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Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. PART ONE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. PART TWO
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. PART THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. EPILOGUE
  61. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  62. BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE

“What’s your business here in Poona, Dan?” Chhotu asked once he’d climbed back into his hanging chair after dinner. I eyed the chains suspending the seat from the ceiling and hoped they could bear the weight.

I had no idea what Willy had told him, but I wasn’t interested in constructing a big lie. Instead, I kept it simple, the same way he and Willy had described their business.

“I’m a journalist for UNI. I’m doing some background work for a story.”

For all I cared, Willy could tell him about the bomber. But I didn’t want to have the conversation with this swine. Yeah, if Sush considered him a swine, I wasn’t going to disagree. This guy threw off the stink of a child molester with an ice cream truck.

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SUNDAY, JULY 13, 1975, 11:51 P.M.

“Tell me, Dan. What’s your game?” asked Chhotu once Willy had dozed off. Sushmita had dragged herself away an hour earlier, unwilling to socialize with the new houseguest.

“Sorry?”

“Come, old chap. You can tell me. Are you in it for the free liquor and the company? Or is there something more?”

“Go to hell,” I said.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled at me from his perch in the swing chair. “Gloves are off, eh?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

MONDAY, JULY 14, 1975, 12:37 A.M.

Sush came to me after midnight, as the rain lashed at the windowpanes. I worried about Chhotu, but once we’d locked the door and switched off the light, I forgot everything except the present. Her scent, her silken skin, her breath, and bite on my neck. We kept our voices down. The world and its problems—mine, India’s, Sushmita’s—none of those mattered. Who cared what banks failed in Yonkers? With apologies to the Gershwins, all I could see was Sushmita. To hell with everything else, starting with that swine Chhotu. And Willy Smets second.

I put those thoughts aside. How could I stop time and make the night last? The morning would come soon enough. I’d have to make a new excuse to Frank Muller for why I was AWOL, and Sushmita would have to put on her mask again. Pretend she loved Willy. Pretend I was only a friend to her.

She rose from the bed, kissed me, and stroked my cheek. I tried to decipher the sadness in her eyes, peer into her soul and understand what emotions were tormenting her. But all I could see was trouble, worry, and uncertainty. Then she wrapped herself in her robe, slipped out the door, and melted into the darkness of the hallway.

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MONDAY, JULY 14, 1975, 8:09 A.M.