The
Retribution
Shankar N Kashyap
MyBooks Publication
Copyright © 2017 Shankar N Kashyap
All rights reserved
This book has been published in the good faith that the work of the author is original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However, the author and the publisher
disclaim the responsibility.
No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles and reviews.
First Published in September 2017
by
MyBooks Publication
[email protected]
ISBN: 978-93-86474-26-1
eISBN: 978-93-86474-27-8
eBook & Cover Design
DigiConv Technologies
Dedicated to all those book lovers out there.
“I would like to thank Brooke Powley for her excellent editing and proof reading of the book. Her input in various stages of the book was invaluable. I would also like to thank Shahid Khan for a fantastic cover. My thanks to Moolchand Chauhan for his valuable help. My gratitude to everyone at the MyBooks Publication for all their help in getting The Retribution out onto book stands!”
About The Author
Shankar Kashyap is an orthopaedic surgeon originally from Bangalore, India practicing now in the United Kingdom. He has had extensive experience in publishing scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals over the last 25 years. His first book, “A Kangaroo Court: A Triumph of mediocrity” was published in 2011.
Over the years he has been interested in ancient history of India and has undertaken extensive research into the subject. The aim is to take readers through the third millennium BCE in India using archaeological and literary evidence available along with characters and events from the enormous Vedic corpus. There has been a resurgence of historical fiction novels, particularly the success of Christian Jacq with Ramses series. There has been very little written about the great Indus Valley Civilisation in the popular press and most of what is written has been aimed at serious historians and archaeologists. Many have always wondered what the life was like during the period of that great civilisation. The Harappa Series consists of six books, each dealing with different aspects of Indian pre-history in a fictional form. The first three books of the series – Lure of Soma, Fall of Shuruppak and Dasharajna: The Battle of Ten Kings have been published so far.
This is his first foray into crime fiction. True events of an unfortunate murder spurred him to write this. Coming from a medical background, the psychological aspects of the case intrigued him and he has brought out the conflict of faith, beliefs and emotions in this book.
DISCLAIMER
The following account is purely fictional. All the characters, places, places of worship and organisations are fictional and imaginary. Any resemblance to any individual living or dead is purely coincidental. Any resemblance to any place or religious institution or organisation is also not intentional and purely coincidental.
Shankar N Kashyap
Contents
About The Author
Disclaimer
Lenny
Mombasa
Leicester
Stuart Davenport
The Suits
Sean
Sheena
The Gaffer
The Temple
Playboy of Asian world
Sheena
Harrison Road
Lenny
Sean
Media
The Hunt
A Little Red Notebook
The Garrulous Burglar
Justice done
The Retribution
Other Titles by Shankar Kashyap
Books Reviews
Other Titles by MyBooks Publication
Lenny
A bright full moon was struggling to light up the alley through scattered dark clouds. The man walking down the alley could hear his own footsteps. He realized that it was quiet, eerily quiet. A bit too quiet perhaps for his liking. He had been down this alley several times before, but today there was something different. Everything was still. There was not even a breeze. A sudden chill went through him and he shivered, pulling his jacket collar up and his hat down over his ears. He hadn’t noticed it being cold when he left home earlier. In fact, he had felt hot and sweaty and had a splitting headache. He bent his head down and shoved his hands inside his jacket pocket as he hurried along.
There was sound of someone else’s footsteps. Or was it the echo of his own? He stopped and the other footsteps stopped too. It must be his imagination, he thought, and carried on. But soon the footsteps started and they definitely not his own. They were quicker and appeared to be getting nearer. He stopped again and looked back. There was nothing in the alley apart from dark shadows in the doorways where the dim streetlights couldn’t penetrate. It was the silence that appeared to bother him more than anything. He peered carefully into the dark doorways along the alley. Still nothing. Not a soul in sight. Not that he expected to see anyone at this time of the night in that alley.
It was pitch black after Belgrave road, which was lit up like a Christmas tree by the shopkeepers for their festival of lights. This was why he chose the place. As did others, who wanted what he was looking for. Just the thought made him hot and sweaty again. He took off his jacket and cap. His hands were shaking, and nearly dropped the cap on the ground. The October chill would not cool him down. In fact it was a freezing cold breeze, which was blowing through the alleyway like through a tunnel. He better find him soon. The pain was getting worse. This had happened before when he had run out of money. He had tried to kill himself when he could not get his fix for nearly five days. It is nearly that stage now. He had lost his job as a delivery man and there was no money. This was not the first job he had been fired from. He was desperate for money. He was nearly caught trying to rob the corner store the week before. His hands shook so much that he could not get the knife out of his pocket in time. The shopkeeper was laughing as he stumbled out of the shop that night empty handed.
