Ian Fleming, Casino Royale :
"He was a secret agent, and still alive thanks to his exact attention to the detail of his profession"

*****
Suman got out of the car and hurried inside, to see the two brothers happily chatting with each other in the lounge. The moment Loki saw her mother, he rushed towards her and hugged her. Suman held his face in her hands and kept staring at him to her heart's content.

"Maa! I am very angry with you. How come you weren't home when I arrived? Why did you have to go to the temple just then?" Loki scrunched up his face, trying his best to look angry.

"Sorry Loki. But I go to the temple every week at the same time for the Aarti. Why did you have to arrive at that hour? Huh?" She mocked him back.

Loki hugged her again and Suman heard a soft voice behind her "Namaste Aunty!"

Suman was pleased to see a smiling Zoya and hugged her too.
*****

Cafe near Prithvi Theatre,
Mumbai.

"What do you mean you lost him? If you can't handle the single job I gave you, what makes you think I can trust you with another?" Nanda bellowed.

Sharmila Sethi squirmed in her wicker chair slightly but her face remained placid as ever. Her colleague Monty Singh felt slightly reassured as he cast a quick look at her before turning his gaze back to their boss JP Nanda. They were seated at a table in the open air Prithvi Café, part of Prithvi Theatre, one of the landmarks in Mumbai. Monty wasn't sure which play their boss had come to see there, but he seemed to be inspired by the atmosphere around him, and was giving them a monologue for the past five minutes.

"Nanda Sir, it is not Sharmila's fault. I was on duty at that time. Victor was walking fast on the street as he was talking on the phone, so I had to run a bit to catch up with him. But he suddenly stopped at a shop window and turned around. I had no choice but to duck inside a shop and spend quite some time, to make sure that he doesn't suspect he was being followed. By the time I came out, he was gone. We went to check the hotel he was in, but the manager told us that he vacated from there." Monty explained in a rush, and was glad to see his boss's face turn calmer.

"But, I am not sure if the manager was telling us the truth. Considering Victor's form, it might be possible that he asked the manager to say so, if someone asks about him." Sharmila spoke for the first time, in her soft voice, which made Nanda lean forward on the table to catch her words.

"Of course, he would have. That's my Victor for you, he is one of the best, I keep telling you. I trained him personally." Nanda's face beamed and Sharmila fought hard not to roll her eyes. Here we go again, she thought!!

Luckily, they were interrupted by a friend of JP Nanda, who hurried him, as the play was about to start. Sharmila and Monty too rose from their chairs, as JP Nanda put his jacket back on.

"I don't know what you are going to do but I want a detailed report on Victor's whereabouts, and what he is up to in the next few days. I am going to Goa in a couple of days' time. Meet me there if you can't get anything before that. Do you understand?" Nanda glared at Sharmila.

"Yes." Sharmila muttered.

J P Nanda stilled as he adjusted his watch.

"What did you say Ms Sharmila Sethi? I couldn't hear properly." Nanda was smiling but his eyes said otherwise.

Sharmila straightened her back and replied in a calm tone, "Yes, Nanda Sir. We will make sure to find out whatever Victor is up to, and give you a report on him either here or in Goa." She bowed her head and smiled.

"Good." Nanda gave her a once over and left with his friend.

The moment he was out of earshot Sharmila muttered "Khadoos Budhdha!!" (Arrogant old man) and began to walk back rapidly towards their bike, and Monty chuckled loudly as he rushed to keep up with her. It was fun to watch the ever calm and collected Sharmila Sethi off guard. But, he and Sharmila always shared an open and free camaraderie ever since their training days.

"Victor is this, Victor is that, my Victor... Oh god I am sick of this stupid job." Sharmila reached their bike and kick started it.

"But Sharmi, he is right you know. We still have a lot to learn to become like Victor. I mean..." Monty forgot what he was about to say as Sharmila gave him a murderous glare.

"But I agree with you, he didn't have to shout so much for this one slip up. Have we ever failed in all these 6 months that we followed Victor, when he began the Joint intelligence team operation, to capture those IS terrorists?"

