Jaskeerat Singh prayed in the Gurudwara, kneeling before the sacred statue in London. He was wearing a turban. He stood up with his hands joint. He turned around and headed towards the exit. His car was parked outside the Gurudwara. Faizan stood beside his car, wearing goggles.
He asked, "What?"
Faizan said, "It's true, Mr. Singh. Our intel is being leaked to the Indian intelligence. We have identified him."
"Is he one of our own?"
Faizan took out his phone and gave it to him. Jaskeerat wore his spectacles which was kept inside his front pocket. He took the phone. The screen displayed an image of Janice.
"Oh, Janice? She used to be my lawyer's assistant."
"Initially we suspected your lawyer. But when Janice left the job days after the assassination of Mr. Mandeep Singh, we put a surveillance on her and found out that she was the one who gave each and every details to certain people working in Indian embassy."
Jaskeerat nodded.
"Do you have any idea, where she is now?"
He shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Then get your men at work, I want to see the man who killed my younger brother."
"We have identified a man, might be working as a source for the Indian intelligence. He has been spotted a few times meeting with Janice."
Indian intelligence operative Vinod Sharma sat on the window seat of a train in London. The train arrived at a station. Vinod stepped out of the train along with the other passengers. He headed towards the exit of the station. Derek stood outside the station near his car. He spotted Vinod among the crowd walking towards him. He sat on the driver's seat. Vinod opened the door and sat on the passenger seat. He opened the glove box and took out a pistol and a magazine one by one. He loaded the magazine, cocked the gun and kept it in his possession. Derek fastened his seat belt.
He asked, "Where to? Hotel?"
"Nah, I am short of time. Just take me to him."
"As you say."
Derek put the car in gear and drove off.
He asked, "Do you have a plan?"
"I will meet him, he'll tell me about the girl and then we will leave to meet the girl."
"Is it? That simple?"
Vinod huffed.
Derek stopped the car near a restaurant. Vinod and Derek wore earpieces.
"I'll take only ten minutes."
Derek nodded. Vinod opened the door, stepped off the car and headed towards the restaurant. He pushed open the door and walked in. He spotted a waiter serving the food to a couple sitting at a booth.
"Hey."
The waiter turned to him and locked eyes with him. Anish, the manager stood inside the kitchen. The waiter entered and walked towards him.
"Sir."
Anish turned to him.
"Sir, someone wants to have a word with you. He is waiting for you outside."
Anish walked out of the kitchen. He sat at the booth. Vinod sat in front of him.
"What do you want now?"
"The girl."
"I told you earlier, she doesn't want to see you. She has come to know that ISI is looking for her. She is scared."
"Reassure her that we will relocate her and her family to a secure location. They will be completely safe."
"She doesn't believe us now."
A black car arrived and stopped behind Derek's car. Afzan and Murad opened the door and stepped off the either sides of the car.
"Vinod, I think you should leave now."
Vinod asked, "Were is she now?"
"I told you, she doesn't want to see you. You have already put her in trouble."
Afzan and Murad walked towards the restaurant.
Derek said, "They are closing, Vinod, are you listening to me or not?"
Vinod said, "Kitchen door."
Anish asked, "What?"
"Go to the kitchen, now!"
Anish stood up and rushed towards the kitchen. Vinod turned towards the door, taking out his gun. As Afzan walked in carrying the gun, Vinod shot him thrice and ran to the kitchen.
"Come on," he said to Anish.
Murad looked at Afzan's dead body. He rushed to the kitchen. Vinod and Anish came out of the kitchen to the alley behind the restaurant. They ran through the alley.
Vinod said, "Derek, we are heading towards the end of the passage. Hurry up."
The car arrived near the passage. Vinod pulled the door open
"Get in."
Anish said, "I am not going anywhere with you?"
"Get in!" He yelled.
Murad showed up in the passage. He shot at them twice, but missed. Vinod shot thrice at him in reply. Murad hid behind a dustbin kept in the passage.
"I am saying, Anish, just get in, otherwise you'll be killed."
Murad stood up to shoot but Vinod was alert and shot him. The bullet hit Murad's shoulder. He dropped his gun and grabbed his shoulder. He was bleeding. Anish and Vinod sat on the backseat of the car. Derek quickly put the car in gear and drove off. Murad walked away from the passage while pressing his palm against the shoulder. He extended his arm. A taxi arrived near him. He opened the door and sat in.
