Dusk soon enveloped the city, drenching it in an orange hue. Monica rode the bus from her office to a stop that was two blocks away from her hotel. She remembered the details of their plan very well, but they never mentioned when they would execute it. She secretly hoped that they held off on the plan until she left the city and never saw their faces again. But at the same time, she was fearful of throwing her officemates in harm’s way if she just up and disappeared.

As she continued to walk towards her hotel, her eye caught the sight of a burly man standing inside a small shop. His face was hidden by a newspaper, but Monica could sense that it was the man that was hunting her. Nevertheless, she crossed the shop without even attempting to look in his direction. As she walked a few feet away from the shop, the man exited the door and began to follow her. Monica didn’t flinch, instead kept walking.

She turned left and onto the street where her hotel was. The crowd wanned to just a few pedestrians, but her stalker closed in. As they neared the alley Monica saw the previous night, the stalker’s pace picked up. He got closer and closer, but Monica didn’t make any move. In a flash of a moment, two arms embraced her. One covered her mouth, the other gripped her waist. Monica held her breath, suspecting a sedative and she was right on the money. She felt a piece of cloth covering her face as she was dragged into the darkness of the alleyway. But Monica decided to play along, pretending to fall asleep.

Pandian’s heart was beating through his chest as he picked up Monica’s unconscious body and ran through the alleyway. He had done this a hundred times, but the fear of the moment never died. This time, the prospect of dealing with someone powerful enough to kill him with one blow, made him all the more tensed. The darkness of the alleyway gave way to the light of an open plot of land. There the rusty car stood, surrounded by his three mates. Seeing him pop out with the girl put a big smile on their faces. They quickly convened to nab the girl as quietly and quickly as possible.

‘Put her in the backseat,’ Nayar said as he got into the driver’s seat.

Mallesh pulled open the backseat door, ready to welcome Monica with open arms when suddenly she bursted out of Pandian’s arms. She flopped on to the ground gasping for air. Pandian stopped dead in his tracks with a horrid look on his face.

She looked at the four men with fear in her eyes. They stood motionless, not knowing what to do next. She seized the opportunity and screamed on top of her lungs sending shivers through her captors.

‘Shut up!’ Mallesh shouted as he got down on one knee and held Monica by her hair.

‘Please don’t do anything to me!’ Monica cried out.

‘I said to shut up!’ he pulled out a gun and put it in her mouth. ‘Open it again and I will pull the trigger.’

Monica did not stop wailing. She continued to plead which quickly grew weary on Mallesh’s ears.

‘Mallesh! We need her alive! Madame won’t be happy!’ Nayar reminded him.

‘To hell with it. Let’s finish her here and be done with it!’ Mallesh argued.

‘Are you mad? She will get us all killed!’ Pandian said.

Mallesh gritted his teeth hard and grunted before pulling back his gun.

Fury filled Monica’s stomach. She wanted nothing more than anything to punch him in his face, but that wasn’t part of her plan. All she needed was a few seconds gap to bail on them, to make an escape. But as always, things never go according to the plan.

‘Don’t move!’ a man shouted.

Monica had never heard that voice before. She looked up and saw the others completely motionless. Looking back, she saw a man in a khaki police uniform pointing the gun at others. ‘Help me!’ she shouted.

‘Put your hands in the air,’ the policeman ordered.

‘Look here. She is one of ours. She escaped from our place, and we are just taking her back,’ Pandian explained.

Monica broke a cold sweat on hearing that. She trembled at the thought that the policeman would simply walk away from her, even if they weren’t lying. ‘No!’ she shouted, ‘I am an accountant!’ she held out her ID card.

‘Shut up!’ Mallesh shouted as he punched her in her cheek. Monica controlled her rage by squeezing her ID card.

‘I didn’t ask explanation. I asked you to put your hands in the air,’ the policeman said.

Mallesh got on his feet and pointed his gun at the policeman. ‘Who do you think you are ordering us?’ he said.

‘Put the gun down you idiot!’ Nayar ordered.

‘Do you have any idea who our boss is? Don’t you want to live, you asshole?’ Mallesh shouted.

‘Put the damn gun down!’ Nayar repeated.

‘Screw it, put a bullet in his head and deal with it…’ before he could complete the sentence, a loud bang echoed through the air and Mallesh’s cold body hit the ground.

