Page 47 of Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan #19)

Knuckles tried to be engaging and relaxed, but he honestly ran out of steam after meeting the fifth person whose life was

so outside the realm of his own. Celebrities, hedge fund managers, sports icons, tech industry titans, you name it, they were

all here, and these were only the select ones who’d been invited to dinner. He was dreading when the crowd doubled in size

and everyone got liquored up. Three hours of trying to find something in common to talk about with these people was going

to be a trial.

Pike’s phone call earlier hadn’t helped matters. Knuckles thought he might as well have simply said, “Danger, Will Rogers,

danger!” for all the information he’d been able to relay. Apparently, the final three terrorists had been geolocated near

the Oberoi grounds, but that was all they had.

Nadia saw him standing alone and came back to him, saying, “I thought you’d enjoy talking to Sledge. I figured he’d be right

up your alley, but you spent more time talking to his security guy than you did with him.”

Sledge was an aging American musician who’d made a mint more than two decades ago. He’d been the epitome of an American rock star, partying and hedonistic to his core, but then one day, when he was on the tail end of his fame, he’d decided to use his clout for good. He’d done a concert in India and had been touched by the poverty divide, specifically when he’d seen women washing clothes in the Ganges River. He’d dedicated his life to getting clean water to impoverished areas around the world, and had spent the remainder of his career doing just that. He seemed to be genuine about the work, and was nice enough, but Knuckles wondered if he wasn’t just trying to buy his way into heaven.

Knuckles smiled and said, “I have more in common with the security guy than his boss.”

“Did you tell him about Pike’s call?”

“No. How could I? I’m here as your guest, not as some secret counterterrorism agent. I’d have to do serious tap-dancing to

explain how I knew intelligence like that. Anyway, me telling everyone the sky is falling will only undercut the actual security.

Jaiden’s in charge of that, and he seems pretty capable. I’m not going to step on his toes by running around behind his back

whispering to the individual security teams of the guests here.”

She grinned and said, “But you asked to see his gun.”

He chuckled and said, “Yeah, I acted like I was fascinated by his job, but really I just wanted to see if he was armed. He

is.”

“And you think he can use it?”

He turned to her and said, “What’s with the interrogation?”

“I just know that you didn’t ignore Sledge because you’re bored. You did it on purpose, checking Sledge’s security guy’s abilities.

Just like you did earlier with the Silicon Valley guy’s security.”

Knuckles laughed and held up his hands in surrender, saying, “Okay, okay. You caught me. But they think I’m a neophyte just captivated by their guns. To answer your question, yeah, they’re good to go. Sledge’s guy is ex Special Forces. The Silicon Valley guy’s secu rity is retired Secret Service. They both know how to use their guns, trust me.”

“You’re worried about Pike’s call.”

“You’re damn right I am. They had an armed drone set to kill civilians at the Taj Mahal. That’s not firecrackers in the garage.

That’s serious.”

“I know, but if their mission is to kill Thakkar, why did they wait until he’d left the Taj Mahal?”

“Yeah, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why miss him there only to attack him here, where the security is as tight as a presidential

inauguration?”

He glanced around at the multiple different protective details and said, “I’m not too worried about an attack tonight. They’d

get shot dead trying to breach the perimeter, never mind Jaiden and his boys here in the party itself.”

She said, “I agree. Let’s go get a drink before dinner starts.”

“That’s okay. I’m good.”

She squinted her eyes and said, “You’re still worried.”

“Not worried. Just prudent. We can get a drink after the party, back in our room.”

She kissed him on the cheek and whispered, “I don’t think we’ll have time for that.”

He smiled and then felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned, finding the bride and groom standing next to him. The groom said,

“Annaka wants me to meet the man who’s smitten her old friend. She says Nadia has impossible tastes. I fear I’m in competition

with you in this room.”

The groom was handsome, with sharp, angular features and a way of gliding about as if he was the most important man in any conversation. Which he probably was. The bride, Annaka, looked like a twin of Nadia, which was to say she exuded confidence and personal charm irrespective of her innate beauty. She should have been aloof, given her stature in India, but from their initial meeting Knuckles had found her fun to be around, and wondered how she was so irresistibly optimistic after having lived with Riva Thakkar as a father her whole life.

He was the complete opposite of Annaka. Taciturn and demanding about everything. It did explain how Nadia, from a lesser station in life, had connected with Annaka. Neither of them, unlike Annaka’s father, saw

a person based on class. They judged people by who they were, not on what pedigree they held. Knuckles had liked her immediately,

and hoped her groom wasn’t a Riva Thakkar in the making.

The groom stuck out his hand and Knuckles shook it, saying, “Well, I don’t know about competition in here. You’re the man

with the bride. I just met Nadia a week ago in Goa.”

The groom said, “A week?” He looked at Nadia with a smirk and said, “Annaka told me you were fast on the uptake.”

Knuckles saw Nadia’s face cloud over, but before she could answer, the groom said, “Mr.Thakkar would like to meet you. He’s

in the other room. Come, come.”

The man began tugging on Knuckles’ sleeve, so much so, Knuckles thought about smacking his hand away, but Nadia gave him a

look and he said, “Sure, sure, hang on a second.”

He turned to Nadia and pulled her away, saying, “What’s the protocol here? What should I do when I meet him?”

“Just be yourself. Thakkar’s still aggravated by my having been invited. He’s looking for a reason to be mad. To tell Annaka

I’m a bad influence.”

Knuckles grimaced and said, “Are you shitting me? I’m not playing these games. I’m not a hired date. He can take me as I am,

and I’m sorry for your loss.”

She laughed and said, “That’s perfect. Annaka sees in you what I do. She likes you. Which means he’ll probably hate you.”

