Page 8 of Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan #19)

Kamal heard a knock on his door and said, “Come in.”

The old brass knob rattled but didn’t open. He shouted, “Pull up, then turn it.” That worked. The door released and his men

filed in, looking a little ragged.

Kamal smiled and said, “So Tito’s Lane lived up to expectations?”

Agam let slip a sheepish smile, saying, “We’re Sikhs. We don’t imbibe alcohol.”

Kamal said, “Sure. Right. As long as you didn’t do anything stupid to draw attention, I don’t care.”

The men took their seats around a small wooden table with enough drink rings to make it look like an Olympic emblem, the wooden

chairs creaking ominously with their weight.

Manjit stood back up, saying, “Nothing in this place is safe. Last night, I thought my bed was going to collapse to the floor.”

Randeep pointed at a plaque on the wall, saying, “And what’s up with all the Russian?”

Kamal looked where he was indicating and chuckled. On two red plaques were the twenty-five rules of the hotel, one in English, the other in Cyrillic/Russian. There was only one rule in bold type: “PLEASE DO NOT brING IN ANY DRUG DEALERS OR PROSTITUTES WHO ARE NOT ALREADY REGISTERED IN THE HOTEL.”

He guessed it was okay to bring in both if they had a room.

He said, “Before they invaded Ukraine, this place was like the Riviera for Russians. They all came here for the beaches and

night life. The same night life you saw last evening. They don’t come here anymore.”

Manjit said, “So if this place is not good enough for Russians, why are we here? I thought we were going home.”

“We are, but I’m waiting on Mr.Chin before we go.”

“It’s been two days since Sidak died. What are we waiting for?”

“For payment. That bastard is going to give us our money. Once we’re paid, we’re out of here.”

Agam leaned back and said, “I don’t even want the money. I just want to go home. Forget all of this happened.”

Incensed, Kamal said, “Forget about Sidak? Is that what you want? They killed him. We agreed we were doing this for a reason.”

Agam said, “They killed him because they thought he was an Islamic terrorist. We sent him in with that blanket to wear. We

can’t blame them for killing what they fear when we dressed him up like a terrorist and sent him in.”

“We didn’t dress him up as anything! He was just a Muslim. They killed him for no reason, just like they kill us. Sikh, Muslim,

it makes no difference. The RAW and the government is against everyone except Hindus. It’s why we started on this path.”

Manjit said, “We started on this path to protest against the oppression. We didn’t start on this path to get killed as Muslim

terrorists. Even I don’t give a shit about them.”

At that, Kamal stood up and said, “So you aren’t willing to kill to get our own state? Did you think they’d just hand it to us? Make no mistake, we’ll be called terrorists as well.”

Manjit jerked upright, slammed his palm into a wall, and shouted, “That’s not what I meant. We can’t do anything for Khalistan by acting like Muslim terrorists. You talked a good game, and all it got

us is one of our own killed. For nothing .”

The words stung, because Kamal knew they were true. They faced off, the tension thick enough to fog the air. Agam stood up

and said, “Stop it! Stop right now. Sidak wouldn’t have wanted this. He would have wanted unity.”

Kamal stared at Manjit, and Manjit broke the tension, turning to his chair and saying, “This whole thing was stupid anyway.

We aren’t the Khalistan Commando Force. We’re a bunch of kids from the Punjab. Nothing more. We should have never begun this.”

Kamal sat down, knowing this was a turning point. He said, “The government is killing Sikhs all over the world. They tried

to kill two in the United States and assassinated one in Canada. We all saw that. It’s time we took the war back to them.”

He looked each man in the eye and said, “We aren’t a bunch of kids from the Punjab. We were once, but we’re more than that

now. Slumdog millionaires. That’s what we are.”

The men chuckled at the reference to the movie, all of them having scoffed at its misappropriations of Indian society, but

each believing the heart that beat within it.

Kamal continued, “We agreed in the prison that when we got out, we would make a difference. We would fight for the Sikh cause.

It’s why I called you to work with Chin when it was just internet scams. We were going to use the money to fund organizations

that would help the Sikh. Now I think we do something more overt. We do the action ourselves.”

Manjit said, “How? We aren’t the KCF. We have no contacts with them. I’m not even sure they actually exist anymore. We’re a lone wolf organization. We can’t do what they did. We have no following.”

Kamal said, “We create the following. That’s what we do. We’re the new Khalistan Commando Force.”

