Rise of the Devil - Part 50

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Chapter 50



Khushi’s POV


I am awakened by the sound of a gunshot!! Yes. I heard a gunshot, which I assume was real. I take a peek around, but Arnav isn't in bed. It's now dawn, and I'm wondering if he's here or not. Oh my goodness!! Did someone come in and shoot at him? No..!! I roll out of bed, fastening the ends of my robe, and dash to the living room. He is not here.


"Arnav... Arnav..." I scream, and Arnav dashes to me from the small pantry area.


“Khushi?” He pulls me up in his arms. "Are you all right? What happened?"


"Thank God you're okay.. Thank God," I say as I wrap my arms around him.


He recognises my fear and scoops me up in his arms and carries me back to the bed. Even after he has placed me there, I refuse to let him go.

"Please don't leave.."

"I'm not leaving... I'm staying. See..”

He sits next to me on the bed, and the next thing I know, I'm on his lap, hugging him again. Arnav cradles me and strokes my back. I'm not sure I'm ready to fly to Denmark tonight with the thought that his father is still out there waiting to attack him. I can't leave my devil here alone.


We stay like that for a few minutes and my worries ease. I pull back to see his face. His bruises from yesterday’s fight with the goons are still fresh. But he still looks handsome.


“I don’t want to leave you alone..” I whisper knowing well enough he is going to be annoyed.

“We have discussed this already Khushi. I can’t negotiate it, no matter what. You will be safe there.”

“And what about you? How can I be assured that my husband will be safe here?”


He cups my face looking deep in my eyes.


“This is my job, Khushi. You have to understand. I have to work on many missions like this in future. You can’t accompany me everywhere.”


I know that already. But the wife in me, and the love I have for him cannot be convinced. Forgetting all that, I kiss him. That’s my only solace for now. He presses me to his body kissing me harder than every time we have latched our lips. I know it hurts him too to be away from me yet we have to part ways. If my safety in Denmark eases his worry, I will not argue again.


******************

Arnav’s POV


I get down with Khushi at the private tarmac where a Jet is waiting to fly Khushi out of this place. Khushi stares at it in disbelief.


“I didn’t know your agency has a plane like that.. I thought they will put me in a commercial flight.”

“They were” I admit. “Which I didn’t want. That’s why I got my Jet ready.”


She coughs hard trying to assimilate what I just said.

“You mean.. this… Jet is..”

“Ours..” I push a hair strand from her face and kiss her temple. “My mother has left me a fortune Angel. I don’t like using it all the time except in such critical situations.”


She smiles back and I quickly introduce her to my team who will escort her to Denmark and stay with her there until I reach. Kate is one of them and is still Khushi’s bodyguard and self-defense trainer. Khushi meets them all and is set to leave. Once they disperse, moving a little away from us, giving us the much-needed privacy, Khushi stares at me with teary eyes.


“All the best, Arnav. I am sure you will find him and will complete this mission successfully. Come back to me soon...”


I press another kiss on her lips this time, a quick one before nodding in agreement. “I will. Follow all the instructions I gave you and be safe.”


She hugs me again and then strides to the plane with my team. I watch her for long until the Jet takes off. Now that Khushi is safe, I can focus on the main problem and that is to find my father.


****************


We tracked every place of the dark world where we suspected my father could take shelter. Since all of his associates were already arrested and a few who had ran away were been hunted mercilessly, it wasn’t long until we would have his exact location. Aman, Akash along with me and the rest of the team had sleepless nights. We hardly got time for talking or discussing anything apart from the mission. I had specifically asked Akash to shift Maama, Maami, Nani and Sheetal to some safe location as we couldn’t take a risk with their lives either. Since our team in Denmark was already handling the security of Shashi Gupta, Madhumatiji and Khushi, my suggestion was to send the family there until the mess here is sorted and fortunately Akash too agreed. So just in a week after Khushi’s departure we shifted the family to Denmark too. The only difference was that they wouldn’t be staying in the same city as Khushi. So despite being in the same country, my family couldn’t meet Khushi in person and looks like that will happen only when I reach there.


I didn’t get time to speak to Khushi in the last few days. All we did was share a few messages but I made sure to get every information from her security team on how things were handled there. My wife and our families were safe there and that’s all that mattered.


“Arnav” Aman calls me to his desk. We are working continuously from past 13 hours, trying to zoom in at any location where we think we can find my father.

“Any update?” I ask reaching his desk.

“Yes, look at this.”


He shows me some CCTV footage. A man, almost around my father’s height and personality limps towards an alcohol shop, buys some wine and then makes his way out. He’s wearing a long jacket to hide which hides all of his body, mask on his face, gloves covering his hands and a hat to hide his head.


“We tried running a match with your father’s personality and body recognition and we found 80% match.” Aman informs.


I observe the video carefully. Can he be my father?

“Where is this footage from?”

“South Mumbai.” Aman answers. “We are trying to locate every CCTV cameras of this country to find any matching features of a man with your father. So far, we matched thousands but none of them came to 80% exact match. We can’t take the risk of not locating this man.. What do you think?”

“Positive.” I nod. “If there is even a slightest chance its him, we can’t afford to lose it.”


Aman quickly checks the other details and reports to me in 20 minutes.


“I called that Wine shop. Seems this man visits this alcohol store every day and buys these two specific bottles of Wine only.”


Aman tells me the name of the Wine but I don’t think I can relate it to my father.

“What else? Is he a localite?”

