by Kishan Paul
When the desperation and the need to get to her overrode his capacity for logical thought, he tried to fight his way out of the police car. Hence, the lovely imprints of the constable’s knuckles he was sure he carried on his jaw. A reminder that the sooner he played nice the sooner he’d get out.
The owner of the knuckles in question still gripped his collar with one hand while accepting Raz’s notes with the other. Once he was satisfied with the transaction, he released his hold and patted Eddie’s shoulder.
Eddie forced a grin and muttered a thank you as he walked away. The grin transformed into a scowl as soon as the head constable moved past and climbed onto the passenger seat. In his hand was a clear plastic bag filled with his burner phones and poking out from the back waistband of the piece of shit’s uniform pants was Eddie’s Walther.
When he stepped toward the constable, Sin grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Unless you want to rot in jail for the next few nights, I suggest you let that gun go.”
He massaged the welt on back of his shoulder, the result of the quality time he spent being tenderized by the officers’ canes, and muttered curses as they climbed into the vehicle. When the thief looked over his shoulder and stared back at them, she waved.
“Consider it the price of your freedom,” she said through the smile pasted across her face.
Eddie crossed his arms and worked to shove down the anger burning under his skin. “How much exactly did my freedom cost?”
“The phones, your Walther, and twenty thousand rupees,” Raz growled from the other side of him.
All three of them watched the city vehicle pull away from the curb. He’d seen parasites like these all over the world. Men and women who used their positions of power to pollute and weaken the system. They came in all colors, religions, creeds with one commonality—greed. But he had to admit, it was the uniformed versions that pissed him off the most. The ones who stood shoulder to shoulder with the honest and deserving officers, hiding behind the badges they didn’t deserve to wear, hurting the helpless they promised to protect, and breaking the laws they swore to uphold.
He swallowed his distaste, waiting until the vehicle disappeared before turning to the woman at his side. “Why are you still here?”
Sin shrugged. “You mean, aside from the fact I’ve been ordered to work with you and that one of my operatives is ass deep inside Icom? I’d like to go to bed tonight knowing Wassim and Adil rot in jail and that no more of our people died to make it happen.”
He scanned the area before following the other two across the street and climbed into the passenger seat of the car parked in the lot. Sin positioned herself in the back while Raz climbed up front. Once the doors were shut and locked and the vehicle in motion, Eddie asked the question plaguing him since it all went down. “Where is she?”
“Moose followed the van to the Pazala Jewelers garage,” Raz answered from the driver’s seat. “He’s across the street keeping an eye on it. We’re headed in that direction now.”
Impatience not only gripped his chest, making it hard to breathe, it sent a steady surge of adrenaline pumping through his muscles, making him want to kick someone’s fucking ass. Eddie fisted his hands, trying to rein it in. For now, he needed to contain his anger, but once he got his hands on Wassim, Rafi, Adil, and the other pieces of shits, he planned to go free range. He shook the images of what he’d do to them out of his head and tried to stay focused on the situation around him. “Any sign of her?”
“Yes,” Sin chimed in. “I put a tracker on her dress. She’s still there and alive.”
The last word she uttered eased a few ounces of the weight on his chest.
While Raz merged on to the highway, Sin pulled out a handheld device and offered it to Eddie. “Here.” She pointed at the one green flashing dot. “Sam’s here in the east wing on the first floor. We’ve picked up about five other heat signatures with her, and we’re estimating at least a hundred more on the three floors above her.”
He rested his head against the seat and stared at the flashing light. She was alive. And she needed to stay alive.
“While you spent quality time in the IPS van, I had some of my people do some snooping as to why Icom’s van might be in Pazala’s garage,” she continued. “Our friendly local jeweler seems to specialize in selling more than just gold and diamonds. The perfect camouflage.”
He remembered the high-end shop beside the café where Raz met Adil three months ago. A steady stream of customers flowed in and out its doors under the watchful guard of armed men who stood at the entrances and patrolled the roof of the property. The kind of security expected for the overpriced merchandise they sold, but also what they’d expect for the kind of merchandise Icom carried.
“Pazala purchased the four-story high-rise about fifteen-years ago,” Sin continued, “but the building itself is closer to fifty years old. The original blueprints show each of those floors to be about three hundred and fifty square meters bigger than what Pazala’s floor plans indicate. The perfect amount of space for Icom’s merchandise.”
Genius.
“You think they’re keeping people back there?”
“Don’t think,” Sin said. “We know it. I sent thermal imaging drones overhead to survey the perimeter, in particular to get a better view of the missing section in the east wing Pazala doesn’t acknowledge exists. Like I said, we’re seeing over a hundred heat signatures. And from their locations and limited movement, I’m guessing most of those aren’t there voluntarily.”
His thoughts floated back to earlier and all that went wrong. “How’s Om?”
“Better now,” Raz answered. “He and the other guard came to about half an hour later. They’d both been shot up with Fentanyl. One of the guards in the room with him worked for Icom. All Om remembers is being stabbed in the neck with the syringe and punching the guard before blacking out. The drug seems to be out of his system. But Sai’s the one we’re worried about.”
