by Sana Shetty
men working in the background. He had reached the part of the ruins
that was still attached to the functioning part of the hotel. There was
no entry here. Taking out his phone he clicked on the torch, hoping
that the men do not spot him. Shining it on the wall in front of him,
he carefully looked for a way in. He would have to jump up into the
first floor balcony to move ahead. As he shone his light upward,
something caught his eye.
The wall in front of him was covered with thick moss like it was
covered in a thick green carpet. Yet a huge rectangle part of the wall,
on one edge, was clear of any moisture or moss. It was also a different
colour. It looked like it was made of carved stone as opposed to the
rest of the wall that was made of bricks. He took a step back and
shone his light from a distance and gasped in surprise. In front of him
was the huge, life-like carving of an eagle perched on a sceptre. Except
the sceptre was a modern, shiny looking lock, with numbers on it. This was what Jay had drawn in his book, beside the message of the ghost of the dungeons. He wished he had more time to examine it more carefully. But it would have to wait. He had to find Namita and
Misha.
Stepping away from the wall, he flicked off the light and went
back to finding his way in. Sticking his gun into his belt, he ran a few
steps and jumped, managing to latch on to the broken railing of the
first floor. Thankfully it held and he heaved himself up. The balcony
creaked and he waited looking around. He had not attracted anyone’s
attention as yet.
The railing he was standing on was attached to the functioning
part of the hotel, by a broken balcony wall. Only the iron skeleton
remained and he had to navigate that. Carefully, he edged forward
slipping twice but managed to finally jump into the other balcony.
The men probably thought this part of the hotel could not be
breached. There were no guards at all.
Raunak pulled out his gun again and ran along the balcony,
jumping from one to the other, till he reached the fire exit. The fire
exit was actually an old iron staircase that was used by the women of
the house, in the olden days. He remembered Vedant’s father
explaining to them that the women preferred not to be seen by
outsiders. So this stairs that originated from the kitchen and went all
the way to the top was situated behind the palace. Raunak knew this
would lead him to the kitchen and then he could follow the corridors
and reach the foyer.
He ran as quickly as he could, taking advantage of the darkness.
The kitchen was closed for the night and thankfully nobody had
thought of locking it from outside. As he stepped out of the kitchen
into the corridor, he noticed signs of struggle. Broken pieces of
ceramic lay on the carpeted floor and there was blood on the wall.
Namita was definitely here. Following the trail, he ran lightly ahead and
just as he reached the end of the corridor, he could hear voices from
the foyer. Putting his back to the wall, he peered around the bend. Sure enough a group was gathered in the middle. He could see Vedant, Namita, Tarun and Misha, standing in front of a woman who was seated on the couch. Six men stood with guns around them. Divya stood behind the couch and was watching the others. He recognised the woman on the couch. Ishan’s mother. What was she
doing here?
He could hear the old woman.
“Speak up Vedant! I don’t have time,” Amma was saying,
impatiently.
Vedant looked at Namita and Misha thoughtfully and then turned
his gaze back to Amma and asked, “Will you let Misha and Namita
go if I tell you how to get hold of the evidence?” he asked. Amma threw back her head and laughed. “Are you really naïve or
are you pretending to be?”
Vedant gave her a long look and answered, “Your beef is with us.
You wanted to bring Tarun and me down and here we are, exactly
where you want us. If you can wipe out the evidence, what proof do
Namita and Misha have that you were here? Like you said it will only
be your word against theirs.” He reasoned.
“Did you really believe I will buy into your crap? Just tell me
where Jay hid his laptop.” The old woman snarled.
“This is it. Take it or leave it.” Vedant said stubbornly. “If you kill
us all, you will never be free. You will always have to live in the fear
of Ishan finding out who you are. Maybe even the whole world will
know and you will not be able to hide behind that innocent face
anymore. You will go to jail for the rest of your miserable life and
have to live with Ishan’s hatred.”
“Not if I can help it,” Divya snapped. She strode towards them
and grabbing Misha by the neck pulled her away from the group. She
then forced her to get down on her knees and held the gun to her
head. “I am going to count to ten. If you don’t spill, you will see your
girlfriend blown away to hell.” She gave him a cold smile. “That is
what you will have to live with.” She started to count, “1…2…3…” Vedant looked at Namita desperately. But Namita was looking
past Misha at the huge glass door. She could barely see Raunak’s
reflection on it. She looked back at Vedant and shook her head.
Heart pounding, Raunak took his time, aiming at Divya’s head. On the count of nine, he fired a single shot sending Divya hurtling across the room, where she lay still. A minute’s stunned silence followed. It was enough for Namita to spring into action. In one fluid movement, she knocked Vedant and Tarun to the ground and in the same motion pulled Misha behind the couch. The next instant, all hell broke loose as the men sprang into action. Shots were exchanged across the room, as they fired in the general direction they thought the bullet came from. But Raunak had shifted position and he was flitting behind one pillar to another, felling the men counting under his breath, one, two…
Namita joined in. Snatching the gun from one of the fallen guy and taking shots at the men, while Vedant and Tarun tried to tackle them physically. Soon Nagral’s men burst through the door and the situation was under control. Divya lay unmoving with a bullet hole through her temple. Two men were dead and the other four lay moaning as Nagral’s men started picking them up one by one and cuffing them.
