"Misha! Finish your breakfast first, instead of spending so much time to get dressed up. It's already 9 o' clock. I wont allow you to skip breakfast again!"

Misha ignored her Naani's warning as she tried on the new tops. She loved the off shoulder red one, but knew her Naani would object to it, and she wasn't in the mood to argue with her right now. Why was she stuck with an old lady with such conservative ideas about the way girls dress? She cursed herself for the umpteenth time. She loved the Boho style White top too... it was comfortable, but she was not in the mood for it today. Finally ,after much deliberation, she chose the short sleeved black crop top which ended just above her jeans. Well, as long as there was not much skin show, her Naani didn't mind.

The curtains of her window rustled and she turned sharply to check, but found no one in the balcony.

She grabbed the lunch box her Naani lovingly packed for her and stuffed it inside her backpack. There was no time to eat breakfast now. She grabbed the sandwich, took a big bite and rushed out.

"Naani I will eat it on the way, don't worry!"

She was too impatient to wait for the lift, so chose to go by stairs instead. She jumped two stairs at a time and reached the parking lot on the ground floor, where Samantha was waiting impatiently on her scooter.

"I know you are getting late because of me, Sorry!" Misha said as she climbed on the scooter.

"Hi Sam... Hi Misha!" Both girls turned their heads sharply to find Victor's car right next to them, and his stubbled face peeking out of the window, too attractive to ignore.

"Oh! You are wearing that black top! But I loved the red one more." He winked at Misha before driving off, leaving her stunned, as Samantha gave her bestie what's-going-on-between-you-two look!

Misha climbed off the scooter, "Sam, you go ahead. I need to check something urgently. No... Don't ask me anything now, I will explain later." Ignoring the loud protests of her friend, Misha ran back to her apartment.

"Why are you back so soon? Did you forget something?" Her Nani asked.

"Yes Nani, please don't disturb me for sometime." She rushed into her room and bolted it from inside.

Nani could hear noises from inside and curses. Finally, after almost half an hour, Misha emerged out of her room in the white boho top.

"Naani, please call that locksmith guy, we need to change the locks of our balcony door. I am going now. I will be a bit late. I am going to Library afterwards to copy down notes from a friend."

"Locksmith! Why? That door was perfectly fine yesterday, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" Misha kissed her Naani on the forehead and left. Naani slowly went into Misha's bedroom. The door and the lock looked just the same as before.

"Crazy girl!" Naani dismissed her grand daughter's antics, and got busy in folding all the clothes that Misha left in a heap on her bed.

****
Few hours later.
Defence Colony, Jishu's Home.
****

"Jishu, I know you are still mad at me for... let's leave the past behind us, please. Let me find the bastard who did this to you, and help you recover from this mess! I want my old friend back. Maami wants her son back, can't you see how much she needs you right now?" Victor's pleas seemed to have no effect on Jishu, who lied on his bed, with a stony face.

Victor tried once again.

"I know there is a Malayali guy called Sharath Nair who is involved in this..." Jishu opened his mouth but Victor cut him off. "Don't lie to me, Jishu! I know who he is, and this is not some wild goose chase I am after. For some reason, unknown to me, that Sharath Nair went all the way to Afghanistan to enquire about a guy called Sadiq, who got killed almost a year ago, when I was involved in a mission there! And I am getting very bad vibes about that guy. Why was he enquiring about Sadiq after one year? That too right after the capture of IS terrorists by our RAW team? Unless he or someone knew about Naqeeb and the three IS terrorists caught by RAW, knew there was RAW agent who acted like a mole in IS and linked these two things together. I cant see any other reason why he was asking about me too. But luckily, the girls he asked were my informers. When one of those girls accidentally found his letter to this DJ, he hit her hard, burnt the letter and did a runner, before the male members in the family could catch him."

Jishu lifted his cold and lifeless eyes towards Victor for the first time.

"Look! I will go after these guys, whether you help me or not. I must catch them before they come after me. But I have a better chance of success if you can give me some inside information." Perhaps the sincerity in Victor's tone finally got to him, or he was, for the first time, concerned about his friends safety if those heinous criminals were indeed after him. Whatever it was, Jishu finally opened up.