Knuckles returned to the groom and said, “I’m all yours.”

They walked outside of the northern room onto the patio, the guests swirling around, waiting on the call to dinner. The groom

said, “You want a drink before we go in?”

“Do I need one?”

The groom laughed and said, “Annaka said you were a pistol. But I’d like one. Wait here.”

He went to the bar and Knuckles remained behind alone, watching the various partygoers enjoying their time, feeling detached

from it all.

The groom came back, drink in hand, and said, “Are you ready to meet the host?”

Knuckles nodded, saying, “Sure.”

The groom himself seemed to be nervous, as if meeting Thakkar made him skittish. He clearly didn’t want to be associated with

Knuckles, but Annaka had forced him, and now he was worried that Knuckles could impact his future solely because he was the

one to introduce them. Or maybe Thakkar had no idea Knuckles even existed, and the groom was just nervous about being in his

presence.

It was his first indicator that the people here looked at Riva Thakkar as something more than simply rich. In a room full

of people with just as much money as he possessed, his position was somehow higher. At least in the eyes of the Indians at

the party.

The groom led him into the southern room, and Knuckles saw a line of people waiting to talk to Riva, the man politely greeting

each party.

Knuckles waited his turn, studying him. He was about sixty-five years old and slight, but his mannerisms didn’t reflect that of an older man. With a manicured beard and wearing a diamond-encrusted watch that was twice the size of his wrist, he clearly relished his position.

The groom left him, moving down the line talking to other people, and Knuckles thought about returning to the other room,

convinced that Thakkar hadn’t asked to meet. The line inched forward and he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out, saw

it was Pike, and answered.

“Hey, what’s your status?”

Pike said, “We’re in the air right now. We’ll be in Jaipur in about thirty minutes. What’s going on there? Did you lock it

down?”

“Pike, trust me, it’s locked down. It has been since before you called. Nobody is going to attack this place unless they have

an armored personnel carrier. There is security all over the place, and that’s just Thakkar’s guys. Everyone else that’s been

invited has their own security. They’d be crazy to try anything here. How’s Veep doing?”

“He’s fine. Sitting here bitching about his sling. Look, I think those guys are up to something. They aren’t in Jaipur for

the tourist sites. We’re missing a key somewhere. I don’t know what it is, but we’re missing it.”

“Well, it’s not happening tonight. Maybe they’re going to try to kill Thakkar after he leaves here, but they aren’t doing

it at this party unless they’re crazy.”

“Did you tell Nadia what we found?”

“Yes, of course I did. She told the head of Thakkar’s security, and he’s taken appropriate measures. He’s a scary dude, Pike.

He’s not going to let anything happen.”

“Does the RAW have anything to do with the security there?”

“No, they don’t. Wait, what? Do you think they’re involved?”

“I have no idea, but if those assholes are going to try something it’s because they have an insider, and the RAW is the only

group that’s under suspicion. They have nothing to do with the security?”

“None at all. It’s all Thakkar’s men, and they don’t look like they’d tolerate any bullshit.”

Knuckles heard a pop on the other side of the building, then a woman scream loud enough for Pike to hear through the phone,

followed by more pops. He said, “What was that?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call you back.”

Knuckles took one step toward the patio, saw a flash of light, and then felt the shock of an explosion. He hit the floor just

as another explosion shattered the air on the patio. He saw multiple bodies thrown back by the force, the wounds glaring through

the festive clothing, and then the gunfire started, sounding like firecrackers thrown by a child, but the damage wrought was

anything but childlike.

He turned into the room, knowing they were coming for Thakkar, and saw the head of security dragging him toward a side door.

He saw the groom grasping at a second security man, begging to be protected, the others in the room diving left and right,

trying desperately to escape.

The security man aimed his pistol at the groom’s head and pulled the trigger, his skull splitting open like a melon. He then

aimed his pistol into the room and began firing, hitting the guests who were running about. Knuckles dove behind a table and

scrambled forward, not wanting to give the man a sitting target, and threat crystalized like he was staring at a three-dimensional

painting, the hidden picture appearing like magic.

It’s not the RAW, it’s Thakkar’s own security.

The gunfire stopped. He rolled upright, seeing the men dragging Thakkar out the French doors at the side of the room. They disappeared in the darkness, other guests following them out the doors, and he gave chase, exiting on the run. He looked right, seeing a hodgepodge of people fleeing deeper into the Oberoi grounds, but didn’t see Thakkar. He looked left and saw the two security men fighting Thakkar, forcing him to run down a path to the rear of the building. One hit him in the head with the butt of his pistol and the other turned, hearing Knuckles coming toward him.

Knuckles dove into him like he was blindsiding a quarterback, slamming him to the earth hard enough to jolt his pistol free.

He punched the man once in the head, snatched the pistol up, and heard the other man begin shooting. He rolled away, took

a knee behind a small shrub, and fired back.

He saw Jaiden drop Thakkar and duck down, trying to find cover. Jaiden fired blindly toward where he believed Knuckles was

and then began running, disappearing behind the building.

Knuckles scuttled to Thakkar in a crouch, keeping his weapon up, but checking on the vitals of the billionaire.

Thakkar batted his hands away, trying to sit up, saying, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Knuckles drove him back to the earth, saying, “Shut the fuck up and stay down.”

Thakkar looked at him in fury, but did as he was told. The air grew still, the screaming and chaos from the party behind him

overshadowing his ability to hear Jaiden, still on the loose. Knuckles took a deep breath and held it, listening, but all

he heard was the patio going berserk.

He hoisted Thakkar to his feet and said, “We need to get back inside, now.”

Thakkar pointed at the security man he’d knocked unconscious and said, “Kill him, right now.”

Knuckles said, “I don’t roll that way. Let’s go.”