When it all happened – More Action

“So finally you opened your eye?” I asked the third bugger who was thinking where he was lying while taking a look at to his right where the other two were yelling in pain, louder than each other.

“Who are you?” he blabbered

Kicking on the side of this tummy, I said, standing straight “If you don’t know me…” kicking again, while he cried out in sudden pain, “why the hell were you following me from Forum Value Mall”

I could notice his widen as he tried to lift his head a bit and look up at me.

“I don’t know. I was just paid to follow you” he yelled in disgust.

The other person who was shot badly tried shouting something but the tape on his mouth stopped even smallest of the breath come out. Quickly, Praveen walked towards him and patted on his back saying, “You speak when your name is called out. Till then just wait in queue”

I kicked again, this time a bit harder, and said, “If you were just following, why the hell are you having a gun in your pocket? You were paid to carry it just for fun?”

“I don’t know anything” he said trying to behave he was hurt more than others.

I turned to Praveen and said, “Its his turn now”

“Shall I?” Praveen asked with his grin.

“Go ahead. Be bad.” I said

He pulled the tape from the mouth, which itself made the person give out a mild cry. Pressing his hand just beside the gunshot wound, which made the person yell loudly, Praveen said, “You too don’t know anything or you wanna be nice and get to the hospital quickly?”

He dint speak for a moment which anger Praveen just a little more and that in turn made him press hard at the wound. Giving out a loud cry, he said “We were paid to follow him. We don’t even know his name”

Praveen took out his pistol and pointed it at the person’s head. It dint help. Taking two steps back, he aimed and said, “Boy its been days since I took a shot in the dark”

“Good time to take a chance now. These buggers don’t know anyone and no one knows these buggers. I guess no one will even count for these three bodies.”

“You are right” he said and quickly took a shot.

The bullet hit the road just beside the persons ears, but the sound and the after effect forced the person cry out as loud as possible. He started shivering a bit while the other two just kept staring at him in surprise.

“Ah. Seems like you lost the touch. Shall I?” I said.

“You think you can beat me?” Praveen asked, and continued, after a gap, “No ways. Give a try”

Quickly, without giving any time, I shot beside the right ear of the third person near me. He yelled loudly and started blabbering, “I know. I know. I will tell”

I shot another bullet near his left ear which made him yell more and yell loud.

“That’s good” I said, tapping on his head with my pistol.

“He said he will tell, why did you try to shoot him again? Are you seriously challenging my aim?” Praveen said.

“Yes. This is the best chance we have got. They say they don’t know anyone. The number on their vehicle is wrong and untraceable. No one knows them. The only number which they have called is switched off. Take another try” I said sitting down beside the third person’s face.

Praveen stepping closer to the third person, said, aiming at him, “Ok buddy. I have taken my aim. Make sure you don’t answer his question and I get my second chance”

“Why the hell in the world were you following me?” I asked

“We were paid”

“So you are answering in one word one sentence? You want to play Kaun Banega Crorepati now? Shall I give you options? You can just say A or B or C or D. Fine?” I said smiling at his face.

He was looking blankly at me. It looked like we both were trying to piss off each other and were at our best. He succeeded.  

Pulling the hairs on the back of his head and lifting it a bit, I said, “He never misses his aim, but by chance if he misses this, I will take my third chance” and pointed my pistol on his head and continued, “Who paid you? From when are you following me? Whose number is that? Who is your contact?”

“We do not know anything. We were just paid to follow you from three days. The number belongs to a person whom we have never met. We just get calls from him and we give him all the updates. He had told us that today would be the last day”

“Of your life?” I interrupted.

Looking with a look which showed a hint of scariness, he continued, “He had said today would be the last day. We have never met him. He hasn’t even paid us”

“Do I look like a sucking idiot? Praveen your turn” I said, standing up.

Praveen took hs aim again and shot. The bullet hit the road just beside his right ear, turning him deaf for a minute. The tar particles that were forced out of the road had hit his cheek hurting it badly. He was crying complaining about his ears but soon controlled and looked up at me.

“You guys are mad. Who the hell are you both? Police?”

“You still don’t know me? Really?” I said, kicking his ass.

“We do not know anything” the person who was shot in his shoulders shouted loudly.

“I said you shoudnt speak. Its your partners turn.” Praveen shouted louder than him and hit his head with the butt of his pistol.

“Who the hell are you both?” he shouted again.

Putting the tape back on the third person, I walked towards the first one and pointed my pistol in between his eyes and said, “Looks like you have a louder voice. Why the hell were you following me?”

“I do not know” he said, to get another hit from Praveen

Putting the tape back on his mouth, I walked towards the driver who was lying in between them both, who by now looked a bit more horrified. Untying his hands, I pulled his left hand away from his body and aimed my pistol on the back of his left hand. Pulling out his tape, I said, “Now you wanna answer or feel the same pain on the left as in right”

He started crying louder and louder as soon as the tape was removed from his mouth.

“Hey listen. I believe you are just the driver. You don’t even have a gun with you. Just tell us what you know and you will be taken into custody as a witness. I swear. Just tell the truth and escape from here”

“I don’t know anything sir. Please leave me. I was just hired to drive this Qualis” he said quickly and then sobbed a little and then continued again, “I have been driving this since a week. We have been following you from three days. Please leave me. I will die. I will die. My right hand is gone” he started crying

“Hey listen you wont die. Your hand is fine. But if you don’t get to a hospital within one hour you will never be able to eat your favorite Dosa from tomorrow” I said.

“Sir. Please leave me sir. I don’t want to die.”

“Then tell whatever you know and we will call for an ambulance” I said.

