Page 39 of Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan #19)
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 may be 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?”
“Outside, a little bit down the road. Don’t worry. It’s safe. We parked it next to a little mechanics shop and asked them
to watch it.”
“That’s probably not so smart. Especially at night.”
Randeep said, “The owner lives there. It’s okay. We checked it this morning, and it was fine.”
“I don’t like that. It’s been there for twenty-four hours now. Enough time for someone to become interested.”
Manjit said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. Nobody’s going to mess with it in the daylight, and we’re not staying another night.”
Kamal nodded, the words reminding him of what was to come. He said, “Let me see it. I want to check out the equipment.”
Manjit stood and said, “Let’s go, then.”
He led them past the other dorm rooms and down the stairs, looping around from the front entrance, going past a lounge area
until they reached the back door. Through the window, Kamal could see four men going at it on a volleyball court.
Manjit opened the door and passed by the court, saying, “We could get in a game to let off some adrenaline before we leave.”
Randeep gave a half-hearted laugh, and Kamal said, “Let’s just stick with the mission.”
Manjit led them down a narrow dirt lane, passing concrete buildings interspersed with weed-covered lots, until they reached
a machine shop, the interior showing sparks from someone working. In the front was a white panel van.
Manjit unlocked the back and Kamal crawled inside, seeing two duffel bags on the floor. He unzipped one and saw three AK-47s, a stack of magazines, and a wooden crate. He opened it, finding six Chinese Type 86 hand grenades. He lifted out the tray and found six more. Meaning four apiece.
A lot of death and destruction within the bag. It made Kamal physically sick thinking about it, but he had to show strength.
“What’s in the other bag?”
Randeep opened it like a child ripping into a present, saying, “It’s full of body armor.”
He pulled out a vest festooned with Velcro and put it on, cinching down the elastic waistband. He held out his arms and said,
“We’ll look like commandos when we attack that place.”
Kamal tapped his chest, feeling the ceramic plate inside. “I don’t care what we’ll look like, but I do appreciate the protection.
Come on, let’s lock this back up.”
They did so, and then walked back to the hostel. Kamal said, “I want to see the Oberoi. I want to find the gate in the daylight
so we aren’t searching around after dark.”
Manjit said, “We’ve already done that. I know right where it is.”
“What was the security?”
“There was nothing yet. It’s a chain-link gate set into a wooden ten-foot fence that surrounds the entire compound.”
“I want to see it for myself. See what’s happening now.”
“If we drive that van back down the road it might cause suspicion. There aren’t a lot of buildings out there. It’s in the
country, and the people who are there look at you as you go by.”
“We’ll take my car.”
Manjit nodded and said, “Let’s go, then, I’ll drive. Where’s your car?”
“In the front of the hostel.”
They reached the back of the building, the volleyball game now finished, and retraced their steps to the front, this time moving through the lobby to the entrance. Kamal led them to his beat-up Hyundai, tossing his key fob to Manjit.
Randeep got in the back seat while Kamal went around to the front. Manjit started the car and turned it around, driving north.
They went for about five minutes before Kamal said, “How far?”
“Another ten minutes.”
“Have you mapped out a route to Mumbai?”
From the back, Randeep said, “I have. I know the way. We’ll want to stay off the main highways, and it’s about a twenty-four-hour
trip, so we’ll have to switch out drivers.”
“We’ll take both the van and the car. If we have at least five people out of the seven, we can do it.”
“Five? What’s that mean?”
Kamal said, “It’ll take two per vehicle, one driving and one sleeping, with one left over to guard Thakkar in the van.”
“I meant why not seven? Us three and the four bodyguards?”
Kamal’s face went grim. He said, “I’m not sure how many are coming out of the Oberoi.”
They rode the rest of the way in silence, Manjit taking turns on the roads by memory. Twelve minutes later he said, “There’s
the entrance.”
Kamal looked, seeing a side road leading to a circular drive and the front of the hotel. Manjit continued on, now driving
down a dirt lane next to a tall wooden fence painted green. He said, “That’s the compound to the right.”
“The gate?”
“It’s on the back side.”
He reached an intersection, the fence taking a right. He turned, following it, then midway down slowed. He said, “There’s
the gate just ahead.”
They drove by it slowly, Kamal seeing two armed men wearing dastaars and uniforms on the inside. Manjit said, “They weren’t there yesterday.”
Kamal said, “Let’s hope those are the two Jaiden found.”
They reached the end of the fence, which wrapped around to the right, and Manjit continued straight, finally pulling over
next to an abandoned building surrounded by fields.
He said, “So? Back to the hostel?”
Before Kamal could answer, they heard the thumping of rotor blades, a helicopter flying low overhead. It crossed the threshold
of the fence and began to sink to the ground, lost from sight behind the fence.
Kamal said, “That’s Riva Thakkar. He’s here.”
Kamal watched the cloud of dust raised by the helicopter, then heard the whine of the rotors begin to die, thinking what it
meant. Finally understanding the mission was going to happen.
He was brought out of his thoughts by his phone ringing. He realized it was the contact phone and pulled it up, his face draining
of color.
Manjit said, “What?”
“It’s Mr.Chin.”
He let it ring out, then said, “He knows his mission is now fucked. He’s calling to find out why Thakkar just flew here.”
Randeep said, “But he thinks we’re in Agra, right?”
“Yes, but not for long. It’s time to use the kill switch.”