I scoffed at her. We couldn’t waste any more time here in the open. Anybody could report us, and all of our plans would turn to shit.
“If Zayed saw me, then it would not look like bullshit, and John would be out of the suspicion too.”
She punched me hard. “Are you nuts or what? I had zero hope of escaping from the church, but we managed somehow. All for this? You are not going into the jaws of death by yourself.”
“Awww someone is getting smitten by my charm. I will ask Akshay to arrange for a runner at the church. John can provide him with my clothes that I wore that day at mass when we entered the church, and he will run so that the Police notice him.”
She smiled and nodded in agreement. “And what about the cops outside the ICU?”
“You have the Doctor’s number, right? Call him from your burner, and tell him that we can only meet outside. Tell him any bullshit story, just convince him.”
“But I won’t be able to see Baba then,” the color from her face faded.
“Some other day, meeting the doctor first is important.”
After a minute, she agreed to my plan. I called Akshay and asked him to arrange a guy ASAP at the church. Then I called John, who was ecstatic on hearing my voice.
“Son, are you guys alright?”
“Yes John, it has just been a couple of days since we last saw you.”
“The place feels incomplete without you,” he added chokingly.
“Everything will be alright soon,” I replied unconvincingly.
Then I told him about the plan. He was all in agreement but just had one question in his mind.
“What if the Police catch that guy and realize that they were fooled?”
“Umm, old man, that is a very nice question. Then we play the age card, you will say that you were so traumatized after the church incident that all of the men looked like me to you.”
“Nice,” he replied with a chuckle and disconnected the call.
I looked at Tia, who was playing with a street dog. She had knelt down and was patting the canine. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Now we wait. Hopefully, it should not take much time.”
She nodded and thanked me.
“It should be me thanking you instead.”
My life was screwed up, but she was making it easier for me to get out of this shit every day. She was like my silver lining. Within a few minutes, we saw movement outside. There were a couple of cop cars who left in a hurry. I urged Tia to call the doctor and ask him to meet her outside. It took ten minutes’ worth of persuasion, but he finally agreed.
“I am waiting at the cigarette stall there. I will keep an eye out on both of you. Deal with caution.”
She nodded and hugged me. Then I crossed the road again and settled on a rusty stool near the stall.
“Chotu, one tea and a classic mild.”
As I took the first sip of the kullad tea, I saw a doctor strutting outside the front gate. I couldn’t make much of the face from this far, but he had a strong built and was around 5’9 or 5’10. He shook her hands and started talking while taking a small walk on the pavement. I almost spilled the tea on my clothes when I saw her hugging the doctor. She was jumping with joy as though she had just received the news that she was having a kid. I felt happy watching her overjoyed. I finished my cigarette and tea and waited for five minutes until their rendezvous ended. She crossed the road and jumped into my arms.
“Did he propose to you or what?”
“Vijay? Nooooo, he has already done that years ago.”
“What?” my mouth hung open with surprise.
She giggled as though nothing could stop her. “He has been trying to woo me for many years now.”
“Good for you!” I barked.
“Awwww, don’t be jealous. I never said yes!”
“Why will I be jealous?” I remarked fumingly.
This feeling was unexpected. Was I falling for her? I never felt jealous by anyone, but I sincerely hated the guts of this doctor – Vijay.
“Tell me the good news now.”
“You won’t believe it.”
“Did Baba woke up from his slumber?” I joked wittingly.
“Yes!” she replied excitedly and kissed me on the cheek.
LAWMEN
Zayed entered the room with a bottle of 100 Pipers Scotch and put it on the round center table. He picked up a glass from the bedside table and looked at a body of a man lying face down outside the bathroom while coming back. He set down the glass on the table and opened the bottle. Then he thought of something which made him pour the drink hesitantly.
“Did you want any?” he asked, then answered himself, “Nah! You shouldn’t go spiraling again. After all, you wouldn’t get them in Tihar, so you can’t afford to develop a taste again.”
I scoffed and then groaned, trying to get free from the strong knot with which my hands were tied behind my back. I was sitting down on the floor, my back against the wall and my legs were also tied.
“Don’t feel bored, buddy,” Zayed took a sip, and savored it. “You can always count down the hours till your freedom goes away.”
I looked at him angrily, then took a glance at the motionless body, and sighed.
~*~
A few hours ago...
Akshay was gone for a long time. I wondered what had happened. I had thought that the news of Tia’s father waking up would help in healing something, but it didn’t. It was as though nothing had changed. My heavy heart choked with guilt. I couldn’t change anything that had happened even if I wanted to, but I could wish for things to get better. I could only salvage what had become of my life by getting Aditi justice.
As we didn’t get anything from Patel, we were back to square one on finding out about Ali. We have been planning the next step, and I had an idea which sounded impossible when I had said it, but I was hoping to make it work.
“I am thinking; why don’t we go to the source of it all?” I had suggested.
“Where?” Akshay had asked.
“Ali’s hometown, Vindhyachal in Mirzapur,” I replied, “He was suspended there, right? Someone there ought to know some answers. Let’s pay them a visit.”
