As if on cue, the phone rang. Vijay's mobile number flashed on the screen.

Farooq's smug voice floated over the phone. 'You have the information I want.'

It was a statement, not a question, but Colin answered him anyway. 'Yes.'

'Well?'

'We've solved the riddle.'

'And what is the answer?' There was an edge to Farooq's voice that Colin hadn't heard before. He remembered Imran's instructions.

Delay them as long as you can.

He just hoped he wasn't putting Vijay and Radha in any more danger than they already were.

'The secret location is in the Hazaribagh plateau.'

'And what makes you believe that?'

'Before I tell you that or the exact location, I want to know how and when you will hand over Vijay and Radha to us.'

'Do you take me for a fool?' Farooq's voice strained with fury and something else percolated through. Was it an undercurrent of desperation? Colin couldn't be sure.

'Do you know what your friends just did?' he continued, his voice shaking with anger. 'They tried to escape.'

Colin's heart sank.

Farooq's next words made his blood run cold.

'My patience is running out. I don't have either the inclination or the time to negotiate. If you don't give me what I want then that's fine. You'll never see your friends again.'

Colin hesitated. He considered his options. There was no guarantee that Farooq would return Vijay and Radha to them after learning where the secret was hidden. On the other hand, if he didn't get the information, both of them were doomed.

There was only one thing to do. Colin could only hope that Imran reached the safehouse in time.

'Sitagarha Hill,' he told Farooq. 'The Hazaribagh plateau.' He explained to Farooq how they had arrived at this conclusion.

Farooq seemed to doubt his explanation. 'And how do I know you are being completely honest with me?'

Colin didn't have an answer.

'There's only one way to be sure,' Farooq interrupted his thoughts. 'You'll show me the way to this hill to prove that this is indeed the place.'

'And you'll let them go then?' Colin persisted.

'I want you to leave Patna immediately. All three of you.' Farooq ignored Colin's question. 'Leave for Hazaribagh now. I will meet you there and together we will go to this hill. If what you are saying isn't true...' He left his threat hanging but Colin understood perfectly.

'One more thing. Switch your phone off. Now. I don't want you to switch it back on until you are near Hazaribagh. I'll be checking to see that you've followed this instruction. Don't let me find your phone on. Call me when you're approaching Hazaribagh.'

The phone went dead.

Colin hung his head.

'Did he come around?' White inquired, looking anxious.

Colin shook his head. He quickly explained to the others about Vijay and Radha's aborted attempt to escape and Farooq's demand.

'We must be going.' He rose. 'Farooq asked us to leave Patna immediately. I'll get the X Trail out and meet you in five minutes at the main porch.'

Trapped in an inferno Radha had switched on the light in the room.

There were no windows and it was pitch dark inside. She had found the light switch by going around the room, by sticking to the walls, and feeling her way.

The room seemed to be a storehouse. There were empty boxes and cartons lying around. In one corner, cotton mattresses were stacked into piles.

Bedding for the terrorists, she assumed.

Outside, silence had descended. She wondered what was happening. With a feeling of dread she hoped that Vijay was okay-though she had a nasty suspicion that Farooq would be vindictive and punish him for her attempt.

What would happen to her now?

She suddenly realised that the air had become somewhat hazy. Radha looked at the door and saw, to her horror, tendrils of smoke seeping into the room from under the door.

Horror gripped her. Was there a fire in the building?

She flung herself against the door and beat at it with her fists, screaming at the top of her voice.

Had no one in the building realised there was a fire?

The smoke grew thicker and she heard the fire crackle and spit outside in the hall. She backed away from the door, trying to find a place where the smoke was thin so she could breathe. Her eyes were stinging and she began to cough. She had read somewhere that most victims of fire died not from burns but from suffocation.

But it was no consolation to her that she wouldn't be burned alive. No one seemed to be coming to her rescue.

She was going to die anyway.

Outside the safehouse, Imran leaped out of the jeep as it screeched to a halt. The commandos had reached, and he saw that they had taken up defensive positions around the house.

Three fire tenders stood by as firemen battled the flames. An ambulance had accompanied the fire tenders on Imran's instructions.

But they were too late.

The birds had flown the coop. Farooq and his men were gone.

Imran walked over to the commander of the commandos, a young officer who introduced himself as Major Kishore Verma.

'Is there anyone in the house?' Imran was concerned that Vijay and Radha may have been left behind to perish in the fire. Farooq had no use for them now that he knew his destination.

Verma shook his head. 'We've been trying to figure that out, but the fire was raging when we got here. The heat sensors are going haywire with the fire itself. It's difficult to detect a human presence inside. And the firemen think it isn't safe to go inside just yet. It looks like they used some kind of chemicals to start and feed the fire, to keep it going for a while.'