He was woken out of the reverie by a crash and a bang and the screech of a cat as the dustbin it had jumped on had fallen. The lid made a racket as it rolled for a good minute before stopping with a clatter. He was startled by the noise and nearly jumped out of his skin. He was being unnecessarily nervous, he thought. But the cat started to run towards him and it got bigger as it ran. It was frightening.
“You stay away from me. You hear. Shoosh. Get away you silly cat.” He shouted.
The cat stopped in front of him and just stood there with it’s tail up. Almost crouching for a jump, its fur standing up in defiance. It was jet black with a streak of white across the throat. The cat bared his claws and hissed as it stopped in front of him. It was enormous. Nearly as big as himself. It’s green eyes shot blood out of the corners and the nostrils threw out flames as it hissed. He wanted to scream, but no voice came out of his throat. He wanted to run, but his feet were stuck to the ground. He lifted his hands to brace himself as the cat jumped on him. Next thing he knew, he was on the floor on his back trying to wriggle out of the way of the huge cat’s claws. He started to flail his arms around to protect himself.
“Get away from me!” He screamed. “Somebody help me. I am being killed by a monster!”
But no sound came from his mouth and no one came to help. He soon got tired of fighting the now enormous cat and closed his eyes and stayed still. He managed to cover his face with his hands and curled up into a ball.
‘This is it’ he thought, ‘this is how I’m going to die.’
&nbs
p; He was not sure how long he was lying there on the floor of the dirty alleyway. Soon the quietness was back again and he found himself alone. He looked around to see if the cat was still there. There was no sign of a cat anywhere. In fact the alley was still completely deserted with not a soul in sight. There was something lying on the ground not far from him. It appeared to wriggle. ‘My god! Not again. Not another monster!’ He thought. He could not make out what it was. At least it was moving away from him.
‘That is good,’ he said to himself ‘it is running away from me.’
He tried to sit up and look closely at this thing. He suddenly realised that it was his jacket, lying on the ground where he had thrown it.
‘I better get it before it runs away.’ He thought ‘That is the only jacket I have.’
He crawled towards the jacket and tried to pick it up. But kept slipping away from him. After the third attempt, he grabbed hold of the jacket and held it firmly. There was a distant sound of an ambulance siren as he stood up and brushed off the dirt from his shirt. He could barely stand up and was nearly back on the ground again. He braced himself against a fence as he stood up. It was freezing cold again and he put his jacket back on.
‘Where is my cap?’ he said to himself as he felt his head.
He looked around to see where he had fallen. It was pitch black and he could barely see anything. He better get the cap or he would be in trouble. That was a present from his new girlfriend. He would not hear the end of it if he went back without the cap. He had to concentrate hard to finally see the bright yellow woollen cap lying on the ground where he had found the jacket. He leant forwards to pick it up and toppled over. Although it took an enormous amount of effort it seemed to pull himself up again. This time he was clutching his cap in his left hand as he pulled himself up holding on to the fence. He again brushed off the dirt from the alley floor and pulled his cap down around his ears. That is when he saw the cat again. It was rustling in the fallen bin apparently oblivious to his presence.
‘I’ll teach you to scare me to death.’ He muttered under his breath. ‘It would be so easy to trap the cat inside the bin and kill it.’
‘Go for it.’ Someone said. He quickly turned around to see who said that.
There was no one.
‘I am hearing things now.’
‘Don’t dawdle. Go for it. Kill the cat.’ The voice said again.
“Who is that?”
No reply.
The bin was within his reach and the cat was too busy poking at something inside it to notice him. He slowly leaned forward and put his hand on the bin. The cat kept scratching at something inside the bin. He put his other hand on the bin and still no movement from the cat. He heaved the bin over with one almighty push and trapped the cat underneath the bin. The cat screeched loud enough to wake the neighbourhood and started to scratch on the bin from inside. Lenny found himself struggling to keep the bin down as the cat heaved against it from inside. It kept screeching and he could feel the bin rolling from side to side. He felt himself weaken and was about to let go when the voice said again.
‘Don’t let go. You have always been a loser. It’s only a cat.’
He shouted,
“Who the hell are you?”
But no sound came from his dry throat. He looked around to see who was talking to him. The alleyway was still deserted with not a soul in sight. Soon the bin stopped moving and there was no noise from inside the bin.
‘It must be dead.’ He thought.
“Are you sure?” the voice was back again.
“It’s gone quiet. I can’t hear anything and it’s not moving either. So it must be dead.” He said.
“How do you know? It could be still alive.”
“You think so?”
“Or it could be dead too.” The voice said. “Is it possible that it could be both alive and dead?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Lenny shouted.
“Look at yourself.” The voice replied. “Are you alive or dead?”
Lenny was confused. He felt silly talking to thin air. His head was splitting and he felt sick.
“I’m alive. I’m feeling sick. I’ll die if I don’t get my fix soon. Where is that Bro?”
