Hey guys, this is the last but one chapter. I hope you like it. Would love to hear your comments.
Chapter 9
Heer sat beside Prem in the car as they drove to RR's office. The moon was almost full, the milky way miraculous, and there was a soft breeze that ruffled her hair. She felt beautiful. She glanced at Prem who sat beside her looking spectacular in a suit. Prem studied her quietly. Then he took something out of his pocket, held it in the palm of his hand. It glinted in the moonlight. She stared.
"You left this in your bathroom."
"My pendant?"
Prem let it dangle through his fingers, the small disc spinning in the moonlight.
"Will you wear it tonight Heer, for me?"
"Yes" Heer whispered. "Yes, I will." She turned around, lifted her hair up, bent her head forward. Prem looped the chain around her and fastened the clasp at the back of her neck.
"A second chance," Prem whispered and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Heer turned to watch as they approached RR's office. The tension in her stomach coiled tighter. "One hour to midnight" Prem said as they entered the building.
Prem adjusted the small communications device in his ear. He was now in contact with his teams. He reached for Heer's hand, grasped it firmly. "Showtime," he murmured.
Prem's teams had surrounded the building. They were waiting for his orders. He noticed that RR had mounted cameras everywhere. Knowing that RR was most likely watching his guests through the cameras, Prem looked up and stared directly into one.
RR was hugely relieved to learn that Heer had finally arrived. She was safe on his turf. He was back in control. RR checked his watch - forty nine minutes and it would all be over. So far everything was going according to plan. He glanced at the bank of plasma screens that lined one wall of his office. Forty five minutes to go. He turned his attention to the security screens and watched the entrance. Something instantly caught his attention. A man captured by camera nine looked right at him, right into his office, a direct challenge in his eyes. RR went stone still. His heart began to race. He hit a button, froze the frame, zoomed in. That haunting feeling surfaced again as he looked into the man's eyes. They were ice gray - like a dangerous wolf.
RR's blood turned cold. He knew where he had seen those eyes before. Perspiration prickled over his lip. His heart began to race. He zoomed in closer. The man's angular face and violent scar filled his vision, his room, his very soul.
By God.
He felt faint. Could it be? Could it be him?
Prem?
Heer knew. This was the cousin Heer was talking about. His head was spinning. What in hell did Prem have to do with any of this? Where had he been all this time? He'd been duped.
He turned back to the bank of screens, panic and confusion licking through his body. A guard knocked, opened the door to his office. RR spun around, nerves biting at him.
"Thirty-eight minutes to go, sir. Would you like me to link the feeds?"
"No! No, not yet."
Damn, he was not in control here. His eyes shot back to the bank of security cameras, and his heart clean stopped. RR hit the communications button. "Bring Prem to me. I must speak with him. At once!"
Prem opened the door to RR's office, entered as silently as a ghost and locked the door behind him.
He'd left the gaurd lying unconscious outside.
RR was standing with his back to him, fixated with the image of Heer talking to his employees outside just as Prem had asked her to do.
"Rishab"
RR turned slowly to face him. Prem's heart accelerated slightly. RR had been expecting him.
"Prem," RR said, studying him. "You're alive." There was a slight vulnerability in his voice that Prem recognised. Prem understood how a woman like Heer could make a man vulnerable.
"I made a mistake, Prem."
"You made many mistakes, Rishab." Prem said moving closer.
RR stiffened, squaring his shoulders. "No," he said slowly. "I made only one. I underestimated you. What do you want Prem? why have you come back?" He began to edge towards the console as he spoke, his hand fingering along the counter with the control buttons.
"I wouldn't touch those controls, Rishab, not if you value Heer's life."
RR's eyes flickered sharply. "What do you mean?" he spoke cautiously, calmly, but Prem knew his brain had to be racing a million miles a minute, searching for escape routes. "Is it revenge you're looking for?"
Behind him, a digital clock read twenty-nine minutes. It flipped to twenty-eight. It was counting down.
"Justice, not revenge. And I will get it. But that's not why I'm back. I want you to call off the biological attack."
RR paled. The clock clicked down to twenty-seven minutes.
"How do you know about the bombs? What does any of this have to do with you?"
"I am here on behalf of the Defence Secretary."
RR's body twitched, but his features remained unchanged.
Prem extracted the chain from under the collar of his dress shirt and yanked the detonator tab free. He flicked the tab open, positioned his thumb over the pad, held it up for RR to see. The clock flipped to twenty-six minutes.
"Call off that attacks, RR or I press this button and Heer dies."
