The Deadly Match

by Kishan Paul

  Suspicion continued to wrap around his spine with every passing second. He was missing something. He continued scanning, waiting for the all clear to head to the back and escort her out of the building. An all clear that seemed to be taking longer than necessary. “Om. Report.”

  Silence.

  His pulse rose a few beats. “Om?”

  He scrutinized the overcrowded hall. “Sai, I need eyes in the back room.”

  Again, no response.

  His heart raced to an erratic beat, and his pulse pounded against his ears. When his gaze locked with Raz’s, concern flashed across the younger op who tugged on his earlobe indicating his comms were down as well.

  The world stopped moving. Like the waves at high tide, understanding and dread crashed into him. Eddie pivoted to the stage behind him. He rushed toward it, jumping on to the elevated surface. He sprinted to the back room, praying he was wrong.

  The door was locked. He slammed his shoulder into it until the resistance gave way on his third attempt.

  The scene that awaited him on the other side surged a new wave of terror through him. Om and another guard lay sprawled out on the floor, the back door wide open. He scanned for her, his legs weakening at the realization she was nowhere to be found.

  “Om!” He slid to his knees beside the body and pressed his fingers over the man’s carotid. He was rewarded with the rhythmic pulsing against his skin. When he scanned the operative for injuries, he found an empty syringe on the floor beside him.

  “Fuck,” Raz hissed from behind.

  Eddie climbed to his feet. “He’s drugged but has a heartbeat. Check the other one. Find out what was in the vial.” He headed to the exit. “And see what the fuck happened to the rest of the team.”

  He shot out the door, the bright sun blinding him the instant it hit his eyes. He pressed his hand over his brows and squinted, surveying the scene around him.

  A sidewalk lined the side of the building. Parallel to it stretched a narrow street, but it was blocked by a construction crew. A crew who currently argued with four uniformed officers. Across the street, he gazed upon a parking lot filled to capacity.

  People, mostly students, wandered along the walkway. Several stood in clumps eating their free meals and talking among themselves. None of them were the person he searched for, and to make a bad situation worse, his team had still not responded.

  Eddie pressed on the button of his earpiece as he searched for her. “Comms check,” he yelled.

  Perspiration beaded along his hairline as he scanned. Curses escaped his lips while he tried to rein in his labored breathing with each passing second. In the far distance, he spotted the bright red flash of color and ran toward it.

  He weaved through the masses, scanning the hundreds who filled the sidewalk, shoving them aside as he made his way around to the front of the building. There were too many people. Too much noise. A group congregated by the door to the main entrance, waiting to have their mouths swabbed.

  He pulled out one of his cells and dialed Sai. It rang, but no one answered. At least twenty people deep ahead of him, he caught another glimpse of the splash of red. She turned a corner. He shoved his way through the masses, and an eternity later, turned the same corner the red disappeared around and ran.

  Eddie raced up the steps leading to the main entrance of the building two by two for a better view. When he laid eyes on her, the noose of terror tightened around his throat, erasing all other emotion.

  Rafi and Adil escorted her. Each of them gripped her arm while a third followed close behind. They moved toward a silver van parked at the end of the street.

  A van Eddie knew he needed to stop her from entering. He pulled out his weapon, pressed it against his hip, and raced down the stairs in the direction of the vehicle. The bodies around him, deterrents from his goal of reaching her. He shoved several out of the way as he moved, but only made it a few feet when the screams began.

  “He has a gun!”

  Eddie ignored the announcements and weaved through the masses. The first cry multiplied as the voices of others joined it. The words were yelled it in both Hindi and English. The sea of obstacles parted, giving him a clear view to her.

  Adrenaline had his legs pumping harder. Deep in his gut, he feared he wouldn’t make it.

  The chorus of “he’s got a gun” were soon joined by the piercing peals of police whistles.

  Hands grabbed at the back of Eddie’s shirt.

  Something hard slammed against his shoulder.

