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“What damage did you do to the Americans?”

“Vehicle severely damaged, one member hit, but unable to discern how bad. Most definitely out of action.”

“In your estimation, can they continue?”

He waited, the man considering his question, then heard, “They can continue if they don’t care about the one who’s down. If they want to evacuate him with whatever infrastructure they have, it will require them to focus on that mission.”

“So that team is now committed?”

He heard nothing for a moment, the man reconsidering. He came back and said, “No, not fully. There was one man who was a devil, and if he wants to continue on his own, he’ll do so, and he’ll be effective. The most I can say is they’ve been slowed, but not stopped.”

Chapter39

Kamal looked around the room and said, “Not bad, not bad. I thought we’d end up sleeping in some abandoned building.”

It was spartan, but clean, with four low wooden bedframes housing a thin foam mattress, a desk, and a four-drawer dresser, but nothing else. Not even pictures on the walls.

Randeep smiled and said, “We lucked out. This place caters to students and is usually full, but they had a room big enough for all of us, and we can come and go from here without anyone questioning us.”

Called the Kami Boys Hostel, it was located just off the main campus of Jaipur National University, the area around the campus teeming with men their age.

Kamal said, “How’d you find it?”

“We went for a drive-by of the Oberoi and it was on the way. The hotel is a few kilometers down the road.”

“Good. Good.” He turned to Manjit and said, “What did you think of Jaiden and Rakesh?”

Manjit said, “They were really trying to test us. Acted like they were stone-cold killers and we were babies, but in the end it worked out.”

“Do you think they’ll follow through?”

“Absolutely. If anything, they’ll think they’re in charge, which maybe a problem. You need to be ready for that. If we succeed, they might fight you on your plans for how to execute the follow-on exposure. Especially Jaiden.”

Kamal nodded, saying nothing. Manjit said, “How do you know them?”

“We’re from the same village. They were older than me, and they looked after me when I was a boy, after my father died. I used to work for Jaiden, back before he went into the Army. My mother never really cared for them, but they knew my father well. We got along as friends then, but it’s been years. I went to jail and they went to work for Thakkar’s security. I’m glad to hear the meeting went okay.”

“As far as the plan goes it did, but keep what I said in mind.”

“I will.”

Randeep said, “How is Agam? How did that go?”

Kamal exhaled and said, “I honestly don’t know. He was fine when I left, but I’ve been on the road for hours. I have to assume it’s going okay.”

“You didn’t call him?”

“With what? I can’t use the watch phone because I’m afraid it’ll screw up his spoofing software, and I most surely can’t use Mr.Chin’s contact phone. That’s probably being recorded in Beijing.”

Manjit said, “But at least the spoofing is working? Right?”

Kamal nodded. “Yeah, it is. Mr.Chin called me earlier this morning for a check-in, but didn’t act like he suspected anything. That’s not going to last for too much longer. He called again as I was driving to you, but I let it go to voice mail.”

He held up his Garmin watch and said, “Agam showed me something about these things. It has what’s called a ‘kill switch.’ When you hit it, it stops transmitting everything and wipes itself of all memory. Before we do the mission, we hit that switch.”

Manjit smiled and said, “Only Agam would figure that out. I’m sure he’s fine. He loves tinkering with technology, and he’ll hit one of those minarets at the Taj.”

Kamal remembered what he’d told Agam and changed the subject, saying, “Where’s the van?”