by Sweth Water
He pulled the trigger.
She screamed loudly. Her eyes were trying to come out. She pressed the leg above the knee and cried. It was the first time she was hit. And it was so agonizing she couldn’t even use the words. For few seconds her mouth was open. She would die with the pain. She huffed and puffed, her hands full of blood.
Her index finger was around the wound. The bullet went into the skin. Her breathing was loud, she took out the handkerchief and soaked the blood.
“I told you. I never killed innocents. What you did was against the country. You are a traitor too.” the man shouted. “Answer me how you knew about the attack.” he screamed more than she did.
“He ... we were thinking ... someone would attack him. Rose told us about the man. You bastard, I will rip your heart out.” She gasped for breath.
“Give me the name.”
She cried. “She didn’t say that.”
“I will kill you after killing that bastard Coal.”
“Kill me now!” she screamed. Rather than dying by running out of blood, it was better to die with a bullet in the head.
“No,” he stood up. “Jashan, get me a doctor.”
The man at the door nodded.
“You are not going to die now, Agent Gin,” he whispered. “Everyone has to die one day as planned. You will die, too, as my lovely sister Rose died.”
Chapter
22
Summer was standing at Taking’s desk. He was in Summer’s office.
“This Base guy, Summer.”
“Did you talk with the director of RAAD? He might have the information about the man.”
“No. They don’t go with alias names. It might be someone from Top One.”
Chase was right. The man had paint on his face. Even when they’d made a sketch, Taking was not able to recognize the face. It was not like he’d worked with all the agents of Top One. But many people he had seen on the server. Somehow he was expecting to get to the man and then talk on what operation they were working on that he was not aware of.
He was sure that Madam President didn’t have any info regarding Gin’s whereabouts; he’d not told her about Gin though.
“We should go out of the office and walk along the roads. Maybe someone saw her that day.”
“I have done that already.” Taking said. “Tom and I were on the roads for hours. She met some people after going out of here, and then she was just gone.”
“She will not be in the city for sure. There would be a risk, if you think like them, to keep her here. You said people saw her. Maybe she was looking for someone.”
“Base?”
“Who knows.”
In the evening, they were on the street where Gin was seen before disappearing. No street cameras were in that part of the city. The guy in the deli said he saw her talking with some man. Hundreds of people would walk here. Taking didn’t even guess if the person lived nearby or was just hanging out. Or was here to give something to Gin?
“Exact time?” Summer asked the shopkeeper.
“Not sure, Officer. I was going to close my shop and she had been talking with the man for a long time. If I have to guess then it would be around 6 p.m.”
“Which direction did she go?” Taking asked him.
“I left before she moved.”
They walked into different shops and showed the picture of Gin to them. None of them had seen her. And the only person who happened to see her left the shop before she was gone. It was not good for them.
Today, the street was not packed with people. Taking sat on a wooden desk outside the shop and breathed. Summer was beside him, saying nothing. The day was slowly falling. Children started appearing in the street with their footballs. He saw them play and did nothing else.
This was not a residential area. Even if Gin was taken by someone she wouldn’t be here ... unless these shops had something below them. They’d lost the access of the thermal satellite too. When Taking met President Earl on that day, he had told her to take help from other countries. It hurt her pride. Her eyes showed the bitter truth that she didn’t want to hear from him.
She had said it would make them a weak government if they asked for help. From a political point of view, she was right. But what political point would do if we lost everything? To whom Rose handed over the documents was the main thing here. She died in a car accident. She wouldn’t be carrying the documents with her for sure.
“Taking?” Summer said after a long silence.
“I am still thinking,” his hands were on his cheeks, elbows on the knees.
The world around him seemed to come to a halt. He was not even concerned about the documents. While thinking, he cursed Gin for not talking to him regarding whatever operation she was working on with this Base guy. The director of RAAD was called in the Office on that day. President Earl only asked about what he had on the burglary, nothing else. And outside the Office, Taking asked Hill Brosh, the director of RAAD, about Agent Gin’s undercover operation. He shook his head and Taking believed him.
“Where are we on the missing frames?” he asked Summer.
“Tina is helping us with that. Still no proof. I checked the logs. No-one entered the room that day. Why the frames were deleted then?”
He gave it a thought. “To tell us they were deleted on that day. Clever.”
“What?”
“Someone with a sharp brain is working on this, Summer, who is sending us somewhere else where we shouldn’t go. Just think about it from the beginning.
“Chase arrested Gin in her apartment. Wrong conclusion. You found out about the email. Gin came to you. She got out without saying anything and was kidnapped. We found out the missing frames. Forgot to tell you about the classified documents got outside the Department. With all this, where are we going to? There is someone,” he twisted his face, “who is creating these things to divert our minds.”
“You mean only one man?”
“I can’t say that.”
Moments passed.