“I have been driving with these two since three days. I was told to follow you. I was paid with ten thousands for four days. Today we were to follow you till Forum Value Mall and then go back to the house. That’s all I know sir.”

“Awesome. Finally something. Which house?” I asked

“I don’t know sir” he said still crying.

“Ok. So you have decided not to eat Dosa from now on?” I said tapping the wound on his right hand with my pistol which made him cry louder.

“Sirrrr. Please. I will die” he cried louder.

“Then just tell which house. Damn bugger” I yelled loudly

“Sir they will kill me” he said stammering in between his cries.

Praveen shot another bullet near him which missed well by a foot but sent a tremor along his spine.

“Sir please don’t shoot me. I will tell everything. But please, I don’t wanna die” he shouted at the top of his voice which still stammered.

“I said I will call the ambulance. Just give me the address of that house” I said moving closer to his face.

In the quick few minutes that passed from then, we were in Praveen’s car driving at the top speed towards the house, the same address given by the driver. Though we tied the driver to a tree and left the other two in between the road, frightening them to be run over by some truck, we had called the control room and a team of policemen and ambulances were on their way.

Though spies have be real bullies in most of the scenarios they come across, they too have hearts…

Come back for the Main Attack next Sunday…

Comments Welcome…

Vishal…

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When it all happened – Some Action!

“Sir that rascal is stopping” yelled the driver suddenly as I was concentrating on dialing Praveen’s number.

Suddenly, I looked up and saw that the Qualis had stopped in front of a small tea shop but no one had got out of it. There could have been only and only three cases for the Qualis to stop over suddenly. Either they must be waiting for an order from their head or they might have got a clue that they were being tailed or one of them might have drank more than necessary water and was desperate to release it. In any case, it had stopped but there was no movement. I had to do something.

“Just drive ahead in your normal speed”

“But we will lose them Sir. What if they turn back or take some turn”

“Just go ahead. We will see later”

We crossed the Qualis carefully and steadily. The windows were up and nothing could be seen. The darkness saved me from being noticed. As we moved ahead, I was desperately searching for a place where we could hide and keep an eye on them. After taking the next right, I got down from the auto and walked to the corner and kept staring at the Qualis. Since the engine was stopped, I quickly took out the mobile and dialed Praveen’s number.

“Where are you?” he said picking the call within a ring

“I am in JP Nagar. From Marathahalli a right before Bangalore Central. Where are you?”

“I am with Chief. Ready to leave now”

“Any information on the number? It’s still moving?”

“Yes. It’s still on move”

“Any specific route?”

“Nopes. It’s too random. Stopping at places. It is near Malleswaram right now”

“So they have different teams. Might have got a heavy backup. Ready for any level of defense” I said pursing my lips and trying to add some more grey cells to the thinking tank.

“Looks like. What do you want to do?” Praveen asked after a gap of few long seconds.

“How about this plan? You go and get that number. I keep following this Qualis until we get somewhere” I said.

“Cool. I am starting now. Whose number is this?”

“Auto driver who is helping me tail the Qualis”

“Man! You have gone mad” he said as I heard a door bang in the background

“I am recruiting new members into our team”

“Yeah I know. So that you get a free drop back home from office”

“You think like me”

“I am in car. Let’s stop being humorous and throw some action” he said and disconnected the call without waiting for my answer.

I kept standing and staring at the Qualis but there wasn’t any moment from it. Neither anyone got down nor did the engine started. The digits on the display of my watch kept changing continuously but the wait seemed years.

“Sir how much time more?” the driver yelled in between who had to be consoled again to wait for one more hour with an extra pay of 50%

It had been exactly fifty minutes when the mobile rang and the screen displayed Praveen’s number on it.

“What’s the news?” I asked in a hurry.

“They turned smarter. They have kept the mobile in the back seat of a cab. The cab driver doesn’t know anything and his routine has been the same with hell of pickups and drops except for one change. He picked up a random customer from JP Nagar and dropped him off in Silk Board. But the customer dint talk neither did he got any calls”

“Hmmm… Strange! Why would anyone take a cab form JP Nagar till Silk Board? And JP Nagar is the area from where the call came in. JP Nagar is the area where this Qualis has stopped.”

“True. But we lost another string. Even the mobile is clean. No data. No recent calls. Except…” he stopped.

“Except what?” I asked guessing what he held off.

“Except that it has an image of Sonali with her hands tied. The rascals wanted us to find this mobile” he said

“Damn Buggers! Someone wants to play high! They think they can enjoy screwing us”

“What’s next?”

“Can you come to JP Nagar?”

“On my way. Updating Chief” he said disconnecting the call, again without waiting for my answer.

It took lots of minutes for Praveen to arrive and by then the Qualis started moving again. I again had to get in the auto and wait for it to move on and when it had passed us and was at a very safe distance to be tailed, we started our journey again.

In a spies life, the most important things are tailing and keeping an eye on your target but also, these are things that are boring, unexpected, unguarded and the ones without any guarantee of a positive result. Many a times, spies end up keeping their eye 24/7 on a target who, at the end of many days, turns out to be a dummy or someone mistaken as the one to be eyed.

The Qualis kept on driving into the inner roads of JP Nagar towards Banashankari third stage and we kept riding at a very safe distance. I had to call Praveen and ask him to tail us. After a quite long time, he met us at a signal. Without wasting time, I gave the driver Praveen’s number and asked him to call the next day and ran into Praveen’s car without losing sight of the Qualis.

“What’s the plan? Just keep following the Qualis?” he said as he handed me the mobile.

“We have two ways now. Stop the Qualis, attack it, get the information and move ahead with the info”

“Else?”

