by Mainak Dhar
'So, what are the options?'
'Leak it to the media. Anonymously, of course. Provided there is some evidence. If it's pure hearsay, then that option won't go too far.'
I was a bit surprised at what he said, and he smiled.
'Look, someone like Varsha is very smart and her heart's in the right place. She just sees the world as more black or white than shades of grey. Someone like her would make sure any such revelations get investigated and people can't hide it away. But then, the media are all corporates, with their vested interests. So, you never know which story will be followed up. But it's perhaps the most practical option I can suggest.'
Before I got up to leave, my interview supposedly done, I put away my pen and pad and asked what I hoped would sound like an innocuous question.
'Sir, what about Sai, the new chief who was just announced? Must be big news in the IB.'
His face betrayed no emotions but his eyes were sparking as he responded, 'Sai is hungry and he's tangoed with the best of them.'
I waited for him to elaborate, but he just looked at me.
'One last question. Do India and Pakistan usually share intelligence like they did on this raid? Karimi explicitly said the ISI had passed on intelligence to us.'
I could now see a flash of anger in the old man's eyes.
'Karimi is a bastard. He was in the infantry, one of the sods who got his nose bloodied in Kargil by us and ran with his tail between his legs. Then, he moved to the ISI, sending his jihadis over on one-way tickets to wherever they go to meet their seventy-two virgins. Now, he has become the poster child of rediscovering our friendship with our neighbours, attending conferences and literary festivals, giving speeches, talking about cultural exchange. A man doesn't change like that. I don't trust him.'
I hazarded the next question gingerly, 'He must get along well with the current Indian intelligence set-up, for them to share info with us on something the Pakistanis were being accused of orchestrating.'
His eyes bored into me. 'It boils down to people and how much they trust each other. I don't trust Karimi. But others may. I'll just share what's out there in the public domain. Karimi and Sai aren't strangers. They went to Oxford together.'
I tried not to betray any reaction to this piece of information. As I thanked him and was about to leave, he tapped me on the shoulder.
'Aaditya, if someone has information about some wrongdoing in the IB, there's another option open to them. Give it to some old man they can trust, some old man who's been on the inside. Some old men still have all sorts of interesting connections and can make all kinds of interesting things happen.'
While I had gone for my lunch meeting, Karzai had been doing his own recon. He had also changed his appearances – coloured lenses to hide his distinctive blue eyes, a shave and a close-cropped haircut. I had made him dress in torn jeans and a Coldplay t-shirt, which he hated. We met at our hideout in the late afternoon.
'Riaz has another safe house. This one's legit. It isn't used by smugglers or bootleggers, but a flat in a middle-class society owned by a friend, who is away working in Dubai and he helps take care of it. It's in Goregaon, not too far from where they stay.'
I thanked him, knowing he had gone on this errand entirely on my behalf. Before I did anything to engage Thapa, I wanted to be sure that Ravi and Zoya were safe and out of harm's way. I didn't have many cards, but I wasn't helpless either. However, before I put any of my cards on the table, I wanted to be sure that Sai couldn't harm those close to me.
'I don't know if Sai's watching them or not, but I don't want to take any chances. Can you get them to the safe house?'
'Sure.'
I spent the next agonising hour at the safe house, waiting to hear back from him. My plan was relatively simple – get the evidence out to the media and the cops and ask Phadke for protection. I couldn't be sure if Phadke could be trusted, but I had to rely on my intuition. It was telling me that Phadke was not involved. Finally, the doorbell rang. I saw Ravi and Rekha there, Karzai lurking in the background. Their eyes went wide in shock and Rekha hugged me tight, sobbing as she did. Ravi held onto my arm and I could see tears in his eyes as well.
'He told us we should pack our bags for a couple of days and showed the letter you had sent with him. I wasn't convinced but then he showed me your video on the phone. It's amazing to see you safe and alive, even if you look like you've visited a barber from hell.'
