"If I survive tonight," Sunny said, "I'm going to have to do a lot of groveling to my wife."

Naira looked over at him and said, "Yes, I think you are. She's a fiery one, and you've just left your house with another woman and without her."

He glanced at her quickly before turning his eyes back to the road in front of him. They were on the Queensborough Bridge, heading back to the house he'd visited only a little more than a week ago, having a nice dinner with what he'd thought had been an ordinary South Asian family. He shook his head at his own stupidity; he'd thought Birinder had something to do with the disappearance of the very woman sitting in the passenger seat of his Prius, when all along she was seeing him on the side, while Birinder's second wife might be involved with the very organization that was after her. 

He wasn't alone in his error, though, and at least he hadn't paid for it; Jordan had approached him because he'd been looking for Naira, and now Jordan was dead, murdered because Naira knew too much about the organization and what they wanted to do with the technology they helped create, while the man he thought had been the cause of Naira's disappearance was also in the hands of the people that murdered Jordan. He felt he owed it to Jordan, and to the cosmos, to help Birinder and stop any more people from dying.

"I don't think I had any other choice," he replied. "Do you?"

Naira shrugged and said, "Probably not, unless you were willing to loan me your car. I do appreciate you coming with me, though, even if it's just to have another set of eyes looking out for me."

It was funny, but he'd never considered letting her go alone, with his car or without. "She'll kill you if anything happens to me," he said. "I just thought you should know."

"Duly noted."

"What do you think is going to happen tonight?" he asked.

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Do you think she'll talk to you?"

Naira patted her purse. "I have ways of persuading her."

"You know if we go to the house, your ex in-laws will be there, right? Do you want them to see you threatening their current daughter-in-law with a gun?"

Naira sighed in frustration. "Your calm logic is really starting to get on my nerves, you know that?"

"What if I talked to her first?"

Naira looked at him and said, "What?"

"I knock on the door, you stay out of sight but ready to act. She answers, or the in-laws answer, and I ask for Birinder. I read Naira's reaction--"

"Don't call her that. She has to have an alias now, something from that previous life of hers, like your friend told you." Before they'd left, he'd told her what Rachel had told him.

"I read Mrs. Sandhu's reaction," he corrected. "She'll have no choice but to say he's not there. I'll ask her when the last time she saw him was, and she'll have to say it was sometime today, because I talked to him earlier and she knows it. I'll express concern, ask where he went; maybe I'll tell her we'd discussed the police's interest in him, and that I'd asked him to speak with his lawyer again, and he should have been back by now. She'll either have to reassure me she's not worried, that she's sure he'll be back soon, or she'll show that she's worried, and then I'll suggest she call the police and file a missing persons report, which is probably the last thing she wants to do. Then she'll either call the police, or she'll come clean about what's really going on."

Naira was silent a moment before saying, "I'm not as confident in your sequence of events as you are. She could just keep lying and say he called her and said he had to go somewhere else. She seems to be quite an accomplished liar, if what your friend says is true; she's been playing a part for Birinder for at least a year. Her primary goal is going to be sending you away as quickly as possible, because she doesn't want Birinder's parents to know you're there and making noise about their son's whereabouts. I may need to spring out with gun drawn just as she's trying to close the door in your face."

"Jesus, I hope that won't be necessary. There could be neighbours on the street, we don't want to draw any attention."

Crane Place was as quiet as it had been when Al and Rachel had been staking it out while Sunny and his family had been inside. It was quite late, and it was a cul-de-sac, so that was probably why. He pulled up in front of the Sandhu house and parked the car. "Did you see anything suspicious as we drove in?" he asked, because he noticed she was scanning the street.

"Nothing," she said, "but that doesn't mean no one's waiting around the back. I might do a quick check before you knock on the door."

"Good idea." 

They climbed out, and Sunny felt rather exposed while Naira crept around the back, as the motion sensor light clicked on, illuminating him in the driveway. He stood there for quite some time, and he was beginning to wonder if Naira hadn't run into trouble back there, and whether he should get out of motion sensor range before a neighbour noticed him and called the cops, thinking he was casing the joint, when Naira emerged from the other side, holding her pistol low and close to herself. She gave Sunny a thumbs up, and he took that as a signal that all was clear around the back, and he could approach the front door with confidence.

