Ranveer pulled over his jacket as he ran across the parking lot. The restaurant was in a mall, and it was going to take him forever to reach there. He crossed the stores on his way, and stopped right outside the tinted glasses of the restaurant. He fixed his hair and smoothed his jacket. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open.
"We have known each other for a year now."
Ranveer stopped in the doorway, holding the door in his hand. He watched the man sitting on his knees before his bestfriend. His world seemed to crumble down before him, and ironically, his world had a little smile on her face.
"There is this connection with you. You have changed my life in a way I never thought was possible. Will you be my girlfriend? Until you decide it's time to move on and marry?"
He couldn't take it anymore. Who won't be able to bear the words she says after that. So he stepped back, slammed the door shut and hurried down the mall's busy ways.
"Ranveer!" He heard her distant shouts, but there was too much chaos in his mind.
He stepped out into he dark night, never realizing how freezing it was. He could see cars that lined up besides his. He remembered the numbers of at least four of them. The mall had 14 glasses lined up for security. There were 20 lamps around the parking lot, one of which was broken. The security guard was in the dark passage beside the mall, whispering to a girl.
Ranveer noticed a lot of things, yet as he approached his car, he failed to notice the man who had followed him through the mall and into the parking lot. And the punch in the jaw that followed.
"Ranveer!" The shout was louder, of panic. Ranveer pushed his elbow in his attacker's stomach and turned around, punching him in the same spot. In a reflection in one of the car's windows, he saw another man approaching him. He turned around and kicked the man. Few feet away, Panchi was dealing with two bulky men, twice her age.
Had it been two each, they could deal.
But when a mob of them stepped out of the shadows, Ranveer shook his head in disbelief.
"No shit Sherlock!" He said as he jumped and placed two kicks on two men at the same time.
---
"Who are you?" KD asked the only question that mattered. In that instant, Kiya's hand went behind her and she rolled a gun in her hand, pointing at him'right when his gunpoint aimed at her.
"I would love to know that!" She replied.
"You have probably been spying on me since I met you, you don't know who I am?" KD asked with a smirk.
"No! Tell me who you are! And where is my dad!" She shouted. KD looked at her confused, his eyes squinted at her.
"How do you know about your dad?" He asked slowly.
"That is why I came here!" She said. "Now make it quick, where is he?"
KD shook his head. What the hell was going on? He took a deep breath and rolled his gun in, holding it above his head, letting it hang loose over his fingers.
"Guns down!" He said. It took her a moment before she slowly let her gun let loose. KD got on to the floor and slid towards her, his leg tripping her over the bed. "Oops!" He whispered.
"Leave me!" She shouted. But KD held her arms to her back. He pulled her up and made her sit on the chair.
"Don't move!" He said, and went to sit in the chair front of her, both the guns in his hands. "Now, tell me what you're doing here!"
But adamant little lady she is, Kiya kept quiet. He face focused with rage as she put her hair behind her ear. KD leaned back and faked a yawn.
"Are we going to make this faster?" He asked bored. "Look! I will tell you who I am, because am almost sure there is a reason am sent here. But you'll have to start!"
"I came here to find my dad." She said after a moment of silence. "I knew you guys know him."
"How?" He asked.
"That day when you and Ranveer had a fight, or whatever that was'Ranveer left his phone." Kiya said, and KD nodded as he remembered the night Ranveer had fret and forced Panchi to go with him. The night he had kissed her.
"Well, I checked his phone, because it vibrated. And I saw a message from someone. It was a profile. My profile." She continued. "And being the curious person I have the right to be, I opened it and saw as much as I can. There were profiles of people, and one of them was my dad's. I couldn't access his profile because it asked for finger print, but I saw his picture."
"Ranveer's phone has pass-locks every transaction. How did you manage to see stuff?"
"I kind of'hacked it!" She said, her face guilty.
"How do you know all this?" KD asked. "Hacking, Karate'shooting?"
"Who are you?" She asked with a glare.
"Answer me first."
"My dad left me a guide book when he left. I learned what I was expected to learn." She said. "Now I refuse to answer any of your questions. KD was about to say something more when his phone vibrated. He kept his eyes on her as he received the call and kept it against his ear.
"KD, we have an emergency." Juhi's voice was tensed. KD sat up straighter, his eyes left Kiya.
"What happened?"
"Jay is ambushed'by them." She whispered. They don't know who them is. But they do know that they are not good news.
"Send me the report. Now!" He snapped in the phone. He turned to Kiya who was still sitting there, confused.
"It's time for you to know I guess." KD said with a heavy sigh. "I am a spy. I work for a government agency called NIF, National Intelligence Force. Your father was director of the office in India. He assigned me to this mission. Operation Cover."
"What were you supposed to do?" Kiya managed to say, her voice not hiding her surprise.
"Protect you." He said.
"From who?"
"Unknown."
"How long have you been protecting me?"
"Ever since the Jet Boom!" He replied with a small smile.
"Where is my dad?" She asked, her voice watery. There were so many questions, so many confusions and so many loopholes. But there was no time.
"He is ambushed." He whispered. "Captured by the people who are trying to hurt you for some reason."
His own eyes welled up with tears as he saw the beads roll down her eyes, shocked. He tried to look away, but his eyes were not ready to leave hers.
"North 94. Parkinson Mall. Parking lot." They both jumped at the sudden static and voice from his watch.
"Panchi." He whispered.
"KD, he is losing." Panchi added with a sob. KD didn't waste a second and got up from his chair, rushing out the door. He did not care he was leaving her behind. All he could think about was his best friends. The brother he had found when he lost everybody else.
-----
"What's the condition?" Panchi choked as soon as KD walked back from the doctor's office. The lounge was empty. Not a soul wandered around in the hospital. Night was dark and hour was late. Panchi's head was bandaged, and her face had few scars. There was a long slash on her hand that was wrapped in a thin bandage.
"Critical." KD said. He looked at Panchi's tear streaked eyes and sighed. He held her arms and too her into a hug. His voice a whisper as he said, "He will be fine."
"I don't know! I was there with, and then he came out of nowhere and he ran out'and then'I just don't know!" She sobbed in his chest.
"Who were they Kiddo?" He asked softly.
"I don't know!" She whispered again.
He pulled away and wiped her tears. "Didn't I teach you to be strong? Did I fail to be your mentor?" He whispered. There was no one around to eavesdrop, but somehow it felt to be a talk that was meant to keep away from the walls.
"KD I'" She started but he didn't let her complete.
"Sh! No more crying." He said with all authority he could muster. "Come on, wipe those off! He will be fine! Okay! Or I will beat the crap out of him! Wipe those off!"
Panchi laughed despite the situation, and did as he told her. She wiped her tears like a little child and walked to sit at the sofa.
"Where is Kiya?" She asked all of a sudden. KD shrugged before he said anything.
"Home." He said. "I told her everything."
"What do you mean everything?" Panchi frowned. KD told her all that happened back in the house.
"Jay is captured?" Panchi yelled through the empty corridor. KD bit his lip and looked away. "Shit! What if she ran away?"
KD turned to look at his best friend, his kiddo, and his sister.
"She won't."
"But what if she did!" Panchi never shouted. But when she did, it was bad for those who can hear.
"Stop shouting, I locked the doors."
"She knew how to crack Ranveer's phone!" KD looked away. Honestly, he never though about that, but Panchi doesn't need to know that.
"Why don't you take a nap?" He turned to look at her. He went to sit next to her. She laid her head on his chest as he leaned back.
"It's okay Panchi." He whispered. "We'll be fine."
"We won't lose again." But Panchi was already asleep.
Jhanak
Shiv Shakti