When they were inside, I told them everything. It was a risk to tell more people than was absolutely necessary, but Ravi and Rekha were the closest thing to family I had and I didn't want to leave them in the dark. As I challenged Sai, they would be at risk and I wanted them to know why I was doing what I was. They kept looking at Karzai from time to time as we talked. I could see that Ravi was struggling with many of the same emotions that I had. How do you accept someone you considered a mortal enemy as part of your team, even if driven by expedience and necessity? Karzai looked very uncomfortable and stepped out for a while when I told them his story.
'Do you trust him, Aadi?'
'He could have killed me many times over in the last couple of days. He hasn't. And, I could have killed him and I didn't. If nothing else, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?'
Ravi didn't look entirely convinced, but I quickly moved onto the question on my mind and called Karzai inside.
'Aman, where's Zoya?'
'She wasn't home. The guard said she hasn't been home for a day. I tried the number you gave but there was no response. Sounded like it was shut off.'
'Shit.'
I sat in a corner, wondering where Zoya was and how she must have taken the news of my death. Ravi had told me that Phadke had passed on news that I had been captured, and that they had spent that night in sheer terror, wondering where I was and whether I was still alive.
I had initially focused on lying low and surviving. And then, on not contacting those who mattered to me because I didn't want to put them in any danger without being able to protect them. Had I waited too long? Where was Zoya? How could I find her?
Ravi had spoken to her just before he and Rekha left for Bangkok, but rushed back on hearing the news of my abduction. In dealing with his own grief, Ravi had not gotten around to speaking to her since. I thought of calling a couple of our colleagues at work, but dead people don't make calls, do they? My being presumed dead was perhaps the only plus I had on my side. As long as Sai thought me dead, he would not expect me to get back at him in any way, giving me an element of surprise which I hoped made up for all the other deficiencies I had in taking on someone like him. So Ravi called three of Zoya’s colleagues, saying that he was a family friend trying to get in touch with her. He got lucky with Mugdha. He put his cellphone on speaker and I could hear her voice, nothing like the ebullient, upbeat one I was so used to hearing in the office.
'Sir, it's so terrible. I haven't been able to sleep a single night. First Tony, then Aadi…'
We waited a minute for her to regain some composure before she continued, 'Zoya was devastated. I went to visit her. She was in bad shape. I told her to visit her parents in Delhi, but I don't think she was in any condition to listen. I offered to have her come over to my place, but I'm not sure how much she registered. Oh, God, that poor girl loved Aadi so much. She was blaming herself for letting him go. I haven't heard from her since.'
A dead weight settled on my chest. It wasn't Zoya's fault, it was mine. I had blundered into a situation and caused nothing but pain to those around me. The last time I had crashed and burned, after the cross-border raid, at least I was not the sole person responsible and nobody else was impacted but me. Here, Tony was dead, and I had caused immense pain to Zoya, Ravi and Rekha. Part of me wanted to break down, but another part of me made me go and stand quietly in a corner, my eyes closed, my breathing slowly coming back to normal. This part of me told me to channel all that grief, all that guilt, and transform it into rage.
Rage against those who had done
this to all of us.
The first priority was to make sure Zoya was safe.
Ravi, Karzai and I split up. Ravi and Karzai could operate more openly, seeking out information from all sorts of people – guards at her apartment, friends, colleagues. Ravi also called Phadke for help, and we hoped that with the police involved, we would make more headway. I could not contact those I had known in my 'previous life', but I could still do my own bit of snooping. Unfortunately, that was in places where I least wanted to be – hospitals. Phadke's men would no doubt, over time, get to hospitals, but on their own time. Also, there was no way I was going to just sit in a safe house while others were looking for Zoya.
I had been through three hospitals without any luck. When we regrouped at the apartment in the evening, none of us would voice our fears about the worst-case scenarios. But that didn't stop me from playing them out in my head over and over. Had she met with an accident? Had she done something to herself? I found that hard to believe, but without knowing where she was, it was hard to rule anything out.
