Ashraf's restaurant 
8.30 PM

As she saw Victor's imposter leave the restaurant, Misha sighed in relief.

She waved at Raju who approached her nervously.

"Raju, forget about the food and keep the money okay!"

"Why Madam? And what was all that about? Who is he?" Raju asked in an worried tone.

"Do you really want to know? I don't think you will understand even if I tell you." said Misha, as she tried to suppress her smile.

"Okay please don't tell me. My head is already spinning! I better start looking for a job in another restaurant!!" Raju shook his head in disbelief as he went back to the kitchen.

Misha's phone beeped with a message."Don't leave yet. He might come back. Remember what we discussed."

"Of course, I remember. Okay, I see him coming again. Bye."  Misha replied and chucked the phone back in her bag,  as she turned to face her date with a sweet smile.

"Hi Victor.. what's up? Did you forget something?"

"Yeah.. I don't have my wallet with me... Aah there it is!!" He picked  up his wallet  buried under the flowers.

"Bye Misha, sorry once again huh!" He smiled apologetically and left.

Misha was relieved to see Sam and her other classmates arrive from the other end. She waved at them gently with her uninjured left arm.
****
Victor wore a soiled shirt and wrapped a towel around his head, just like few other daily labourers who were having tea and snacks at the roadside tea stall, next to Ashraf's restaurant. As Victor drank his tea, he watched his imposter leave Ashraf's restaurant in a hurry, and drive away.

Victor knew that his unexpected appearance out of nowhere had stumped his enemy, for now. But the whole gang will be back to attack him in a more vicious and cunning way and he should be prepared for that. He finished the sugary tea and went back to his bike and put a new shirt on. He waited till Misha and her friends came out of the restaurant, and followed them on his bike, till they reached their Disco Bar.

He was half tempted to stay back till Misha went home safely, but decided against it. Misha can take care of herself and he knew that she wasn't under threat from anyone, at least for quite some time. He would check on her later and make sure she took medicines for her wound.

He had more pressing issues to worry about right now. He rode home, to talk to his mother and sister.

****
Nirmala's House
9 PM

Mohsin and Sunil, who were smoking in the front yard. greeted Victor as he parked his bike.  They looked quite bored and tired to be on this vigilance job, and Victor could easily understand why. This kind of job was generally given to rookie agents. 

"Any news on Rajiv" Mohsin asked anxiously.

"Hmm. He is not in danger. The doctors have removed the bullet but he is still under anaesthesia. He might get discharged in a few days time. Luckily he didn't have any other injuries, but he was already so weak after that dengue infection. So, it might be sometime before he is back at work." Victor explained.

"Hmm.. I know that suspect was one of the gang who killed Nanda Sir, but we don't know anything else about him. If only he was caught alive, it would have been damn good, but nothing happens as we plan. So we are at a dead end again, isn't it?" Sunil asked.

Victor just nodded his head, as he wasn't sure how much Intel could be shared with Sunil.

"Hey Victor don't think that I am trying to get details on the Goa shoot out. That's not my intention." Sunil hastened to clarify.

"Of course, I understand Sunil and I agree, we are at a dead end again. But there was no choice but to take Tanvir down." Victor shrugged, and asked again. "How are you guys managing? I know this job is too boring for senior guys like you, but I cant tell you how grateful I am. If I am able to pursue my goals and do everything that I need to, it is thanks to you two looking after my family." Victor said warmly.

"Hey!! Since when did you start saying such sentimental things!!"Mohsin chuckled and Victor smiled sheepishly.

"Why don't you join us for dinner?" He invited both of them.
"No thanks. If you are here for few hours, can we go out, if  it is okay with you?"Mohsin asked hesitantly.

"Of course. Please go ahead. I will text you and let you know when I am about to leave." Victor assured them.

Mohsin and Sunil thanked him and left in their car, and he kept watching their car till it disappeared in the traffic. He knew he would have to take Mohsin and Sunil into confidence straight away, to explain about the imposter and the renewed danger his family will be in. But he still wasn't sure whether they would believe him. He would need support of few other agents before he could expose himself like that. Also, he had to tie up some loose ends first.

How messy his life had become!! He rubbed his eyes tiredly.
Before he rang the bell,  his mother Nirmala opened the door for him with a warm smile, and just the sight of her made his heart feel lighter, and forget all the worries.

