There was still some hesitation. Ordering the kill didn’t really seem necessary. But it has to be done! The Committee clearly sees this as a genuine threat. And they’re looking to you to obviate it. There was no doubt, the Chairman was definitely telling him to dispense with Max. And as for the President, he just wanted to make sure they had the right man for the job. No, there was no doubt they all wanted this threat rendered obsolete.

“I assume he is in his room.”

“Who?”

“Buck!”

You idiot!

“I suppose so.”

“I’m ringing him now – prepare yourself.”

16.2

The phone rang, and rang, and rang.

Marlon backed off the accelerator –

Didn’t you tell him to stay in that room and wait for this call?

Where the hell is he?

The phone rang out.

He tried Buck’s cell-phone but as usual, got only the infuriating message –

“Hello. You’ve called Roger Buckland. I’m sorry but…”

16.3

Buck was not in room 665 when Marlon rang.

He was not in room 666 either.

He was with Julia in room 777, hatching his own private plan.

Since Marlon left Mumbai, Buck and Julia had become lost in one long conversation punctuated by fiery bursts of love making, the ominous presence of Marlon fueling a delicious, edgy lust as they waited for the call they hoped would never come.

Now it had come.

“I’ll tell you what we are going to do now,” Buck said. “We’re going to disappear.”

“If only,” Julia responded with a sigh.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do it this way,” Buck said confidently. “I was hoping I could introduce you to this idea in a more romantic way. But we have to get out of here now. Before Marlon does something really stupid.”

“I agree,” Julia said uncertainly, “but…”