The new Sultan—older, fatter, but twice as paranoid—sat in his penthouse, watching a live feed of a midnight race organized by his lieutenants. The prize: a briefcase with enough uncut diamonds to buy a small country. The real purpose: to flush out Badini.
He didn’t pass her. He feinted. A violent swerve made her brake, and he used the half-second of hesitation to slip into the gap between her Porsche and a fuel tanker. Rani’s rear bumper clipped a concrete divider, sending her spinning. Badini was gone. fast and furious badini
Badini survived by a miracle, his face scarred by melted upholstery, his right hand a claw of fused knuckles. He vanished. And now, he was back. The new Sultan—older, fatter, but twice as paranoid—sat
And flush him out, they did.
He didn’t cross the finish line. He took the off-ramp that led directly to Sultan’s underground garage. He didn’t pass her
"Bulletproof glass, Sultan," Badini said, his voice a low rasp through a busted window. "Your elevator. Your penthouse. But your garage? That’s not bulletproof. And this briefcase? It’s not diamonds." He kicked the supposed prize out of his passenger seat. It clicked open. Inside was not jewels, but a fuel-air bomb he’d built from Vik’s old racing notebooks.
The last thing Sultan saw on his monitor was Badini walking calmly toward the elevator, as the floor behind him turned into a geyser of white-hot fire.