***. 

DJ's House
9 PM

DJ stared blankly at the ceiling as he lay slumped on the couch in his living room.

He refused to take calls from anyone including Sharath Nair, who had called repeatedly to offer his sympathies. Sharath knew, just like everyone, how close Tanvir was to DJ and what his loss meant to DJ.

Suman gently caressed DJ's head and pleaded once again, "Dhano, please listen to me. Drink this coffee at least. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Beta, you need to be strong now.  I know that nothing I say or do would bring Tanvir back, but please don't do this to yourself."

Sunny, who somehow managed to escape from the Dhaba, sat near the feet of DJ and cried, "Haan DJ Bhai, Please don't do this. Kick me or kill me if you want. I already feel dead for leaving Tanvir Bhai and our men out there at the dhaba, but what to do ?? We were attacked  from all sides! And I repeatedly asked Tanvir Bhai to stay near the car till we were back, but he didn't listen. I don't know why he went towards that unfinished building. And Munnah... we never found Munnah.. I don't know  if he was arrested by those policemen or he mislead us on purpose. I never knew Munnah much. It's so confusing."

"It wasn't your fault Sunny. You did what you needed to do.  I am this close to blowing the head off that Rajiv who killed our dear Tanvir. And why the hell Tanvir wasn't warned that IB was coming for him? What was that Bastard Ashwin doing? And what about..." DJ bit on his knuckles to control himself.

Suraj Chacha who was watching him silently, came forward and patted on his shoulder.

"Beta, please listen to Bhabhi and have something. We have been through all this ten times. They were responding to an alert by the surveillance team or something which means all the IB agents who were present got the alert. There was hardly any time to call Tanvir or us, because Rajiv and the other IB agent were with them in the Car. But I am wondering where Munnah is? Because from what Ashwin told me, Munnah wasn't in custody. I spoke to Ashwin just few hours ago, when he was still in the hospital where that Rajiv guy got admitted. He didn't even go home as their boss Ajit Doval ordered everyone to start working on this case. He just went home to freshen up and is now back at IB headquarters. And he promised me that he will try to take over the interrogation of our guys, so that they are not tortured."

"DJ Bhai, I can assure you one thing. Those bloody IB guys can try as much as they want. Our guys who are in custody, Naresh and Rizwan, they wont open their mouths, no matter what. They are loyal to Tanvir Bhai and you." Sunny said proudly.

DJ's eyes welled.

He got up slowly and  reached Sunny to hug him lightly. He turned to Suraj Chacha and said, "Chacha... these guys are my real family, the people who are willing to go to any lengths for protecting me. And what am I doing in return? I can't even go and claim Tanvir's body so that I can bury his body properly and pay my respects. I cant face Tanvir's wife who is crying her heart out, all alone. What's the point of my existence?" A lone tear escaped his eyes.

Suraj Chacha wrapped his shoulder around DJ.

"We all know where we are going to end up, once we are in this business, isn't it? Tanvir was a brave man. He couldn't sit at home and do nothing; it was eating him away. And we still don't know what happened clearly..."

DJ cut him short. "I am going to kill that Rajiv, trust me." His face flushed to a deep red.

"Yes, we will avenge his death for sure. But for that, we need to eat and drink first. Come, let's go. Bhabhi too hasn't eaten anything, and you know that it is not good for her health at this age." Suraj Chacha persuaded gently and led DJ and other men towards the dining area.

***.

IB Headquarters
9 PM
The lines on Ajit Doval forehead were burrowed deep as he read the report on his laptop. He heard the knock on his door and a moment later the door opened.

"Come in Victor."  Ajit looked up from his laptop and welcomed his top agent.

"Didn't I ask you, just a few hours ago, to go home, rest and comeback tomorrow? And here you are, back at office. It looks like you are becoming addicted to your work, all over again. What's wrong with you guys?  I had to literally drag you and Ashwin out of the hospital in the evening. I want my men to work smartly and not slog their hours away, waiting in the hospital ward or in office! Don't you get that?" Ajit's voice was filled with exasperation.

