Weapon of Vengeance (35 page)

Yet another mistake had been made.
This
was a cardinal one.

Silence fell upon the now unguarded seventh floor.

*   *   *

In Chance's room, Ruby was hurrying past Jennifer's body when an idea struck her. She grabbed the baseball cap Jennifer had been wearing. Her fingers immediately felt its sticky wetness. The touch of blood sickened her. She fought off the nausea, but could not keep her eyes from Jennifer's face. She saw blood all over it.

Then Ontong's first rocket exploded. She stiffened and began to pull off Jennifer's flak jacket. Some blood had seeped onto its collar. But this time, Ruby's face stayed expressionless as she quickly wiped it clean on Jennifer's shirt.

She is wrong. I am right. Isn't that reason enough for me to pull the trigger? Is it! Of course it is. That is all there is to it … nothing to fret about.

The sound of the second rocket explosion goaded her into action.

Slipping into Jennifer's jacket, Ruby raced to the door. The ping of the elevator closing greeted her. She peered out.

The floor was empty. Even the elevator guards had vanished.

Not believing her luck, she ran out, the red master access card in one hand and a pistol in the other. She'd have to move fast if she was to exploit the opportunity Boucher and Ontong had provided.

“Just as a precaution … not that we are expecting any trouble … but just in case of some emergency, we have also secured the top two floors of Hotel Samrat and duplicated all the same arrangements there.” Mohite's briefing to the Home Minister echoed in her head as she used the access card to open Ravinder's room and slipped inside.

The bank of monitors was what she wanted, to know when they began to evacuate and which route they would take. It had to be either of the two staircases or the elevator, though that was less likely; one elevator would not hold all the delegates, and the security team would be reluctant to split them.

So far, things were working out, yes—better than she had hoped.

They are wrong.… I am right.…
The words now played like a litany in her head. One by one, she began to switch on the monitors.

*   *   *

Waiting impatienty for the elevator on the top floor, Ravinder, Chance, and Peled caught Mohite's transmission loud and clear.

Anger exploded through Ravinder.

That fucking idiot! He did it again. Instead of waiting for the attackers to come to us, he … How can he even dream of abandoning the control room? That fucking …

Cursing, Ravinder reached for his radio set and began to speak when he realized that Mohite was still talking. Realizing that he would not be able to transmit until Mohite released the transmit button, and itching to get to the control room, Ravinder headed for the stairs. The floors needed to be resecured, no matter the cost. And he needed eyes on the floors; that was why the control room needed to be manned by a senior officer at all times. His every instinct was screaming that the security breach had already taken place, that the rocket attacks on the gates were no real threat.

They have to be diversions. So where is the real attack coming from?

He suddenly wished he could check on Ruby's whereabouts, but no time. Now he had time only to react and counter her.

We need to draw out the attackers.

“Activate Plan Bravo!” he yelled at Chance and Peled.

Chance and Peled ran to the conference hall and herded the delegates to the conference room at the other end. Peled took position outside the door. Chance ran down the corridor to activate the second part of the plan. The decoys were ready and waiting.

*   *   *

The first set of monitors that Ruby switched on showed the confusion in the hotel lobby. The second set remained black. Ruby did not know it, but they were the ones that had covered the hotel gates.

Next, the ones watching over the seventh floor flickered to life.

Ruby noted with surprise that both stairwells were empty.

Where are the guards? Is this some trick?

Her mind ferreted forward to spot a trap. She was activating the next monitor when she saw Ravinder rush out from the stairwell on the left and charge toward the control room.

Then the eighth-floor monitors came alive, flickering a bit before the picture stabilized. Chance hove into view. Weapon in hand, he was in the lead. Behind him was a ragged line of men in a variety of outfits. Bringing up the rear was one of the Palestinian PSOs. Ruby saw the two ex-SEALS traveling with the Saudi Arabian prince come running up. They took positions at the head and tail of the column, headed for the staircase closest to the conference hall.

Bingo!

She began to study the deployment of the security personnel and to freeze them in her head. She also took note of their firepower, a formidable array of Uzis, Glocks, Magnums, and Brownings. She evaluated her options and decided.

From the rear, that's where I'll attack. I just need to take out the guards and two or three of the delegates.

She tarried to study the stairs, especially the landings. She needed a place to hide … for one moment.

*   *   *

In the control room, Ravinder too was studying the secure zone; his attention, however, was not on the party moving behind Chance. He was searching for some other movement.
Any
other movement.

“Come out, come out.… wherever you are,” he muttered aloud. “Whoever you are…”

That reminded him. He needed to find out if … His eyes continued to track the monitors as he reached for his mobile. “Where is Ruby?” he asked when the surveillance team leader answered.

“In the hotel, sir. Haven't you met her yet? She went up with Mr. Thakur and Mohite, sir.”

Ravinder went still. He couldn't breathe. Suspecting was one thing. Having it confirmed was another. He did not know when he ended the call.

Somehow, he'd kept hoping that Ruby would not be involved in something so heinous. Now, no room for doubt.

Why, Ruby? Why?

His heart began to spin.

Not now. Right now you have a duty to perform.

From somewhere within, a quote from the Bhagavad Gita echoed through him:

And do thy duty, even if it be humble, rather than another's, even if it be great. To die in one's duty is life: to live in another's is death.

“
I know you well, Ravinder. I know you will always do the right thing. Just trust your instincts. It will all work out in the end.” Simran's words from two nights ago returned to him. He no longer knew how this could end well, but he was determined to take charge.

On the monitors, he began to scour the seventh floor. It lay still and silent. But he knew. She was out there somewhere. Waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Ruby, come out, come out…” He did not know when his lips moved. “Come out, come out … wherever you are.…”

His ears did not hear them.

