you were going to be here today, I would not have brought a date." He turned to his blonde companion and began speaking to her, but it wasn't in Korean.
"Russian," she said quietly and hoped that Blue could hear her.
"Bob agrees with you," Blue said.
When they were finished talking, the woman turned and left.
"Now you will have me all to yourself," Jung-Su said as he took her arm and led her toward the oblong conference table that dominated the center of the room. He pushed her into the chair right next to him. She pointed to the back of the room where the translators normally sat, but he had no intention of letting her sit anywhere but right next to him. He simply picked up a set of their headphones and slowly slipped them on her head.
"Allow me," he said. She only hoped he wouldn't spot the earpiece.
At first, she thought the growling noise in her ear was static from the headphones, but then she realized it was Blue. It comforted her to know that she was not the only one affected by the presence of this man. The headphones had a microphone attached, so she was finally ready to do her job. Several diplomats started to sit down at the table. She took those moments to take a few deep breaths.
It was then that she heard him. "Sara, nobody else can hear me but you."
She understood, just the two of them all alone in a room full of diplomats. Every one of her senses focused on that earpiece and his voice. It felt so personal.
"I'm sorry about this, Sara," he said in low tones, so sensual and intimate. The room felt overly warm and she felt flush. All the moisture from her mouth escaped to other places in her body. She rubbed her sweaty palms on the sides of her suit pants. If anyone noticed her physical distress, she hoped it would be construed as fear rather than arousal.
And then the conference began. The room was called to order and she had to start listening and translating for her Korean employers. It was so hard to focus, especially when all she wanted was to listen to Blue's voice.
Jung-Su laid his hand on her arm, a slimy smile on his face. She resisted the urge to lift his hand and throw it back at him. Instead, she gently extracted her arm from his touch. Surely he didn't think she was aroused by him, but then he put his hand on her thigh and laughed. The man was truly evil.
A welcome break for lunch came after a couple of hours of focused debate. The catered luncheon was to be served right there in the conference room. Sara was surprised at how dedicated Jung-Su had sounded about the plight of his country. If she didn't know him better, she would have believed he really cared. It just went to show how good he was at deception.
Everyone stood up and stretched. Body guards flooded in as diplomats went for short walks to the closest restrooms. When Jung-Su pulled out her chair, all she could think about was getting out of the room. But when she started down the hallway, she heard the voice in her ear. "No, Sara. Stay with him. Don't let him get too far away."
The hallway was teeming with the diplomats, their body guards, their translators, and assorted other assistants. Jung-Su ran right into her as she searched for him near the restrooms. As he spoke, he took her arm and leaned into her as though they were having and intimate conversation. She tried to pull away, but he was too strong.
"You know, I expected to see Sergeant Grey sometime over the last few months, but I have not. Has he gone back on the promise he made to me in Korea?"
"I haven't forgotten my promise to that son of a bitch," Blue growled in her ear and then his voice softened. "Someday I will make him pay for what he did to you, Sara."
She wished she could relay Blue's message, but instead she said, "I'm sure whatever promise Charlie made to you, he intends to keep, but as you said, I haven't seen him in several months."
"And you do not call him by his endearing nickname anymore. Tsk, Tsk, what a shame. I hope I did not have anything to do with the demise of your relationship with 'Blue,'" he added.
She couldn't take anymore. She pulled away and walked quickly to the stairwell at the end of the hallway. She would skip lunch and take that time alone to collect herself and calm her breathing.
She sat on the first step of the stairs.
"I'm here, Sara. You're doing great." She jumped when she heard his voice in her ear. She'd forgotten that she wasn't alone.
"Charlie, I'm not sure I can do this anymore," she gulped. "How do you do it? Don't you ever get scared?"
"Sure, I feel scared, but I practice over and over until I'm confident with my preparation. Then whatever emotions are left get locked away. Like Mack told you, we train. Emotions block rational judgment and clear thinking."
"Not everybody can control their emotions that way. It must take some very special people," she said.
"I'm not that special, Sara. When Jung-Su put his hand on your leg, I wanted to crash into that room and tear his damn head off."
"But you didn't."