"Sir, thanks for your concern. But we just wanted to be there when Rajiv regained consciousness and tell us more about the shoot out. But, that never happened. And Sir, I did go home to take a nap and I feel perfectly fine now. But we don't have a moment to lose. I know Rajiv is out of danger, but he cant be actively back anytime soon. You asked me and Ashwin to look into this Tanvir's death, but we both are still blocked from any intel on the Goa shootout investigation. How can I work on anything if I am given only half the information?  All I know about Tanvir is that he was Sharath's man and had come to Goa with some other guys to shoot me."

"Who said anything about Tanvir being Sharath Nair's man?" Ajit asked sharply and was disconcerted to see Victor's face pale.

"Well Sir, isn't that obvious? I went after Sharath's business and he targeted me and Ashwin. He is the only guy who has so much contacts and influence in Goa that we are still not able to put the dots together in this case. I bet you anything that half the Goan police are on his pay check. Not just in Goa, but his crime syndicate is spread everywhere, even here in Delhi. Drugs, illegal arms to terrorists, there isn't a single crime he isn't involved in. I am just waiting for the right moment to catch him red handed. Let me not get carried away and concentrate on this current case first. I need access to that investigation, not just for details on Tanvir but  Raju as well. It was by pure accident that Me and Ashwin came to know that Raju's dead body was found on the remote shores near Goa. This is utterly ridiculous Sir! How can Rajiv hide such important information from us?"

Ajit chuckled at the indignant outburst of Victor.

"As I told you repeatedly before, no one but the internal investigation team can handle JP's case, and in case you don't know, Rajiv reports to two other directors, not just me. So it is not a simple case of you complain to me in frustration, so that I can give you the access to the case file on the system. Understand?"

Ajit watched Victor hold back his anger with amusement. Perhaps it was time that Victor and Ashwin knew something about the case.

Ajit pulled out a file from the cabinet drawer under his desk  and gave it to Victor.

"This file contains all the details from the investigation into JP's death. This is my copy, and yes we still do keep physical copies of our case files. This is for your eyes onIy. So... read it, absorb it and leave it here.  Other than that, I can't help you much."

"Tha...thank you Sir. You don't know what this means. I finally feel..." Ajit cut short Victor's flustered response and commanded, "Stop your speech and read the file. I want to go home in fifteen minutes."

"Yes Sir, of course."

Ajit watched keenly as Victor's eyes quickly scanned every document and photographical evidence in the file and wasn't surprised when he exclaimed loudly,

"Blank bullets? What the !!"

"Hmm.. now I hope you appreciate why we have been so reluctant to share any details! There's much more to this shooting than what it appears to be on the surface. And we found your gun in a  backpack as it drifted to the beaches of another village, which was close to where Raju's body was found. I agree with you at some level that Sharath Nair has a lot of reach in the police department there. Otherwise, how did your gun which was found at the crime scene, end up in the ocean few days later? And was then conveniently found near the coast, where Raju's body drifted to? Someone is desperately trying to mislead us and give us all the proofs to make sure we conclude that Raju was the killer of JP."

"But what is there to mislead? I saw it with my own eyes. He killed Nanda Sir. And I knew his name was Raju as I heard  another guy from that gang calling him, just before he shot Nanda Sir. Don't you trust me?" Ajit could hear the anger and hurt in Victor's voice.

"Of course I do Victor! But these guys seem to be on a well planned campaign to mislead us, which begs the question... why? Why they are going to such great lengths to take evidence from crime scene and plant it somewhere else? Why was that Raju killed? Forget all that... Why did they target you in such a vicious way? And what's the guarantee that they wont do it again?  That is why I want you to be well away from this investigation. I care for your safety and well being. In fact, I suspect that this shootout at Dhaba was purely to target Rajiv and eliminate him as he is in charge of the investigation. Luckily Rajiv survived, thanks to you and other IB agents' timely intervention."

Ajit was a bit disappointed to notice the startled expression on Victor's face as if this possibility never occurred to him.

"Go home Victor. I know it  is a lot to absorb right now, but the quicker you do and come up with ideas as to what this actually means, the better for all of us."

"I understand Sir. I will try my best to dissect what happened that night with this new information. Thanks for showing me this. Good night Sir."  Victor handed back the file to his boss and left the room.