As they were putting on the handcuffs on Amma and the men, Raunak asked Nagral, “How come we did not hear you come in?”
“We surrounded the place and converged to this point. We were careful not to start shooting as we did not want to alert these guys.”
“Tarun requires medical attention. He has been shot in the thighs. And you are bleeding too,” Namita said, pointing at Raunak bleeding arm.
“It is just a flesh wound, I will be okay. Where is Misha?” he asked looking around. Spotting her, he ran towards her and enveloped her in his arms, kissing her all over, “You are okay! You are okay!”
“Yes, I am okay,” she smiled through tears. She looked up at his face in wonderment. “Did the hospital let you…?” she stood back and looked at him. “You are bleeding!!”
“It is just a flesh wound. I will be okay,” he tried to pull her back into his arms.
“Wait,” she wriggled out of his grasp. “You were not shot at before, were you?”
He shook his head. “I had to go underground. I was not getting anywhere because my every move was being reported to these people by my own men. I did no
t know who to trust anymore. I couldn’t do anything, without them knowing what I was doing and where I was going. Once they believed I had been shot, they stopped keeping an eye on me. Namita and mom knew. I am sorry but we needed your genuine reaction to convince them I was shot.”
She glared at Namita, as Namita tried to slip away, quietly.
“You…You…two…I will kill both of you, I swear I will,” she stomped out angrily, with Raunak following her.
“I am sorry, I put you through this. I had no choice.”
She continued walking angrily away as Nagral and a handful of police men started hauling away handcuffed guys into waiting vehicles.
“And how did you know where to find us?” Misha asked.
“Will you stop running and listen,” he pleaded. “I will tell you everything, please?”
She stopped walking and looked at him with reproachful eyes. “Namita texted me when you…” he shrugged. “When Vedant turned up at your place all bleeding and with the story of his escape, I started to dig into Divya’s background. I knew Dinkar wouldn’t hurt Ved. He loved him too much, so it had to be Divya or Ved was lying. We found Dinkar’s body in the woods behind the hotel. Our suspicion of Divya grew stronger, but then she couldn’t be doing this without help. I had to know what her connection to all this was.
But every time I contacted someone, I came up against a dead end. Everyone, including my own men were working against me. Nagral had been sent in from Mumbai to help me with the investigation. When we couldn’t get a break, I came up with this plan with Nagral and Namita. Out of their radar, I started to keep tabs on Divya and found the guy who had pretended to be killed by Jay and Ved in that bar fight. He confessed and the rest was easy to follow up.”
Just then Nagral and Namita walked up to them. “Yeah, Amma was just gloating to us about the perfect plan. It is still unbelievable how she had been plotting her revenge for such long time. I mean didn’t we know her all our life?” Misha watched the old woman being led away in handcuffs. “In a way I pity her, though.”
“Would you pity her if you knew she was the one who cut your brother’s throat, Ms Varma?” Nagral asked.
Misha stared at him. “No, I guess not. But her misplaced sense of justice did this to her and us. She wanted payback from her family for their betrayal of her.”
“She is a cunning and ruthless murderer and nothing else,” Nagral said grimly. “At least she has proved her own point. Even respectable families have a black sheep in them.”
“But hat’s off to Jay. At least he did not die in vain. He made sure the guilty were punished.” Raunak said. Just then Vedant walked up to them and Raunak asked him, “By the way where are the recordings that Jay made?”
“Krish has it,” Vedant said.
“What recordings and who is Krish?” Misha asked.
“Krishna wasn’t the lord Krishna as we thought, but an eight year old, mute boy. The priest’s son. Jay left some video evidence on his laptop with him.”
“Mute boy?” Namita repeated. “The silent voice.”
“Hmm…that’s right. It was a clever move I guess. People wouldn’t look at an eight year old mute boy, would they?”
“Hmmm…” Raunak said. “Do you guys remember the symbol that Jay drew, next to the message ‘the ghost is in the dungeons’?”
“You know what the message means?” Namita asked eagerly.
“No not the message but I think I found the symbol, and I may have guessed what the number stand for.”
“Where?” they all chorused and Raunak grinned, “In the ruins.”
“The ruins?” Ved asked sceptically.
“Yes, the ruins. Come on, I am dying to know what is there.” He said.
“Wait,” Nagral cautioned. “We can’t just walk in there in the dark. Let’s ask Tarun if he knows something first.”
Tarun was just being led to an ambulance and they all crowded around him. “The eagle is the way into the dungeons.” He told them.
“The dungeons? But I thought that was all rumours.” Vedant said.
“Why do you think father discouraged us from ever going into the ruins? He didn’t want any of us going down there. In fact, he had sealed off the place for the very reason but somehow these guys knew about it. We can see a part of that wall from your room window.”
“What is in there, Tarun?”
“The main evidence of our aunt’s crimes. Her father-in-law is being held captive there. She planned to finish him off just before she cleared out from here and then claim his wealth for her kids.”
