CHAPTER TEN
Zoya and Surita stare at each other. Finally, Surita's mouth curves into a small, satisfied smile.
"Yes," she agrees. "Men always underestimate women but sadly, most women do, too." She perches on the edge of Zoya's workstation. "So, what gave me away?"
"There were a lot of little things but I didn't put them together until I had to." Zoya breathes freely now that the gun is no longer jammed into her temple. "Yesterday, you made that silly remark about not needing a firewall because of all the soft vegetation around the office."
Surita shrugs. "So?"
"You did that to make us all think you didn't know anything about technology," Zoya continues. "But, just this morning, you said you went down to the maintenance room to check the telephone lines." She nods to the phone beside her computer. "Nowadays, office telephones are as technical as any computer. Why would you bother to look at the phone lines if you didn't know the first thing about technology?"
Surita nods. "Good catch." Her smile widens. "As we both know, I went down there to disconnect the phone lines. We can't have you calling your over-protective boyfriend, now can we?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Zoya insists.
Surita laughs. "Right. He's that careful and that concerned about every girl he meets."
"He was concerned about you, wasn't he?" Zoya shoots back. "I was so annoyed by how you reacted to him that I didn't notice what you were doing at the time."
Surita shakes her head, a small frown pulling her eyebrows together.
"You were studying network diagrams," Zoya reminds her. "Not just organizing or filing them, you were studying them. No one does that unless they have some idea of their subject. So, if you knew enough about networking to study diagrams, how could you not know what a firewall was?"
"Okay, you got me there," Surita agrees. "Too late, but you got me."
Zoya looks at Tej. He's still holding the gun but his hold is now relaxed. "I knew Tej was sketchy from the first day. Phupee pointed that out."
Tej grunts. "What does your aunt have to do with anything?"
"Phupee is an excellent judge of character," Zoya explains softly. "The first day you met her, she gave Mr. Nair and Malak blessings. They both accepted them graciously."
Zoya has a flashback to when Kesavan introduced Tej to Dilshad.
"This is my assistant, Tejpal Malhotra."
Tej nods at them. He's very big with well-defined muscles and hard features. Dilshad greets him politely and offers him a sweet. Tej's mouth twists in disgust and he walks away from her. Dilshad blinks at his rudeness. Najma gaps and Zoya is wide-eyed by Tej's insult. Even Malak freezes. Asad steps up to his mother, his mouth tightening at the affront against her.
Zoya continues. "You wouldn't allow her to bless you. No one with good intentions refuses a blessing."
"So I didn't eat a sweet." Tej grunts again. "Big deal. Pretty boy and the old man sent you to jail and you didn't suspect them."
"That was an accident," Kesavan protests, but his voice is soft and controlled now.
"Yes, it was an accident," Zoya agrees. "I know because I saw how much Malak and Mr. Nair sacrificed to protect me. Malak gave up his promotional chances and Mr. Nair gave up his entire career. And, again, Phupee approves of them. She made it clear to Mr. Nair that she expects him to take responsibility for me and he agreed. She wouldn't have allowed me to work here if she had any doubts about Malak or Mr. Nair."
Again, Zoya has a flashback to the first time Dilshad came to the office.
"Really?" She wraps her arm around Zoya's shoulders and pulls her close. "How will you protect Zoya from such a mistake again?" she demands, her usually gentle voice hardening.
Malak and Kesavan look from Dilshad's stern expression to Zoya tucked protectively in her embrace and exchange grim glances.
"Phupee , it's okay." Zoya soothes her. "It was an innocent mistake."
Dilshad doesn't respond, her gaze locked with Kesavan's. Najma's eyes widen and she turns to Asad. Asad looks amused. He crosses his arms and leans back, a small smile playing on his lips as he watches his mother.
"Zoya is a smart girl," Kesavan's voice is booming and confident. "She insisted on a clause in her contract that makes the company " me " responsible for any actions she takes in this office. If anything occurs, I'll be the one going to jail." Kesavan laughs again, but it is high and tight. "You can be sure I'll be very, very careful."
Dilshad considers for a moment then the stiffness eases out of her posture. She releases Zoya with a loving pat on her shoulder.
"Very well." She smiles sweetly at Kesavan. "Zoya is a part of our family. Her safety and well-being are very important to me." Her smile remains sweet but her eyes harden. "You understand, of course?"
Kesavan blinks. "Of course."
Zoya turns her head slowly to look at Dev. "Phupee didn't meet you until today but she put you in your place instantly, didn't she?"
