Ishq-e-Watan

Chapter 112- Cracks

CHAPTER 112

CRACKS

The place Sanjay had sent him was a tiny, little warehouse, on the other side of the town. But the roads were empty, owing to the late hour, and he sped through, killing the engine a good block away. He moved quietly, his gun drawn, and Sanjay met him outside, putting a finger to his lips.

The warehouse was dark, dusty, and quiet, and the silence that blanketed it was eerie, and Faizi's eyes kept darting around, his shoulders tensing at even the songs of crickets. The normally chatty informer was quiet too, and that unsettled the agent. Sanjay gestured above to a vent, lifting himself up easily, and Faizi followed, crawling through the little space. He hated vents.

But Sanjay leaned back, gesturing him to look through the space. The place was tiny, and if Koel was here, she would have teased him about being in such a tight space with a man, teasing him about his potential gayness. He almost smiled at the thought.

Amusement faded though, as he registered the room. There were no people, the room shrouded in darkness, but a single window let the moonlight enough to see the contents. On the piles of sacks, laid guns. All sorts. Machine guns, semi-automatic. He even spotted some grenades in a box. He swallowed, reaching for his phone and quickly snapping some pictures, as best as he could.

"Sunne mein aaya hai yeh guns inke khud ke aadmi log ke liye hai", Sanjay informed, once they were out.

Faizi exhaled. That was a lot of guns. Perhaps, almost three quarters as much as they had in the academy. If they had even half as many men here now, that was a lot of men. How had they recruited so many? And if they have moved their men from any other region, was it purely for the gang war? So far, the gang war was brutal, messy and bloody, but this would take it to a whole new scale, one he wasn't sure they would be able to keep the civilians out of.

The first light of the day had started appearing, and tiredness set in his bones, making him rub his eyes that stung slightly. He glanced at his watch. A little past 5. The academy would have started to wake up. He checked his phone. Sure enough, there was a message from Karan, questioning his whereabouts, and when he would return.

"Kuchh bhi pata chale aur, hume call karna", he said. "Hum iss warehouse par nazar rakhwaate hain. Aur apna-"

"Dhyaan rakhna", Sanjay completed, rolling his eyes. "Pata hai, Sir ji. Aap kaahe itni chinta karte ho? Woh kya kehte hain angrezon mein? Barfeele ho jao?"

He stared at him. "Chill ho jao?" He offered.

"Haan, woh hi toh bola." Faizi rolled his eyes, shaking his head exasperatedly.

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The picture they had clicked of Imam was shaky at best, barely a face visible. But it was an upgrade from the CCTV still they had before. Perhaps after cleaning a little bit, it could be cleared up.

Currently though, Sanju was grateful to be out of the cheap suits she was forced to wear, dressed in casual clothes. It was much hotter in Delhi, though, so even the breathable slacks of her outfit were stifling. But she climbed on her bike- not hers, technically, but close enough.

Ashish followed on his own, and even the wind that whipped her face was hot. Ugh. She didn't like the Delhi heat. The orphanage wasn't very far from the academy, and she stopped the bike in front of the man they had asked to keep an eye out. "Log ghumte rehte hain yahan", he said. "Bandookon ke saath."

She hummed, glancing at Ashish, who was walking up to the orphanage, going inside to talk to the caretakers. Her gaze flickered to the man, and she asked the usual questions- appearances, timings, patterns.