SS Ankahee: For Kanta(Divan) the end part 15-pg40 - Page 6

part 4

Dhananjai Walia was in his room, pacing back and forth. He walked to his window and stopped, crossed his arms and stared outside, observing the rustling of the leaves of the tree in the garden. He had been out of the hospital for three days. His injuries weren't that serious as they had thought initially. There were no internal bleedings, no serious cuts except the one on his head nor were there any fractures. The doctors didn't understand how he was so serious without any life threatening injuries, and why his blood values were abnormal, why his blood pressure was so low and why he was unconscious for such a long time. Walia had a vague memory of a girls face when he woke up, but it was soon forgotten. He had other trouble on his mind. Police commissioner Shinde had visited him and told him that Salim was furious after his men killed Salim's younger brother a few weeks ago, when he was trying to sell girls to foreigners, and Shinde didn't want Dhananjai to attack Salim anymore, as he had to answer the public. He grew furious. Walia didn't like being used and told Shinde exactly that. Walia worked on his own terms and conditions and there was no way anyone would lay the rules for him. Shinde was dependant on him for information, encounters and rolling up bars, warehouses and hide-outs. To the outside world it looked like Dhananjai Walia was part of the underworld, and the truth was that he was, but the truth was also that he did what the police could not do and would never be able to do. Attack the core of the crimeworld that was like the Hydra of Lernaea Hercules had to slay. Cut one head and another grew back. This time Salim Khayali was the centre Dhananjai was attacking. Shinde withdrew his offer to cover for him, not that he could care, but still.....the thought that Shinde wanted him to keep quiet after Salim tried to kill him was just ridicules. He knew Salim had planned his accident. Ofcourse Salim would do that after Pushkar and him shot seven of his men preparing for a drugdeal, point blank, in Salim's bar, on Salim's turf, while Salim's other men were standing in the hall of the bar.

That was not his only problem. Next to this was Pushkar who was quiet after the accident. There was something wrong with the boy and no one could point out what it was. The only thing Pushkar said to him was 'She said she can see things.' But Dhananjai just frowned and asked Pushkar who he was talking about. Pushkar didn't answer after that. He just stared at the wall for a long time and mumbled something about apologizing.

Dhananjai was waiting for Pushkar. He had to discuss their next move with him and Iqbal.

He was just planning their attack when he heard a knock on the door.

'Come in.
A well built, good looking man in his late twenties stepped in the room. Dhananjai smiled at his bodyguard and told him to take a seat, something Iqbal reluctantly did. Dhananjai Walia wasn't just his boss, he was his mentor, his guide, his brother and if there was anyone Iqbal worshipped after God, it had to be Dhananjai Walia, his family when he had non. Iqbal didn't think himself worthy of sitting in front of his boss, but still he did. Dhananjai told him about the order of new weapons he had placed and who would go to pick then up.

'Tum aur Robby challe jaane. Thakur ke saath deal hai, hoshiyaar rehna. Chaalaki zaroor karega, he always will try to fool me and be at my place.

Theek hai Bhai, lekin Robby kyun?' Iqbal carefully asked. Pushkar kyun nahin?'
Dhananjai Walia smiled. 'Pata hai that you don't like Robby, lekin give him a chance. He wants to prove himself. But keep an eye on him. I want to know how he works and what he does, what he says and what he seems to think.

Iqbal accepted the assignment he had to complete in two days after being assured that during that time his boss would be safe with his second bodyguard.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Without waiting for permission someone stepped in and both of them knew who it could be. Not even Pushkar dared to enter his room without permission. Only she dared to do that.

'Boss, phone for you.' A slim girl in her early twenties opened the door, dressed in her usual jeans and poloshirt with her gun tucked in the waistband of her jeans at the back. Her shiney, shoulderlenght black hair was tied in a ponytail, as usuall. Cool and confident she stepped in the room and threw the cordless phone towards him. Dhananjai efficiently cached it and stood up, while sighing in frustration over his second bodyguard. Sometimes he wondered who was the boss of whom?