"Exactly. JP Sir is so relentless. Does he have to yell at us like that? Victor is such a manner less brute, who always gives airs to everyone around him. Do you ever hear JP Sir admonish him for that? No. But I fail to call him Sir, for once, and he is on me like a ton of bricks! Now, I will show him. I will catch that Victor, wherever he is, and take him to the DhobiGhat* nearby, where he deserves to go in my opinion." Sharmila turned off the key with more force than necessary.

* Dhobi Ghat (Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat) is an open air laundromat (lavoir) in Mumbai, India.[1] The washers, known as dhobis, work in the open to clean clothes and linens from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. It was constructed in 1890.

"Hey! What happened to my ever cool friend! Yaar, please! Don't let that Victor guy get to you! Remember the first rule..." Monty patted on his friend's shoulder gently.

"Yes, Monty I remember. Never let personal opinion about the target interfere with your job! Of course. I am not pissed off with Victor. We knew who and what type of guy he was from the beginning, right? He may be the best agent and a favourite of his boss, but his attitude ... Uff!! Don't get me started on him, okay? If I had my way, I would have taken him to the cleaners on the first day of my job." Monty chuckled and Sharmila too joined him reluctantly.

She sighed deeply and added, "It's Nanda Sir. I wish, just for once, he would remember to compliment us too. Yes, we are rookies so he gave us a simple job. Tail this top secret agent Victor because his safety during the IS operation was utmost critical, and it's a double bonus for you, because you can observe him and learn. And we did that, successfully. And then suddenly, on the very night the IS operation concluded, came the next summons... Continue your job on Victor, because he is not to be trusted to stay idle. Now this time everything was so vague. We can't go too near him, can't tail him at his apartment, so many restrictions, because Nanda sir hasn't got the official sanction on this. We have no idea what Victor is doing, what he is supposed to be doing, so end up second guessing everything half the time, and look like a fool in front of Nanda Sir. I see no head or tail to what we are doing. That's why I hinted that I want to join Ashwin's operation... and you saw how he reacted!"

"I know, it is quite frustrating, but what can we do? Orders are orders. But partner, rules or no rules, we do everything in our own special way isn't it? I know we had a few setbacks, and had to modify our plans, but as long as we deliver what Nanda Sir needs, he wouldn't mind. Anyway, this is much better than being a desk analyst, isn't it? I would rather be out on field, than do that!" Monty shook his head in disdain.

"Yes, anytime. What would I do without you Monty? Let's go and get another Irish Coffee from the famous Prithvi Café, shall we? I didn't enjoy the last one because of the company of a certain soft spoken person." Sharmila did a fist bump with Monty and walked back towards the café.

***

Victor's eyes glanced casually at the entrance of Otters club, and what he saw pleased him. It was the new guy again today. The last piece is in place, thankfully.

For the past 48 hours, he split his time between stalking Sharath Nair and his henchmen, watching the entrance of Otters Club and stalking some of the Club employees who would come in handy in his master plan. He did a couple of trials by stealing the swipe card of few inattentive employees and entered the club, using the staff entrance.

By now he had a fairly good idea of how the guests entered and what areas were exclusive zones, reserved for the elite members; who were the waiters and head waiter, security manager and when shift changes occurred for the staff. He hardly slept for few hours in the night but he didn't care... his body had been through worse.

Victor checked his watch, it was almost 10 pm. He knew that he had a lot to do within the short window of time. The night shift workers started their shift around 10pm and now it was time to put the plan into practice. He got confirmation that Sharath Nair was coming here around 11pm to meet a supplier from Indonesia. Another pawn that he was going to use, Sunita Arora, the alcoholic ex-heroine who visited the club almost every night would be here soon. She loved creating a scene... and he hoped that he didn't have to try too hard.

Being Friday night, the club was buzzing with members and casual visitors. The parking lot reserved for members was already full, and the staff were having a difficult time redirecting irate members and visitors to alternative parking spaces.

He quickly checked his disguise and clothes. He couldn't find the exact fit but this would do. The white shirt and black waistcoat with Otters Club logo were a bit tight for his wide frame, but the black pants were perfect. And he added his own personal touch, white gloves which were both necessary and looked the part. He swiped the security pass he had stolen earlier from a senior janitor, to enter the club through the side entrance and quickly reached the front drive way. He saw a long queue of cars waiting to be parked and spotted the car of the ex-heroine. She was already honking and yelling at the driver of the car in the front to move, poking her head of the car window. He quickly removed his jacket as he made his way out to her car.