“Keep tailing the Qualis. But I feel, by the way they have been playing; they want us to keep moving and take all the time. They want to make us feel desperate and lose the time. I am sure Sonali will be losing all hopes. She wouldn’t even have eaten anything. They are just enjoying keeping us on goose chase and killing Sonali’s time”

“Come on. Let’s attack the Qualis then”

“Yes. Let’s do it”

“How many passengers? What machines are they carrying?”

“I have seen three but I guess there are four in total. No idea on their machines. What do we have with us?”

“You name it, we have it” he said turning at me and winking as the signal turned green.

“Ok. Let me grab the Semiautomatic. How many rounds for you?”

“I have my Colt loaded with one full round. Have another magazine in my pocket. Have another Colt at my back”

“Cool, you thought this is a war?” I said as I quickly jumped into the back seat and opened up the seat and pulled out the firearms box.

“This is the best thing I like about your car. It’s loaded with everything” I said as I pinked a Colt and kept it behind my back and picked my favorite Heckler & Koch Semiautomatic Pistol loading them both with magazines.

Taking another set of magazines and filling my pocket with a tear gas shell and a spray paint bottle I jumped back to the front.

“What’s the plan?” he asked again

“Just follow those rascals until you see a lonely place and then suddenly overtake the car”

“Don’t you want to see Sonali’s photo?” he asked without turning at me

“The next time I see her will be right in front of my eyes with her cute smile. Those buggers cannot break me. Not now” I said tightening my teeth by rubbing them against each other.

We followed the Qualis for another few minutes when finally we were lucky to get a lonely place.

“Now’s the time” I said opening the cap of the sprayer.

Praveen forced the accelerator and crossed the Qualis within seconds and stayed very near to its front window. Getting myself out of the window, I quickly tried my best to spray as much as possible on the glass in front of the driver. It was not a perfect one but still it helped with the driver suddenly being taken into shock. He started making mistakes, but the others got alerted. Before they could do anything, Praveen slowed down the speed and I was right beside the driver of the Qualis.

I sprayed the paint again on his side window and shot a bullet followed by another one. The glass broke into pieces giving a clear picture of his frightened face. Before the person sitting next to him could take out his gun, I shot at him and the bullet hit right in his shoulders. Quickly throwing the tear gas shell inside the Qualis, I shot another bullet into the palm of the driver. With that final shot, he left the steering wheel and the Qualis crashed into the divider.

The tear gas started working as we stayed at a distance safe for us. Within next few minutes the gas was everywhere and there were no moments inside the Qualis.

The next moment when the three rascals from the Qualis opened their eyes, they found themselves lying in the middle of the road with their hands tied back. The two of them were hurt badly but the third was frightened equally looking at the Pistol that was pointing right at his head in between the eyes.

The Action Continuous…

Comments Welcome…

Vishal…

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When it all happened – Chase Ends

My heart kept beating as the ringing continued. My call was not being picked up! This definitely meant a bad news and that too at the most critical time.

Waiting for another minute and no longer able to hold my nerves I dialed the number again. This time the call was answered at the first ring.

“Chief! What’s the matter?” I asked without even giving a gap for my breath.

“We got a call. Again”

“From Bangalore? Or different location?”

“Bangalore”

“How worse is it?”

“It’s neither good nor bad. There is a message from Sonali as well”

I could no longer control the tear that had been dying hard to flow out of my eyes.

There are times in this life when blood flows and even times when tears flow out. The only difference between them is, it hurts after blood flows out and it hurts before tears flow out. Being a spy makes it no difference but to enjoy the both at limits!

The next tear was awaiting its turn as I spoke, “What’s the message?”

“She is fine but afraid. You will have to hear it”

He took some time as I could hear the noises of few buttons being pressed and the loud echo of a tape being rolled. He then played the tape and I could hear the message from Sonali –

“Vish I am safe” followed by the sobbing sound and then continued, “I don’t know where I am but please save me” again the sobbing continued and then, “I know you love me and will get me… Waiting badly… Pleeease... only you can save me” and the call was cut as the sobbing continued.

The next few tears rolled down as I heard Sonali’s trembling voice. I had seen her and heard her crying but this was the first time I felt it and I got to know how hurtful it would have been for her. She would have lost her nerves by now and she would even have stopped thinking. She was always the most innocent person I had met and any damn situation would turn her crazy shutting down her brain and the only thing she could do was to cry and keep worrying and get sick like a baby. And this was the most damned situation she had ever been into.

Wiping off the tears from my cheek I spoke, “Ok. Any more details?”

“The call was from Bangalore”

I intercepted him immediately and asked, “Tracked?”

“Wait for me to complete Sam. We tracked it but the mobile has been moving since then. We could hear traffic in the background. We have been tracking it but don’t have any more information”

“This is bullshit”

“I know. What’s your move?” Chief asked me in his calm tone.

“Can I handle this the way I want?”

There was a gap of a minute and I could clearly hear him think. He then spoke, “This is turning bad and we are losing time. Go ahead. Handle this the way you want. I don’t want any loss of life and I don’t want any blood in Bangalore. And you better know the data is the first priority”

“Thanks Chief! Take my word. This will be as quite as sipping a cup of coffee. No one will ever get to smell of it!”

“You need any backups?”

“Yes and you know whom I need”

“You got him. Anything else?”

“Nothing. He knows what I would need. I will be waiting for his call.”

“In 10 minutes. The dog has been crying and it’s time to feed it”

“Mark it done Chief”

“All the best Sam! I will send you Sonali’s message with him”

I cut the call. And along with that I wiped off the last tear that had been hanging at the corner of my eye. It was time for some action, finally. The quails was still driving slowly through the Outer Ring road and was about to enter JP Nagar. The evening traffic was building up and the darkness was thickening.

