Arvind Sharma

Thriller

2.6  

Arvind Sharma

Thriller

The Unforeseen Challenge

The Unforeseen Challenge

8 mins
179


They were shell-shocked, as if they had seen a ghost. Although all three viz. Abhay, Yuvaan and Charu were tongue-tied on seeing the person standing last in the line, but nobody was more shocked than Charu. She had built some sort of relationship of trust with the person. The other two had come to know the person through Charu, hence, although shocked, they were also hoping to solve the case with the help of the person. While Abhay thought of accolades from his department, he hoped this might also help him win the affections of Charu. Yuvaan, who had no romantic inclination towards Charu, was still committed to help her as a friend. Of course, he was aware of Abhay’s feelings towards Charu, but that did not affect him much. It was for Charu to take in a decision about her life. He, as a friend, was always available to her for any advice. He also hoped that with the case coming to an end, he could go on with his life.

Charu was struggling with the unpleasant truth. She had been struggling for long time to unveil the truth and the person who was supposed to be major support for her was actually a traitor. She had unwittingly shared so much information with the person about her quest that he knew as much as she knew. He must have used the information to further fortify the position of the project being undertaken in the White Building. What were they doing in the White Building? The very presence of Mafia boss indicated that it could not be for the benefit of humanity.

The thought of Mafia boss brought another issue to her mind. Mafia boss was supposed to have killed Valiyamme’s mother, even scorching her eyes. It was a surprise that he had fallen for an older woman, as Valiyamme herself must be in her forties. Whether, by any chance, Valiyamme’s mother had seen what was happening in White Building, necessitating scorching her eyes? Was killing her an after-thought? Then she remembered that he had an assistant named Vincent. Was Vincent Uncle that Vincent? It seemed that he was the only one to have aged. The Mafia boss and Valiyamme’s mother did not appear to have aged much. What was the secret behind that?

Unmindful of the turmoil going in Charu’s mind, Abhay had recovered from the initial shock. He had no qualms about the person. He was in fact pleased that he will be able to fix Mafia boss this time. He wondered if Charu would be unhappy if he took action against the person. For him, the person was pure criminal or he was either involved in a criminal enterprise or helping criminals. He wondered why Charu and Yuvaan had not developed some suspicions earlier. Anyway his mind became busy with planning of storming the White Building and interrogating the persons nabbed by them. Perhaps this person would be knowing more than others. There was also a challenge of keeping everything secret till the raid on White Building. He decided to post some of his people on that corner of lake where White Building was situated. A drone would be deployed to keep a watch on the lake so that criminals did not escape from any other part of the lake. He was also aware that people inside the White Building will be aware of the capture of their colleagues and the possibility of their spilling the beans.

He decided that he would need to take immediate action. He looked towards Charu and could see that she was still in shock.

Yuvaan was in this due to Charu and assist her and Abhay in the expedition. He had no emotional entanglement of any sort with the person standing last in the line. For him also he was a criminal – pure and simple. However, he had no problem if Charu wanted that person to be treated with kid-gloves. He looked towards Charu and then Abhay. Charu appeared to be perplexed and shocked. However, Abhay appeared to be excited about solving the big case which will ensure that he got commendation from his bosses. He could even get out-of-turn promotion. He was only trying to underplay his excitement.

Charu finally recovered from her mental turmoil. She looked towards Abhay and Yuvaan. Abhay was busy giving directions to his team members, while still keeping an eye on nabbed persons. Yuvaan was looking towards her to take the initiative.

Charu asked that person accusingly, “I had so much faith in you. I was informed that you had gone to Egypt. Instead you are not only present here, but also tried to harm me by trying to pull me into your boat. Do you have anything to say on that? I saw the Mafia boss in the White Building. What is your relation with him? What for are you collaborating with him?”

She was almost on the verge of tears at this betrayal, but she somehow controlled herself.

The person who was Vincent Uncle was unperturbed. He did not respond to Charu’s diatribe. Charu again looked at him questioningly. She was keen to know if Vincent Uncle would say something which might absolve him of the crime. She did not, however, have much hope. She was certain of her character reading talent and she had not observed any criminal tendencies in Vincent Uncle. She rationalised by thinking that she had known him only for the last few months.

Finally he responded, “Our people did try to pull you into the boat, but we had no intention of harming you. Instead I wanted to show you the project since I knew you had already seen it from outside. I was sure you would think negative about the project since Mafia boss is involved.”

They had been talking while standing. There were a few big boulders on the banks of lake, they all walked towards them and sat on them with Charu and Abhay facing criminals who were made to stand facing them. The police personnel were keeping a watch on them standing behind the nabbed people.

Vincent Uncle replied, “I can tell you everything, but first you have to ask security people to step back as this is not something which can be made public at this stage.

Charu looked at Abhay who acquiesced and asked his people to step back.

As soon as they had stepped back, Uncle Vincent’s normal demeanour came back. He asked her, “Would you like to meet Sheryl Verghese?”

The interrogation team comprising Abhay, Charu and Yuvaan was taken aback and thought that Vincent Uncle was trying to divert topic to buy time.

Charu was the first one to recover, “What kind of question is this? Sheryl has been dead and gone for a long time.”

“I guess you had seen a figure resembling you in the lake earlier. Who do you think that person is?”

Charu remembered clearly that she had seen someone who looked exactly like her before losing consciousness. Was that Sheryl Verghese? Bur how was that possible? Sheryl must be more than 120 years old by now. How could she look like her after so many years? She seemed to be of the same age as Charu herself. She could not have lived that long. She also remembered that Valiyamme had also told her that she looked like her mother. All these issues were very confusing to her mind. How could so many people look exactly alike? She wondered if she would get all the answers from Vincent Uncle.

It was very difficult to digest this information. Perhaps Vincent Uncle had lost his mental balance after being nabbed while being engaged in illegal activity.

Vincent Uncle continued, “You have to keep the project secret. If all of you promise that then I will take you all inside the building.”

None was willing to do that.

Abhay resorted to time-tested method of police interrogation. “We shall get all the answers from you. It will be in your interest to answer our queries. We shall get all the answers from the White Building.”

He looked menacingly at the captured people. He particularly fixed his gaze on Vincent.

Vincent Uncle kept quiet as if he had not heard anything.

Just then many people with guns and Taser guns emerged and immobilised Abhay’s protection staff. By holding guns to Abhay, Charu and Yuvaan they made them surrender. Abhay looked towards his staff members who were there to protect and support their efforts. They were all lying unconscious on the ground.

…..

The next thing they knew was that they found themselves captive in some place. Abhay was the first to wake up. He opened his eyes and found himself sitting on a chair fixed to the ground with his hands tied. There was very dim light, but he could see his companions. Both Charu and Yuvaan were in a position similar to his. He was wondering what happened to his team. Then he remembered that the members of his team had been immobilised. It seemed that they had not been taken captive. To his chagrin, he remembered that he had not told them anything about the White Building in the lake. 

He wondered, “Where are we?”

He was aware that they had been taken captive by Vincent Uncle’s companions. Then when he looked at his feet, he realised that it was not some ground, but some wooden surface. So they were in the white building.

Just then he heard some footsteps coming from the opposite direction. He heard a door opening which


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