Dev jerks away from the partition. "Your Aunt's not here now, is she? So that puts me in charge."
"Shut up!" Surita snaps. "Forget your boasting. We need to get those codes."
Malak gasps as another wave of pain nearly doubles him over. "What...what did you give me?" he gasps. "Why?"
Zoya reaches for him but stops when Tej jams the gun into her side. She winces but doesn't cry out.
"You're the only person here who is strong enough and smart enough to ruin their plans," she explains. "Mr. Nair isn't physically strong and I'm only here for a few hours a day. You understand computers and networks. They had to make sure you didn't figure out their scheme." She looks down at the splint on Malak's finger. "You were helping Dev set up the network when you had that accident, weren't you?"
Malak nods, his face awash in sweat.
"Then you had to have your finger bandaged, leaving Dev free to finish the setup on his own." Zoya looks to Dev. "That's when you set up the network with so many weaknesses that even a half-witted programmer like you could exploit it."
Dev leans forward aggressively but Surita pushes him back.
"Stay focused," she orders him. "We don't care what she says. We got her, remember?"
Dev forces himself to relax and leans back. Zoya takes a deep breath and looks straight ahead at her computer monitor, or rather at the webcam hidden in the plant above it.
"What did you give Malak?" she asks.
Surita smiles. "Nothing fatal, it's just a strong diuretic."
"You put a strong diuretic in his cappuccino along with extra caffeine shots?" Zoya gasps. "Coffee is a natural diuretic and you made it worse by adding something that dehydrates him even further. He's weak and shaking, sweating and has pain in his side. He could die from that!"
Malak shudders and his face drains of what little color he still has.
"Die?" For the first time, Surita looks uncertain. "No! We only gave him Diamox. We were just trying to keep him weak and disoriented. It can't kill."
Zoya reaches for her keyboard. Dev slaps her cheek so hard her chair spins around.
"What do you think you're doing?" he screams at her.
"Zoya!" Malak lunges for her but he's so weak he loses his balance and crashes to the floor. He moans as his already damaged knee takes the brunt of his fall.
"Malak!" Zoya reaches out to him but Dev pulls her back by her hair.
Kesavan kneels beside Malak but Tej shoves him away. Kesavan topples backwards, wincing as he lands on his tailbone.
"What were you trying to do, Zoya?" Dev snarls. "Do you think your keyboard is going to save you?"
Zoya winces but her voice is fierce. "I was trying to research Diamox." She looks over at Surita. "Malak is so weak and sick. If he dies from what you've done, that's murder. Think about it. Computer hacking is one thing but killing people is quite another."
Surita's eyes widen and a visible shudder passes through her. "Get up."
Dev releases Zoya. She gets up from her chair, still under the watchful eyes of Tej and his gun. Surita sits in her seat and connects to an internet search engine. She brings up research on Diamox. Zoya reads over her shoulder.
"Diamox is also known as Acetazolamide," Zoya points out. "It causes lethargy, seizures, stupor and, for those who have kidney problems, it can lead to renal failure."
"I...I have weak kidneys," Malak gasps. "I suffered from Reyes syndrome when I was a kid."
Surita pales. "It was only supposed to cause confusion and weakness. I didn't know Malak had kidney problems."
Moving very slowly, Zoya crouches down beside Malak. "Your jogging accident, did you really step on a rock or did you suffer from disorientation? They must have been feeding you Diamox from the very beginning."
Malak shakes his head as Zoya helps him sit up. "I...I'm not sure. I was confused. I thought I had to trip over something."
Dev reads over Surita's shoulder while Tej keeps his gun leveled on Zoya and Malak.
"It says here that diuretics can be flushed out of the system," Dev says. He turns to Zoya. "Give us your codes and you can take him to the hospital. He'll be fine once they get the drug out of his body."
"I don't have my codes," Zoya hisses. "I don't keep them on your network, remember?"
"But you have access to them," he snaps back. "You said you were ready with your new sites. Where do you keep them?"
Zoya hesitates. Dev nods to Tej. Tej kicks viciously at Malak's already damaged knee. Malak moans in pain, too weak to defend himself.
"No! Stop it!" Zoya cries out. She throws herself on top of Malak. "Leave him alone!"
Kesavan also tries to help Malak but Tej slams the butt of his gun into Kesavan's temple. The older man reels from the blow then falls face first, unconscious.
"Mr. Nair!" Zoya cries.
Tej's smile is dark and vicious. "I've wanted to do that since the first day you set me up as assistant to that old goat. He was always ordering me around."