"Pharmacy, I am bleeding."
Vinod and Anish sat on the backseat of the moving car.
Vinod asked, "Atleast now please tell me where Janice is."
Derek said, "Come on Anish, tell us where she is. We can protect her."
Jaskeerat and Faizan sat on the backseat of moving car. Faizan's phone rang. He took out his phone and attended the call.
"Yep."
Murad sat on a bed inside a pharmacy. His shoulder was wrapped around with bandage. He was carrying the phone, talking.
He said, "He ran away?"
"What? Who?"
Jaskeerat glanced at him. Faizan shook his head and gave a botox smile.
"Home."
Jaskeerat nodded and gazed out of window.
Faizan asked, "Give phone to Afzan."
"He's dead. He shot him."
"Who, the restaurant guy?"
"No, he was someone else. I have sent you the CCTV footage."
Faizan hung up the call. He opened the chats and saw a video clip sent to him. It was the restaurant's CCTV footage. In the footage, Anish was talking to Vinod who stood up a few moments later and shot Afzan.
Jaskeerat said, "Has something gone wrong again?"
He turned to Faizan.
"Remember, I can't afford another mistake from your side. Do you understand?"
Faizan nodded.
Derek's car arrived near a one star hotel.
Vinod said, "Derek, you stay here."
"Okay."
Vinod and Anish stepped off the car. They walked into the hotel. They went upstairs. Anish rang the doorbell.
"Janice, it's me, open the door."
No response came from inside. Vinod knocked the door.
"Open the door Janice, we need to talk. I understand you are in trouble, but we are the only one who can get you out of this. You have to trust us."
No response. Anish rang the doorbell again.
"Janice, open the door."
Vinod said, "She is not responding."
He took out his gun and shot on the doorknob, breaking the latch from inside. He pushed the door open. He entered the room. Janice lay dead on the bed. Anish came in.
"Oh my God!"
Vinod said, "This shouldn't have happened."
He turned to Anish.
"What?"
Vinod grabbed his collar and pushed him to the wall.
"How did this happen?"
"What are you saying? I have no idea how did this happen."
"You were the only one who knew about her stay in this hotel. So, how did they reach her?"
"I don't know, I swear."
Vinod left him. He stepped out of the room, thinking. Anish came to him.
"Vinod, trust me. Okay, whatever happened happened. Now, we only have to figure out our next move."
Derek asked (over earpieces), "Vinod, is everything alright?"
"Janice is dead."
"What?"
Derek opened the door. He was about to step out when the car exploded. Hearing the explosion, Vinod rushed to the corridor. He saw Derek's burning car.
He muttered, "No, no, no, no, no."
He thumped his hand against the wall. His phone rang. He took out his phone and attended the call.
"Sir."
"What the hell is going on, Vinod?"
Vinod's handler Yashwant Sinha walked through the atrium of the intelligence agency in New Delhi. The TV in the atrium was broadcasting a news about shootout in London restaurant in which Vinod's face was clearly visible.
"Your picture has been widely circulated by the media. Do you have any idea about that?"
"Oh, ISI."
"Maybe ISI they are behind this, but you should have smoothly handled the situation. The local cops must be like for you now."
"Sir, try to understand..."
"Your cover has been blown!"
"Sir?"
"I have been ordered to abort this operation."
"Sir, you know, we can't. I am about to get close to Jaskeerat. I'll find him. Sir."
"Just abort the mission, Vinod, else the agency will have to disown you."
"I don't care."
"I can trust you, Vinod but the agency can't."
"If it's true that you trust me, then call Arvind and ask him to fly to London and wait for my message."
Yashwant hung up the call. Vinod twitched his cheek muscle. Anish came to him. He gently tap on his shoulder.
"Vinod."
Vinod turned to him.
He said, "You have to do a job, for me."
"What?"
Indian High Commission of UK: Alyaz stood inside the moving elevator. He walked through the atrium of the corridor carrying his briefcase. He walked out of the building. He drove his car out of the premises. While driving, his phone rang. He stopped his car. He took his phone. He looked at the screen and attended the call.
"Hello."
Alyaz's car was parked outside an open cafe. He sat at a table having his coffee. Anish sat before him.