"Sunita Madam!! Hello!" He saluted to her with all the courtesy he could muster.

"Who are you?" Sunita Arora scrunched up her face at Victor. Victor observed her closely before responding. Her botoxed face still had that innocent charm which made her box office queen in her heydays, in spite of mediocre acting skills.

"Madam, I am the valet here. Otters Club had decided not to make our valued members wait like this for ages to park their car. Please give me your keys and I will park your car, I have access to the underground parking where there are plenty of spots." He bent down enough so that she could see his Otters Club logo and employee badge on his waistcoat.

Sunita Arora beamed with relief and was about to get out of the car, but paused again.

"Ahmed, tell Neelesh Sir that I am taking care of the cars here." Victor casually yelled at a passer-by. Sunita's face cleared and she opened the car door.

Victor caught the keys Sunita threw at him.

"Madam, I need the members card too to park the car underground." He stretched his arm out, controlling his urge to catch her from falling off. Her strong perfume couldn't suppress the stench of alcohol. Sunita fumbled through her bag and pulled out the battered card which slipped off her hands. Victor picked it up deftly and watched her walk unsteadily towards the Club entrance.

He got into the car, and pulled it out of the queue and stopped to grab his jacket. As he weaved car through the back lane to reach the underground parking, he began to visualise what drama must be enfolding near the club entrance. He knew that Thomas, the new security guard on duty was still not familiar with the rules or who's who of the club, and it was precisely this weakness that he was planning to take advantage of.

He checked his reflection in the Driver side vanity mirror, and carefully removed the beard and thick eyebrows and ruffled his hair to make it fall over his forehead. He swapped the clear lensed glasses with a semi dark sun glasses and pocketed the white gloves. As he got out the car he walked through a pre-planned route to avoid the CCTV camera and took to the stairs to reach the club entrance.

The scene there couldn't have been better.

A highly apologetic Otters Club security manager was escorting Sunita Arora who was still glaring murderously at the new security guard Thomas, as he wiped his forehead filled with perspiration.

Victor strode past the reception in a casual manner as he heard Thomas mutter, "I was just doing my duty, she didn't have the ID with her."

He swiped the card against the door and as about to enter inside when he heard Thomas's feeble voice from behind.

"Excuse Me, Can you show me your membership card?"

Victor turned as slowly as possible as he removed his sunglasses and glared at Thomas. He waved the ID Card in his hand haughtily at Thomas, making sure his fingers covered most of it.

Thomas wiped his forehead nervously and replied, "Thank you. Have a good time Sir."

Victor rolled his eyes and made his way inside.

As expected, the club was packed. He could hear loud DJ music from one of the corridors which led to the pub, while to his right, loud cheers were coming from the swimming pool area.

He quickly took a left turn and walked towards the staff room further down, removing his jacket on the way. He opened a door to his right and found a mini hall which was being decorated for some anniversary celebration. Thankfully, it was empty. He checked his reflection on the mobile camera to put the beard and the eyebrows back on. As he was putting on the clear lensed glasses, the door opened and he quickly hid under one of the tables, which had a frilly cloth cover all the way to the ground.

He could hear footsteps around him and someone arranging glasses.

Victor stayed as still as possible, wondering how long he had to stay under that table, when he heard the door open again and a deep voice commanded "Drop everything here Vijay, Malini will look after the table setting. We are short of waiters in the private lounge. Tell Ahmed, the headwaiter that I sent you, okay?"

"Okay Neelesh Sir." He heard hurried footsteps leaving the room and then the door close. Victor waited for a few more seconds and emerged out of his hiding.

He checked his appearance one more time and put his gloves back on, before leaving the mini hall, and made his way to the gambling area where Sunita Arora would be.

He bowed courteously to her again and handed over her keys and ID card, earning a rare smile from her.

He knew that there were too many CCTV cameras in that area, so he made a quick exit and walked towards the exclusive private lounge.
His eyes scanned the dimly lit area, which had private booths as well as tables, set discreetly away from each other and felt slightly unsettled to find Sharath Nair seated at one of the corner tables, which had a privacy screen on one side.

