Page 124 of Into the Gray Zone

Brett said, “What was that about a Trojan horse?”

“Well, we sure as shit can’t fight our way in. Not with those odds. I’m going to put Knuckles and me in the back of the Rover and have Manjit call Jaiden, giving him a song and dance about how the Chinese found them and he escaped. When they let us in, I’m going to start slaying.”

“The hostages are on the twenty-second floor. You think you and Knuckles can fight your way up twenty-two floors?”

“No. I think we can fight our way to an elevator, then ride up twenty-two floors.”

“You don’t think you’ll be stopped by the police on the way in? At a checkpoint or something?”

“No. Veep says this entire residence thing is close hold. The Black Cat spotters might report us arriving, but they won’t stop us.”

We were driving down the shore, a smattering of beaches to our right, and I looked at our GPS, seeing we were about ten minutes away from the famous Altamount Billionaires’ Row. The road left the shore, cutting into the peninsula, and I pulled into a parking lot full of rickshaws, Knuckles right behind me.

I had Brett set the tablet on the hood and they gathered around. I told them my assault plan, and they were suitably unimpressed. Jennifer said, “What if we get into the garage with your Trojan horse and we find thirty security men with their guns aimed at us?”

I said, “Then Knuckles and I will have to go out in a blaze of glory, but that’s not going to happen. They’ll have security on the gate that we’ll pass through, and security up on the roof looking for helicopters, with more security on the floor with the hostages, but they aren’t going to swarm the parking garage just because Manjit calls Jaiden. At most, there will be four or five guns—hopefully with Jaiden himself—and they’ll relax when they see it’s only Manjit.”

She missed the “Knuckles and I” part of the statement. She said, “That’s a big wish instead of a plan, and it’s going to be hard for all three of us to get out of that vehicle synchronized.”

I said, “Two. Two of us can do it. Just Knuckles and me.”

She gave me a puzzled look, and I said, “Taskforce intelligence thinks they’ve wired the living space the hostages are in with explosives. We need to know if that’s true before we assault. If it is, we need someone focused on that while we’re killing bad guys.”

She said, “I don’t understand. While you’re assaulting, you want me to run past you to see if there are IEDs all over the room?”

“No, I meanbeforewe assault.”

“How?”

I flipped to a three-dimensional picture of the residence and pointed at the large balcony jutting out over the Mumbai skyline on the twenty-second floor. “This is where the hostages are. I need you to take a look from the balcony.”

I rotated the picture until the northeast corner was facing us and said, “The snipers have a view of the building exterior from this angle.”

I rotated it the other way, until the southeast corner was showing,and said, “But they can’t see anybody going up this side. The vehicle entrance is also covered by a sniper team, but you won’t have to worry about them. That’s our problem.”

It took a minute for that to settle, and then she understood. Her eyes flew open and she said, “Pike, no way. I can’t climb up twenty-two stories. That’s not possible.”

I said, “Wait a minute, hang on, I’m not talking about scaling plate glass. Take a look at the picture. This thing is like a Lincoln Log climbing wall. Once you’re past the first six floors, it has approaches that are almost walking. You just need to be sure you’re out of view of the Black Cat snipers.”

She said, “Pike, forget about the snipers, six floors is a fucking lot.”

Jennifer never cursed unless she was under extreme duress, so I knew she was really uncomfortable with what I was asking. I wasn’t sure if it was the risk of the climb, or the weight of the mission I was placing on her shoulders.

I said again, “Take a look at the picture. They laced the first six floors with greenery. It’s like they built a ladder to the first residential section. From there, it’s an easy climb. Yeah, it’s high, but it’s easy.”

She locked eyes with me, and I could see the hesitation. I said, “Just look at it. Study the pictures. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it, but at least look.”

She took the tablet with the pictures and I went back to Knuckles and Brett, studying the street entrance of the compound on his tablet. I said, “There are guard towers on the wall surrounding the place, but there’s an alley that goes up the north side of the compound. It’s open to the public. Brett, if Jennifer agrees, you’ll take the sedan and drop her there, then position yourself where you can see activity coming from the ground.”

He nodded, and I said, “Knuckles, we’ll take the Range Rover.We’ll wait for Jennifer’s call, then go in right through the front gate. They’ll obviously have cameras on the vehicle when Manjit makes the call, so that should help our cover. Once we’re past that security gate, we’ll be inside the garage.”

Knuckles said, “What if Manjit does something crazy once we’re in, while we’re still hiding in the back like a couple of kids sneaking into a concert?”

“He won’t. I’ll make sure he knows his life is on the line if he does.”

Jennifer came back to the vehicle. We all waited expectantly, and she said, “Can I speak to you a second?”

I said, “Sure,” following her away from the vehicle. I thought she wanted to tell me in private she couldn’t make the climb, but that wasn’t it at all.

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