The Dust Will Never Settle (32 page)

Sitting in the park, camouflaged by the tree she was backed up against, Ruby watched the home minister’s convoy zoom down the road and enter the hotel. It was just a few minutes past eight.

A little later she felt the phone vibrate in her pocket. She gave a quick glance at the calling number. It was Ravinder. She returned the phone to her pocket. The next time it rang, she ignored it.

She was observing the patterns of movement at and between the gate security posts and the roadblocks on either side.

Sirens rent the air again. A longer cavalcade swept in, led by two motorcycle outriders. A dozen-odd cars swept past the gates and came to a sharp stop at the porch. Security men leaped out. Hard, alert eyes raked the area. When it became certain there was no threat, one of the PSOs opened the rear door of the Mercedes 500 SEL at the centre of the convoy and the Indian PM emerged, a bespectacled, slightly built Sikh, clad in white, with a light blue turban. Ruby caught a brief glimpse of him before a ring of Kevlar-clad bodies closed in around him. They vanished into the hotel.

Both the gate security posts, now reinforced by the PM’s men, looked alert and keyed-up, their stance aggressive and weapons ready. Any move towards them now would be met with a fiery response.

But she was in no hurry. Rocking back on her heels, she settled down to wait, her yoga-hard body ensuring she was at rest. Her eyes stayed on her target.

An hour later the PM emerged, once again surrounded by armed men. He stepped into his Mercedes and the cavalcade disappeared. Within minutes she noted a change in the security men at the gates. They did not all sit down, but a softening was apparent. Here and there a cup of tea emerged. Even the occasional cigarette.

Ruby smiled. It was the same the world over.

An hour later, she took out her mobile phone, inserted a new SIM card and called the police control room. Her whispered bomb threat provoked an instant response. The change in stance of the security details was instantaneous. A beehive of activity erupted. Teams of security men armed with metal detectors and sniffer dogs began to sweep the hotel.

Ruby knew it would be a while before the alert was called off. They would have to scan and clear the hotel. She would do all that she could to tire them out. To make the red alerts common so they’d get used to them.
That
would be when lapses would occur.

Satisfied, she returned to the van, dropped it off in the parking lot of the Hyatt, walked across to the crowded passport office, and caught a cab back to the house.

‘She is back? When?’ Ravinder said on the phone. ‘How did she get back? Did you speak to the cab driver then? Where did he pick her up? I see.’

With the bomb threat having proved to be a hoax, and the Summit now safely underway, Ravinder was returning to the control room when the surveillance leader called. Having given up trying to find her, the team had fallen back to the house to wait for her to resurface.

He mulled over this for a minute and decided it was time to change tactics. He again dialled Ruby’s mobile. Where the hell had she gone and what had she been up to?

A grim smile crossed Ruby’s face as her mobile rang. She had been expecting the call.

‘Where did you go, Ruby? I was so worried. I have been trying to call you for some hours now.’

‘I went out for a run, father. Sorry, I left my phone behind. I just got back.’

‘Why did you ditch the security car? We were so worried about you.’

‘I didn’t realize there was one with me.’

‘Come on, Ruby. After that night’s fiasco… do I need to spell it out? You can’t take such risks. We never know who else is out there.’

‘I am sorry, father. It will not happen again.’

‘But where did you run off like that?’

‘Well, I got tired of jogging and did not want to return… too much on my mind, I guess. Then I remembered Jasmine mentioning that the Red Fort is worth a visit early in the morning, so I caught an auto-rickshaw and went off to see it.’

‘But…’ Ravinder broke off, realizing he could not let her know that the driver of her cab had told them that she had hailed him from near the passport office in Bhikaji Cama Place, nowhere close to the Red Fort. ‘Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. From now on, whenever you wish to go anywhere, just tell the team and travel with them in their car. That will make it easy for everyone.’

‘Not a problem, dad. I will do that. Thanks.’

The distaste of deceit lay heavy with both when the call ended.

Ruby wondered how much he knew. He had to know something, else why the surveillance? But if he had been able to confirm whatever Chance may have told him, he would not have allowed her to run free.
Would he?

Is he just concerned about me – like a father would be?
Ravinder too wondered what she had been up to.
Am I just tarring her with the same brush because of Rehana? Maybe she does not really know the reality of Rehana… and Yusuf.

With the Summit in progress, Ravinder returned to his room and went to work. The next few hours passed quickly as he coordinated between Ashish and Mohite, ensuring that things at both ends proceeded smoothly.

The spate of false alarms, sightings, unidentified bags and suspicious people was keeping the cops terribly busy. For several months now, the Delhi Police had been conducting awareness training for waiters, cab drivers, private security guards and shopkeepers. They had all been told to keep their eyes and ears open and report such things, and it seemed a lot of them had taken the briefings seriously.

Each call had to be investigated. But so far, none had resulted in anything meaningful. Nothing, however, could be ignored.

Although he tried not to think of it, he could not forget that it was thirteenth October.

Bad things happen on the thirteenth
.

Ruby spent the rest of the day in her room, waiting.

‘The wait is always a bitch.’ Mark’s words came back to her. She grinned and then remembered Mark was dead and gone. The grin evaporated.

The Summit had made no real progress on day one, but the ice was broken. Both sides had at least acknowledged that the killing would only end if they talked. As the day progressed, a rapport was established and hope brightened.

Ravinder’s tension escalated as the day wound down. Though he tried hard, he was unable to forget that today was the thirteenth. The hourly calls from the surveillance team which confirmed that Ruby had not moved should have helped, but didn’t.

Have I been so wrapped up in Ruby that I missed some other, more real, threat?

With every passing hour new questions cropped up to plague him. As darkness closed in, his anxiety increased.