Page 108 of Into the Gray Zone

“Did you verify it? Make sure it’s not a deepfake or some other trick?”

“Thakkar verified it. Jaiden had the daughter say certain things to prove it was real, and the call was on FaceTime using Thakkar’s Wi-Fi. Afterwards they geolocated the cell phone used, and it’s in Thakkar’s house. I didn’t see the video, but everyone here thinks its genuine.”

“Just Annaka? You didn’t see Sledge or Nadia on the video?”

“Like I said, I didn’t see it, but the assumption is all the hostages are collocated. Look, I have to go. This place is going nuts and I still have to brief the president.”

“Wait, what about my Chinese guy?”

“He’s going to have to wait. He’s not a priority right now. Pike, I have to go.”

Great. So now I’m a babysitter.

I said, “Put on Veep.”

He did so and I heard, “So you got jackpot?”

“Yeah, fat lot of good that did. What’s the plan right now? Are the JSOC guys on the ground?”

“Yeah, but I’ll tell you, I’m not sure how much sway they’re going to have on operations here. Thakkar is losing his mind at the insult of his pride and joy being taken, and the Black Cats are leaning way forward on an assault.”

“Black Cats? Who is that?”

“Sorry. That’s the nickname of the hostage rescue element, the National Security Guard, and they are raring to go. They got a black eye in the Mumbai attacks in 2008, and they aren’t going to let this one get any worse. One thing’s for sure, nobody’s reading that manifesto on TV any time soon.”

“But the terrorists would know that would be Thakkar’s response. Theymustknow an assault is coming. Why would they telegraph their position like this?”

“Maybe they’re ready to see the virgins. Maybe they knew this would make worldwide news. I don’t know.”

“They aren’t Muslims. There are no virgins in this scenario, and Sikhs don’t do suicide attacks for martyrdom. This sounds off kilter.”

Something didn’t smell right about the situation. It was too easy, reminding me of times in Iraq when insurgents would feed our intelligence apparatus false information for a target, then load it with IEDs in the hopes we’d hit it.

I said, “What’s the press reporting? Does the world know Thakkar’s place has been taken over by terrorists?”

He said, “Not at this point. They’re still reporting the original story. The RAW and Black Cats are keeping everything about Thakkar’s residence close hold. They aren’t planning on telling the press anything, because it might screw up the assault. They’re going to take that place down with overwhelming force and don’t want any complications.”

Meaning they didn’t want any cameras rolling if this turns into a bloodbath.

I said, “What about the hostages? Are they discussing how to rescue them, or just talking about smoking that place?”

“They’re talking about smoking it, but they can’t come right outand say it. The RAW is concerned about Nadia since she’s one of their own. They’re demanding all options be considered, but they’re losing that fight to Thakkar and the military. Right now, Sledge is the biggest blocking point to a scorched-earth assault. Since he’s American, it’s causing them to slow their roll in favor of our input for rescue.”

“Tell the JSOC guys to leverage that. Get them to pause before they do a knee-jerk assault.”

“Theyareleveraging it, but there’s no proof of life on Sledge, and Thakkar’s ranting to anyone who will listen that the hostages are probably all dead. He’s given them permission to hit the place with any means necessary, and the Black Cats are taking that to heart. They aren’t going to allow a repeat of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. I hate to say it, but right now the hostages are taking a back seat to national pride.”

Chapter63

Nadia woke up to see the two security guards from the wedding celebration, still in their red uniforms, placing what she believed to be explosive charges at selected locations around the large den, four complete, with more still to be emplaced. Jaiden was in front of them, pacing with a cell phone in his hand. While she’d had little sleep the night before, from Jaiden’s drawn face she wondered if he’d had any. The strain of the capture was beginning to take a toll, and after experiencing Jaiden’s anger the night before, she was worried about what would happen if he snapped.

Instead of using one of the many bedrooms in the residence, he’d forced Nadia and Annaka to stay in the den, not allowing them out of sight of him or his men. He’d managed to quarantine the staff, preventing them from leaving with a preposterous story of “protecting national security” and allowing no interactions with her or Annaka. The only exception was the in-house security, and even they were forbidden from speaking with Nadia or Annaka. To ensure the women didn’t try to communicate unilaterally, whenever the local security was present, so was Jaiden or one of the two red uniformed men.

The staff seemed to buy it completely, believing their cooperation was necessary for Annaka’s safety, not the least because the press wasbacking up Jaiden’s story by reporting that he himself was a hostage and there were no leads to their location.

She knew Jaiden had confiscated the staff’s cell phones, but last night she hoped one had been missed and someone on the staff would carelessly contact the outside world with the juicy story that Annaka was “safe.” But then Jaiden had done it for them, and in Nadia’s mind, that cemented the likelihood that she and Annaka were as good as dead.

Right after midnight, Jaiden had FaceTimed Riva Thakkar’s iPhone, startling both Annaka and Nadia. He showed Riva the interior of the room they were in, and then put Annaka on the video, making her recite specific events that had occurred to ensure nobody believed the video was being staged. He ended by making multiple threats and screaming into the camera. By the time he was done, he’d worked himself into another rage, making Nadia and Annaka cower.

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