He stood at the front door, feeling awkward. It was quite late, much too late for a social call, and he didn't want to alarm the elder Sandhus, but here they were, and they needed answers if they were going to help their son. This was assuming he and Naira had any chance of finding him and freeing him. They had one gun between the two of them, and he was sure wherever Birinder was, he was being guarded by more than two people, probably with more firepower.

He rang the doorbell and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

He looked to Naira peeking around the side of the house. She shrugged. He shrugged. He rang the doorbell again. Were they all out? Were they already asleep and not answering the door?

Finally the door opened, and Birinder's father stood there, in a kurta hastily thrown over his nightclothes, his hair bound loosely in a patka. He'd obviously been in bed when Sunny rang the doorbell, and he was staring blearily at him, looking confused. "Mr. Parhar?" he asked. "What are you doing here at this time of night?"

"Forgive me, Sandhuji," he said, bowing. "I was hoping I could talk to Naira."

"Naira?" he asked in surprise. "She's not here. That's why I had to come to the door."

"And Birinder? He isn't here either?"

He shook his head. "He told me he had to see his lawyer, but he should have been home by now. Maybe Naira is out with him? They never tell me when their plans change. Just because our children grow up doesn't mean we stop worrying about them. I hope you don't give your parents this much grief, Mr. Parhar."

Sunny thought of the grief he'd just given his parents, going off with a woman he barely knew, and decided not to answer, but he felt like he had to say something; already their plan had collapsed like a thinned-out Jenga tower, and he didn't think he should just wish the elder Sandhu goodnight and go home.

"Would you happen to have Naira's phone number?" he asked.

Mr. Sandhu blinked at him in incredulity. "Why this urgency to talk to her? This isn't proper, Mr. Parhar. My son wouldn't appreciate his wife being contacted by another man at this time of night."

"I understand your concern, Sandhuji, but it's your son I'm worried about."

He blinked in surprise. "Birinder? Why are you worried about him?"

"Because your daughter-in-law is not the woman you think she is," Naira said, stepping out of the shadows and into the light of the doorway. To Sunny's relief, she'd put away her gun.

Mr. Sandhu stared at her for a moment as if he'd never seen her before, and then his eyes widened. "Naira? What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in years." 

"Forgive me, Sandhuji, but it would take too long to explain right now. What we can tell you is that Birinder might be in danger, and his wife might be at least partly responsible for his predicament. If we could just talk to her, even on the phone, and find out where she is, maybe we can help her, or at least help your son."

Mr. Sandhu stood staring at them for another moment, and then said, "Wait here."

He left them there on the doorstep, looking at each other. Sunny shrugged. She shrugged, and looked out on to the street, keeping an eye out for any threats. He didn't ask her where she put her gun.

After a couple of minutes, Mr. Sandhu reemerged with a small address book. Sunny smiled, remembering when he still depended on address books and rolodexes to keep all of his contacts' information organized. Now he didn't know what he would do if he ever lost his phone, because it kept everything he used to keep on paper in its solid state memory, with tons of memory to spare.

Mr. Sandhu paged to the entry for his daughter-in-law's phone and read out the number. Sunny input the digits into his own phone. "Thank you, Sandhuji," he said.

"Would you call her now?" Mr. Sandhu asked. "You have me worried about my son."

"Of course." He pressed call.

"Do not tell her her father-in-law gave you her number," Naira said, "in case she asks."

He nodded distantly, because Naira's voice was in one ear and the ringing of the phone was in his other. He put his finger to his lips to silence the other two when the phone was picked up.

"Hello?" Naira nee Bains asked hesitantly.

"Naira?" Sunny said.

"Who's calling?"

"This is Sunny Parhar here."

Silence for a moment, then, "Oh. Hello."

"How are you?"

"Um... fine? I'm sorry, but how did you get this number?"

He had to think fast, remembering Naira's warning. "I... had your card. You know, from the Open House where we first met you."

"Uh-huh..." she said hesitantly, and Sunny just remembered hers hadn't been on the table at the front door, just Birinder's. She didn't call him on it, though. "May I ask why you're calling, Sunny? It's quite late."

Again, he was at a loss as to how to answer her without raising suspicion. "I... heard from my friend Lauren tonight," he said. "You came to visit her and my other friend Al in the hospital. I wanted to call and thank you."

He saw Naira's frown and Mr. Sandhu's eyes widen in surprise. He didn't know about that, apparently. Already his preconceptions about his daughter-in-law were changing.

