Predator (26 page)

Coffee Conversations

The stranger stepped out with two cups of coffee in hand. Dressed in a black satin shirt and black trousers, he had a muffler around his neck that partially obscured his face. Inspector Khan muttered obscenities under his breath and said, ‘The bastard! He’s got his back towards us, do you want to go there and see what he looks like, Raman?’

‘No, let it be. I see Chris around the corner, Inspector Khan, right over there,’ said Dr Raman, pointing to Chris who stood about a hundred meters away, watching the duo from afar. ‘At least we know that’s Manja, and he is alive. If he sees me and happens to recognize me, we’ll just blow it, and all our efforts would have been in vain. Let’s hold our horses.’

‘Kind of noisy in there, isn’t it? I hate the party scene too. Stupid, bloody house music. I hate it. Here, have a cup of coffee. It’ll warm you up!’ said Manja and proffered a cup of steaming Cappuccino. Nikita nervously looked at it and fumbled with her spectacles.

Pleasant looking and a great voice, Nikita thought to herself. Had he been just another guy, she would definitely have felt comfortable with him. He was different.

‘What’s the matter? I’m not going to eat you up! You look cold. Go on, drink this, you will feel better,’ said Manja and thrust the styrofoam cup towards her.

Hesitantly, she took the cup from him, thanked him and took a sip from it. Before long, they were talking with easy familiarity. From the little that she could see of him with the woollen muffler covering his jaw and chin, Manja or Suraj Sharma was quite good looking, had a good build, and exuded an air of confidence. His voice had a pleasant timbre to it.

No wonder Grace had fallen for him like a ton of bricks. Manja could have had his pick of any of the women in the Club, and it was flattering to have caught his attention. Nikita nervously wondered why on earth such a person would need to turn into a Predator. She felt safe knowing that Inspector Khan, Dr Raman and her new friends were watching her. Safe enough to give him her number. He promised to connect up with her later that night on Facebook and Gtalk.

Nikita heard someone calling her name, and turned around to see Derek waving to her from Motormouth. By the time she turned back to say goodbye, Manja was gone. He’d left as quickly as he’d come. Nikita felt light-headed and slightly giddy.

Was it the effect Manja had on women, or was it the coffee? She’d never know. She now knew that Manja had it in him to charm women. Like Grace and many others, she could have easily fallen in love at first sight with a complete stranger.

‘So you met the bastard. Good to know he’s alive. Quick, let’s get out of here, Chief,’ said Derek as he helped Nikita into Motormouth. As they drove past the Club, Goose saw Chris standing by his SUV watching them. He chose to ignore him.

The Online Lure

They settled down in the cool confines of the conference room at the cybercrime offices. Nikita returned from the washroom dressed again in jeans and tee-shirt. She was taken aback by the array of laptops and gadgets that that had been set up in the room. She felt she had walked into Starship Enterprise.

‘That’s your machine, Nikita. Grab yourself a coffee. Your boyfriend is about to ping you. Brace yourself for a long night. Put on your headset. You’ve got two windows on your chat engine running. They’re projected on the screen. The other laptop is for you to continue to pound the Facebook wall, tell the world what a swell evening you had with Derek. You will speak and post on Gtalk and Facebook only what I will ask you to,’ said Raman. His official tone made Nikita nervous.

‘Go easy on the girl, Doctor. She’s just a child. You’re far too big for your boots!’ said Inspector Khan, noticing Nikita’s alarm.

‘Alrighty. But not a word out of place, not an extra smiley as well. I have a bunch of nude shots from many porn sites, I’m sorry about that, but you will have to post them as though they are yours. I’m really sorry to make you go through this, Nik!’ said Dr Raman in a softer voice.

Nikita nodded nervously, and Chief put a hand on her shoulder and offered her a comforting cup of coffee. Derek sat beside her; his headphones made him look like an astronaut. Chief and Goose sat along with Inspector Khan as they waited for Manja to come online and listen in on the conversation. Their headphones lay in front of them.

It was almost close to midnight when Nikita received a friend request on Facebook and an ‘add’ request on Gtalk from Suraj Sharma.

‘Bingo! We’re on! Get ready, accept the requests and all … please guys, not a peep out of you. We have Manja online!’ announced Dr Raman gleefully as he stared at his screen, waiting for Nikita to accept the online requests.

