Tara was so strong. I’d broken down but she hadn’t, showing a calm face to the kids, though her anxiety and fear drenched my empathy. Now the children were asleep, the boys dressed in hospital clothes, cuddled together on the other bed in the room. Nita slumbered innocently in her mother’s arms. “It’s the Denge case, isn’t it?” Tara said after we’d all sat in silence for half an hour, thinking of a son, a brother, a husband, fighting for his life. “That judge...the Denge case. We were attacked because of your father.”
“Could be,” I said. My mind was fuzzy because of the drugs, tiredness and worry. I hadn’t even considered who had reason to do something so horrendous.
“I heard one of the fireman say it was all planned. The doors were blocked—they didn’t know about the fire ladder—and the power cut. They wanted us dead. The banis, I mean.”
Mum drew in a breath and looked at me. “We don’t know who did it,” I said.
“Who else would hate us that much?”
“I don’t know.”
We fell silent again, while I thought of what she’d said. I didn’t like to admit it, but Tara was probably right. Which meant....
I couldn’t deal with what it meant. I just wanted Yashi to be alive.
A doctor with weary eyes came to the room a few minutes later. “Your husband came through the surgery, Shrimati Ythen. He’s in isolation, receiving intensive guan therapy to assist the healing and reduce the risk of infection. He’s still not out of danger.”
“Can I see him?”
The doctor shook her head. “Not now. He’s in an induced coma and I think it would be best to wait a little before you visit. I believe a room is being arranged for you here if you wish it. The governor ordered it. Best thing you can do is rest. We’ll keep you informed.”
“If he...survives...how badly scarred will he be?”
The doctor hesitated, and that small hesitation told us what he didn’t dare say. Tara’s eyes filled, but she managed to hold it together. “It’s too early to talk about it. If he gets through the next two days, then his chances of survival are good. That’s when we can make decisions about further therapy.”
Tara nodded and the doctor excused herself. Mum took her hand and Tara gave a little sob. “What if he dies? What if he’s crippled, Mum?”
“Darling, you need to get some sleep. You all do. There’s nothing you can do now for him, but the children need you.” She reached over and pressed the call button. “Javen, you need to rest too. Your father and I will be here in the morning. None of you is to worry about anything. Not the house, money, anything at all. You’re our family, and we’ll make sure you’re all right.” She leaned in and kissed me.
“Thanks, Mum. Tara, whatever happens, I’m here. You’re my family too.”
“Thank you.” But then she burst into tears and Mum had to console her, and Nita woke up with all the upset and took it amiss.
Finally, the staff took Tara and the kids away to a room where hopefully they would sleep. I wished I could be with them because now all I had to do was worry and being fucking angry at who’d tried to murder my family.
I woke, startled by something—Madhu standing silently by my bed. The force of his grief and fretting had woken me. “What’s up, kiddo? Want to hop up here?”
He nodded and I made space for him under the covers. I coughed with the slight exertion and he looked at me with worry lining his young face. “Are you still sick, uncle Javen?”
“I’ll get over it. My lungs are just full of smoke. Does your mother know where you are?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Ah.” I reached casually for the call button. “You couldn’t sleep?”
“I’m worried about Daddy. It’s my fault.”
I hugged him. “Fires are scary, Madhu. People get confused and try to save pets and things. It’s not your fault.”
A medic came in. “Uh, could you let my sister-in-law know her son’s safe and with me?” I asked him. “I’ll bring him over to her room later.”
“Of course. How do you feel, Sri Ythen? Would you like that mask removed?”
He made a few checks on my status and turned off the oxygen. I still felt like I was breathing through wool, but I’d had smoke inhalation before. I’d live.
“I did something wrong?” Madhu asked. “No one said I shouldn’t come here.”
“No, it’s okay. Just didn’t want your mum to worry.”
“Can we see Daddy now?”
No, you really can’t, I thought. “Not yet, kiddo. He’s sleeping and trying to get better.” And trying to explain to a seven-year-old why his father looked like a side of barbecued meat shoved into a glass tank full of green goo, was beyond my powers. Guan gel was close to being a miracle treatment for burns and severe injuries, but the reality wasn’t pretty, and Madhu felt guilty enough without that.
“Is the house burned down? Do we have any clothes?”
“I don’t know, but you don’t have to worry. Granddad and Grandma said they’d sort all that out for you. The main thing is that all of us are alive.”
“Zimzim died. I found him.”
“I’m sorry.”
His chin wobbled as he struggled not to cry, and I could only hold him, raging at the enemy who’d done this. I wanted them dead. Dead as in ground to dust dead.
My mother, who couldn’t have had more than four hours’ sleep, came to the hospital an hour later. She clucked at Madhu sleeping in my bed, kissed my cheek, and said that a suite had been set up in the governor’s residence for all of us. She’d also found clothes and personal items for all of us, and she had already arranged insurance assessors to go over the house, once the forensic officers had finished.
“Do we know who did it?” I asked.
She frowned as I coughed. “Not yet. Your father is dealing with a rather difficult situation. He sends his love though.”
