Just before 9 PM

JP Nanda's Hotel room, Goa.

Sharmila and Monty sat opposite their boss J P Nanda as he finished last dregs of his after dinner coffee. They had come to give their latest report on Victor, but Nanda forced them to stay back and have dinner with him at his room. Everyone was dressed casually including Nanda Sir. Sharmila tied her hair at the back in a large bun and was clad in black hoodie and jeans, just like Monty, who was without his Turban today, prompting their boss to mock them that "they were looking like twins".  

"Sir, as I said, we had a lucky break.  We went to Bicholim this morning and showed Victor's photo around and they recognised him straight away. In fact they were hailing him and his group of men who helped them as some sort of heroes. But all they could tell us was that they left the Village immediately afterwards, and someone even lent their car for them so that they can travel back to Goa. We still have to find out where exactly Victor is, because the driver dropped them all at the Caculo Mall in the city. Did Victor ever work in Goa before or know any contacts here?" Sharmila asked.

"Hmm.... No. I am not aware what local contacts he had here, and as you know Victor is not the kind of person who shared all this with anyone. But I don't blame him. As I keep telling you, agents must guard their informers at all costs. I still can't believe that he pulled off such a massive job at Bicholim without any help from our agency. Of course the local Police Inspector helped, but it is not the same." As Nanda sir smiled with pride, Monty eyes flickered between him and his niece Sharmila.

"Sir, you must be tired after the long day at conference. We will go back to our hotel now." Monty got up slowly and Sharmila joined him. They both wished their boss good night and came downstairs.

Across the street, a musician was busking with his saxophone, enchanting a small crowd that was gathered around him. Monty and Sharmila joined the crowd to listen.

After few minutes, out of the corner of her eye, Sharmila noticed Nanda Sir hurry towards his car parked across the street. Sharmila signalled Monty and they reached Nanda's car in quick strides.

"Sir, Is everything okay?" Sharmila asked.

"Hmm, yeah nothing to worry, I have to go somewhere urgently. Well actually there is something to worry, but I don't want to involve you kids in this. Don't worry, I have called for backup." Nanda explained in a hurry as he got busy in setting up the SATNAV in the car with his destination address.

"Sir! Where are you going? You can't go anywhere on your own just like that. You are not a filed agent but joint director of IB for goodness sake. Is somebody in trouble? Then we both can surely help. We are not such amateurs as you think." Sharmila said furiously.

"Yes Sir, and whether you like it or not we are coming with you." Monty added.

From their mutinous looks, Nanda understood that there was no way he would be allowed to go alone. He sighed and asked, "Please think once again, this could be highly dangerous. And if you want to come, then make sure you got your guns with you."

"Don't worry, we have them with us all the time." Sharmila assured him as she opened the car door and sat inside.

"Let's go then. I will explain everything on the way." Nanda hurried them as he sped the car  towards Nerul.

"I just got a call from someone, I can't tell you who it is right now, so don't bug me for details. He was in a lot of distress, I could not understand half the things he said as he was crying and talking in whispers as if he was scared of being overheard. But here's the thing. Victor's life is in danger. Some guys are trying to ambush him in this guesthouse in Nerul, and that is where we are going right now. Who these men are, I have no idea. I have already called for backup, but they might be sometime away, and I can't afford to wait for them where Victor is concerned. I just hope we are there in time." Nanda explained anxiously.

"Are you sure he was telling the truth, I mean whoever this guy that you can't tell us about!" Sharmila asked with gritted teeth.

Nanda hit the break suddenly and stopped the car on the side of the road.

"Contrary to what you guys think, senior guys like me sitting behind desks, still have all our skills intact and I am certainly intelligent enough to know whether someone was telling me the truth or not." Nanda said furiously.

"Sorry Sir, that's not what Sharmila meant at all. We are just worried that this could be a hoax or some trap laid for you, because anyone who knows you well would guess that you would react this way, if Victor's life is in danger." Monty tried his best to calm his boss.

"Trust me I have thought all this theories myself, but I know that this information is reliable and the longer we waste time arguing about this, the farther we are from saving Victor. Can we go now or are there any more questions?" Nanda glared at Sharmila and she shook her head.

"But Sir, let us all agree to this. Once we reach the guesthouse, let both of us check and make sure it is safe to go in. Till then, promise me that you will stay inside the car." Sharmila pleaded.

"I can't do that, for all I know, your lives could be in danger." Nanda shook his head.

"But the lives of Joint Director of IB is more precious than two rookie agents and if you don't listen to our request, we have a problem. Trust me Sir, we both are quite capable of defending ourselves and saving Victor from danger. And we shouldn't be wasting our time arguing about this." Sharmila insisted. Nanda nodded his head and began to drive.

