Rising Tiger: A Thriller (69)

“That’s entirely too easy,” said Vijay. “We give him me.”

“You?”

“Of course, me. I caught him. I got him sent to prison. And I did such damage when I threw him off that roof that he lives in a constant state of arthritic pain. Believe me, not a day goes by that he doesn’t think of me; not a storm rolls in where he isn’t cursing my name and wishing for my death.”

“Unfortunately,” Harvath replied, “that’s a bridge too far. The United States isn’t going to use you for bait. That goes above and beyond what you’re being paid for.”

“Then I quit.”

“No you don’t. You’re one of the best FSN/Is I’ve ever worked with. The embassy is lucky to have you. They can’t afford to lose you.”

“When I drop you at your hotel, I’ll write out my resignation by hand. You can decide what you want to do with it.”

Harvath shook his head. “I already told you. It won’t be accepted.”

“That’s the funny thing about resignations. If I resign, I resign. There really isn’t anything you can do about it.”

The man was right. However, Harvath didn’t want to risk the ex-cop’s life like this. There was no telling what Sayed would do if he could get Vijay in his sights. “We’ll come up with another way to find him.”

“Will we?” the man asked. “Maybe we can set up a sting like your NYPD does every several years. We can reach out to Sayed and tell him he has won season tickets to his favorite football or cricket team. Then, if he shows up in person to claim them, we can grab him.”

Harvath smiled. “You know that was from an Al Pacino movie, right?”

“Does it have a happy ending?”

Harvath raised his right hand and tilted it from side to side as if to say, sort of.

“Is justice done in the end?” the ex-cop inquired.

“The good guy kills the bad guy by throwing him out of a window, so, yes, justice is done.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Harvath looked at him. “What’s settled?”

“We’re going after Sayed. We’re using me as bait. And this time, for justice to be done, I just need the right window, or a higher rooftop.”



* * *



Vijay had called the embassy and had asked them to reserve Harvath a room at the Oberoi hotel, just adjacent to the New Delhi Golf Club.

Once the reservation was in place, Harvath texted Lawlor and asked him to keep paying for the Fairmont in Jaipur and to set up payment for the Oberoi as well. Lawlor confirmed the request and told Harvath to reach out to him as soon as he checked in.

“You won’t get showered with rose petals,” the ex-cop stated as they pulled up the broad drive in front, “but I think you’ll find the service exceptional.”

“Exceptional” turned out to be an understatement. The Oberoi was one of the most luxurious hotels Harvath had ever set foot inside. Between this and the Fairmont Jaipur, he was quickly becoming convinced that nobody did luxury like India.

Set on an extremely lush five acres of land, Harvath had been upgraded to a sleek, tastefully modern suite, with an incredible view over the golf course.

Setting his suitcase on the stand next to the closet, he called Lawlor via the encrypted app before he even began to unpack.

There was no friendly preamble; no chitchat. It was far too late at night in Northern Virginia. “What do you have for me?” the man asked when he answered the call.

Harvath gave him a brief but thorough SITREP, expanding on items only when asked for further clarification.

When everything related to his assignment in India had been addressed, Lawlor provided a SITREP of his own. “Nicholas was attacked again. Nina was with him when it happened.”

“Are they okay? Is she okay? What about the baby?”

“When the ambulance got there, she was in labor and bleeding quite badly. She’s in surgery now.”

“Are she and the baby going to be okay?”

“The doctors aren’t sure,” said Lawlor. “Not yet.”

“So they got hit at the safe house?”

“No. Nicholas had insisted they return home. He didn’t want to be chased out of his own house. He wanted Nina to able to rest up for the delivery in their bed.”

“He’s prideful, that guy,” said Harvath. “Nevertheless, he should have seen this coming.”

Lawlor agreed. “He saw it coming all right. Sutton swept the woods and had pointed out where the attacker had set up shop the first time around. Nicholas then mined the entire area with antipersonnel devices. When the second attack happened, he detonated everything. He killed the attacker and triggered a new Northern Virginia record for simultaneous 911 calls.”

“Is Nicholas okay? The dogs?”

“Everybody is fine, including his security detail. We’re going to owe ATF a lot of favors for burying this, but if he hadn’t done what he had, there’s no telling how much worse it would have been this time around.”

Harvath sat down on the edge of the bed. “What do you know about the attacker?”

“Chinese national. Twenty-four years old. Was on a student visa, studying applied physics at MIT. Had been absent from class the last couple of days.”