The Enemy Within

Chapter 37

Kumar paces the hangar telling his story. Everyone is listening with rapt attention.

"Then I remembered the story you told me at one of our drinking sessions. That Alan and you had come up with a secret code. I figured that the only person who could break the code was you – assuming it was the same code, of course. But I had one major obstacle to face and that was Chief Khan. He already had a sniff that there was a mole within the system."

Kumar stares at Rohan, "He had to be out of the way before you could be sent on the mission. So I arranged for an accident to happen. My only regret, it wasn't permanent." He smiles grimly.

"Then I had my trusted lieutenant Chopra manoeuvre the DC, insisting that you were the best man for the mission and get you to do your best sniffer hound impersonation."

Chopra grins at Rohan. Rohan glares back at him.

"We made arrangements to have all the witnesses killed, as there should be no trail left in this operation. We had made it clear that Alan was the mole, and we could not let a bunch of idiotic tourists give any evidence otherwise. Of course, my masterstroke was planting Anu on your team just before the mission. She was in love with my son Rahul – they were to get married. She also wanted vengeance for his death and agreed to work with me."

Kumar pats Anu on the shoulder and she smiles at him affectionately.

Rohan looks at her feeling both humiliated and angry.

"All men have a weakness for pretty women, Rohan. So I decided to play on your one and only weakness. Her job was to woo you with her charms and play up the damsel in distress role. She had to make sure she was with you every step of the way till the data on the chip was recovered."

He points to Anu's watch, "A built-in tracker to ensure we knew where you were at any given point in time. Simple but effective."

Kumar finishes his story and pauses. He stops in front of Rohan and smiles nastily.

"So you see Rohan, I was the grandmaster and you were just a pawn all along. I just played you like a fiddle to get my job done. But don't worry about it son, you have just been outsmarted by a master of the game. And now it's time to end this."

Rohan hangs his head in defeat... he looks up at the ceiling of the hangar and the catwalk there, trying to figure out a way to get out of this spot.

Suddenly his eyes open wide and his face takes on a look of determination. Kumar gestures to the two assassins, "Take him in the car. Shoot him and get rid of the body. Go."

Rohan looks up at Kumar with contempt in his eyes now. The pain of being played by the one person he trusted in this world had given way to a rage that is threatening to explode.

He gives Kumar a sardonic smile, "What's the matter, Major Kumar? Are you too scared to do your own dirty work? You are the I.S.I. chief right – pick up a gun and shoot me. Show these flunkies what a man you are!"

Kumar glares at him spitefully, "You mean nothing to me, Rohan. After I defected, you became just a pawn in my game. Get him out of my sight."

Rohan laughs mockingly, "Your son would be ashamed of you, if he saw what you have become today. You are just a snivelling old maniac – you are no leader. If you were, you would be the one to pull the trigger. Show me what you got, old man."

Kumar turns to him in a rage. He pulls the gun from one of the guards standing behind him. Everyone else lowers their guns as Kumar walks up to Rohan and raises the gun straight between his eyes.

BANG! BANG! BANG!