****.

As the man who called himself Victor walked towards his car in the parking lot of IB headquarters, all the anxiety and fear that he kept hidden from his so called boss Ajit Doval engulfed him.

All along, he was under the misguided belief that everyone told him the truth about what happened during the shootout. He had to rely on others' version as he wasn't involved most of the time.  Except....

He always trusted his instincts and they didn't let him down even today. He wanted to rush off to his gang and blurt out the news about Victor being alive, but he didn't.  If Victor was alive even after such elaborate plan, it would only mean one thing.. there was a traitor among his men. He had to find out the truth from the other way around.

He went to meet his "boss" and and created enough drama to make him to give access to the Goa file. At least that way, he will know what the findings of the local police and IB Were about the shootout, which could give him some clues about that traitor. He was surprised how easily Ajit Sir showed him the file... perhaps his boss finally realized that he needed to be more open, now that Rajiv was hospitalised again.

And how right was he about getting more information on the shootout from the IB file? Blank bullets indeed!! What a simple and effective method to deceive everyone, when guns were being fired all around!!

Who used Blank bullets from his gang and why? Was it some stupid idea of Raju or something more sinister?  Victor's body was supposed to have been burnt along with Raju's in that boat. So was that all a fake too?

This just confirmed what he already understood. Victor had been working in the background for some time...   Victor orchestrated the attack on Cherian and his followers in Kerala,  but most importantly, he killed Tanvir in a planned attack.

He knew how this news would upset everyone in his gang who were mourning over Tanvir's death, but what choice did he have? Their survival was at stake, and even without Victor's warning message on the phone, he knew that Victor would come after him...

There was no time to lose.

He sped his car towards Dhaula Kuan.
****
DJ's House
9.30 PM

The guards in the front greeted him respectfully as he made his way inside.  After the angry and bitter confrontation he had when he was here last time, he vowed that he would never step into this house again.
But fate had brought him here.

He steeled himself to face wrath from everyone, even as they mourned over loss of Tanvir.

He stepped nervously into the living room, but surprisingly, no one was there. He moved towards the kitchen as he could hear voices from the adjoining dining area. Not just voices but gentle laughter.  He observed everyone who seemed content and happy in each other's company.
What a contrast.. here he was, feeling guilty and frightened while everyone was...

That acute feeling of being an outsider all along hit him in the guts once again. He swallowed hard and walked slowly towards the dining table.

"Arrey beta! Come in. We were just talking about you." Suraj Chacha welcomed him warmly and drew a chair next to him.
He could feel how everyone else's gaze has turned frosty as their eyes turned towards him. Suman left the table and went back into the kitchen.

He ignored her and tried his best to sound casual.

"Can all of you join me in the living room once the dinner is over? I have something important to discuss." He announced, and walked back to the living room, not bothering to wait to hear anyone's response.

He collapsed into one of the easy chairs and closed his eyes.

He still couldn't believe that Tanvir died. Tanvir was not just a loyal member of the gang but loved everyone as a family. Despite his best efforts, they have now lost Tanvir. But would anyone believe him? All he could see in their eyes was bitterness and disappointment. They must be blaming him squarely for Tanvir's death. His whole life had been turned upside down by that bastard Victor, and he was paying the price for it.

He had to sacrifice so much and go through a terrible ordeal to become Victor, but for what? To be stabbed in the back like this by one of their own men? And why? How the hell did Victor survive all that shooting and every other step that they had taken, to wipe him off?

Who conspired against them? Was it Raju? He was a waste candidate and a disposable one. And he had become a liability once Victor saw him at the beach and grabbed the memory card off the camera. That's why he suggested to DJ Bhai and Suraj Chacha that Raju be made a scapegoat for Nanda's murder and finished off.

Was DJ Bhai's motto in giving everyone a second chance and not punish Raju for his father's betrayal backfired on him? Did Raju take revenge on all of them for his father's death or was he  a mole employed by Victor to destroy their gang? Or was it Sunny? As far as he knew, Sunny was in the backyard of the villa. But tonight's revelations made him realize how little he know about events of that night...

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that everyone was back in the living room, till Suraj Chacha tapped on his shoulder.

He opened his eyes and found DJ standing right next to him. Up close, he could now see how haggard and tear stricken DJ's face was, the sight of which made his heart burn and soothe for different reasons.