"Oh. Uh, okay," Naira nee Bains said, sounding bemused. She was probably doing her own mental gymnastics at the moment, wondering if Sunny was going to ask her how she knew they were there, and how she would answer if he did. "Couldn't that have waited until the morning, though?"

"My apologies, I wanted to call you before I forgot, and I should have considered how late it was."

"Well... it's nice that you called to thank me. Your friend Lauren didn't seem so appreciative; I don't think she likes me very much, even though she barely knows me."

"Well, she doesn't understand seva like I do, not being Sikh. You took time out of your day for people you barely know, and I appreciate that."

She was silent for a moment. Then, to his surprise, her voice was heavy when she said, "Thank you. You understand what it's like to live Khalsa, unlike my own husband, who only seems to care about himself and his needs."

"Birinder?" he said, surprised. "Did something happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, maybe I misunderstood. The way you talked, I thought perhaps you might have left him." He almost added seeing as you're away from home so late, but remembered just in time he wasn't supposed to know this.

"Oh!" Naira said with a trill, as if the idea were laughable. "No, that's not what I meant. He's here with me, but because I've discovered he's been a naughty boy, I'm considering a more satisfactory punishment for him. Leaving him would be too easy on him, don't you think?"

Sunny was glad Birinder's father couldn't hear what his daughter-in-law was saying right now, or he might have panicked. As it was, he looked frightened at Sunny's mention of her leaving his son. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't understand. What's he done?"

"Why, he's been cheating on me with his ex-wife, who, as it happens, is also named Naira. Isn't that a weird coincidence? It's almost like he has a fixation with the name, like it was a make of car, and he traded in the last model for me, except he wasn't really done with the last model. Does that make sense?"

"Uh..." He looked to the previous model standing beside him, who was looking at him expectantly. "I'm sorry to hear that, Naira. You don't deserve that."

"No! No, I don't! I helped him build his business! I was a good wife! If he wasn't done with his ex, why did he divorce her?"

"Yes, I agree."

"Yes. You do understand, don't you. You're a good man, Sunny. You were good to Birinder, listening to him yabber on about the drones, getting him in touch with a lawyer when the cops came sniffing around. You were practising seva yourself, because you barely knew us either. In fact, it was at that Open House where I met you and your friends. It seems so long ago now, but it was just a couple of weeks, wasn't it?"

"Yes, you're right."

"You're kind of cute for an older guy," she went on. Sunny flinched at the older guy remark. He wasn't that much older than her. "I wonder what Birinder would think if I went off with you while he was at home waiting for me. Not that you'd ever take me up on my offer, because you're a good, faithful man, I bet, and anyway your wife is gorgeous... fucking Birinder, offering her a place in his firm, right in front of me! You should be glad she didn't accept; he would have been all over her, and then she'd probably sue him for sexual harassment..."

"Naira, are you all right?" he asked, tugging at his collar. He didn't want to blush in front of Mr. Sandhu, who would probably faint if he heard what his daughter-in-law was saying.

"Yeah, sure, why do you ask?" she said, but her tone was a little manic, and he was worried.

"It's just... you're angry, and rightly so, but you say Birinder is there with you... has he been listening to everything you're saying?"

"Oh, yeah, but don't worry about him. He's not in any condition to retaliate."

Sunny's stomach dropped. "Is he all right?"

"Yes. For now."

"Naira," he said, as if he were talking to a growling dog, "I would like to come see you, you and Birinder. I want to see if both of you are all right, and I'd like to talk it all over with you. I work in family law, you know, and I know how life-changing divorce can be. Maybe I can help you get out from under this marriage with your dignity intact. The best revenge, as they say, is living well."

She barked a laugh into the phone, and he had to pull it away an inch so his eardrum didn't ring. "That may be true," she said, "but there are a few things you don't know, and I can't just walk away and start over again."

"Enlighten me," he said. "What don't I know?"

She sighed, and he thought she sounded exhausted. "It's too much to get into over the phone. Suffice to say, there's nothing you can do to improve my situation. It's late, and I shouldn't take any more of your time--"

He knew she was going to hang up on him soon, but he didn't know how to keep her on the phone. "Wait, Naira, hold on--" he began.

Then Naira snatched the phone out of his hand. "Naira," she said. "This is your namesake."