RR's eyes flickered sharply but he remained silent.
Prem stepped closer. "Why don't you turn around, take a look at that screen behind you. See the pendant around her neck?"
RR held Prem's eyes for a moment, then he turned, very slowly, and stared at the screen.
"If I press this button, that pendant will inject a pathogen into her body - a disease designed in your lab."
RR whirled around, eyes wide.
"Oh, its not the same one you plan to release over the country, Rishab. You do not have the antidote for this one."
RR stared at Prem, breathing hard, desperation filling his eyes.
The clock clicked down to twenty-five minutes. Silence stretched.
"I can't. The protocols are already in place. The pathogen will be release at five after midnight. There's nothing I can do to stop it."
Prem raised the detonator. "Then Heer dies, at your hand, with your pathogen. Ironic, isn't it, Rishab?"
"I want her in here!" he demanded. "I need to see her. Now!"
Prem knew what RR was doing. RR was aware of how much Prem had loved Heer, and he was going to gamble with that. He was betting that Prem could not look into Heer's eyes and still press that button.
"Fine," Prem said slowly, his eyes on the clock. "Have her brought in. But one wrong move and I promise you she will die. Don't think I haven't got it in me."
RR spun around suddenly, depressed a button on the console. "Bring Heer to me, at once."
The men faced each other, waiting for the woman they both loved to arrive. The clock ticked to twelve minutes.
The door flew open. Heer burst through in, then froze. "Prem! Rishab!"
Prem spoke first, his heart thudding. "Come here, Heer."
She hesitated, her eyes fixed on Prem, her face a storm of emotions. "What's going on?" she whispered.
"Just come here now." She moved to his side.
"You haveless than ten minutes to save Heer's life. Stop those
bombs, or I press the button and detonate that pendant. Then you can watch her die."
"Prem!" Heer gasped.
His chest clenched. He tried to swallow, refusing to look at her. He couldn't look at her. He wouldn't be able to press the button if he did.
"I told you. I can't stop this. The bombs are programmed to go. There's nothing I can do now."
Four minutes.
"Rishab, please, for God's sake, stop this thing. Please!" Heer pleaded in a hoarse whisper.
Three minutes. No one moved.
Two minutes.
Prem turned, looked into Heer's eyes and for a nanosecond, he almost faltered. "Trust me," he whispered. And then he hit the button.
Heer gasped as the needle in the pendant exploded into her neck. She stared in shock as a small dark trickle of blood dribbled down.
Then all hell broke loose. Prem's team burst through the door and surrounded RR. The choppers could be heard approaching, buzzing low.
Prem heard his man's voice on the microphone. "The medics have landed. They are on their way up." Prem crouched down, popped the hidden compartment in his shoe, and released the syringe. "Tell them to wait outside until I give word" he told his man as he cracked the vial and filled the syringe.
Blood was already trickling from Heer's nose. RR fought Prem's men, trying desperately to get to Heer as they restrained him.
Prem held up the syringe. "The antidote," he said loudly.
RR stilled. All went quiet in the room.
"If she gets this within half an hour, she will make a full recovery. If not, she will die. This, RR, is your chance."
Heer choked, put her hand to her mouth. It came away dark with blood. Terror filled her eyes. "You lied to me, Prem", she whispered hoarsely. "I........ trusted you......" She coughed again.
"I'll do it." RR said. He picked up the phone, punched in a code, and hit a number. Then he hit a quick-dial button. "Call off the attacks, at once. Yes. I am sure. Now!" He replaced the receiver, inhaled deeply, turned to face Prem.
"Save Heer's life. Give her the antidote" he said.
Emotion exploded into Prem's eyes. He spun around, dropped to his knees, took Heer's arm. Her eyes were closed, her skin deathly pale and cold. He quickly tapped her vein and injected the antidote into her arm. "Get the medics in here, now!" he yelled as he fed the serum carefully into her system.
The door crashed open. The medics made for Heer with a stretcher. Prem stroked her hand. "Heer, you're going to be fine. Trust me."
She refused to open her eyes. "Leave me alone, please."she whispered faintly. "I never want to see you again."
"Heer--"
She turned her face away from him, and the medics took her -- and they took Prem's heart with them.
Prem gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and closed his eyes tight. "Get that bas***d the hell out of my sight," he growled, without looking at RR. "Notify the authorities. Hand him over."
He pinched the bridge of his nose as his men took Heer.
He'd saved a nation. But he'd lost the woman he loved.
For the second time.
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