The anxiety in the conference room was palpable as Nikita shuffled nervously in her chair and clicked on the ‘accept’ button that appeared on her screen.

The Predator Strikes Online

The chat window popped in as a new fake profile of Suraj Sharma alias Manja came online.

‘Hello, Sweetheart, it was a lovely evening today, I met U!’

‘I’d say da same, Suraj, wassup?
☺
’

‘Been thinking of U’

‘Really? Same here. Lol
☺
!’

‘I liked da coffee cup in ur beautiful hands’

‘I liked da coffee, or was it ur magic, Suraj?
☺
’

‘Maybe both, BTW, what was that scar?’

‘What scar? I don’t have scars, I just have a tattoo
☺
’

‘Really? A tattoo? Show me, send me a snap?’

‘Wait, BRB, sending, It’s on my arm … a butterfly
☺
’

As if on cue, Dr Raman sent across a picture of a butterfly tattoo to Nikita. The surprise on Nikita’s face showed as the skin-tone in the picture matched Nikita’s perfectly. She copied the image on cue and sent it to Manja.

‘Wow, that’s really cool! Any more tattoos?’

‘Er … yes, but it’s intimate. Lolz
☺
’

‘Sure, wanna see mine? Intimate too’

‘Show me … ’

An image of a vulgar tongue under the belly button showed up on Nikita’s screen. Inspector Khan clenched his fists in anger. The disgust on the faces of all in the conference room was evident.

‘You like it? I got more’

‘Sexy! I love it. OMG! Show me more
☺
’

‘Let’s play a game. You have a ring on ur belly button?’

‘Ah! Wish I did, I’ve been thinking about it … Lol
☺
’

‘Show me your belly button, I can show you what’ll suit U’

‘U naughty man … Lolz
☺
’

‘Show me now, I’ll show you mine’

‘OK, wait …
☺
’

Nikita shuffled nervously in her chair as Chief and Goose watched Dr Raman wipe his brow with a handkerchief. The Predator was moving faster than Raman had anticipated. The chat moved to a more intimate zone, Inspector Khan felt sick and left the room. Within thirty minutes, naked pictures were exchanged between the two.

The Predator didn’t give Nikita, or Raman, time to think. Soon, graphic porn was online on the screen. Nikita’s face turned red with shame. Derek, Chief and Goose left to join Inspector Khan in the adjoining sitting room, before the dirty conversation turned into hard-core pornography. The lure was so fast and so easy, it made Nikita’s head swim. She wasn’t given time to think or act. The Predator kept her on her toes and stripped her down to the bone well within three-quarters of an hour that ended with a bout of perverse virtual sex.

‘Look, I gotta go, honey, I’ve got to clean up … Lolz
☺
’

‘Meet me 2morrow, honey, lets get da party started’

‘Pick me up at da Club, same place where ve met today
☺
’

‘B there at 11 PM, my sexpot’

‘Lolz! So late? U make me blush, Studboy
☺
’

‘Will take u to a frienz house, its empty, we can party’

‘OK, but no hanky-panky, OK? Lolz
☺
’

‘No way. Will come with a friend, he’s fun too’

‘What?’

‘He’z cool. He’ll come in a diffrnt car. Chill, here it’s just U and me’

‘Datz better, handsome
☺
’

‘I’ll be alone, make the drive secC’

‘Uh … OK’

‘Sleep naked, U sexy thing’

‘Shame … Lolz
☺
’

‘Pick u up 2moro. Bye’

Nikita signed out, burst into tears and ran out of the conference room.

The kind of things he’d asked her to do with herself was not something a sane person could even imagine. She recoiled at the very thought of his touch when they shook hands. He was the Devil. Nikita continued to wash her hands with soap for a long time. She couldn’t stem the stream of tears and she sobbed silently until there was a gentle knock on the bathroom door.

‘Are you all right, my little one?’ said Inspector Khan; the concern in his soft voice reminded her of her father. She took a deep breath and hiccupped; took a look at herself in the mirror one more time as she wiped her hands. She opened the door and flew into Inspector Khan’s arms and burst into tears. She sniffed after a while, and hardened her resolve to ensure the evil wouldn’t perpetuate.

Inspector Khan’s heart bled for her. He felt sick of the things they were putting young Nikita through. He resolved to make the Predator pay dearly when he met him.

