Shadow Tyrants

THIRTY-FOUR

Driving a black Mercedes limousine, Hali pulled up to the front entrance of the Four Seasons Hotel moments before Kiara Jain strode out with a good-looking Indian man by her side. She was even more stunning in person, wearing a ruby red full-length gown with her shimmering hair cascading across her exposed shoulders. Her companion was dressed in a tuxedo and seemed to be in the same age range as the actress. Apparently, she wasn’t quite famous enough to require a real bodyguard. Neither of them looked happy.

Hali got out and went around to open the rear door. “Ms. Jain, Mr. Mallik personally requested me to bring you to the party. He’s a big fan of your films.” Of course, Hali had previously canceled the car that was supposed to pick her up.

She raised an eyebrow at him and then scoffed at the man beside her. “I told you, Gautam. At least he has good taste.”

With a huff and a toss of her hair, she slid into the backseat. Before following her in, Gautam looked at Hali with an apologetic shrug as if to say, See what I’m stuck with?

Hali pulled away from the hotel and began a slow drive in the direction away from Mallik’s party. Mumbai’s traffic was notoriously bad, and he was aiming for a jam that he’d already spotted on his mapping app.

“I shouldn’t have even brought you,” Kiara said in a low voice that was meant to keep the chauffeur from listening to the conversation. In a show of discretion, Hali turned up the volume on a local station playing music, but he could still hear them clearly.

“Then maybe I should have the driver turn around and take me back,” Gautam said. “You can show up at the biggest event of the year alone.”

“If you’re going to be that way, maybe you should. We all know who the bigger star is here. You wouldn’t have even been invited if it weren’t for me.”

Hali was glad for the petty argument. Gautam and Kiara spent the next few minutes sniping at each other, so neither of them noticed the route he was taking. But when there was a lull in the bickering, Kiara looked out at their surroundings, then peered at Hali in the mirror.

“Where are you going?”

“To the party,” Hali said with a smile.

“The party is at Mr. Mallik’s building.”

“Yes.”

She waved at the sea on either side of them. “Then why are we on the Bandra — Worli Sea Link?”

The causeway stretched across the mouth of Mahim Bay to connect the western suburbs to south Mumbai.

Hali played dumb. “We’re going to Bandra, where he lives.”

“He doesn’t live in Bandra, you idiot!” she yelled.

“That’s the address I have.”

“He lives on Altamount Road in south Mumbai. Everyone knows that.” She leaned forward. “Where are you from? You sound American.”

“My parents are from Mumbai, but I was raised in Los Angeles. I’m trying to break into Bollywood. In fact, when Mr. Mallik asked me to pick you up, I was so thrilled. I have a script I think would be great for you.” Hali reached into his bag and retrieved a script of some terrible movie he’d printed out from the internet. “I know I shouldn’t ask, but would you read it?”

She slapped the pages away. “Of course I’m not going to read your stupid script. Now, get us to Mr. Mallik’s house or I’ll have you fired.”

“Calm down,” Gautam said. “We’ll get there. This guy’s just trying to do his job.”

“This guy is going to ruin my career if we don’t get there on time. Do you realize how many important people will be there?”

“I’ll go extra fast and get you there right away,” Hali said. “Do you know the right address?”

“Give me the invitation,” she said to Gautam. He held it out, and she snapped it away from him. “I don’t trust you anymore. I’ll look it up on my phone and tell you how to get there.”

She could try, Hali thought, but he remained quiet.

A few seconds later, Kiara groaned in frustration. “Why can’t I get a cell signal?”

“Maybe we’re out of range,” Hali said. But he knew the real reason. There was a cell phone jammer in the trunk to keep her from calling anyone or posting on social media while she was supposed to be at the party. But the jammer didn’t interfere with the signal from Hali’s earpiece that was routed through a satellite transmitter also in the trunk.

“Just turn around,” she demanded.

Hali nodded. “Yes, Ms. Jain. As soon as we’re off the causeway.”

“Can you believe this man?” she said to Guatam, who was trying to hide a crooked grin that Hali spotted in the mirror.

Halfway across the causeway, traffic slowed to a crawl because of an accident up ahead, the one that Hali had noted earlier.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Kiara screamed.

“Don’t worry, miss,” Hali said. “I’m sure I can get you there within the hour.”

“An hour! I can’t believe this!” Kiara threw up her hands in frustration and continued futilely tapping on her phone.

But Hali wasn’t talking to her. His message was for Eddie.

“Understood, Hali,” Eddie said into his own earpiece. He was in a Porsche SUV being driven by Tiny Gunderson, who was taking a break from his piloting duties. Linc was in the front seat, while Eddie was sandwiched between Raven and MacD in the back. All of them could hear that they now had their hour to break into Romir Mallik’s computer system.

They were just pulling up to his tower on Altamount Road, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Mumbai. According to reports, Mallik had constructed the enormous five-hundred-foot-tall structure anticipating a large family before his wife died unexpectedly. Although it was bigger than many of the apartment buildings in the area, large enough to support a helicopter landing pad on the roof, Mallik’s vertical palace was a single home, and he was its only resident.

The grand underground driveway to the entrance was already packed with limos and high-end SUVs, but they moved along quickly as guests were swiftly escorted to a security station before being let into the elevator that would take them to the huge ballroom on one of the top floors.

When they reached the drop-off, Tiny said, “I’ll be close by. Just give me a shout when you’re on your way down, and I’ll be here before you arrive.”

