I parked the van at the construction site and got out with my revolver. I scouted the place for a few minutes, but there was no sign of Ajeet anywhere. I was about to enter the building which was under construction when something cold and hard hit the right side of my face.
“AAARGH!!” I screamed in pain as I doubled up on my left side and landed on a dune of cement. Somebody might have hit me with a rod. With the pain reaching a steady point, I looked around to find a large man and the metal rod, which I was referring to, that had hit me was merely his arm.
‘Oh! Not him again!’ I thought, ‘I am gonna hate myself for this.’
I charged at him, but he was ready for me as he flung out his right arm and grabbed my neck. I flailed my gun helplessly to get an aim at him, but he held it and pointed it away from him with his other hand. I fired a few shots from my magnum, but they hit the air. Then, with a power of a slingshot, he chucked me away.
I could feel myself rushing through the cold evening air as the gun left my hand’s grip, and then it was over just as soon as it had started. I landed against a wall of bricks and hit the ground. It wasn’t over yet as the wall collapsed and bricks rained down over me.
~*~
I opened my eyes and cleared the rubble around me. The dust and sand had surrounded us, and it felt like we were fighting in a desert. I had given it my all to slay the beastly Hulk. We were like David & Goliath fighting each other, and it was incredibly difficult to slay this giant. However, I had not expected what I saw when I opened my eyes. He still stood up in front of me unperturbed. He had not even moved a little, and there was not even a single scratch on his body.
“How to kill you Hulk?” I sighed.
He growled. “I ain’t any Hulk. My name is Moti.”
“Wait, you could speak. I thought that you only grunted, and made strange noises, and Moti, what the fuck?” I replied.
There was no reply from his end which made me realize that he was indeed telling the truth. His name was Moti. He had a physique like The Hulk and a name like Moti. I started laughing.
“Come on, your parents could have done better than this,” I remarked, and he picked me up in a second. It felt like he held a feather in his hand and threw me easily too. I definitely broke my ribs some more, if they were not already beyond repair.
“ARGGHHHH!”
I tried to get up, but it was not easy. I regretted wearing the Russian armor as it was slowing me down, but if it had not been in the first place, then I would have been in a worse state.
“Get up, Rathore!”
I felt two giant boulder-like hands enveloping my entire face. I choked as I was unable to breathe.
“Get off me,” I shouted, but in vain.
Moti’s goals were clear. Ajeet had strictly instructed him to punish me, and eventually get rid of me. After some more torturous minutes, I managed to connect a back kick targeted at his groin. He fell back a little, but never lost his balance.
“What are you made of? You ogre!”
It pissed him off even more, and he lost his cool instantly. He punched me straight on my chest. I heard some cracking noise and fell immediately. I thought my ribs had made a loud cracking noise, but, it was something else, which I knew a second later. His punch had shattered the 7.5 inches thick Ratnik that I was boasting of. I tried not to cry, but the pain of the impact was massive. It felt like a steel knife being pierced in my chest, and then some more.
“Nooooooooooo” I shouted. I fell on my knees and collected a large amount of sand in my hands, and with one quick swing, I threw all the dust in his eyes.
“My eyes!” he shouted quickly rubbing his eyes.
That was my opening. I composed myself and jumped to my left. There was a shovel lying there.
“Here comes the hulk buster!” I announced as I swung the shovel across his face.
He quickly covered his face with both of his hands, and the shovel broke down into two pieces.
“You son of a bitch!” he shouted charging towards me. I flung myself upwards and jumped on the ramp at the first floor. In doing so, I brushed my right knee with a sharp metallic protruding object. I chose to ignore it as there were more pressing matters in hand. Moti looked up and saw directly in my eyes.
“You cannot escape me. First, you almost killed off my brother, and now you came here to attack my boss. Let me end your chapter once and for all.” I could hear the loud thud noise on the ramp as he took giant leaps, and quickly caught hold of my injured leg. I winced in pain, but he didn’t budge and started punching directly at the wound on my leg. I knew I was dead if I didn’t act fast. I picked up a metal bucket and connected it with Moti’s head. I kept hitting it on Moti’s head back and forth again until he fell. I had slain the giant finally.
“Take that, bitch!”
I was about to search his clothes for any mobile or clues that could lead me to Ajeet, but I was in for a surprise. As soon as I touched his body, his hand enveloped my neck, and he started squeezing the life out of me.
ARGGGGHHHHH!
I somehow managed to get free of his clutch, and found my gun which was lying nearby. “Let’s end this once and for all.”
I shot bullets at him, which he evaded by ducking behind a heap of bricks. One of those bullets came in contact with his left shoulder, but he didn’t flinch. I was about to reload the gun’s chamber when he threw a brick right at my face. It felt like a train had hit me. My mouth swelled, and the whole face turned red. I could feel broken teeth in my mouth. I spat out a mixture of blood, saliva, and a couple of teeth. It was getting almost impossible to put him down, but then I saw something which made my face glow. I could see a huge ditch just to my right if only I could throw Moti down there. He won’t die, but I could get away. There was a very thin line between heroics and foolishness; I knew all about that line. I had to stay alive to kill Ajeet and get justice for Aditi.
