The COMPLETE Siya Rajput Crime Thrillers (Books 1 to 4)

by UD Yasha

  Radha said, ‘Just as you’re trying to think like him, he could also put himself in your position and cross the road.’

  It was a valid point. A damn good one, in fact. I thought about it for a flash. ‘Let’s still go to the other side of the road,’ I said, realizing I had to play the odds.

  Rathod had said the warehouse was about ten minutes from the spot where we had parked our cars. We had walked for six minutes from the car. That gave us roughly four to five minutes before Mangesh got close to where we were. If we planned this well, we would be able to get him before he reached the highway. We began running to cross to the other side.

  I wondered how close Rathod’s men were to securing the warehouse and rescuing the children being held there. From what Rathod had said, it was not looking great. Radha and I continued running. I was counting the time in my head. We had three minutes to reach the main road. Mangesh was going to need four. I was trying to figure out what we were going to do if we spotted him. I realized that I held my Glock tighter as I thought about it. At that moment, a thought that had been obvious all along hit me. I did not care if we got him alive or dead. I could not let anything happen to Radha or Rahul. My first responsibility was to protect them.

  I began thinking about Mangesh again. He would not be expecting anyone else to be in the woods, let alone two women. We had to use that element of surprise in our favour. But we also did not know if he had people waiting for him outside. I hoped Rahul would not find anyone waiting on the road. I desperately wanted him to take my advice of not engaging with Mangesh or his associates. Knowing Rahul, there was a high chance, he would not listen to me or Radha, not when he knew we were in danger.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

  A noise.

  What was that?

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  My entire body went cold.

  I recognized the source of the sound and heaved a sigh of relief. It was the sky. Roaring and thundering. I looked up. Only parts of it were visible amid the dense trees. It lit up and the clouds roared. I held Radha’s hand tighter. The timer in my head told me we were about sixty seconds from the road.

  ‘We’ll split once we get to the other side,’ I said to Radha. ‘If Mangesh gets us, one of us should be able to strike back or call for help.’

  She nodded her head.

  ‘It’s going to be alright,’ I said. ‘I’m going to look to eliminate Mangesh. You need to cover for me by going deeper into the forest. It's safer there as well as he won’t go too far into it. In case something happens to me, please stay hidden and wait for Rathod to come.’

  ‘Don’t speak like that,’ Radha said.

  ‘Prepare for the worst and hope for the best,’ I said. ‘We need to cover all the bases.'

  We ran faster, our feet sloshing on the wet ground as we went further in the general direction of the highway. The trees and shrubbery became sparser the closer we got to the road. I pulled out my phone and called Rahul.

  ‘I haven’t been able to see any other car here,’ he said right after answering the call.

  ‘Alright, good,’ I said, thinking that Mangesh would have to go to the highway on foot. I told Rahul about the new plan of waiting for Mangesh at the point where the road met the highway.

  ‘You’ve got to be careful,’ I said. ‘I repeat, do not engage with him. If he gets in a car on the highway, follow him from a safe distance.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own?’ Rahul said.

  ‘Don’t worry about us,’ I said and hung up.

  Our speed was hampered by the slippery mud and low branches that scraped our bodies. We eventually reached the tar road. I took heart in knowing that the road was dead straight and dark. Just as we would not be able to see Mangesh unless he was close, even he would not be able to see us. The pattering rain gave us some leeway with the noise of our footsteps as well. I realized it was going to be very easy to get lost. It was as if the same trees and darkness that we had just walked by were around us.

  ‘Change in plan. Let’s stick together,’ I said to Radha.

  I estimated we were still about ten minutes from the highway. We crossed the road and went to the forest on the other side. It was more of the same with hundreds of trees and branches bowing down. I hoped Mangesh did not have the same idea. We continued running parallel to the road. I gazed to my right, into the woods across the road trying to spot Mangesh.

  All I could see was darkness.

  The rain’s intensity lessened. The night grew silent, except for the sound of our feet as they sloshed against the damp ground. I became aware of my surroundings. I was not sure if it was my paranoia or whether the thumping of our footsteps was being carried across a longer distance. As my heart beat louder with every passing moment, I strained my ears to notice other sounds.