Sunny stared at her, dumbfounded, as she calmly had a conversation with the woman who was both her rival and her replacement. It was surreal, really; their common name had caused so much confusion in the beginning of this case, and now here they were, talking to each other, probably for the first time. It was almost like watching someone speak with their mirror image, even though they looked nothing like each other.

"Yes, I'm here with Sunny," she said. "Yes, you're right, Bir's a shit, but it's not entirely his fault. "

Sunny heard the other Naira yelling at her through the phone. Naira flinched but kept her composure. "Yes, I do take my share of the blame," she said. She listened to more yelling, and then said, "Being angry at him is no reason to do anything drastic, Naira. I'm a police officer, and I could arrest you for making those kinds of threats."

Mr. Sandhu gasped and reached for Naira's arm. Naira waved him off, holding a finger up to assure him she would handle this. 

Sunny didn't hear what the other Naira said next, but Naira smiled like a lioness would smile upon seeing a gazelle drinking at a water hole. "Oh, yes?" she said. "And what do you know about me and my career? And who told you that, I'd like to know? Oh, yes? And how would you have been in a position for them to tell you? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Are they with you now? Fine. Tell me where you are, and I'll come to you. I'm the one they want, anyway." She listened some more, and nodded. "Fine. I'm on my way."

And just like that, she hung up.

"Naira, what did you do?" Sunny asked.

She didn't answer him, but addressed Mr. Sandhu instead. "Sandhuji, call nine-one-one, tell them there's a hostage situation at the following address."

She began to recite it, but Mr. Sandhu said, "Hold on, let me write it down. Do you have a pen?"

Naira fumbled in her purse and brought one out. He took it and wrote it in the address book in which he'd found the other Naira's number.

"Tell them Birinder Sandhu, a person of interest in a homicide case, is being held hostage by his wife, who's the real murderer."

"What?!" Sunny squawked.

"I'll tell you later. We have to go."

"Where are we going?"

"To them, of course, but I'm hoping Maria and the New West Police will come as backup."

"Why don't you call Maria while I drive. She'll have to believe us now that we have an active situation."

Naira nodded and turned to Mr. Sandhu. "We'll be in touch as soon as we find something out, Sandhuji."

He put a hand on her arm and said, "Please, bring him back to me. If you ever loved my son, please, don't let him come to harm."

She nodded. "I did love him, and I still do, in my own limited way. I will do my best, Sandhuji. Have faith."

He nodded. "I will pray all night for your success."

"Go. Call them now." She waved and headed for the car.

Sunny bowed to him and said, "Sat sri akaal ji." It was not the greeting Amritdhari Sikhs used for each other, but in this context he thought it was appropriate, because it was known in some circles as the Sikh war cry, and he felt like he was heading into war.

They climbed back into the Prius, and as he pulled away, Naira used his phone to call Goncalves. 

"Hey, girl, it's me," she said. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Listen, I know I haven't told you a lot but there's a good reason for it."

He tried to listen to their conversation, but driving took a lot of his attention, and as they drove down Ewen Avenue, he noticed a large black pickup truck heading in the opposite direction. At first he didn't think anything of it, but then he noticed in the rear view mirror that the truck had screeched to a stop, which would have been unsafe during the day, and made a three point turn to head in the direction they were driving.

"Maria, listen!" Naira said. "Something's about to go down, something big. A nine-one-one call is going to come in. A hostage situation over at..." She gave her the address and directions. "You're going to want to get over there. Yeah, Birinder Sandhu, you know him? He's a person of interest in the murder of Jordan Trevelyan. He's my ex. Yeah, I know it's crazy, but you'll see why. He's being held hostage by some pretty bad dudes. Get as many cops as you can over there, because it's gonna get ugly."

Sunny saw the truck coming up in his rear view mirror.

Oh, shit, he thought. It's Lauren all over again.

Except they were heading on to the Queensborough Bridge, and the consequences of a crash on the bridge were potentially more devastating. And if they went off the bridge... well, it would be game over, wouldn't it?

Thanks for reading this far! Finally, the two Nairas make contact! Sunny's headed for trouble, and who's in that big truck that's following them? You'll need to read on to find out. If you liked what you just read, hit "Vote" and send this title up the ranks. If I made any cultural errors, leave a comment and let me know; I strive for authenticity.

Before we get to the final confrontation, let's finish the flashbacks by clicking on "Continue reading."