“I want to find them. I want to help investigate.”
“Yes, I’m sure, Javen. But right now, I think Yashi would appreciate you helping Tara and the children. They need you. Leave the rest of it to us, and the police for now.”
I bit back a growl. I wasn’t angry at her, just the situation and my helplessness. Madhu stirred, and seeing his grandmother, wanted a hug. Mum played the kindly grandparent, but her eyes were full of worry. I needed to rein in my need for vengeance. Yashi’s family needed me, because they were my family too.
“Oh, Kirin called to offer any assistance you or Tara might want. He didn’t want to call your phone because...well, he wasn’t sure if it would disturb you.”
“I’ll call him.” The thought of Kirin suddenly felt very welcome, and of course he was Yashi’s good friend too. “Mum, I’ll need to go to my office.”
“Not today, you won’t. You can call people, or they can come to you. You can barely breathe, dear.”
“I’m fine.”
She narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly at Madhu. “No, you’re not. Not today.”
“Okay.” She had a point. But I had to call Madan.
With the best will in the world I couldn't have walked out of that hospital quickly. Between the need to be assessed before discharge, arranging for my smoky clothes to be taken for cleaning and replacements sent from the residence, looking after the boys for Tara while she tended to Nita and called the school, and sorting out the urgent administrative stuff to do with Yashi’s treatment and the insurance claims, it was nearly lunchtime before I could have left. But I didn’t because Tara didn’t. She needed time to take in the reality of Yashi’s existence, which was that he would be spending at least three weeks in the guan tank, in an induced coma and completely unaware of life going on. His condition had stabilised, so she was allowed to see him. Not the kids though. Neither of us would allow that. I couldn’t face looking either.
After time for a long cry on my shoulder, and lunch, and clothes arriving for everyone to change into that didn’t smell of smoke or the hospital, she decided she could
face moving to the residence. My parents and Kirin had all offered rental properties for our use but that was too much to cope with right now. A few days in the residence would give her time to make the big decisions. And by then, I hoped, my brother would be unequivocally out of danger. Not the same thing as back to normal though. That might never happen.
An official government auto whisked us from the hospital to the residence. We found my mother and her staff had worked miracles to try and return the children’s lives to as much like normality as possible. Toys, books, clothes, media screens had all been set up in a warm, friendly bedroom, and in another room, an office for me and Tara to share. A nursery had been made for Nita, and Tara could only stand in the room and stare in amazement. “How...?”
“A lot of people want to help, dear,” Mum said. “No kitchen, of course, but you’ve got enough to deal with. Javen, your father said he can speak to you when you’re ready.”
Code for Dad needing to speak to me as soon as I could manage it. “Sure.” I kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
“Nothing’s too much for you all. Nothing.”
“Mum,” Tara said, “I’ll need to see the house.”
“Yes, but not today, darling. There’s not much left, I’ve been told.”
“It’s only things. But I just...want to understand what happened.”
“Then I’ll arrange a driver for you tomorrow. You should rest, decide what else you need. Javen?”
“I’ll just run along and see Dad.”
I left Tara with Mum, knowing she was in good hands, and wondering what my father didn’t want to discuss in front of her. He was rather old-fashioned, protective of the womenfolk, but I had a feeling this was something else. Mum’s emotions were clouded by more than simple worry over all of us.
My father was in the middle of a meeting, but despite that, his secretary ushered me into his office immediately, and he sent his other visitors away. “Javen, do sit. How do you feel?”
“Better, physically. Mad as hell. Mum said you didn’t know who was behind it.” I sensed his conflict. “Dad?”
“Judge Darn’s daughter and child were shot last night. The little girl died.”
“Beloved reason. Someone’s claimed responsibility?”
“Yes, though we haven’t told the news media. Javen...it’s the indigenous. A group calling itself ‘Justice for Nihan’ explicitly claimed responsibility for the firebombing of our family and Judge Darn’s home, the attack on Kaushek Denge’s estate, and this murder.”
I froze. Even with Tara’s speculations, I didn’t believe.... “Is that credible?”
“We don’t know, but for now, we have to assume the events are connected and Denge’s trial is the trigger. You understand this is very sensitive.”
“Hell yes. What will you do?”
“For now, increase the police presence, round up known radicals. But I wanted you to know because your friends—”
“No one I call friend would do such a thing. Dad, I want to go back on active police service. I want you to make that happen.”
He wouldn’t look at me as he answered. “Son, I understand, and I know just how much we owe you for saving Madhu and Yashi...but if you go back in uniform, you’ll be a target.”
I clenched my fist. “You expect me to sit back and let other people find these bastards?”
“No. But going back as a uniformed officer isn’t the best use of your talents, nor the best way to protect Tara and the children. Can you be patient? It’s difficult right now, but I promise if we can use you, we will.”
“I want them caught.”
He lifted weary eyes to me. “And I don’t? I saw Yashi. I’ve seen the house. I saw the body of Judge Darn’s grandchild, and comforted him and his daughter. But if I have to worry about you out on the streets....”