Tej drags Zoya away from Malak and Kesavan. Dev again pulls her head back by yanking on her hair.
"Tell us where your codes are or we'll do a lot worse to them," Dev threatens. "Malak has another knee for us to break and the old man isn't going to survive too many blows."
"They're on the Dilshad Construction backup server," Zoya gasps. "I saved them there the first day I started working here, when I found out Dev had installed a keystroke recorder on my computer."
Surita glares at Dev. "Why are you so stupid? Did you really think she wouldn't find a recorder attached to her system?"
Dev's face flushes but he raises his chin defiantly. "At least I did something. What can you do?"
Surita sniffs in response. "I'll show you what I can do. I'll pull those codes myself."
She brings up the Dilshad Construction website and tries to maneuver around the page. She clicks at various entry points but all the links are dead.
"What's going on?" Dev demands.
"None of these links work. This is a dummy page." Surita turns to Zoya. "You're lying to us! This isn't even a real website."
"It is real. You're looking at the cached image. You can see it in the web history." Zoya points out. "The server is offline. Something forced their network down. I can call the office and find out what happened."
Surita snorts. "Nice try but no. You're not calling anyone. We can get your codes from the sites you hit. All I need is the exact time you hit one of your clients and I can extract the code from the time stamp."
Zoya and Malak both stare at her.
"You can't go after her codes." Malak's voice is just above a whisper. "She's Zero Strike."
"Didn't Dev explain my hacker name to you?" Zoya asks.
"Zero Strike, so what?" Surita frowns. "You can hit hard and you've never been caught."
Zoya and Malak exchange glances.
"What?" Dev demands.
He yanks on Zoya's arm to turn her to face him. She winces at his tight grip. He grabs her other arm, too, and shakes her. Her head snaps back and forth from the impact.
"What about your hacker name?" he demands.
Zoya waits for him to stop shaking her. "I'm called Zero Strike because I can suspend web timers," she gasps. Her shoulders sag once Dev releases her.
Dev turns to Surita. "What does that mean?"
For a few seconds, Surita is stunned silent, her mouth dropping open. Then her face flushes and she begins to vibrate with her rage. She glares at Dev.
"Why didn't you tell me about her nickname?" she demands.
Dev shakes his head. "Why? Does it matter?"
"Of course it matters!" Surita is so angry she's practically spitting out the words. "I wouldn't have set this up if I'd known she suspends web timers. Don't you realize everything we've done here has been a complete waste of time?"
"What?" Dev can only stare at her, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
Tej also stops gloating over Kesavan to stare at Surita. "What do you mean? We set up this whole office just for that purpose. You're supposed to be the expert who can pull her codes then customize them so we can use them."
"I can't go after her codes." Surita gives him a disgusted look. "If she can stop a server's clock, then it doesn't see the hack. There is no record of her entering their site for me to trace. This whole setup became useless once she refused to save her codes to our server."
Dev and Tej's mouths also drop open. They stare at each other then at Surita.
"So now what?" Tej demands. "We set all this up for nothing? We wasted money and I put up with the old goat's incessant demands for nothing?"
"No!" Surita closes her eyes. "Wait! No, we can still get her codes. She saved them as files on the Dilshad Construction server. We can get the files from the server."
Zoya releases the breath she's been holding. "I can take you to the Dilshad Construction office."
"And put us head-to-head against Asad Ahmed Khan?" Surita shakes her head. "That's not happening."
"Why not?" Dev demands. "I can take on Khan."
"No, you can't," Surita snaps. "I did some research on him. In the last few weeks alone, three men have accused him of beating them nearly to death with only his bare hands."
"No," Dev snorts. "I don't believe that."
"It's true," Zoya says softly. "I was there each time. The first man attacked Phupee in our home, the other two attacked me when we were in Guspind. They'll never fully recover from what he did to them."
"That's bullshit." Dev crosses his arms. "I don't believe it."
"Believe it," Surita snaps. "I hacked into the medical reports for the two in Guspind. There's only one medical facility in that town. They're lucky to be alive."
"And now you've hurt me," Zoya continues in her soft voice. "Imagine what will happen when Asad Ahmed Khan gets his hands on you."
Dev looks unconvinced but Surita pales. Tej laughs.
"He may be able to take on Dev but he's no match for me and my Glock." Tej waves his gun around.
Zoya looks directly into his eyes. "The first guy had an ArmaLite AR 24K-10 on him at the time of his beating."
Tej blinks. "That's a military grade semi-automatic."
