Brutal (15 page)

“
D
rop your weapon
!” the man barked, pointing a sub-machine gun at Seema. “Drop it and we can talk. Quick! … I’m not going to hurt you.”

Seema stood dazed, realizing she had killed a man in a brutal way. But she felt no remorse. Everything still looked like a bad dream. An unfamiliar anxiety was eating her inside. She struggled to stand straight, her hands and legs twitching. Her defensive instincts were not permitting her hand to let go of the knife.
Is this what the drug does to everybody?
She shook her head, trying to fly back into ‘reality’.

“Do as I say,” he said again, his voice calm this time. “Please. We haven’t got much time.”

She looked at him with suspicion. He was completely bald, his brown scalp shining under the sun. Just like the others, he was dressed in military camouflage clothing. But something in his eyes conveyed that he was not going to hurt her. She let the knife slip from her hand.

“Are you feeling OK?” he said, taking cautious little steps towards her. “I know you’re not. But can you run?”

With great effort, Seema uttered a few words, “Who are you?”

“As of now, I’m the only one who stands between you and your captors,” he said, holding her hand. “Let’s get out of here first. You’ll need to run.”

The man galloped towards a corner of the compound. Seema followed him. In a few moments, they were standing over a large concrete block rising a foot above the ground. It had a number of manhole covers on it. “We’ll use their underground drainage system to escape,” he said, yanking out a loose manhole cover and sliding it away.

He knelt down and inserted his head into the hole, checking for a way out. “This looks good to me. You get in first. I’ll follow.”

“There is a metal ladder fastened to the inner rim. Use it to climb down,” he added, helping Seema place her foot on the first rung.

She had no shoes on her feet. The harsh coldness of the rungs were helping her get back into her senses. As she descended into the darkness, an overpowering smell reached her nostrils. It was the stench of human filth and foul smelling chemicals. When her feet sank into the slurry, she felt her stomach rebel with disgust. She puked right away.

“Don’t stop. Keep moving,” a voice came from behind. Her rescuer was hanging from the ladder.

She looked ahead. There was only one way to go – the one leading outwards from the compound. The tunnel was quite dark where she stood. But at a far end she could sense some light trickling in. She started walking, her feet paddling through the slurry. Her mind recalled the incident an hour back where the person pushing her wheel chair had whispered into her ears.
‘We have infiltrated this organization.’

Is this man an infiltrator?

Seema turned around and looked at the silhouette of the man coming behind. “This is not Bandhavgarh,” she said. “What is this place?”

“You won’t believe it,” he said. “You’re in the outskirts of Delhi.”

“Where exactly?”

“Faridabad,” he said and walked past her, leaving her puzzled.

Faridabad! They have brought me from Madhya Pradesh to Faridabad!

She quickly realized that she must have been drugged and then moved around in their car.

“Hey! This is the place where we can get out,” the man said. He was standing under a square shaped hatch over their heads. Light was peeping in through the thin openings around its rim. There were a few metallic steps installed on the tunnel walls for climbing.

“I’m going up,” he said and started climbing. Upon reaching the top rung, he pushed out the hatch door, creating a squared shaped opening in the roof. He made his way out of the hole and then crouched at its mouth. “Climb up. I’ll pull you out.”

Seema put her legs on the rungs and started climbing. She gave her hand to him, who then pulled her out.

She was now out in the open. The tall wall of the compound was now about a hundred meters behind her. The place seemed to be some rural land covered with wild bushes and tall grass. A winding road encircled the land like a garland. She could see a few huts beside the road.

“We need to reach that road,” he said, pointing in the direction she was looking at. “One of my colleagues is coming for us.”

While walking towards the road, she studied the man. Dark skinned and muscular, he was probably in his forties. His fitness and gait suggested an army background. Besides the sub-machine gun, he was also carrying a pistol mounted over his belt.

“Who are you? Tell me,” she probed. “No bullshit this time.”

“I am Divakar Amre. Used to be a Lieutenant in the Indian Army. Nowadays I work on contract for the Intelligence Bureau,” he said. “Your captors have been under our radar for some time. But IB could never get any substantive evidence against these guys. This organization seemed to be a part of a much bigger scheme. So, IB decided to plant their moles inside this org. I am one of the infiltrators. Are you satis…”

He stopped and yelled all of a sudden, “Lie down. Immediately!”