“I’m sorry. Tell me what I can do.”
The right question because his emotions lifted a little. “For now, be there for Tara, the children, and your mother. Make no mistake, son, I’m relying on you to look after them. Tara’s going to need a lot of help, and your mother is frantic over Yashi. The boys will need you to stand in his place, until he’s well.”
“That could be months. Or never.”
“Let’s not talk like that. Will you go back to work?”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing more important than this.”
“I understand. We’ll help you financially in any way you need. There’s nothing more important to me than all of you. Nothing.”
“Not even the job?”
“Not even. But the job beckons.” I nodded, grateful for the time he’d taken when he had to have police, press and politicians screaming down his neck. “If you need transport, an auto is at your disposal. So is a bodyguard. You’re under direct, named threat, Javen. Don’t make me worry about you.”
I stood. “I won’t. Same goes for me about you, okay?”
He smiled slightly. “Of course. See you at dinner, I hope.”
I could have been angry at the restrictions, but I sensed my father’s emotions, and they mirrored my own. He was worried almost to death about his family, and so was I. I didn’t believe any Nihan could be behind these crimes, or if they were, that they had widespread support. But if word got out about who was claiming responsibility, it would get very ugly.
My mother had known about Judge Darn’s granddaughter and had kept it to herself. Once again I was reminded how perfect a partner she had been to my father, and how strong she was mentally. But she couldn’t carry the burden alone, or forever. Time to step up in Yashi’s place.
I did have to deal with my personal business, though. I called Madan from Dad’s secretary’s office. “Javen, thank the Spirit. The attack was all over the news. How is your brother?”
“Not out of danger, unfortunately. I need to meet with you all. Can you arrange that for this afternoon?”
“Uh, everyone’s in the office anyway. The strike was called off this morning in sympathy with the victims. People are horrified.”
Were they all horrified, though? “Things will probably get tough for your people, you realise.”
“When are they not? See you when you can get down here.”
Dad’s secretary smiled politely at me as I closed the call and looked at him. “My father said I could have a driver?”
“Yes, sir. Day or night, he said. I’ll have a vehicle collect you from the back of the residence.”
I wondered whether my own had survived the blaze. When a sombrely dressed security officer joined me in an auto with dark-tinted windows, introducing himself as Agent Tordwel, I said, “I want to go past my brother’s house first. Is that okay?”
“Yes, sir. Anything you want. But you’ll need to wear body armour.” He reached into the bag he’d brought with him, and pulled out a vest. “Are you carrying a weapon?”
“No. I’d locked it in the gun safe in the house.”
“Then take this.” He handed over a sleek Gauta .25 laser-sighted pistol in a holster, helping me into it and the vest. “We can arrange other weaponry as required, Sri Ythen.”
“If someone’s waiting to pick me off from a roof top, that won’t help.”
He looked at me with cold black eyes, his emotions as opaque as his irises. “We don’t know where the threat may come from, sir. You know what I’m talking about.”
I did, in theory. But that was different from being the target of an active assassination attempt. Another active assassination attempt.
The road to the house was blocked off, but our auto was whisked through once Agent Tordwel produced credentials. The house itself was crawling with overall-clad experts, watched by rifle-bearing cops. ‘House’ was a charitable description. ‘Charred, unrecognisable mess’ was a better one. The roof and upper floor had collapsed. Ironically all that remained in some form was the new flat and deck Yashi and Tara had built. They’d created a home for me, and lost their own.
I stared at it for a long
time, thinking how very close we had come to losing everything—and not just a few material possessions—but also how much those few things, like pets and toys and letters and jewellery, meant to my family. I didn’t have much of that kind of thing to lose. All my documents were in safe storage, and I wasn’t one to keep love letters, but Tara and Yashi would have mementos of their courting. Locks of baby hair, first fumbled drawings by the twins. How much would it matter?
“Sir? Are you all right?”
I turned to Tordwel. “I want to hurt someone very badly.”
“I don’t blame you. The banis bastards should pay.”
“We don’t know who’s responsible, Agent Tordwel, and I’d appreciate you not speculating.”
He stared back coldly. “My apologies, sir. Shall we go?”
Dad wanted to keep a lid on the racial tension, but I couldn’t see him succeeding. Even without this ‘Justice for Nihan’ group’s claim, the Nihan were the obvious suspects. And dead children roused strong emotions, as they already knew.
I hadn’t looked at a news feed all day, and even though now, in the auto, I could do so without interruption, I couldn’t face it—not the regurgitation of the attacks, the speculation, nor the interviews with the victims. It was all too close and raw. The press didn’t have the real facts, and they were what I craved. I envied Agent Tordwel. He could fight directly, investigate directly. He wasn’t burdened with my family’s name.
My team’s anxiety hit me even before I opened the office door. No one spoke as I walked in, and Prachi actually covered her mouth as if afraid she might say something to upset me.
“I think chai’s a good idea before we start,” I said, trying to sound normal and business-like, but failing miserably.
Different Senses Page 46
