by Alex Archer
Frank’s truck trundled toward the exit. Annja watched it hit the on-ramp and then it was through the tunnel.
“And where does your young friend think he’s going?” Dunraj boomed. “Back to the city? Not if I can help it!”
Annja heard the explosion and then felt the concussion wave a second later even as Pradesh was pulling her to the ground. A massive cloud of dust exploded out of the tunnel.
“Frank!”
Annja tried to get out of Pradesh’s grasp but he held her firmly. “Don’t, Annja, that’s what he wants. Once you’re in the open, he’ll be able to get a shot on you. Don’t give him that satisfaction.”
Annja felt herself weaken. “Frank. Oh, Frank. Dammit.” She took a shuddering breath. “This is all my fault.”
Pradesh shoved Annja. “If we don’t stop Dunraj, he’s going to bring this whole mountain down on top of us. And he’ll get away. We can’t let that happen.”
Annja took another look at the tunnel. The back side of Frank’s truck still jutted out into the work area. But she couldn’t see the cab, and judging from the thick black smoke issuing forth from the tunnel, it was a firestorm in there.
“The fire might bring down the tunnel,” she said. “We’ll have to find our way out through Dunraj’s brother’s condominium and the secret passage out onto the mountain.”
“Did you say condominium?”
“Long story,” Annja said. “But if Dunraj has blown this exit, then my bet would be that’s where he’s heading.”
Pradesh’s face was grim. “Then that’s where we’re going, too.” He checked his pistol. “You lead. I’ll follow.”
Annja took point as she came around the pile of dirt and rocks. She halfway expected to be on the receiving end of more gunfire, but nothing greeted her as she stuck her head out.
She dashed for the cover of the trucks. Far away, she thought she heard a metallic clank somewhere up the slope where Dunraj had buried the fake Kali statue. Was he already moving back into the mountain’s depths?
“We need to move faster,” she said. “Otherwise, he’ll start blowing the tunnels behind him.”
“Does he have that much explosive?” Pradesh asked. “I didn’t think he had any schooling in this stuff.”
“He told me that he’d been a paramedic back during his college days. Maybe he picked it up somewhere in England?”
Pradesh shook his head. “It’s possible, I suppose, but nothing we had in our files indicated it.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time an intelligence agency got something wrong, though, would it?”
“No, it wouldn’t.” Pradesh nodded at the slope. “You think it’s clear?”
“One way to find out. She ran up the slope with her sword at the ready. But upon cresting it, she found only the scattered wreckage of the work site. All of the workers who weren’t dead or injured had already fled. And those that were left were too close to death to even care.
“The workers have abandoned the sinking ship,” she said. “And they left these guys behind.”
“They couldn’t be evacuated,” Pradesh said. “That guy’s injuries are too severe. This whole place is going to be a write-off. Everyone that was able to get out left before now.”
“Except for Frank,” Annja said quietly.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” Pradesh said. “I liked him. Really good-natured sort. It’s a tragedy, for sure.”
“I’ll sort things out with Dunraj when I catch up with him,” she said. “Let’s keep moving.”
Up past the site where the fake Kali statue had been buried, she paused. She had to round a corner and remembered from the first time she’d stumbled out here that there were plenty of places to take cover. Dunraj could be behind any one of them, ready to shoot the two of them at will.
“What are we awaiting for?” Pradesh asked.
Annja pointed. “You see that rock?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where I hid when I found this place. It gave me a great vantage point to observe everything happening out here.”
“You think Dunraj is there?”
“He might be.”
“Well, we can’t stay here forever.” Pradesh stood and ran into the open.
Annja braced for the explosion of bullets, but nothing happened. Pradesh reached the rock and checked behind it, his gun out. “Nothing.”
So Dunraj had already moved back into the mountain. Unless there was another way to get out of the work site. And she didn’t think there was. She’d found what she thought were all of the secret little spaces this mountain provided for concealment.
Still, it was good that she was dealing with Dunraj instead of his brother. His brother had lived here, and if anyone knew more of its nooks and crannies, it would have been him.
But he was dead.
And only Dunraj was left.
She looked at Pradesh. What was it about intelligence agencies that made them so keen to get into bed with the lowest caliber of people? Dunraj was an industrialist with tons of skeletons. So he was able to be manipulated. That’s what made him perfect for targeting by the Indian spy agency.
She understood it, of course, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with. Especially when the fallout resulted in crap like what they were immersed in right now.
Not to mention the fact that a lot of innocent people were dead because of Dunraj’s influence.
Pradesh waved her on. “Let’s keep moving!”
Annja paused and took one final look at the work site. Was that movement down by the tunnel?
She held up her hand. “Wait.”
It was.
Dunraj?
Was he trying to get out of the tunnel he’d just blown up? How could he hope to do that?
No.
Not Dunraj.
She saw the person turn and hold up a giant hand.
Frank!
“Oh, my God!”
Pradesh looked back. “Annja?”