Eddie’s grip on the tracker tightened. “What happened to Sai?”
He regarded Raz while he debriefed. His face a blank slate, his words were flat and to the point, but if the bright red scrapes along his otherwise white clenched knuckles were any indication, he was far from okay.
“Icom broke in to the van we had parked down the street. They ripped it and Sai up. Ari found him unconscious and bleeding and took him to the hospital.”
He shook his head at the information. “Is he okay?”
“A couple broken ribs, a cracked vertebra, a broken arm, a concussion, a few missing teeth, and high on pain meds, but alive.”
Eddie stared at the woman in the back seat through the rearview mirror as she typed into her smartphone. “How did they find him?”
“Not sure,” Raz answered. “They must have noticed the van.”
He rubbed the tender spot on the back of his head where an officer’s baton had connected. A tense silence fell over the cabin with its passengers looking in different directions, lost in their own thoughts. The more he learned, the more questions he had. What he did know was Rafi lied, and by trusting the operative, he put Alisha and the team in danger.
“But don’t worry,” Sin interjected. “Seeing as how your cyber tech is out of commission, I will replace him.”
He raised the tracker for her to see. “Thanks for this, but we are not working with you or the rest of your ASHA team. One of your men is the reason they have her. The FBI vouched for you and Rafi. Told us we needed both of you. And my believing them might have just cost us her life.”
She met his gaze through the rearview mirror. “You had a leak. Not me. None of my men were backstage. Those two were Interpol’s. My people did their jobs and then helped clean up your mess.” She glanced at Raz. “Including the officer this one decided to use for boxing practice. None of which will make the afternoon news because of us. We are the only ones you can trust. As far as Rafi, I understand your anger, but I’ve worked with him a long time. He is one of our be
st, and I assure you he will come through.”
Eddie rolled his eyes at her confidence about her team and Rafi. “Tell me, in your, what, eighteen years of life on this planet, between having those fake lashes put in and getting your hair and nails done, how many operatives have you worked with?”
His first indication he’d stuck his foot in his mouth was the shut-the-fuck-up glare Raz shot him from the driver’s seat. The second was the way Sin’s brows rose so high on her forehead they practically touched her hairline. An uncomfortable silence suffocated them.
She cleared her throat. “I’m going to believe those lathis they beat you with damaged your brain, and I will ignore your asshole, ignorant, misogynistic comments. What I will choose to focus on instead, old man, are the facts.” She slid up to the edge of her seat and planted a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “You have no intel, a leak, and at least one, probably two members of your little boy band are out of commission while this one here struggles with some serious anger issues.”
“My anger is not an issue,” Raz snapped, proving her point.
“Maybe you were too busy checking out my manicure and other assets to take care of those more important parts of your job. But don’t worry, while you tried to figure out if my lashes were real, I was getting my twenty-six-year-old ass groped by those IPS officers to keep both of yours out of jail. If you want to do this one on your own, go for it, but consider this, wise old man. How many times have you and your men been drugged, beaten, and hospitalized as a result of a mission? For that matter, in how many security details have you and your boys lost the person you were supposed to be protecting? If it’s more than this one time, then you are not in the right field.”
He shook his head at the pitiful reality she’d just put out in front of him and at the pitiful ass he’d made of himself. “You’re right.” Eddie stared at the tracker. He had decisions to make. None of which he could do until he had a chance to see what he had to work with. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t talk when I’m upset. Ugly things come out when I do, and you didn’t deserve to be disrespected.”
“Thank you.” She grinned and gave him a good boy pat before sitting back in her seat. “For the record, my lashes are real.”
The car turned on to a busy street he recognized, and he took in the view as the store in question appeared to the right of them. A canopied walkway extended from the curb to the front doors of the retail shop. Red carpet stretched the length of the covered walkway to the door. Large windows across the front of the building highlighted the jewels they offered as well as displayed the excessive numbers of the shoppers filling their halls, perusing their products. The name Palaza Jewelers was displayed in giant gold letters across the front and sides of the business. Men dressed in blue uniforms and caps stood at attention by the entrance, opening and closing the door for customers, while others donning black vests with the word SECURITY wandered around out front.
“We’re seeing about ten of these vests patrolling the perimeter of the exterior, two uniformed at each of the three entrances,” Raz said as he slowed the car down. “Another six vests hanging out on the roof.”
He calculated the numbers Raz shot out and surveyed the area, trying to figure out how the hell they were going to get inside without detection. They turned in to the narrow alley behind the building and drove past the skinny road that angled down, disappearing into a dark gated tunnel below the facility with the words EMPLOYEES ONLY displayed prominently.
Raz nudged his chin in its direction. “Her van disappeared down there. It’s the perfect loading dock for smuggling people. Avoids suspicion and minimal risk of exposure.”