"Sharath Joseph Nair, only child of a catholic mother and a Hindu father, is a typical goon who expanded his crime syndicate from normal thuggery to drugs and arms trade over the past two decades in Mumbai. He is the one of the prime suppliers of Ice and Ecstasy drugs all over Kerala. We got a tip off that a major delivery was coming last year, and I caught his henchmen and mules just before they could release their dope into the market, which was worth almost 3 crores, and effectively made myself the number one target of Sharath Nair and his goons. He tried his best to clear his hands off the case and get me transferred using his connections, but none of his ploys worked." Jishu paused, as if the effort of speaking about the whole experience was too much.

Victor resisted his temptation to let his friend rest, because he knew how important it was to know what Jishu went through.

Jishu continued, "What we didn't realise at that time was, the dope we caught wasn't ICE but SPICE, a more premium and concentrated drug, in high demand by Sharath's rich clients. The forensics team helped us and then we sought cooperation from the neighbouring state police teams to understand the scale and impact of this new drug. I am not defending or trying to justify my behaviour here, but the first time I got a taste of SPICE was by conspiracy. One day, as I returned back to my Jeep after having my tea at a roadside café, I felt someone prick a needle in my arm, and before I realized who or what it was, the culprits rode away on their bike. Because of the way SPICE was administrated, the effect on me was ten folds. I drove like a maniac and hit another pedestrian and then drove to the nearest brothel to satisfy my roaring libido, because that's another so called desirable effect of this drug, your sexual urges are at an all time high! Needless to say I got suspended from my job shortly afterwards, and then the real nightmare began. I started craving for the drug all the time. None of the other drugs satisfied me anymore. And my dissent from a casual junkie to an abysmal addict was swift."

Victor was astonished to see his friend speaking non stop, as if a dam had burst open, and he wanted to vent out everything that was buried inside him till then.

"I tried Chotu, I tried desperately to get SPICE out of my system, but Sharath Nair was clever enough to leave free samples within easy access for me. But in the end he got what he wanted. Within few months, I was begging the same goons I had arrested many times before, for more dope. Sharath's sweet revenge on me was complete when his goons beat me black and blue, as I created a ruckus at one of his dens, craving and pleading for another dose of SPICE. I began to stalk Sharath and his mules secretively, in the hope of laying my hands on their supplies, and that's how I saw, for the first and only time, the mastermind and the kingpin of all these trades, DJ aka Dhananjay. It is rumoured that he rarely steps out of his house or den and even if he does, he just sits in his car and gets everyone to talk to him inside the car. He is highly suspicious of mobile or any latest technology and if people can't reach him, he has his trusted aides bringing him letters etc. He is a huge bloke, extremely overweight, and he has got a scarred face, perhaps from chicken pox or something. He is probably 40 or even younger, but it is hard to make out due to his appearance. His reluctance to be seen in public could be due to that or his general physical health and incapability, but whatever it is, he runs his whole kingdom from his home in Dhaula Kuan, just few kilometres from here. You will never find any pictures of him anywhere in police records. How he became such a powerful figure in such a short time, no one knows. Police don't know much about his personal life except that his father was also a small time drug dealer, and supplied young girls to brothels, who died when DJ was a teenager. I used to have photos of Sharath and his goons in my police files in the station, but don't have them with me now." Jishu drew a long breath, as if glad that the ordeal of opening up and revealing events of his shameful past to his friend was over.

Victor sat next to his friend and squeezed his hand, in gratitude.

"Jishu, I am so proud of you. I knew you must have gone through a lot of struggle, but from what you told me, I realized how you have become the victim at many levels, through very clever conspiracy and manipulations by those bastards. I will get their photos and other evidences through my contacts, don't worry. I owe this not just to you, but to the thousands of addicts and their families who are suffering like you. I will smoke those bastards out of their holes and catch them!"

"Chotu... I am warning you, please listen to me. I know you love being a daredevil and have cunningly defeated many ruthless criminals in your missions, but this is a different ballgame altogether. Before you even blink your eye, they will make sure that you would be trapped into their web. And if what you are suspecting is true, that Sharath Nair is actually looking for you and not the criminal you sent to hell, then it is high time you vanish from here. Please, I am begging you, for the sake of our friendship and your safety. I don't want another family to lose their son, just like mine is about to." A lone tear escaped from Jishu's eyes before he turned his face away.

Victor's eyes welled, but before he could respond, the soft voice of Mrs Menon startled him.