Imran looked Verma in the eye. 'There were two hostages. If they were alive when Farooq left, I don't want to lose them to the fire.'

One of the commandos in the command vehicle gave a shout. He had been sitting with his eyes glued to the heat sensor, one of a range of equipment that the government had invested in after 26/11.

'There's someone inside!' he exclaimed. The flames had diminished sufficiently to allow the sensor to detect a human presence in one of the rooms.

'Only one?' Imran asked.

The commando nodded.

'Did you get a lock on its position?' Verma enquired.

The commando nodded. 'The room directly opposite the front entrance.'

Verma quickly explained the situation to the firemen and two of them agreed to break into the house.

'I'm coming with you,' Imran declared. 'There's no time to argue. Let's go.' He felt a sense of responsibility for what had happened, A hat, gloves and a jacket along with a gas mask were quickly procured for Imran and he followed the two firemen. 'There,' Imran pointed to the door opposite them as they entered.

The firemen raced across the hall and broke open the door. At the far end of the room, Radha lay on the floor. Without breaking stride, the three men lifted her and sprinted out of the building with her.

Within moments, the paramedics with the ambulance had taken charge and begun trying to revive Radha.

Imran stood outside the ambulance, his face grim.

Would Radha make it?

38.

Present Day Day 10

Patna

'I can't tell you how grateful I am to you,' Radha smiled at Imran. They were both in the police jeep, Radha having spent the better part of an hour in the ambulance and then in a local hospital.

Imran smiled back. 'I'm just glad we made it in time.'

A serious expression replaced Radha's smile. 'So, Farooq fled because he got wind that you were onto him?' Imran nodded. 'Yes. We had tapped Vijay's phone and minutes before the fire started, Farooq got a call updating him about Bheem Singh's death and also informing him that the Intelligence Bureau knew what he was upto.'

The first thing Radha had done on recovering was to tell Imran about Bheem Singh, only to discover that Imran was from the IB and already knew.

'So, you have a leak at the IB'?

Imran shook his head. 'Not the IB. There's only one person who has known all this and yet gone unnoticed and unsuspected all this while.'

'Who'? Radha racked her brains but couldn't figure it out.

Imran told her.

Radha's eyes widened in horror. 'Are you sure?'

'I'm positive. We ran a match of a sketch with his photograph. A perfect match.'

'And Farooq asked Colin to get the others and join him near Hazaribagh,' Imran informed her.

Radha was really worried now. 'We have to do something.'

'We are. We are meeting the commandos in 15 minutes. We go with them to Sitagarha Hill.' Imran had tried calling White's mobile phone but it was switched off. There was no way of contacting them.

Radha had been dumbstruck when she heard, from Imran, about Sitagarha Hill and Colin's explanation about why this hill had seemed to be the obvious location of the secret.

It all fitted together so well.

'How will we find the hill?' she wondered.

'I know the place,' Imran replied. 'The Border Security Force uses the site as a heavy artillery range.'

His mobile phone rang. 'Hi, Vishnu,' he greeted the caller and lapsed into silence, listening intently. 'Good,' he said finally, 'I'm glad that's been worked out. If the state Home Secretary is working with you and the BSF have agreed to help, that's great. Hell, we don't even know what's going to happen.'

The caller responded and Imran seemed satisfied. 'Okay. Thanks, Vishnu. We'll see you in Hazaribagh.'

Radha looked enquiringly at him as he hung up. 'Vishnu Prasad,' Imran explained. 'The District Collector of Hazaribagh district. We don't know what lies in that cavern within Sitagarha Hill but I just can't believe that the secret that LeT is after is the only thing that's in there. I asked the DC to get the town of Hazaribagh evacuated. Just in case. The town is barely 20 kilometres from the hill. I don't want any civilian casualties if something goes wrong. We are dealing with a small army of LeT men armed with sophisticated weapons. We can do without them running amok in a town full of innocent civilians. Before LeT gets to Hazaribagh, there won't be a soul there.'

Radha was curious. 'You seem to know everything,' she remarked. 'The brotherhood of the Nine, the clues, the search, even the secret.'

'Not everything,' Imran smiled at her. 'A bit. Courtesy Bheem Singh. And I want you to fill me in on the rest. Ah, here we are.'

They had reached the rendezvous point. Three five-ton camouflage trucks stood there, filled with men garbed in black body armour-the elite commandos of the Indian army, armed to the teeth with INSAS 5.56mm light machine guns, AGS 17 Plamya 30mm automatic grenade launchers, Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless rifles and Glock 17.9mm pistols.

Imran and Radha hopped into the leading truck. Imran looked at Radha. 'You're sure you want to do this?' She had insisted on coming along as she thought she might be able to help with clues at the site.

'Absolutely,' she replied. Imran nodded to the driver of the truck and the convoy trundled onto the highway that led to Ranchi.