She quietly pulled herself on top of the shed, then grabbed hold of the pipes and began to climb. She had a few touch-and-go moments when she felt her grip slipping and was sure she’d plummet to the ground, but she neared the top without giving in to the pull of gravity. There, she paused and listened for the sentry, one hand on a pipe, the other on the stone molding running just below the roofline. Hearing nothing, she released the molding and pulled out her pistol. In small, silent increments, she shimmied up the pipe until the retaining wall encircling the roof was the only thing hiding her.
Where is he? she wondered. Left? Right? Straight ahead?
With no way to know, she picked one at random and launched herself over the top. She rolled as she landed and popped up on a knee, her gun pointed slightly right of center. The guard was at the edge of the roof, a few degrees farther to her right than she’d thought, but not enough to be a problem.
He started to turn, slipping his rifle off his shoulder as he did.
A subtle thup-thup sounded as Chloe pulled her trigger, sending two bullets through her suppressor and into the man’s neck just below the helmet line.
Her instructions had been to keep his uniform as undamaged as possible.
She activated her mic. “Chloe for Powell. Roof guard down. Arrive rendezvous in ten.”
2
“One wrong word, Mr. van Assen, and I pull the trigger,” Sanjay said.
He jabbed the barrel of his gun into his captive’s side.
Van Assen grunted and said, “Yes, yes. I understand.”
Sanjay and Kusum had kidnapped the Dutchman outside NB551, the Project Eden base in Jaipur where Director Parkash Mahajan was stationed. Not only was Mahajan van Assen’s boss, but he was also one of the four members of the directorate that now controlled Project Eden. The director was the person Sanjay and Kusum really wanted, but since it was doubtful he would set foot outside the safety of the facility, van Assen would be their way in.
“You know I have shot men before,” Sanjay said, making sure van Assen truly believed him. “I would be more than happy to shoot you next.”
“I believe you, okay? I believe you.”
Sanjay glanced at Kusum sitting behind the wheel of the car. “Call her.”
As his wife picked up the satellite phone, Sanjay returned his attention to van Assen. A few seconds later, the sound of ringing filled the cabin.
“Yes?” Darshana answered.
“Any changes?” Kusum asked.
Darshana was stationed in a building that gave her a clear view of the entrance to NB551.
“Same as before. A car every two or three minutes, and occasionally someone on foot.”
“What about right now?” Sanjay asked.
“One car at the gate, but I think they are finishing up.” A pause. “Okay. It is being waved through.”
“No one else waiting?”
“Not right now, but I see a van down the street heading this way.”
If Darshana could see the vehicle, there was no way Sanjay and Kusum could beat it to the entrance from their current position.
To Kusum, he said, “Move us in closer.”
Three minutes later, they were parked a block from the entrance, and the van Darshana had seen had already passed inside the base.
“Now?” Sanjay asked.
“Everything is — wait,” Darshana said. “A troop truck just turned onto the road, maybe a half minute away.”
Perfect, Sanjay thought.
He tapped Kusum on the shoulder. “Go.” To Darshana he said, “If it looks like we are having trouble, you know what to do. Otherwise wait for my signal.”
“Do not worry about me. I know what to do.”
Kusum pulled the car onto the road leading to the gate, about a block ahead of the approaching truck.
“Let them catch up,” Sanjay said.
Kusum slowed enough so that when she finally stopped at the gate, the truck was only a few seconds behind them.
While one of the guards manning the entrance stood in the doorway of the hut, holding a rifle, his partner approached the driver’s window.
He eyed Kusum suspiciously for several seconds. “Who the hell are you?”
Sanjay poked van Assen with the gun.
“She, um, she is my driver,” van Assen said from the backseat.
The guard turned his attention to Sanjay and the Dutchman. “I don’t recognize either of you, either.”
“Willem van Assen,” the Dutchman said, flashing the guard his ID. “I work for Director Mahajan. Transferred in yesterday. And this is my assistant, Sanjay.”
The guard looked at them for a moment longer, and then said, “Stay right here.”
He retreated inside the hut. When he didn’t come right back out, the driver of the truck honked his horn and yelled something out his window. The guard took another thirty seconds before finally returning.
“Mr. van Assen, apologies for making you wait. You are, of course, on the list, but these two are not.”
After another reminder of the gun in his ribs, van Assen said, “They transferred in from my office in Mumbai and have just arrived.”
“Mumbai? But—”
“But the Mumbai station was closed, is that what you were about to say?” Sanjay asked. “Why do you think we transferred here? Now please, we need to be on our way. There is important business Mr. van Assen needs to discuss with the director.”
“Show me your IDs.”
Sanjay poked van Assen again to remind him they had discussed this possibility.
“They, uh, were unfortunately left behind in the rush to evacuate Mumbai,” the Dutchman said. “There are new badges waiting for them inside.”
Another honk from the truck.
The guard thought for a moment before taking a step back.
“Bring them back and show them to me as soon as you have them,” he said, and then waved them through.
At ground level, NB551 was unremarkable, a warehouse and a few smaller buildings encircled by a parking area that itself was surrounded by a three-meter-high brick wall. The Americans in Nevada had told Sanjay and Kusum the real base extended beneath the property for several levels.
A section of the parking area was dedicated to trucks and vans and buses of various types that appeared to be stored for future use, while the area closest to the entrance played host to a smattering of passenger vehicles. Kusum drove their sedan into this second area and parked as close to the entrance as she could get. After she turned off the engine, she dialed Darshana again.
“That seemed pretty close,” Darshana said. “I almost set everything off.”
“Give us two minutes, then do it,” Sanjay instructed.
“Please try not to get yourselves killed,” Darshana said and hung up.
Sanjay glared at van Assen. “Once Kusum gets out of the car, you will do the same. She is also armed, so do not even think of running.”
Van Assen’s mouth twitched but he remained silent.
With a nod from Sanjay, Kusum exited the car and opened van Assen’s door.
“Out,” Sanjay said, nudging their prisoner.
As van Assen scooted through the doorway, Sanjay followed right behind. From the tension in the Dutchman’s shoulders, Sanjay could tell van Assen was thinking about running. Sanjay grabbed the back of the man’s shirt and turned him so that van Assen was facing him.
“There is a part of me that would very much like you to try to escape,” Sanjay said. “It would be an excuse for me to give you what you really deserve.”