“No.. This man seems to be showing up just from a week ago. They never saw him in that vicinity before..”


A week ago is when we lost him. There are chances its him. But I know my father. If he could hide from so many years from all of us, he could have easily gone missing again for long. He is sharp. He wouldn’t make any mistake that could get him located by us.


“What do you think we should do?” Aman inquires.


I know I have to take this call. And I even know the consequences of it. This man could be my father and if he is, then I know he won’t be free for long. And if tries to escape, I will have direct orders to shoot him. I know I have shot him before too, and I would definitely not step back shooting him again but a part of me still hopes he doesn’t give me that chance. I want him to surrender. I know that still won’t save him from death penalty but for some reason I don’t want to be the one to kill him again.. this time.. Forever..


“Arnav?” Aman shakes me and I nod.

“Get the local police informed” I bark. “But let them only keep an eye on him. I don’t want him to know we have traced him until I reach there..”

“Got it.”


Aman disperses while I replay the video on the computer and watch that man again. He has to be my father.


******************

South Mumbai – 24 hours Later


We have surrounded the house where this man lives. It’s an old slum area and the house looks much aloof from the rest of the crowded huts. My team has interrogated some of the people here about this man and they said none of the people had any issues with him. None of his actions or behavior was abnormal either. But we cannot leave until our suspicions are 100% clear. I have personally come here to ensure that I handle this task on my own and not let my subordinates handle it. We have also ensured our snippers are positioned just in case we need any backup.


“He hasn’t come out today” Akash speaks. “The local police said they saw him last evening when he had been out to buy the wine bottles.”


That’s strange and suspicious, both.

“I am going in..” I declare.

“Don’t be mad” Aman shouts at me on my Bluetooth speaker. As usual he is in a van at some distance from us monitoring all of this. “You go in, you go with the team and fully loaded with ammunition.”

“He is right” Akash agrees.

“Are you both kidding me?” I snap. “Look around you. there are hell lot of civilians here. We can’t afford to fire or give that man a chance to use his weapons on us. If we go with the team and if this man happens to be my father, it will be a bloody mess. He can do anything to protect himself and we cannot afford to put the life of civilians in danger. So, I am going alone there. Just watch my back. Thats all. Until I signal you or you hear a gunshot from inside the house, do not barge in.. Am I clear?”


Akash grits his teeth.


“You know I don’t understand who is the senior here? You or me? I am the head of this mission and I get to control you Bhai, not vice versa..”

“Shut up Akash. I can’t risk your life..”

“Really? And you can risk yours?”


I sigh.

“Look, this is not the right time to argue. You do as I say. I am going in.”

“Five minutes is all you have..” Akash mutters. “if you don’t come out until then, we are barging in..”


Damn hell!! I know he means it. But I don’t have a reason to argue. I nod and stride towards the house that we have spotted to be of the target (my father) while my men take cover and back me up.


I knock at the door, and I am totally prepared to use my gun if I have to, just in case anyone from inside fires at me. I knock again when no one opens the door. Nothing happens. That’s it. I kick the door open, holding the gun, aiming it to defend myself. The door breaks open. It’s dark inside but not that bad that I can’t see anything. This house is a mess!! There are bottles everywhere and I can see how much wine this man has had in the last 10 days. Not good!! I hear a movement in the room inside and I click my gun aiming there.. Someone is surely here.. I can sense it. It’s him.. I take quiet steps towards the other room. It’s better ventilated than the previous one. As I step closer to that door I find a picture frame on the table inside.. Its far from my reach but I know whose picture that is. It’s my mother!! Yes, that’s her photo there. I can recognize her so well.. My heart lurches as I move ahead, confirming that the man whom I am here for is my father. Only he could have that picture of my mother. No one else.


“Come in, son…”


I hear his voice from inside the room and I aim my gun straight inside, pointing towards him. He is sitting on a chair, looking extremely exhausted, tired and not very much in his senses. He’s wearing old clothes, and I don’t think he has taken bath from a few days. His hair have turned grey, he hasn’t shaved his beard and his hands are trembling. I don’t think he even has the strength to get up on his feet.


“Arnav..” he smiles at me and gestures me to get inside..


I scan the room. There is no one here.. It’s just us..

“What a place to hide, Dad” I mock.

“Hide?” He laughs. “Who said I was hiding?”


I clench my jaw. Doesnt matter even if he is on the losing side, he will never lose his attitude.

“If you think you are genius enough to trace me, let me tell you, I am the one who gave you the proofs of my location. You didn’t find me Arnav. I found you.”


That’s a possibility. I thought so.!! He wanted me to find him.


“Why?” I ask. “Why did you want me to find you when you know the first thing I would do is put another bullet in your head..?”


He looks pained at my remark and sips some more wine from the bottle before him.


“Your mother loved this wine..” he changes the topic.. “She and I used to drink it often.”


I swallow as he picks his bottle and kisses it.

“This wine reminds me of her.. Of the times she loved me.. Of the times we spent together as a couple … of the times we gave birth to you.. YOU” he repeats.


Damn hell!! I wasn’t here for emotional drama yet it makes my eyes moist.

“She always told me this wine will be the death of me… She was so right..” he laughs and I feel something suspicious.


I scan around and find traces of some drug scattered in the room on the shelves and tables. I watch closely and realize it’s a slow death drug. Anyone who intakes it for more than a few days continuously will end up losing his life.. My father has been mixing this drug every day in his wine. He is killing himself.. Damn hell!!


To be Continued..

NEXT PART

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