Still, many North Koreans escaped the impoverished country every day. The border might be well guarded, but desperate men always found a way.
Drake and Romero kept an eye on their driver, but every time they checked, all they received was a world-weary sigh from a face that was deeply creased by years of hardship and eyes that had long since forgotten what joy felt like. These were people born into toil, used and forgotten except by their own families. Six hours into the journey and they were still only about half way through. Drake found his thoughts drifting again — this time toward his old roommate and friend — Ben. The lad hadn’t matured as Drake had hoped. Despite facing death and captivity and somehow landing a girlfriend as hot and capable as Hayden Jaye, the young man had barely developed beyond the introspective super-geek he’d always been. It worried Drake, but he just hadn’t been in a position to help Ben. Nor had he known how to go about it.
One thing was clear; Ben was badly affected by the death of the soldier in the third tomb. Getting blood on your hands always made it seem more real, even if whizzing bullets still passed you by. Hayden had tried to help, Drake knew. She was a good person and wouldn’t intentionally harm anyone who didn’t deserve it.
But help only worked if it was accepted, taken on board. The recipient had to participate. Ben clearly wasn’t.
Carry your load. An old Dinorock tune. But it wasn’t necessarily true. To trust and to share was to half the burden, wasn’t it?
Drake took into account his own burdens. In addition to his women, there was the death of Daniel Belmonte and his protégé—Emma. Drake hadn’t yet found the time to visit her father, and even that fact wore him down.
He needed a bloody vacation.
Well, he thought, been on a deserted island, a sea voyage and to North Korea in the last week or so. What more could he ask for?
Before the truck jostled and rebounded its way to the border, the truck stopped and the driver shouted. Drake and Romero popped their heads into the front cab.
“We here?”
The driver pointed. Drake understood. The border was across the dank hills to their left. They managed to get from the man that this was a relatively easy, but still manned, crossing point, which was perfect. They needed to get across sure, but they still needed transport on the other side.
Outside it was soggy and damp and hot. The two soldiers put their heads down and began the hike to the top of the nearest hill. The truck drove noisily away behind them. Within an hour, they had carefully crested the rise. Helpfully, the mist receded a bit as they shuffled across the top.
Below them, patchy grassland led to the Koreans concrete wall, wide enough to accommodate several men walking alongside each other. Beyond that lay about thirty feet of overgrown and untended no-man’s-land, perfect cover, ending where China’s crisscross patterned wire fence reared a little farther on.
A straggling line of ten or twelve troops marched in time along the Korean wall, heading for a distant checkpoint.
“Seems pretty low key,” Drake said. “We’ll cross and double back to the checkpoint. Borrow a vehicle tonight.”
Romero began to crawl down the wet hillside. “Sounds good to me.”
Another three hours and they were nearing Harbin. The Chinese city was a surprising mix of ostentatious historical architecture and modern commercial office buildings, reflecting the changing face of not only the city, but the country as a whole. Harbin overlaps culturally with European designs amidst a distinct Russian cityscape and a new scenic waterfront combined with modern road systems. But instead of appearing haphazard and pretentious, the mix of old and new celebrates the past whilst fully embracing the future. Drake drove their battered old vehicle down a wide, increasingly busy road, feeling more conspicuous by the minute.
“Ah, shit,” Romero voiced his concern. “Why the hell did we think Harbin would be a backwater village? Ya know, at a glance, this place could be any big European city.”
“Outdated western perceptions.” Drake nodded. “Still hold strong. We should ditch this junker and find us a map.”
Romero pointed at a universal sign. “Train station,” he said. “Best place we could go.”
Drake made the turn and they parked the vehicle in as unassuming a position as they could find. It was a moment before Drake and Romero shared a look.
“Balls. You think we might stand out from the crowd?”
They studied each other. “Lose the vest,” Romero said. “Loosen the shirt. Buy a backpack. You’ll pass.”
“Me?”
“There are Europeans all over.” The American gazed out the grimy windows. “But not a soul from the good old U.S. I can see.”
“Alright.” Drake quickly made ready and then climbed out of the car. The streets were clean and bright. Even the old architecture appeared newly washed. The Chinese filled the pavements and the wide-open plaza that fronted Harbin Station. Cars whizzed by. Streams of workers flooded up and down the nearby subway steps. Drake put his head down and headed for the station.
Protocol dictated they contact Washington, but Drake concluded it was too risky at this point. Better they flush out the Chinese part of the operation and continue on to Russia before making the call. At least in Russia they might find allies.
He walked right through the entrance underneath a big black-and-white clock and cast about. Wide, vaulted ceiling, train times, and entrances were dead ahead. Shops to the right and a terrace of windows to the left. Drake headed for the nearest shop, seeking out civilian backpacks, jackets and a map. He also bought food and water after exchanging his American dollars at a nearby Bureau de Change.
Once equipped, he made haste to vanish, heading back to Romero and then walking away from the tiny minivan they’d appropriated from the border.
They walked into the city, purposely losing themselves whilst studying the new map.
“Once it gets dark,” Drake grated, “the Chinese part of this human trafficking op won’t know what hit them.”
The bright lights of Harbin lit up the night. Drake and Romero paid a taxi driver to take them within three blocks of the address they wanted and stepped out into a neighborhood of relative dark. Dogs barked. Hushed conversations pinpointed those hidden in the evening gloom. Speed was the westerners’ ally as they followed a predetermined route directly to the address the North Korean soldier had given them.
Assuming he remembered correctly, and had been telling the truth.
Drake trusted the information, but even so, it still needed confirming. The house in question blended in with the rest of the row, perfect camouflage for any kind of den of iniquity. The locals would be warned and brutalized, the authorities paid off. No city in the world was free from this kind of poison so, conceal it as they might, the criminal fungi still spread its malicious tendrils through all of society wherever it could find root.
With little time to waste, the two westerners chomped at the bit as they realized the only way into this building was through the front door. The covert option was negated by endless rows of darkened windows overlooking the street and rear. The hours ticked by and the night had grown colder, silent, and more fearful as the men became ever more conscious of their overstuffed backpacks, hidden weapons and conspicuous presence even crouched in the pitch black.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Romero whispered.
Drake nudged him. “You think?”
A shadow moved in the doorway of the house. A half-dressed man moved into view, taking some air, leaving the door ajar behind him. Drake moved fast, rushing out of the night like a white devil, locking the man into a chokehold before he could utter a word.