He got up slowly.

"Hmm I am sorry to have disturbed your warm family moment back there, but something happened..."

DJ cut him short and asked sharply,

"Did Rajiv wake up? Because I want that bastard to be fully awake when I kill him."

"Bhai!! You don't have to dirty your hands for a filthy policeman! Just give us your orders. I will go and kill him right now!" Sunny declared.

He let out a sigh of exasperation as he listened to Sunny's stupid outburst.

What a bunch of morons!! Why cant these guys get the simple logic that getting rid of an intelligence agent was not child's play!! If it wasn't for his meticulous and full fledged planning, which involved so many layers of deception and perfect timing, would they have ever got Victor? And now to realise that, one of these idiots had conspired to work against him and ruined all his hard work!

But he wasn't ready to tell them the bombshell news that their enemy was still alive and had even threatened to come after them. He knew what utter chaos that news will create. But first things first. He had to find out the mole in their gang  who betrayed them all and helped Victor.

He looked at DJ Bhai and tried his best to sound calm.

"Rajiv is not awake yet, and there is no chance of us getting to him while he is still in the hospital. Security has been doubled and there are CCTV cameras everywhere. If you can forget about your revenge for Tanvir for one moment, I have more important things to discuss."

"What is more important than revenging Tanvir's death. He was my right hand man, my brother!" DJ hissed.

"Of course Bhai... Tanvir is your brother. All these guys are just like your family. I am the only one who doesn't belong here, isn't it?" He couldn't suppress his anger and frustration anymore and was glad to see the stunned expression on DJ's face.

"Please Beta!! That's not what DJ meant." Suraj Chacha tried to reach out to him but he was in no mood for their sympathies today.

He put his hand up to stall DJ who looked close to tears and said, "Anyway, let's not get distracted. Ajit Doval handed me the case report on the Goa shootout today and guess what I found out? Someone among us used dummy bullets that night!"

He observed keenly and was disappointed to note stunned faces everywhere.

"What? How did this happen?" DJ was the first to burst out angrily.

Suraj Chacha took some time to come out of shock and asked in disbelief, "Are you sure Beta? Yes of course... if the police report says that, then it must be true, but this is so strange. We don't use dummy bullets even when we are training our young lads here."

"Tell me exactly what was in the report!" DJ demanded.

"Well.. they found dummy bullets near the car and also in the first floor room. And from what you told me Chacha, you and Raju were firing at that IB agent in that room, right?" He turned to Suraj Chacha.

"Yes, of course. Everything happened so fast that I don't remember exactly how we ended up there, but yes...  it was just me and Raju in that room who were firing at that guy from IB." Suraj chacha confirmed.

"And then you both came down to the street once I had that bastard..." Suraj Chacha interrupted him, "Beta please don't use that word."

He rolled his eyes!! When do these guys get it that Victor is nothing but an enemy to him?

Suraj Chacha continued, "We were trying our best to hold off this IB agent upstairs. And then I heard gunfire and Tanvir's grunt. And soon after, from the upstairs window, I saw someone escaping out of the courtyard, and I panicked.  If it was Victor, then all our planning would go waste. So we decided  to knock off that IB agent somehow and come down. We knew you were there, but we didn't want to expose you at all remember? Raju threw that IB agent off the stairs so hard that he became unconscious, and we both rushed out to the street." Suraj Chacha recalled.

"Chacha, you shot Victor then, am I right?" He strode towards Suraj Chacha and stood very close to him, keen to detect any change in his facial expressions.
Suraj Chacha's face remained as tired and placid as ever.
"No beta,  Raju just held Victor at gunpoint  while I shot you. Raju was about to shoot Victor, that too mistakenly with Victor's gun. I warned Raju not to,  took that gun from him, and as we planned, I shot you with Victor's gun, exactly at your elbow where Victor got shot. And then once again, just under your ribs... I can still remember the terror I felt while I did that!" Suraj Chacha looked at his hands which began to tremble.

"Chacha, please calm down. I am sorry you had to go through all that again." DJ wrapped his arm around Suraj Chacha, made him sit on the lounge and offered him some water.

"That's ok Beta. Thanks." Suraj Chacha  drank the water with shaking hands.

