The Siya Rajput Crime Thrillers Books 1-3 (Where Are They Now / Finding Her / The Bones Are Calling)

by UD Yasha

  This time, he would be closer, increasing the odds of the bullet hitting us.

  We had to act fast. A delay of even a few seconds was going to be the difference between life and death. I let my instincts take over.

  Time automatically slowed down. In most cases, five seconds is too less. But it is more than enough time when your life is on the line. In such moments, you do not make decisions. They are made for you by the amount of mental preparation and practice you have put in. I was not as well prepared as I would have been three years back. Yet the time at the shooting range had helped. Being mentally ready was even more important than actually pressing the trigger. I was confident about the mental aspect. It had been honed from the moment maa and dad went missing sixteen years ago. It had been shaped further during my years of practising law and working under Santosh Hegde.

  I held my hand steady and gripped the Glock firmly. My index finger was ready to squeeze the trigger. I tapped Radha's shoulder and beckoned her to go deeper into the forest on my intimation. We were only going to get away if we got far enough from Mangesh's line of sight. Radha shuffled to her left and got on her toes, ready to take off.

  I could only see Mangesh’s feet through the bushes. He took a step towards us. His gait was cautious and slow. He was still looking for us. He stepped forward again and then stopped. The darkness was keeping us out of his sight so far, but there was a high chance he was going to see us after taking another step.

  We had two more seconds.

  I nudged Radha. She got up and some twigs on the ground crunched when she darted towards the forest. At that exact moment, I galloped the other way, towards the road. A bolt of lightning cracked high above us, illuminating the air for a flash.

  BANG.

  A bullet whistled past me. Even at that moment, I grinned in relief. He was coming after me and not Radha. That's exactly what I had wanted him to do. I skittled across the road and went to the other side. I heard him following me.

  I got behind a tree, deeper into the forest. Far enough for the sound of his footsteps to get squashed amid the clattering of the rain. He would be wondering where I was as well. I could only see ten feet around me. I wanted to call Rahul for help. He could duck under the dashboard and drive with the headlamps off. The rain was hard enough to mask the noise of the engine. He could stay close by and take Radha. I could go with them as well if I got Mangesh.

  I could not use my phone as its screen light would give away my location. So, I pulled out the Bluetooth earpiece from my pocket. It was going to be a miracle if it was still working. I clipped it to my ear and looked around.

  There was no sign of Mangesh. I pressed a small button on the side of the earpiece that called the last dialled number. I covered the blinking blue light with my hand.

  A static sparked in my ear.

  It was working!

  The call got connected. It rang for half a second before Rahul answered.

  ‘What happened?’ he said right away. His voice came from afar. There was something wrong with the earpiece.

  ‘Drive at about fifteen kilometres per hour for about forty seconds without the headlamps,’ I said as softly as I could. ‘Flash them after that. Wait for my instructions.’

  ‘Sure,’ he said.

  BANG.

  A bullet scrammed into the bark of the tree I was behind. Mangesh had spotted me. I ducked down and went around the bark.

  ‘Siya! What happened?’ Rahul said.

  Rahul’s voice was beginning to break. I did not respond to him. The heavy rain would have masked my voice but I did not want to take a chance. I turned to look around the bark. Nothing. No movement, no sound. No sign of Mangesh.

  ‘Siya?’ Rahul said in my ear again.

  He said something else but I could not make it out because of the static. A small current pulsed in my ear, sending a dull electric spark through it. I clenched my fist and jaw to prevent a squeal from escaping my mouth. I pulled out the earpiece and threw it on the ground before it sent a larger electric current through my body. It landed in a large puddle of water a few feet away. The call would have ended right away. That would have prompted Rahul to think of the worst that could have happened.

  The road was behind me. Rahul would be reaching any time now. I could turn back and wait for him. I hoped Radha was close enough to get inside the car. I turned, holding out my Glock, ready to squeeze the trigger at the slightest movement or sound.

