Alex Archer: Fury's Goddess

“I am,” Annja said, surprised at how husky her voice sounded. “You must be Dunraj.”

“I hope you’ll forgive me for throwing this welcome party for you and your colleague here.” He turned and shook hands with Frank. “You must be Frank. Very glad to meet you.”

“Hi.” Frank pumped Dunraj’s hand a little too hard. But at least he didn’t say anything embarrassing.

Not yet.

Dunraj refocused on Annja. “I understand you’ve come to our wonderful city to investigate the horrible deaths that we seem to be plagued with.”

“I’m not investigating it yet. I’m here at this party. But yes, that’s the purpose of our visit.”

“No time for pleasure, then?”

“How do you mean?”

“We have some incredible tourist attractions here. Gardens created by kings. Fabulous restaurants. Are you sure your trip doesn’t allow you to see those first? Perhaps put this unfortunate business aside while you acclimate. I’m told I’m an excellent tour guide.”

“I don’t doubt that for a moment.” Annja smiled. “And I have no doubt Hyderabad is a wonderful place. I’ve been impressed so far with what we’ve seen. And the police are obviously very efficient.”

Dunraj turned to Pradesh. “The police are fantastic here. And Pradesh is perhaps the finest of them all.”

Pradesh bowed briefly. “You are too kind, sir.” But while that might have sounded humble, Annja noticed that Pradesh didn’t bow too low. She liked that.

“Nonsense. You’ve always proven to be an excellent civil servant. Your adherence to duty and honor is something to be greatly admired.”

The compliments and praise seemed to come as easily to Dunraj as breathing. Annja wondered how much of his day was spent serving up platitudes.

Not that there was anything necessarily wrong with that. Dunraj obviously needed the gift of gab to accomplish his mission. And the praise didn’t seem insincere.

“Are you comfortable at the hotel?”

“The hotel? It’s fine. Nothing wrong with it that I could see.”

Dunraj put one hand on her shoulder. It was just a touch. A warm one. “You know, we have much nicer hotels elsewhere in the city. I could make some phone calls if the hotel isn’t quite to your liking. Get you and your traveling companion here into a nice suite, perhaps? It’s no trouble whatsoever.”

“The hotel is fine,” she repeated firmly. “I’ve been sleeping on the floors of forests and jungles for years. I’m used to far less comfort when I travel.”

Dunraj nodded. “I’m sure you must be. What a fascinating job you have. I’ve seen all of your shows many times over, and you’ve always impressed me with your candor and knowledge of subjects that most of us simply know nothing about. You’re able to convey the educational background of your assignments without talking down to your audience. You have a talent, Annja, you really do.”

I’m not the only talented one in the room, she thought. But she merely smiled. “Thank you very much for saying so.” She sipped her champagne. “Which episode was your favorite?”

“Pardon?”

Gotcha. “I asked which episode you liked best.”

Dunraj smiled, never breaking eye contact. “The one where you were in Scotland chasing down reports of the Loch Ness monster. I really need to visit there in the autumn and experience the pleasure of drinking a beer in a pub with the peat smoke and so forth, like you did in that final segment. You were able to show that Scotland has a charm all its own, even without the Loch Ness monster.”

It was Annja’s turn to hesitate. She hadn’t expected him to be able to recount that. Perhaps Dunraj had really seen her shows.

Interesting.

Dunraj’s smile grew. “I do hope you’ll forgive me, but unfortunately I need to cut our time short. I’ve got some other guests to attend to. Please enjoy my hospitality. I will return shortly and we can talk some more then. All right?”

“Oh. Yes. Absolutely. That would be great. I’d like that.” Annja blinked and then Dunraj was gone. The crowd had swallowed him up.

And the funny thing was, she missed him.

“You okay?”

She looked at Frank. “Me? Yeah, of course, I’m fine.” Annja frowned. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because you look a little pale. Like maybe your first encounter there with Captain Amazing might have been more than you bargained for.”

Annja sipped her champagne. “Nothing to worry about, Frank. I’m just tired from the flight.”

Frank didn’t argue the point. “We should get something to eat.”

“Good idea.”

As they walked to the nearest table, Annja felt eyes on them. More women sizing her up, most likely. Now that Dunraj had connected with her, they were all checking her out, trying to determine if she was a rival for Dunraj’s attention. Someone they would have to sort out if it became clear Dunraj fancied her.

“I told you he was something else, didn’t I?” Pradesh said at Annja’s elbow. “You were mesmerized and don’t even realize it. Even now when he’s not around you any longer.”

Annja smirked. “He is something else. I’ll give you that. But is he like that with everyone?”

Pradesh gestured around the room. “Do you see anyone here who isn’t equally enamored of him? The women want to be with him. The men want to be like him. Dunraj is the epitome of what many in Hyderabad aspire to become.”

“What’s his story?”

Pradesh shrugged. “Comes from a well-respected family, as I’ve said, but Dunraj was never content to rely on their reputation. He was schooled abroad in Zurich and then Oxford. He speaks a number of languages, including Mandarin, Farsi and German, and that multilingualism has enabled him to reach beyond India’s borders and attract both international investment and cooperation. A lot of people say he is the unofficial mayor of Hyderabad.”

“And how does the mayor feel about that?”

Pradesh brushed something she couldn’t see off his lapel. “I assume she’s quite happy knowing that Dunraj will pour a lot of money into her next campaign. Dunraj enjoys a wonderful relationship with the mayor, and she’s always ready to approve his next construction project. He has no real political aspirations. He accomplishes all of his public-service work through his construction projects. It’s very much a symbiotic relationship.”

Dunraj was on the far side of the room when he picked up a microphone from the DJ and the music abruptly cut out. “Ladies and gentlemen, if I could please have your attention.”

Not as if he didn’t already have the attention of everyone in the room. Despite the noise level and the buzzing conversations, not one person ever had their eyes off Dunraj.

Dunraj continued. “I’m so pleased you were all able to accept my invitation to attend tonight’s event. I realize this was last minute.”

This was last minute? She wondered what a well-planned party would have been like.

“It humbles me to have such wonderful friends and colleagues as yourselves,” Dunraj continued. “Truly. Thank you so much.”

Before Annja could critique his speech to Frank for laying it on too thick, Dunraj added, “My purpose in throwing tonight’s party was to welcome a visitor to our great city. An American who has always impressed me with her steadfast resolve, intellect and pursuit of truth. It’s my pleasure to introduce you all to Miss Annja Creed, host of Chasing History’s Monsters.”

Annja’s gut dropped, but she managed to smile and hold up her glass in acceptance of Dunraj’s praise. “Thank you.”

“I hope you will all take a moment to introduce yourselves to Annja and her colleague, Frank. Tell them about our city and the role it plays in India’s twenty-first- century expansion and growth. And please make sure they both understand that Hyderabad is a glowing example of India’s prosperity and the new hub of our nation’s incredible future. Thank you and enjoy.”