  He shrugged them off and continued forward.

  Rafi met his gaze just before the piece of shit climbed in the back of the van with Alisha and slammed the back doors shut. The last thing he saw, before a heavy weight slammed against the back of his knees making his legs buckle, was Adil climbing in the driver’s seat.

  The force of the mass slamming into him had Eddie’s knees crashing on to the cement pavement. Another body crashed onto his back. His chest collided with the ground, shoving all the oxygen out of his lungs. They yanked his arms, restraining his wrists behind him. He didn’t hear a word the officers said, his focus entirely on the silver vehicle shrinking into a tiny speck in the distance until the crowd encircled them, blocking his view.

  The number of khaki pants around him multiplied. The pain consuming him had nothing to do with the heavy iron bound batons assaulting his back, head, legs, any part of him they could connect with. His pain stemmed from the agonizing realization that he’d lost her.

  Razaa shoved his way to the front of the crowd while the police dragged him away.

  “She’s in a silver van,” he yelled as the officers pulled him backward. “License number Delta Lima 6 Foxtrot Alpha 44934.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  THE VAN

  They no longer moved along the highway. The half hour in the back of the van had been grueling, but the particular patch of road the vehicle trekked was exceptionally uneven and bumpy, tossing the contents in the back cabin around like kernels of dried corn in a heated pot. Ally’s fingers throbbed from the vise grip she had on the lip of the metal bench beneath her legs. It was the only way she’d managed to stay in her seat through the rocky trip. From the thuds and grunts a few feet away, the man beside her struggled to do the same.

  She felt each turn, listened for clues from the world outside the windowless vehicle, and tried to make sense of the muffled conversations of the men in the cabin on the other side of the metal wall she leaned against. They’d bound her wrists and ankles, then covered her head with a burlap bag as soon as the van’s doors closed and started its journey. Her other senses were all she had to glean some control in a situation where she had so very little.

  A steady stream of fear crawled up her spine and reverberated through her veins. The fear wasn’t about her own survival as much as of the others.

  Did I make the right decision? The question plagued her since she’d said yes to the plan the night before. She hadn’t agreed to the man on the phone when he first suggested it. In fact, she’d hung up on him. It wasn’t until she’d talked to Omar and he admitted he was the mole, she knew this was the only way and contacted the man, agreeing to his terms. All of which meant deceiving Omar, Eddie, and the others. To do the exact opposite of what they had instructed her to do.

  She allowed Omar to believe he’d take her away as soon as her speech was completed. His desire to protect her would have gotten him killed. Instead, the last thing she saw when she left the building was her son and the other guard on their backs unconscious, betrayed by one of the operatives assigned to protect her. And now, seated in the back of the van, she couldn’t stop wondering if her choices had just cost him and the other man their lives.

  All because she agreed to a plan with a faceless man on the other end of the phone. A man she didn’t know, but who knew her well enough to understand what it would take to lure her away from the protection Eddie and the boys provided: a meeting with Wassim and a promise to not only help her
son but to protect other lives if she complied.

  Soon she’d find out if his words were truth or lies. Images of Razaa and Jayden filled her mind, only to be followed by the picture Omar showed her of the rest of her boys. She sucked in a hot breath and held it.

  She released the breath only to take in another one. So far, there were more doubts than hope. The corded rope restraining her wrists and ankles cut into her skin, making her flinch. However, the thick burlap over her head caused her the most distress. Each movement made the stiff fibers at the base slice deeper into the soft flesh of her neck. An effective restraint, not only did it block out the light, but also ventilation, increasing the temperature within to unbearable levels. Sweat dampened her scalp, pasting each strand of hair to her skin, and drenched her face. The salty liquid spilled into the wounds around her neck, intensifying the burn of the cuts. When she tried to wipe the moisture away, the stiff fibers of the burlap dug deeper in her wounds. She bit her lip and groaned in spite of herself.

