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Nadia switched to English as well, saying, “They’re outside the van. If we keep our voices down, they won’t know we’re talking. But you can keep yelling if you want.”

The man said nothing, and Nadia continued, saying, “We need to escape sooner rather than later. While we’re driving. I don’t know where they’re taking us, but once they arrive, our chances of survival drop significantly.”

The man said, “Most hostage situations like this end with a payment. If we try to escape, they’ll kill us. The only reason they took me was for money. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Nadia said, “You think they tookyoufor money? Just a minute ago you were telling him you were famous. These men have no idea who you are, but since you’ve told them you’re famous, they’re going to use it, and I promise it isn’t for money.”

Annaka said, “Nadia, what should we do? Will your people come looking for us?”

Nadia took a deep breath, knowing she meant the Research and Analysis Wing. She said, “They will, but I’m not sure they’ll do it to protect us. They’re going to be concerned with eliminating the people who did this, not rescuing us. The government is going to want a statement, and we’re going to be the price of that.”

She heard Annaka start to weep and said, “What about your dad? Will he bring pressure to bear?”

Annaka choked out, “He’s the same way. He’s going to kill these men no matter what. He’ll hunt them to the ends of the earth, but he won’t care if I’m gone. If I die, it’ll just give him a reason to continue.”

Nadia heard that and felt her world begin to crumble. They were all going to be corpses in a field somewhere, all for the politics of India. She banished the thought, knowing she had to keep them confident. Shesaid, “Shush. Quit crying. We aren’t dead yet. There are others looking for us, and they care about our lives.”

“Who? The RAW? Your bosses? You just said they were no help. They want a reason to blame Pakistan. They’re loving this.”

“Not the RAW. The Americans.”

“Why would they care? They’re just as bad as the RAW. They’ve been paying the Pakistani ISI for years. After Afghanistan, they want nothing to do with our part of the world.”

Nadia closed her eyes behind the blindfold, wanting to believe her next words. “My date to the party cares. And he’s more than I told you. He’s going to come.”

Chapter51

I entered our villa, threw my suitcase on the bed, and turned to the man who’d let us in, saying, “We’ve got it from here.”

He looked nervous, which, given what had just occurred at this hotel, was understandable. He said, “Sir, I need to scan your passports.”

I thought about telling him to pack sand, but Jennifer handed them over, saying, “Sorry. Here you go.”

He scanned them, then said, “Would you like me to show you the amenities of the room?”

I said, “No. That’s not necessary.”

He understood that we weren’t here for the amenities and left without another word. I turned to Jennifer and said, “This is not going to end well.”

I could tell that Knuckles wasn’t going to be on an even keel the minute I’d met him in the lobby. He was too close to this one. We’d separated when a guy in a golf cart came to take us to our room, and I told him we’d talk soon. The golf cart guy, wearing a historically British uniform from something out of Disneyland, took us to our villa on the grounds, about a hundred meters from the one where Knuckles was staying.

The trip was surreal, because the hotel space was completely lockeddown due to the attack, forcing us to spend the better part of the night just trying to get inside, but once in, everyone was acting like it was business as usual. As if more than a dozen people weren’t slaughtered last night.

Jennifer said, “Kerry Bostwick is here. The Oversight Council is meeting in three hours, and they have that guy that Knuckles captured. Maybe it’ll be easy.”

I shook my head and said, “Nope. Knuckles is going on the warpath. And we’re going to have to back him up.”

She said, “Back him up how? We don’t have authority to operate here. We’ve already—”

“We don’t have authorityyet.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means we have to convince the Oversight Council to continue. We’re going to find those hostages. I just need to convince the Oversight Council that it’s in their interest to do so.”

I opened the French doors to our little garden, saw a peacock walking around, and realized again how weird this whole thing was. I watched the bird pecking at the ground and said, “You ready for that?”

She said, “Pike, we have no standing here. We’ve already pushed the limits on this one. Veep’s got the bullet wounds to prove it. We should let the country team solve this.”