***

Victor parked his bike few feet away from "Villa Marguerite" the guesthouse Ashwin invited him to.It was situated at the end of a dark street and had no other houses nearby, with a wire fenced high wall and an imposing tall gate, fitted with security cameras near the entrance. So, what Ashwin said was indeed true.

Victor walked upto the front gate and pressed the button on the small security screen next to the it and called out "Hello!"

"Hi Victor, come on in." Ashwin's voice came through the speaker with some static noise and the gate opened noiselessly. There was a large front lawn on either side of a gravel filled driveway and a large two storey Villa came into view at the end of the lawn  with a well-lit ground floor.

His boots made crunching noise as he walked past the gravel filled driveway, where a Hyundai SUV was parked on the other side, and he wondered whose car it was. Was Nanda Sir already here? He could see that it was quite a spacious Villa and the driveway led to the back of the house.  The house was too quiet for his liking. Was Ashwin staying here alone? Didn't he say there was a cook or family here? He reached the Villa and pressed the front door bell which rang out with loud chiming bells, just as the front gate closed noiselessly behind him. Victor waited a minute but no one came to the door. Where was Ashwin? He called Ashwin's mobile and heard it ring inside, very close to him, perhaps on the other side of the front door. As he turned the handle on the door, it opened quietly and he saw Ashwin's mobile charging there on the side table next to a leather lounge.

Every pore in Victor's body screamed out that something was wrong. Was this a trap? Before he could think any further, the Villa plunged into complete darkness and his heightened senses heard the distant but soft sound of a car door being opened, from the street end. Someone had arrived to ambush him in this isolated Villa, he was sure now! He pulled out his gun and looked around in the pitch darkness but all he could make out was the bare outline of the SUV and shining gravel in the driveway. He pointed the gun towards the gate as he moved along the wall of the Villa to his left. He ducked down on reflex as  he heard a gun shot near the gate,  and the next moment, the glass window next to him shattered. As he heard someone cursing and running  from the street end towards the front gate, he blindly ran towards the back of the Villa along the gravelled driveway, away from the danger.

****  

Sharmila and Monty requested JP Sir to park the car as far away from the Villa as possible. As agreed before, Nanda stayed back in the car and spoke once again to the zonal police who assured him that their team was on its way. The two rookies got out, closed the car doors as gently as they could, and walked stealthily towards the Villa, guns ready in their hands. They couldn't see any other vehicle parked outside the Villa. Was Victor already here? What about the guys who were planning the ambush?

They could see the faint lights from the Villa behind the high gate and observed the villa and its features keenly, including the cameras and alarms. They wouldn't be able to enter unless they rang through the front security screen, but that would alert attackers inside of their presence, which could be a disaster for Victor.

As they contemplated whether or not to climb the high gate or go towards the back of the Villa, the power went off.

And within a minute or two they heard the sound of gun fire very close to the gate and the shattering of glass. Monty cursed loudly, tucked the gun back in the holster and began to climb the gate while Sharmila ran towards the back of the building, along the side lane.

After a few metres, Sharmila found a small two door wooden gate in the side wall and kicked it hard. The feeble lock on it gave away and she ran inside. She realized that she was at the end of the driveway and she could faintly make out a courtyard  on the right. The courtyard was bordered with  few shrubs on one side while thick creepers hung on the ledges in front of adjacent rooms in the villa on the other side. From the sound of gentle flow of water and the glimmering surface, she could see a round  pond with cascading water feature in the middle of the court yard.

As she heard footsteps of someone running from the back end of the villa towards the courtyard, she ducked behind a pillar. But her heart froze as she heard the unmistakable round of an AK47 gunfire  which was followed by a loud grunt.

Who are these people?

Just then, she heard gun shots in different directions, in quick succession, from the front of the villa. How many attackers are there? Was Monty in danger too? But saving Victor was their goal. Steeling herself, she ran towards the door nearest to her, which was well covered by thick creepers, with her gun steady in her hand.

She saw a moving light from one of the windows at the back as if someone was moving with a torch.

The door towards the back end burst open and a tall man run towards her, covering his elbow of one arm tightly with the other hand as if he was injured. 

Once he came close enough, Sharmila could recognise who it was and whispered  "Victor" and pulled him inside the room behind the creeper.

Before she could say anything, she heard more footsteps and this time another tall man came into view, who had a torch in his pocket probably from his mobile; Sharmila could clearly see  the deadly  AK47 machine gun in his hands. He ran towards the courtyard, peering into the quiet and dark surroundings for his missing target.

"Victor,  listen! Nanda Sir got a message that you are in danger and me and Monty came here to rescue you. There is a side gate to the wall just across the courtyard, which opens into a side-lane. I want you to run as fast as you can, while I cover for you. Nanda Sir is waiting in his car outside the Villa. Just go to him and he will take you to the hospital." Sharmila whispered.

"I can't leave you two here in danger, no way." Victor hissed.

