Jack Daniel

JACK SWINGS HIS fist forward. His fist connects with Daniel’s face and Daniel flies and lands on a table, which breaks as he lands on it. Jack walks forward. Suddenly Daniel jumps up and kicks him. Jack slides backward.

The godown they are in, has only tables and benches, with a blackboard hanging on a wall. Jack slides and hits it. Daniel lurches forward. He rolled towards Jack and swept him off his feet. Jack abruptly fell to the ground.

Daniel gets up. Jack grabs hold of his leg and pulls it. Daniel falls on the ground and Jack kicks him in the chest. Daniel slides on the ground and hits a bench.

Jack gets up slowly. “Daniel, please listen to me. I didn’t do it.”

+++

Days ago......

A huge building. A sign that reads ‘IBN Bank’. The building is completely made of glass. The glass of the building, from a room of considerable height, breaks and a bike, along with a driver come out.

Flashback.....

A bike. It’s moving at high speed. Its driver wears a black dress, from top to bottom, and a black helmet. The bike stops in front of the bank.

“Can you please move aside?” the driver says to the guards.

“Sir, you can’t go in with your bike. Please park it in the parking area.” Replies guard 1.

“Can you please move aside?” driver repeats

“Sir-” begins guard 2

“I said, CAN YOU MOVE ASIDE?”

The driver holds the handle and jumps. His feet collide with guard 1’s face and he flips through the air and lands on the road. The driver turns the bike and drives it into the bank as he kicks the other guard.

The bank manager is walking. The driver drives and takes the key of the locker from the manager’s pocket, while driving. He turns left and drives into the lift and goes up.

He opens locker and steals money and gold. He drives out through the glass. The glass shatters. The bike flies in the air. The parking lot, a building about a quarter the size of the bank stands in front of the bank. Driver lands on the parking lot.

+++

A projector. An image of Jack appears on the wall. Police, whose name is Tony, gets up and stands in front of it.

Tony, “Jack. One of the most wanted robbers in our country. Many officers here have gone after him, but failed to catch him. Daniel Thomson, (Daniel gets up) one of best officers has been after him for almost a year. He is the only one in the department who has even got close to catch him. And that is because, the two were childhood friends. Daniel can understand and predict Jack’s moves. The two knew each other very much. And so, for this massive robbery case, Daniel will be appointed to catch him.”

Daniel nods.

+++

Daniel is sleeping. His phone rings twice. On the third ring, he wakes up and picks the call.

“Jack.” Says the caller. Daniel gets up, shocked.

“Hey! Where are you?” Daniel asks angrily

“That’s why I called you.”

“Huh?”

“To meet me.”

“What? Where?”

“I’ll send you the coordinates. It’s a godown. Cut at 9.”

“What?”

“See you tomorrow at 9.” Says jack and he cuts the call.

Daniel is confused. Why did Jack call him? Something is wrong. And he dozes off to sleep.

+++

Daniel stops his bike in front of the godown. It’s pretty old and the walls have small cracks. Daniel walks towards a shutter. The lock is broken. He bends down to open it. But it opens up automatically. 

“Well, that’s nice.” Mutters Daniel.

He climbs up the steps. The room is deserted. The only thing there is a table and two chairs. The fan is running, indicating the presence of somebody being here earlier. There’s a door opposite to the table. Daniel tries to open it. But the door won’t budge.

He goes and sits in one of the chairs. The door opens and Jack comes out. Daniel takes his gun and aims it at Jack. Jack raises his hand.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. No guns. All I want is to talk to you. Just lend me your ears for some time. Then you can do whatever you want.”

Daniel sets his gun on the table. Jack sits on the other chair.

“Why did you call me? The whole police department of the country is after you and you call me. Jack, the infamous robber, calling a police officer. How funny is that?” says Daniel

Jack and Daniel laugh.

“Well, the thing is, I trust you. And you need to know something important. Everyone knows Jack, the robber. Nobody knows who Jackson Mathew is.”

“Who is Jackson Mathew?” asks Daniel

“Me, before I was made a robber.”

“I’m sorry. Did I hear you wrong? You said ‘Became a robber’, right?”

“I said ‘Made a robber’.”

“By who?”

“Tony. The superintendent of police.”

Cold creeps across Daniel back.

“What do you mean?” asks a curious Daniel

“Tony was my friend. He was a police constable then. But he was greedy. And one night, he robbed a house. He came to my house, without my knowledge, when the police were after him, and hid what he stole at my house. And when the police came, they thought it was me and arrested me. Tony was promoted for catching me.”