“It’s Frank! He’s alive!”
She gave up all thought of herself and ran back down the slope through the trucks. Frank’s face was covered in smoke and grime but he was walking and stumbling.
Annja caught him up in a hug. “I thought you were dead!”
“Yeah, me, too.” He coughed.
Annja let him go. “What happened?”
“The place exploded in front of me, so I slammed on the brakes and tried to reverse. By then it was too late so I waited for the debris to stop falling. I figured I was safer in the cab than outside of it. It took me a while, but I got out. I had to move a few stones, but I managed.”
Annja grinned. “Thank God.”
Pradesh came running up a moment later. “You all right, Frank?”
“Pretty good, yeah, Pradesh, thanks.”
“You had this one crying over you, that’s for sure.”
Annja shook her head. “I was thinking about how inconvenient it would be to have to drag a coffin back through customs into the States.”
“Gee, thanks,” Frank said.
Annja laughed. “How’s your leg?”
“I forgot about the gunshot wound when the bomb went off, actually. But it’s fine. Just a little sore. I can deal with it.”
“Good.” She sighed. “Well, as much as I hoped I’d be able to pack you safely away, it appears you’re stuck with us.”
Frank clapped his hands. “Good. I’ve got a few things I’d like to do to that punk when we catch up with him.”
“Wait in line.”
Pradesh gestured back up the slope. “The longer a head start we give him, the more chance there is of him escaping.”
Annja looked at Frank. “Can you move?”
“Try to stop me.”
Annja looked at Pradesh. “Let’s go.”
They got back up the slope quickly, pausing only while Frank helped himself to an MP-5 that one of the Tigers had left behind when he was busy dying.
At the top, they again p
aused while Annja scouted ahead. The area where the fake statue had been buried was deserted. But something inside her told her that Dunraj wasn’t that far away.
I wonder if he’s still placing the explosives. Or has he already had them set this whole time?
They regrouped near the entrance to the condominium. Pradesh looked at the rock wall in front of him. “It’s carefully disguised. Are you sure this is the way back inside?”
Annja nodded. “I came out this way twice. This is the way we get back into his brother’s condominium.”
“I remember it, too,” Frank said. “Although I kinda wish I didn’t.”
Annja patted him on the arm. “Soon enough, this will all be a bad memory.”
“That I’d prefer neither of you ever talk about again,” Pradesh said.
“Don’t worry about that,” Frank said. “I plan on sticking this particular journey in a closet somewhere and never, ever revisiting it.”
Pradesh examined the door. “It doesn’t seem to be wired or anything. What are the odds it will swing right open when we try it?”
“Only one way to find out.” Annja reached for her sword and watched its gray light reflect on their faces.
“Are we ready?”
Chapter 39
They positioned themselves outside of the entrance. Pradesh volunteered to take the lead since he had the pistol. Annja would come second and Frank would bring up the rear.
On a count of three, Pradesh yanked the door open and plunged into the room through the walk-in closet. Annja went to the left of the room, clearing as much as she could.
But the bedroom was empty.
Pradesh put a finger to his lips and motioned them to keep moving. If they got bottled up, Dunraj might have booby traps or explosives to take them out.
They moved into the living area next. And in this way, they leapfrogged from room to room.
But with each room they cleared, Annja grew more and more concerned that they had missed the psychotic industrialist.
As they got to the kitchen and it became apparent that Dunraj was not there, Annja slumped into one of the seats. “He could be anywhere by now.”
“I’m telling you,” Pradesh said, “he’s still here.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because he hasn’t blown us up yet.” Pradesh looked grim. “Either he’s bad with bombs or he’s still here. And since the tunnel exploded when he wanted it to, I’m guessing he knows what he’s doing when it comes to explosives. He’s still here. Somewhere.”
“But how are we going to find him?” Frank asked. “I don’t know about you guys but the thought of running around this place in the pitch-dark doesn’t sound like a fun way to spend my night. Plus, my leg is smarting like a bastard.”
“We should get you out,” Annja said. “And this time, I mean it. We can exit the condo and take you to the exit that Kormi showed us. You can follow the game trail down to the foot of the mountain and get some help at the residential complex. Someone there can see to you.” She glanced at Pradesh. “Can your people assist or is that asking a bit much?”
“He’s better off with the cops.” He looked at Frank. “You know who to call and what to say?”
“Yeah.”
“If my people—my real people—find out that you guys know about this operation, then it won’t go over well at all. I’m supposed to be deniable, you know? And so are my activities for the nation.”
Annja nodded. “All right.”
She led them out of the condo and back into the passage that they had to crawl through. Then Annja took them back to the slope that revealed the exit in the rock.
She breathed in the fresh air. “I could get used to breathing that after having been in this place for a few days.”
Pradesh nodded. “The sooner we find him, the sooner we can both be breathing clean air.”
Annja took Frank by the hand. “You all set?”