"Hmm.. so that b...Victor was shot by Raju, not you. I never saw who shot Victor because I had almost passed out by then. I was in so much pain. I just remember hearing multiple gun shots." A shiver ran through him as he remembered the ordeal he went through that night.

DJ looked at both of them with concerned eyes.

"Yes Beta..Raju shot Victor with our gun... was it five or six shots? I think he emptied the whole magazine. And Victor...Victor was dead within few seconds." Suraj Chacha sighed and looked up in confusion."But what has this got to do with blank bullets? I still don't understand."

He watched Suraj Chacha for few moments before asking, "Are you sure he was dead Chacha? Because..." He paused to choose his words carefully.

But DJ cut him short angrily.

"Will you stop your bloody interrogation Loki? What is wrong with you? Tell me what you read in the report instead of all this stupid questioning."

Enough!! He didn't come here to be insulted all over again. He wanted to get to the bottom of this conspiracy and find out who the mole was, before telling them about Victor, but probably they don't deserve it.

Loki yelled instead, "I am not the stupid one here. Someone is working as a mole against you and me right under our nose. And he made sure that Victor didn't get killed that night. VICTOR IS ALIVE AND WELL and he has threatened to come after me! Are you happy now?"

"That's impossible! how can it.." DJ's lips were moving but there was hardly any sound. The utter shock on his face cleared the lingering doubt in Loki's mind. DJ was neither involved in the conspiracy nor aware  who the traitor was.

"No Beta, someone is playing a prank on you, I am sure. It is impossible.. I mean, how can it be?" Suraj Chacha asked in disbelief. Sunny just gawked at him with an open mouth.

Loki pulled out the mobile from his pocket and showed the video that Victor sent him to everyone.
"I got this video an hour or so ago. I went straight to IB headquarters and demanded that I get access to the Goa shoot out file. I didn't get access on the system, but Ajit Doval showed me his copy of the file. They were holding back all this information, not only from me and Ashwin, but the whole department. And our ploy to show Raju as the killer of Nanda has failed utterly. They didn't buy it even for one moment. And how did that Victor's gun end up in the ocean?  That must be Victor's ploy too. He is playing the game from inside and planting evidence, which makes IB more suspicious about our gang.  He is such a clever bastard!" Loki fumed.

Sunny's eyes kept darting between Loki and the stilled image of Victor on his phone as if it was some kind of illusion and came out of it when DJ called him.

"Sunny!"

"Haan Bhai!"

"When did Raju join us?"

"Well... just before Loki Bhai came back home. I mean, he first met Tanvir and pleaded with him. Initially Tanvir Bhai was not sure, but then...."

"But then what?" DJ snapped.

"I mean you know Bhai what his father did to you. But still, you took mercy on him and let him join us. He was always a bit of a Nautanki but otherwise he was okay." Sunny blurted out.

DJ's eyes bored into Sunny's for sometime before he turned his face away. Sunny sighed in relief.

"Chacha, what did Ashwin tell us initially about Victor? You and Tanvir went to his house right?" DJ asked.

"Hmm... I don't remember the exact words but yes, he did say that Victor had been following our gang as well as Sharath's gang for sometime, and there was no way we can catch a clever guy like him. What are you thinking DJ?" Suraj asked in confusion.

Loki tried not to laugh at how slow Suraj Chacha's mind worked.

"What else Chacha? If Victor was following our gang and found someone like Raju, what do you think he would do? He would make Raju his mole, and make sure all our plans are sabotaged. Isn't it what we did with Ashwin? You know, when Raju told us the elaborate story about how Victor came in a disguise, and took the memory card out of the camera, it sounded so dodgy to me.. But Bhai thought it must be Victor's ploy. I don't know how Raju helped Victor survive, but we finished him off before he could plan his escape. And I am so glad we did." A slow smile broke on Loki's face for the first time.

*****.

^=========^

Hello All,

Now that I published the first chapter of " S n S - Web of Lies" I feel like a kindergarten student, waiting eagerly to know if my teacher (you) liked my scribbled drawing...

Do you like it? Do I get a well done or bad job sticker?

My silent readers, please comment. Trust me, it means the world to know readers' reaction than just see their votes.

This is me when I see readers comments.

Please spread the word around if you like this book.

Love
Sesi