The Acquaintance Read online

  Shit. “Well this was unexpected”, said John. He turned to face the man sitting behind his desk, half-obscured in shadow. The glass walls of John’s office had been frosted over for privacy. He didn’t want people peeking in on this meeting. “It is a surprise, but a welcome one”, said the man in the dark.

  CHAPTER 32

  This was not supposed to happen. Nargis clutched at her throat, trying to stop the scream clawing inside her. Ram was checking the bodies of the two agents who lay at her doorstep. She observed two sets of tyre tracks on the gravel leading to the house. Someone had attacked the house in her absence. She leapt out of the car, Ram followed suit, both drawing their weapons and falling into tactical sweep formation. Ram went ahead and examined the prone forms.

  “They’re alive, just tranqed”, said Ram, feeling their pulses. Ram leaned against the door frame and signalled Nargis to go in. She snuck in and swept the atrium, the security measures had been circumvented. The housekeeper’s desk was empty, Nargis leaned over and stifled a scream. There was blood everywhere. Shattered glass littered the floor, there had been a struggle here. She noticed boot prints in the blood. Treads she thought she recognised. They looked like a cross between combat and hiking boots. They had a familiar insignia etched into them. Though she couldn’t place it.

  The cameras were down, the entire facility had been ransacked. “Professionals”, breathed Ram as he took in the carnage in front of him. Nargis couldn’t hear him. The girl had been taken and Rizwan was nowhere in sight. She had trusted him and he had betrayed her again. There was a crash from the inner rooms and both Ram and Nargis went into full alert mode. They tip-toed towards the source of the sound. It seemed to be coming from the infirmary. It would be too much to hope for one of the hit team’s men to have been left behind. If that were the case, Nargis could have questioned them and gotten a much needed break in this case.

  They cut through the kitchen, and Nargis realised that it had been the primary site of an encroached gunfight. She heard a groan from the ruined gantry. She could see a pool of blood continue to flow outwards. She raised her gun and stepped behind the wooden counter. A small scream escaped her lips as she saw a body lying there in a crimson pool of his own blood. She fell to her knees and pressed down on the bullet wounds. His face was ashen, he had lost a lot of blood, but there was still a chance they could save him. Ram had been scoping the rest of the kitchen when she heard him yell from behind the kitchen island. “This one’s been knocked out too. It doesn’t look like they were trying to kill anyone.” Nargis was busy trying to staunch the blood flow. “I need help here”, she yelled. Ram was by her side in an instant. Together they hauled the man towards the infirmary. Nargis in front with her gun raised. Whoever was in the infirmary better be friendly, otherwise she was going to blow them away. She couldn’t find the bodies of Amina or Rizwan anywhere, which just confirmed her fears. They had been taken. She approached the infirmary where she heard a loud groan. It was like the sound of a dying animal caught in a trap. It was inhuman and pathetic.

  She stepped into the room. She felt her heart drop to her stomach as she saw the body on the floor. It was Rizwan. She approached his body with caution. She couldn’t see straight, a film of tears seemed to have cropped up over her vision. She crouched beside the body and extended her fingers towards his neck. A hand grabbed her wrist and she screamed. Rizwan raised his head and sighed in a guttural breath, “Help me.” She rolled him on his back and checked for bullet holes. He had been shot in the gut. The bullet had gone clean through. She pulled down a pack of sterile gauze and a staple gun. She had to close the wound. She poured rubbing alcohol on the wound. Rizwan didn’t even flinch, which alarmed Nargis. He was going into septic shock. She couldn’t let that happen. She stuck her fingers in the wound and twisted. Rizwan screamed and his eyes flew open. Oh thank god thought Nargis as she went back to cleaning the wound. “You have to stay awake Rizwan’’, she said wiping away the excess blood, “Till we get you to a hospital.” Now that she had a clear view of the wound, she picked up the staple gun. “This is going to hurt’’, she said punching staples into Rizwan’s gut. He screamed the first two times but by the fifth time, he was weeping and biting his tongue. She turned to Ram and called. “I’ve done what I can, but he needs medical attention.”