"Don't listen to him Chotu. Go after those criminals and kill them if necessary, because vermin like that don't deserve to be alive. I don't want another mother to go through the pain I feel, when I see my young son tied to the bed like an animal."

Mrs Menon slowly reached out to her son and hugged him, as Jishu cried his heart out.

Victor nodded his head and left the room, happy to leave the mother and son in their moment of bonding and buoyed that he got his Maami's blessings for his next mission.

*****

Outside an old and beautiful Church, in a small town near Malabar, Kerala.

Sharath came out of the church, he was filled with an unsettling calm, which was unusual. Whenever he was in these parts of the the state, he made sure he visited and prayed to the god to absolve him of all sins. After today's prayer, he somehow felt more disturbed than before. The debacle of his Afghanistan trip was still preying on his mind. Last few days have been a blur, as he had to deal with some urgent crisis or other, and as if that wasn't enough, his blasted Aunt had a heart attack out of the blue, forcing him to visit her.

He was supposed to visit DJ and report on what he found out about Sadiq's supposed friend, but he didn't have the nerve. That stupid girl ruined his plans and he lost his mind the moment she saw that letter. It didn't even occur to his panicked mind that the letter could not be understood by a single soul there, and like an idiot he ran from there... Arggh Let's not think about it, he reminded himself.

He knew that the longer he postponed his visit to DJ, the more furious DJ will get, and his heart just shivered at the very thought. He had been working with DJ or rather working for DJ for more than 5 years now, but still haven't managed to guess his mercurial temper and behaviour. Outwardly respectful and smiling, DJ always managed to look relaxed and approachable, but his smiling words always left the people with a chill in their spine, and a sudden urge to run towards the hills. He shook his head as if to dismiss all the disturbing thoughts. Once he was back in Mumbai, he would have come up with some clever story to convince DJ, and then visit him next week. As Sharath swiftly walked down the stairs to reach his car, he spotted the Black Chevrolet few feet away and his heart sank.

He could recognise DJ's Car even in his dreams. What was DJ doing here, in this remote part of Kerala, of all places! His heart skipped a beat. He was a goner now! He prayed fervently in his mind as he walked in trepidation towards the car. As usual, the back door opened the moment Sharath reached the car, and he greeted DJ by folding his hands together, before sitting down beside the big man.

DJ greeted him back equally respectfully and asked "How are you Nair Sir? Have I upset any of your holiday plans by coming here unannounced?" Those cold eyes bored into his face, and seemed to read everything that was going on in Sharath's mind.

" No DJ, of course not! I was just visiting an aged relative here, that's all. I had booked my flight to come to Delhi tonight." Sharath desperately hoped that if he spoke the half the truth, DJ would buy the rest of it too.

"That is so sad to hear, I hope she is feeling better now."

"Yes DJ. she is out of danger." Sharath gave a feeble smile, wondering how DJ about his Aunt.
"Tcha Where are my manners?" DJ flicked his fingers and one of his men offered Raw Coconuts, full of water, to both of them.

"Please have some coconut water, Nair Sir. I have been told that they are very good for our health, especially for a person on a diet like me."
Sharath accepted it reluctantly.

"Yes, Family and blood ties. Those are the most important things for me too Nair Sir! And I love this trait in you, your respect for family, and your community. I have come here to attend the funeral of a distant relative. And then I thought, Nair Sir seems too busy to see me, let me not trouble him anymore and visit him myself. So, here I am..." His wide smile did not reach those cold piercing eyes, which terrified even a ruthless and much older man like Sharath Nair. Because he knew what happened to people who crossed DJ or turned into his enemies. He had seen some of his best mates, established players in their regions and trades, either vanish or turn into ashes overnight.

He dismissed his worrying thoughts and replied instead, " DJ, please don't embarrass me by saying such things. It's just that I had to rush here from Mumbai two days ago, because this dear aunt of mine, who looked after me when I was young, was in poor health. Otherwise I would have come to Delhi right then. Hahaha!"

"Oh so you were back in Mumbai two days ago? But I thought the work in Afghanistan would have taken longer! Congrats Nair Sir! So, what have you found out about this mysterious man?" DJ asked with an eager smile.

Tiny beads of perspiration began to form on Sharath's forehead and he clutched the coconut tightly. Now he knew he was in deep shit. And for some reason, he had a sneaky suspicion that DJ already knew what happened, but was waiting for him to confess to his humiliating experience. He heard rumours that he always sent his trusted men to shadow every business associate of his.