“You are sure you won’t miss the Qualis?” I asked the driver again.

“Sir. You just relax. I have my eyes on that bloody Qualis. It can’t escape me.”

“Great” I said and tried to figure out what should be the next move.

“Sir is there any chance of telling my name to your Chief?” he interrupted my thinking.

“Yes Sir. I will tell him but only if you follow the Qualis as you have to. Make sure they don’t get to know you are behind them.”

“Don’t you worry Sir”

“Its easy to follow it in this traffic but make sure you do this properly when the Qualis takes turn into any of the inner roads without any traffic. That’s the hardest part and I am sure they will be making a turn anytime now”

“Don’t you worry Sir” he repeated again and I felt it better to think rather than to spend time chatting with him.

I was still thinking about all the possibilities when the mobile rang.

“Hello” I said picking up the call in the first ring.

“How bad is the situation?” Praveen asked from the other end of the call.

“Pretty bad”

“Are we hitting hard?”

“Very hard” I knew I had anger in my tone as I said those two words.

“Do we have any location?”

“That’s the worst part”

There was a silence for few seconds and then I continued, “The call was tracked but the number has been on the move. We do not know anything about their plan; their backup; their strength; their weapons; their location”

“And Sonali?” Praveen asked quietly

“No information on her location. She might be in the vehicle along with that number or she might be held hostage in some damn location guarded heavily.”

“What’s your next move?”

“Still thinking. I am following another vehicle of theirs. That’s the only clue right now. Can you get our regular stuff for a level 3 attack? I also need you to bring your vehicle not the other one.”

“I will call you in 30 minutes buddy. I am on my way as we talk”

“Thanks buddy. Let’s make it happen”

“You got me behind you”

I disconnected the call as the Qualis took a random turn into a road inside JP Nagar just before the Bangalore Central.

The action begins next Sunday…

Comments Welcome… Your comments take no more than a Gmail ID and few minutes of your beautiful Sunday and few keys on your keyboard... But at the same time, they would mean a lot to me and my writing...

Vishal…

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When it all happened – Chase Continues

We had almost reached the Silk Board and as it’s been written in the fate of every Bangalorean, forever, we got stuck at the Silk Board signal. For the first time in my life, I was wishing for a traffic jam and yes there was huge traffic confusion at the signal. All the vehicles had lined up as close as possible, tangling themselves into a knot. There wasn’t any room for any movement until the signal cleared and yet few eunuchs and few street sellers were wandering the in between the vehicles making room for themselves.

Quickly, I saw the position of Qualis. They were professionals and that helped me a lot to maintain a lot of vehicles in between us. There were a lot many vehicles in between us but the person sitting beside the driver had a clear view on me. Then I moved my eyes to look at the second auto and it was queued up just behind a mini pick up van behind the Qualis. It was the right time to make the move but I had to get a cover, the best one possible. It had to be done at Silk Board else there was no where I could keep them behind me.

The time keeps running when someone’s behind our ass, else it always takes its own time to move on.

Looking everywhere I was getting separate to find a cover or an excuse when suddenly a eunuch came to my right side and asked for some money. I just thought how the time was changing and what used to frighten me was now about to help me. I took out a note of 100 and handed it to the eunuch and said what I wanted to say.

“Sir, what are you upto? You are creating all scenes like some movies”

“Firstly, don’t call me Sir. Secondly, call your friend and tell him his passenger is wearing black shirt and will be coming now. Thirdly, I will meet you tomorrow same time and explain you the film, it is better for you to be ignorant of the ongoing scene”

“Sir… Sorry… But my money?” he asked with a surprised tone.

“I will be paying all the money to your friend. Now make the call. Hurry up”

As he started dialing the number, I looked back through the hole and saw two eunuchs standing right beside the front left door of the Qualis. One was beside the window asking money and other was in front on the Qualis blocking the view of the person.

With a wide grin and a pat on my back, I jumped out of the auto from its right opening and ran to the other side of the road. As soon as I was on the divider and started walking behind, the honking started. Damn it! The signal had turned green and every driver waiting there turned craziest ever. Everyone started rushing wishing to get out of the signal before it turned red. The bikers hurried and took up all the space in between the four wheelers. There wasn’t even a single space which I could use to walk up to the second auto. I cursed myself for grinning and patting my back and thought if I could only kick my ass now. The eunuchs had already moved to side of the road and were counting the money they had earned. Hope they earned more money from the desperate passengers of the Qualis.

At last, I found a gap in front of a new Swift which was being driven by a person who was more careful about his new car than desperate to get out of that signal. Jumping onto the road in front of him I quickly started moving towards the auto. The auto I was sitting till now was slowly moving ahead and the Qualis too had picked its speed. The auto I was about to get in too moved a bit and by the time I reached it I made hell of hue and cry at the signal with angry eyes yelling me and loud honks scolding me. Caring for nothing, I kept my eyes glued onto the auto which by now had got a clear road and was moving ahead at a steady speed.

The only surety I had that the auto would move slower until I get into it was the fact that I hadn’t yet paid. Taking one last risk, I held my hand to the driver behind the auto who blew fire at me from his eyes and whispered something into the ears of a girl sitting beside him and quickly moved to the left of the auto and jumped in.

“Aye” shouted the driver in shock.

“I am Ramanna’s passenger” I said.

He took a clean look at me from his rear view mirror and then concentrated on the traffic.

“No speed. Just keep it slow and keep following that Qualis.  Don’t go right behind it; keep a distance of two vehicles. Act as though you are stuck between vehicles and you have no interest in getting ahead.”

