Padma lingered behind them.“Do try not to disrupt thisvery holyfestival in the process?”
Ellie considered her companions—the beaming and fashionable Constance, who almost certainly had knives strapped to her garters.Neil blinking behind his spectacles, his bow tie slightly askew.
Adam sneaking the dog another pastry.
“No disruptions,” Ellie awkwardly assured her.“Ma’am.”
Padma patted her cheek with a warm, dry hand.“I told you to call me Auntie, Jhia.”
The request sounded like a warning.
She sailed into the hotel.Mr.Mahjoud followed after treating each of them to a glare that perfectly expressed his deep skepticism of their ability to stay out of trouble.
Neil looked from the photograph in Ellie’s hand to the boisterous crowd that packed the street as far as they could see in each direction.“Where on earth do we start looking for one man in all of this?”
Adam’s mouth tightened as though the figure of the pale-eyed colonel unsettled him.He scanned thoughtfully over the landscape of the festival, from the slowly rolling towers of the gods to the dancers, priests, and brash-voiced vendors.
Actors played on makeshift stages.Incense rose from roadside puja ceremonies.The wealthy crowded along the balconies that overlooked the festival, wearing Brooks Brothers suits and gold-accented saris.
Adam’s assessment rose higher—and he sighed.“I think I have an idea.”
“Why do you sound so unenthusiastic about it?”Ellie demanded.
“Because it involves the roof?”Adam returned queasily.
“Oh!”Ellie exclaimed with a burst of sympathetic understanding.
Adam did have a miserable time with heights.
“Maybe we can do the roof part, and you can… er… keep an eye on the dog?”she helpfully suggested.
“Sounds great,” Adam readily agreed.He rubbed Kalb between his ears, the dog panting with blissful approval.
“Is your fear of heights really that bad?”Constance pressed.
“I’m notafraidof heights,” Adam grumbled.“They just make me feel like the ground’s turned into waves and somebody poured a bottle of bad hooch down my throat.”
“You don’t want him up there.”Neil looked a bit pale at the notion.“I’ve seen what happens.It really isn’t pretty.”
“You and a dead emu, am I right?”Adam returned cheerfully, slapping Neil on the shoulder.
“A dead emu?”Constance echoed, gleefully curious.
Neil shot Adam an uncomfortable look.“Maybe we should save that story for later.”
“Neil was reprimanded by the dean over it,” Ellie added just a little wickedly as she recalled the scolding her stepmother had subjected Neil to over the incident.
“You are all being terribly unfair.”Constance punctuated the remark with a pout.
“Just go up there and look for guys in khaki,” Adam instructed.“Wherever you see the largest number of them all coming and going will be their headquarters.”
Constance shrugged.“Sounds simple enough.”
“Except for the part about getting onto the roof,” Neil added.
“Oh, we’ll figure something out,” Constance breezily assured him, tugging him along.
?