Playing the part of the bodyguard, Linc got out and opened the door for Raven, who looked like a dead ringer for Kiara Jain, resplendent in her clingy turquoise sheath. All the men within twenty yards gawked at her as she took MacD’s arm and sashayed toward the metal detector. Eddie, who was wearing glasses that fed video back to Murph, was happy to see that since this was a private event, there were no paparazzi. He and Linc followed close behind them, dressed in tuxes that looked more like rentals than the tailored Armani that MacD wore.

Raven’s purse was searched, and all of the men had to put their phones in trays as they passed through the metal detector. A bevy of stern-looking guards surveyed the scene while the official greeters led them to the elevator after checking their IDs. Murph had broken into the security company’s computer system the day before and added their names to the list, and since they were with movie star Kiara Jain, nobody suspected anything was amiss.

At the top of the building, the elevator opened to the sound of hundreds of people talking over the music of a ten-piece band. The huge dance floor was already being put to use by some of the guests, while a massive table overflowed with delicacies from all over the country.

The biggest draw was the wide covered balcony that overlooked the Arabian Sea and downtown Mumbai. Many of the guests already seemed to be staking out spots to watch the sunset later in the evening.

Eddie activated the small tablet in his pocket and said, “Murph, we’re in. Get to work.”

“Already on it,” Murph said from his hotel room. Eddie could hear Murph’s heavy metal music pounding in the background and felt sorry for his neighbors.

A waiter walked by with a tray of champagne, and they each took one except for Linc, who maintained the dour expression of a wary guardian.

Before they could take their first sip, a pretty young Indian woman across the room waved at Raven and dragged the man beside her toward them.

“Oh, no. She recognizes me,” Raven said.

“It’s okay,” Eddie said. “We knew this would happen. Who is that, Murph?”

“Checking,” Murph replied. After a brief pause, he said, “That’s Prisha Naidu. She and Kiara were in a film together six years ago.”

As Prisha approached, Raven opened her arms and said with a perfect Indian accent, “Prisha! So good to see you.” Her adeptness at languages and uncanny impression of Kiara’s voice meant that they could ditch the laryngitis story.

“It’s been so long!” Prisha said, giving Raven a big hug. “You’re even taller than I remembered.”

Raven gestured to her feet. “It’s the heels. They’re amazing, but they’re killing my toes.”

“The price we pay for beauty. You remember my husband, don’t you?”

“Samar,” Murph said in their ears.

“Samar,” Raven said without missing a beat. “A pleasure as always.”

Prisha looked Raven up and down. “Where is that gorgeous red gown you posted on Instragram earlier?”

Raven playfully batted MacD on the arm. “Cole here spilled a drink on it while we were getting ready, so I had to resort to this, which I was planning to wear to a premiere next week. Now I have to find something else.”

“Well, I love it.” She looked at MacD with a flirty expression. “I haven’t seen this handsome man with you before… Prisha Naidu.” She bowed with her hands together.

MacD awkwardly followed her lead. “Cole Randle, ma’am. Kiara and Ah met on a movie set a few weeks ago in L.A. She thought Ah’d like Mumbai.”

“An American,” Prisha said. “How interesting. The U.S. really has changed you, Kiara.” She leaned in to Raven and whispered, “What happened to Gautam Puri?” Eddie could hear it in his earpiece.

“We had a big fight,” Raven whispered back. Then, with a naughty gleam in her eye, she said, “Cole will do for now.”

“I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Prisha said. Then she spotted someone else interesting and said, “I’ll be back later,” before flitting away with her husband.

Raven sighed and looked at Eddie. “This is going to be exhausting.” She drained half her champagne glass.

“I’ll do?” MacD said with a grin.

“For now.”

Several people by the elevator raised their voices, and Eddie turned to see Romir Mallik emerge, glad-handing guests that surged toward him. Asad Torkan walked behind him with the same surly look as Linc.

“They really were identical twins,” Linc said.

“And just as dangerous,” Eddie replied. “Let’s veer away from them.”

“You might need to get closer than you want,” Murph said with an exasperated tone.

“Why?” Eddie said. Linc, Raven, and MacD were all looking at him with concern. “What happened?”

“The WiFi network isn’t connected to his computer. If we want to break into his system, you’re going to have to find a terminal so we can do it manually.”

At the base of Mallik’s condo tower, Natalie Taylor approached the delivery bay at the rear of the building in a truck with the catering company’s logo on the side. She backed it up to the loading dock and got out, approaching the guards watching the door. Her uniform perfectly matched the ones of the caterers who’d been delivering food all day long. A short wig of red hair and thick glasses provided a disguise in case Mallik’s security team was on the lookout for her.

“What’s this?” one of the guards demanded.

“The cake,” she said matter-of-factly, opening the rear doors.

The other guard looked at a sheet he was carrying. “I don’t see anything about a cake.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was on the list, would it?”

The guards looked at her with suspicion, especially because they wouldn’t expect to see a Caucasian delivering food. “We’re going to have to check with the catering manager.”

“Be my guest,” she said.

As the first guard took out his radio, Taylor drew a SIG Sauer pistol from her apron and shot each guard with a single round to the head. She dragged them into the catering truck, not the least afraid that the cameras would be recording her. Right now anyone monitoring the cameras would be seeing nothing but a white glow from the ultra-bright LEDs mounted on the back of the truck.

When they were inside, she took the passcard from one of the guards, wheeled out a large cart carrying an oversized cake, and closed the truck behind her. She pushed the cart through the delivery doors and headed for the service elevator.

The cart did hold a cake. But it would never be eaten. Mallik and his guests would indeed get a big surprise.