“But why follow that? Ramanna said you came from Qualis.”

“Just do what I said”

“But why?”

“Because if you don’t do what I say we both will end up discussing the same thing till tomorrow morning”

“I want to know. Else I am stopping the auto”

“Talk to Ramanna once”

He quickly took out his mobile and started talking to Ramanna and after a long discussion of complete 5 minutes; I saw a satisfied look in his eyes.

“Sir you could have told me”

“There is no time for all that and please don’t call me sir”

As we cleared the Silk Board signal and were safe behind the Qualis, I moved and rested my back. I closed my eyes for a second and the first thing that came in front of my eyes was the horrified and frightened face of Sonali. I knew exactly how her face would be looking now. The eyes would have been swollen with tears rolling down without any break. Her eyes normally turned complete expressionless whenever she was sad and by now they would have completely lost life in them except for to allow the tears to flow out. The face would have lost all its glow and the chubby cheeks would have come down. The lips that had been smiling whole noon would have been sealed into a zip by now curving down, just like a crying baby. Her eyebrows knotted whenever she got angry or got tensed and now was the perfect time for them to be knotted clearly portraying all the mental suffering and torture she was undergoing presently. I felt my heart shrink for a while imagining her face. Having no courage to imagine more about her situation at present, I quickly opened my eyes.

Quickly I asked the driver to call Ramanna and took his mobile.

“Ramanna please stop near the Udupi Garden stop and just stand there for 30 minutes without any passenger. Then you are free to go. Thanks Ramanna. I will definitely meet you tomorrow.”

“No problem Sir… Sorry… I will do that. But please pay.”

“Trust me. You will make no loss today.”

Keeping the call and returning the mobile to the driver I just waited to reach Udupi Gardens. In minutes we were at Udupi Gardens when I told the driver to slow back and keep more distance.

I saw Ramanna’s auto pullover after the signal and he made a stop. The Qualis too stopped and pulled over to the side.

“Do you smoke?”

“Yes Sir”

“Stop the auto here and go have a smoke”

He was much happy and suddenly moving the auto to the side pulled out a cigarette and lighted it stepping out of the auto.  The Qualis waited for a long time before it made any move. Then suddenly I saw the Qualis startup and slowly move ahead.

“Start the auto. That Qualis is moving”

“No problem Sir. Let it go wherever it wants. I will follow it. Let me finish my cigarette.”

“Just shut up and start the auto. I will buy you a new cigarette.”

He looked at me in disgust and sat back in his seat throwing away the cigarette which still had life in it. As he started the auto, I asked him to wait.

“Sir this is wrong. By now I would have completed my cigarette”

“Just keep the auto ready” I said, losing the patience by now.

The Qualis by now moved ahead beside Ramanna’s auto and then drove a bit more and stopped again pulling over to the side. My grin was back but this time I dint pat my back but waited silently for the Qualis to make its final movement.

It was a long wait after which, finally, the Qualis started and moved ahead. Without my guidance, my driver too moved keeping a safe distance from the Qualis. Finally there was some treaty between us.

I was damn sure the Qualis would either go into its hiding or to the place where Sonali was being held hostage. In both ways I would reach somewhere. Now the only thing I needed was a backup. I dint even had my gun with me and entering their place unarmed was nothing more than an open invitation for me being captured and then tortured for the data.

At that level of professionalism and that number of men in its team, the place would be heavily guarded with men and arms and backups and an easy escape plan in place. Also, getting into the that kind of place would be near to impossible and with this new news of knowing they lost track on me would have sent alarms ringing all over their team. By now they would have doubled their caution. The game was being played by an expert! I was sure of that. Breaking into secret life, tracking my public life and tearing apart my whole day was not something easy.

“Just few more hours! Keep pumping the blood that I need” I consoled my heart keeping my hand on it. 

I remembered how Sonali used to keep her hand on my chest and look into my eyes with her cute smile whenever I turned serious or whenever I started thinking about something and got lost in my own imagination world.

Blinking hard breaking the chain of my thoughts, I said to the driver, “Please don’t lose track of that Qualis and please give me your mobile”

“But Sir I don’t have any balance in my mobile”

“Man! Please give me your mobile I will recharge it. And make sure you won’t lose track of that Qualis.”

“Sir. You don’t worry. Just sit back and relax. See how I will follow it. Let it go to Mumbai or Chennai or wherever I will follow it.”

At first I wanted to advise him to keep quiet and drive carefully keeping a safer distance but then forcing more patience into myself I smiled being amused by his talks and calming down my nerves I said, “You are awesome Sir. Just follow those rascals” and dialed the number of my Chief.

The chase ends next Sunday…

Comments Welcome…Your comments take no more than a Gmail ID and few minutes of your beautiful Sunday and few keys on your keyboard... But at the same time, they would mean a lot to me and my writing...

Vishal…

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When it all happened – Chase begins

The time was 7 PM when my mobile beeped of a text message. Within seconds I opened it but it in no way was related to my present situation. Ignoring it I stood up from the small bench placed in front of the mall.

It was time for action, I decided. I had to start somewhere. With every passing minute there was a life of loved one at stake and some critical data at risk of getting into the wrong hands. I walked straight up to the CCD in the mall and ordered for an Espresso shot. Within a gulp I finished it off. Though it did not help the situation it did help stabilizing my nerves.

The first thing I did was to make peace with my heart and give it a rest. The next thing was to bring my brain in action. It was a good decision when my brain said, “The more you sit here staring at the empty glass, lesser is the chance of getting your girl back”

I dialed the number again.

“Why the hell are you calling me from a public number? Why don’t you understand the situation?”

