Nick looked out the window. They were already in the approach pattern for New Delhi.
They got a cab at the airport and went to the temple. A Hindu man gave them a disapproving look as they stood by the entrance. Three foreigners.
"We have to take our shoes off," Selena said.
She pointed at a stone shelf by the temple entrance. They placed their shoes on the shelf and entered the temple.
Inside, it was cool and dim, the air heavy with powerful incense. Lamont looked up at the high ceiling and then at the fierce statue of Shiva.
"I wouldn't want to mess with that guy," he said. His voice was quiet.
The head priest stood motionless in front of the statue, watching them. He was old. It was hard to say how many years he was carrying. His face was like the weathered side of a mountain. He wore an orange robe and had a red dot painted on the center of his forehead.
"I think he's waiting for us," Selena said.
"How could he be? He couldn't know we were coming."
Selena said. "Wait here."
Selena stopped in front of the priest, steepled her hands together and made a slight bow.
"Namaste," she said.
He returned the gesture. "Namaste." His voice was soft, deep. Selena sensed hidden depth in it.
"I have something for you," she said in Hindi.
The priest showed no surprise. "I know," he said. "You are an honorable woman."
How did he know about that? she thought. She withdrew the jewel from her pocket. It felt hot in her hands. She held it out to him.
"Ah," the priest said. "Thank you."
There was a sudden smell of jasmine in the air. The priest took the stone and looked at her.
"Perhaps you don't believe in karma," he said. "No matter."
He bowed and turned away. He went through a beaded doorway.
That was weird, she thought.
CHAPTER 67
The next day they were back in Virginia, meeting in Harker's office. Nick was jet lagged and bone tired.
"Ronnie is going to be okay," Elizabeth said. "He's already complaining about the food. I talked with his doctor this morning."
"The good looking one? Fairchild?" Nick said.
"Good looking? Selena raised an eyebrow.
"For a doctor," Nick said. "Competent looking. You know."
"No, I don't know."
Elizabeth cleared her throat. "I thought we'd go over there later. Before that there are a couple of things we need to talk about. One good thing that came out of this is that it was a wakeup call for India and Pakistan. Rao's near miss scared the hell out of them. They were within minutes of annihilating each other and they realize it. China is brokering a peace conference. They're meeting tomorrow in Beijing and the armies have pulled back from the border. So that genie is back in the bottle, at least for now."
"Cobra was crazy," Lamont said. "You should have seen him. But he's out of the picture now."
Stephanie said, "There were more people involved in this plot than Rao. One of them is another agent at RAW named Khanna. He's under arrest. The problem is that we don't know who else. I may have identified one of them but even if I'm right, there's no proof. Nothing we can act on."
"Who is it?" Nick said.
"Rao made a call to someone named Krivi, right before he attempted to launch. I back traced it to Geneva."
"Switzerland? Who's Krivi?"
"I think it's a man named Krivi Dass. He owns a pharmaceutical company based in Zurich with manufacturing facilities in Switzerland and Mumbai. It's a big company, with sales worldwide. Dass is one of the world's richest men, worth billions. Rao thanked him for his pills. I'm pretty certain he's the one Rao was talking with."
"There's more," Elizabeth said. "The nose cone and guidance computer on that missile were recovered, mostly intact."
"We saw it lying on the side of the hill," Nick said.
"The Indians were able to recover the data on the computer. The missile wasn't headed for Pakistan."
"It wasn't? Where was it going?"
"China. It was targeted on Chengdu."
"Holy shit," Lamont said.
"Exactly," Elizabeth said. "A missile hitting China would have provoked retaliation against India. It would have meant nuclear war on the sub continent and the Chinese mainland."
"That doesn't make sense," Selena said. "Rao wanting to nuke Pakistan makes sense. He thought Islamabad was responsible for the death of his family. But why China?"
"We don't know why," Elizabeth said. "Then there's the question of how the missile was launched. The computer shows that the targeting coordinates and go codes came from a pre-programmed card. The commanders on site didn't have anything like that. Someone had to give it to Rao."
"Rao said Islamabad would have been destroyed," Nick said, "right before he pulled the trigger. He thought that missile was going to Pakistan. Then he said, 'it's not over.'"
"It's not over? You're sure?"
"That's what he said."
Elizabeth picked up her pen and began tapping it on the desk.
"Rao planned this operation with Krivi," she said. "At least that's how it sounded during that phone conversation. Krivi was pleased when he learned that Rao was going to launch. He has to be one cold son of a bitch if he can be pleased at the prospect of nuclear war and all the death and destruction that would bring."
"Not on Switzerland, though," Nick said.
"No. Not on Switzerland."
Nick said, "People in Krivi's league don't do things like this on their own. There are too many links. Anything that affects big profits world wide would be planned in consultation with others as rich as he is."
"That's a small club," Stephanie said.
"We've seen something like this before," Elizabeth said. They all looked at her.
"AEON," she said.
"I thought we'd finished with them," Nick said.
"So did I, but now I'm beginning to wonder."
"We'll watch Krivi," Stephanie said. "There isn't anything else we can do without more information."
Elizabeth said, "We all need a break. You three need sleep. Let's go see Ronnie and we'll think about this tomorrow."
CHAPTER 68
The restaurant was new and good and still undiscovered. Nick and Selena sat where they could watch the entrance. Selena had picked up Nick's habit of never having your back to the door. They'd rearranged chairs so they could face out, to the waiter's disapproval.
Nick ordered a bottle of Silver Oak.
"Remember when you brought out a bottle of this in California?" he said.
"Right before we ended up in that mine."
"With the spiders and rats."
"This is a lot nicer," she said.
She gestured at the dimly lit room. The tables were set with crisp, white linen. The silverware was heavy, the plates of good china. The glassware was leaded crystal. Soft music played in the background. Once the word got out, it would be filled with self- important people wheeling and dealing. For now it was just a pleasant place to have a good meal and a glass of wine.
"Ronnie looked a lot better," she said.
"He'll be fine. It will be a while before he's ready to get back in the field, though. He was circling the drain. It doesn't get any closer than that."
"He could decide not to go back."
"That would be bad for the team," Nick said. "Might be good for him, though."
The waiter brought the wine and poured. He took their order. When he was gone, Nick said, "I was thinking."
"About what?"
"Us."
"What about us?"
"I think we should go back to that jewelry store. And as many others as you want, if you don't see what you like there."
She hadn't been expecting that.