  I took Radha's hand and slowed down. Radha raised her eyebrows, as if asking me, ‘What's the matter?' We eventually stopped. I pursed my lips and closed my eyes. Insects chirred around us. We had disturbed their sleep.

  No sign of Mangesh.

  I could not help but feel that something was wrong. I had made a big assumption that Mangesh would come to the road at some point and then go to the highway. Had I been wrong? I looked around again. I could make out the outlines of trees in the distance but could see nothing more with any clarity. A gentle breeze swept the forest floor, making the leaves rustle ever so softly.

  Just then, a movement across the road drew my attention.

  ‘Did you see that?’ I whispered to Radha, dropping a knee to the ground. ‘Get low.’

  ‘What?’ Radha said.

  We crawled behind a large tree trunk and waited. All our senses were on high alert. Was I hearing things? I wanted to be cautious but not paranoid. We stayed low and looked around. Radha swept her gaze on our side of the forest while I turned the other way. The clock in my head ticked away. We were losing time. It had been five minutes since we had crossed the road. Whatever advantage of time we would have had over Mangesh was now gone. That also meant he had to be somewhere close by.

  ‘Let’s go,’ I whispered to Radha.

  Holding hands, we got on our feet again. I realized that if I were Mangesh, I would not mind getting on the road as it was dead dark. Running on the tar would be faster and quieter as well.

  We started towards the highway once again with Radha looking to her left while I looked to my right, across the road. Suddenly, bolts of lightning stretched across the dark sky, revealing the tar-black clouds for a jiffy. A wild roar followed—the loudest I had ever heard clouds rumble. A beat went by and the sky began spitting out rain. The trees above us shook violently.

  I looked around. More darkness. A stiff breeze smacked our faces. The sound of rain blurred into one loud and unending rattle as it began coming down in sheets. We stopped. We had no choice. We could not see anything around us. I put my Bluetooth earpiece in my pocket, wondering if it was ever going to work again.

  I squinted into the night. We had to get to the road somehow, I thought. There was no way we were going to be able to move forward quickly enough in the forest when it was raining so heavily.

  I realized Mangesh would also not be able to move fast enough through the forest. He would now look to come to the road if he hadn’t already. Drops of rain speared into our faces and eyes as we moved forward towards the road. I could only see a few feet ahead of us.

  Still, no sign of Mangesh.

  But that was not comforting. With the heavy rain, we would not have been able to see him even if he was ten steps behind us.

  I pulled Radha closer. A sinking uneasy feeling crawled through my stomach. Once again, I wished that Radha had been at home and not with me. We kept running. The clock in my head told me we were about four minutes from the highway.

  Just then, an ear-splitting sound cracked the air.

  I knew that sound far too well.

  A gunshot.

  My instincts took over.
In the rain, I could not locate the shot’s origin. I dove to my left to get away from the road, dragging Radha with me. We landed hard on the small stray rocks, grass and mud. The impact should have stung but we felt nothing because of the larger danger present right in front of us.

  I narrowed my eyes to double check if I was seeing correctly. My heart pounded. A chill ran up my spine and the side of my neck.

  At that moment, I knew we were in deep trouble.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Mangesh was standing about thirty feet away. He was holding a gun in his outstretched arm. He had lost us after we had ducked into the shallow bushes by the side of the road. We had maybe five more seconds before he was close enough to spot us again and pull the trigger.

  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 little. 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. We were only going to get away if we got out of 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 hiding us 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 slammed into the bark of the tree I was behind. Mangesh had spotted me. I ducked down and went around the bark of the tree.

  ‘Siya! What happened?’ Rahul said.

  Rahul’s voice was beginning to break. I did not respond to him. The heavy rain might have masked my voice but I did not want to take a chance. I turned to look around the tree. 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 drumming 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 slosh. 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 instin
ctively 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—or 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 and not 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 Mangesh would also know my position. He had shown twice that he was not shy about pulling 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 too far 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?