  She didn’t want to take Rizwan and Ranveer to a public hospital but she had no choice. “Let’s load them up.” Nargis and Ram carried Rizwan and Ranveer to the back of their vans. Ram drove while Nargis made a phone call. She was reserving a discretionary wing at the International Institute of Medicine. The closest to their dead drop. It was a private hospital with special facilities for select patients and clientele. Nargis barked out a string of words that would sound like gibberish to Ram and the others but she was booking black bag services. Emergency medical attention for agents wounded in the field. They were minutes away. They would take care of the agents at the dead drop. The International Institute of Medicine materialised in their windshield. As soon as Ram stopped the car at the entrance, a team of paramedics took over. They loaded both Rizwan and Ranveer onto a gurney and headed to the emergency room. Hours would be wasted getting Rizwan stable. Hours she didn’t have.

  Nargis ran her hand through her scalp and found a good chunk of raven black come loose with her fingers. She shoved the clump of hair in her pocket before Ram could notice. She couldn’t take this anymore, this case would be the death of her.

  CHAPTER 33

  “What is it about him, is it some torch you’re still carrying for him that’s clouding your judgement or are you just not as good an agent as I thought you were.” Ram had cornered Nargis in the ladies restroom. “Do you feel good now that you’ve gotten that off your chest”, said Nargis coolly as she dried her hands. “Count on male pride to forget everything but their own myopic needs.”

  She threw the napkin in the wastebasket and turned to face Ram with her arms folded across her chest. “Let me remind you that you weren’t even supposed to be here. You have no standing when it comes to operational plays I make during this case. I am in charge. You’re here because I thought I could trust you, but seeing that it seems like an impossibility for you to trust me I might have to take you up on your earlier offer.” Ram seemed to deflate.

  “You have second guessed me every step of the way. What is your deal? Is it because you’re not the lead on this case or is it the transparently obvious fact that you can’t take orders from me. Or maybe I had you all wrong, maybe it’s just taking orders from a woman that has you all bothered.” Ram looked like he’d been slapped. “What? That’s absurd, you know that’s not true”, he stammered. Nargis kept going, she knew accusing Ram of sexism was a low blow, but she had had enough of him second guessing her at every turn.

  Ram was still struggling to come up with a response when a commotion cut through silence of the restroom. Nargis bolted towards the noise, Ram followed her. The floor was empty. Which Nargis found odd. She heard a crash erupt from the Triage room. The triage room was a specialised part of the floor reserved for mass casualties. It was a massive space with twelve beds and all the emergency equipment required to patch up a soldier or bring him back from the brink of death.

  She entered the sterilized space, the white tiled floor shone bright crimson. The blood trail looked like a particularly macabre tyre tread. Ram had crept in behind her. This was a secure wing at the hospital. The wing was reserved for such no questions asked emergencies. And since such cases were rare, it also meant that they were perpetually understaffed. They secured the outer chamber of the infirmary. Whoever was in here wasn’t in the operation suite. They heard a scuffle. It was coming from the pharmacy.

  Nargis sprinted towards the open door, the blood trail led straight inside. She padded her way silently into the room. She rounded a glass cabinet full of drugs and sterilizing agents and gauze. Whoever was behind the cabinet was not trying to keep quiet. Either they were delirious with blood loss or they weren’t tra
ined in counter tactics. Or both. Nargis stepped from behind the cabinet guns blazing and stopped short, relief flooding her arteries. On the floor, trying to patch himself up with bandages was Rizwan, he was awake. Her eyes took in his struggling form. She could see a nurse stare at him horrified. She was clearly waiting for help of some sort. He was bleeding like a gutted whale. There was so much blood. Under the harsh fluorescent light the dark crimson looked like viscous tar. She couldn’t look at it. The nurse looked over at Nargis, she was clearly a novice in CTU black protocol. She stepped forward but Ram beat her to it.