Monica, who was still lying on the ground, looked at Mallesh’s dead eyes with horror. A bullet had pierced his temple, leaving a bloody hole in its place. Blood oozed out of it and flowed down his forehead. She fell dead silent as did others.

The policeman moved in and ordered, ‘get on your knees now!’

A small squad of policemen bursted out of the alley and quickly surrounded them. The policeman walked over to her and helped her up. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

Monica simply nodded. But he could see the shock in her face. He didn’t press her for any further questions, instead handed her over to a subordinate who guided her back through the alley and outside. He let her sit down on a fleet of stair in front of a closed shop, before returning to the scene of crime.

She took a good minute to get out of the shock of what she had just witnessed. Looking around, she saw two police vehicles parked right next to the alley opening.

‘Mon?’ a woman called out to her.

Monica looked to her left and saw Isha standing beside her. She trembled a little on seeing her face. ‘Isha? What are you doing here?’

‘I was heading to your place when I saw that man just pick you up and run into the alley,’ she replied. ‘Are you okay?’

Monica shook her head in disbelief. ‘Yes, I am. But why were you here?’

‘I will tell you later,’ Isha said before looking in the direction of the alley.

Monica saw the policemen exit the opening when she said in a hurry, ‘Isha, don’t let them see you.’

‘Who are they?’ Isha asked.

‘Dangerous men. Trust me.’

Isha quickly jotted a few meters away to where a small pack of people stood spectating the incident. Monica watched as the police dragged out Mallesh’s dead body which was wrapped in a white cloth and placed on the side of the footpath. One by one, each of the goons walked out, looking at Monica with ire. The police quietly had them board the second jeep from the back.

At last, the man who shot down Mallesh walked out. He had a two-star insignia on his shoulder strap indicating that he was the sub-inspector. He signalled for Monica to come, and she did as she was told. She slowly crossed the road and approached the policeman.

‘Are you alright? Did they harm you in anyway?’ he asked.

‘No sir… I am not hurt in any way. Just shaken,’ she answered.

At the same moment Isha appeared beside her. ‘Thank you very much sir. You saved my friend.’

‘You are very lucky. We just happened to be close enough to reach this fast. But now, I need you two to come with me to the station,’ he asked.

‘Sir, if I may ask, can she stay out of this? I will answer any questions you have. I don’t want to trouble her for my sake,’ Monica requested.

Isha nudged Monica but Monica whispered, ‘please.’ Isha remained quiet.

The sub-inspector thought long and finally said, ‘alright. You give a statement on what you saw and your contact details.’

Isha nodded in response.

***

Monica managed to stay out of the sight of the goons throughout her time with the police. At the station, the police tried to make her feel comfortable, offering her condolence and even something to drink. She took a good look at the sub-inspector, a somewhat tall, well-built man with a square face. He didn’t appear too old, perhaps in his thirties, Monica guessed. He was well-groomed with a neat shave and well-cut moustache. She read his name off his badge, Keshav. He was filling in the details of the report when he began to ask Monica for her details. She obliged and answered every one of them honestly.

‘They said you escaped from them. I know it might be a lie, but I have to ask you about it,’ he said.

‘I crossed paths with them at a restaurant in Kasipuram,’ Monica answered.

‘Kasipuram? What were you doing there?’

‘My cab was just passing through, but it broke down near to the restaurant. So, I thought I would just have some food while I waited.’

‘Didn’t your driver warn you about that place?’

Monica looked down and said in a soft voice, ‘yes. I am sorry.’

Keshav sighed and said, ‘I don’t want to lecture you now, but we warn you for your own safety.’

Monica nodded and said, ‘I know. I will follow them better from now on.’

‘Did they eve tease you or something?’ he asked.

‘There was a small confusion because my driver couldn’t find me for a moment and panicked. He might have irritated them just before I returned. We exchanged a few words and that was it.’

‘Is that all?’ he asked, staring at her with a cold gaze.

‘That is all. We left after that.’

‘Give me the number of your driver.’

Monica did as she was instructed. ‘Will I need to stay longer?’ she asked.

‘Not long. Just confirm a few things and you can leave.’

‘No, I meant in the city. I need to be leaving tomorrow,’ she said.

‘You are not from this city?’

‘No, I am a travelling accountant.’

‘I will file a case on them. Just give your statement. We may ask you to visit a station close to you when needed.’

Monica nodded and said, ‘I can do that.’

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