Rising Tiger: A Thriller (55)

Vijay hit him again, harder. “The same thing goes for my sister.”

Even from where he was standing, Harvath could see a nasty, blood-engorged welt swelling up on the man’s face. One more blow and Vijay was going to open Kumar up like an Indian pi?ata.

“Now, if we’re done talking about the women in my family,” the ex-cop stated, “maybe we can get down to business.”

Either because he had run out of insults or was wary of being struck again, Kumar remained silent.

“Good,” said Vijay. “Business it is. To whom did you sell Pinaki Ali’s motorbike?”

The gangster quickly looked away from him and then back. Not a good sign. He gave him another warning. “My friend, the Gora, is a human lie detector, but even I can see you’re trying to come up with some sort of story to tell me. Take my advice—don’t. If you lie, it’ll get even worse than if you start insulting my wife or my daughters. Do you understand?”

Kumar nodded.

“After you ‘stole’ the motorbike, what happened to it?”

The gangster took a deep breath. “You don’t want to know.”

“Do I strike you as a man who doesn’t want to know?” asked Vijay. “Because I’ll gladly hit you again if it’ll help clear things up.”

There was nothing better than a smart-ass cop. As he had with Mrs. Ali, Harvath tried not to smile.

“Listen, Rahul,” he continued. “You give us the information we want and we’ll disappear. You’ll never see us again. But if you don’t give it to us, you’ll disappear and no one will ever see you again. So, let’s stop playing games. What’s it going to be?”

Kumar was conflicted. “If I tell you what you want to know, I simply trade one set of problems for another. The person who arranged for that motorbike isn’t going to cooperate with you. He’s going to kill you. Then he’s going to kill your Gora. And after that’s done, he’s going to come here and kill my entire family.”

“Not if we kill him first,” Harvath chimed in.

Vijay let go of the gangster’s throat and stepped aside so Harvath could address him.

“Someone used that motorbike to kill a friend of mine. I’m going to settle the score.”

Kumar shook his head. “Everyone who has gone after this person has failed. He has been shot, stabbed, poisoned, thrown from a building, and hit by a car—twice. It’s said that he can’t die.”

“Believe me,” Harvath stated, “if I decide he needs to die, he’s going to die.”

“And judging by the attempts on his life,” Vijay interjected, “I’m guessing that you two know each other from the ‘business’ world.”

Kumar nodded.

“And if he ended up disappearing, you might be able to profit from his absence?”

The gangster thought about it for a moment before warily responding. “We would be expanding into new territory, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

“So here’s how this plays out,” said the ex-cop. “You’re going to give us everything you have on this person and we’ll take care of the rest. If you tip him off that we’re coming, if you try to ingratiate yourself and cause him to be indebted to you, we will make sure you lose everything. And I mean everything—your business, your family, your life. All of it. Is that clear?”

Once again, Kumar nodded.

“Good,” replied Vijay, picking up a pad of paper and a pencil from the closest desk. “Start talking.”



* * *



Fifteen minutes later, they left the office and closed the door behind them. Upon it they taped a sign that Vijay had written: Meeting in progress. Do not disturb. Do not knock.

Back at the Jaguar, they re-stashed their gear in the duffle bag and checked on Pinaki. Even parked in the shade, it had gotten quite warm in the trunk. The man was soaked through with perspiration. Vijay cut off his restraints and helped him out.

“Is he dead?” the man asked.

“Who?” Harvath replied as he placed the duffle inside. “Your boss, Kumar?”

Pinaki nodded.

“A little worse for wear, but still alive.”

“Does he know it was me? Does he know I told you where to find him?”

“He knows we were there about the motorbike,” said Harvath.

“You mean he knows you were there about my motorbike.”

“Technically,” Vijay clarified, “it’s your mother’s motorbike. She paid for it.”

“This is nothing to make fun of,” the man protested. “You promised me that if I helped you, you would protect us.”

Harvath looked at the ex-cop with a smile. “That is what you promised. You said that if—”

“I know what I said,” Vijay replied, checking his watch. “Give me another hundred dollars.”

Pulling the bills out of his pocket, Harvath peeled off another hundred and handed it to him. “I’m going to need a receipt for that. And from earlier.”

Vijay ignored him and handed the money to Pinaki. “Go home. Pack a suitcase for yourself and one for your mother. Then I want you to take an autorickshaw to the Jaipur Junction railway station. Go inside, get something to eat. When you have eaten, use a different exit and walk to the Radisson hotel. Then take a taxi to the Fairmont hotel. There will be an envelope with a keycard and a room number waiting for you at the front desk. Go to the room and stay there until I contact you. Do not tell anyone where you are. Do you understand?”