Manjit said, “That’s easy to say but harder to execute. Mr.Chin had a plan before, but it’s gone now. With Sidak dead, so

is his original plan. We can’t do anything against the billionaire now.”

Kamal said, “Maybe. Maybe not. Let’s see what Mr.Chin says. At the very least, we can use his money. We can leave here and

start on our journey as the new KCF. Are you with me? Or do you want the sum total of your life to consist of scamming old

women in America?”

Agam flicked his eyes to the others, then said, “I’m with you. Let’s cut ties with Mr.Chin and go our own way.”

Randeep nodded and said, “I’m good with that.”

Kamal said, “Manjit? How about you?”

Before he could answer they heard a knock on the door, causing them to jump, all of them jittery. Kamal went to the door and

said, “What? I told you no maid service. I don’t want it.”

He heard: “Open the door. It’s me, Mr.Chin.”

Kamal looked back into the room, then swung the door. Mr.Chin stood outside, a short, bespectacled man whose slight stature

belied his true nature. He was wearing a suit complete with a tie, looking completely out of place in the environs.

He said, “Can I come in?”

“Only if you’re bringing a paycheck.”

He chuckled and pushed past Kamal as if he owned the room. He said, “A paycheck for what, exactly? We aren’t done yet.”

Kamal grabbed his arm and said, “We did what you wanted, and it failed. There was no success part of the contract. You owe

us for a service, not for success.”

Mr. Chin pulled his arm away and said, “Yes, I paid you for a service, but there was no time limit on it. The service is still outstanding.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means the mission is still a go. It means I want you to execute.”

Manjit stood up and said, “How? Sidak is dead. They know we’re coming. He probably won’t even show up now.”

Mr.Chin said, “Yes, Sidak is dead, and I regret that. I know you don’t believe it, but I do. And the mission is happening.

The billionaire, Thakkar, is still coming to the resort. Nothing we’ve done has altered that.”

“How do you know?”

“Your friends. The ones providing security for him.”

Kamal said, “Then why don’t you just use them to kidnap him? Pay us now for what we did and get this over with.”

“They are, shall we say, tainted. If they are involved, then my company will be compromised. They have a trail. It has to

be a clean hit. Something with no connections. They can give us the intelligence, facilitate the capture, but they can’t do

it themselves.”

Kamal took that in, but he didn’t like it. He said, “Well, you’re out of luck. We’re done. I’ll continue doing the computer

stuff for you, but we’re not doing this. Give us our money and we’ll be gone.”

Mr.Chin looked at him, then went from man to man, settling back on Kamal. He said, “It doesn’t work that way. You’ll do this,

or you’ll all be rounded up.”

Kamal stood up and said, “What’s that mean?”

“It means you work for me now. That’s all. Nothing different from yesterday.”

Kamal stood there, letting the words sink in, then said, “So you’re now threatening us? Do what you say, or go to a RAW funnel

room?”

“No, no. I didn’t say that. You did. But that is the end state. Fail me here, and you’ll never go home.”

Kamal looked at his men, saw the trepidation, and said, “How about we just kill you right here? Leave you to be found by the maids?”

Kamal expected to see fear. Mr.Chin showed none. He said, “You can do that, but it won’t end well for you. I have powerful

friends.”

“Friends from where? Who do you really work for?”

Mr.Chin simply said, “I work for a company that wants to make money. That’s it.”

Manjit said, “We can’t continue the mission. All the intel we got was the outside perimeter. We know the guard stations along

the grounds, but we have no idea which room he’s in or anything else. They’ll be looking for us now. This is just stupid.”

Mr.Chin placed a briefcase on the table and said, “They aren’t looking for us. Yes, Sidak was caught, but the pocket litter

I made him take worked. They’re chasing a number for ISI on his phone, and his employment address is tied to a Lashkar-e-Taiba

man. They’ll be hunting down the wrong thread.”

Kamal snarled, “That pocket litter is what got him killed. If he’d have gone in as a Sikh, he’d still be alive. Still be working at the resort. Don’t act like

that was some strategic genius. It’s what got him captured and killed. Yeah, it protects us now, but it’s a protection we

wouldn’t have even needed.”

Mr.Chin took in the words, nodded his head, and said, “Yes, I see the point, but mine still remains valid. They’re looking

for someone else. They aren’t looking for you. We can still do the operation.”