The Enemy Within

Chapter 19

For the first time since the mission began, there is a genuine thrill of expectancy in the air that night. The team is finally beginning to believe that they could crack this case wide open. The information that Bakshi provided them with; could be the key to opening up a lot of avenues and now all of them are buzzing with excitement and ideas in the hotel suite.

Tanya and Jack are banging away on their laptops, while Sunny is busy charting out a timeline on a specially ordered whiteboard, drawing all connecting lines with a ruler much to the amusement of Tanya. Rohan is giving the DC an update on the phone.

Walking up and down the room, Rohan gestures excitedly, "Yes sir, it was a tough one to crack, but we finally located the driver of the Mahindra Thar – Mr. Bakshi. He confirmed there were 4 tourists in the car and they all saw Alan falling down the dune. They were all scared out of their wits and ran away from the spot. He reported the incident to the Border Police. We also got the name of one of the tourists in the car that evening – a construction tycoon named Abdul Karim from Dubai."

He listens and nods his head, "Yes Sir, we are on it. He has taken a flight to Hyderabad yesterday. We will be heading there tomorrow. Mr. Bakshi's address is..."

The DC listens to the report and makes his own notes, "Good job Rohan. His statement validates what we know. The Border Police reported that they were aware of the incident, we told them to leave it to us. This is a good first step - Keep me updated." He puts down the phone and is lost in thought.

At that moment, Bakshi walks into his regular bar. The waiters greet him warmly and he waves to some of the regulars there. He settles down at his favourite charpoy and gets comfortable for the nightly music show, taking a sip of the drink that is brought to him. Just then another man walks in and looks around. Seeing that the place is nearly full, he walks up to Bakshi's table and gestures if he can join him. Bakshi is in high spirits and tells him to sit down. The lights go low and a sexy dancer comes onto the floor. The music starts thumping and Bakshi cheers loudly.

As the show continues, Bakshi begins to enjoy himself. The dancer is a new girl, whom he has never seen before and she gyrates next to him. He is entranced by her moves and he gets up to dance too, whistling and clapping. Unseen by him, the man sitting at his table surreptitiously slips something into his drink. Bakshi returns to the table and gulps the drink down. He sways back to the floor to join the dance. The man gets up and leaves without anyone noticing, as the dancer and her moves keep everyone mesmerised.

Suddenly Bakshi staggers on the dance floor and is caught in time by one of the waiters; who shakes his head laughing. He offers him some water. Bakshi gulps it down and splashes some on his face. He shakes his head clear, then smiles, pays off his tab and staggers towards his car. He gets in and drives off.

He doesn't notice a car waiting at the turn as he passes by. The car quietly starts to follow him with its headlights turned off. Bakshi shakes his head again, peering hard through the windscreen as things start getting blurred. Suddenly everything goes black and he collapses on the steering wheel. The car screeches off the road and rams into an electric pole. The pole crashes down on the car and it explodes. As Bakshi's car catches fire, the same car that followed him passes by slowly.

It stops ahead of the burning car and the man who was at Bakshi's table looks out of the window casually, then pulls out a cell phone and dials a number while still staring at the burning car.

As soon as the phone is answered he says, "Bakshi, Terminated."