Page 16 of Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan #19)

The door to our little “holding cell” opened, and Knuckles entered the room. The man in civilian clothes pointed at Jennifer,

and she rose, glancing at me. I said, “Just tell them what happened.”

He let her exit the room, then closed the door, leaving me alone with Knuckles. So far, they hadn’t rounded up Brett or Veep,

even as they had to have ascertained we were all together. Especially since Nadia knew that. Maybe she wasn’t going to drag

us into this and was letting our pathetic story of “just a couple of lucky tourists” stand.

If she was, then she was most definitely covering for us, because there was no way to explain how Knuckles knew we were being

attacked at the drainage cut, leading to her following him and saving the day. She knew we were something other than an archeological

company. The question was: Why didn’t she tell anyone else?

I said, “How’d it go?”

“Same questions, same answers.” He glanced around as he said it, then looked at me, asking without asking if the place was

bugged.

I said, “Don’t think so. They didn’t have time. If it was someone’s office, I’d wonder if it was wired for sound from the

management, but it’s just a break room.”

After the shoot-out, Nadia had begun talking into a radio she’d had hidden somewhere, and the drainage cut became overrun with a swarm of various Indian authority figures. One man came up to Nadia and she spoke to him in Hindi, then pointed at us, saying, “If you don’t mind, please accompany this man.”

We did, acting as if we were over-shocked tourists from the action, and the man took us to the lobby of the hotel, a sweeping

area with a veranda that opened to the grounds outside. We walked past the desk we’d used to check in, then down a hallway

to another room, this one sparsely furnished with a folding table, several metal chairs, and a bulletin board with hotel news

tacked to it, the only other fixtures a refrigerator, a sink, and a small coffeepot.

It was clearly the first place they could find to isolate us, and so far, we hadn’t been accused of anything nefarious, but

I knew Nadia held the key to prevent this from turning into a shit show. Knuckles had been taken out first, then Jennifer,

then me, the questions pretty normal—just name, rank, serial number stuff, with a blow-by-blow of what had occurred. We’d

stuck to our cover of Grolier Recovery Services, showing them our letter from both from the university that had hired us and

the invitation from the government, and so far it had held up. Knuckles had been taken a second time, and I expected the hammer

to drop, but apparently it hadn’t.

I said, “So they didn’t ask anything new?”

He said, “Not really.”

Usually when under interrogation, the interrogator will separate the people being questioned so they can’t cook up a story—which is why Knuckles was sure the place we were in was wired for sound. Actually, with his answer, I had a moment of doubt, because the only reason I could see to ask the same questions was that the real interrogation was happening inside this room, giving us time to talk in “private.” But the room was barren, with very few places to hide a surveillance device— particularly on short notice—and I was pretty good at finding such things. Especially since it was my job to emplace them.

No, I was sure it wasn’t bugged, even with the questions. The local authorities were killing time to keep us from demanding

to be released while they figured out what to do with us. My only concern was Nadia.

I said, “They didn’t press for more information?”

Knuckles said, “I mean, a little bit. Pinning down times and that sort of thing, but it was really just a rehash. Who was

I, what was I doing there, that sort of thing.”

“What did you tell them about running to me?”

“That I’d just seen you in the restaurant, you’d left, and I heard you shouting out on the lawn, so I went to help. I laid

it on a little thick about being an American and not used to lawless places. That put them on their heels a little bit, with

them now talking about how India wasn’t lawless, blah, blah, blah.”

“They didn’t ask about how on earth you could have heard me shout from two hundred meters away?”

“Nope.” He paused and said, “What did you give them?”

The hardest part about living a cover was that everyone had to say the same thing to back each other up. It wasn’t unlike

two bank robbers who’d been arrested on suspicion of doing a heist. You had to say the same story to escape suspicion, but living a cover was a day-to-day trial, not a single event. The story had to

be the same between members even if you weren’t involved in a crime.

Like us.

It went without saying that we’d both collapsed into our GRS cover. That wasn’t what he was asking, though. He wanted to know

what I’d said about the point of the spear, in case it had contradicted what he’d told them.

I said, “I just told them exactly what happened and that I was thankful they’d come as fast as they had. I asked who Nadia was, singing her praises, and of course, acted like a blubbering mess of fear over my near death.”

He chuckled and said, “Well, it was a damn miracle they popped out right in front of you two. Ten feet either way on that

ditch and you would have had to close the distance. They’d have dropped you immediately.”

I’d already thought about that, and it had sent a little bit of a mix of emotions through me: fear, anxiety, relief, but ultimately

satisfaction and thanks to the gods of war. I’d always been good in a gunfight, and it wasn’t solely because I was a better

shot. I couldn’t explain it, but for some innate reason, the universe always put me in a position to win. Maybe it was because

I was quicker on the draw, or better at snap analysis, or just too damn stubborn to quit, but it wasn’t just luck.

The fear and trepidation came because I realized that wouldn’t always be the case. Sooner or later, the marble would roll

onto red when I’d picked black. It was just the way of combat.

But that marble hit black tonight.

