Page 32 of Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan #19)

Manjit pulled off the dusty asphalt to a dirt parking lot next to a collection of ramshackle buildings, one advertising Indian

cuisine with pictures of the various dishes, another selling souvenirs. In the distance he could see a temple, the pillars

crumbling as if it had been abandoned long ago. Across the road, in front of the temple, was a ticket counter leading to the

entrance of one of the largest stepwells in India, the Chand Baori.

Built between the eighth and ninth centuries, it was thirteen stories deep, with over 3,500 steps leading to a massive tank

of water at the bottom. Situated about an hour and a half east of Jaipur, it was originally a way point for weary travelers,

but had long ago lost its usefulness and was now relegated to a lesser-known archeological site.

Kamal’s Sikh contacts on Riva Thakkar’s security detail had picked the location, not wanting to meet anywhere in the city

of Jaipur itself. Manjit had agreed, as it was easy to find on a map and on the way to their new safe house. He and Randeep

had awakened early, starting the five-hour drive south from Delhi before Kamal and Agam went to test the drones. They’d had

little trouble on the trip, and he hoped Agam’s watch trick was working. If it wasn’t, their whole plan would be compromised

by Mr.Chin.

Randeep surveyed the parking lot, seeing a smattering of cars, but only one van. A white two-seat cargo van, without windows. He said, “Is that ours?”

Manjit shut off the engine and said, “I don’t know. We’ll find out when we meet them inside.”

Randeep started to open the door, but Manjit put his hand on his arm. Randeep turned, and Manjit said, “Remember, this will

be our only chance to talk to them, so if you have any questions, now is the time to ask.”

Randeep nodded and said, “I know. The next time we see them will be behind the barrel of a gun.”

They exited the vehicle, crossed the street, and went to the ticket counter, each buying a day pass for the well. Walking

through a modern anteroom, they gave their tickets to a lackadaisical guard sitting behind a desk, and crossed the threshold

into the stone architecture of the ancient world.

They found themselves on a covered walkway surrounding the well, the gaping hole looking like an inverted pyramid that had

been bored into the earth, the sides of the walls covered in steps zigzagging to the bottom tank. A railing prevented anyone

from using them, but Manjit could see laborers six stories down working on the masonry of the stone.

The upper deck had a smattering of tourists, but not many. Manjit surveyed the walkway around the pit and saw an open-air

room on the far side, the stone roof held up with columns. He could make out some figures in the shadows, and recognized they

were wearing dastaars.

He said, “Over there.”

They walked around the well, the depth and the zigzagging stairs giving Manjit vertigo even as he stayed away from the edge.

Leaving the sunlight and entering the stone room, Manjit saw various statues and carvings situated about, with plaques describing

their heritage.

Manjit ignored them, walking to two men sitting on a sandstone bench in the back, both hard-looking and wearing the dastaar of the Sikh. Middle-aged, they were older than Manjit, with one having a milky eye, the other with a white line of a scar tracing through his beard.

Looking up at him as he approached, he said, “Do you know a man named Kamal?”

The one with the scar said, “Maybe. Where would we know him from?”

Manjit didn’t reply. He pulled a keychain out of his pocket, a broken half of the Hindu god Shiva dangling from a chain. The

man reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Manjit saw it was the other half of the keychain. The man took Manjit’s

Shiva statue and matched it to his own, forming a whole.

The man looked up and said, “I’m Jaiden. And you, I presume, are who I’m putting my life on the line for.”

Manjit said, “You’re not putting your life on the line for me. We’re both putting our lives on the line for the Sikh. If you

feel otherwise, then I’m talking to the wrong man.”

Jaiden scowled and stood up, towering over Manjit. Manjit did not back down, locking eyes with the bodyguard. Randeep stepped

in, saying, “Hey, hey, we’re all on the same side here, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

Jaiden flicked his eyes to Randeep and said, “You two don’t look like you could fight your way out of a primary school.”

Manjit said, “Looks can be deceiving. We can fight, and we will. Now, what’s the plan for this?”

Jaiden pointed to his companion and said, “This is Rakesh. We’re the principal security for Mr. Thakkar. For tomorrow’s party he’s hired a bunch of secondary security. We’ve managed to get two hired who are with the cause. All four of us have served in the military, and all four have heard shots fired in anger. Have you?”