Nirali, his second bodyguard, was an intelligent girl, hard on the outside but the heart of a little girl when it came to the people she loved and cared about. At a young age she fulfilled her childhood dream of joining the policeforce where she was the youngest female inspector in history. She worked day and night to uncover drugs gangs and gangs who's speciality were human traffic. Nirali was on the verge of her second breakthrough when she got a call from a higher officer who forbade her to go ahead with the raid in a warehouse. Nirali called the officer every name she knew and hung up. After that it was the turn of the members of the gang she wanted to arrest. Not being the type to easily get scared, Nirali went ahead without the fear of any consequences and executed the carefully planned raid. She confiscated kilo's of harddrugs and several weapons and went home feeling accomplished that night. It didn't last long. Nirali got a call from the station the next day that everything she confiscated was gone. Someone stole everything but during the investigation no one knew anything. There was one officer who gave her name and before she knew she was the prime suspect, accused of having connections with the underworld and fired from her job, robbed of her dream. Nirali spend days in her apartment, feeling defeated, until she got a call again.

'Hum se takraane ka anjaam ab jaanti ho.'
Niral threw her Phone at the wall in anger. A few days later she met Pushkar, a classmate from school. Nirali became a part of the world she had hated the most, but with the same purpose she had joined the policeforce. Her ways had changed, her goals hadn't. She became Dhananjai Walia's bodyguard, although he protected her more then she guarded him. He wasn't the kind of man that would hide behind a woman in difficult times. Call him oldfashioned, call him a chauvinist, he just didn't do that, but he kept Nirali in the organisation. Her passion towards their work and her anger towards the system showed in everything she did. Sometime she needed to be controlled for that because keeping her head cool wasn't one of her best qualities, but her boss exactly knew how to do that.

Nirali, as usual, sat on the edge of the desk, even when there were empty chairs around, when she noticed a pair of grey eyes on her. She blushed slightly but not wanting to show it stared back at the man who made her blush.

'Iqbal! Iqbal!' Dhananjai called him. Iqbal was too involved in a staring session with Nirali.

'Niru!'
'Yes boss!' She immediately jumped off the desk and looked at him.

'Pushkar kahan hai?'

'to that lady boss, the herb woman.' She immediately relied. 'Something about apologizing She explained.

He isn't picking up and I want him here, right now! he said heatedly.

Nirali and Iqbal knew their job. Abhi laate hai.'

Both of them walked out of the room and to Walia's surprise, they returned to Dhananjai's study in less then a minute, without Pushkar.

'Bhai, kissi ne aapke liye yeh diya hai.' Iqbal handed his boss a disc. Dhananjai popped it in the dvdplayer and saw Pushkars image on the TV screen. He was tied to a chair, his mouth was stuffed with something.

'Kyun Walia? Dhyaan se dekh, tera hi khaas aadmi hai.' a voice on the background said. The camera angle turned and Salim came in the frame. 'Mere bhai ko maara tha na? ab dekh! Isko bhai maanta hai na? Chaar din ki maholat deta hoon. Mera peecha chor de, mere maamlon me dakhal mat de. Isko mai chaar dino tak zinda rakhunga. Apni taqat dikhaa aur bachale isko. Mard ka baccha hai to aaja yahaan. Chaar din Walia! Sirf Chaar din! Dhoondh le mujhe!'

Muffled sounds of protest were the last thing the three persons in the room heard before the screen turned blank.

Dhananjai stood there, staring at the screen. Salim was right. Pushkar was his brother and now he was caught by that pig. Salim had attacked his core now. He had managed to get to Pushkar.

Dhananjai turned around and looked at the two people behind him, who were waiting for him to say anything, but he knew that they were ready to explode internally. He made a quick call and satisfied with the answers he got from the other side he said to Nirali and Iqbal.

'Get that woman here. Jiske paas Pushkar gaya tha. Be careful, Salim ke aadmi peeche par sakte hai. I want you two to get her only here, no where else aur kisi ko pata nahin chalna chaahiye!

********

'Anna, this is the last appointment right?'

