Earlier in the day:

Elegant Towers, New Delhi 

Anosha rechecked the bulky file in her bag, to make sure that she had all the documents necessary for the internship interview at the hospital. As she was leaving the apartment complex, she met with Sam in the parking lot, who was busy kick starting her scooty, which for some reason was giving her trouble.

Sam kicked the scooter hard one last time and the engine roared into action, much to her relief, and she greeted loudly "Hi Anosha!"

"Hi Sam!"

"Where are you going? Do you want a lift?"

"Hmm, no I am good, I don't need a lift." Anosha answered, in a flustered way.

"Don't be so shy. What's that file? Oh!! Is today your interview at the hospital? All the best dear. You are a brainy doctor and look so pretty too. I am sure you will get the job. Trust me, I am good at predicting these things." Sam winked at her.

"What's my face, pretty or otherwise got to do with anything? I would rather be selected for my talent." Anosha's eyes narrowed and the smile on Sam's face evaporated. She understood she crossed a line.

"I am sorry Anosha, I didn't meant it that way. But hey, please let me drop you at the auto stand at least. Please." Sam insisted and Anosha felt it would be too rude to refuse.

During the ride Sam tried her best to engage Anosha in a hearty conversation but failed miserably. Within few minutes, Sam dropped Anosha at the Auto stand and made sure she went in one of the Autos, whose driver was their regular and trustworthy guy. Wishing her the best of luck for the interview once again, Sam went off to do her shopping as Anosha made her way towards the hospital.

After waiting nervously for few hours in a large conference hall on the ground floor of the hospital, along with fifty other hopefuls who came for the interview,  Anosha felt relieved when she her name was finally called out by the coordinator.

She followed the coordinator towards an opaque glass walled room. She knocked on the door once and entered a large meeting room which looked cold and intimidating with a large rectangle table in the middle. As she observed the faces of the five member panel who were seated along three sides of the table, her anxiety doubled and she tried her best to cover it up with a bright smile. A younger  member of the group, Dr Banerjee stood up and shook hands with Anosha, introduced himself and other members who were senior doctors and consultants at the hospital.

After the initial warm up questions, one of the senior doctors, Dr Batra asked, " Let's say Ms Malik, you are covering the obstetrics and gynaecology wards in your shift, and a 35 year old female patient, who had a caesarean section 2 days ago is now presenting with severe shortness of breath and chest pain. What would you do?"

Anosha smiled inwardly as she came prepared for such questions. She cleared her throat and began to explain her approach in such scenarios, in a methodical way.

"Dr Batra, I am assuming I received the call on the phone so I would ask for vital signs from the nurse and then I would go to the patient straight Away. And if the vitals needed it, I would ask the nurse to call for emergency help and ask her to stay with me and the patient. I would try to think of all possibilities including worst case scenario, say pulmonary embolus. I will check the history chart and examine the patient again and would take further steps after my examination, like calling a senior colleague, if I think it is necessary."

And then there were more questions. The whole interview lasted almost an hour, at the end of which Dr Banerjee asked her with a smile "So when can you join?" but hearing the sniggers of his senior colleagues, he immediately changed his question, "I mean, how much time you would need to join?"

Anosha bit her lip to control her smile and answered in a soft tone, "I am ready to join tomorrow Dr Banerjee."

"That's the spirit Ms Malik. You will hear from us soon." Dr Banerjee shook hands with her as Anosha got up. She thanked the panel and walked out of the interview room, relieved that the ordeal was finally over.

She felt confident, almost sure that she got the position.

She walked rapidly towards the hospital car park as she took out the phone to share the good news.

***    

 Candolim Beach, Goa.

Raju was happy that he managed to take so many close up shots of Victor, even from such long distance, as he checked the pictures on the LCD screen of the DSLR Camera, thanks to its incredible zooming lens. Knowing how clever Victor was, they decided to travel in separate cars and Tanvir had already left for the hotel along with Ashwin. As he walked along the beach to reach the taxi stand, Raju's attention was so riveted on the screen that he didn't notice his surroundings and bumped into an elderly man, carrying two heavy bags. To Raju's horror, the old man fell on the ground, and the seam of his vegetables bag tore, making the vegetables spill all over the sandy sidewalk. Raju was more worried that the costly camera in his hand fell down too. But before he could pick it up, to his utter surprise, the old man began to curse him in the choicest foul words in Urdu. Incensed, Raju glared at his angry face whose Surma filled eyes were as red as his henna dyed beard and hair.

Raju's innate and dormant hatred towards Muslims rose as he watched that man adjust his skull cap and reach for his cheap and worn sandals which came off his foot. He never dared to show his true feelings towards Tanvir because he was DJ's trusted man. Just what does this cheap fellow think he is? It's a pity he can't kick his butt in this new place and start a riot, Raju fumed inwardly, and satisfied himself by giving that man his meanest look.