He hefted the MP-5. “I was going to ditch this, but then I thought there might be a chance I’d meet Dunraj on the way down. I’m taking this puppy and keeping it until I see you again.”
“Just don’t shoot me.”
“Don’t sneak up on me, then.” He smiled.
“I’ll find you when we’re done,” she said.
Frank nodded.
She watched him crawl out through the doorway built into the rock, and then she shut the door. She waited a moment until her eyes started to readjust to the dark. Then she came down the slope where Pradesh was waiting.
“Now what?”
“I’ve been thinking,” Pradesh said. “What would keep Dunraj here when he could be anywhere else?”
“I don’t know.... He likes being inside a mountain?”
“Dunraj doesn’t do anything unless he’s sure he’s going to make some money off the deal. When we approached him, that’s how we got our hooks into him. We made sure he understood how much cash he stood to gain if he played ball.”
“And what—you think he’s got something still here that he wants?”
Pradesh nodded. “That’s exactly what I think. But what would it be? It would have to be something of significant value. After all, if he’s going to blow this place up, that means he loses that highway and the thoroughfare that would open him up to being first to develop the region. That means it’s got to be worth an awful lot of money.”
Annja thought hard. “The only thing I can think of that has any worth at all was that supposedly golden statue of Kali you guys were going to give to the Tigers.”
Pradesh paused. “Yes.”
“But that’s not actually based on something real, is it?”
Pradesh looked around. “When we broached the idea of it, Dunraj suggested we come up with some way to implant the tracker on something valuable. But we suggested the statue idea.”
“Are you sure?”
“What do you mean?”
“As much as you guys were playing Dunraj, it sounds like he might have slipped a little something past you. What if he actually found an amazing statue but he knew there was no way he’d be able to get it out of here without you knowing about it? So he comes up with a neat idea that lets you guys think you thought of it. But it’s something he wanted you to develop.”
“It’s possible…I guess.”
“Let me ask you this—who designed the statue?”
Pradesh gave it some thought. “Dunraj did a sketch. It wasn’t anything amazing, but we were in the conference room and he sketched something on a napkin. Ten arms. Jewels. Golden.” Pradesh shook his head. “Aw, dammit. This thing just keeps getting worse.”
“Come on,” said Annja.
“Where are we going?”
“To the only place where Dunraj can get something like that out of here—the work site.”
“But the tunnel’s blocked.”
“If I know Dunraj, and I think by now I’ve got a fairly decent idea of the way his wacky mind works, then I’m guessing he’s able to unblock it. In fact, I’m willing to bet that explosion there was all for show. He got us to do exactly what he wanted—he got us away from the very place he needs to be.”
They raced back through the passageway and into the condominium. Annja led them through the closet and then back out into the passage that took them to the work area.
Even as they got close they could hear the sound of heavy machinery.
Annja was startled. “He’s already got things going.”
Pradesh nodded. “We’ve really underestimated him. I won’t make this mistake ever again.”
“I just hope we’re not too late.”
“Stay low,” Pradesh advised. “We don’t want him getting advance notice that we’re back.”
Annja led them down to the large outcropping that she’d used for cover the first time she was here. The sounds of heavy machinery grew louder. Annja thought she heard two separate engines.
How many people were still here?
“I thought the wor
kers all left,” she said.
“Except the ones who looked like they were dying,” Pradesh said. “But they couldn’t be doing this work. They were too badly injured.”
“Well, someone is.”
They peered out from behind the rocks. And Annja saw what she expected to see. The crane that had lifted the Kali statue when she and Frank and Kormi had been close to being executed by the Tigers was back in operation.
And overhead, she saw an exact replica of the first statue.
“There it is.”
“Only this is the real thing,” Pradesh said, mouth open in awe. “It’s even more beautiful than the fake we had manufactured to fool the Tigers.”
And it was. The ten-armed statue of Kali gleamed in the bright work lights. Even from the distance, Annja could see there were significantly more jewels bedecking the statue than the fake had possessed.
“Look at that.”
Pradesh seemed humbled by its presence.
“What do you think that’s worth? Honestly?”
Pradesh shrugged. “Depends. If he melts it down and pries all the jewels off, it would certainly be a lot of money. But I think it would be worth more if he keeps the statue intact. A collector would pay an incredible amount for that.”
“But who would buy it?”
Pradesh sniffed. “This is India. We’ve got plenty of billionaires now. Any one of them would be inclined to snatch up something like this on the black market. And Dunraj would certainly be able to hide for as long as he liked.”
“If that’s his plan,” she said, “I don’t think he’s going to hide at all. I think he’s going to go public with news of your operation here. That’s how he’ll get his life back.”
“We’d kill him first.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Annja said. “If you’ve got him working for you, then this will be the only way he sees possible to get out from under you. Expose your agency and what you were about to do. Expose this work site and the victims here. Even if his claims are outlandish, they’ll put you guys under such a microscope the agency won’t survive without a massive reorganization. You told me that your group had already had problems in the past because you report to the prime minister, yes?”
