Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 04 - Strings of Glass (16 page)

I got
Blue behind me then aimed my gun at the lock and fired. The door exploded
splinters and one dug into the back of my hand. It hurt like a bitch.
“Shit,” I said, as I pulled it out. Blood oozed
from the wound.

I pushed
on the door, but it still held. Stepping back I kicked at the damaged lock and
it popped open. I saw an empty chair; on the table next to it sat a full cup of
Chai. The noises were louder now, a deep guttural, choking sound. Stepping into
the room, my gun extended, Blue behind my right knee, I turned to see a bed,
its sheets tangled. Anita stood on it, a man at her knees, and around
his neck Anita pulled a chain tight. She was naked, her breasts and biceps
vibrating with the effort of choking the man to death. His eyes were bulging,
fingers scratching at the metal links tightening around his windpipe. Anita’s
head was bent over her prey, long, slick black hair covering her face. I
watched as the man went limp, the glow in his eyes faded, and then Anita was
just tugging on the empty sack of skin left behind by the dead.

“Anita!”
I cried out.

Her head
jerked up and she stared at me through the curtain of black locks. I recognized
the intensity in her eyes. It was the same look I saw in Blue’s on that road in
Goa. Fear giving way to triumph. Feral.

A
nita
stumbled back. The body slipped onto the bed, but the chain stayed with Anita.
It was attached to her wrists, dragging her hands down. “Sydney,” she
whispered, her voice rough. I ran to the bed and caught her up as she fell off
the side. Her whole body shook as she sobbed into my arms. With each shudder
the chains around her wrists and ankles jangled. I stroked her hair and told
her it was over.

“Do
you know where the key is?” I asked.

She
looked up at me with swollen, red-rimmed
eyes. “No,” she said.

“We’ll
find it.”

Blue
pushed close to Anita and I went to search the dead man. He still wore his
black suit and I found a handcuff key in the inside pocket. I came back around
to Anita and unlocked the cuff bracelets on her wrists. She rubbed at the raw
skin, as I bent and freed her ankles. “I need clothing,” she said.
“They cut mine off me.”

“Let’s
take his.”

She
nodded, but didn’t help me as I heaved the body up to remove his jacket. The
dead guard was heavy and awkward. I got the jacket off and tossed it on the
bed. Unbuttoning his shirt I exposed a broad chest covered in dark hair. I
rolled him to get the shirt off and then passed it to Anita. She slipped it
over her narrow shoulders, the big white shirt swallowing her small figure.

The
pants were already open and pulled down over his hips. I just had to untie and
remove the shoes before yanking them off completely. Anita slipped the pants on
and tightened the belt, but she still needed to hold
them up. I rolled the cuffs for her, being careful not to touch the tender
flesh on her ankles. Taking a deep breath I calmed the rage burning inside me
at the site of those wounds.

Standing
up, I wiped a tear from Anita’s cheek. “You did great,” I said.
“I’m really proud of you.”

She
nodded, her lips tight.

“Now
we’ve got to get the fuck out of here, are you ready?”

“Yes.”
I turned to leave, but Anita reached out and pulled on my jacket sleeve.
“Are you going to kill Kalpesh?”

I turned
back to Anita and her eyes were hard. “I’m going to get him on a plane to
France, and justice will be served.”

“If
you kill him I won’t mind.”

I
smiled. “Good to know. Now let’s get the fuck out of this hell hole.”

I took
her hand and she followed me to the door. With my free hand I pulled my gun and
then checked the hallway. It was empty. We rounded the corner and passed by the
sleeping guard again. We took a flight of steps down, passed through a long
hallway and started up another set of steps. The sound of a woman’s
laughter filtered down to us. I paused. Anita squeezed my hand, and I heard her
breathing turn shallow.

Two
pairs of footsteps approached. I looked at the gun in my hand and moments
before a couple appeared at the top of the steps, hid it
behind my back. But they only had eyes for each other and, upon seeing us,
hurried past. The woman’s perfume filled my nostrils and its sweetness almost
made me gag. I watched them turn the corner and disappear. A part of me wanted
to follow them, slam the woman up against the wall, and force her to look at
what she did not want to see. But I had more important things to do.

We met
no one else on our way to the room where the children were being held. I
knocked on the door and Mana opened it. “The Bulldog is dead,” I told
him.

He
nodded and I walked into the room, still holding Anita’s hand. The kids were
all scrunched together by the exit holding what few possessions they owned. The
room was dirty and shabby and my heart ached to look at them, so I turned away.
Looking up at the sky exposed by the open roof I saw the cheerful kites bobbing
high above.