'Yes Bani. Appeared on her computerscreen.

You can go then. Samar must be waiting for you. Ill lock up after this appointment. Bani typed quickly.
Are you sure?'

'Definitely. You go ahead. Enjoy your long weekend and bring me something from Goa.' Bani ended with a teasing smiley.

Thanks sweety, see you on Tuesday! Byebye!!'

An hour later Bani carefully placed her speechcomputer in her bag along with two small bottles of oil, blew out all the candles, shut down her computer and turned off the lights in her room. She locked the door behind her and walked into the waitingroom to check Anna's desk. Her computer was already turned off and all the plugs of the tablelamps were unplugged. Bani double checked the lights in the bathroom and the small kitchen next to the waiting room but saw that Anna had already turned off the lights and had shut the windows. Bani locked all the doors and stepped out of the practice. She turned around and looked at the door. She mentally dubbelchecked all the things she had to take home with her and the windows she had closed and the rooms she had locked. Bani put her keys in her bag and closed the zip before she felt something behind her. A hand was placed on her mouth, a faint smell reached her nostrils. Bani's body turned limp and her eyes closed.

*****

Iqbal knocked on the door to the study and waited till he heard some form of permission. He entered the room.

'Bhai. Kaam ho gaya.
Dhananjai Walia looked up, startled. He was lost in his thoughts before Iqbal came.
Aap pareshan lag rahe hai Bhai?' Iqbal asked.

'Nahin, kuch nahin. Aise hi. He answered. 'Itni der lagadi?'

Haan bhai. Salim ke aadmi… they were following us. And that woman was in the building. We didn't want to draw attention. Pehle Salim ke chamchon ko bhagaane ka intezaam karna para. Baad me us aurat ko uthaaya.'

'Hmmmm.' Was Walia's only response.

'Bhai ek baat poochon?'

'Haan pooch?'

'Aapne usko kyun uthwaaya?'

'Soch samajh ke faisla liya hai Iqbal.' Dhananjai said.

Ashamed, Iqbal looked at the floor. 'Pata hai bhai, mai to.....'

'Pushkar kuch kehna chaahta hai Iqbal. There is something, jo hum nahin jaante hai.'

'Kya matlab?'

' Who has ever been able to capture Pushkar? No many how much men there would be, Pushkar would not surrender, nor would he let himself get captured alive. And how did they know where he was going? I think they were following him, maybe they are following us too. There is a snitch among us. Koi safe nahin hai. Bas yeh ghar that's it. they will never come here. Pushkar humko kuch bataana chaahta tha. His behaviour after meeting her was also strange. They attacked him in front of the practice, he led them away a few streets further. There is something there, something they know but haven't been able to get yet. Maine usko isiliye uthwaaya hai. She knows what there is. Maybe she knows something about Pushkar. Pushkar kuch bataana chaahta hai, bas sunne ki, samajhne ki der hai Iqbal. I have to figure out what Salim knows, who he sent to spy on us. Where the people are who are keeping an eye on us. There is something she knows, there is something not right about her.'

'Bhai, kuch bhi ho karne ke liye, mai taiyyaar hoon.' Iqbal said.

Dhananjai smiled and patted him on his shoulder. 'Pata hai. Tum aur Niru hi to ho jispe ab bharosa kar sakta hoon. Filhaal we need to act as normal as possible. Thakur ke saath deal ki taiyyari kar. In the meanwhile we will look for Pushkar. he thought for a while. Kahan hai woh? That woman.'

'Neeche basement me Bhai. Behosh hai. Somen pehra de raha hai.'

'Woh jaanta hai ki ander kaun hai?'

Iqbal shook his head. 'Nahin bhai. Usko kuch nahin bataaya hai.'

'Kisi ko kuch pata na chalne paaye. Bring her to my room! Silently! No one should know. I want to talk to her. Find out what Salim may want from her, what the connection is between her and Pushkar.'
'As you wish Bhai.'
Iqbal left the room and an hour later he informed his boss that his request has been fulfilled.