“Hey Moti, I bet you can’t catch me.”
I ran straight towards the ditch hoping for a miracle. The idea that I had in my mind was – I will be a bullfighter, and somehow Moti will fall into the ditch. The plan went smoothly as he quickly charged towards me, and I jumped to the right at the last possible second, but I hadn’t planned for this. He stopped in his tracks and caught me in the air when I was jumping to the right.
“I am not finished with you Arjun,” he shouted menacingly.
His cold stare almost killed me, and he punched me twice in the stomach. I spat blood and tried to hit him, but I didn’t have any more strength left in me. He lifted me up above his head and threw me down the ditch.
“Noooooooooooooo!”
My plan had backfired. I was lying face-first in the ditch with mud, and sand creeping inside my mouth. It would have been at least five feet deep, and I was out of options. The only thing in my favor was the wet mud, which had cushioned my fall and not much seemed broken inside my body.
“Hey you, assface! Now run to your Mama and tell her that Arjun almost killed both her sons today.”
“How dare you speak about my mother?” he shouted from above.
He didn’t do anything for a minute, which scared me. “You chickening out, Moti? Tell your brother; I said hi! ”And within a fraction of second, I could sense it. He ran and jumped straight into the ditch. I knew that this was the only opening as he couldn’t get up due to the mud slowing him down. However, I didn’t waste much time and kicked him twice in the face. He fell on his knees. I knew I had to seal the deal, but all my weapons were in my car. I looked all around me and found some stones lying in the mud. I found two of the biggest and pointiest ones and picked up one in each hand. With this, I thrashed his head with the stones, and he fell. I had finally slain the giant. I got out of the ditch when I saw him stirring.
“Run leech run, just try to run like the bitch Aditi, when Ajeet and I were cutting her up.”
I didn’t know what crept over me but hearing him mock Aditi, I wanted to kill him, and I saw something which m
ade me smirk. There was a cement mixer truck placed near the ditch. I got inside the truck and backed it up so that the mouth of the mixer was directly on top of the hole.
“I am sending gifts for you buddy. They are from Aditi.”
I pressed the button, and the liquid cement started flowing down the hole.
“No. Stop this. Fight like a man,” he started shouting from below.
The fear in his voice made me feel better. I hoped Aditi felt a little nice after this too. I kept filling up the hole and finally stopped when only his head was above the cement. I knelt down and looked into his eyes. The fear and despair was clearly visible in his eyes.
“How do you feel now? Did you guys felt like a man when you killed her?”
“I am so – sorry. Please let me out.”
I laughed. “You are sorry. Wow! Tell me why did you kill her?”
“Ajeet asked me to do it. I just tied her up there. He did everything else. The boss wanted the flash drive from Aditi.”
Everything came back to the flash drive. “What is in the flash drive?”
“I don’t know that. I have ne-never seen it,” he stuttered.
“You are of no use to me then. I should fill this ditch now, and get on with my life.”
“Noooo! Do not leave me like this.”
I came out of the truck cabin and dusted my clothes. “Where will I find your boss? Give me a straight answer, and I may spare your life.”
He didn’t waste any time, and quickly spat out an answer that I wanted to hear badly.
“He will be at Hotel Shangri-La, getting ready for his uncle’s event.”
I smiled. “Nice answer Moti, you didn’t waste my time.”
He looked at me with his eager eyes. I found a half-filled bottle of water in the truck and quickly washed my face.
“Moti, you deserve the worst, and I will make sure that I take your life the same way in which you took Aditi’s.”
“No- no- no Arjun, please!”
I turned a deaf ear to all his wailings and cries, and got inside the truck cabin, and pressed the button. With huge gurgling sound, the cement started pouring inside the ditch fully covering it. His noise and cries stopped coming, and I kept on pouring the cement. One of them was down; I had finally got a victory, however small it was. I knew where I had to go next – Hotel Shangri-La.
SHIELD
“How long till we get there?” Devraj asked his driver as they were on the way to Shangri-La hotel near Janpath.
“About ten minutes, sir,” the driver replied.
Devraj was traveling in a small convoy of cars in which there were two police jeeps – one they were following and the other one remained close behind. He was in an ambassador in between, and Rita sat with him in the back seat wearing a white kurta and a light pink blazer.
He himself wore a grey kurta pajama and a dark blue full sleeves blazer on top. He also had the customary tilak on his forehead. He looked at her with a beaming smile on his face.
“I am very happy today, and I admit that a bit nervous too even if I am not showing it,” he said to her. “My first big gift to our humble citizens who gave their precious votes to me,” then he laughed, “Oh, just imagine if this thing works out as expected, and more, we could even explore the possibilities of export to other countries. We would rake in millions, not to forget I would be known as the first CM to think out of the box to implement this marvel for our common folk.”
He continued, “People want something to believe in our political system. Well, I don’t think something big like this won’t get their attention. This will keep them hooked to believe, and I will make sure it stays in the front pages along with how valuable I have been as a CM.”
‘If only Satyendra thought like that, things would have been a bit competitive,’ Devraj smirked at this thought, ‘Good riddance!’