“Shall we start looking into the recordings of other dates? Maybe before the frames were deleted?”
“There are so many days. Won’t make sense to do that. It will waste our time.”
Army’s cars started screeching the tyres on the roads. People stood where they were, grabbing their children in arms. Twenty men with heavy armour and guns jumped out of the cars and closed the doors. Their heights and bodies showed the truth of how many battles they’d fought. They were tough, no doubt. M16 and Heckler & Koch G38 in their hands, pointing down on the ground.
They were not the paramilitary forces.
They were the armed forces.
To the right side, they saw a M60 Patton. The barrel was pointing in their direction, commander hatch had a man whose face was not visible. Roadwheel roared and it moved to the other street, behind it was four more tanks.
Taking had never been in any battle, but seeing these people frightened him. He was never afraid in his life. He’d fired the bullets, killed the people. This ... this was greater than anything he had done in his life. It was the first time he was confronting this situation. Summer was as shocked as he was.
Was the martial law declared?
“To your homes. Everybody.” An officer shouted.
People started running. Shopkeepers were closing the shops. Even in the tense situation, people just ran without shouting. Taking was sitting at the same position. Summer stood when a sergeant came towards them. He was a tall guy with a trimmed beard, heavy chest and big eyes. He had the ability to start the fright.
“You two. Go to your home.” he said calmly.
Taking took out his badge and showed to him. “From Top One. What is going on, Sergeant?”
He gave the badge back to Taking. “Sir, Madam President has declared the martial law. Top One has no authority now.”
“What?”
“Yes, sir. We advise you to go back to our house and stay there until further notice. Curfew will be
imposed in few hours and we have the orders to shoot at sight whoever is outside.”
“That is ridiculous!” Summer said.
“Sir. Ma’am. To your house. Now.”
“Okay, sergeant.” Taking said.
Taking started his car and moved to Summer’s office.
“What is happening, Taking?”
“Madam President is losing her mind. She was serious about it when we talked last time. I didn’t think that she would have the audacity to do something like that. Whatever is there in those documents is going to take us to a war.”
“President Earl must know what there was.”
“No. Only different departments have the information. The President would be told about the operations but not every detail on how they are going to be done. And the Chief of Army has no idea either. All the documents are where they should be. Nothing was moved.”
“Curfew. It is not going to help us.”
“Top One has no authority! A crazy thing to do. Damn you dead woman Rose.”
“Rose?”
“Yes, this damned Rose. We have the confirmation that she stole something from the Department. She was Officer Coal’s wife. From the Headquarters. Madam President believed Rose passed whatever she had to someone else. Still, it is wrong to have the martial law. The guy must have left the city days ago.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and scratched his long face. “She is not behind it. Oh my God!”
“I am not following.”
“I believe the information was passed to someone in the other country. She is preparing herself to go to war. It is not about Gin or finding the guy who has the documents.”
“What? Why would Rose do something like that?”
“Damned Anon. Some huge cash would be flowing in her bank account if she were alive. Damned bitch died. Must be rotting in Hell.”
“Did someone talk to any family members?”
Taking shook his head. “She had Coal. Her parents died years back. Nobody interrogated Coal. There is no doubt that his loyalty lies with us, not Anonymous. This guy ... Wind, I guess, he was arrested two days back. He is still in custody and no attorney is given to him. He had some role in Rose’s actions, Chase said that.”
“You talked with Wind?”
“No, I don’t have time. I want to find Gin, nothing else. All the resources are involved in other issues. And from now onwards, even they would be doing nothing. Firing at sight! Stupid.”
A blockage was ahead of them. Army personnel were there, raising their hands to stop the car. Theirs was the only car on that road. Taking looked back and found no-one. The car stopped, and a female officer showed up.
“Top One.” He showed his badge.
She didn’t look at it, eyed Summer and the back seat. “This road is blocked. You can’t go to the other side.”
“She is the Commissioner of Police here. We have to go to the Lufghan State Police building.”
The woman eyed Summer again. “Commissioner of Police? Martial law is declared. There is no authority here but us.” She signalled another officer to stop the car coming in their direction. “I advise you to go back in the city. The road connects to the Long Road to the next city. Nobody is leaving the city until further notice. Night is coming. Stay in the house.”
And she was gone.
Taking rotated the steering wheel and sighed. “Where to go?”
“We can go to my house, but it is on the other side. Staying in the hotel and moving out again will alarm the guards and they might tell the army. In an abandoned house we can stay and plan how to proceed.”
“Any place you have in mind?”
“Yes. Take a right and then on the third left turn, many houses are vacant. Old houses.”
“Let’s go there then.”
The roads were deserted. The army personnel were serious to kill anyone on the roads. He wondered how many times it happened in this city. The Office was here, it was the only reason to have the martial law here. Or was it just the beginning?