“Thank
God,” Dan said, as he crossed the room and
embraced Anita. She tensed at his touch but then melted into him,
grasping at his shirt and burying her head into his chest.

“She
was very brave,” I told him.

He
nodded. “Of course you were,” he said to her.

“We
must hurry,” Mana said.

His arm
around Anita, Dan escorted her to the exit. Mana opened the big metal door, its
hinges screeching in protest. The blue van waited there. Mana spoke to the
children and they followed him obediently outside. I pulled open the side door
while Dan helped Anita into the front seat. The van stank of death. As I helped
the children in, feeling their soft flesh against my fingers, smelling their
youthful scent, seeing the rags that they wore, I wondered what kind of world I
was living in and how what I did could possibly be enough. As I helped one boy
up, I recognized his big head and realized he was one of the boys I watched
enter this place. At least he was safe now, I thought. I would make sure he
stayed that way.

Dan came
around and touched my elbow. “Hey,” he said. I turned to him,
feeling tears in my eyes. He smiled. “It’s OK.”

I shook
my head. “It’s not,” I said. “But you better go. Quickly.”

“Mana
told me Kalpesh wouldn’t come down. You’re going after him alone?”

“I’ll
ask Mana to help but otherwise, yes.”

“Let
me help.”

“No,
you’ve got to get these kids to Chloe and then help Anita to the flight. She
can’t go alone.”

Dan
glanced over at Anita who sat in the passenger seat looking so small in the big
black suit. He nodded and turned back to me. His arm wrapped around my waist
and Dan pulled me close, bringing his head down and
pressing his lips to mine. I ran my hands through his hair and down his back,
clinging to him, feeling that it may be our last kiss. The taste of tears
mingled there in our embrace and then Dan pulled away, his eyes shining.

Without
a word he stepped away and climbed into the driver’s seat, turning over the
engine with a rumble. Mana stood next to me and watched as the van drove down
the street and then turned left, disappearing from sight.
“Will you help me?” I asked.

Mana put
his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder, thin and fragile. “I’m sorry
but I must take him to safety.”

“You
know I may fail without your help.”

Mana
turned to look at me and I held his gaze. “No,
you won’t,” he said.

Blue and
I walked into the interior courtyard on our way to the roof.

The
crowd was dense and the people good-looking. 
As I passed a hush fell on them. They were staring at us, expressions of horror
on their plucked and smoothed faces. The gun was still in my hand, loose and
ready. Blue was splattered in bright red blood, droplets arched across my
shirt. In our wake we left urgent, worried whispers.

We
climbed to the top of the steps and then I paused before ascending the ladder
to the roof. I looked up at the people flying kites and laughing. A cheer broke
out, and I watched the jubilant celebration with a numb calm. This was only a
momentary set back for Shah, I thought. The Bulldog was right. There were more
children, a never-ending stream of them. I needed
to catch Kalpesh Shah and deliver him to justice or he’d just keep doing what
he did. No one would stop him if I didn’t.

I tucked
my gun into the waist of my jeans and told Blue to wait for me. He can do most
things,
but climbing a ladder is not one of them. He whined softly as I ascended the
ladder;
it rattled under me, rushing even more adrenaline
into my system. Raising to my full height as I crested the roof line, I saw
that the women clustered in the shade were all staring at me, their mouths
slightly open with shock.

The sun
was sliding down the west side of the world, making the shadows longer and the
glow of the kites a little warmer. An excited party on a nearby roof set off a
firework that exploded into a thousand golden sparks above us, falling like the
branches of a weeping willow. Kalpesh’s attention was on his kite. His arms
worked in hard jerks as he maneuvered it around another kite’s string. With one
last pull he was the victor. The cheer was not so loud since half the roof was staring
at me and the gun I pointed at Kalpesh.

Shah
turned to me, leveling calm eyes on my weapon. “Kalpesh Shah, you need to
come with me,” I said.

He
smiled but I saw sweat spring out in the cleft of his throat. “Don’t be
ridiculous,” he said, glancing around at the crowd. “I’m not going
anywhere with you.”

“Yes,
you are,” I said.

Kalpesh’s
kite, only moments ago victorious, tumbled toward the ground as cheers exploded
from another roof and another excited party set off fireworks. The sound
ricocheted off the buildings surrounding us, as the bright white globes of fire
shot through the air, then faded into the darkening sky.

