Page 16 of Into the Gray Zone

Kamal turned to Randeep and said, “What do you think?”

Randeep was a follower. Someone who wanted to please and didn’t like being caught between his leader and the other men. He waffled, saying, “I guess it depends on what you’re thinking.”

Kamal said, “I’m thinking we can either get rolled up running like dogs, or we can take it to the enemy. This is our chance to really become the KCF. To do something with our lives instead of just donating money to the cause. The RAW might get us either way, but at least our death will be for something greater than a paycheck.Sidak’sdeath will mean something.”

Manjit said, “How? If we capture this guy it’ll only help Mr.Chin. He’ll take him, exploit him, and then blame us. You know that’s what he’ll do.”

Kamal nodded and said, “Yes, that’s exactly what he’ll do if we follow his plan.”

“Then why would we continue?”

“Because we’re not going to follow his plan.”

Chapter11

I followed Jennifer into the Hyatt Club—a private area for high rollers and a little perk courtesy of Grolier Recovery Services reservation. Apparently Jennifer had been accumulating points. Either that, or the CIA was getting points off of us.

We checked in with our room number, proving we belonged, and then stepped down to the lounge area. They had a table set up with a bunch of fancy hors d’oeuvres, complete with little ceramic spoons holding individual sushi pieces, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.

We wound through the area, Jennifer scanning for a section big enough for the team, and me scanning for the bar. I saw it in the corner, an oak cabinet set into the wall with self-service bottles.Perfect.

Jennifer found a couch opposite two chairs in the corner, right next to the plate glass windows overlooking the ocean, the sun starting to set on the horizon. The view was spectacular, with lush gardens, thick grass, and palm trees spreading out to the seawall, interrupted only by gravel paths threaded throughout. It looked like a photograph created by AI instead of the real world. I had to admit, after my initial complaining, this trip was turning out pretty good. I let her sit, then said, “Pirate drink?”

She smiled and said, “I guess it’s after hours. Sure.”

I left her, saw Brett and Veep come through the door, and pointed to her location. They nodded and went that way. I began to make a couple of rum and cokes but was stopped by one of the hostesses, a strikingly pretty Indian woman. She said, “Let me, please,” with a charming accent.

Her beauty left me at a loss for words for a second. Ordinarily, I’d push such a request away, because I definitely knew what I liked and didn’t need someone to do my own work, but in this case I backed off, saying, “Sure, I’d like—”

She said, “Two Bacardi and cokes, highball glasses, with a twist of lime?”

Now confused, because that’s exactly what I wanted, I stuttered and she laughed, a little melody floating out. Knuckles appeared behind her, saying, “I’ll have a bourbon if he can’t talk.”

She said, “Of course. He’s just like you said: a stoic American.”

I looked at Knuckles, and he smiled, saying, “I met her working the pool service today. Nadia, this is Pike. Pike, this is Nadia. Treat him well, because he’s my boss.”

She let out her tinkling laugh again and said, “Of course. Take your seats. I’ll bring the drinks.”

We walked away, and I said, “What the hell, man? I was only kidding about using some honeypot operation for information.”

He said, “It’s not like that. We struck up a conversation and sort of clicked. She’s pretty cool, and she’s also switched on to the entire flow around this place.”

“So you gave her my name? What else did you give her?”

“That just came about because I told her my name was Knuckles. She didn’t believe me, so I told her my boss was named Pike. It’s not a big deal.”

“She knew what I drink, for God’s sake. How deep did this conversation go?”

“Just enough to solidify our cover. She knows why we’re here by the cover. That’s all.”

We reached the table, and Brett said, “So you met Knuckles’ latest conquest.”

I sat down on the couch next to Jennifer, giving Knuckles one of the chairs, and said, “Yeah, I did. That didn’t take long.”

Jennifer said, “To meet her? I see she’s very pretty.”

I felt my face start to flush, and said, “What? No. Not that. It didn’t take long for Knuckles to get to work. That’s all I meant.”

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