Taking’s phone rang. He pulled over.
“Taking.”
There was breathing on the other end.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Taking.” the voice said.
“Who are you?”
“You don’t know me?”
Taking frowned. “Can you call me later? I am in the middle of something.” Sometimes bankers and policy sellers would call him. He always told them to call later.
“I thought you were looking for Agent Gin.”
He blinked, serious now. “Who are you?”
“Base.”
“Where is Gin?”
Summer was looking at him, her eyes fixed into his.
“You will know soon. We will meet soon, Taking.”
The line was dead.
“Hello?” No-one was there. “Damn it!”
He checked the call log, but there was no number.
“Who was it? Someone knows about Gin?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Base.”
“What did he say? And where is Gin?”
“He didn’t say that. Said will meet soon.”
Summer shook her head and punched on the side door. Taking was struggling with his thoughts. Base. He never heard his voice before. Was he really working for Gin? Chances were there. Did he have something to do with the kidnapping?
“Taking?” Summer asked.
He blinked his eyes and started the car. Base calling him at this moment when there was going to be a curfew ... connecting the dots was not easy now. Did he kidnap Gin? And why, if he did? He rescued Gin from the local PD and then ... No, he might have some information regarding Gin.
There was no record of him calling Taking. That proved one thing that he was not the kidnapper. He was more than that. It troubled him. Chase said Gin knew Base, and she was freed by him. Her words were messing with his head.
“We have the wrong guy.”
“What are you talking about?” She was puzzled.
“Wind is not the guy we should talk with. Base is. He is the Anon Rose was working with.”
“What? Then was Gin—”
“Working with Rose? I have no idea.”
Chapter
23
“It is official now. The martial law has been declared in Venhoa. Orders are to shoot at sight. We have not heard from Madam President, but the Office has shared the seriousness of the situation. When asked about the threat we are looking at, press secretary of the Office said nothing and left the media. Our resources are saying it has to do something with the Department. Three people were arrested and are at the Headquarters. Fog and other officers made no statement on that. We have tried calling Officer Coal’s number but no response we got. Some people are also accusing Rose of stealing some documents. We are—”
Coal switched off the TV.
Rose, what have you done? Why? What reasons would you have to do something like this? Money? You were better than that. Why you betrayed me, Rose? I loved you so much, and I still do. All this is just a nightmare that will pass one day. But they have proof!
He sat on the chair.
Wind was still at the Headquarters. He called Fog three times yesterday, no response from him. Even Jo was not taking his calls. It was the first time when he felt so alone in his professional life. Fog had lost the trust the moment Coal showed the footage of that day. That damned man was there!
How could he be so wrong about that?
He got out and knocked on March’s door. Officers at the Headquarters didn’t let her meet Wind. Even his intervention didn’t change that. They both were hopeless now. Since the day Chase searched her house, she didn’t come out. Coal didn’t even know if she was there or left the house.
Nobody opened the door.
He rang the bell and waited.
He heard footsteps.
March opened the door. She was still in the nightgown. It was like she didn’t sleep th
e whole night. She feigned a smile and then hugged him. It was not what March would do. She was definitely broken by the news of Wind’s involvement. He hoped this would be over soon.
He hugged her back and let her cry for the moment. He thought of Wind hitting this perfect wife for adultery. Wind must be very stupid to believe that. The main pillars of every marriage are trust and understanding. If one of them is broken, then there is nothing left for the couple. He had been married for a couple of years too. Even when Rose did betray him for whatever the reasons she had, he didn’t think of her as an immoral wife who would be sleeping with other men. It was so wrong to even think that.
“March,” he said.
She broke the hug and wiped her tears. “I am sorry. I just ... it is ...”
“It’s okay. I talked with Fog; they would be releasing Wind today or tomorrow. I know some top lawyers. We will counsel them.” He lied.
She sobbed once and nodded.
“This is not the right time to ask you this, but I need your help.”
“Come. We can talk.”
He walked behind her after locking the door. March led him to the backyard where he fired the shot that day. He cursed himself for doing that. It was so fucking insane to do that. He never had this scenario in his mind to harm Wind or March. And the most important thing that puzzled him was he never missed. Why that day then? He sighed.
In a big garden, two chairs and a table were placed. A big garden umbrella was giving the shadow to calm the nerves. He had seated there many times with Wind and March and Rose. Days they had spent talking with each other. But the life has its own way to give you excruciating pain in unexpected ways.
He sat in the chair. “Please sit, March.”
She wiped her cheeks once again and nodded.
Coal started. “It will be insane to say this after what I did that day,” he shook his head and looked at her. “There was a man. He knocked at the door or rang the bell, which one I can’t say. Did you remember hearing that?”
“No.” She was surprised.
“I will take that he was going to do that then. How many common friends you and Rose had?”