Even though Sharath was earlier than he had expected, Victor was relieved to see that he was alone, which meant that the Indonesian supplier hadn't turned up yet. He quickly went to the bar area and picked up McDowell No.1, which he found out was the favourite whiskey of Sharath, poured a single shot in a rocks glass and took it carefully to his table.

Sharath was busy checking his phone and merely nodded his head, as Victor placed the whiskey glass on this table. Victor walked away and began to serve other guests too, after checking their preferences. After few minutes, he was pleased to see Sharath speaking to another man in East Asian appearance and went back to their table with another serve. He dawdled a bit to catch some of their conversation, but as he noticed the Indonesian guy look up suspiciously at him, he quickly served their drinks. He moved the flower vase on the table, making sure he stuck the recording microchip in between the stems.

He walked back to the kitchen to pick up the order for another table. As he waited for the order to be ready, he moved to a corner to make sure he could see Sharath and his business partner. As he was adjusting the Bluetooth receiver around his ear, Ahmed the head waiter approached him and asked him rudely, "Hey, who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Victor took his time to adjust the earpiece as he looked at Ahmed and replied back in equally rude tone.

"Neelesh Sir sent me and Vijay to help out in this area as you guys were short of waiters tonight. If you don't want me, I am happy to leave. I would rather serve in the Pool room, where it's more fun. This looks like a..." Victor rolled his eyes and paused dramatically.

"That's enough. I won't tolerate that kind of attitude here. This area is for our top clients. Go and serve everyone with respect. Okay?" Ahmed warned him and went inside the kitchen as he heard the head chef call out to him.

Victor smiled inwardly but his joyous mood turned dark as he listened to the conversation between Sharath and the other man.

"I do not want any further delays, Subrata! As I told you, I am nearly out of stock and finding it difficult to say no to so many customers' demands." Sharath's angry voice reverberated through the ear piece.

"Of course, I understand, and don't worry. Next week this time in Goa, you will get your shipment. In fact it could be earlier than that. There would be no mistakes this time around. And I am here till then to make sure it arrives. I have other people to supply to, you know." Subrata's voice was calm.

Sharath's tone changed immediately.

"But... why do you need other people? I am happy to buy the whole lot. Let's agree to a price. You know me Subrata, I always give you a good price."

"Hahaha... Of course, you are my best customer Mr Nair, but I am no fool to put ... how you say that... Yes, no fool to put all my eggs in one basket. I will make sure you get the best stock though."

Victor noticed a worried looking Neelesh, the security manager of the Otters Club, approach Sharath's table reluctantly, accompanied by few rough men.

Victor couldn't see Sharath's face clearly so he moved closer.

"Mr Nair, I tried to stop them as I didn't want to disturb your meeting, but they were adamant and they said they were sent by your boss DJ..." The manager gulped nervously.

"It's OK Neelesh, they are my friends. Don't worry." Sharath smiled stiffly at Neelesh.

The bell rang from the Kitchen window with the junior chef announcing the order that Victor was waiting for.

As he heard Sharath thanking and assuring Subrata that they will meet again, Victor smiled at the chef and picked up his order and walked slowly towards the table, all his senses on high alert. An elderly and nervous looking man sat opposite Sharath now, but the people standing behind him looked like common ruffians and so out of place with the clientele and décor of that private lounge.

"Suraj Bhai, was it necessary to make a scene like this here? Couldn't you just call me that you were in town? I would have come to meet DJ personally." Sharath hissed, his anger barely under control.

Victor served entries to the customers at the other table with a smile, and made a quick detour to walk back, as he unobtrusively memorised the faces of DJ's henchmen.

"DJ thought it was time to remind you of the task you have been avoiding Sharath! I have no animosity with you, I am just here to deliver a message, so let's keep it civil, shall we?" Suraj's voice sounded tired, as if he had no joy in what he was doing.

" But one thing, just because I am old and old fashioned, don't take me for a fool. If we had called you before coming here, would you have come to us, wagging your tail? If you were that responsible and loyal, DJ wouldn't have felt the need to send me here."

"So... DJ thinks I am not loyal to him is it? Wah! And irresponsible too?" Sharath raised his voice but controlled himself, as customers from the adjacent tables threw annoyed looks at him.