"Why the hell are you glaring at me like that? Do you think I will get scared? I have four kids and six grandchildren and two of my sons are double your size. Do you want me to call them? Come on... help me get up and pick up all these vegetables." The old man who was still sprawled on the sidewalk began to yell angrily at Raju, which drew few passers-by to gather around them,  curious to watch the enfolding drama.

WHAT THE....

Raju felt compelled not to argue further, but there was no way he would help that man get up. He began to grab vegetables at random and shoved them in to plastic bags before placing them all back inside the big bag. As one of the onlookers helped the old man get up, Raju quickly grabbed the camera and hurried towards the taxi stand, not heeding to the demands of the old man to pick up the rest of the vegetables.

"Bloody Hell!" he muttered to himself as he hailed one of the taxis in the stand. He was still fuming as he sat inside the taxi and shoved the camera to one side. But slowly, his spirits rose as he watched the picturesque city scape of Goa through the car window and felt annoyed when his taxi reached their hotel after a short time. He paid the fare and made his way to their hotel suite.

He knocked and waited for the door to open. On entering the suite, he noticed DJ, Suraj Chacha and others in the room and became alert.

Ashwin was saying something to DJ but stopped midway as he saw Raju. Raju could feel the tense atmosphere in the room as he placed the camera on Tanvir's outstretched hand.

"Tanvir Bhai, all the pictures came out very nicely. This is a very good camera." Raju said with a nervous smile.

As Tanvir switched the camera back on and checked LCD screen, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Where are the photos Raju? It is saying there is no memory card!" Tanvir asked annoyingly.

"What?" Raju hurried forward.

"May be it got loose inside or something. The camera fell..." Raju gulped nervously as DJ gave him a menacing stare.

"Tanvir Bhai, may I?" Raju took the camera back from Tanvir and opened the latch at the bottom to access the slot where the battery and SD card were.

The SD Card slot was empty.

Raju looked at everyone around him, and noticed how frosty their stares were.

DJ got up slowly and walked towards him and the room went very quiet.

"What exactly happened? How did the camera fall?" His voice was low and calm but Raju felt a shiver up his spine.

"Bhai, I was checking all the photos as I walked back from the beach. I swear to god, the pictures were all there then. I bumped into an old man who had vegetable bags. He fell down and so did his bag and this camera. He yelled at me so much and demanded that I pick up the vegetables that fell down. I didn't want to make a scene as few people were watching, did whatever I could, picked up the camera and hurried towards the taxi."

Ashwin, who was hearing every word Raju uttered keenly, heaved a sigh of relief. So, Victor was on to them! He so knew it! But his elation quickly turned into anxiety . Now, Victor would blame him entirely for this, without realising why he had to do it. 

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw DJ slap Raju so hard that blood oozed out of Raju's mouth. Ashwin looked at DJ nervously. More than DJ's menacing manner, it was the detached look on Tanvir and Suraj Chacha's faces that frightened Ashwin more.  If DJ could do that to his own man, then...

"You Idiot, that was Victor, for sure. He just distracted you long enough to take the memory card out of the Camera. All the planning, all the precautions we took have gone in vain because of your stupidity and carelessness. We don't have the pictures and more worrying than that, he has seen you. Are you sure you were not followed here? Tanvir, take two of our guys who are in the next room with you and check the whole area."

"I will go straightaway but DJ, don't worry. I have taken a few photos with my phone, although they are not that clear." Tanvir showed the Victor's pics to DJ and Suraj Chacha.

DJ, and Suraj Chacha looked keenly at the pictures.

"DJ, I will go now and finish the shopping and make sure we got everything required for tonight. It's already 6pm, and if we finish everything quickly, we all can reach the guesthouse well before 9 0'clock." Said Suraj Chacha and DJ nodded his head in assent.

As Suraj Chacha left with Tanvir, Raju realized how bad his position was and fell at DJ's feet.

"DJ Bhai, I am so, so sorry. Please forgive me. I don't know what to say. He didn't look like Victor at all! But I swear Bhai, no one followed me. I saw that old man still picking up his things as my taxi drove out. Now, even if he is Victor, he wouldn't have wings to fly to follow me so quickly, right?"

Ashwin felt an irresistible urge to laugh out loud but controlled himself with difficulty. Trust Victor to put a spanner in all their precious plans. He bit his lip hard to control his chuckle and looked up to find DJ's staring at him with a steely glint.

"Is it so funny? Okay! But, why should you be the only one laughing? We are going to join the merry party now, while you make another call to your Friend Victor and fix this small mishap."  Ashwin felt a chill around his heart as he watched DJ's smirk. Now what was this horrible guy up to? He swallowed the bile that was threatening to come up and spoke in a high pitch voice.

