Page 104 of Rising Tiger

“Acouple of years?” she teased.

He absorbed the jab with good humor and continued: “You may have Asha’s law, but I’ve got Harvath’s three rules for happiness. Something to do. Someone to love. And something to look forward to. Ours is a rough business. It’ll take everything from you. But only if you let it. My advice—don’t let it.”

“Do you always wax this philosophical with women you’ve just met?”

“Only the ones who point Glocks at me and try to steal my prisoners,” he said as he smiled once more and took another sip of his bourbon.

The waitress returned, set down Asha’s drink, and asked if Harvath wanted another. He politely declined and asked for the bill. If he didn’t apply the brakes now, they’d be down here all night.

“So, tomorrow,” he said. “What’s the plan?”

“We know what Durrani looks like and we know the organization he is using for his cover. We’ll set up surveillance first thing in the morning, before people start showing up for work.”

“We?” Harvath asked. “Just the two of us?”

Asha nodded. Then with a smile she added, “I have some surveillance tech that I think you’re really going to like.”

CHAPTER 58

FRIDAY

For a fraction of a second, Harvath had thought about offering to share the suite with Asha, with him taking the couch in the living room. But then he realized what a kind but stupid idea that was.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust himself; it was that any appearance of impropriety was unprofessional.

Asha was incredibly attractive and no one would believe that they had shared a hotel room overnight and nothing had happened.

Sølvi would believe him, but why would he ever want to put her in the position of wondering? Even the smallest of doubts had a habit of growing and festering over time. He chalked his undelivered offer up to the bourbon talking and welded shut his mental suggestion box.

He did, however, offer to walk her back to the Blind Relief Association. She thanked him for the drinks, politely passed on the escort back, and told him that she’d be in the lobby at six a.m. The plan was to grab a quick breakfast and then head out to the target.

Upstairs in his room, as the storm that had been forecasted blew in, he transmitted a SITREP to Lawlor. Once it had been received, he asked for an update on Nicholas, Nina, and the baby.

Lawlor didn’t bother texting a response. It was too much to put into writing. What’s more, Harvath needed to hear every detail and be able to ask as many questions as he wanted. He suggested they do a call.

Harvath agreed and as the rain lashed his windows and lightning lit up the New Delhi sky, the pair spoke for more than an hour.

He didn’t know how to react. He was angered by the attack, outraged at the injuries and loss of life. He was also incredibly proud of how Davis and Hauptmann had comported themselves, not to mention Nicholas. Had he arrived a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later, things could have turned out much worse. It was the epitome of right place, right time.

The fact that the baby had not yet improved also troubled him. After all that Nicholas had been through in his life, he deserved a happily ever after. Harvath could only hope that the next update would bring better news.

Getting into bed, he was so wiped out that he was asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow. Had he not set the alarm on his phone, he would have slept right through meeting Asha in the lobby.

After a shower and a shave, he was downstairs waiting for her. She strode into the hotel promptly at six a.m.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“Actually, I—”

“I was joking,” she said, interrupting him. “I slept on an army cot with a wool blanket that had to have been from World War One. You slept on a mattress that easily cost over thirty thousand rupees and sheets with a thread count so high, it gives me a nosebleed just thinking about it.”

Harvath smiled. “Breakfast?”

“Coffee first,” she replied, leading the way toward the restaurant. “Then breakfast.”

The hostess offered them a beautiful table with a gorgeous view near one of the windows, but Harvath and Asha simultaneously pointed to a booth in the corner, close to the entrance of the kitchen, and asked for it. They were both cut from the same cloth. Though she thought it an unusual request, the hostess smiled and obliged.

“Any updates from overnight?” he asked as they waited for their waiter to bring them coffee.

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