The Enemy Within

Chapter 22

The team convenes in the hotel suite to discuss the details given by Abdul Karim. Tanya is on her laptop and Jack is tucking into some Gulab Jamuns while looking at the whiteboard that Sunny is busy making a flowchart on.

Rohan reports in to the DC, "We found the first tourist, Sir. Mr. Abdul Karim from Dubai who is also a resident of Hyderabad. But he knows nothing about the murder. We got a big lead though – a Spanish singer named Juan Carlos, who was heading to Goa for a gig after the Jaisalmer trip."

He listens briefly and nods, "Yes sir, thank you... we are on it."

He turns to the team with a smile, "The DC is impressed. If we continue at this rate, we will all get promotions, maybe medals too." Sunny snorts out aloud at this and gets back to work.

In the meanwhile, Abdul Karim is sitting in his office and wrapping up work for the day, just as his secretary runs in, "Sir, we have a huge problem at the new IT park site. There are two people from the state municipal corporation who are demanding to see you."

Karim looks at her in surprise, "Demanding to see me? Why? Tell the site manager to handle it."

She nods quickly, "I just spoke with him, Sir. He has tried talking to them but they are adamant that they want to speak with the owner of the company directly. They say there are discrepancies in the construction license."

"These bloody government hacks! They are out looking for a bribe, nothing more. All our construction licenses are clear."

"Sir, what should I tell the site manager? They are threatening to put up a notice to stop construction."

Karim thinks for a moment, "Tell Finance to get me some cash from the safe. Tell the site manager to stall them till I get there." He looks at his watch, "I should be there in a half hour or so."

The secretary scuttles out of the room as Karim shakes his head in anger and mutters under his breath.

The secretary comes running in with a briefcase, "There's One Lakh Rupees in the case, Sir. Finance says that should seal the deal."

Karim nods, picks up the briefcase and leaves.

As Karim's car pulls into the construction site at 6.30 p.m., it wears a deserted look. The end of the workday bell sounds at 6 p.m. every evening and the workers head home for some well-deserved rest. Karim sees the security guard and the site manager standing at the gate. The site manager is talking to a well-dressed man and woman, both carrying briefcases. Karim puts on his game face and walks up to them smiling.

"Good evening, I'm Abdul Karim – CEO of the AK Construction Group. Hope you were not waiting too long."

Both of them look at him sullenly, like they would rather be anywhere but there. The man is the one who drugged Bakshi in the bar at Jaisalmer and the woman is the dancer who had enticed Bakshi onto the dance floor there. Both of them look completely different in their urban makeover.

The woman pulls out some papers from her briefcase, "Mr. Karim, we have some documents here that are not matching with the permissions you have taken. We need to survey your site to see if things are going as per the proposed development plan that was submitted."

Karim nods and smiles understandingly, "I'm sure we can sort out that little matter."

He pats his briefcase and nods. He hands over some money to the site manager, "Take the driver and get us some refreshments while we discuss this matter."

The site manger nods in understanding and leaves as the security guard also hurries to the opposite end of the vast complex to give them space for the delicate negotiation.

Karim smiles again, "So let's sort out this little matter, shall we sit in the site office?"

The man nods but then points at the construction site, "Let us see the site first, and then decide. Take us up there."

Karim decides to play along, so they go into the construction elevator and up to the top floor of the building, currently around 6 stories high. The man and the woman split up and walk in opposite directions looking around. Karim hurries after the woman, "Why don't we go down to the site office and discuss this? I'm sure you will find everything satisfactory." He pats his briefcase again and smiles.

The woman nods, "Things seem to be ok here. Where is the site office?"

Karim turns around and points over the edge of the building, "Just over there. I'm sure we can settle matters amicably."

The woman smiles at him coldly and looks around "Ok Mr. Karim, you go on down. I'll wait for my partner to come back. He has wandered off."

She walks with him to the construction elevator and waits till Karim goes in and closes the door. He presses the down button and the elevator starts to move down. Suddenly the elevator rattles violently and plunges straight down the façade and crashes into the concrete below.

The woman looks over the edge at the mangled remains of the elevator just as the man swings himself down from the elevator housing. He quickly puts a pair of screwdrivers, wire cutters and pliers into his briefcase.

Both of them hurry down the stairs, past the contorted elevator and see Karim lying still in a pool of blood. On their way out, the man pulls out his cell phone, dials a number and says two words, "Karim, terminated."