“Yes. We both have, in fact recently. We can shoot, but more importantly, we can shoot when under fire. Don’t worry about

us.”

Jaiden nodded, appraising them anew. He said, “Kamal told me he had good men, and I trust him. He was someone I could always

trust back in the Punjab, before he was arrested.”

“He’s still someone to trust. I do. What can you do for us?”

“There’s a van in the parking lot. It has weapons, ammunition, and hand grenades. It also has two cell phones to coordinate.

Those are the only two phones you will use to contact us.”

He held out a thumb drive, saying, “There is a map in here for you to follow. Thakkar has taken over the entire Oberoi hotel

in Jaipur. The security will be incredibly tight, with guests arriving by helicopter and through the front gate, with the

entire staff on hand to facilitate. There is no way to do a frontal assault, but the back of the property has a wooden fence

with a simple gate. I’m in charge of the security for the greater perimeter, which means I own this gate. I’ll make sure it’s

open. The two other true believers I’ve recruited will be on that gate.”

Manjit said, “How big is this hotel? Is it like a five-story building or what? I get I can drive on the grounds, but we need

to hit the actual party.”

“It’s not a hotel like that. It’s big, but there are no buildings over one story. It’s spread out over acres of land, and

all the rooms are villas scattered across the grounds. The party will be held by the pool and the ground-level temple. It’s

all on the map. You’ll enter the back gate and be driving across a makeshift golf range. You will not have to storm a building.

They’ll all be outside, in the open.”

Manjit said, “How will we coordinate the assault? We need to take Thakkar with us. That’s important. We want to cause mayhem, but we need to take Thakkar.”

“Rakesh and I are in charge of his personal security. You attack, and we’ll take him. You do what you’re going to do, and

we’ll get him to the van. Once we’re in the van, we exfiltrate, no matter what. The killing must stop, and we need to leave.”

Manjit nodded and said, “We can do that.”

“What are the follow-on steps? How are you going to leverage this? Where are we going to go?”

“Kamal has a plan. We’ll leave Jaipur and go to Mumbai. Kamal has a safe house in the slums. From there, we start talking.”

“The slums? That’s perfect. Thakkar living in the same conditions I grew up in is a just reward. What about the follow-on?”

“Kamal has already set up a website. We were hoping you would be able to give us a conduit to the government, since Thakkar

deals with them daily. Maybe someone in the foreign ministry or even the RAW.”

“I can get it, but why? The government isn’t going to tell anyone what you want. They aren’t going to broadcast our demands.

They’re going to hunt us.”

“Because we need to both project to the population, which we’ll do through the website, but also let the government know we’re

real. They need to know that they are the target, not the population. The website will get the press that we need, but it’s the government we want to stick

with a knife.”

Jaiden leaned back, reflecting on his words. He looked at his partner, then said, “Okay. We’re in.” He handed Manjit the keys

to the van and said, “But one final question.”

“What?”

“What about Mr.Chin? What about the Chinese?”

“He no longer thinks you’re in play. He has his own plan that doesn’t involve you, which we’re going to pretend to execute. By the time he knows we didn’t follow his instructions, it’ll be too late.”

Jaiden slowly nodded, thinking about what he’d said. “You know he’s not going to stop. We’ll have both the RAW and the MSS

on us the moment we attack. You’ll no longer be Islamic terrorists, and you have the ability to implicate China in the attack.”

“Mr.Chin won’t find us.”

Jaiden laughed and said, “You clearly haven’t worked for him long. He will find you, and when he does, he will kill you. China is his priority, and he’ll do anything to protect that. You need to remember

his reach.”

Jaiden motioned to Rakesh and they both stood up, Rakesh’s milky eye floating over Manjit. The man hadn’t said a word the

entire time, and his eye was unsettling.

They turned to go, and Rakesh finally spoke. “You need to understand what Jaiden has just said. When you start on this path,

there is no turning back. I believe in this mission. Believe in Khalistan. When this is done, we’ll all be the most hunted

men on the planet. If you think about running when it gets hot, I’ll kill you myself.”