Drugged Love (On Hold)

Chapter Sixteen, Part Two

"Look who's here?" the boy said as he opened the door. The second place was an upscale apartment within walking distance. The boy who opened the door had a smug look on his face. He looked in his early twenties, had a heavy body and a round presumptuous face.

Somehow, he was expecting Ishan and led him straight inside. The apartment was elegant, with high-class furniture, fine cut glass tables and gigantic lamps.

"What happened to your face dude?" the boy said in a brazen tone. Ishan knew immediately that he was a spoilt brat.

"I got in a fight. Call your father. I'm in a rush. ", Ishan didn't know if the package was to be delivered to the boy or someone else, but he took a shot and enjoyed the sullen look on the boy's face.

Soon, an average built man came out, with thin greying hair and a slow gait. He had a calm unassuming look in his eyes. He held a cigarette in one hand and a glass in another.

"Hello Son", he said in the most gentle of voices and shook Ishan's hand. "I didn't catch your name there?"

"I'm Ishan, sir" Ishan said.

"So they found you to replace the previous boy! A tragedy it was, what happened to him" the man said as the boy listened their conversation silently.

So Aditya had come here too, Ishan thought. "Yes, it surely was sad."

The man inquired about Ishan's age, his school life and how he had wounded up doing what he was doing. Ishan tried to be courteous but discrete, not revealing too much information about himself.

"And what do you do sir?"Ishan inquired.

"I make sure these drugs reach the south of India. They don't have any drug producing states like we have here in the north. That is all I do. I make phone calls and arrange trucks which take these far south. Without me, a lot of these drugs would go waste." The man chuckled.

Ishan nodded.

"You got into a fight son?" the man asked.

"Yes sir, I had to defend myself. I had no choice, "Ishan said.

"You seem quite sensible. The previous boy was a fool getting into shoes too big for him. Just be careful, son. In this business, the tides turn too quickly. "

"Sure" Ishan said ignored whatever the man meant. He took the money in exchange of the package. He could tell that the man was experienced as he judged the weight of the package and didn't need to open it to check the contents. He bade goodbye to the man and took his leave. The man instructed his son to show him out of the house.

When they reached the door, the boy said in a hushed tone, "Don't poke around much! They'll cut you up like they did with that dumb little boy"

Ishan stared at the boy. He could tell that the boy was not fooling around. He was dead serious. Ishan left the place around sweating profusely in the dead winter.

He reached Zakir's place as soon as he could. Zakir opened up and led him straight to his room.

"So? "Zakir said.

"Did you kill Aditya?" Ishan said, straight and direct.

The expression on Zakir's face changed. Wrinkles appeared on his forehead and he avoided Ishan's gaze.

"I can't work for you anymore Zakir" Ishan said and started to leave throwing the two envelopes on Zakir's bed.

"Wait." Zakir's voice was without its usual coldness. "I didn't but I know who did." Ishan stopped in his tracks. Zakir had never sounded so desperate.

"Sit down. You want to know the truth? I'll tell you", Ishan sat on Zakir's bed ready to listen patiently.

"I didn't kill him. He was one of our guys. He was doing fine making deliveries from time to time. One day, he ceased all contact with us. And he ran away with two huge packages which he was supposed to deliver. I don't know what it was. Greed or something else but my boss had zero tolerance for it. He had to be eliminated. He gave one of his henchmen the order to kill him. And I was the one given the responsibility of tracking his movements, and deciding the place. We had to made sure that we didn't leave any clue that would lead to us."

Ishan waited silently and thought what kind of people he was dealing with. "So he ran away? He made one mistake and he paid the price with his bloody life?" Ishan was getting heated up now.

"Business is business, Ishan" Zakir said calmly.

"Fuck your business" Ishan said and started to leave.

"Don't make the wrong decision Ishan. Please. You're too deep in this now." Zakir spoke up.

"What? What do you mean?" Ishan was getting anxious.

"They know about you. If you chicken out, and go to the police they'll never leave you alive. Trust me. I have wanted to get out of this since so long but I couldn't. Here, take this money" he said thrusting a wad of notes into Ishan's pocket as Ishan stood there dreadfully looking into space.

"But", Ishan said fumbling desperately, "But, I'll quit and never open my mouth about you or all this. I swear," he said grabbing Zakir by the shoulders.

"I don't know, Ishan. Maybe it's too late now" Zakir said turning his back towards him.

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Thank you for reading my story. Shoutout to all the silent readers to press the vote button if they like this chapter. A small appreciative gesture shown by you guys would mean a lot to me :D