Fury's Goddess

Frank whistled. “Wow.”

“Yes, his money generally elicits that reaction from people. It certainly seems to from the group Dunraj surrounds himself with. But there you go.”

“Money’s not everything,” Annja said. “He didn’t need to buy me this dress. I have clothes that would have been fine. Well, almost fine.”

Pradesh grinned. “So, is that where that came from? I wondered, but I thought it would be rude to ask. You both do look perfectly suited for the night ahead, however, so I guess Dunraj’s money was put to good use—at least in this case.”

Annja glanced at him. “Suited for the night ahead? And what exactly will this night entail?”

Pradesh smiled wider. “Oh, I imagine it will involve meeting an awful lot of people who have seen your show on television and who will wish to ask you all sorts of boring questions about your work and what you do. They’ll flatter you, no doubt, but each of them will want something. And they’ll prattle on at length about various topics you will probably have little to no interest in. You know, the usual prattling that occurs at these tiresome things.”

Annja raised her eyebrows.

He leaned forward. “I’ve been to one or two of these before. They get rather wearing. But such is the life of an inspector. I do my best to try to bear it, but there are times I find myself marveling at my own endurance.”

He led them outside to the Mercedes. Annja noticed it had been washed and waxed since their earlier trip from the airport. She again sat up front with Pradesh, while Frank maneuvered himself into the backseat, still acting incredibly pained about his outfit.

Annja caught his eye. “Frank, let it go. You look good, now just pretend like you know you look good and you’ll be fine.”

He fidgeted with his tie. “The last time I wore one of these things was my junior prom. And I hated it then. So much so, I refused to wear one for my senior prom.”

“What did you wear to that?” Pradesh asked.

“Shorts. Plus a bright red blazer. I looked wild.”

Annja shook her head. “That sounds like quite the night. Your date must have loved that.”

“Uh, yeah. We didn’t stay together for very long.”

“I wish I could say I’m shocked.” She laughed. “But shorts and a bright red blazer don’t exactly fit the picture of what most girls want their dates to wear to the prom.”

“What about what I wanted to wear?” Frank asked.

Pradesh chuckled. “From what I understand about American girls and their proms, what you wanted was never really up for discussion.”

“He’s right,” Annja agreed. “It’s all about the ladies.”

“It always is,” Frank grumbled. He lapsed into silence and Annja watched as the city passed outside of the window.

The sun was already below the horizon, and Annja marveled at the lights of the city. Hyderabad seemed very modern. She mentioned this to Pradesh, who nodded.

“We have a rich history, but we are also firmly embracing the future. People like Dunraj are at the forefront of this move forward. With the number of developments under way in the city limits, there is hope that we will overtake several other cities and become the economic hub of India.” He tilted his head. “That’s the plan, anyway. We’ll see if it becomes reality or not.”

“And what sort of industries are you attracting?”

“Green-power companies, technology, and we even have several movie studios that are setting up shop here. The film industry in India, as you know, is tremendously popular. And Hyderabad’s climate is well suited to movies and TV. Tollywood they call our small niche.”

“Does Dunraj have his hand in everything that goes on in the city?”

“To a certain extent,” Pradesh said. “He prefers not to be seen as a power player, but he is one. His role is often in the background. He comes from a very old family. One with its own past and characters. But he is something of a maverick and he likes that role. He’s the last of his family line, though, so sometimes he can get a bit…interesting.”

“I don’t understand,” Annja said.

“You will.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to meeting him. If only to thank him for his impeccable taste.”

Pradesh eyed her. “I think perhaps he is looking forward to meeting you even more.”

“He must be,” Frank said from behind them. “That dress makes Annja look like a knockout.”

Annja took a breath and let it out slowly. “Frank, do me a favor, will you?”

“Sure thing.”

“Don’t talk like that tonight. All right? This is an important function, judging by what Pradesh is telling us. And if things go well, we’ll be able to work here without hassle. But if things don’t go well, then we’ll face all sorts of complications, which I’m not a big fan of. So remember that every time you speak tonight. What you say will have a direct impact on your future. Trust me.”

“Okay, Annja.” Frank sighed. “I get it.”

Pradesh pointed ahead of the car. “You see that building?”

“You mean the tower with the lights?”

“That is Dunraj’s corporate headquarters. From there, he oversees his rather extensive empire of business interests.”

“That building must have cost him a fortune,” Annja said. “You weren’t joking about his personal wealth, huh?”

Pradesh nodded. “At the time, it was the most expensive building construction project in all of Hyderabad. Something along the lines of what you might see in Dubai, I’d imagine.” He shrugged. “But Dunraj was determined to see it built and ended up sinking massive amounts of his own money in to fund it and make sure he finished by the deadline he’d set.”

“It’s quite a nice design,” Annja said. She hoped Pradesh didn’t take her next question the wrong way, but she wanted to get a handle on her unexpected benefactor. “Is this Dunraj guy married?”

“He is Hyderabad’s most eligible bachelor. No woman in the city has attracted him enough to settle down yet. Although they all try. My, do they try. And since he is, as I said, the last of his family, I believe the pressure is on him to settle produce an heir.”

“Interesting.” Annja suddenly felt exposed in the dress.

Pradesh pulled the Mercedes into the outer parking area and stopped before the guard shack. He flashed his credentials and the car was waved through. Carefully manicured orange trees framed the road.

“Does he make his own orange juice, too?” Annja asked absently. She wouldn’t be surprised if the guy had his own orange-juice label. He seemed to have a lot of projects under way.

Pradesh smiled. “There is very little that Dunraj is not able to do. I have no doubt if he thought orange juice was worth his time he would capture the majority market share in the city. And from there, the rest of the country.”

Annja glanced back over the seat at Frank. “Are you all right back there?”

“Yeah.”

Pradesh slowed the car. “We’re here.”

Annja took one final glance at Frank. “All right, penguin boy, let’s see how smooth you can be when the stakes are high.”