Zeb Carter 14.Delhi by Ty Patterson

Author:Ty Patterson [Ty Patterson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Three Aces Publishing Ltd
Published: 2024-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

54

An ambulance wailed in the distance.

An airplane cut through the skies, its line of window lights the only moving object in the sky.

‘You’ve got our attention, Mr. Carter,’ Mathur rasped finally. ‘Explain.’

‘I have nothing to go on, ma’am, but it’s the only explanation that makes sense.’

She didn’t clench her teeth, grip the armrests, or show any expression. She regarded him coolly, dispassionately, for several moments and then gestured at her aide to pour more chai and sipped it. ‘Clare says the Agency won’t work without you. All of you. I am seeing what she means now.’

Zeb made to speak when Meghan kicked his leg. He kept quiet.

‘And you asked to meet away from my office.’ Mathur jerked her head at the stadium. ‘Because you suspect Khalil could have informers in RAW?’

‘Yes, ma’am. Either him or whoever he’s working for.’

‘That’s not possible, boss,’ Meera ground out. ‘We check every agent. We screen them periodically. We rip apart their lives, their financials⁠—’

‘And you also know that traitors can get through all that. How do you think our double agents in other countries work?’ Mathur replied.

‘Okay,’ she continued after a while.

‘Okay, boss?’ Meera asked when she didn’t elaborate.

‘Okay means, I buy into Mr. Carter⁠—’

‘Zeb, ma’am.’

‘I’m friends with Clare, Mr. Carter. Very close friends. Beth, Meghan, Bwana, the rest of your team … I have no problems being on first-name terms with them. You … I haven’t figured you out, yet. Before you conclude wrongly, I don’t mean I distrust you. I trust you as much as my team. But, I don’t know you as a person and so you’ll have to be satisfied with Mr. Carter.’

Bwana chuckled in the brief, ensuing silence. ‘The expression on his face, ma’am … I haven’t ever seen it before.’

That raised a laugh.

Zeb smiled ruefully. She’s blunt, very blunt. Clare did warn me of that. He deliberated over her words for a moment and then shrugged mentally. What she calls me isn’t important. My ego can take that. That we continue to work very well with her and her team, who are our friends, that’s vital.

‘You said OKAY, boss?’ Meera got back to her question.

‘It means, what he said makes sense,’ Mathur said. She reflected for a moment. ‘We discussed a leak at our end, after the Red Fort attack. I am getting convinced we have a traitor. I haven’t written down anything about Khalil. Nothing’s on any record. Only the PM knows his name. I’ll work on why Khalil could be targeting us. I’ll go through all our missions, past and current. Azhar⁠—’

‘I believe him,’ Zeb interrupted her. ‘I think Khalil’s gone lone wolf.’

‘He’s gone wolf pack,’ the RAW chief corrected him. ‘He’s got other shooters with him. Why do you believe Azhar? This could be an elaborate play … it’s perfect for him to wash his hands of Khalil, but all the while the killer could be following his orders.’

‘It’s the who benefits question, ma’am. What is Azhar gaining by targeting your agency? Sure, your capabilities might be degraded for a while, but you’ll recruit more agents and you might even go after him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.