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have to do with that computer company he helped start. It’s too complicated to get into, but there are people out there who still blame Sriram for destroying their dreams and I’m afraid they might take their frustrations out on you.” Jason smiled at first as he read the line, Ravi sounding like an old woman who watched one too many spy movies. The smile disappeared as he read the rest of the message.
    “You have no idea of the role honor and revenge plays in Indian society. Families nurse grudges for centuries, striking out at seemingly innocent bystanders who had the most tenuous link to the offense. In India a laborer will break rocks for fourteen hours a day for less than the cost of lunch at McDonalds. Five dollars would get a man pushed in front of a train, for ten they’d slit his throat in broad daylight.”
    Jason felt his hand sweat as he gripped the computer mouse, his mouth drying with each open-mouthed breath.
    “To make it even worse, you tell them right where to find you. They could have spotted you at the airport and could be following you right now. You’re tall and you’re white. The light-brown color of your hair alone is enough to set you apart. You are hard to miss.”
    He thought about the tour group, how Danny carried that red golf umbrella, how they drove around in the largest vehicle on the streets.
    “It was a foolish thing you did and I hope it does not bring you to harm. Take my advice, trust no one you meet in India.” A postscript under the computer-generated signature provided contact information for the Raj-Tech offices in Bangalore and a final piece of advice. “Be damn careful.”

Chapter Five
    Although the plants were larger and more lush and the uniformed staff more numerous and subservient, the lobby of the Holiday Inn in New Delhi looked like the lobby at any Holiday Inn Jason had ever seen. This one had more old people than most, but aesthetically it was cut from the same corporate-designed cloth.
    He was sipping his first coffee and looking over the day’s itinerary when Rachel appeared in front of him, her backpack slung on her shoulder. She wore the same baggy khakis but instead of a tee shirt she wore a man’s dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. With her hair tucked under her Blue Jays cap and her hands dug deep in her pockets, she managed to look sloppy and fashionable at the same time.
    “Grab your bag,” she said, kicking at his foot. “We’re hitting the road.”
    “Well, good morning to you, too.” Jason looked up to see her smiling and wondered if she realized how attractive she was. He held up the folded itinerary for her to see and said, “We’ve got another five minutes before they start packing us on the bus.”
    “We’re not taking the bus. We’ve got to grab a cab to the station if we’re going to catch the next train to Jaipur.”
    “That’s not on here,” Jason said, running his finger down the typed lines.
    “Remember yesterday how we said we wanted to get out of this tour?”
    “I remember that’s what you said.”
    “Anyways,” she said, ignoring his correction, “I got us out of the tour. We took quite a hit on the buyback but Danny Boy added in a pair of India Rail passes so it almost worked out okay.”
    Jason looked at her but didn’t say anything so she continued explaining.
    “We won’t be able to stay at these four-star palaces and we’ll have to eat on the cheap, but we’ll do all right as long as we split the costs.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Rachel brought her hands out of her pockets to help her tell the story. “Danny,” she said, pointing him out across the lobby, “bought our tour packages off us. We can go wherever we want.” She waved her arms out wide, symbolizing, Jason guessed, both the sale of the tour packages and their new independence.
    “We can’t leave the tour. It’s not right.” He didn’t think it was that funny but it made Rachel laugh a light, cheery, beautiful smile