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wrists, and the two friends crept to the door, peering out cautiously. The room was at the end of a corridor lit by a row of incandescent bulbs that hung from the ceiling. They moved stealthily down the corridor until they reached a staircase.
    It seemed that the room where they had been kept captive was on the lowest level of the building. They waited for a few moments at the foot of the staircase, but there was no rush of feet coming downstairs; no sound.
    Vijay hoped their luck would hold out. He glanced at Colin and with one accord they ascended the stairs, Vijay still clutching the Uzi he had taken off Maroosh.
    Two flights of staircase. Still not a soul in sight. There was silence in the building. The stairway opened up into a large room, which was obviously the living room, as was apparent from the furniture.
    There was still no sign of life. The first rays of the rising sun seeped through the windows lining the walls of the room.
    Through one of the windows, Colin spotted the battered BMW parked outside and signalled to Vijay. The latter nodded; if the car had been driven here, it could be driven away.
    Silently, they stole through the room and opened the front door. The hinges creaked loudly and immediately there was a shout from inside the house.
    They froze.
    The shout came again.
    Then, all hell broke loose. The sound of running feet came to them from a level above.
    Vijay and Colin didn’t wait to discover who was now clattering down the staircase. They sprinted for the car. To their delight, the key had been left in the ignition.
    Vijay risked a look around. Behind them was the building where they had been held through the night, a three-storey brick structure in the middle of nowhere. There was barren land all around and in the distance he could see the silhouette of the Aravali hills. He had no idea where they were.
    Hurling the Uzi away, Vijay swiftly ducked inside the car. Colin was already in the passenger seat in front, strapping himself in. The engine roared to life as Vijay turned the ignition key. He stepped on the accelerator, raising a cloud of dust, as the wheels spun on the soft dirt path that led away from the house.
    Colin turned in his seat and glanced behind, at the house. Two men had appeared in the open doorway, one brandishing an Uzi, which he now lowered and aimed at the BMW.
    ‘Watch out!’ Colin yelled. ‘They’re shooting at us!’
    Bullets whizzed past them as Vijay swung the wheel wildly, zigzagging to avoid being hit. Despite his manoeuvres, bullets shattered the rear windshield and tore into the mangled rear fenders. Both men hunched down in their seats, hoping the bullets wouldn’t find a target.
    Vijay accelerated again in a final attempt to evade the shots and the car lurched forward. It was a blessing that the bullets had missed the fuel tank.
    After a while, houses appeared on both sides of the road and Vijay realised they were in Gurgaon. He heaved a sigh of relief. They were safe.
    For now.

7
    Day 5
    Jaungarh Fort
    Bheem Singh stared thoughtfully at the battered BMW, the rear windshield glass shattered and the boot and rear fenders smashed in and pock-marked with bullet holes. His companion joined him in his inspection of the car.
    Vijay had left the car on the road, in front of the massive entrance of the fort, when they had finally arrived at Jaungarh. Both Colin and he were exhausted from their ordeal. They had staggered into the fort where an anxious Shukla and his daughter were overjoyed to see them.
    Radha had already called the local police station in the morning and filed a missing persons report when she couldn’t get through to Vijay’s cellphone.
    The butler ushered the new arrivals into the sitting room, where Vijay and Colin were seated. Both men still looked a bit dazed, as if they couldn’t quite believe they were back home safely. The cut on Vijay’s cheek would require stitches. Radha had tried to convince him to let her drive them in the BMW to