May be they have already told him every detail. Better come clean at least now, rather than face more wrath, Sharath decided.

In a clipped tone, he briefly described what happened and apologised for his failure to find out much about this mysterious Fayiz Khan, whose name he found out after bribing a few attendants at the hotel he was staying.

" Thank you Nair Sir, that was very kind of you. You see, when we speak to each other frankly and clear the air, things become so simple, isn't it? All I wanted was a little bit of cooperation from you. I feel so much better now. What about you? Do you feel the same?" Sharath looked confusedly at DJ and nodded his head in agreement, " Of course." And gave a relieved smile after a lot of hesitation.

"So, that letter that you were holding on to, so carelessly, was it destroyed?" DJ's tone was the same, but Sharath felt as if the temperature in that car had suddenly dropped to sub zero, which still didn't stop him from sweating.

"Yes DJ, I promise you that. I destroyed that letter. It was foolish of me to hold on to it, I know. I was about to give that letter to you when I visited your home before I left for Afghanistan, but forgot all about it and it stayed in that pocket till that wretched girl found it. Trust me, it was completely in Malayalam, written by that old Naxal leader Cheriyan. So, there was never any danger of that message being understood." Sharath spoke rapidly, with full conviction.

"Ah! no harm done then." DJ's casual reply failed to soothe Sharath's nerves. "Hmm... my contacts in IS have already told me that the guy who befriended Naqeeb and Sadiq was called Fayiz Khan, so now you can understand why I am a bit disappointed with what you have achieved, which is less than zero." Sharath gulped nervously. Why the hell did DJ sent him on a wild goose chase if he already knew this? Now he understood... it was a test, another test, to see how effective and loyal he was. And he failed miserably!

"I am so sorry DJ, I knew you wouldn't have sent me if it wasn't important enough, but I failed this time. I promise you, this will be the last." He said with as much courage and sincerity that he could muster.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that Nair Sir! As you know well, in our business, our word is everything. Money, position and Power, I don't care for any of those things. I just want me and my family of trusted brothers and business partners to work together, be happy, that's all." He smiled benevolently.

" It's okay, one small upset doesn't have to ruin our business or relationship. Let me tell you why I was so particular that a busy man like you should go and find out about this guy. Sadiq was one of my suppliers in Afghanistan who provided pure opium, and his rates were much cheaper, because he outsmarted all those bloody Taliban leaders and dealt with me directly. You were supposed to go to his wedding, and help him identify the suspected agent he was holding as a captive, but for some reason or other, you couldn't. When Sadiq died, that too shortly after catching that agent, I too believed, just like everyone, that it was someone from Pakistan ISI who double crossed Sadiq and took their agent away. But when his brother Naqeeb got ambushed by IB and RAW agents here in Delhi, right under my nose, I knew that it was the other way round. Sadiq caught a RAW agent, and it was another RAW agent who freed him, so cleverly without raising the suspicion of anyone in that whole region. As I said, my contacts in IS suspected earlier, well... they are sure now, that Fayiz was the mole from RAW who infiltrated the IS cell and destroyed their whole plan of action in India. I was supposed to provide those five chosen for their India mission with all the bombs and trigger, but that Fayiz convinced them to change the supplier from whom they could get them at half the price, and they were foolish enough to believe him. Mohammed Murtaza, their mentor in IS, promised me that once this initial phase of destruction was complete, he would give me a bulk order to provide guns and other ammunitions to his whole team. Because one successful mission like that meant a new wave of recruitment of wannabe terrorists and believers in the IS cause, not only in India but all over the region. Now you know me. If there is one thing I hate the most, it is loss of a deal and chance for future business. Most of all, I hate me and my friends being outsmarted by a rookie secret service agent."

Sharath Nair nodded his head fervently and understood what came next, but let DJ continue.

"Now, Sadiq was sure that the agent he captured was about to crack, and that's probably why Fayiz khan, if that is his name, did such elaborate plan and got rid of Sadiq too, once and for all. Now, I will request one last help from you, Nair Sir. Are you able to do this for your friend?" DJ asked softly.

The moment DJ uttered the word last, Sharath knew he had reached the end of the rope. He was being given another chance to prove himself and if he failed this time, he was gone.

Sharath blurted out "YES DJ! I will do it. I will get that RAW Agent, I promise."

