Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 65: What They're After

“What’s going on?” Parth frowned as he looked at Shehnaaz. “What are you trying to say, exactly?”

Shehnaaz thought about it, and decided that her close friends deserved an explanation. It was their right to know the truth.

“Come inside, I have something to say.” Shehnaaz turned to enter her room. Inside, she said to her roommates,

“Green Tea Sharma, Lady Singh, Little Temptress – I have something to tell you.”

Shehnaaz’s three roommates and Parth gathered around her. They looked at her curiously.

Shehnaaz took a deep breath, and began by describing the strange symbols she had seen. She followed this with the black SUV and sniper rifle, things she had learned from Brother Rao. Finally, she brought up the predicament they were in: no phone signal, no internet connection, and no working landlines…

“We lucked out when Class Two practically extorted left wing from us. I just hope they’re smart enough to get
through this.” Shehnaaz got out her phone and used a drawing app to show the others the concentric circles she
had seen.

Her three roommates and Parth were absolutely dumbfounded. They looked at each other, and asked, dubiously, “…How do you know what a sniper rifle case looks like?”

“One of my distant relatives is a soldier. He has a sniper rifle case, exactly like the one the man was carrying.” Shehnaaz did not tell them that she had gotten the information from Brother Rao. Her intricate platinum floral earrings flashed in a
brilliant arc under the light as she calmly turned her head.

She had been with Sidharth for six years; if there was one thing she had learned from him, it was how to remain calm and composed. “Aren’t you all worried?”

“Worried? What about?” Little Temptress asked as she carefully arranged her hair. “I’m more worried about the internet connection. I have to get online so I can check Weibo.”

“Yeah, why should we be worried? Okay, so maybe someone’s up to no good. What’s that got to do with us?”
Parth did not understand; he put on his gold-rimmed glasses, and asked, “Aren’t you overthinking it?”

“How very magnanimous of you all.” Shehnaaz was absolutely perplexed by their non-reaction; she walked around the other four as she said, “You guys are either wealthy heirs or have parents in high places. Have your families never warned you that the world is full of dangers?”

Parth suddenly realized what she was saying. The blood immediately drained from his lean, fair face. “You think it’s us they’re after?! How dare they!”

Wealthy heirs were always at risk of being kidnapped. It was their greatest fear.

It was true that kidnappers only wanted money, but it was also true that many of them would not hesitate to kill their hostage after getting what they wanted.

The Patel's were bigwigs in C City; as a general rule, no one dared to mess with them, not inside C City. This was why Parth had never had bodyguards with him when he was inside the city.

But he was always surrounded by bodyguards whenever he had to step outside of C City.

Shehnaaz and Brother Rao had deduced the bandits’ intentions using nothing more than common sense: if Shehnaaz wasn’t the target, then it was only logical to assume that the bad guys were after her wealthy classmates.

Shehnaaz had the utmost confidence in Sidharth. He had protected her well; no one had realized that she was more than just an “ordinary citizen.” She was therefore absolutely certain that she wasn’t the target.