Page 95 of Rising Tiger

“May I inspect it?”

“No,” said Harvath. “Not until we get some proof as toyourbona fides.”

Asha looked up from her phone. “Fair enough. What would satisfy you?”

Harvath checked his watch. “Have someone at RAW contact the CIA station chief and confirm your identity for us.”

“At this time of night?”

“If you are who you say you are and this is all legit, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Before I do,” she declared, “what’s the connection between you two? Why are you working with a retired IPS officer?”

“I work for the U.S. Embassy,” the ex-cop interjected. “My name, in case you missed it in the bar, is—”

“Vijay Chabra,” she replied.

The man smiled. She was good. “The station chief knows me. But feel free to have your people certify my identity as well.”

“Give me a few minutes,” said Asha as she stepped away to communicate with her boss.

“What do you think?” Harvath asked, once she was out of earshot.

“I think we may not have a lot of time withourprisoner. RAW isn’t going to care about our investigation. They’ll pull rank, a team will get sent in, and they’ll help her take Sayed and move him someplace else.”

Harvath wasn’t so sure. “Why not do that from the beginning? If RAW, especially as an agency, is so interested in Sayed, why send her in alone?”

“Good point.”

“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but she’s not being completely straight with us.”

“Is this the human lie detector speaking?” Vijay asked.

“Just my gut.”

“In my experience, you should always listen to your gut.”

“Agreed,” said Harvath. “And in case you’re right, I think we should get started on Sayed.”

The ex-cop shook the hubcap once more and checked the coals, which were starting to glow bright orange. Then, speaking loud enough for their prisoner to hear, he announced, “We’re almost ready.” Nodding toward the corner of the room, he asked Harvath for a favor. “There’s a soda bottle over there. Would you be kind enough to fetch it for me? We’re going to need it for what comes next.”

CHAPTER 54

By the time Asha came back over and asked if she could have a moment with him in private, Harvath had already received a series of texts from Lawlor and had responded.

Checking out the coals in Vijay’s hubcap, he stated, “Not hot enough yet. Keep working on those.”

“If we get them too hot,” the ex-cop replied with a smirk that Sayed couldn’t see, “they’ll melt the bottle.”

“Then we’ll just find another. There’s plenty more.”

Vijay nodded and gave the hubcap a few shakes with the towel as Harvath walked away to speak with Asha.

They stood near the entrance of the building, far enough away that Vijay and Sayed couldn’t hear them speaking, and deep enough in the darkness that no one from the alleyway would notice them.

“I assume you’ve heard from your boss back in the United States?” she asked.

“I have,” he replied. “And you, yours?”