  Ram had stepped over Rizwan and was examining the wound in his abdomen. He tore Rizwan’s shirt off. “Are you going to help or are you going to stand there like a fucking bean pole?” shouted Ram as he applied pressure to the wound. Nargis dropped to her knees on Rizwan’s other side. “Take over”, said Ram as he pulled his blood soaked hands away from the wound that began gushing blood like a geyser again. He pulled out all the staples and the skin looked like a puckered crevice. Nargis was repulsed but she clamped her hands down on the wound nonetheless. Rizwan screamed and then whimpered. They hoisted him to the hospital bed, where the nurse began working quickly to sedate him. “We need him relaxed, not knocked out”, said Nargis as she watched the nurse inject the sedative into Rizwan’s neck. “Why was he not stitched up properly?”, she said pointing to the bloody staple pins on the floor. She looked at Nargis with an apologetic face. “We needed to stabilise him, stem the bleeding before we could begin our work proper. The doctor was attending to the other individual, his injury was tagged as a red.” Nargis was familiar with triage tags, a tool first responders used to identify and treat mass casualties. Ranveer was tagged red, which meant immediate life threatening injuries. She felt a wave of guilt overwhelm her. Ranveer was fighting for his life because of her. She noticed the green tag on Rizwan that indicated minimal injuries. But before she could get him to talk. He began to convulse. Passing out on the stiff hospital mattress. “What did you inject him with?”, said Nargis sternly. “A mild dose of propofol. He’ll be awake in a couple of hours’’, she said as the doctor walked in. The man was middle-aged, with a receding hairline and a hairy upper lip, he was wearing jeans and a crisp brown button down and a doctor’s coat that gave him the name, Dr. Kailash Singh. “Who are you people? This is a secure wing.” Nargis flashed her ID and took the doctor aside. “I’m the one who called”, she said as the doctor studied her ID. “How is the patient doing?”, she seemed concerned. “He is stable for now. I was tending to him when I heard the commotion. This is highly unorthodox Ms. Hussein. I’m not used to impromptu visits from injured military personnel. This wing is designated for more upscale clients. “I’m well aware doctor and believe me when I say this, the two men I’ve brought will be the highest priority clientele you’ll ever serve in your career, do you understand. If anything happens to either of them….”

  She left the sentence hanging. Though the implication was clear. The doctor nodded before heading in to take care of Rizwan. Ram came out of the room ready to explode. “May I talk to you in private please?”, he said motioning towards a stairwell. They stepped through the door and Ram locked it behind him before turning on Nargis. “How the hell did they know where we were?” said Ram. Ram looked pissed, but nowhere near as pissed as Nargis felt. “Well the location of this place isn’t exactly a secret Ram”, said Nargis matter-of-factly. “Are you joking? A little girl has been taken and two people we were responsible for are fighting for their lives and you’re telling me that this house of yours wasn’t secure? Then why the hell did you bring us here?”

  “I’m not saying that this facility isn’t secure, all I’m saying is that I’m not the only one in the world who knows of its existence.”

  “Well who else would know the location of a secret CTU dead drop apart from those at the CTU”, he stopped short, realising hitting him like a lightning bolt. “Are you trying to tell me that the CTU has been compromised?” said Ram incredulously. Nargis looked at him, she couldn’t confirm her suspicions to him just yet. But he must have seen her stricken expression and drawn his own conclusions. “That’s bullshit. For all we know this Rizwan asshole is taking us on a wild goose chase. His crap story has so many fucking holes it can be paired with a nice Merlot. A swiss cheese joke, amusing. “

  “What are you saying? He was bleeding out. He was dying.”

  “Are you kidding me. He had a flesh wound through and through, the bullet went through the flesh of his abundant gut. Three highly trained agents were tranquilized and knocked out but somehow your boy is the only one who was shot, please.”

  “He wasn’t the only one who was shot”, said Nargis. Ram looked crazed. This was the point of no return. She had to convince him of Rizwan’s intentions or he would be a formidable thorn in her side and she couldn’t have that. She would have to bring him into the fold. She looked at her phone, at the message that had sent her down this path. She never thought she would be divulging her delicate plan standing in a utility stairwell. And least of all to Ram Khanna. “I’m going to tell you everything. But at the end of which, no matter your feelings, you will have to trust me and do what I tell you to. Are we agreed?” The stairwell seemed to shrink as Ram contemplated this. Nargis was feeling faint and claustrophobic in the narrow space. The bland, discoloured walls and the strong pungent smell of hospital grade disinfectant wasn’t helping either. She needed him for the next part of her plan. If he wanted the truth he would have to agree to her terms. Nargis could feel spots in her vision. This was taking too long. Either he wanted to know the truth or he didn’t. After what felt like an eternity, Ram nodded.