He inspected the back of the building and moved his focus to what was probably the third floor. Deep-brown paint covered the cement exterior and hidden somewhere on the other side of its wall was Alisha. His fists clenched. Now he just needed to figure out how the hell to get her out.
When they pulled out of the ally onto a busy main road, Sin patted Raz’s shoulder.
“Let me out here. I’ll hail a taxi and get back to my office.” She tossed a burner phone onto Eddie’s lap. “Director Kerry is supposed to call you shortly to discuss next steps. I suggest you not hang up on her, listen to what she has to say, and accept her help. Her counter-assault team will be touching down at eight tonight. You should have enough time to come up with a plan on how you’re going to get inside and get out with Sara and Wassim. I’ve left supplies in the dickey of the car. New comms, some generators, and weapons. I’ll give you an hour to regroup with your boys and figure things out, then call you to see what you decide.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled.
“No worries. I owe you a good kick in your wrinkled ass once the mission is over.” She exited the vehicle and disappeared in the crowd.
“She’s right,” Raz said while merging in the traffic. “We need them. We’re working blind and can’t help her without them.”
Eddie watched the jewelry shop through the rearview mirror. “Blind?” The word sounded disgusting when he repeated it. “We’ve been blind for a while. Your mother knew this would happen. That’s why she showed up last night. She was saying goodbye.”
“I figured as much after reviewing the footage of her getting in the van.”
He thought about the events leading up to the drive and the cues he’d missed. Why did Om bring her to the apartment last night, and why the hell did he share his plans to put her on the train? Questions he should have asked then but wasn’t thinking with the right head to do so. He had a good idea who could answer at least a few of those questions
“I missed things I wouldn’t have normally missed.” He glanced at Raz. “We all need to dial down our emotions on this case. If we don’t, someone will get killed today, and that someone will probably be your mother.”
“I’m trying,” Raz replied. A heavy silence blanketed the cabin of the car until the phone rang. He didn’t have to look to know the number would be blocked. He didn’t have to answer to know Kerry would be on the other end.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
RAFI
By the time the van slowed to a halt, Rafi had retied Ally’s wrists, leaving slack so she could squeeze out if need be and left her legs free for mobility. He slipped the cover over her head as the men in the front seat exited and closed their doors. The realization of the dangers lurking ahead made her body shake.
The back doors of the van slammed open, making her jump.
“I’m going to help you climb out,” Rafi whispered when he maneuvered her to the edge of the van and lifted her out, planting her on to her feet.
While he gripped one arm, a less gentle set of hands grabbed her other elbow, jerking her forward. His vise-like grip made her flinch, her reaction making him dig his nails in her flesh. When the sting of his claws cutting into her became too much, she tugged at her arm only for him to squeeze tighter.
“You don’t need to tie me up. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be.”
“Shut up,” he hissed and shoved her, making her trip on her feet.
Rafi gripped her right arm, steadying her before she fell. “Let’s not damage the merchandise. I need to make a good impression on my future boss.”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Adil laughed from a few feet ahead. “He doesn’t give a shit about the condition of this merchandise.”
“Maybe, but this will be his first impression of me. And I need to make it a good one.”
“The man you need to impress isn’t Wassim. He’s easy. Kiss his ass and you’ll be fine.”
The distant sound of cars and pedestrians, although audible, was dulled and muffled. From the feel of the hard pavement beneath her heels and the way their voices echoed, she guessed they were in an enclosed space.
“Who’s bigger than Wassim?” Rafi pushed.
The musical tunes of a Bollywood movie blared in the distance, drowning out the traffic noise. The sound grew louder with each step they took.
Rafi’s grip on her right side tightened. “Are you going to tell me or am going to have to play guess who?”
“Mudir.”
“I’ve heard stories of him,” Rafi confessed. “But I didn’t take them seriously. Thought he wasn’t real.”
The muted sounds of a man’s laugh caught her attention. Soon the voices of others along with the wails of an angry infant joined the first.
“He’s very real. Not much to look at though. Pale, skinny, American with red hair and smiles too much. Looks like an idiot showing all his teeth. But let me tell you, he’s the smartest man I’ve ever met and evil as fuck. Wassim won’t admit it, but the little redhead scares the shit out of even him. I’m pretty sure even Sayeed Babba would have thought twice before he messed with Mudir.”
“So, you met him?” Rafi gave her a slight backward yank, telling her to slow down.
“In the Maldives. A few months ago.” Adil’s voice resonated with pride and authority. Even as a young boy, he enjoyed being in the know, reveled in leading the others.
“Wassim Bhai took me with him when they met. I made sure to impress the hell out of Mudir. Said I was the kind of man he needed and would be sending for me. I can finally get out of this shithole.”
Metal scraped against metal as someone inserted a key in a lock. The door’s hinges squeaked, and the base scraped against the cement floor when it opened. All her senses went dormant as her sense of smell became overwhelmed, making the acid in her gut rush up her throat. Even through the burlap, the thick pungent odor of sewage mixed with sweat filled her nostrils. Ally bent her head and shoved the fabric against her nose and mouth with her fists to block out the stench.