“So you’re saying that you are not a robber.”

“Yes and no. That time I was not a robber. But then I became a robber and started stealing. Not for myself. But for orphaned children. Whatever I steal, I give it to some orphanage.”

“And I should believe that?” asks Daniel. Jack throws many papers at him.

“These are the records of all the money I have to send to the orphanage.”

Daniel studies it. “Okay, I believe you. But still, you stole from IBN Bank. So I have to arrest you.”

“I’m coming to that. I need your help there, Daniel.”

“I cannot not arrest you.”

“You can arrest me. But only for what I did.”

“What do you mean, by only what you did?”

“I didn’t steal yesterday.”

Daniel slams his hand on the table. “That’s it!” He takes his gun and shoots. Jack jumps and rolls to the side. The bullet hits the chair and it falls backwards.

“Daniel stop! Let me tell.”

“I don’t want to listen to any of the lies that you tell.”

“Danie-”

Daniel fires. Jack jumps to the side. Jack gets up. Before Daniel could fire again, Jack jumps and kick the gun. It slides away and goes down the steps. Jack grabs hold of Daniel’s shirt’s collar. Daniel pushes him. Jack goes and hits the door, which opens, and he falls to the ground.

That’s how they began fighting.

Daniel gets up. He punches Jack in the face. Jack kicks him back. Daniel swings his hand forward, but Jack blocks him and punched him in the stomach. Daniel motions for another attack when-

“DANIEL, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! I HAVE EVIDENCE!” screams Jack

Daniel stops.

Jack takes his laptop and show something. Seeing that, Daniel is shocked.

“Jack, you need to come with me. Not as a thief, but as my friend. Like before.”

+++

Daniel kicks open the door to the meeting room. All the police are having a meeting there.

“What is it, Daniel?” asks Tony

He brings Jack inside.

“You caught him? Wonderful!” exclaims Tony

“But, wait. There’s something I have to tell all of you.”

“What is it?” asks Tony.

Daniel takes the laptop from Jack and connects it to the projector.

“This is the CCTV visual of the parking lot.” Says Daniel

The driver jumps from IBN Bank and lands in the parking lot. He removes his helmet. To reveal his face. The face of.....Tony! Tony, scared, looks around.

“What is this Daniel?”

“I just found the real thief. The real Jack. Tony, has been stealing in Jack’s name all this while. This is proof of that.” Says Daniel

Jack looks surprisingly at Daniel.

Tony, “Wha-”

A police officer says, “Tony, it has been proved that you have been robbing in the name of this innocent person, Jack. Now, you are under arrest. Arrest him!”

Tony tries to escape. Jack places his hand on the table and jumps up. His feet come in contact with Tony’s face. Tony goes and hits the wall. He punches him back. Daniel slides across the table and hits him.

Jack picks up the chair and hits Tony’s head. Blood flows down his head. He pushes them aside and runs away. They follow him. Tony climbs on a bike and drives away. Jack and Daniel jump onto their own bikes and chase him.

Tony turns left. They follow. They speed up. Jack and Daniel are on either side of Tony. Daniel grabs the handle of Tony’s bike and pulls it towards him. The bike drifts off, but Tony manages to handle it and he keeps driving.

Jack grabs handle of his own bike, jumps and kicks Tony. Tony’s bike drifts off course and it collides with a small shop. Jack and Daniel drive there. Jack lifts him up, puts him on his bike and they drive back to the police HQ.

+++

The reporter says, “The new video of the superintendent of police stealing from IBN Bank, proves the innocence of Jack, who, till now was thought of as a thief. Jack, is a socialist, and the president himself has appointed Jack as a police. Jack and Daniel will now be leading the police department.”

+++

A constable runs into the office.

“Sir, we got news of a murder!” he says

Jack and Daniel look at each other and smile.

+++

The murderer is driving a van. Jack and Daniel come in their bikes on either side of the van. Jack reaches the steering wheel through the open windows and rotates it. The van turns left and tilts left and drifts on. It rotates and rolls. A few meters and it stops.

The van lies upside down. Daniel opens the door. The murderer is pulled out.

Reporter asks, “Sir, isn’t it wrong to do this?”

Jack, “Isn’t what he did wrong?”

Daniel, “We do this so that nobody does crime.”

Jack, “We must be doing wrong. But it will end.”

Jack and Daniel, “AS LONG AS WE ARE THERE, THERE WILL BE NO CRIME!”