  The person beside her shifted closer. The feel of his leg pressed against hers sent another shudder through her. Ally pushed off the seat just as the vehicle went over another bump. Her entire right side ignited in fire when her body slammed against the hard metal floor. Before the heat of her injuries finished shooting through her, the van raced over another bump, sending her airborne and dropping her body a second time on the hard surface. Her head and hip burned while she winced in agony.

  The stranger’s hand wrapping around her arm had her screaming and scrambling to get as far away from him as possible.

  “What the fuck is going on back there?” a voice yelled from the other side of the wall her back now pressed against.

  “Our heroine is attempting her great escape. How much longer before we’re there?”

  Her breath hitched. The man in the back was close, but his proximity wasn’t the reason she stopped fighting the hands now gripping her arms and lifting her to her feet. She allowed him to guide her back to her seat.

  “Ten minutes,” Adil yelled back.

  The stranger tugged on the sides of the head covering. “May I?”

  “I’m trusting you to keep me alive,” she whispered.

  He laughed softly. “I wondered how long it would take for you to figure it out.”

  Light flooded her vision when the sack slipped off her head. Like a soothing balm, the air-conditioned air chilled her slick skin. The man situated himself beside her, the burlap in one hand. Unruly thick wavy black hair sat atop his head, and his dark eyes watched her, as if waiting for her next move.

  “Omar and the other man in the dressing room?”

  “They’re okay.”

  The image of her unconscious son played on repeat in her brain since the incident. His confirmation eased some of the guilt suffocating her. She leaned the back of her head against the side of the van and filled her lungs.

  “Enjoy the air while you can. I will have to cover you in about seven minutes.” He pulled out a handkerchief from his jean pocket and mopped her face dry.

  “You didn’t know where we were going until Adil told you, did you?”

  He paused mid-wipe and then returned to drying off her cheek. “No.”

  Ally turned her face so he could continue patting down the length of her cheek. “But you have people in there waiting for us?”

  He leaned over and focused on her other cheek. “Not at the moment…but I will.”

  His assurance only heightened her apprehension. She grabbed the cotton cloth from him and patted off the moisture from the burns on her neck. Her bound hands made the process challenging but not impossible.

  He pulled at her wrists. “Here, let me.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean.” She lowered her arms on to her lap and allowed him to search for the knot on the restraint.

  “There are a lot of doors in this situation. All of them closed tight, much like this knot,” he said while working the bindings. “But of course, every lock has a key.” He pulled on the fastening. “In this case, you are the master key.”

  While he loosened her bindings, his descriptions only tightened the knots in her stomach. “In other words, you are using me.”

  He paused as if considering her words and then continued his task. “I am using you. Up until now, Wassim refused to meet with me. And the only reason he agreed is because I offered to bring you to him. Now we are en route to the ring I’ve spent months searching for, another door you’ve opened, for a face-to-face with Wassim.”

  Most of what he said didn’t surprise her. She understood her role in the mission. Ally swallowed the dread building within her and asked the question that had plagued her since the chat had begun. “You don’t have anyone working for you on the inside, do you?”

  “No.” He pulled one of the cords loose from the knot and began to tug another. “Not yet, anyway. Later tonight, there will be people in there. People whose sole responsibility will be to get you out safe, apprehend Wassim, and free any other innocents he has caged inside.”

  She nodded her understanding. “Eddie and his team are tracking me.”

  “Another door your presence will open.” The man tipped his head toward the front of the vehicle. “But if you don’t keep your voice low, they’ll put a deadbolt on the door and kill us both.”

  “Is Eddie aware of what’s happening?”

  He grinned and loosened the ropes around her wrists. “Now he is.”

  She rubbed the welts and cuts on her skin beneath the fibers. “He’ll kill you.”

  “He’ll have to show up first, now won’t he?” The stranger reached to the floor and picked up a bottle of water. “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  Ally watched him twist open the lid. When he offered her the drink, she licked her parched lips and shook her head. “I don’t even know your name.”