"Yes, it is." Zoya doesn't blink. "The guy was ex-army."
For a moment there is silence except for the sound of Malak's labored breathing. Surita looks at him.
"You," she says. "You can go to Dilshad Construction and get us the codes."
Malak stares at her. "M...me??"
"Yes! You're a hacker and you're familiar with Zoya's methods. You'll know which files hold her codes." Surita nods. "In fact, that'll take care of two problems at once. You'll get us the files and you'll tell Khan that Zoya sent you because she needs to work here this afternoon." She glances at the clock mounted on the wall. "That will keep him away from here until five, at least. By then, we'll be long gone."
"Malak can barely stand upright," Zoya protests. "How can he make it downtown and get back with my codes?"
"He'd better." Tej shoves his gun under Zoya's chin, forcing her head back. "Because if he doesn't, you'll be very, very sorry."
"Water," Malak gasps. "I can do it. Get me water."
"Yes," Surita agrees. "He just needs to hydrate. He'll be fine after he has water."
She hurries to the refrigerator and grabs several bottles. Wrenching one open, she hands it to Malak. He drinks it so quickly that water runs down his face and onto his shirt. Surita hands him another bottle. Malaks drinks this one slower.
"His shirt will dry in no time in this heat," Surita says. "How long will it take him to get downtown?"
"About half an hour with traffic," Dev answers.
"Okay, he'll need an hour for the trip then another hour to get into the server room and move the files," Surita estimates. "Dev, help him up."
Dev drags Malak to his good knee and shoves the crutch under his arm. "You have two hours. Every minute you're late will cause Zoya a lot of pain." He grabs Malak's shirtfront and pulls him so close they're nearly nose to nose. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, yes." Malak nods. "I'll be back in time. I promise. Don't hurt her."
The water has already started to help. Malak has some color in his face and the sweat has been washed away. He grimaces from the effort but drags himself up with the aid of his crutch.
"And another thing," Surita says. "We're not meeting back here. I'll call your cell phone in exactly two hours to tell you the meeting point. If you try to double-cross us or bring anybody to the drop, we'll know." She gives him a sickeningly sweet smile. "And Zoya will pay for it."
"No! I won't try to double-cross you or do anything but bring the codes," Malak assures her. "I promise."
"Good." Surita pats him on the back as Malak hobbles past her to the door.
He opens the door and looks back at them. "I won't fail you, Zoya."
"I know you won't, Malak." Zoya's voice cracks but she forces herself to smile. "You've never let me down before."
She manages to hold her smile until the door shuts behind him, leaving her trapped in an ugly web of lies.
***
The elevator pings softly as the lift doors open onto the deserted lobby. Asad is waiting to grab Malak as he stumbles out of the metal cage. Malak's eyes are glazed over with pain and his breathing is heavy and labored.
"What...what are you doing here?" Malak shakes his head as if to clear it.
Asad's expression looks as if it's been carved from stone. "I've come to get Zoya."
"She..." Malak gasps. "She's in trouble. I...I have to go to your office."
"No, you don't." Asad turns him towards the front doors. "You have to go to the hospital."
Malak shakes his head again. "No. I have to save Zoya. I only have...only have two hours. I need to get into your server room." His voice is faint but his resolve is strong.
"Malak, listen to me." Asad puts his shoulder under Malak's arm and half carries, half drags him across the lobby. "I will get Zoya. You have to save yourself."
"No, you don't understand." Malak tries to throw off Asad but his is slow and weak. "They'll hurt her if I can't get...can't get..." He breaks off to draw in a deep breath, his body sagging in Asad's hold.
"I understand." Asad's voice is so controlled there is no inflection in it. "I know what's going on."
"How?" Malak gasps. "How do you know?"
Asad releases Malak to pull out his cell phone. He's connected to Zoya's website. They can see Zoya, again seated at her workstation, with Tej and Dev standing over her. Tej has his gun trained to the back of Zoya's head.
Malak shudders. "Where did you get that?"
"From Zoya," Asad says simply.
"But they took away her cell phone. How did she reach you?"
"It's Zoya. She always finds a way." Even tight with tension, there is a note of admiration in Asad's tone.
"They hurt her," Malak whispers. "Dev hit her."
"I know." This time Asad makes no effort to hide his rage. "He'll pay for that."
Malak opens his mouth to speak but stops when he sees the blood fury burning in Asad's eyes. Asad's face is so tightly drawn it looks like a death mask. Malak shakes his head slowly.
