Death and Dishonor

by Abhimanyu Saxena

  Four goons came out of it, two of whom I shot with the rifle. Two others were hitting my driver. I cocked and aimed the rifle at them, but nothing happened except a click sound when I squeezed the trigger.

  “Yeah, it jams sometimes,” he said, taking more blows from the goons.

  “Thanks for letting me know,” I shouted. I threw the rifle in our car and just as they were gearing up to execute him, I ran to the front of our car and slid across the hood to kick one of the guys in the chest.

  As he staggered, I managed to knock out the other guy with multiple blows. Then I picked up the first guy and smashed his head to one of the SUV’s windows.

  “Let’s go,” I said. I helped the stranger into the passenger seat and got into the driver’s seat myself.

  “Help me with the directions,” I said and drove off.

  We drove for about five kilometers to a junkyard still in the outskirts, but I guessed that we were closer to Greater Noida. It seemed very vast as I drove along the length of it, filled with piles of junk and few of what looked like rusty broken car crushers. It looked abandoned to me as we were nearing the entrance gate.

  He grabbed my arm when we reached the entrance.

  “Take the route exactly as I tell you, there are traps set all over here,” I drove carefully past the entrance as two warehouses came into view, these being much smaller than Ajeet’s, which had the capacity of holding a whole factory floor.

  These were average capacity, one half in size than the other, and were probably used as storage units when functional. Now they just looked damaged and battered, windows shattered, their iron borders heavily rusted.

  “Welcome to my one of many hidden abodes,” he announced to the air as he swung the door open which creaked a little. I call it, “The Bunker.”

  My mouth hung open, seeing the lavish scene inside which was totally unpredictable after seeing the terrible state outside.

  “Whoa! You have got some serious wealth,” I exclaimed.

  It was a fine piece of modular work with six equal sized square rooms attached to each other. He had built a little home for himself complete with a master bedroom, kitchen, a room full of electronic and surveillance equipment with the latest state of the art systems, adding even a Jacuzzi after that.

  He smirked at my reaction.

  He took me to a least fascinating room where there was a table with two chairs, one battered desk having some drawers and radio, some documents and stationary littered on top of it. There was an Intel board which was filled from end to end and strangely had Aditi’s pictures too. There was even a mini-fridge here. He walked up to the desk and said, “This place might not feel welcome, but it sure can protect you.”

  “Are you kidding me? How could this pad not feel welcome?” I asked, puzzled.

  I was looking around and wondering different things like how could someone make a home out of warehouse offices and what traps could be set to protect us when a blinding pain rushed through my head as somebody hit me with something on the back of my head.

  I stumbled down onto the ground and turned back to see my new acquaintance holding a gun to me.

  “What the hell?”

  “Do you think I don’t know you Arjun?” His eyes narrowed.

  He brought the gun closer to me, “You hurt Aditi-”

  “No, I would never do something to her, she meant the world to me. I didn’t kill her. I tried to save her, but I was too late-”

  “Even if you are telling the truth,” he lowered the gun and started pacing around me, “She was already doomed when she followed you into your path. Arjun Rathore, the legendary cop, always looking for trouble.”

  He came back and touched the tip of the gun barrel to my forehead, “She followed you because she loved you, but did you love her back? Have you ever given anything to her except tears?”

  ‘NO!’ I thought to myself. Thinking about her made those horrible visions race through my head again.

  I opened my eyes to find tears in them while my acquaintance sat on the floor in front of me, observing me.

  “Yes, you are right, I haven’t exactly been the source of happiness for Aditi. I didn’t treat her like I should have,” I got up, “But I will avenge her, I will get her the justice she deserves. I will kill that bastard Ajeet for this heinous crime, and I will find out who is behind this conspiracy of setting me up.”

  “Wait a minute, Ajeet killed her?”

  “Yes, I heard it myself. Aditi had called me when he was torturing her.”

  “That bastard. Had I known earlier that I came to pick up her killer, I would have choked his throat out.”

  The guy had got up as well. I grabbed hold of his shoulders, “I don’t know how you know Aditi, but I presume that you and she might have been close. I need all the help. If you care for her as much as I did, you will help me. You have many resources which will be very helpful to both of us. We can fight and end this together.”

  He put down the gun on the table, “You know I always wanted to meet you. Aditi’s new friend whom she won’t stop talking about,” he chuckled. “But I never got the chance to meet you.”

  I had a grave expression on my face. He came up to me and said, “I am Akshay, Aditi’s brother. Yes, her own blood who had also failed her. If I could just have been there for her, maybe tried to help her. I could have saved her.”

  “What? Uh, don’t blame yourself,” I started, “You couldn’t have known. I should be blamed. I knew right from that moment when she was in danger, but I couldn’t get to her on time. It is all on me.”

  After a weird silence, I asked, “Why didn’t she or your parents ever told me about you?”

  “You met her in higher secondary, did you not?”

  “Yes, a year before our final year in school.”

  “You know Aditi and I were kind of twins. We were just a few hours apart. I was in the same school as her. The school was awesome with your kickass sister being in the same class.”