"Good! If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask me. Is one week enough Nair Sir?" DJ's polite tone failed to fool Sharath. He just nodded dumbly. DJ folded his hands respectfully signalling the end of their meeting and Sharath stepped out of the car in a daze, wondering how the hell he was going to achieve his task of capturing an active RAW agent, that too in a week's time!

****

Victor stared at the photo Ashraf gave him. Sharath Nair looked a regular middle aged man that you would come across in your local mall or neighbourhood as a kind and helpful neighbour. To think that he was responsible for so much destruction and crime was no surprise for Victor, for he knew, more than anyone, not to trust the book by its cover.

He thanked Ashraf once again, picked up few different dishes for Dinner on his way out, but froze the moment he laid his eyes on a couple, who were chatting cozily in the front sitting area.

He called on the new waiter Raju and gave him some specific instructions, much to his dismay. Raju protested in vain, but he couldn't say no to this strange and intimidating man, who was a special friend of the restaurant owner.

Accordingly, as he served that cozily chatting couple their Naan and curry, he made sure he "accidentally" spilt almost all the yoghurt and mint mixture raitha on the young woman's white shirt.

He immediately apologised, his nervousness and guilt quite genuine, and directed the young woman to the washroom and disappeared from there, once he saw Victor approach her.

Misha was cross at the clumsy waiter, and was wishing the stain off her new white shirt at the sink, when she heard the unmistakable voice of her unfriendly neighbour.

"Who's that guy?" Victor asked, without even bothering to hide his displeasure.

"Hello to you too!" She replied, as she fumed with indignation and tried to ignore the fact that she was trapped inside a ladies washroom with this overpowering man.

"Misha please!!"

Ever since he warned her to stay away from him, Misha tried her best to avoid Victor in the apartment block, but found it irritating when Victor had no problem to chat happily with her friend Sam. And now he had the cheek to question her about her friends, that too in a washroom of a restaurant!

"Is this what you do for a living? Barge into girls bedrooms at night and washrooms in the restaurants, trying to intimidate them? Very disappointed in you, Mr Holmes!" She mocked.

"Is this part of your studies too, hobnobbing with young guys at restaurants, just at the right time?" Victor asked with gritted teeth.

"Oh jealous are we? I don't have to answer you or anyone." Misha walked out rapidly, ignoring Victor's words, forcing Victor to follow her.

To her disappointment, her dinner partner was nowhere to be seen.

"What did you do? Where is Manjeet?" She blurted out loudly, throwing caution to the wind, as she drew the attention of the fellow patrons, including a gang of students who entered the restaurant just then.

"Hmm his name is Manjeet is it?" Victor asked with a smirk.

Misha saw her friend Sam approaching behind Victor and cleared her voice loudly.

"Yes Manjeet is my friend, in fact he is more than just a friend!"

Victor smiled warmly and waved his hand to greet Sam before turning his gaze back to Misha.

"My condolences to him and congratulations to you!" Victor drawled.

"Who is this Manjeet Misha? And what are you doing here with Victor? Didn't you tell me you were going to the library?" Samantha asked in confusion. Victor looked as if he got a jackpot.

"Misha and her lies, oh God! Can you believe that Sam?" He widened his eyes and cupped his face in his palms, enjoying the trapped look on Misha's face.

"Sam, there was no time to explain to you. I came here to meet Manjeet, but this guy turned up uninvited."

"Two guys in one evening, wow! And lying to your bestie about it.... So not done Misha! By the way, did you tell her about our little adventure few nights ago?"

"What adventure? What is he talking about Mishu?" Samantha looked hurt.

"Sam, I love girls like you who are nice and sensible. Why don't you convince your friend to stick to her studies in college, instead of all these extra-curricular activities?"

Samantha blushed at once but recovered quickly, as she observed the scathing look Misha gave her.

"Why don't you girls have a nice and long chat, while enjoying the delicacies here. Tell the owner my name and you will get a discount! I will see you around." He blew a kiss to Misha and an equally flustered Sam and made his way out.

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

A much quicker update than I originally planned. I typed most of it as I watched the India Vs Paksitan Match.

Lets hope the best team win!! :)

We finally meet our beloved Villians, Sharath Nair and DJ aka Dhananjay! What did you make of them?

Eager to hear your thoughts, as always.

Love

Sesi