Kalpesh
laughed, a tight sound from his throat. Then he dropped the string from between
his fingers and ran across the rooftop. With amazing speed and agility for a
man his age, he vaulted over the parapet the ladies were
using for shade and leapt onto another roof. I followed in hot pursuit.

The
metal roof clanged under our heavy footsteps. The crowd around us stood like
still images, their mouths gaping at the spectacle before them. Another
firework exploded off a roof sending balls of purple fire flinging through the
air.

Kalpesh
knew the roofs well. He leapt over a gap and disappeared behind a water tank. I
flung myself across the chasm and stumbled onto the ceramic tiles. I landed on
my knees hard, but managed to hold onto the gun. My weight
broke some of the tiles free, sending them clattering off the edge. I didn’t
wait to see how long it took for them to hit the pavement below. I scrabbled
back to my feet and pushed myself forward.

Rounding
the water tower I saw Kalpesh running toward the flat tar roof of an apartment
block where another party was going on. Four men stood on the edge, a glowing
red Chinese lantern between them. They held it gingerly, waiting until the ghee-fueled
flame heated the air inside the balloon
enough for it to fly on its own. As Kalpesh grabbed the edge of the roof,
hauling himself up, the men let go of the lantern. It struggled for a moment,
dipping down. The crowd cried out and then, as it climbed, they cheered. It
rose slowly but steadily through the twilight, joining thousands of others all
floating toward the horizon.

Kalpesh
pulled himself over the roof’s edge and then crashed through the party. The
crowd of about twenty people yelled and cursed, then swarmed together again,
watching his retreating back. I had to stuff the gun back into my pants in
order to pull myself up onto the roof. As I stood and pushed my way through,
a woman grabbed my arm. I shook her off hard enough that she stumbled. A young
man grabbed me then, yelling in Hindi with indignation. With my free hand I
pulled out my gun and pointed it at him. His anger turned to fear and his
fingers slipped off my arm.

Fireworks
were exploding all around us as I pushed through the party. Some of the guests
yelled, but the shock of my gun shut them up pretty quick. Reaching the end of
the roof I jumped down about five feet onto another metal roof and scanned the
rooftops looking for Kalpesh. There were too many parties; he could have
slipped into any one of them and
disappeared. I bit my lip, thinking hard.

A
firework exploded so close I ducked. And then I saw him in its stark light. He
was moving quickly from one party to another. I ran across the roof, making a
beeline for him. He stopped and waved at me. And then I was falling. My feet
broke through the brittle, rusted roof and for a terrifying moment I was
dropping through the air as quickly as gravity could take me, an
entire portion of the roof coming with me. I put my hands out, dropping the
gun, and scrambled to gain a hold on the roof in front of me, the part that
wasn’t plummeting to earth. My fingers found a grip and I cried out as the
metal bit into my hands, the weight of my body pressing them into the jagged
edge.

I swung
there for a moment looking down at the ancient courtyard I below. It was gray
with dust and age, the walls crumbled and cracked. The roof lay
broken and twisted on the tile floor. Sweat dripped into my eyes. I tried to
pull myself up but didn’t have a good enough hold. Staring up into the sky I
watched the lanterns glide by. I felt my fingers slipping. I cried out in
frustration, fear, and futility. I squeezed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth,
feeling my fingers slide. Then a strong hand grabbed my wrist and, looking up,
I saw Mana above me. I choked on a sob of relief.

He
pulled me and I kicked, propelling myself back onto the roof. Mana helped me to
my feet. “Quickly,” he said. Still holding my hand Mana darted across
the roof. My breaths were shallow, but I kept up with him. He lead me off the
old metal roof and onto another tile one. “Quickly,” he said again. I
didn’t argue.

Then he
crouched low and his eyes narrowed. I followed his gaze and saw Kalpesh on an
adjacent roof, laughing and drinking with a group of men, apparently at ease
after seeing me fall through the roof. What a stupid, arrogant ass, I thought
as I watched one of the men place a firework tube on the edge of the roof and
light its fuse. The crowd pushed against the wall of a taller building and with
a boom that hurt my ears green spheres of light blasted into the sky.

Mana
motioned for me to go in one direction while he set off in the other. It wasn’t
until I was almost in front of Kalpesh that he saw me. His eyes opened in
shock. Dropping his glass, he turned. But he only got two steps before running
into Mana, who took him out at the knees, sending him crashing onto his face. I
leapt past
the stunned crowd and straddled Shah, yanking back one arm and then the other.
Forcing his wrists together I held them tight against his back. He yelled in
pain. Pulling a zip tie out of my back pocket, I
looped it around his wrists and tightened it so that his skin bulged.