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Annaka glanced at him talking on the phone and continued, “But he doesn’t.”

“He does for the time being. That’s why he had me make the proof of life video. He’s trying right now to get one of the American.”

“The American? I’d honestly forgotten about him. I hope they’re treating him better than they treat you.”

Chapter64

Standing in a food kiosk line at the Mahim Junction railway station, Kamal was surprised to feel his smartphone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was Jaiden.

He stepped out of line, wondering if something had gone wrong. He’d seen nothing about Thakkar’s residence on the news, and it had been almost twenty-four hours, but Jaiden had said he would only call if he had a problem.

He said, “This is Kamal. What’s happened?”

“Everything’s good. I talked to Thakkar and the government last night, and as we expected, they have kept it secret. I’m sure they’re planning a surprise assault right this very minute. How is it going on your end?”

Kamal said, “Okay. I was getting breakfast just now. The workers were elated that they get to stay in a hostel instead of the factory, and the American has been docile. Why are you calling?”

“The government is stalling about reading the manifesto on television. They want proof of life for the American.”

“They want what?”

“They want a video proving he’s alive. It’s a negotiating tactic, but weneed to do it to convince them he’s in the building with me. Right now, everyone’s focused on Thakkar’s residence. We don’t want them to start looking elsewhere because they believe the American isn’t with us.”

Kamal reentered the narrow alleys of the slum, saying, “I can’t do a FaceTime call from in here. I can’t spoof your phone from the slum, so they’ll know it’s not you calling, and worse than that, they’ll have my phone. They’ll be able to locate me.”

“Well, we need to figure something out.”

“You want me to come to you? I still have the car. We could film it in the parking garage and then I could leave again. Or you could come to me.”

“No way. While they haven’t locked this road down with sirens and armed police, I’m positive they’re watching this building now. Probably from three hundred and sixty degrees. I’ve stayed in the primary living area precisely so they’ll pinpoint it for assault. If you come to me, you might get in, but you’ll never get out. They’ll capture you within two blocks. Same thing if I try to leave. No, we need to plan something else.”

“So that leaves me just sending you a video for you to resend. But nothing in this place looks like Thakkar’s house.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about it. Is there a good hotel nearby?”

Kamal reached the luggage factory but remained outside, saying, “The convention center is just across the Mithi River north of here. There are nice hotels near that, but Thakkar’s not going to be fooled by a hotel room. It won’t have priceless artwork on the walls or gold fittings.”

“I know, I know. We need one with a respectable gym. Something with modern exercise equipment.”

“Why?”

“Thakkar has a two-floor exercise room in this place that’s completely outfitted with the most modern exercise equipment in existence,but that lazy fucker has never stepped one foot into it. The only ones who’ve used it are the staff and his daughter. Get him inside the hotel gym next to some equipment, and video him close up.”

“I don’t think that’ll fool them. They’ll wonder why he’s in the gym.”

“I’ll handle that. I’ll tell them that he’s been a pain in the ass and we separated him. It’ll be just enough to cause them to question. They’ll err on the side that we’re telling the truth, and that’s all that we need.”

Kamal agreed to the plan, disconnected, and entered the tiny factory, the pungent smell of molten plastic burning his nostrils. The men working inside glanced over but paid him no further attention. He went down the narrow hallway, then up the ladder, finding Manjit sitting on a mattress playing with his Garmin watch and Sledge in the corner with the lantern, his hands wrapped around his knees, looking gaunt.

He said, “I really wish you’d get rid of that thing. It worries me.”

Manjit smiled and said, “It has an app called the ‘body battery’ that tells me how tired I am. According to it, I really need more sleep. Where’s the food?”

Kamal saw Sledge’s face grow apprehensive at hearing the Hindi, wondering what they were talking about. He said, “We need to get the American cleaned up and somewhere else.”

“What for? I thought we weren’t going to move until Jaiden’s mission was done. To protect ourselves.”

“I’ll explain on the way, but it’s to make sure that wedon’thave to move. We need to ensure they’re only looking at Jaiden and nobody’s searching for us.”