“I am sorry. But this cannot be avoided. A life is at stake and you know that. I am not letting any stone unturned on this. Those suckers should know how they spoiled their weekend.”

“I asked you to meet me at our emergency point”

“There is no time for that. This is time for some serious action”

“You are not doing anything until you have the right information and the required backup team. We need to figure all that”

“Sir. If they have reached this close, don’t you think that they won’t be having any clue of the location of that USB Drive? Are you damn sure they are that idiots? I am not letting myself wait for any backup.”

“I understand your position. But you are taking it too personally”

“Yes, I am. And I will. The only thing she ever did was to love me and I am not letting her sit down thinking that to be her biggest mistake.”

“Sam. Stop it! I just want you to stay out of this. Get this code straight into your mind, Sunny Days getting hotter”

“Got it but I promise you that I won’t stop until I see her again and safe and with a smile on her face. I know my phone is being tapped right now and that bugger is hearing me with a grin on his face. I do not know his name for now, but I am sure I will enjoy wiping off that grin off his ass”

Disconnecting the call, I threw the mobile in a dust bin designed as a big penguin with a wide grin on its face placed at one of the corner of mall in ground floor. I knew my bike would be bugged by now and I would be having a set of eyes ready to follow me till the end of the world.

Walking out of the mall, I went straight up to the first auto standing in queue and asked him for a ride. He agreed quickly but looked up at me in shock when I said him I need another auto to follow us.

“Brother, I will give you both double the amount. I just want you to do as I say. Will you?”

The sound of double amount did ring bell in his ears and he quickly agreed putting the tobacco he had spread out in his right palm into his mouth.

He started the auto and asked me, “What should I do?”

“Do you have any friend who is in Marathahalli now with his auto ready to follow us?”

“Yes. But I also have another friend here. He can follow us from here”

“Just do as I say. Start driving towards Marathahalli in slow speed. Get into as many Traffic Jams as you can. Stop at every signal. Start now.”

“What about my friend?”

“Buddy, you will be losing money as you talk. Questions are good only if the answers for them are coming free”

“Okay Sir. As you say. What we have to do with the entire world. We have our own small world. Need to run our family. Need to collect as much money as possible. It’s very costly Sir. No one even listens to us”

“I will sit with you and listen to your story once I am out of my own story. The drink will be on me. Now just drive. I will give pay the bill for this”

“For what Sir?” he asked turning back.”

“Don’t turn back. I said I will pay you everything. I am just making a hole at the back”

“Whatttttt??? Sir just tell me what you are upto. I am feeling scared now. Are you running from someone? Who are you? I am a poor man. I have a family. Don’t get me mixed into anything”

“Just shut up. Look in the mirror quietly and don’t change your expression.”

He looked in his rear view mirror and stopped chewing the tobacco for a second and was about to start talking something but I interrupted, “Yes I am from some department related to the Police. You are on the right side of the chase and your help to our department will be recognized. Just keep doing as you say and some day…” I looked down at the Driver details printed in front of me and continued, “Ramanna will be known for his bravery”

He had a smile on his face which was still confused if it needed to stand out or sleep in. But those words did work on him and he stopped talking. The first signal where the auto stopped was the Kundalahalli signal. The day being Sunday, traffic was lot lesser and the roads were clear. The silver colored Qualis that had been following the auto had not lost its sight on our auto.

It was neither too far nor too near to give me any idea of missing it nor to notice the number of persons following me. It clearly showed they were professionals.

As the signal turned green, I asked the driver, “Call your friend in Marathahalli and talk normally. He shouldn’t know what is happening. Then just tell him that he has a pickup in Outer ring road. Tell him to keep an eye on your auto and then he should be noticing a silver Qualis with dark windows right behind us.”

He suddenly turned into the right mirror to look back at the vehicle.

“Stop looking in the mirror. Don’t make them turn suspicious”

Obediently turning back, he said, “Sorry Sir”

“Tell him that he has to keep following that Qualis because the customer is travelling in it and he will be getting down somewhere in the Ring Road and he needs to pick him up. And one more thing, don’t call me Sir again”

He dialed the number and started speaking when I interrupted, “Please don’t look tensed and don’t stop chewing that tobacco”

The rest of the drive until we crossed the Marathahalli Bridge, taking a left turn towards the Silk Board, was silent with most of time keeping an eye on the Qualis. I guessed another vehicle to be behind us but in no way I could be sure of that.

The team back at the Bureau must, by now, would have collected more information on this. Every bit of that was a life saver. I was getting impatient to get my hands on that. If they were professionals, there would be no chance in getting any CCTV images from the mall. But still it was not to be left untouched.

As the driver took left and started driving down towards the ring road, I noticed the Qualis stuck in the signal. It was the right time as the glass of front left window came down and the man, a clean shaved man with small hairs, started staring at us not to miss us. I saw another auto right behind it.

“Is your friend wearing his khaki jacket on top of his red long sleeved shirt?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now drive past the bus stop and make a halt exactly where I say”

He slowed down the speed and started driving cautiously to be in the fast moving traffic and stopped right after the bust stop when I asked him. Quickly jumping out of the auto I ran to the coin phone and called my director again.

“Any inputs from the CCTV cam?”

“You are not stopping right?”

“Quick. Don’t have time.”

“They are damn professionals but we got clues. Most of the tapes were erased. The security in the office was attacked.”

“Thanks. I will be at the emergency point by mid night. Bugged, need to take bath. Captain has chosen to bat first”

“Hmmm. Batting order ready for match?”

“Lined up for Twenty-Twenty match”

I saw the Qualis coming down the way and keeping the call quickly walking into the auto, as though in no way being concerned of anything in the world, asked him to drive as fast as he could.