Rekha, who had been at the apartment helping out by sending messages to as many of Zoya's work friends as she could, had likewise drawn a blank. Nobody seemed to know where she was.
We sat down, all of us tired and hungry but none in a mood to rest or eat, none saying anything.
Finally, Rekha spoke, 'Try her phone again.'
Sometimes, it is the simplest idea that works. Without thinking I took out my phone and called Zoya. To my shock and relief, it was answered on the third ring, except it wasn't Zoya at the other end.
'Hello, who is this?' I asked.
A tired-sounding female voice answered. 'This is Lilavati Hospital.'
On hearing this, my heart began pounding. I tried to keep the panic from showing in my voice. 'Zoya… the lady this phone belongs to... Is she OK?'
'Don't worry, sir. She's stable now. She’s on an IV drip and she should wake up soon. She was pretty disoriented when she came in. We were unable to get much from her. She just kept talking about some Aadi fellow. Seeing your caller ID, I guess that's you.'
I exhaled. So, Zoya was okay. But why was she in hospital?
'The patient was severely dehydrated and hadn't eaten anything for some time. She was walking near Bandstand, and either lost her concentration or blacked out and had a bit of an accident with a bike. When they brought her in, her wallet and ID were missing. All we had was the phone, but the impact had thrown the battery out.'
I found myself choking up. I knew why Zoya had gone to the Bandstand. I had told her how much I loved being near the water. We used to go for long walks there.
'Is she badly hurt?'
'Not really. Some scratches and bruises, but she really needed some IV drips. The doctor's saying that her vital signs are coming back to normal. She came in early this morning. We would have got in touch sooner except that the phone wasn’t working. By the time we got it running, we found out that it was password protected. We were waiting for her to wake up, but lucky for us, you called first.'
'We're coming right over and will get her. Thank you!'
We went in Ravi's car, because we wanted to be in control instead of waiting for a cab. But that cost us some time. Ravi got his car from his house while Karzai and I waited some distance away, just in case anybody was watching the house. Then, the old man drove faster than I'd ever seen him do so; and on the way, he called Phadke to tell him that there was no need to panic, that he had managed to get in touch with Zoya.
When we were about to reach the hospital, Karzai motioned for Ravi to stop the car.
'Hold on.'
I almost lost my temper, as I was desperate to get to Zoya. 'What's wrong? We're almost there.'
'Just a feeling. That's all.'
To most people that would have seemed irrational. But Ravi and I knew otherwise. Sometimes, a soldier's instinct that gave him that split-second warning before a bullet went through the air where he had been an instant ago, or helped him avoid a mine he would otherwise have stepped on. Both of us had felt it and knew better than to ignore that in another.
Karzai looked at both of us. 'You're at ease here so you're not acting as you would on a normal op. This is your home. To some extent, you take safety for granted. Put yourself in my shoes. I am in what I see as enemy territory, sensing and seeing things you may not. I am getting a feeling similar to what I've felt before when near danger on ops. Just park here and let me do a bit of recon to make sure that the coast is clear.'
Ravi and I looked at each other. I needed to get going, but Karzai touched my arm.
‘This Thapa, or Sai, is not a novice. Given how he’s been covering his tracks and the fact that he has all the resources of the IB, he is capable of anything.’
‘Like what, Karzai?’ My exasperation was showing.
Karzai was patient as he replied, ‘Do you think he wouldn’t have tapped your phone and those belonging to people close to you?’
I felt a stab of panic when I realised that in my eagerness to get to Zoya, I had used my mobile to call her. I looked at Ravi. I could see that he was anxious as well.
Karzai continued, ‘See that man a hundred meters to the right on Bluetooth? Another yuppie talking business or one of Sai’s men keeping watch? You are keen to get to Zoya, this is friendly territory. You may be missing things you would pay attention to normally.’
I took a second glance. The man Karzai had spotted did look like any other ordinary office-goer on the phone, but was that a bulge under his shirt? A gun?