He scoffed, “Have you thought out a plan for getting out of the capital?”
I had not thought about that, which he sensed.
“No, thank you!” he waved away the idea, “We would be burned on one of those insane check posts they have set up on every highway out.”
Then, there was a pause in which I racked my brains on how to get past this insane security setup by Zayed all over the capital. Akshay broke the silence, “Let me rattle a few cages, see what I can shake out, and I will get back in a few hours.”
Arjun replied, “Just don’t get caught, man.”
I was waiting in the car when I heard a faint noise in my earpiece.
“You are alright?” I enquired hoping to get Akshay’s progress.
“It’s time that we meet.” A hoarse voice answered.
“Who is it?” I mumbled. Even though I knew who it was.
“The guy who is going to kill your friend if you don’t show up.”
The plan had backfired greatly. I could never forget his voice. Zayed, the super cop had caught Akshay.
“Hurry up, I can’t wait to cut open this pal of yours,” he shouted.
“Why should I trust you?” I asked him over the call.
“You are in no point of talking about trust. However, I just need your pansy ass. I don’t care about Akshay. If you surrender yourself to me, I will leave him.”
“I am coming” I replied.
Zayed’s chest must have swelled with pride on hearing this. “I am sending you the coordinates. Hotel Park View, room number 9.”
Now, everything was in jeopardy. I had to save Akshay, and for that, I had to surrender myself to my nemesis Zayed.
It was a long journey back to that location. There were countless checkpoints and barricades, but I managed to get
past them stealthily. There was a doubt in the back of my mind that whether all of this was worth it or not as I was going to lie in my own grave, but all this running, and fooling the Police had made my will to survive stronger. I finally reached my destination. It was a cheap hotel, and it was dimly lit. Most of the hotel rooms looked vacant. There was a Brown Duster parked outside.
‘This must be Zayed’s,’ I thought.
Without wasting any more time, I stooped down and took out an army knife out of my right sock. All it took was a wave of my hand, and both the front tires were slashed. I looked around for any other cop car or signs of Police around the Hotel, but there was none.
“I would at least make it difficult for you, Zayed.” I hissed.
My breath had turned erratic. I still had a mountain to climb – catching Ajeet, decoding “Follow your heart,” decrypting Shikha’s mobile phone, and bank footage, finding Ali, taking justice for Aditi’s murder, and clearing my name. And here I was, getting ready to be sacrificed. With shivering hands, I knocked on the door once. The wait killed me; I just wanted it to be over soon.
Zayed opened the gate, and he had a smirk on his face as he allowed me inside.
“Finally, we meet formally.”
I didn’t say anything but looked all around the room. There was a wooden chair and a small bedside table. A hand towel and a bucket of water were carefully placed on the table. Most of the space in the room was filled with a round center table as there was no bed in there. There were some ropes in one corner of the room. Zayed was in casual attire, his black leather jacket, and blue denim looked slick and meant business, but I was not here to take fashion advice from him. I was here to protect Akshay, and he was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is Akshay?”
“All in due time, let’s talk first,” he replied coolly.
I don’t know what got into me. Everything was pointing to it. I just couldn’t wait for him to unfold the cards. I swung hard and connected to his nose. He started bleeding and looked at me in complete surprise.
“You amaze me. You are here to surrender, and you are throwing your hands all over.”
I scoffed. “When everyone tries to screw you over, it is better to die fighting.”
“Everyone is right about you. You have lost your mind, killed an innocent girl, and have evaded the law so many times.”
“Don’t believe in everything that you hear.”
He bent a little towards left, and I quickly anticipated a kick or an attack from the right, but he screwed me. Within a second, he adjusted and kicked me from the left. I fell on the floor with blood spurting out of my mouth.
“Let’s end this for once and all. I am fed up of this chase.”
He threw a series of punches and kicks, and I was manhandled. I couldn’t even count the number of direct hits, and every part of my body was paining now.
“You are making a grave mistake – mistake Zayed. I am not the bad guy here.”
He scoffed. “The great cop Arjun Rathore, who can do anything to survive, be it lies or anything. I wanted to take the first strike on you. Hence, I didn’t call for any backup for now.”
I took deep breaths, and it pained every time. It was only Zayed here, if I could overpower him, and take Akshay with me then everything would be fine. I had managed to do it successfully a lot in the recent times. I needed one more. I tried to jump, and kick him square in the face, but my plan backfired. Zayed caught hold of my hand and threw me onto the tiled floor. The white tiles turned crimson with my blood. I heard a couple of ribs cracking, and what not.
ARRGGGHHHH!!
He had done his homework. I needed a miracle. It was pretty evident that I wasn’t getting one. He caught hold of my leg and rammed it forcefully on the floor. I tried to get up but hobbled my way as he had nearly broken my right leg.
“Liking it so far, Arjun?”
I wanted to reply with a sarcastic taunt, but it wouldn’t have suited me as I was busy getting my ass handed over. He leaped towards me like a maniac, and I used my last option. I quickly took out the army knife and slashed his left shoulder.