“Is he the ‘ghost in the dungeons’ that Jay talked about?” Misha wondered.
“Yes, the men refer to him as the ‘ghost in the dungeons,’ as a code name. He is barely alive. Amma blamed him, partly for her misfortunes and used to starve him for days. She just kept him alive till her plans could succeed.”
Just before they put him into the ambulance, Tarun said to Vedant, “I am sorry, Ved. I didn’t mean for all this to happen. I hope you can forgive me.” Vedant looked down at him lying on the stretcher for a long time and then walked away without a word, leaving Tarun looking after him.
“All this bloodshed…so pointless,” Misha sighed. “Just for revenge.”
Raunak nodded, “Revenge and money. I think it is more about the money.”
“Anyone knows how to open the dungeons?” Nagral asked.
“I do,” Raunak said, looking at Vedant.
Vedant nodded, “The numbers, 3.19.3.35; they are the lock's combination.”
“Exactly,” Raunak grinned back at him.
***** A few hours later they all watched as Nagral’s men opened the dungeons and rescued a frail, bearded man. He was delirious as they put him into the ambulance and took him to the hospital too.
₪ ₪ ₪
Chapter 14
Two weeks later… Misha and Namita were standing outside the station and saying their goodbyes. Raunak stood a little away talking to Nagral.
“I’m going to miss you,” Namita said.
“I am going to miss you too. But I still haven’t forgotten what you and Raunak put me through,” Misha said.
“Hey, I am sorry about that. I didn’t have a choice. Anyway, I am looking forward to making up for it when you come to Mumbai. Nagral told me, he was going to pull some strings and put in a request for Raunak’s transfer into our department. He is really impressed with Raunak.”
“Does Raunak know?”
She nodded towards the two men who were engrossed in conversation. “If I am not mistaken that is what they are talking about.”
“And you? Will you be okay? Raunak told me you will face disciplinary action for coming here without permission.”
“Yeah, I guess. It doesn’t matter, anyway. I needed to know the truth. Maybe now I can move on.” She sighed. Then in her typical fashion, she grinned and said, “You need to forgive Raunak. Poor guy, he has been going around looking like a lost puppy.”
“I really thought I had lost him, you know. After all that I have lost in these past days, he is all I have left.”
“He is a good guy, Misha. And talking about the good guys, where is Ved? I really wanted to see him before I left.”
As if on cue, a motorcycle roared into sight. Vedant got off and removing his helmet, stuck it to the handle. “Hey, you two!!” he greeted them with a smile.
“Think of the devil,” Namita grinned at him as he walked towards them. “You disappeared after that little adventure of ours. I was beginning to think you skipped town.”
“I am not going away without a goodbye, again. I have learnt my lesson,” he said, smiling at her.
“And how are you holding up?” Misha asked.
“I will get there,” he said.
“How is Tarun? Have you seen him yet after that day?” Namita asked, gently.
Vedant shook his head. “No, I don’t think I can. Not yet anyway.”
“Ved, go easy on him. He was only thinking o
f you, trying to protect you,” Namita said
“By killing my best friend?” Vedant asked ruefully.
“No, Vedant don’t say that. And I think Namita is right you know. We have to cut him some slack for being the protective older brother. Everything else he’s done apart, he loves you. You are his family,” Misha said.
“Let me ask you something, Misha. Have you been able to forgive him for what he did to Jay?”
“Not completely, but I can understand why he did it. I guess sometimes, you have to make some choices that are really hard. He chose you over Jay and I don’t think I can blame him for that. You have to remember, he has been a virtual prisoner all these years but he did his best to keep you safe.”
Vedant did not answer her but she knew he agreed with her.
“So will he go to jail?” Misha wondered.
“He has agreed to testify against Amma and her gang. And between the evidence that Jay collected, the evidence of the guy Raunak picked up and the testimony of some of the villagers and the old man from the dungeons, I think he will get off with a lighter sentence.” Namita said.
“What about you, Ved? What are you planning on doing next?” Misha asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t go back to that place of mine in Mumbai, knowing how it was earned. But I will think of something. I haven’t quit my job as yet. So that’s there, still on the plate.”
“Go back to your job, Ved. That is all yours. Or you could fulfil your father’s dream and rebuild that hotel. It is a nice place. Just needs a lot of advertisement, I guess.” Namita said.
“I got plenty of that anyway, didn’t I? For free. It is all over the papers,” he said bitterly. “I never really liked that place but maybe I will ask Ishan to look after it. After all he has as much right to it as any of us.”
“Ved, stop being bitter about what has happened. You cannot change that.”
“I wish I could. When I think of it, I was partly responsible, wasn’t I?”
“Ved!” Misha said, admonishingly.
“No, think about it Misha. I took the high road with Tarun but when I was faced with possible murder charges, I skipped town too. Sure I can justify it to others by saying I was protecting Jay. But the truth is I was a coward too. I could have done the right thing and gone to the police. I could have saved a lot of people’s lives and put a stop to all this then. But I tried to save my skin. That is what Tarun was doing, saving my skin. So all this is on me.”