Ravi had seen the same thing. He tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Call again. I don’t have a good feeling about this.’
I pulled out my phone and dialled Zoya's number. The same lady whom I had spoken to earlier answered.
'Is Zoya awake? We're on our way to pick her up. It would be great to talk to her.'
She paused as if surprised by what I had said. It took a few seconds for someone to get back on the line.
'This is Doctor Lamba. I was looking after your friend while she was here. She had a really good recovery over the last hour or so. And, I'm surprised that you're coming over.'
'Surprised?'
'Someone came and took her home. Her uncle who works in the police. He seemed to have all the right paperwork. While I didn't get to meet him, my staff says everything seemed to be in order. We did mention that a friend of hers was on the way to get her, and he said he knew you well. He gave us your name and number. We released her into his custody.'
I gripped the phone hard, knowing something had gone very wrong. I hung up to tell Ravi what had happened.
It was then that my phone rang.
When I answered, I heard a familiar voice.
'Oh, my, the dead do come back to life. We had been monitoring your phone. Thanks to bureaucratic inefficiency, my man forgot to stop monitoring it after your supposed death. Or, may be I forgot to tell him to stop. Either way, all for the best, wouldn't you say? When one of my men told me there was an outgoing call on the number a little while ago, I was surprised. I thought maybe someone had stolen your phone and was using it, but I heard the call log and thought we'd help your little lady out.'
'Sorry I didn't oblige and die like you had planned, you bastard. Where is Zoya?'
He cleared his throat before answering. 'She's fine. She has no idea you're alive. I told her we had been sent by Phadke to get her to safety, since someone had reported her as missing. Helps to have all sorts of genuine-looking police IDs handy. She's resting now. We're taking good care of her.'
'Let her go, Sai. She has nothing to do with this. This is between you and me.'
He cleared his throat again. 'This is much bigger than you, so don't flatter yourself. It would have been simpler if you hadn't acted the hero at R-City and got mixed up in all this. Unfortunately, you are; and, I need to know what you know before I can let her go. So, why don't we meet up and have a chat?'
He knew he held all the cards while Zoya was in his custody
. There was little I could do.
'Fine. I'll come over and you can decide what you want with me. Just let her go.'
'How deeply touching and chivalrous. Well, Major, if you want the lady, come and get her.'
When I rang the bell, the door was answered by a lady whom I assumed to be Phadke’s wife. She looked at me curiously.
‘Excuse me, Ma’am, is Ashutosh at home?’
I already knew he was, as Ravi had been watching his house and had confirmed that he was indeed home; that there were no guards around.
Perhaps, Mrs. Phadke had been a cop’s wife for too long and suspected that something was amiss. ‘Who are you, young man?’
Before I could say anything, I heard a voice boom from inside the house. ‘Who is it, Manisha?’
Then out walked Ashutosh Phadke, who took one look at me and dropped the glass he had in his hand. While Manisha scrambled to clean up the mess, he grabbed me in a bear hug.
‘I’ll be damned, Aadi! Alive, alive!’
He released me from his hug and held both my shoulders as he got a good look at me.
‘What the hell happened? You disappeared after the raid. I asked for forensic samples to check if you had actually died, but the IB said the information was need to know. And now, you show up at my doorstep, like this?!’
I laughed with him and handed him the package I was carrying. ‘I need help, Ashutosh. I also need you to keep what I am telling you strictly to yourself. Help me as someone I can trust and not a DCP.’
He looked at the package and asked with a grin, ‘Is this a payoff?’
As he took out the bottle of Laphroaig 18-year-old Single Malt, his grin broadened and I smiled at him, ‘Just something we could share while I tell you what I need. All I ask is that you trust me.’
I knew I had a long night ahead. I didn’t touch the drink, but Phadke was two glasses down before he responded to what I had been saying. ‘Let me get this straight. Someone higher up orchestrated this whole terror attack to cover up their dirty work. You know more than you should and Zoya is in their custody. Who are they?’