As Inspector Khan and Nikita walked back into the conference room, Raman did his utmost to make things appear on an even keel. ‘Right, so the beautiful lady has a wild date tomorrow night. He’s going to pick her up from the Club, so our vantage points stay the same. Let’s pack up and go home. We’ll need all our energy tomorrow.’

It had been a very long day. Dr Raman had arranged accommodations for Derek, Chief, Hound and Goose in the police guesthouse for the night, as Khan didn’t want his new undercover operatives returning to the vineyard. Inspector Khan had had Joe’s estate cordoned off and sealed.

As they got ready to turn in for the night, Chief said, ‘Inspector Khan, any word from Officer Amar Singh about Manja’s identity?’

‘No, son, the poor boy has been working on it day and night. We still don’t know … ’ said Inspector Khan, wondering if they ever would. ‘Joe has been behaving like a lunatic while Ram Singh has been barely conscious after the fire. It’s only Chris who can tell us but he’s out there roaming the streets now. He’s a free man. The bastard!’

The Prep-up

After a good night’s sleep and a thorough rehearsal of the action plan, Chief, Goose and Derek filled in Hound with the latest updates. His reaction had been quite mature. Emotions in the backseat, Grace’s demise had left him a changed man. He was determined to help apprehend Salmonella and the others.

At 10.15 p.m., they congregated in the conference room along with Dr Raman, itching for action as Inspector Khan and Nikita walked in. Without any further ado, Inspector Khan took charge and briefed the team, ‘I’ll be there with Dr Raman in the coffee shop’s parking lot, we’ll have the police control room on standby and the cyber sleuths online. Dr Raman and self will tail Manja’s SUV on a motorbike. We’ll wear crash helmets to avoid being recognized. OK so far, Dr Raman?’

‘Sounds good’.

Inspector Khan nodded and looked at Nikita and said, ‘Chris will not be there with Manja, he will follow you guys in a separate car from a distance. We need to make sure we remain unseen. Nikita, you must play the same signal game with your spectacles. We will know you’re with him if you don’t wear them, and alone if you do wear them. Any questions?’

Nikita stared at Inspector Khan blankly. She was nervous and her mind was racing.

‘Wake up! Now, the objective will be to go along with Manja, wherever he takes you to. We will tail you, and cover you from all sides. At no point will you be left unwatched. You have to trust us. It’s a very dangerous game. Are you ready for it?’ asked Inspector Khan.

Nikita nervously nodded her head in agreement and said, ‘Yes, Inspector. I’m ready.’

‘Derek and Hound, I want you to go straight to Salmonella’s house along with Chief and Goose. You will keep a watch on her house from the grocery store across the street. You will report any suspicious activity to me immediately. Alternatively, you will call the control room. You got that? No stunts please, son!’ said Inspector Khan, pointing at Derek, not giving him a chance to respond.

Inspector Khan turned to Chief and Goose and said firmly, ‘You guys will stay inside Motormouth parked further along the street at the junction, and be on standby. In case we need to chase another car, you will have to do it instantly. Make sure you fuel up. No mess-ups here, understand?’

Chief nodded as Goose played impatiently with the car keys and looked at his watch.

Inspector Khan opened the door for Nikita and said, ‘Nikita, stick to the plan. Not a step out of place. Whatever you do, do not step into the SUV with Manja if you see Chris in there or anyone else for that matter. You will get into his car only if Manja is alone. All right? Good luck!’

‘Alrighty then, let’s roll. It is 10.30 p.m. Keep your cell phones on, ensure geo-tagging is on. God bless us all!’ said Raman and hurriedly led the team out of the building.

They reached the Club sharp at 10.50 p.m. The wheels of their plan had been set in motion and everyone took their positions. Nikita stood on the porch in her blue jeans and a black top. She had her spectacles on. She looked at the crowded street on Saturday night, hoping to see Manja come by to pick her up. Unlike last night, she was composed, cool and confident.

The Fateful Date

Adjusting her spectacles as she watched people go by, Nikita jumped when the bouncer at the entrance tapped on her shoulder and said, ‘Ma’am, someone’s waiting for you inside. He’s calling you.’

It wasn’t what Nikita had expected as she helplessly looked at the coffee shop across the road and took off her spectacles. She couldn’t spot Inspector Khan or Dr Raman. This wasn’t as per the plan. Her heart was pounding like a hammer against her chest when she decided to walk inside.