Alyaz said, "What do you want to discuss with Hafiz? He works for ISI, why would he trust you?"
"That's the part of our plan. Where I can find him?"
"Well, I have no idea where does he live, but there is a man who might help you."
"Is he an Indian?"
"Yeah, he has been in police force for almost a couple of decades."
Vinod sat at a table. A laptop was kept before him. The screen displayed a CCTV footage in which a man stood outside Janice's hotel room. He rang the doorbell. Janice opened the door. The man pushed her inside. A few seconds later the man walked out of the room, kept his gun inside and locked the door. The man walked towards the staircase. Vinod rewinded the footage and paused at the moment where his photo was clearly visible. He zoomed in on his face. His phone rang. He attended the call.
"Hello."
Anish stood outside the cafe.
He said, "He just gave me a number. He told me to talk to him through his reference."
"Okay, send me the number."
The bus stopped at the stop. Vinod left the seat. He stepped off the bus.
Half a dozen of police cars were parked outside an apartment. The cops were arresting every man in the house pressing them against the wall and putting handcuffs and collecting the cash bundles that were stored illegally in the cupboard. Sergeant Sumit strolled through the living room of the apartment, supervising the operation. He came out of the house to the porch. Inspector Nancy came to him carrying a clippad in her hand.
"Sir. Eighteen arrests have taken place. No one is ready to talk. No one wants to talk about Sanchez."
"Take all of them in remand. The boss wants the court proceedings to begin as soon as possible."
"Got it, sir."
She went inside. Sumit took out his ciggerate, lit it and smoked. His phone rang. He took out his phone. He attended the call.
"Hello."
"Am I talking to Sergeant Sumit Kumar?"
"May I know who is it?"
"I got your number from Mr. Alyaz Ansari."
"Oh, Ansari. Then it must be something crucial."
"Yes it is."
"What is it about?"
Vinod stood in the balcony.
He said, "Hafiz Bin Mortaza."
Sumit didn't respond for a couple of seconds. Infact he was astonished to hear the name.
Vinod said, "I know you know Hafiz. You were the one who arrested him."
"It was twenty years ago, I didn't see him after that."
"You have only one hour. I am sending you the address. I will be waiting for you."
Vinod hung up the call.
Sumit drove his police car to a square. He slowed down. Before he could stop, Vinod opened the door and sat beside him.
"Don't stop, keep driving."
Sumit shifted the gear and speeded up.
He said, "Do you know the police has been tasked to track you down? They might pass an order for the execution too."
"Right now, instead of running from the police, I have something far more important to do and I need you for it. You’ll have to help me."
"Okay. Tell me."
"What do you know about Hafiz?"
"He came to London twenty five years ago to finish his law studies. He earned a degree and became an advocate. He established his firm with the help of his uncle who was associated with 'FREEDOM PUBLIC PARTY', which was led by Mandeep Singh who had been accused multiple times by the opposition of giving hate speeches and provoking the Sikh community to demand for Khalistan from their own government. An explosion took place in a bakery during the New year Eve near the Big Ben. I was newl at that time in the police. I investigated the attack along with the MI5. Hafiz and his uncle's name popped up in the blast. We arrested both of them. Because Hafiz has helped Mandeep in a number of court cases, the latter one helped them to prove their innocence. Hafiz's uncle died in their custody but he managed to get bail after five years."
"And then?"
"That's it, I didn't see him after that. Why you are interested in him."
"Because I believe he is working with ISI. So, it's necessary for me to know where he is."
"Well, I can't tell you where he is, but before being imprisoned he married a catholic girl. I met her once. She used to reside near the Churchgate."
Vinod took out his phone and showed him the CCTV image of the man standing outside Janice's hotel room.
"Do you know him?"
Sumit shook his head.
"I am sending you this image. If you get anything about it, just make a call."
Sumit nodded. He stopped the car. Vinod opened the door. He stepped off the car and walked away.
Arvind walked out of the London airport carrying a backpack. His phone rang. He took out his phone and attended the call.
"Sir. I have just landed in London. The flight was a bit late."
Yashwant stood inside his cabin resting his one hand on the chair.
"Alright, just wait for his message. He might call you in an hour."
"Yes sir."
Yashwant hung up the call. He stepped towards the window.