  He continued, “It started when I had entered higher secondary. It was a good feeling entering the senior years. You enter a time when you start to perceive things as cool; there are a variety of feelings coursing through you about different things. You start to own things and show and boast to people that you own it, like a cool cell-phone, a new watch, a fast bike. I picked up a different hobby. I started stealing those cool stuff.”

  “You turned kleptomaniac?” I enquired.

  “I wouldn’t relate it to that term. I don’t get urges to steal; I see it as a thrill, to steal an expensive item right from their grasp without them even knowing, the item which would otherwise be impossible to steal.”

  He sighed, “But I wasn’t good at it then. I was caught twice, and the school told Mom and Dad on my second attempt. It was awful, and my parents were very ashamed of me. They scolded me for weeks; then they decided to send me to boarding school so that I could be disciplined. It was a very sad time for Aditi as we were a team, and we were being separated. She still believed that it was not me, that I had lost my way due to the stress of higher classes. She talked to our parents for days, trying to make them change their decision, but they didn’t. As for me, I was just shocked that this was leading to such a drastic decision, overturning my whole life. Everyone had already got back their things which I had stolen. I did not understand back then.”

  “I started to get it when I used to come back for holidays. I heard my parents talk about you that you were a very good kid, hit with tragedy at such a young age. It was like they had got a second son to care for. I expressed my interest in meeting you, following which Dad just changed the subject. He was never the same with me, one day I was his son who made him proud which had just changed to a stranger in the house for him. Mom never changed, she kept giving me love, making my favorite dishes and caring for me. Aditi’s love for me didn’t change as well. Anyway, coming back to you, you were becoming a part of the family, but I didn’t know you. It was like they were deliberate
ly keeping us apart.”

  “Beer?” he offered.

  “Sure,” I took the can from his hand and opened it.

  “Then that wretched day arrived in my final school term when I was home for New Year’s Eve. You were to come, and I demanded to meet you, but I felt hesitance.”

  He took a huge gulp of beer, “I created a ruckus at home and in my tantrum, Aditi let out that I can’t see you because you didn’t even know that I existed. Our dear Dad, being so pleased to get a perfect Son forgot that he had a real, imperfect one. He had forbidden Aditi and Mom to ever tell you about me, saying that you had already witnessed tragedy in your life. You need not be a part of this too.”

  “But I never came that day. Aditi texted me saying that her Mom was feeling sick and that her Dad was taking care of her, so we celebrated that night at another friend’s place. I remembered her crying in the middle of the party, and it was like she didn’t even want to be there.”

  “Yeah, Mom went sick all right. That night you missed me having a rough argument with Dad. You missed him saying that he was ashamed to call me his Son, knowing that I was a thief. You missed me leaving my home forever, leaving my Mom and sister in tears. I have only seen my sister since then.”

  I was shocked to hear all this. I didn’t even know what to say to him.

  “I am really sorry that you had to go through that, Akshay. I am finding it really hard to believe that the family that treated me like their own could keep such a big part of it hidden from me. Aditi loved me and cared for me so much that we shared everything among us, but still how could she keep this from me.”

  “It was not her fault; she just never went against Dad. Anyway, I had left those aspects behind. I had not stopped being a thief at my boarding school, and I was getting good at it. After I left home, I started seeing this as a job and enjoyed it. Soon people recognized my skills and started hiring me to steal stuff. This job made me pick up other useful things too, which I got good at.”

  “Like murder?” I asked, looking at his stash of some guns lying hidden beneath the desk.

  “These?” he pointed at them, “I sell them sometimes, but yeah, I have killed people, but only those who deserved it.”

  “You get to judge that?”

  “No, their record does, I do my homework,” he replied. I scoffed lightly. A grave silence followed in which we finished our beers.

  He looked at me, “I was broken up when Aditi died, and it was like a part from me was torn apart. I had a hunch that you didn’t kill her, but I didn’t know that Ajeet did.”

  “I heard the bastard’s voice with my own ears. Aditi had called me from her cell-phone before it all started so that I would find her.”

  “Look, she followed in your footsteps so I do blame you but I would help you because I want justice for my sister. I want those sons of bitches to pay. It is true that I can arrange resources that will aid us, but they cost money which I wouldn’t get now as this job ran into shit. You might not believe seeing the stuff I have, but I did run out of money some time ago.”

  “You have something in mind?”

  “I can look for something, but you have to help me.”

  “I am ready for anything that opens the way for us.”

  “Fine, I will get in touch, there is a navy blue Indica outside, you can take it. Stash it in a parking lot where it won’t draw attention. I will see you when I see you.”

  ~*~

  Pratap saw Zayed enter the station with a group of officers and made an announcement.

  “One of my informants tell me that Arjun was seen near Noida just an hour ago. Ravikant, take a group of officers and work with UP Police to find him. They already know that you would be arriving. When you do find him, call me at once and don’t approach unless I get there. Remember that he is still very dangerous. Keep a close watch on him till I get there and don’t lose him. Let’s catch him fast people before he could cause more damage.”

  Ravikant rallied up a dozen officers, and they started making their way towards the Armory. Zayed took a seat at his desk and sifted through some paperwork. Pratap reached Zayed and cleared his throat.