Before she could gather her wits, he shoved her to the ground. The grass blades and shrubs dug into her skin and clothes, adding to her agony. She looked at Divakar with scared eyes. He had raised both his hands. Someone was holding him at gunpoint.

“I’ll take care of this,” he talked under his breath. “Just keep lying there.”

He started walking and disappeared from her view.

V
inod Kushwaha was smoking
his fifth cigarette of the day. He was sitting in the same discussion room where they had hosted the Iranians. He puffed out smoke from his mouth, making a smoke ring in the air.

“What do you think of my plan, Sultan?” he asked the man sitting beside him. Vinod knew his trusted comrade would always give him the right advice, devoid of bias or fear.

“Frankly speaking, it scares me. It can make or break us,” Sultan said, with a brooding expression in his eyes. “
Bade Sahib
will not be happy.”

“Your
Bade Sahib
has become trapped in his old school of thought,” Vinod hissed. “He fears taking risks. I don’t. And in our case, the returns are lucrative enough to take that risk.”

He added, “In today’s world, nations don’t fight each other in public. They go for proxy wars and covert operations. The demand for mercenaries and contractors who can carry out these black ops is rising. This Iran assignment can get us a pie of the covert operations market globally. That’s big.”

“What if the Israelis find out about us? Can we afford to invite the wrath of a country?” Sultan argued. “Remember the 1972 Munich Olympics? Guess what the Israelis did to the Palestinian killers of their eleven athletes?”

“Enlighten me,” Vinod said with a smirk.

“The Mossad chased each and every conspirator throughout the world over the next decade. After killing them, they used to send bouquets to their families with a message saying ‘We never forget and never forgive’.”

Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, was widely respected and feared in the world for their clinical efficiency and ruthlessness. They used to get ample support from Jewish communities spread globally, making them all pervasive throughout the world.

“I don’t think it would come to that. If everything goes as per my plan, Iran and Israel will have their own axes to grind. No one will blame us.” He made another smoke ring in the air. “You just wait and watch.”

S
eema raised
her head slightly and peeked through the tall leaves of grass. About ten meters away on the road, two men in military camouflage clothing stood face to face with each other. Divakar had raised his hands and was protesting animatedly. Thrusting a gun onto his chest was another man, whose car was parked behind him.

We have been intercepted, thought Seema clenching her jaws.
God help me if Divakar fails to convince this man.
She deliberated what she would do in case he gets popped.
Keep lying down or bolt from this place?
Running seemed to be a better option, because she expected the grassland to swarm with mercenaries in a matter of minutes. Now that her nausea was gone and her body was responding to her mind, she could make a quick dash for the huts far away.

She saw Divakar passing his ID card to the man, who glanced at it for a second and dropped it on the ground. The soldier ordered him to kneel down. He first refused, but complied when the man shoved his gun harder into his chest.

This is not looking good.
Seema realized she had to do something soon.

The faint hum of a vehicle distracted her for a moment. Far down the road, towards her right, she saw a couple of SUVs rushing menacingly towards Divakar. The vehicles had come out of the facility behind her.
We are finished.
Her mind began racing. She couldn’t think of any great idea. What she finally did left even her surprised.

She shouted, “They are coming, Divakar!”

The soldier swivelled his gun sideways, in the direction of her voice. But, by doing this, he had made a big mistake, which he didn’t have any time to realize. Divakar pulled out his pistol in a fraction of a second and shot him in his head.

“Get in the car!” he screamed, searching for the car keys in the dead man’s pockets.

Seema picked herself up and sprinted towards the car. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the two vehicles closing the gap between them fast. As soon as she settled into the front passenger's seat, Divakar got in from the driver’s side. He had the keys with him.

“Here we go!” he said, starting the engine and speeding away from the pursuers.

Seema eyed the rear view mirror. The SUVs were coming after them. She looked at Divakar worryingly.

“I know,” he said, pushing the accelerator further.

“Who was the man you killed?”

“One of their security guys. He knew you have escaped, but was doubtful of my involvement,” he said, looking at her. “But, what you did was foolish. You could have…”

“I saved your ass.”

Divakar nodded and then said, “Yeah. Thanks for that.”

“Now, how do we lose these guys?” she asked, pointing at the rear view mirror.

“I have a plan. You’ll have to take the wheel from me when I say.”

Seema nodded slowly, with hesitation.
What’s he up to?