"I knew you were safe. Me and Bob were close and he was never going to get a chance to hurt you."
He paused and then said, "Before you left for DC, you asked if I could have left Hector behind in Beirut if our positions had been reversed. I've thought about that a lot. You were right about me. I don't think I could have. Maybe I'm just too hard headed to let anything get in my way. Bob says to tell you that it's less complicated than that. He says I'm just a pain in the ass. Personally I think it's the other way around."
She'd forgotten that others were able to hear their conversation.
"Why hasn't Jung-Su been arrested?"
"Never charged, diplomatic status, powerful friends, lots of money, take your pick. Listen, Sara, you can do this. You're one of the strongest people I know."
"I'll try," she finally said.
"I admire your courage. I always have."
She hesitated but then thought this might be the last time she would get to speak with him, so she said, "I… miss you."
"I miss you too, more than I thought I would."
Just then Charlotte Ryan opened the stairwell door. "Hon, you've got to get back inside. They're about to start."
Sara reluctantly joined Mrs. Ryan and went back to the conference table.
All Sara could think about as she approached Jung-Su was how much he reminded her of a snake.
"We missed you at lunch, my dear. Are you all right?" Again he pulled out her chair and slowly put on the headphones, but this time, she slipped her hand up his shoulder and pushed the transmitter into the collar of his jacket.
"I'm just fine," she lied and got ready to resume her duties.
"Good work," she heard in her ear. "Don't worry if you can't attach the other one. That's good enough."
There were arguments and some ugly words in the next segment of the conference. Sara tried to keep up, but they started talking so fast, she found it difficult. Finally the moderator called it a day. This time, Sara kept her seat.
She took off the head phones and tried to listen to every word Jung-Su said. His cell phone went off and he made a quick getaway into the hall. She tried to follow discreetly. When she saw him open the cell phone and slip away from his bodyguards into the restroom, she followed. There was a wall that blocked the inside of the restroom from the view of the outside world. She pressed against it and listened intently.
"There is a lot of background noise and I can't hear very well. Where are you, Sara?" she heard Blue in her ear, but she couldn't answer without giving away her position.
"You're too close. Get out of there," he said when he figured out where she was.
Finally she pulled the earpiece out and put it in her pocket. She couldn't focus on what Jung-Su was saying while listening to Blue at the same time. His voice was just too much of a distraction.
"No, Leon, I am not worried," Jung-Su said. "She is good cover. Just make sure you take care of your part. Yes, yes, I will see you then." He snapped his cell phone closed and then cursed in Korean. Sara didn't think Jung-Su was bothered by anything until now.
She slipped out of the restroom door and hoped that she hadn't been seen. She quickly put the earpiece back into her ear. "Charlie, he was talking to someone named Leon, something about a woman being good cover, and he was mad. He cursed in Korean."
"Sara you have no idea how much I enjoyed being with you today." She had just finished talking to Blue when Jung-Su caught her just outside the restrooms in the foyer. He took her arm and led her to the front door and down the steps to the street.
"I wish there had been time today just for us. We could have arranged for more than just conversation." He leered at her in a way that made her skin crawl. "Unfortunately this will be my last diplomatic trip to Washington, but I am sure we will see each other again."
This time instead of a kiss on the cheek, he grabbed her and kissed her full on the mouth. She heard the profanity ringing in her ear. Blue in control of his emotions, she thought, but then she remembered what he had said. His tirade comforted her enough so that she could push her emotions aside if only for just a minute. As Jung-Su prolonged the kiss, she reached up and pressed the transmitter patch onto his neck under the collar of his shirt and then patiently waited until he finished.
When he pulled away, he said, "Well, you have gained some self-control, Sara, very good. I have a feeling that our next meeting will prove to be very interesting. He laughed as a limousine drove up. The blonde with the hat and sunglasses got out and greeted him with an arm around his waist and a gentle kiss on the lips.
As soon as the limousine drove away, she sat down on the steps of the building and tried to catch her breath. She had held it together as long as she could. "Charlie," she moaned feeling dizzy, but he wasn't there. The voice in her ear had become silent. It was over. He was gone.