  “Are you sure about his whereabouts?”

  “Yes, I am confident.”

  Pratap feared he might be right and they might be closing in on Arjun. He needed more time to investigate the setup from his side. He had to know every progress they might be making to catch Arjun.

  “Okay, keep me informed. I want regular updates on this case.”

  “Because he is your friend?”

  Pratap turned and looked back at him sternly.

  “Why? Did I touch a nerve? You two have quite a history I heard. You were close.”

  Pratap was trying very hard not to lose it, “Choose your next words wisely, officer.”

  Zayed chuckled lightly, then picked up the pile of paperwork and stood up, “With due respect, Sir, I know you are the ACP, and you feel the need for me to update you, but I have been asked to report directly to our Deputy Commissioner for the sensitivity of this case. Also, I have enough experience to say that you and Arjun would never have my respect because I know you would never be as good as he was, and he, well he turned out to be a criminal.”

  He left with his paperwork and headed upstairs, leaving Pratap questioning his superiority.

  Pratap entered his home late in the night, after a few drinks at the bar. He saw that Neha was sleeping and slumped on the couch. Then he got up and took out an old photo album after he had poured in another drink. He started glancing through the pictures of his college time with Arjun, laughing lightly at some pictures. They were good times when there were no life-threatening worries, and the only thrill was the adventure with friends, and the only dread were the approaching exams.

  He looked up to see Neha in the bedroom doorway, observing him.

  “How long were you standing there?”

  “A few minutes,” she said, smiling, as she joined him on the couch

  “Go back to sleep, Neha. I want to be alone.”

  “Your dinner is in the fridge.”

  “Fine, I will eat it a bit later.”

  Pratap kept the album aside and took huge gulps from his glass of Scotch.

  “It has been a lifetime since you have looked this happy,” said Neha.

  “Don’t start.”

  “Huh! Start what?”

  Pratap kept the glass down, “Do you really want me to go there? Don’t start making this situation better with your whole positivity and reaching out to me.”

  “Well, it was just now. You seemed to be happy looking at the old pictures.”

  “Yes, because all the happy times are trapped in these pictures,” Pratap shouted, “But in the world today, no one is happy. Your positivity won’t work, Neha.”

  “Really, and drowning in alcohol daily, just like Arjun, would work?”

  “You will not understand, just go back to sleep. I have tried calling him numerous times, but I am unable to reach him.”

  “No, I can’t see you like this,” she touched his cheeks lovingly.

  In an attempt to get her hands off him, Pratap threw his glass hard on the center table breaking it to pieces, one of which cut Neha’s hand. Pratap rushed to get the first aid kit.

  After quietly patching her up, Pratap sat and broke down on Neha’s lap, “I am sorry, babe, but I feel so helpless these days. I know that Arjun is innocent, but the task force is closing in on him. I am grasping at straws here, and now the person in charge is undermining me saying I wouldn’t even get regular updates. Arjun might soon get behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, and it will all be because of me. He is out there counting on me, and I am fighting a losing battle here.”

  “Please don’t blame yourself, babe. You always find a way, so you will do the same for Arjun.”

  “Look at me; I am a mess. Being distant from you, fighting with you. I even hurt you today, I am a terrible person.”

  “If you were, A
rjun would have never counted on you, and I would never have loved you. I believe in you. So, you will be brave and show them that Arjun is innocent.”

  A few miles away, Rita got ready and seated.

  A man spoke, “And we are Live in 3, 2, 1,” he gave a thumbs up.

  “Welcome to the morning news. I have got an exclusive from Delhi Police that the fugitive Arjun Rathore is doing everything he can to prove that he is not innocent. As per a reliable source, the Delhi Police teamed up with the UP Police to knock down some doors in Noida last evening. They were unable to locate him, but they found two busted up cars somewhere in the middle of an access road connecting to NH 24 with several bodies shot up with an automatic rifle, shells of which were found at the scene. They have commented that Arjun’s fingerprints are all over the place.”

  “Investigations are still going on of this shootout; we will update soon as we have anything new. Meanwhile, stay safe Delhi. Onto other news...”

  W3lc0M3.bat

  Tia bit her nails anxiously. It had been an hour more than the meeting time. She was getting restless and quickly tied her hair in a neat bun. She had a jumper on and denim shorts with her round spectacles resting on her small nose.

  “Where are you Arjun?”

  She had called him but got no straight answer. The only answer that she kept receiving from him was, “I will tell you everything after meeting you.”

  She had reluctantly called him to a hostel where she was holed up, but now she was regretting it.

  “Was it a trap? It could have been Police; they could have caught Arjun and asked him to tell the names of all his accomplices.”

  “I shouldn’t have ever trusted him. After what he did to Baba –”

  Her phone rang. She quickly picked up her phone and saw Sid’s name flash on the screen.

  “Hmm, what is it?”

  “Are you alright?” Sid asked.

  “I told you not to call for small talks, disconnect the call now.”

  She looked outside her window and saw a blue Indica parked in the front. She had not seen this car earlier. ‘Tia, you are dead,’ she said to herself.