The Sun had started setting and the darkest dusk of my life was setting its foot in Bangalore. A goose chase had begun and a long battle awaited me. The plan chalked out for the night had just started taking its form. This was just a tip of the iceberg and I knew the water as colder and deeper as the iceberg was stronger and deadlier.

The chase continues next Sunday…

Comments Welcome…

Vishal…

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When it all happened – Part 2

The ride was a not long, covering only a few kilometers, from her PG to the Forum Value Mall and even the reduced number of vehicles on that stretch on a Sunday noon made it easier to be at the parking lot of the mall in time. The entire ride, she had been hugging me putting her arms right around my stomach and locking them tight. We hadn’t spoken a word the whole ride but our hearts had been communicating to each other at a frequency no scientists can reach and decrypt the messages.

As I locked the helmet to the bike and turned back, I saw her combing her hair with her little thin fair fingers. She had neatly held the hair in between her both hands and rolled them all behind her back, advising them not to open up free again. The second time she did that again, it was a request more than advise but the naughty hairs had already started having their discussion on flying free along with the wind. Listening to that discussion, she quickly took out a black colored hairband and guided all those naughty hairs in it and tied them up neatly. A little disappointed, they fell back behind her. But there were few hairs, the luckier and the shorter ones on the right side which escaped the hairband and fell right in front of her cheeks covering most part of it. She smiled at me, without caring about those hairs, when she saw me watching amused at her.

“Where do you want to have your lunch?” I asked trying to move my eyes off her cute face.

“Anywhere” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“I haven’t heard of any hotel with that name” I said sarcastically.

“He he. Nice PJ” she said, grinning widely.

“Then tell me where do you want to have your lunch?”

“I said na, anywhere is fine”

“I dint ask you to give me that reply. I asked you to know what you want to eat today” I said pressing the number button numbered 4 in the lift.

“I can’t decide. You decide” she said with a little disappointed frown on her face.

“Ok ok I will decide. Now please don’t wipe off that cute smile from your face. How about lunch in MTR?” I said waiting for her smile to return.

Her smile did return when she suddenly turned at me and said, smiling widely, “Wow. I just wanted to say that”

“Then why dint you say idiot?” I exclaimed walking out of the lift behind her.

As we walked into the MTR main door, my eyes searched for loneliest empty table but before I could notice one, she headed straight to the one which was right beside window and a nice view. Though the table was not lonely, it did have had a nice view. And upon that, my girl was happy with that and that in turn made me happier.

A decent looking middle aged man came walking to us and handed us the menu. Opening it and glancing through nothing, I raised my head up and looked at her. She was still busy enjoying the view like a small kid.

“Hey Sona! Check the menu” I said

“You decide whatever you want. Just order one coke with whatever you decide” she said not even turning at me.

“I can order anything I want? Are you sure?”

“Yesssssss” she said turning at me and frowning. Though I liked her face when she smiled but the frown was her cutest act. The small naughty nose of hers would push up shrinking more and the lips would purse in leaving the chubby cheeks shining and the little eyes twinkling in anger.

“Okkkkkkkk” I said mimicking her frown.

“Shut up and order food” she said with her smile replacing that cute frown within a moment.

It was a long wait for the food to arrive on the table but I made sure to spend the whole time in staring at her face, which at times irritated her when she had to blush noticing me stare at her, but I was enjoying every moment of it. Only twice did my eyes move out from her to check the mails and messages in my mobile.

It was almost the time for the film when we had finished up our lunch. My stomach had filled up completely and I needed a sound sleep more than that film but she was still as excited as she was two days before when we had booked the tickets online. 

Sipping the last drop of coke from the bottle, she smiled at me saying, “Yummmmy lunch”

“And a heavy one too. I guess I will end up sleeping in my seat” I said smiling widely at her.

“I will kill you if you sleep”

“Go ahead”

“Shut up” and back was her angry cute frown on her face which I enjoyed the most and within a moment it again vaporized into air with the smile getting back in its place.

We walked quickly towards the INOX Cinemas and walked in to the Screen 2 and comfortably sat on the hard cushioned seats. It was well after the previews and the names rolled out and the real movie started when she touched my hand and our fingers parted to hold each others’ fingers. The movie being a real interesting one we seldom got a chance to talk and the two hours just went without a signal.

It was 4:15 PM when I checked my watch stepping out the dark theatre into mall. Sighting a restroom right in front of my eyes was a dream come true and signaling her to wait for few minutes I literally ran into the restroom.

Sometimes it feels best when we are inside the places which we hate even to give a look at when we are on the outside of them and that moment proved my little assumption.

I walked back out of the restroom but could not find Sonali anywhere where my eyesight could reach. I checked again but no luck. I quickly walked to main entrance of the INOX but did not see the blue colored T-Shirt anywhere. Being a shopaholic, I thought, she must be wandering around some shops, but she has never done any sort of that in all those years I have known her. It looked strange and hard to believe and already my heart started sensing something dangerous.

Still keeping the heart beat normal, I walked quickly all around the 4^th floor of the mall and quickly stepped down to the 3^rd floor. With every floor and every shop, my heart beat started rising higher and my forehead started sweating faster.

Something smelled a lot fishy and something scared the hell out of me. That something was pouncing on me hard to rip me apart into pieces. It turned really weird and scary when the call to her mobile signaled her mobile being switched off. I was having one of the hardest time of my life believing myself to letting her go out of my sight and at the same time, fighting my heart to avoid breaking up and forcing it to stay calmer.

Two rounds in each of the floor, a good long peek in every shop present in the mall, a full round in the parking lot, a detailed check on the open area in the mall and the worst luck ever. No sight of Sonali.