“You could be both alive and dead.”
“No, no, no ……” Lenny screamed. “I’m alive I am telling you. I am alive. You stupid or what?”
“You’ll only find out when you come out.” The voice sounded distant now. “Just like the cat in the bin. You don’t know if it is alive or dead or both. You are trapped by Bro. You could be dead or alive or both until you come out of his control. You are under his control now ……”
The voice trailed off.
“Where are you? I’ll kill you if I see you. You bastard. Come out.”
He was flailing his arms about and hitting thin air. The sound of screeching tyres was so close that he jumped. He looked around but saw no one. The bin was still lying on its side where it had fallen and there was no sign of the cat. He looked down at his hands, his knife was out in his left hand and he was shaking. His head was splitting now and he started to retch. He nearly dropped his knife. That won’t do. Sharon had insisted he carry the knife all the times. “You don’t know what kind of creeps you would meet,” she had said. Can’t afford to lose it. He closed the knife and shoved it back into his trousers. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see a burst of colours with a bright orange ball of fire in the middle.
‘What a nightmare. I better find Bro soon.”
The rumble of a distant police siren sounded soothing for some reason. There was a wry smile on his face as he continued on. The sound was something ‘normal’ and seem to settle him down. He was back to himself and started to think about where he was going. That brought a smile to his face. He looked forward to these visits. They seem to give him strength and take him back to his youth. He increased his pace.
There it was again. The sound of footsteps. But this time it was coming from the opposite direction. Someone was walking towards him. He lifted his head and peered ahead. Nothing. The alley was still deserted and completely empty. He stopped again squinting his eyes to see ahead. Nothing. There was nothing.
‘Where the hell is he? He had promised to be here.’ Lenny thought.
That is when he saw the silver BMW parked round the corner from where he was, its nose just sticking out into the alleyway. He recognised the car immediately despite the darkness. He should, as he had been in that car countless number of times before. He quickened his pace with relief. Suddenly, he could hear the engine spring to life and the headlights came on, lighting up the alley.
‘He is going away! He can’t do that. Not without me. I had told him I would come. Why is he going away?’
“No!” He screamed. “Don’t go. Please wait!”
He wanted to run, but his feet would not listen to him. He realised that the car was not moving. He dragged himself one step at a time with a huge effort towards the car. He sighed a relief when the engine stopped and the headlights went out as he neared the car. The man got out of the car. He was well dressed as usual. Natty, with jeans, bright pink shirt and a leather jacket with an ever present brown cap pulled low down on his face. He noticed the man’s shiny new black shoes as he stepped out of the car. He shut the door of the car and stood there looking in the direction of the alley, not moving. Bro, as he liked to be called, was a ‘cool dresser’ and always impressed everyone around him with his smile and mannerisms. He was also his supplier.
“Hello Lenny. I thought you were not coming.” Bro said.
Lenny had reached the car by now and leaned against the car to stop himself falling down again.
“Why... why wouldn’t I? I am... I’m here aren’t I?” Lenny replied testily. “I.. I thought you were driving off! Now, where is the stuff? I need it now. Give it. Give it to me now.”
He almost screamed. His lips were shivering and his hands
shook as he took them out for the “stuff”.
“I don’t have it here. You know better than that.” Bro replied with a smile on his face. That smile again. The smile which had drawn Lenny to him in the first place. “What do you take me for? Do you want the cops to catch me with the stuff on me? It’s at the house.”
Lenny got agitated. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” he screamed. “I could have come to the house straight”
“You look filthy.” Bro said. “What happened to you? Have you been in a fight? I have told you before not to get into any fights. Next time they catch you, they will put you away for life.”
“No. No, I have not been in a bloody fight.” Lenny screamed. “I was attacked by this giant cat monster.”
Lenny’s face was almost touching Bro’s nose as he screamed. He was clutching at his hands to stop them from shaking and now, the headache was intense. ‘Why is that street light so bright?’ he thought, ‘It’s hurting my eyes’ He covered his eyes with hands but it made no difference.
“I am just checking. You know I would not want you to get into any trouble.” Bro replied in a soothing voice, “Come, let’s go to the house and get you fixed up.”
Lenny smiled.
“I knew you would fix me up. You are good to me, Bro. I don’t know what I would do without you.” He was drooling as he staggered towards the passenger door of the silver BMW. “You know I would do anything for you, Bro. I would kill for you. Or.... or, I would die for you.”
Suddenly four men stepped out of the shadows.
“Is there a problem here?” the tall guy in the black hoodie said. Bro was startled and turned around to see who it was and recognised the man. Bro immediately relaxed. The guy was wearing black jeans and a jacket with the hoodie covering his head. He had not seen them arrive in the alley before. ‘I am slipping here’ Bro thought. ‘They could have been cops.’
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