“GODDDDAMMNNNN” he shouted.
This was the opening that I had waited for. I pushed the knife in his injured shoulder and twisted it hard. “Take that bitch!”
With all his might, he pushed me aside and pulled the knife out. Blood started spurting out of the wound. “I must say that you are resourceful,” he added with a crooked smile.
I jumped towards him to topple him down once and for all, but he barged my head into the concrete wall, and I fell unconscious.
~*~
I heard some rushed sounds and felt someone’s hand on my cheek. Then the hand started tapping as I felt light slaps on my cheek. With a great effort, I opened my eyes and immediately regretted it. Zayed was glad that I had regained consciousness.
“Good morning princess!” he remarked.
I couldn’t move any body part, and everything that could have pained was paining. Zayed went outside, and came back with a bottle of 100 Pipers Scotch, and put it on the round center table. He picked up a glass from the bedside table and looked at a body of a man lying face down outside the bathroom while coming back. He set down the glass on the table and opened the bottle. He had a bandage on his shoulder where I had attacked him. Then he thought of something which made him pour the drink hesitantly.
“Did you want any?” he asked, then answered himself, “Nah! You shouldn’t go spiraling again. After all, you wouldn’t get them in Tihar, so you can’t afford to develop a taste again.”
I scoffed and then groaned, trying to get free from the strong knot with which my hands were tied behind my back. I was sitting down on the floor, my back against the wall, and my legs were also tied.
“Don’t feel bored, buddy,” Zayed took a sip, and savored it. “You can always count down the hours till your freedom goes away.”
I looked at him angrily, then took a glance at the motionless body, and sighed. It was Akshay. I was scared for a second but took a sigh of relief when I saw him breathing. It looked as if he had met the same outcome as me.
“He is alive,” Zayed replied finishing his drink in one big sip.
“How did you know that he was involved?” I asked.
Zayed laughed, “Akshay called Patel knowing that he snitched for the police, right? Do you get me now? Patel saved his ass first by reaching out to cops that Akshay was asking around for Aditi, didn’t take me long to deduce that he might be your partner in crime.” I scoffed, and he laughed.
“Arjun, let’s play a game. I have heard that you hated it in your tenure – Waterboarding.”
As soon as I heard it, I felt a little uneasy. How could I have missed that? I remembered seeing a hand towel, and a bucket of water. I hated it during the training, I never used it, but here I was on the receiving end of a brutal act.
Waterboarding is a form of water torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning.
“If you don’t want to play it, you can answer my questions.”
“I will answer them,” I replied without thinking. Anything was better than waterboarding.
“Why did you kill Aditi?”
“I didn’t kill her. She was family – why would I kill her?”
“Where is the flash drive?” he asked relentlessly.
“I don’t know anything about any flash drive.”
He scoffed. “That is the problem with smartasses like you. You think you know how to break the system. I have heard enough. Let’s water-board, baby.”
“Noooo,” I shouted.
But it was too late. He immediately placed the wet towel on my face covering my mouth and started pouring the water slowly. I felt like dying – all I could taste was water. It was one of the worst feelings I ever had.
“You know Arjun, the only concern that I have using this method is that I don’t know when to st
op pouring the water. I have killed dozens of perps because of it.”
“AHHHHHHH!!”
“You want to say something, old man?”
I nodded. He removed the cloth and barked at me to open my mouth.
“I am tel- telling the tr- truth. I am cau-caught up in all this. Someone is fr-framing me.”
“Wrong answer!”
He covered my face and started pouring the water again. I felt a huge amount of pain in my chest, and couldn’t breathe properly. This was surely it. Finally, I was getting repaid for all of my sins, and I deserved all the pain. I stopped resisting and accepted my fate. After a couple of seconds, he removed the towel again.
“Arjun, last chance.”
I took deep breaths filling my lungs with the maximum amount of oxygen that I could fathom.
“Ajeet killed her. I heard her scr-screams.”
“Lies, lies, and just lies. Let’s end this. I don’t want to capture you anymore. If you don’t want to tell me about the flash drive or your motives, you are better dead.”
“Why sho- should I trust you? For all I know, you are in cahoots with Ajeet as he had also enquired about the fl- flash drive.”
He stopped for a second analyzing my words. “If this is a story, I promise you I will make sure that you rot in hell.”
I breathed heavily. “I don’t want to live anymore. All of this running was to get justice for Aditi and clearing my name. I loved her, she was the only one who believed in me every time, and I have disappointed her. She left clues for me, and yet I failed her.”
“What kind of clues?”
I thought about it for a second whether I should divulge anything to a stranger, but he seemed like the better man who just didn’t know the truth. He would fight for the right.
“She wrote Ali on a piece of paper before dying. I tried to find him but didn’t find much. He was posted in Vindhyachal, Mirzapur. She had worked with him on a big crisis, and I bet there is more story to it. I tried searching, but almost all the articles about him are redacted. If only I could find him, I would beat that son of a bitch. Aditi wrote his name before dying; it must mean that he was somehow involved in her death.”
Death and Dishonor Page 21