  CHAPTER 34

  9 o’ clock. Sixty-three hours to the deadline.

  “Rise and shine sleepyhead”, said Ram slapping Rizwan across the cheek to wake him up. They had lost three hours already. They couldn’t afford to lose any more. Rizwan stirred, his eyelids fluttering open. Nargis gave Ram a withering look. Rizwan stirred, rubbing his cheek with his palm. It took him a second to gather his bearings before he began screaming, “Amina! Amina!”

  Though Rizwan was already restrained, Ram took it upon himself to silence him by showing his elbow down on Rizwan’s windpipe. “Calm down Mr. Teacher, no need to make a scene.”

  “They took Amina”, wheezed Rizwan under Ram’s arm. He looked at Nargis helplessly. “That’s quite enough I think”, said Nargis pushing Ram out of the way. Ram was not pleased with her interference. Nargis ignored him. She would soon have to have a talk with him though. “Who took Amina?”, asked Nargis. Rizwan stared at her, he tried to inhale deeply and flinched. “There were two of them, with big guns. At first I thought that it was one of your men. But when I looked closer, they were sneaking in>”

  “How would you know that?”, said Ram. “They had their weapons drawn and they were moving towards us without making a sound. What would you call that Sherlock?”, snapped Rizwan. Ram took a step towards Rizwan but Nargis stopped him with a glare. She didn’t have time for their juvenile antics. “What did they look like?”

  Rizwan shook his head, “I didn’t get a good look at them.” Ram scoffed, “Of course he didn’t. How convenient.” Rizwan stared at him, “What are you trying to imply? That I wanted her to get kidnapped again?” Ram shrugged, “Well if the shoe fits.” Rizwan spat at Ram, he struggled against his binds like he was going to attack Ram for even insinuating such a thing. Always with the theatrics. Nargis put an arm on his shoulder and pushed him back on the bed. “You must excuse my colleague Rizwan. But he does have a point. You were shot by one of them at close quarters and you’re telling me that you didn’t get a good look at them?” Rizwan sighed, “They wore armour, full black, they had masks on and helmets. I couldn’t see their faces.” “What about their eyes?”

  “How will that help you?”, said Rizwan. “Let me be the judge of that”, said Nargis impatiently. “The man who attacked me had green eyes.” Nargis exchanged a glance with Ram. Gre
en eyes were probably not Indian. But it was not much to go on. “Anything else, you saw, maybe a marking, or a tattoo or anything on his person?” “While I was struggling with him I saw dog tags fall off his neck”, said Rizwan. Ram took Nargis aside. “How can we trust what he’s saying? What if he’s just making up some phantom Swedish Vikings for us to chase?” Nargis looked at him and nodded. “Why would they take Amina and leave you behind? How did they know where to find us?”, said Ram turning to Rizwan. Rizwan didn’t bother to respond. He shrugged nonchalantly. His disdain for Ram was clear. Nargis took a step towards him. “Rizwan, we need you to take us through the attack, step by step. We need to know who took Amina. You want that don’t you?” Rizwan scoffed, “If it wasn’t for you, she wouldn’t have been in any danger in the first place. You promised me that she would be safe. That’s why I helped you, and now she’s out there with God knows who and I can only imagine what they must be doing to her.”

  “And what is that exactly?”, said Ram. Rizwan spat at Ram. Nargis stared at Rizwan, willing him to challenge her. The last time he did, he had lost a finger. Why was it that men only understood violence? “Rizwan I don’t have time for this. Please tell me what I need to know or so help me, I will rip off your testicles and shove them down your throat. Believe you me, they will replace your Adam’s apple”, said Nargis in a voice so low and threatening that it seemed to suck all the air from the room. Rizwan stared at her, so did Ram. “I’d listen to her if I were you teacher”, said Ram with a self-satisfied smile.