She looked ahead along their path. It was a two-lane road at best. And thankfully, no traffic was coming their way, allowing Divakar to top a hundred kilometres per hour. Their car raced past a massive cargo truck, its engine huffing-and-puffing like a T-Rex going for the kill. They must have advanced about hundred-fifty meters from the truck, when all of a sudden he reduced the speed of their car and brought it to a groaning halt. Screeeeeech! Right in the middle of the road. Seema’s heart missed a few beats.
What the…

“Get into my seat,” Divakar ordered, dashing out from the car. “And keep the engine running.”

Within seconds, Seema realized what Divakar was trying to achieve.
Crazy son-of…!
She jumped into the driver’s seat, and looked into the rear-view mirror, wide-eyed.

He stood on the road, the massive truck rushing towards him like a bullet. The next moment, he took out his pistol and aimed it at its driver. The bearded man, a
sardar
, looked at him with terror. Divakar fired three bullets in succession – one smashing the windshield of the truck, one tearing into its front grill and the last one ricocheting off its fenders on the right side. The
sardar
whirled his steering wheel in panic. In response to this sudden movement, the trailer and the gigantic container placed over it swivelled about the engine compartment, sweeping the road like a blackboard duster. Sqrrrrrrrrr. The driver pumped the brakes with all his might, desperately trying to stop the vehicle from swerving off the road. Vapours and smoke rose from the place where its tyres sheared against the road. Crank. Crank. Crank. Crank. An ear-piercing sound of metal, grinding, twisting and rattling, filled the air as dozens of tonnes of mass came to a stop, hardly a few metres from Divakar.

Seema kept staring with disbelief, her heart in her mouth. The truck was now standing on the road diagonally, blocking the traffic completely. Their pursuers were stuck on the other side of the barrier. Divakar dashed towards her car and took the passenger’s seat.

“Go. Go. Go,” he yelled.

Seema was speechless. She pushed the accelerator pedal.

“That is the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life,” she said, shaking her head.

“Same here,” he said, in between deep breaths, “I almost pissed my pants. Had he not braked, I was gone. Finished.”

Seema didn’t know what to say.

“
D
o you have a mobile phone
?” Seema asked. “I want to call someone.”

Their car was passing through a crowded street, lined on both sides with small shops. She sat on the passenger’s seat, with Divakar on the wheel. They had exchanged seats with each other on their way.

“I threw it away in the gutter. Don’t want the fuckers to trace me,” he said. “And I would suggest you go a bit slow in telling the whole world about your escape.”

Seema stared at him for a few moments, and then said, “I wanted to talk to my daughter.”

“I am sorry. When did you last talk to her?”

“Before leaving for Bandhavgarh.”

“A couple of days ago, that means. Can’t it wait for a day more?”

“Why?” she asked defiantly.

“These people know about you. Who knows, they might be keeping an eye on your daughter or maybe tapping into your phone. We’ll have to lie low for a few days and let this wave pass over.”

“One second… where exactly are we going?”

“To a safe house in New Delhi,” he replied. “Chattarpur, to be precise.”

“No way!” she said. “I am going straight to my house. I will pick my daughter and we will fly off to a safer place.”

“There is no safer place, Miss. They will hunt you down. I know these men. They are not going to give up on you so easily,” Divakar said. “Can’t your husband take care of her?”

“My husband is dead.”

“Well, sorry again. But isn’t there anybody else who can take your daughter into safe custody?”

She looked away from him.

Divakar slowed down the car and stopped it alongside the road.

“Just think again. We both have flirted with death to uncover a huge conspiracy,” he said, tilting his head sideways to look into her eyes. “The lives of so many people have been destroyed by these people. See what they have done to you. Don’t you want to see them suffer?”

He pressed on, “You have got some evidence, right? So have I. If you think hard, you may find more people who know something about this conspiracy. Let’s go and meet all such people. Let’s get the Doctor, his men and all their bosses by their balls. Until we do that we will not be safe. So, don’t blow up whatever we have achieved till now by taking a foolish step. Let’s stay in the dark till we figure out the right way to nail these bastards.”

Seema deliberated for a few moments and then said, “OK… But I’ll be with you for just one day. That is today. Tomorrow I’ll leave and go incognito till I’m ready with the final story.”

“Done.”

“And stop at a phone booth. I want to call somebody.”

She sank into her seat, her head thrown backwards. She tried in vain to ignore the nauseating stench of blood, puke and filth coming from her body and clothes. It made her feel like vomiting again.
I need a shower and some clean clothes. And something to eat.