  He shrugged at her refusal and took a swallow from the bottle. “Rafi, but unless you want me dead, I suggest you not call me anything and consider me one of them.” He eyed her. “Another door I need to enter. In order to do so, I will have to be a royal ass to you.” He offered her the bottle a second time. “If you’re going to drink you better hurry. We’re almost there.”

  The cool liquid soothed her parched tongue and coated her dry throat.

  Rafi leaned closer. “So, I have to ask. What made you change your mind?”

  Ally stared at the bottle in her hands.

  Lies. Betrayal. Hope. So many reasons.

  “You.” The night before, after Rafi explained how things would play out over the next twenty-four hours, she refused his request for assistance and hung up on him. She needed time to process the information.

  Eddie lied. Again. He never intended for her to attend the drive. As much as his deception frustrated her, she understood why. With him doubting his own team and his need to protect her, he managed to come up with a way to keep her safe and draw out Wassim at the same time. Her arrival at the nursing building sent a clear message. A message Wassim would be unable to ignore. While he hunted her at the event, Eddie would hunt both Wassim and the leak, both of which would occur while she’d be safe on a plane out of the country.

  Rafi pointed out the problem with Eddie’s plan. Wassim. He received the message they sent, but he’d planned a different response. One significantly more destructive than any of them imagined. The information played a role in her reconsidering her refusal, but it was her talk with Omar that motivated her to call Rafi. “The girl you told me about on the phone. I trust you will help her get away.”

  “I gave you my word.” He scrutinized her. “The sacrificial lamb, so ready to stretch out her neck for the glory of another.”

  Ally took another drink and didn’t respond.

  “Adil’s gone to a lot of trouble to offer you up to Wassim, and from what I’m hearing, our mighty leader can’t wait to slit your throat. But you knew that when you said yes.”

  The muffled voices from the front floated to her
ears. Ally stared at the bottle in her hand as she thought about Adil driving her to her supposed death. “My reasons for saying yes aren’t important.”

  “When I promised you I’d take care of you last night, I meant it. If I don’t, there are about half a dozen or so men who will find me and skin me alive.”

  She surveyed the rusty wall dividing her from the driver. “And there are two in this van who will do the same to you if I make it out of here alive.”

  “It seems that way, doesn’t it?” He chuckled. “I hate to do this, but I need to tighten these ropes now. We should be there soon enough. Here. Press your elbows against your sides so we can have slack.” He rewound the ropes around her wrists. “I’m afraid this is the most help I can give you. Once you’re inside there, you’re on your own. Until your boyfriend shows up to save the day.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  BRIBES

  Eddie climbed out of the back of the police van his ass had been tossed in an hour earlier. While Raz handed out crisp new two-thousand-rupee bills to the arresting officers, Sin batted her lashes and flirted with them. His head throbbed partly because of the impact of being tossed face-first onto the floorboard of the vehicle and partly because of the fists and iron-clad batons the officers slammed against his head and back, but mostly because he’d let it happen…again.

  He scanned the cars whizzing past on the street and took in the cement towers filling the Mumbai skyline. Hidden among the haystack of twenty-two million residents, their cars, and their buildings was his one needle. And each of the sixty-plus minutes he sat in the police car, the needle fell deeper in the fucking stack of hay. Which was why he’d spent all of it muscles tight, fists clenched, and fuming as she moved farther out of his reach. In a city this big, in the hands of a man like Wassim who had eluded him for years, how the hell was he going to find her?

  She was still alive. He felt it in his being that her heart still pumped. But seeing her alive would be a lot better than feeling it. The images of what she might be going through and the various ways they might kill her had been on a constant drip in his brain since the moment the van drove away with Alisha in it. Other images also played in his mind, the one of her climbing into the silver vehicle without resistance. Their kiss the night before. He’d seen it as an act of sympathy for the confession he’d made. But now he knew different. She was saying goodbye.