He muttered, "Come on Vinod, I know you are upto something."
Kate sat on a bench inside the church, praying. She stood up, leaving. She turned around where Vinod stood in the aisle.
"Mrs. Neeson."
"Can I help you?"
"I would like to have a word, about your husband. Ex husband."
Kate and Vinod strolled through the courtyard.
She said, "I didn't want to see him after he was bailed from prison. I never wanted to meet him."
"So, you didn't meet him even once?"
"Well, I met him some five years ago when I was returning after picking my son from school. He told me that he had started a new business and wanted us to settle with him. I didn't want my son to be brought up in a house owned by a terrorist."
He nodded. Their photos were clicked by someone.
Sumit stood inside the police station. Nancy came to him carrying a file in her hand.
"Sergeant."
He turned to her.
She said, "Everyone was interrogated. All of them claimed they worked for Sanchez—except one."
"Who?"
She gave him the file. He opened the file.
She said, "His name is Sharib Hasan. He is the only one in their group who hails from Pakistan."
The file contained Sharib’s photograph. One glance was enough to leave Sumit staring in stunned disbelief. He took out his phone. He opened the gallery and tapped on the photo sent by Vinod. He realised Sharib is the same man who stood outside Janice's hotel room.
"Oh, my man."
"What happened Sergeant?"
"Do we have any contact details of Sanchez?"
Sumit followed Nancy to the evidence room. A carton box was kept on the table. She took out a phone from the box.
"We seized this phone in the raid. There is a number in this phone on which multiple calls were made. We traced the number. It's from Mexico."
Puerta Vallarta, Mexico: Gilbert stood on the deck of a moving fishing boat. Smoking. His phone rang. He attended the call.
"Hello."
Sumit said, "Sanchez."
"Who is this?"
"I want to talk to Sanchez, handover him the phone."
"I am the one who finalise deal on his behalf. Talk to me."
"It's not about deal."
"Then what is it about?"
Sanchez sat inside the cabin, playing cards with his couple of goons. Gilbert came in carrying the phone.
"Sanchez."
Sanchez looked up. Gilbert gave him the phone.
"Who is on the call?"
Gilbert didn't respond. Sanchez talked over the phone.
"Hello."
Sumit said, "Sanchez."
"I am listening."
"This is Sergeant Sumit Kumar, London police. I have arrested your eighteen men from the site. One of them is not Mexican. He doesn't even know you."
"What do you want?"
"I know that you are not operating alone on the British soil. Someone else is working with you, and you are just acting as per his instructions. Tell me whom are you working with."
"What if I don't tell you?"
"It won't take even an hour for passing an order to execute all of them. I can deport some of them as per your choice to your country."
"You are trying to deal with me."
"You may see it as an offer. Just tell me who else is working with you."
"Okay, then listen. I got a call seven years ago. He didn't tell me but he told me that he wanted to help me to establish by drugs business in London. I saw this deal as an opportunity. His only condition was to share the revenue in half. I agreed."
"Is that it?"
"That's it, nothing else."
Arvind sat on the bed in his hotel room, relaxing, watching TV, covered in blanket. His phone beeped. He picked up the phone and saw the message. He removed the blanket and stepped off the bed.
"Get to work."
Kate was driving her car. Vinod sat beside her. His phone rang. He attended the call.
"Hello."
Sumit said, "Vinod, the man whose image you sent me a couple hours ago has been identified. He is Sharib Hasan, a drug peddler and he has told me who he was working for."
The car arrived near a museum. Kate and Vinod stepped off. He followed her to through the stairs. They entered the museum. They walked to the courtyard where Hafiz stood there, waiting.
He said, "I usually charges anyone before they enter my museum. But today is a special day that's why I allowed you to enter without any charges. Actually I was excited see you after a long time when you called me. I thought you would come alone, but you brought your new friend here. That's completely fine."
Vinod said, "Is it your museum?"
"Yeah, I run my home with the visitors' money."
"And what about the drug operation? Who runs that?"
Vinod added, "I have come to know everything, Hafiz. You operate the drug operation here with Sanchez. You were the who called him years ago. Your associate Sharib has been arrested. He has taken your name. On your instructions he killed Janice because she could tell us about Jaskeerat Singh."
"What else do you know about me?"
