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Kamal held that fear himself, but said, “They’ve been well paid to stay quiet. They’ll make more in the next week than they will all year.”

Jaiden continued, “That may be true, but where is the most secure spot in Mumbai? Where we can control everything? It’s not in the slum.”

Kamal said, “I don’t know. The police station? What do you mean, ‘most secure’?”

“I mean Riva Thakkar’s house here in Mumbai.”

Flabbergasted, Kamal said, “The mansion? That’s insane.”

Riva Thakkar was one of the richest men in the world and was known for a multitude of different business accomplishments, but his home outshone everything. Outside of Buckingham Palace, it was the most expensive residential building in the world, costing more than two billion dollars to build. Located on Altamount Road—colloquially known as Billionaires’ Row—it was twenty-seven stories tall, with three helipads, a private car garage with 168 spaces, a fifty-person theater, two floors of workout equipment, a room that literally rained snow during the summer heat, and a permanent staff of more than three hundred. It was all to service only three people—Riva Thakkar, hiswife, and his daughter—and was the ultimate example of the difference between the haves and have-nots in India.

Jaiden said, “It’s not insane. I can get in there because I’m the head of security, and then I can lock it down. We could stay there for days, with all of the amenities you won’t have in the slum.”

“You’re on the news. If you show up there, it’ll raise questions. There’s no way they’ll let you in.”

“I’ll be with Thakkar’s daughter, and I’ve watched the news reports on my phone during the drive here. Right now everyone’s reporting that I’m a hostage, not a hostage taker. I’ll tell the staff we escaped and need shelter. Like I said, I’m the head of Thakkar’s security. Nobody is going to question me, and I can control everything they do and say.”

Kamal remained silent, and Jaiden said, “Look, taking Annaka works for me, because she’ll back up my story just by her presence. If she gets recognized with you in the slum, you’re dead. Nobody knows the American, but everyone in Mumbai knows Thakkar’s daughter. She’s a liability to you.”

Kamal said, “But either her or the other woman will tell the staff what’s happening. They aren’t going to sit still while you hold them hostage. It’sherstaff, after all.”

“I can handle that. I’ll implement a quarantine like we did when COVID was here. With Riva out conducting the pre-wedding celebrations, they’re at a skeleton staff anyway. During COVID they were locked into the staff apartments for months on end, and I was responsible for the protocol. Nobody was allowed to interface with the Thakkar family at all, except for the security element. We’ll do the same here, only I’ll convince them it’s for Annaka’s safety. She’ll not have the chance to talk to anyone, except through me.”

“And then what? You’ll have to contact Thakkar and say you’re ‘okay’ or something. The staff is going to wonder what the hell you’re doingthere while the press goes crazy about the kidnappings. You can’t keep that secret.”

“I’ll keep the staff from contacting anybody by saying our location must remain secret. I’ll take their cell phones and cut the landline. They’ll believe me, but you miss the point. I won’t keep it secret from Thakkar or the RAW. I’ll fortify the building and contact Thakkar myself. It will be our final grand event. They will publish the manifesto, or we kill them.”

Kamal thought about it, running the ramifications through his mind like he was worrying a piece of meat in his teeth. He finally said, “That will be Thakkar’s ultimate insult. First we attack his wedding party, then we capture his famous house? He’ll be so embarrassed that he’ll destroy the entire building just to prove a point, with his daughter in it.”

“Yes, I know. It’ll make worldwide news, which is exactly what we want. It’ll cause so much traffic to your webpage it might crash. Look, I know all the ways in and out of the building, as well as how the security systems work. I’ll know when they’re coming, and I’ll let him do his worst, killing his own daughter. It’ll be just like the attack on the Golden Temple, when the Army killed our Sikh brethren. It will galvanize our people now just like it did then, and galvanize the world in our favor. We won’t kill her—the government will.”

“But they’ll slaughter everyone in the building and we’ll lose our leverage in days instead of weeks.”

“The slaughter will be a good thing, and as for the leverage, we will still have the American, which means exposure of the Sikh abuses by the United States press. If you’ve managed to avoid the authorities—which you will because I’m going to take the heat off of you—you’ll still have him. Hit one goes down, and when they’re celebrating the success of taking down the tower, I’ll come back here to you, and we’ll use him for further leverage.”

Kamal remained silent, thinking through what Jaiden had described. Jaiden finally said, “And we won’t have to change the other security men out of their red uniforms. I can use them as they are.”

Kamal nodded, finally won over. He said, “So Manjit and I take the American into the slum, and you take the van with those two to Thakkar’s place?”

“Yes, and with your leadership, the Khalistan Commando Force will rise again, just as your father led us before you.”

Kamal said, “My father was a good man. A strong man, but let’s hope this doesn’t end the same way it did for him.”

Chapter55

Jennifer and I made our way over to Knuckles’ villa because Kerry had turned it into our makeshift tactical operations center. He figured the RAW had wired his room for sound before he’d arrived, but they hadn’t had a chance to do so in Knuckles’, so he got the short end of the stick. I didn’t think they’d had time to do so in our room either, but Kerry wasn’t taking any chances—which worked out for Jennifer’s and my privacy.

It had been over twenty-four hours since the bodyguard had been killed, and the shooter or shooters had disappeared like smoke. The bullets had come from outside the compound walls, from more than three hundred meters away, and I found it hard to believe that some jihadists could have made that shot. I was more convinced than ever that it was the Chinese, and they were cleaning up loose ends.

We knocked on the door, heard, “Come on in,” and found the room reordered, with Knuckles, Brett, and Veep each working a laptop at a different table.

I glanced around the room and said, “Where’s Kerry?”

Knuckles turned around and said, “He’s with the RAW and Thakkar right now. Be back soon.”

“I thought the rescheduled Oversight Council meeting was in five minutes. Is that still on?”

“President decided he wanted to attend. It’s been postponed until 1730.”