"I tried to help her but they...they poisoned me. I tried..." Malak breaks off to draw another deep breath.
Asad nods. "That's why you have to get to the hospital. You need to get that drug flushed out of your system."
"I'm okay," Malak insists. "I can do this."
"Malak." Asad again starts moving Malak towards the main doors. "Once I get Zoya out of there, the first thing she's going to ask about is you. I need to tell her you're safe and getting medical attention. So you have to be at the hospital when she comes to see you."
Malak swallows hard. "They plan to take Zoya out of here."
"Over my dead body," Asad vows. "The only way they're leaving this building is in an ambulance."
"Kesavan is injured, too. I don't know how badly," Malak continues. "Tej hit him with his gun."
Asad nods curtly. "Don't worry. I'll take care of Tej, too."
"How? They'll hurt Zoya if they see you." Malak leans heavily on Asad's shoulder.
Asad looks around, his architect's mind evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of his building. "Did you set up any security here?"
"No." Malak shakes his head. "I...I didn't think we needed it."
Asad meets his eyes. Malak can't hold his gaze and looks down, shamefaced.
"I did," Asad says.
Malak's head jerks up. "What?"
"I had the remote locks installed on the outside doors last night." Asad looks around one final time. "I didn't activate them because I hadn't told Zoya yet. They'll engage automatically if the power goes out."
"Are you crazy?" Malak demands. "You're going to lock them in here? With Zoya?"
"With me," Asad corrects, dark anticipation heavy in his voice.
"You don't understand how dangerous they are," Malak warns.
"No." Asad's eyes narrow, the fierce predator inside him barely leashed. "They don't understand how dangerous I am."
"Asad, don be stupid," Malak hisses. "This is no time to be a hero."
"Actually, it's the perfect time to be a hero." Asad smiles his tight, humorless smile. "Don't worry. Zoya and I have been through this before."
Malak stares at him, blank-faced. Asad gives him a gentle push in the direction of the front door.
"Go," he urges. "They're watching from the window. They need to see you leave."
Malak stares at him for a few more seconds. "Are you sure you can save Zoya?"
Asad meets his gaze unflinchingly. "I'll stake my life on it."
"Yes," Malak says softly, "you will."
Asad watches Malak slowly, painfully hobble out the front doors. Then he turns for the maintenance room. It's a small, windowless room in the back of the building. Once inside, Asad props his cell phone up on the counter to watch the image.
"Malak just left," Surita's voice can be heard but she doesn't appear on camera.
"It took him long enough," Tej grunts.
"You broke his knee, remember?" Surita snaps.
"And you poisoned him," Tej shots back.
"Forget it," Dev breaks in impatiently. "We need to move. We don't want to be here if Malak tries to double-cross us."
"He won't." Surita sounds confident. "He cares too much for his precious Zoya."
"What about the old man?" Tej asks.
"Leave him here," Dev says. "He's of no use to us anymore. All we need is Zoya."
He smiles maliciously while he runs his hand along her shiny dark hair. Zoya shudders but says nothing, her head bowed.
Asad releases his breath on a sharp hiss as he watches Zoya's distress on the cell phone screen. "I'm going to break your fingers, Dev," he vows. "Every one of them."
Asad turns away from the image and looks around. There are the usual air conditioning, telephone and generator systems. They are supplemented by a tall stack of computer battery back-up boxes the size of cement blocks. The phone line wires are neatly clipped together while the computer lines are sloppily thrown about, some not even plugged into the battery packs.
Asad's mouth tightens seeing the messy computer cords but he turns away immediately to study the power lines. It takes him only seconds to find the main line. He pulls it, plunging he room into near darkness. It's lit only by the glow from his cell phone and the sunlight seeping in around the door edges. He turns back to the webcam image.
Dev and Tej look around in confusion. The office is still lit by the bright sunlight but it's murky through the filter of the window shades. Zoya slowly raise her head to stare directly at the webcam hidden above her workstation. She smiles, assuring Asad she knows he's there.
"That's it, Zoya," Asad murmurs. "Stay calm and send them to me."
"What's going on?" Dev demands, moving away from Zoya to stare around the room.
"The power just went out." Surita moves into the webcam's image range.
"No, it didn't." Tej nods to Zoya's monitor. "Her computer is still up."
"That's because of the UPS," Surita snaps.
"UPS?" Tej repeats. "What does this have to do with a shipping company?"
Surita and Zoya stare at Tej in open-mouthed disbelief. Dev snort with laughter.