  A web of lightning spewed high up in the sky.

  The dark night was lit for a jiffy. That was long enough for me to spot Mangesh. I saw his silhouette turn as he looked around. He was about forty feet to my left, deeper in the forest. If I saw him, there was a high chance that he had seen me, too.

  BANG.

  I took a shot, aiming for the spot where Mangesh was standing. I did not wait to confirm whether he had been hit. It was too risky. If I had not hit him, he would have gotten a vague idea of my position. I found out soon enough.

  BANG.

  When you have been shot, you first feel the bullet snipe you in the body. By then, the pain gushing through your system is so bad, that you cannot feel anything, let alone hear the gunshot. So, I knew I was safe and alive as long as I was able to hear the gunshot.

  I bolted away from where I was when the lightning had struck and headed for the road. The rain continued to pound on my face. My brain counted the time and distance. Rahul and I would reach the road at almost the same time.

  There was only one thought in my mind. Where is Radha?

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  I kept looking towards the road for any sign of Rahul. I would be able to see the flashing headlamps even through the trees. I stopped running with the tar road a few feet away.

  I pulled out my phone to call Radha, hoping it was still working. Ten seconds of life was all I needed from it. I lay on the ground and put the phone inside my t-shirt to hide the screen backlight and also protect it from the rain. I pressed the power button. A wave of relief flowed through my body when the light came on. It was working, at least for now.

  I heaved in relief when the call went through.

  ‘Siya, where are you?’ Radha said.

  ‘I don’t have much time. The car with the flashing headlamps will be Rahul,’ I said. ‘Go with him.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘Wait for me at the highway,’ I said and clicked off before Radha could argue.

  I waited. Rahul would be here at any moment. Mangesh would see the headlamps as well. He would either start shooting at the car or go deeper into the forest. I counted on him doing the former. The car was his ticket to get away from here. I wiped water from my eyes and stared at the road. My ears tried to pick up any sound that indicated Mangesh was close by. There was nothing else apart from the unending buzz of the rain.

  The clock ticked by.

  At first, I thought I was imagining the sound. Then it became too distinct to miss. A car engine was humming. I grimaced. Something was wrong. The car sounded different. Our Honda Jazz was quieter. This sounded coarser than our Honda.

  Another noise.

  A splosh. Like someone was running on wet soil. It emanated from behind me. The person running had to be Mangesh. Still lying down, I turned to my side and instinctively gripped my Glock tighter.

  Then the headlamps of the car flashed once. Three heartbeats went by. They flashed twice again.

  It was a signal. The car was about sixty feet away. I was not entirely sure if it was Rahul. I was leaning towards it being someone else, especially with the footsteps behind me. Also, Rahul would not flash his lights in that particular pattern—rather in any pattern at all. It would have been the classic flick of flashing them twice. The engine sound grew even louder and I was convinced this was not Rahul. Maybe that’s why Mangesh is running towards it rather than firing at it.

  A thought entered my mind. Radha could very well think that is Rahul's car. Especially if she was further away than me to not b
e able to tell the engine sound apart.

  The headlamps flashed in the same pattern again. The engine became softer and then eventually stopped. The car was now about thirty feet away. I still could not see Mangesh but I could hear him. His footsteps grew louder. If I fired in the dark in the general direction of the footsteps, Mangesh's partner would be alerted. It would soon be two against one as even Mangesh would know my position. He had shown twice that he was not shy to pull the trigger at even a small whiff of a doubt.

  I waited again. I thought of calling Radha. But I was too close to the road. Radha might be close by as well. We could not afford to have our screens lit up. The footsteps behind me got louder. Mangesh was getting closer. The rain had also gotten lighter than what it was a few seconds back.

  I turned back to the road, hoping to get a closer look at the car. It was still far enough and I was staring directly into the headlamps, so I could not make out much. I looked away just as the car headlamps flickered again. I guessed the person driving it also did not know where he had to wait for Mangesh. Radha, where are you?