"Whatever you earn from the drug business, half of the revenue goes in the pocket of 'FREEDOM PUBLIC PARTY' which is also supported by ISI. You people are trying provoke the youths to demand for Khalistan from their own government."
Hafiz huffed.
"You know too much."
Faizan and Murad showed up from the either side of the courtyard. Faizan took out his phone and showed it to Vinod. Then phone screen displayed an image of Vinod and Late walking together in the Church's courtyard.
Hafiz said, "I knew you weren't coming alone."
She said, "This photo. Who took our pictures?"
Vinod heard a gun cocking sound behind him. Anish stood behind him pointing the gun. Vinod turned around.
Anish smirked, "I won't apologize, Vinod, but I had to choose a side."
"Janice was murdered two days ago. You knew that, but you acted before as you were helping. You left your phone in Derek's car willingly. There was a bomb in the phone."
"You still have a chance to switch your side, no one will be wiser, not even the RA&W."
Vinod snatched his gun quickly and shot him dead. He turned around. Murad and Faizan pointed the gun at him. They both were shot on their heads one by one. Arvind stood near a window near the staircase on the first floor carrying is sniper rifle. Vinod glanced at him and waved his hand. Arvind gave a thumbs up. He walked downstairs carrying his rifle.
Hafiz said, "The question still remains in my head. How did you come to know about me?"
Vinod said, "When I killed Mandeep Singh in Ottawa, I kept an eye on each and every person who attended his funeral. That's when I saw you. I remembered, you were arrested in London twenty years ago. When I asked Mandeep's daughter about you, she told me that you were close to their family and that's when I started tracking you. And then I came to London. Some of my sources were already keeping an eye on Jaskeerat Singh and they told me he is being backed by ISI. You were the only key how I could come closer to Jaskeerat."
Arvind came towards them. He kept his rifle pointed at Hafiz.
Vinod said, "Hafiz, the men who backed you have been killed now. So, where is Jaskeerat Singh, now?"
Jaskeerat sat on the backseat of a moving car. His one bodyguard sat beside him and the other on the passenger seat. He glanced at his wrist watch.
"Faizan should have called by now."
A private jet pane was parked on the runway. The car arrived near the plane. Jaskeerat stepped off the car along with his bodyguards. They climbed the stairs, boarding the plane. He took the window seat. The plane started moving. Jaskeerat saw a car approaching towards them.
"Move, move, move!"
The bodyguard came and glanced through the window. He went to the cockpit.
"Take off."
The pilot said, "We are upto it, sir. Just sit back."
Vinod pressed the accelerator, chasing the plane. Arvind leaned out of the window and started shooting at the plane with his rifle. The pilot pushed the liver. The plane had just left the ground when the engine was hit by the bullets, caught fire. The plane crashed down and exploded. Vinod stopped the car. They stepped off the car from the either sides and kept looking at the flames caused by the explosion.
Yashwant sat his desk, resting his forehead on his hands. The telephone rang. He quickly picked up the call. In the atrium of the RA&W, the staff was watching the news of Jaskeerat's death caused by a plane crash. Yashwant smiled and hung up the call. He walked out of cabin carrying a file in his hand, labelled as 'CONFIDENTIAL'.
He stood before the RA&W secretary, Sanjay Arora who was going through the file.
He asked, "You were aware that he was operating even after the mission was ordered to be aborted."
"Yes sir."
Sanjay closed the file.
"Okay then."
"Shall I go sir?"
Sanjay nodded. Yashwant picked up the file. He was about to leave when Sanjay's phone rang. He picked the phone and attended the call.
"Hello.... Yes sir.... Sure.."
The call was hung up.
He said, "Mr. Sinha."
"Anything else sir?"
"Your meeting has been scheduled for next week with the NSA."
Yashwant nodded. He held the handle of the door. He opened the door.
"One more thing, congratulations."
Yashwant smiled and walked out of the cabin.
Vinod sat in the airport lounge, talking to Yashwant over the phone.
Yashwant said, "My next meeting has been scheduled with NSA. He must be having something new for you."
"Yeah, new assignment, new place, new people."
"New threat."
Vinod chuckled. Yashwant hung up the call.
Vinod stood up. He carried his backpack and headed towards the terminal from where he was supposed to board his flight.