"A UPS is a backup power supply, you moron," Dev sneers. "Remember, we plugged the computer power lines into those big heavy blocks in the maintenance room? That keeps the computers running for a couple of minutes so we have time to switch over to generator power."
Tej raises his gun. "Why did the power go out?"
"It's over a hundred degrees, I mean, forty-one degrees out," Zoya says softly. "Everyone has their air conditioning running at full power. The city power grid can't handle the load."
Dev steps out of the camera's view. He speaks a few seconds later, his voice sounding hollow and far-away. "It's pitch black in the hallway and the elevator isn't working. We'll have to take the stairs."
"I'm not going down three flights of stairs in the dark in heels," Surita snaps. "Turn on the generator first!"
"Why?" Dev whines. "Just use the light from your cell phone."
"We need the lights and the air conditioning running." Surita speaks slowly and clearly, as if Dev is mentally challenged. "The police don't care about a little computer theft. They will hang us if the old man dies in this heat."
"Fine. Where's the flashlight?" Dev says from off screen.
"It's in my desk, top left-hand drawer," Surita instructs.
There is some fumbling then the sound of a door clicking shut. Asad puts his cell phone on the counter, glass side down, to hide the light from the webcam image. The room is nearly completely dark. The only illumination is the sunlight shining around the door edges. He flexes his fingers and rolls his shoulders to loosen his muscles as he adjusts to the loss of light. The staircase door is thrown open followed by sharp, rapid footsteps clicking across the floor.
Asad tenses in anticipation, a skilled hunting cat ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey. Dev is barely inside the maintenance room before Asad hits him with a sharp right hook to his temple. The flashlight falls out of Dev's hand and rolls across the floor, illuminating Asad in its meager glow. Dev staggers and Asad follows up with a sharp left undercut to Dev's jaw.
"Wha..."
Dev tries to speak but Asad silences him with a hard right undercut that snaps Dev's head back. Asad follow up with a series of sharp body blows that have Dev whimpering in pain and scrambling to escape. Dev backs away, into the stack of UPS boxes. He puts his hands out to steady himself but the batteries are too heavy and he falls, taking them down with him. Asad skips back to avoid being caught in the collapse. Dev shrieks in pain as he tries to move under the boxes.
"My...my hands," he moans.
He holds them up. His hands are bloody and his fingers bend in wrong directions, crushed by the weight of the heavy batteries. Asad is unmoved.
"That's what you get for setting up such a sloppy network," he sneers.
"Tej," Dev gasps, the breath knocked out of him. "Help me."
"No one is going to help you now," Asad snarls. "It was over for you the second you put your filthy hands on Zoya."
Dev tries to call out again. Asad kicks his mouth, breaking Dev's jaw with a sickening crack. Dev grunts then his eyes roll back in his head as he loses consciousness. Asad picks up the flashlight and shines it around the room. He grabs a computer power cord and efficiently uses it to tie up Dev.
When finished, Asad has to wipe sweat out of his eyes to survey his work. His face looks almost demonic in the flashlight's glow.
"One down and two to go." His mouth twists with vicious satisfaction.
He goes back to the counter and flips over his cell phone to watch the image from Zoya's webcam. Zoya is in the back of the room, adjusting the shades to let in more light. Surita works at Zoya's workstation, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Tej stands between them, gun held loosely at his side as he watches them.
Suddenly Zoya bolts for Kesavan's office. Surita whirls in the chair.
"Get her!" she screams at Tej.
The image on Asad's cell phone suddenly dies. He snatches up his phone and shakes it. "Zoya!"
He races out of the maintenance room and heads for the staircase door. A loud bang has him sliding to a stop. Asad's eyes round in horror as the gun shot reverberates through the empty building.
Chapter 11: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/91543198
Author's Notes: As always, all mistakes are mine and made accidentally. This story is not intended to hurt anyone's feelings, culture or beliefs. HUGE thanks go out to my wonderful beta readers!
I took artistic license with the toxicity of Diamox. It takes massive doses before this drug can cause respiratory distress or renal failure. However Diamox is a powerful diuretic and, as with all drugs, should only be used under the supervision of a qualified medical professional.
Again, I want to thank everyone who has left feedback. I'm so inspired by your comments and emails. In fact, I sometimes re-read your responses when I feel overwhelmed by the writing task ahead of me. I can't let you down when you've taken time out of your busy lives to let me know how much you enjoy my story. Your reactions are my reward!
Thank you again,
Paly
Edited by PalyGirl - 11 years ago
Financial markets and global economy
Ishaani
4