"Listen DJ! I did everything you guys asked me to do. Now I am done, and I want to go home. It is not my fault if your guys screwed up. And I keep telling you, all your master plans about making Victor dance to your tunes or get him off your drug cartel are going to fail. You can't blackmail Victor like me because he doesn't have a wife or family." Ashwin's face flushed with anger.

The smirk on DJ's face was replaced by such menacing glare that Ashwin realized, for the first time, why he was feared by everyone

To his relief, DJ slowly turned his gaze towards Raju, who was still grovelling at his feet.

"Stop this crying and whining. I hate that; and get your hands off my feet." Raju obeyed DJ's command straight away and scrambled to his feet and stood back.

Ashwin's relief was short lived as he watched DJ strode towards him, slowly.

"Your job was to make sure Victor came to the guesthouse tonight, and you failed miserably at that. Till he comes to the guesthouse tonight, you would do everything I say. Once Victor comes there, you leave it with us as to what we would do to make him talk. One more thing. Forget about your home, you can't even step outside this room till I give you my permission, and if you utter one more word or try to give me your boring advices, I will torture you so much that you will need permanent counselling at your hospital. Do you understand?" DJ's menacing words left Ashwin confused as well as scared but he nodded his head anyway. Counselling at what hospital? What was DJ talking about?  But before he could get a clarity, DJ began to speak and Ashwin abandoned his thoughts and listened keenly.

"When you need to convince people with your lies, it is always a good idea to give them half truths. You are going to call Victor and tell him that there is a mole in your IB office and your details were leaked to me and Sharath by that mole." As DJ began to explain his plan, Ashwin listened with a mixture of awe and loathing, as he realized that DJ matched Victor both in cunningness and improvisation.

An hour later....

As DJ sat opposite to him, Ashwin called Victor again and put his phone on speaker.

This time Victor answered the phone at the second ring and his angry voice from the phone speaker filled the room.

"What the hell was that Ashwin? Were you trying to set me up? Is this what your dirty and jealous mind come down to? Selling your colleagues out? I can't believe it. I was trying to save your life on one hand and this is what you repay me with!! I swear... Who were those people? And why was that guy taking my pictures? How the hell did he know me? I have half a mind to come and thrash you, but my sensible half says that I shouldn't dirty my hands for worthless pieces of shit like you."

Ashwin felt the blood drain his face as he heard Victor's scathing words. But as he watched DJ's face widen with smile at his humiliation, his agony doubled and his eyes became blurry.

Ashwin cleared his throat with difficulty and managed to say everything that DJ had made him practice earlier. "Somebody tried to take your pictures? Really?  I have no idea about who these people are. But I know one thing. There is a mole in our Lodhi Road headquarters. He or She is systematically leaking information about all agents to Sharath and even that DJ guy. That's how they got my photo. Thanks to you, I took my precautions but they might make you their next target. And whoever that guy you saw, he might be one of them. I wanted to meet you to warn about these people. I couldn't tell you all this earlier in such open place at the beach, that's why I invited you to the guest house. It is a completely secure building with CCTV cameras and alarms. If you had listened to me and come there, none of this would have happened."

Ashwin took a deep breath, as he hated himself for telling so many lies to his colleague. But what choice did he have in his current the situation, with Tanvir's indirect warning about his wife and parents and DJ's menacing threats!!

He pulled his mind out of his thoughts to concentrate back on his conversation. He felt heartened as he realised that Victor didn't dismiss his idea straight away.

"Mole! That too in our HQ? Are you sure?" Victor's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Of course I am sure. Some one very reliable revealed the whole thing. And this is the most important thing, I invited Nanda Sir too. He is in Goa at the moment, you know. We both should explain how much danger our agents and the whole organisation is in. This is not just about you and me. And who better explain this to Nanda Sir than you? You are his favourite agent and he will listen to you more than me." Ashwin said grudgingly.

There was quite a long pause before Victor replied, "Sounds too fantastic to be true, but on the other hand, nothing else can explain what I saw today and the other day with Sharath."

"I too couldn't believe it in the beginning but later, with all the proofs I was shown, I was forced to."

"You have other proofs too?" Victor asked
"Yes, I do. So, will you come? 9 o'clock? Nanda sir is coming around same time." Ashwin's forehead began to fill with beads of perspiration as he waited for Victor's response.

"Okay, I am sorry about what I said earlier. I will come. Text me the address details. " Victor's words filled Ashwin's heart with relief.

A lone tear escaped as Ashwin closed his eyes and said "I will" before he cut the call.

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

This is a very important chapter and I wrote it in one go. Any typos, please excuse me. It was also quite big so I had to split it into two chapters. Posting the next chapter right after this.
So, Double bonanza!!

As always, I am eager to know your feedback.

Cheers

Sesi