Rita shifted in her seat. He said, “Oh dear, did you think I had forgotten you?”
She didn’t say anything and just sat quietly. She was not in her usual vibrant and confident mood today. She looked a bit pale and had an expression on her face that suggested something was bothering her.
He put his hand on her leg, and started, “Oh, don’t worry my dear, I won’t be hogging all of the limelight. You will have a front-row seat with me on this adventure. This is the reason why I am taking you with me right now. I will make you witness how grand it will all be.”
She glanced sideways at him nervously and crossed her leg in an attempt to get his hand off her. He frowned a little as this behavior annoyed him, but he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Well, that is a very sad response when I am putting you under the spotlight. You could at least show some content if you are going to stay tight-lipped,” he spat at her.
She gave a fake smile weakly and turned her head to the opposite side to look out the window.
Pratap’s voice sounded from the walkie which their driver had, “We are here, about to enter the hotel parking. A separate way was cleared for us so there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Before the driver could reply, Devraj took the walkie from his hands, and replied, “Any red flags, ACP? I don’t want any errors today. Everything should be as smooth as silk.”
“You have no reason to worry, sir, leave it all to us to ensure things as per your expectations,” Pratap replied without a tone of hesitation.
They entered the basement parking and stopped at the designated spot. Pratap and the other officers got out of their jeeps and lined up in a formation to shield the CM-elect as an officer opened the car door for him and Rita.
They rode the elevator to the second floor and got out to find a well-dressed man in a black suit with two ladies in dark red sarees waiting for them. The women had neck garlands on trays made with marigold flowers.
The man came forward, and greeted Devraj in a very polite manner, “Welcome sir, welcome to our small hotel. It is a great honor for us. I am the hotel’s manager, Arpit Malhotra.”
He signaled the two women to honor them with the garlands which they did. Devraj said, “This is all fine, but show me what I want to see. I expect it to be ready by now. Show me my stage where something revolutionary will take birth.”
The staff looked at each other hesitantly as Devraj walked ahead. The manager rushed beside him and said hurriedly, “Yes, sure, we will show it to you, this way please.”
Four of the officers took positions around the floor, and three of them including Pratap accompanied the CM-elect inside the party hall. Devraj’s mouth hung open slightly as he walked in there which only had unfinished arrangements to show for itself.
“Is this a joke?” he turned to the staff and asked, his voice rising with every word.
He looked around again as his eyes widened, then looked back at the staff, “You people better have a solid explanation for this fucking delay.”
The hall was very lavish on its own. Its luxury knew no bounds with its perfect set pieces of furniture, marvelous lighting, and majestic chandeliers – a big one in the middle and two smaller ones on either side of it. There were round dining tables set up at both sides of the room along the length of it. Their cloths had beautiful embroidery on them. There was an empty space stretched in between with the stage at the end of it which was a platform with an elevation of two to three steps only. Usually, it was used by any bands or musicians to perform.
Devraj’s issue was with the event’s arrangements though. The only thing completely at par with expectations were the white banners hung along from the top edges of the auditorium, made especially for the event. They were flaunting the combined symbol of his party which was the black hammer and fist crisscrossing stamped on top of the Delta’s emerald pinwheel logo.
The crockery on the tables was still being set up though, and as they were viewing it all, there were multiple sparks which spurted out of the lighting system on the stage. They backed off in alarm.
The manager hurried over to Devraj
to explain, “Sir, we apologize for the delay. We are almost done with the other arrangements. We had a minor accident earlier which caused the lighting issues on the stage. We are working to fix it.”
“Don’t bore me with your problems,” Devraj shouted, “I wanted this place to be perfectly set up yesterday. Whatever you have to do, fix it all. This place should be perfect; even heaven should be ashamed by it.”
He poked the manager’s chest with his finger and whispered to him, “Do you realize this would have already blown if some investors or VVIPs had accompanied me to see it now? If you screw this up for me, I will make sure that your hotel doesn’t see another day.”
The manager gave a quick nod nervously.
Devraj took Rita aside to an empty corridor with Pratap following closely but giving them the privacy. He looked at her and said, “I am sorry that this is still a mess. I believed that I would be able to show you the masterpiece set up for tonight, but these bastards fucked it up,” his voice rose again.
He sighed and continued, “Not to worry though, they will give it a sparkling finish if they still want to keep their jobs tomorrow.”
He ran his hand across her cheek and said, “So do you think it will be as beautiful as I want. You are going to cover the event. It is important for you to like the setup too.”
She gently pushed his hand away from her face and broke her silence, saying slowly, “Actually sir, I am not feeling very well for a couple of days. I informed the studio too that they should get someone else to cover it.”
“Someone else?” he laughed. “Someone else is not you, Rita. They will not be as extraordinary as you. Just take some rest, gobble up some meds, and I am sure you will be good as new. We still have time.”
She shook her head, and said a bit confidently this time, “No, I am sorry sir, I really can’t cover this event tonight.”
She started walking away, but he pulled her back and grabbed her hair bun so tightly that it hurt her. She let out a quiet gasp of pain and her eyes started getting teary.
Death and Dishonor Page 26