I said, “Who do you think those guys were?”

“I don’t know. If it was because of the meeting with Kerry Bostwick and RAW, their intel was way off. A day early and a dollar

short. I’m leaning to a coincidence.”

“So you think they’re Lashkar-e-Taiba? Muslim terrorists who were attacking just to attack?”

“Yeah. LeT did it once before in Mumbai, and after Hamas stole the headlines last year, maybe they’re just copycatting to

regain the spotlight.”

I nodded, as that was an Occam’s Razor answer, but the little things niggled at me.

I said, “Probably right, but they only had five guys, not dozens. And they didn’t have any long guns, just those same old exotic integrally suppressed Makarovs like was found in the prison. Wouldn’t you come boiling out with AK-47s and hand grenades if you intended to slaughter a bunch of people? Start out with shock and awe?”

“Yeah, those weapons are weird, that’s for sure. Seems like it would be a hell of a lot easier to get AKs than those pistols,

and why use a silencer anyway? They didn’t need stealth.”

I thought about it, then said, “On the other hand, maybe they intended to eliminate the guards quietly before starting the

big show once inside. And maybe they had more men coming. They might have been just the advance force, preparing the battle

space.”

Knuckles tapped the table and said, “Well, two things are for sure: One, Bostwick’s meeting will be the most secure in history,

as this place will probably go into lockdown from local Barney Fifes. There’s no way whoever it was will try a repeat now.”

I said, “And two?”

“And two, these guys should be giving us a medal for saving their ass. Thank God we put in those cameras.”

I laughed and said, “Jennifer did pretty well, didn’t she?”

He nodded and said, “She’s got the same luck as you. When she sent him over her back, he hammered his skull into the chapel

wall. I saw it running in. He stood up and did a Scooby Doo shaggy-dog shake, like he was clearing his vision before shooting.

Gave her time to get behind cover, and time for you to eliminate your guy.”

I let out a rueful grin and said, “I missed Jennifer’s guy. Couldn’t believe it when I saw the bullet go wide. Thank God Nadia

was armed.”

I glanced at Knuckles and said, “Did you know that before?”

“No way. No idea. Came as a complete surprise. I was just as shocked as you were. I was yelling at her to get behind me as

I was running. I knew she hadn’t heard the radio call of guys with weapons.”

I nodded and said, “Well, she can shoot.” I turned in my chair, stuck my feet out, and said, “Why isn’t she telling them her suspicions about us?”

He ran his finger in a circle on the table for a second, then said, “I think she’s afraid of saying she was with me. I think

she’s protecting me and, in so doing, herself.”

“Awww, bullshit. She was targeted against you. She’s here collecting just like we are.”

He grew incensed, saying, “She was not . We just hit it off.”

I shook my head and said, “Don’t become blind. She saw you were interested, and she used that to target you.”

I saw him getting wound up and held out my hands in a gesture of surrender. I said, “Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with

it, since it saved my life, but she was just doing her job.”

He shook his head again, saying, “No, she wasn’t. I’ll give you she might have targeted me initially, because I came on to

her. That’s probably true, but we really connected. She might have been trying to glean information, but she was enjoying

my company. She’s a good egg.”

“Oh, come on. Take off the blinders for a second. What you’re saying is exactly what I’m saying. You followed her around the

pool, and then she followed you around the church ruins. Then you took her up on the invitation for dinner. It’s not like

you boinked her or anything.”

He said nothing. Just looked at me. I said, “It’s not like you boinked her or anything, right?”

He kept his eyes on mine, remaining silent. I said, “Are you shitting me? You slept with her? When? How?”

I stood up, waving my arms and saying, “Did you do it in the rental car? In the broom closet? What the hell, man?”

He said, “Keep your voice down. If this place isn’t wired, you don’t need to announce it to the people outside. Yes, I slept with her, but it’s not what you think. We just clicked. It was at her place, after we came back from the church, before the camera tests tonight. Did you think she gave me an invitation to dinner on the lawn?”

That just made me more aggravated. “In her room? She’s probably got a tape of the whole thing. What the hell were you thinking?”

“She doesn’t have a tape. That’s not what this was about.”

“How do you know? You’re doing your thinking with your dick instead of your brain.”

“Because I know , that’s how.”

“Did you check the bedroom before you got under the sheets? How do you know ?”

“Because if she was going to film anything, it would have been in the bedroom.”

“Yeah, so?”

And then it dawned on me before he even said it: “We didn’t make it to the bedroom.”

I rubbed my face, at a loss for words. Finally I said, “So you think she hasn’t said anything because she’s afraid you’ll

spill the beans about sleeping with her?”

He smiled and said, “Well, I’d like to think it’s because she realizes I’m just a wonderful human being who couldn’t have

anything to do with the attack, and therefore sees no reason to include us beyond getting specific details, but you might

have a point.”

Before I could say anything, the door opened. I expected to see Jennifer, but it was Nadia. In her hands was a small Wi-Fi

surveillance camera.

Just like the ones we had emplaced and were testing last night.