CHAPTER NINE, PART SIX
Cholon Badzar knocked on the door of the fourth house.
A small woman answered the door. She was less than half Cholon’s height. He had to keep himself from laughing at the ridiculousness of it. But he forced himself to put on a straight face.
“Excuse me m’am,” Cholon said in an apologetic voice. “I am very, very sorry to bother you this late at night. But there is a matter of importance I must deal with now.”
The woman eyed the dark red stains on Cholon’s shirt. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“I am Cholon, a Kathmandu police officer. I had a… run-in… with a few criminals earlier tonight. One of them escaped, and I am pursuing him. I have reason to believe that someone in this neighborhood may be knowingly or unknowingly harboring this criminal. So I ask you permission to search your house.”
The woman’s expression turned cold. She glared at Cholon. “That’s—that’s preposterous! A man with no uniform claims to be on the police force and attempts to fake his way into my house? You need a warrant to search private property!”
Not anymore, we won’t, Cholon thought to himself. Then, feigning impatience he said, “M’am, please. I was off-duty when this all started. You can’t expect me to wear my uniform all the time.”
The woman sighed. “I suppose not. But still, I need to see a warrant before I let you in.”
Cholon nodded. “I do have one. It’s right… here…”
He turned away slightly.
Cholon whipped out a KDM pistol. Before the woman had time to react, Cholon slammed the butt of the handgun into the side of her head.
Wham!
The woman crumpled to the ground.
As Cholon stepped over her limp body and pulled it inside, he smiled to himself.
“There’s my warrant,” he muttered.
Inside, the house was dark. Cholon hoped that either nobody else lived here, or they were asleep.
That would make killing Tribhuvana all the more easier.
His KMD ready, Cholon swung open the first door. He swung the gun around, covering the entire room in seconds.
A kitchen. Empty.
Cholon went through the cupboards, the icebox, even the stove. When someone was desperate, they would hide anywhere.
“Come on out, you coward dog,” Cholon muttered darkly. But he had finished his search of the kitchen, and there was no sign of Tribhuvana.
Then next room was a large master bedroom. It was taken up by a double bed. That meant that there must be someone else who lived in the house. But he was not there.
This room was empty as well. Cholon was beginning to get fed up. He had tried many houses, and Tribhuvana had been in none of them.
Maybe he just went back to the palace, Cholon thought to himself.
Gone back to get killed by the Ranas. It’s what I would have done.
Cholon smiled, although it looked more as if he was baring his teeth.
“Do………… think…………..no ………..”
Cholon froze. He could hear whispering, coming from somewhere in the house. He went up to the wall and put his ear against it.
“He……. gone…….. search…….. for….. the……”
“I have you now,” Cholon growled. He quietly left the bedroom and tiptoed down the hall to the next room. He slammed the door open and barreled through, gun at the ready.
“What the—”
Cholon had stumbled into a completely empty room. No furniture, no wallpaper nothing.
He heard a voice behind him. “Don’t wait up.”
Cholon felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck.
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Dawn came to Kathmandu.
Mohan Rana got out of bed with a sense of anticipation. He quickly dressed and hurried out of his room to the main dining hall. There, Kiran, Padma, and Rudra Rana were already eating breakfast.
“I take it you all received my signal?” Mohan said as he sat down. “Good. Now, we had instructed Cholon to radio before dawn if he had not killed Tribhuvana. And it is dawn, and he has not radioed. Therefore I propose we move into the next phase of our plan.”
Padma nodded. “I agree.”
“Good. Know, you all know what to do, correct?”
The other Ranas nodded.
“You had better, because I do not want to say it here where we can be overheard. Once we finish breakfast, I will go up to Tribhuvana’s study, and burn any incriminating papers. The smoke will be blown out of the window. That will be the signal for you and the 9th Militia. Be ready for it. We must act now.”
Mohan shoved some scrambled eggs into his mouth and chewed vigorously. He swallowed and got to his feet. “Good luck, my brothers.”
The man strode from the room without looking back.
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Twenty-five minutes later, dark gray smoke began to rise out of a window in the Narayanhiti Palace.
Mohinder Siavush, who was stationed with the 9th Militia in the outskirts of Kathmandu, knew that it was time. The 9th Militia was about to see action.
His company commander jumped onto a table. “Form up!” he shouted. “We’re moving into Kathmandu!”
The men all piled into a convoy of trucks which began to rumble into the city. As Mohinder sat in the back, jarred and rattled by even the slightest bump, he realized that he was glad to be going back to Kathmandu. He had not been home in many months.
I will see my wife. I will see Bahadur again, Mohinder thought to himself. He smiled. That was something to look forward to. He had not seen his family in a long time, and missed them greatly. On the icy nights in the Himalayas, the thought of them had brought him warmth. Soon they would be reunited.
But first, there was a job to do.
Mohan Rana controlled the Rana family. He wanted control of Nepal.
With the 9th Militia, he aimed to fulfill that goal.
Mohinder’s truck barreled down the narrow Kathmandu streets, heading for the Narayanhiti Palace.
