The Enemy Within

Chapter 15

Jaisalmer – 2nd March – 9 a.m.

The smell of spring was in the air. The border city of Jaisalmer was just getting ready for its burst of morning activity. The hawkers at the markets were stacking up their wares and the aromas of tea and breakfast snacks were wafting through the air.

But none of this seemed to matter to a team of 4 people sitting huddled up in a hotel suite just off the main thoroughfare. Sipping on tea and coffee, munching on sandwiches, the N.I.A. team was already hard at work on the case.

Pacing up and down clutching his mug of coffee, Rohan looks at the others, "Ok, so here's what we know... we know that a tourist vehicle was at the spot – it was a Mahindra Thar."

"And..." He stops and looks at the others for dramatic effect, "And... and nothing!! Absolutely no other information – it's completely insane. So how do we go about finding this mystery vehicle and the people inside? Any ideas?"

Sunny is looking relaxed, munching on a sandwich, which he uses as a pointer. "We can't go around asking all the travel agents. There are way too many of them and they will become suspicious."

Rohan frowns at him, "Thanks for stating the obvious, Sherlock. Everything we do, has to be strictly undercover."

Jack looks up from his laptop. He picks up a slice of toast and slathers it with Nutella chocolate spread. He points at them with the chocolate covered knife, "Even if we find the travel agent, it will be tough to get the names out from them. We need to cook up some kind of story, no one will divulge personal information just because we are asking."

Tanya looks up from her coffee mug, staring at his slice of toast, "How the heck can you eat so much sweet stuff so early in the morning?"

Jack ignores her and chomps on his toast with relish, "This is probably my most favourite breakfast of all time. And eating, especially sweet stuff gets my brain ticking over. They say chocolate releases endorphins which stimulate the brain."

"How do you manage to stay so slim then?" She points to the smart watch on her wrist, "I have to track my calories, maintain my workout schedule, all that just to stay in some kind of shape."

Jack waves the toast at her nonchalantly, "It's all in the genes, my dear. And strong metabolism... Anyways, let's concentrate on the problem."

All of them get back to thinking, drinking coffee and munching on their breakfast.

Tanya suddenly snaps her fingers in excitement, "Listen up, I have an idea. Why don't we say we work for one of the guys who were in the car and he left something in the car by mistake?"

All 3 guys stare at her for a minute. Jack slowly nods while chewing on his toast, Sunny points his sandwich at her and nods in agreement, "Could work! What's the backstory?"

Tanya, thinking for a minute, " Well... ah... maybe a mobile phone left behind by mistake?"

Rohan shakes his head, "Nah... too obvious – and no one can go so long without one... people live on their phones nowadays."

Jack licks the chocolate of his fingers, "How about reading glasses left on the seat by mistake? We could be tasked with bringing back the boss' glasses – he is handicapped without them!"

Tanya nods, "I like that approach – makes for a believable story too."

All of them nod in agreement.

"So how do we move forward on this?" she asks to no one in particular.

Rohan gets up and starts pacing again, "Well, for starters get us a database of all the travel agencies in the area and let's call them and find out which one of them lends out vehicles for the evening desert safaris."

Tanya gets down to banging keys on her laptop while the others set up a work area to make the calls. As morning turns into evening, the team works diligently, narrowing down the list until they finally get a shortlist ready.

Rohan stands up and stretches, then picks up the paper, "Ok, so we have narrowed down the list to eight travel agents in the area who hire out jeeps for the evening desert safari and each one of them had at least one of their cars out yesterday."

Tanya looks at him, "So, what's the next step?"

Rohan winks at the others, "Tomorrow, you become the secretary and visit all eight places. Use your charm to find out which agency it was and the name of the driver."

Tanya starts to stutter, "But... but... why me?" She wrings the watch on her wrist, a nervous tick.

"Consider it an initiation into the team – and it will help you understand field work too. Don't worry, we will be on hand in case of any trouble."

Before Tanya can answer Sunny butts in, "Now that's a good day's work, people. Let's welcome Tanya to the team and go out for a drink."

Tanya looks at him in surprise, "You want to party when we are just starting off on such a critical mission?"

Sunny laughs out loud as he keeps the laptops at right angles to each other and the pens in the pen stand, "My dear girl, welcome to the real world. Nothing more can be achieved till the offices open tomorrow morning. We cannot knock on locked doors and ask questions. Another thing you will learn about us – apart from Jack's weird eating habits and my OCD – is that we work our butts off and then we play hard too! You coming?"

The 3 guys laugh out loud and get up.

Tanya thinks for a minute, as they wait by the door for her to make up her mind. She sighs dramatically, shuts her laptop and walks up to them smiling, "If you can't beat them, join them."