Feeling helpless, I decided what was against the rule book in my line of work. I dialed the emergency number, the immediate contact in my secret life, the life I had been hiding with everyone I knew; my officer at the Intelligence Bureau.

“Hello. Why did you call me from a public number?” I heard the voice of my officer.

“I need your help. This is serious” I said, my voice sounded a little less confident.

“Your girlfriend has been kidnapped. We already got the call. You will be contacted soon.”

“But why her?”

“Don’t you know what you have landed yourself into? You have the most sensible data which can tear apart their whole organization in your hands”

“But no one knew of this”

“No time to talk on phone. Meet me ASAP. Works to do.”

“But I have to find Sonali first. She is in danger and she needs me”

“Even the country needs you and the data comes first. You know that very well. Be brave. I know you will handle this situation”

Tooooon……… Tooooooon…..

And along with the silence of the phone, I saw the darkest picture in front of my eyes. The only tear that was dying hard to fall off the corner of my left eye dint help much nor the pounding heart nor just any damn thing in the world.

She dint knew a thing about this and most of all she was the most innocent person to be pulled in all this, only because she loved me? Was she atleast safe? Who the hell was behind this all? How the information leak? Who had tracked me down to Bangalore? Where was the end of this all? Moreover where was the starting?

The questions that never could be answered started piling up. The darkness had just begun and a long dark night awaited me…

Comments welcome... 
To be continued…

Vishal…

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When it all happened – Part 1

It was a very clear day. The clouds seemed out of town and the Sun was smiling brightly on the eastern horizons of the bright blue sky. A look at the sky proved it wasn’t going to rain for months, but a look down on the road showed how it had rained just a night before.

I remembered, as I stood at the window of my room holding the brush lazily, that I had to meet Sonali – the love of my life. But it could wait till noon and I had lots of time left to be just lazier. As I went for a hot shower, brushing my teeth, it felt wonderful. Ofcourse the bath freshened me up but I was still sleepy. Upon that, I had a bunch of tasks in my queue to be completed before I could leave for the day. I hated my job every day except the salary day, just like any other software engineer.

Knowing I would never be able to concentrate on the job, I walked into the kitchen and got a cup of coffee for myself. The next few hours were spent in front of the laptop hurrying up on the work until my mobile beeped alerting me of a message. I knew it was her and yes it was her.

R u ready dr?

Quickly I replied back,

Yep…u?

Yessss.. m ready.. I will be ready in 15 mins.. cme fast.. stop working now..

It was no doubt she knew I was working as it was normal and we had been together since years.

Wokay boss.. as u say.. m leaving now..

I replied shutting down my laptop. Quickly wearing a black shirt with small white squares on it over blue jeans and tucking it in without much care, I took the deo in my hands and sprayed all over my body more than what the shower nozzle had sprayed few hours back. Within seconds I was out of my room kicking my bike and rising up the speed of it.

Taking a stop at the bakery in the corner of our road, I bought a chocolate for her. She had always been a small baby when it came to chocolates, being crazy over chocolates. And I knew how much she would be happy seeing that and I always loved watching her happily smiling and talking about just anything in the world. I lost in my memories as I started riding again towards her PG when I remembered saying to her, “It doesn’t matter what you talk, but please don’t stop talking. Its your voice that I am mad about, not your topics.” Though she had felt a little bad on me for not being interested in her topics she felt great and much relieved when she knew that she could talk to her heart’s content without me bothering her.

By the time I was done with a small recap of our memories, I was sitting on my bike, in front of her PG, holding the helmet in my left hand and clearing the dust on the mirror from my right hand. Feeling restless, I sent her another message to come out of the PG fast but before I could get a reply, she was stepping out of the stairs of the PG.

Wearing a plain dark blue half sleeved T-Shirt with a light green hem, on top of light blue jeans, she looked simple yet gorgeous. It had been years watching her almost daily, yet she looked cuter than ever and sweeter than ever. She smiled and her pink lips curved neatly with the end of her lips pushing back her chubby cheeks to make them look chubbier. As I kept staring at her, she blushed and the cheeks that were shining bright turned light red and she raised her eyebrows twice. Her cute black eyes tried hiding her blush but could stop enjoying my stare. She looked more beautiful, her fair chubby cheeks that shone brightly just below the two little black eyes under the bow shaped eyebrows that twinkled everytime I looked into them, her cute curved pink lips and a small straight nose that sat silently on top the lips until she got angry when the same silent nose would burst out red.

She wanted me to stare more but was unable to hold onto her blush longer and finally said, “What?” when she stood in front of me.

I nodded my head closing my eyes, signaling a wide “nothing”

“Why were you staring at me?” she asked again, in her cutest voice.

“You look beautiful”

She blushed again and her cheeks again turned light red and the chubbiest part of her cheeks on both sides shined brightly under the sunlight.

“Stop staring and start the bike. We are getting late for the show” she said.

“Hmmm Ok” I said, looking bit disappointed, wearing my helmet.

As soon as she sat behind me, I pulled out the Bar-One I had got for her and held it in my right hands above my right shoulder. She pulled it right away from my hands and I heard a soft “Wooow” from her mouth.

“Don’t eat it alone” I said

“From when did you start liking chocolates?” she asked.

“I never said I dint like chocolates. I never tried to take half of the chocolate from you but today I won't leave you to eat it fully. I will have half of that today.”

“That’s so bad! But I will share. Only for my mad mad boy” she said in her cute voice that sounded like a small kid.

I started my bike and as the speed of the bike increased, she hugged me lightly from behind.

To be continued…

Vishal…

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