  The footsteps behind me faded. I shuddered. That only meant two things. Either Mangesh was on the road. Or he had stopped because he had spotted either Radha or me.

  Just then, Radha stepped on the road. I could see her only because she was in the beam of the headlamps just as they flicked on and off. My gaze moved left and right, at Radha and the car. The driver must have realized something was amiss because he turned his headlamps back on. Radha held her hands up against the blinding glare. To my horror, she stepped towards the car. She was still thinking it was Rahul.

  My heart thudded away. It felt like the energy from my hands and legs was sucked out. I got on my feet and fired a bullet at the car, shattering its windshield. With that one move, the tension escalated.

  A loud crack emanated from my right.

  Mangesh had joined the party.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  I could tell that Mangesh had fired the gun from the road. That’s why I had not been able to hear his footsteps before. His partner’s car moved further forward. Its headlamps had lit up the entire road. He had turned on the high beam to blind Radha further.

  In the distance to my left, another pair of headlamps flickered. Click, click. Twice. Just the way I thought Rahul would have flickered them in the first place. I ran towards the car, knowing that the harsh headlamps’ glare would prevent anyone in front of the car to see me because of the bright light. Whereas the view was perfect for me. I could see Radha and had a clear shot at Mangesh.

  I fired my Glock. The bullet whooshed through the air but missed my target. Radha ran into the forest again. I fired once more, but this time, it was a blind shot. I missed again. I saw Mangesh running across the light beam of the headlamps and go to the forest, in the same direction that Radha had taken.

  BANG.

  The air in front of my face moved. It was Mangesh’s partner shooting at me. It was a close shave. The bullet would have hit me if I was even one inch ahead. I was relieved but the feeling was fleeting because Radha was now in danger. I started for Mangesh’s partner’s car. That very moment, the car’s door swung open and his partner darted towards the forest.

  The rain had reduced further and was now just a stiff drizzle, allowing me to have a clean shot at him. I squeezed the trigger, aiming for the man’s leg.

  BANG.

  I did not miss this time. The bullet cut through the cold air and smashed into his ankle. I was aiming for a spot slightly higher but it was enough to stop him in his tracks. He bellowed in pain.

  More footsteps came from behind me. I turned around, holding my gun up high.

  ‘It’s me’, Rahul said.

  I jerked my head in the direction of Mangesh’s partner. ‘Take him, and wait in the car. Keep the engine running.’

  ‘Not this time,’ Rahul said, crossing to the man who was squealing on the floor. Rahul knelt down and picked up his gun that had fallen a foot across. ‘I’m coming with you this time.’

  I thought about it. It was going to be futile to argue with him then. He was not going to back down. ‘Let’s go. Shoot the bastard on sight,’ I said, starting for the forest.

  The rain had now stopped. Silence resounded. Rahul stayed five steps behind me. We walked for twenty seconds, both vigilant, trying to move soft enough on the wet forest floor while trying to spot any movement or sound.

  A man emerged from the cover of a tree trunk fifty feet ahead.

  I could recognize him as Mangesh even though I had seen him for a few fleeting seconds. He dragged Radha with him, holding a gun to her head.

  ‘Siya Rajput,’ he called out. ‘Drop your weapon now.’

  My fingers tingled as I held the Glock tighter. He had spoken to Radha. How else could he know my name? I could not feel my face for a moment. My worst fear had come true. Radha, no, not her. A picture of Radha’s grinning face from just three months back flashed in my mind. We were discussing places where she and Rahul would get married. She was so happy. She deserved so much more than her life ending so soon. I put my gun on the ground. I noticed Rahul doing the same thing.

  ‘Good job,’ Mangesh said, glaring at me. ‘Now start walking to your car. I don’t want any trouble. All you have to do to make sure you don’t act funny. I want to get away. And this woman here is my passport to escape.’ He held Radha tighter around her neck with his elbow as he said that.