His eyes remained riveted on the monitors.

His hands now held a gun.

The hide-and-seek game had turned deadly.

*   *   *

Satisfied with what she was going to do and how, Ruby withdrew both weapons from her belt and calmed herself. Her eyes stayed riveted to the monitor, watching for any change in the deployment of the men she meant to ambush.

Chance's party now had reached the stairwell between the two floors.

Perfect. Ruby forced her metabolism to slow down, but her adrenaline had peaked. Her body now was craving to catapult forward.

She knew the next few minutes would be her last. But it was okay.

Mom is waiting. She … they … are banking on me. I will not let them down.

Drawing another long breath, she again stilled her nerves and started to turn.

That was when the third man behind Chance looked up, an inadvertent glance, not even aware that the camera was directly overhead, in front of him. But it was and he had looked straight into it.

He was dressed like Sir Geoffrey Tang and made up like him, right down to the slightly graying, long sideburns and pointed goatee. But he was
not
Sir Tang. Having traveled with him for a week, Ruby knew the British MP. Enough to know this man was an impostor. He was too … young …

Yes! That was it.

Ruby held back. She began to reexamine all thirteen men behind Chance. Then the subterfuge became obvious. Despite their clever makeup, she now could tell they were not the delegates; they were decoys. As she intensified her scrutiny, she noted the weapons carried by the decoy-delegates. Concealed, yes, but each was carrying one.

Ruby's mind changed gears.

If these are decoys, then where are the real ones?

The answer came with a snap.

In one of the other conference rooms on the eighth floor.

Her mind began generating a new plan.

If that guy had not looked up, I would have flown right into their trap.

A new feeling of respect for Ravinder swept through her. One hell of an adversary.

Like father, like daughter? But he does not want me.… Stop!

Think!

The minute they launched the decoys, hadn't they also given her an open playing field?

Every tactic has a weakness: the more daring it was, the more crucial the weakness. That was the nature of the beast.

Ruby could not see any security personnel on the eighth floor. She knew they would be there, but not many. A lot of guards on a supposedly abandoned floor would have been a dead giveaway.

Adapt!

Ruby reevaluated. If the decoys had been deployed, then they knew she had penetrated the secure zone, no other reason.

Now the decoys had crossed the seventh floor and were continuing down. Ruby watched Chance peel away at the landing and head for the control room. She waited till he pushed open the door and entered. The door began to swing shut behind him. The corridor was clear.

Now!

Strike!

Ruby raced out, headed for the stairwell on the far side, away from the control room. She was moving silently, as fast as her feet could carry her. Straight for the eighth floor.

Going for the kill.

*   *   *

The control room door was swinging shut behind Chance when Ravinder saw Ruby charge out of his room. Pistols in both hands, she was sprinting down the corridor. He knew her destination. That she was moving
away
from the decoys showed that she had seen through them and spurned the bait.

He ran out of the control room, shouting at Chance to follow him. As they ran, he explained. A few words were enough. The two put on a burst of speed, knowing that the delegates now were in mortal danger.

They were passing the elevator when its door pinged open and a harried Mohite stepped out. He was about to say something, but Ravinder pulled him out of the way and dived into the elevator with Chance behind him. Chance stabbed at the eighth-floor button, frantically willing the doors to close. They took forever. Then it began to rise, slowly and sedately as always. The two men inside strained to be unleashed.

The doors pinged open and they dashed out on the eighth floor.

Not a soul in sight. Only a deserted corridor.

*   *   *

Ruby raced up, taking the stairs two at a time. She was in peak condition, but her breath nonetheless burned through her lungs in short, ragged bursts. But her mind was sharp and focused. Her fingers were curled around the triggers of the Hi-Power Brownings, itching for the delegates to appear in her gunsights. Nothing else mattered.

She arrived a split second after Ravinder and Chance. She heard the ping of the elevator doors before she saw them. Swiveling, she changed direction, heading for the two smaller conference halls across the floor. It had to be one of those two rooms.

Chance saw her blur of movement and shouted. The two turned and chased after her. Despite those daily hours in the gym, Ravinder was not moving as fast as he wanted to. The younger, fitter Chance began to pull ahead. But he too was not moving fast enough. Summoning up his reserves, he ramped up the pace.

Suddenly Ruby spun around and fired. Twice. Then she was off again.

Both shots went wide, but they'd forced Chance to drop. Coming up from behind, too fast to stop, Ravinder blundered into him. By the time they got up, the distance between them and Ruby had increased.

*   *   *

Ruby was flying, her feet skimming over the carpeted corridor in long, flashing strides. As she skidded around a corner, she spotted Ido Peled standing at the door of the conference room on the right and knew the delegates had to be behind it. Like a linebacker, the tall, fair Peled stood with his back to the door, his weapon in hand. He tensed as she charged around the corner and came at him full tilt.

The body armor and baseball cap must have confused Peled. He'd seen Jennifer wearing those just a while ago. So he hesitated a second before bringing up his gun. That fraction of time cost him his life.

Ruby fired the unsilenced gun in her right hand, for its longer range and accuracy. The shot boomed and reverbrated, spurring on Chance and Ravinder.

Peled was dead before his body hit the floor.

Chance, now within range, raised his weapon and fired, twice. The first bullet buzzed past Ruby's head and thwacked into the thick wooden door of the conference room. The second hammered into Ruby. Jennifer's jacket limited the damage, but the high-velocity shock made her stagger. Still, she managed to throw open the door and charge into the conference room. She hit the door hard with her heel after she sprinted inside. It slammed shut behind her with a bang.

That was followed by more bangs, sharper, louder, and so close together that Ravinder could not tell how many shots had been fired.