Victor moved towards the bar area, half crouching, and bent down on the pretext of tying his shoelaces, to escape from the view of the junior chef who was waiting for the next order to be picked up.

"And what is this task that I am supposed to be avoiding? Catching that RAW agent from Afghanistan? I have been on it from the day DJ Bhai told me about it. So you can tell him from me..."

Suraj cut him off.

"I don't take orders or messages from you Sharath, only DJ. So, whatever you need to tell him, do it yourself and please don't lie that you have been trying to tail that RAW Agent. You are as close to it as Mumbai is from Kandahar. That's why DJ decided that he needs to take things in his own hands now, and even got the photo of that agent for you. Here!"

Victor sprang to his full height to see Suraj push an envelope towards Sharath.

Victor picked up the McDowell's No 1 Whisky bottle, as he strode quickly towards Sharath's table, his heart racing and his mind exploding with multiple questions. What the hell was happening? He was here trying to catch Sharath Nair red handed in his drug business, but these guys are chasing him for his Afghanistan mission? Why? And how the hell did they get his photo? No one was supposed to know how he looked.

He stopped just before the table, as he heard the other man, Suraj, speak again.

"His name is Ashwin, and Sadiq kept him captured for almost a week but you never bothered to visit him and check him out."

"Look Suraj Bhai, I was busy with some deals back then..." Sharath droned on and a huge sense of relief washed over Victor, to know that his identity still remained hidden, but it was soon overcome by concern for his colleague Ashwin. Why are they after Ashwin? What did he do to catch the wrath of these hard core criminals? Sadiq might have been supplier to Sharath but his death was an accident and all this happened a year ago. Why are they raking up that whole thing now?

He made sure he turned sideways, showing his back to Suraj and the rest of the henchmen, as he poured another drink for Sharath, who was engrossed in looking at the photo in his hand. It only took a slight bend of his head and deft turn, but Victor managed to look at the photo of Ashwin in Sharath's hand. Instead of going back the way he came, he turned left and began to pick up left over food plates and glasses from a table at the other corner. Much as he wanted to, he didn't dare to look back at Sharath.

"How did DJ manage to get this?" Sharath sounded incredulous.

"That is none of your business. Now, you have a week to talk to this guy and..." The rest of the words were drowned by a loud mobile ringtone and Victor looked back with frustration as Sharath fumbled to answer the call.

"What? What the hell are you talking about? Are you sure?" Sharath's voice was filled with anger and panic as he rose from his chair.

"I am coming, right now." He added, and cut the call.

"Suraj Bhai, Bad news! I have to go!" Sharath was trying to dial some other number.

"What happened? Can we help in some way?" Suraj asked.

Sharath looked at Suraj as if deciding whether to take his help or not.

"Sure, Please come with me, I am sure DJ would need to know about this too."

All of them left in a hurry which made Victor wonder what could have happened that disturbed Sharath Nair so much. He left the dirty plates as they are and returned to the table to pick up his recording microchip and swiftly left the room through the back door. He was half tempted to follow Sharath and Suraj but he knew that warning Ashwin about the impending danger was the top priority.

He could then drive to Sharath Nair's house and find out what happened.

He got out of the club, the same discreet way as he entered and reached his motorbike parked in a side lane.

He called Ashwin's mobile but there was no answer. He kept trying Ashwin's number for the next five minutes or so, getting frustrated by the thought that, every minute he was losing here, would make his job of tracking Sharath and Suraj harder.

After ten more minutes of trying, he decided that he would have to try again later. He rode on his bike to a nearby empty construction site, where he changed into his casual clothes, stuffed the Otters Club uniform into a black plastic bag, and got rid of it by dumping it in a stench filled rubbish heap.

His thoughts were racing faster than his motorbike, as he made his way to Sharath Nair's home through the roads of Mumbai, the city that never sleeps.

^===========^

Hi all
Thank you for your patience and I am so happy to be back with an update. I took a short break and wrote light romantic short story (something I have never done before).
So you met two more new characters today, Sharmila and Monty .. but dont worry these are the last major characters.

Poor Victor, all girls hate him so much..... Why?? 😂

Victor came to know that Ashwin's life is in danger but what was that call that set all those criminals in panic mode?

All will be revealed in next and I hope to publish it as soon as I can.

Love
Sesi