BALI 100 KM (Book 1) ✔

Chapter 53

Sakhi was quite surprised at the statement the man who stood before her made. But his subsequent sentence stunned her.

"I have been following you for long and trying to get my hands on them," he said, surprising her even more.

"You were following me? But..., no one knew about the research..., except me..., and..." she was interrupted.

"Pooja," the leader completed her sentence with a grin on his face. Miss Sakhi's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Yes...Pooja,..., my assistant. Do you know her? But she left my services long ago all of a sudden, leaving me a note, saying..., that some urgent family matter required her attention. I..., I..., never heard anything from her..., after that. How do..., you know..., her?" said Miss Sakhi trying to recall the incident.

"She will never contact you again," he said with that smug grin on his face.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because people don't come back after they are dead, do they?" the grin on his face suddenly disappeared and turned into a devilish snare.

"Dead!! But..., you..., you killed her..., but why..., whatever did she do to you?" Sakhi couldn't help but scream at her adversary.

"She found out my real intention. She was in love with me, but I just used her to get to the papers'. Poor girl, she was so happy about her work with you. She used to go on and on and on..., until she reached the treasure part..., which got me interested, you see..., so I played the lover..., to get hold of the documents and be rich. Then she found out my real intention. She was going to tell you about me, but before that, I..., stopped her,"

"You are a monster!!!" She screamed, "You deserve to die. It was a horrible thing to do,"

"Horrible!" he jumped out of his chair and took a few paces towards her. "Horrible, you say, your father was killed for it, madam," his laughter boomed in the room.

This news shocked Miss Sakhi to silence. Bandu could see tears shimmering in her eyes and then flowing down her cheeks. The death of her father astounded Bandu too. He was unable to understand the direction the conversation was taking.

"My father?!!!" she managed to say. The storm was raging inside her and it ravaged her heart and soul. Bandu perfectly understood her feeling as he had been through it himself. He could do nothing to console her. But there were more secrets that remained hidden. 

"Yes, madam, your father...poor fellow...paid the price for not cooperating. Now both of you, as I see, is going the same way," he said and moved back to his original place. 

He whipped out a gun from behind him and aimed it at Bandu. Both hostages went open-mouthed with fear. The leader had a satisfied look on his face.

"Now, who would be the first one to die? Bandu...," he began to advance menacingly with his gun strained at Bandu when a commotion outside the door interrupted him. He turned in that direction aiming the gun at the door.

The door opened with a force, and two men rushed into the room, holding another, half-struggling man in their midst. Bandu could not get a clear view of the hostage as the light was too low, and, also the leader stood in the way.

"This man was intruding, boss. He had a gun with him too, but we managed to knock him down," one of the men said.

"Tie him up!" the leader snapped angrily, "And comb the area for more intruders, be on alert everyone and keep this door locked till we come back," the leader instructed the men and left.

The men tied up the semi-conscious man onto a chair further away from the other two victims. He struggled while being tied up, so much so that the irritated men punched him on the stomach to quieten him, eliciting only a groan from his lips. Only when they fisted him on his nose were they able to control him. After tying him up securely, they all exited the room, locking it as per instructions.

The room fell into silence. Miss Sakhi was in a state of despair after hearing about her father's death. There were fresh tears on her face, Bandu noticed and felt sad. Bandu looked at the newest member in the room who was sitting with his head hung down.

"Hello!" Bandu called out, "Who are you?" he asked.

The man slowly looked up and tried to locate the voice he heard. Bandu saw a face half-covered in blood from a gash on his forehead and the bleeding nose, but after a moment, what he saw stunned him.