  ‘This place will be swarming with cops soon,’ I said, lying. I had no idea if Rathod had called in the raid of the warehouse.

  ‘Then it’s your job to keep them away. Otherwise she dies. My instructions are simple,’ he said, and flicked his gun to beckon us to start moving. ‘No talking now. Walk straight to the car.’

  Radha’s safety was my only concern then. I obeyed Mangesh’s command, turned around and started for the car. Rahul was a couple of steps behind me. Mangesh and Radha were fifteen steps behind us.

  I knew Mangesh had no reason to keep his word. We knew what he looked like. We knew how he sounded. We were liabilities. He needed to get rid of us. We were going to die even if we followed his every command. The only way to get out of this alive was to kill him.

  I wondered if I could reduce the distance between us. I took smaller strides and walked slower. Within fifteen seconds, the forest cleared and I could see both the cars. I was sure the distance between us had been reduced from twelve to about eight steps. Any more and Mangesh would get suspicious and ask us to walk faster.

  I stopped. I would have gained one more step because of the sudden pause. I turned around. ‘Which car?’ I said and made a visual confirmation of the distance. Eight steps. I was on course. I began walking again.

  ‘My man’s car,’ Mangesh said as we stepped onto the tar road.

  His man was lying motionless on the road. He was dead, or would soon be if he did not get immediate medical attention.

  ‘Step away from the car and stop there,’ Mangesh said.

  Rahul and I followed his command once again. There was going to come a point when Mangesh would get in the car and release Radha. He was probably going to use that time to take a shot at us. His biggest challenge was hitting all three of us while trying to turn the car around. I guessed he would have reckoned the killing part was going to be easy. But he did not know I had a secret weapon jammed in my chest holster. A Glock 26. It was smaller than my first gun of choice—the Glock 19.

  Mangesh stepped closer to the car. He was still holding Radha close to him. I calculated the time the maneuver would take. I would approximately need a second and a half to pull the Glock 26 out of its holster and take the shot. Mangesh would need just a second to push Radha away, get in the car and take the shot. He would go for either Rahul or me first and then take Radha. He was going to kill us because I was going to need half a second more than him. That was all the difference between life and death.

  I took half a step to my right towards Rahul.

  ‘Leav
e her now,’ I said out loud. I leaned to my right and mouthed to Rahul, ‘Cause a big scene when he pushes Radha away.’

  Rahul looked confused for half a beat. But he got the message. Or at least I hoped.

  ‘I keep my promises,’ Mangesh said, putting his hand on the door handle.

  I observed him closely. Mangesh pushing Radha away was my cue to pull out my gun. Luckily, the rain had stopped and I could look at his hand and the way it moved. It was going to happen anytime now. I realized I could cut down the half a second lag to a fourth of a second because Mangesh was not paying attention to me. He was more focused on carrying out his plan to precision.

  Then it happened.

  Faster than I had thought. My instincts took over.

  Rahul shouted out loud the moment Radha was pushed. I pulled out my Glock 26 and squeezed the trigger twice. The window of the half open door was smashed to pieces. Blood smeared the windshield. I had hit Mangesh both times. The first shot had ripped through his shoulder and the second had smashed into his hand. I was flooded with relief.

  But just then, I realized something was extremely wrong.

  I had my Glock’s trigger twice, but there had been three gunshot sounds.

  My world came crashing down when I knew what had happened. Radha had fallen to the side. She yelled in pain. Even Mangesh had fired his gun.

  And his bullet had hit Radha.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Everything around me was spinning. My vision blurred but I could see Radha extremely clearly. She was on the ground, holding her shoulder. Her face had gone white. Her mouth was wide open as she screamed. More than pain, it was the magnitude of what had happened. The actual pain would come later. Then, the screaming would get much worse, just like the shuddering of her body.

  I ran to her.

  ‘Quick, give me your belt,’ I said to Rahul, holding out a hand as he ran next to me.