"Don't be stupid and stubborn. You are injured and unarmed, and you cant defend yourself or others. I will follow right behind you.Please do as I say, otherwise we will all be in danger."

The guy with the AK47 began to open one door after another in the villa as he searched for Victor.

"Are u crazy? He has got a AK 47. How can you go against that with your revolver? And he is not the only one,  I have seen few more guys in the front and they got revolvers too."

" Yes, I know, but there is no time to discuss this. I will try to aim at this guy's gun and disarm him first. Just go when I signal, Okay? Nanda Sir must have another gun, but if not, he will be in danger too till the back up team arrives. If not for us, please go, at least for him." Sharmila pleaded.

"Okay" Victor agreed reluctantly.

Sharmila opened the door slightly and peered out. The gunman was just two doors away now.

She held her gun steady, aimed straight at his gun arm and shot. The man grunted loudly as he lost the grip and the gun fell out of his hand, and Sharmila hissed to Victor "NOW"

Victor ran fast across the courtyard towards the side gate, as Sharmila shot once again at the gunman who scrambled to duck behind the water pond.

There was tense silence for few moments as Sharmila walked stealthily behind the creeper, waiting for the right moment to make a run. But she wanted to grab the AK 47 first which was lying in front of the door, a few feet away. She could see some movement behind the water pond and made a mad run for the AK 47 before the other guy could reach it, and shot one more time in his direction, forcing him to duck again.

There were more gun shots in rapid succession from the front side, followed by a huge yell  which sounded like Victor. Panic rose inside Sharmila as she blindly ran back to the cover of the creeper after grabbing the AK47.

Sharmila's heart was thudding rapidly as she waited tensely for few moments, unable to decide whether she should make a run for the side gate or not. Suddenly, she heard screech of car tyres in the side lane behind the wall as someone shouted "Come on Tanvir, its over! We got him."

Got who?

She didn't want to think about it now!

As she saw that guy called Tanvir rise and make a run towards the side gate, Sharmila aimed her gun straight at his back. But her shot went wild as she was forced to duck again, when someone at the gate began to fire at her. One of the bullets hit right next to her and shattered the mud statue next to the creeper. 

She heard the car door shut and the screech of wheels again. She waited for a few seconds for any further sounds and as there were none, came out of her hiding spot as she tucked her gun back.  Just as she ran towards the side gate with the AK47 in her hands, she heard one more car drive along the side lane. But by the time she reached the side lane, with the AK 47 in her hands, it was empty and dark.

All the fear that she had suppressed till then, came back with a bang as she made a wild run towards the front of the Villa. But the first thing that came into her sight gave her relief.  Their car was right in front of the villa and  its beam lights illuminated the surroundings.

And she could hear the sound of other cars approaching the villa.  Back up team was finally is on the way! Why the hell did it take so long??

But the sight at the ground on the side of the car sent a chill down her spine.

Victor was lying on the ground, face down and quite still.

NO NO NO...

This can't be happening, no one can get to Victor, isn't that what everyone told her?

She threw AK 47 aside as she reached out to Victor, and pulled him gently over onto her lap. There were deep cuts on one side of his face and blood stains covered most of his forehead and right cheek.  Apart from the bullet wound to his elbow,  she could feel some wetness on his shirt but was too scared to look.

She gently cupped his left cheek and tapped it, whispering his name.

There was a low moan and a shudder which filled her with relief and tears rolled down her eyes.

Thank god!!
He was injured but safe and alive, and that's all that mattered.

And most importantly, they didn't fail in their task. Otherwise they could never show their faces to Nanda Sir again.

But where was Nanda Sir?

Sharmila wiped her eyes and looked around wearily. She heard footsteps behind and turned to see Monty stagger towards her.

"Oh my god, Monty are you all right?" She shrieked as she noticed the blood stains on his jeans.

"I am okay, just bleeding a bit. Someone threw me down the stairs, that's all. Is Victor Okay?"

"Yeah he is Okay , I mean he is injured quite seriously but he is..." Sharmila fumbled for words.

"Did you see Nanda Sir ? I cant find him but his car is here and... " She looked under the car and her heart almost stopped.

"What?" Monty asked her in confusion and followed her gaze to walk towards the other side of the car.

"Nanda Sir... Nanda Sir... Haye Rabba!!!"  Monty's grief filled voice reverberated in that silent street.

Sharmila slowly laid Victor back on the ground and got up. She wiped her hands on her jeans and went around the car. Her movements were deliberately slow,  as if she didn't want to see what her mind already knew.

She watched numbly how Monty's shoulders shook as he cried silently.  Nanda Sir was lying on the ground next to him with his eyes closed.  His face looked as serene as ever, even with the bullet hole in the middle of his forehead and the blood around it .

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

Okay I am too drained to write much in the Author notes.
Waiting to hear your feedback.

Cheers
Sesi