Spies & Spice (Completed)

Chapter 14

"Bhai, what is going on?" Loki asked, as he observed the flushed face of DJ.

DJ felt guilty to have woken up his tired little brother in the middle of the night and that too to hear such unpleasant conversation. May be he should use his mobile more often.

"Hmm... nothing Loki, sorry if I have disturbed your sleep. Just routine stuff for me which you don't want to know. Trust me, you shouldn't be even hearing such stuff. I will make sure of it in future." DJ walked towards Loki and patted him on the shoulder. And whispered, "Please don't tell Maa that you heard me speak, okay?"

"Bhai! Why are you so scared of Maa? She wouldn't hurt a fly. And I want to know what is happening? If I can be of any help..." But DJ stopped him midway. "No way! Mum will not hurt a fly but she can kill me with one look, if she comes to know that you are getting involved in our business. And it's not that I am scared of her, I respect her and I don't want to lose whatever little respect that she still has for me and for my word. That's all."

Loki opened his mouth to reply but closed it again as he watched some movement in the other bedroom behind DJ. He simply said "Goodnight Bhai" and went back inside his bedroom.

DJ returned slowly to his room, his mind full of thoughts. He knew his men won't fail him. After an hour he got a message from Suraj Chacha. "We traced Ashwin going to the Airport. Right now, he is waiting in the airport lounge. We are travelling back to Delhi in the same 4 am flight as him, so that we don't lose sight." A slow smile spread on DJ's face, which vanished the moment he read the next message. "DJ, if you are still awake I want to talk to you, because this needs urgent attention too. I found out about our guy in New Jersey."

DJ sat up in his bed, his body fully alert and called Suraj Chacha.

"Are you alone DJ?" Suraj Chacha's first question baffled him.

"Yes, of course, I am in my bedroom, what's the matter Chacha, please tell me. Quickly"

"Well, first promise me that you will not get unnecessarily upset or lose your temper over this."

"If you don't come straight to the point, I will." DJ hissed.

"Okay then. I heard this just before I left to Mumbai, but I was too shocked to believe it, at first. So I asked Patil, my contact in US to make sure he got all the facts correct and call me back. And he did, just an hour ago. Here's the thing DJ..." Suraj's voice broke slightly.

"It seems Loki and his girlfriend Zoya peddle drugs all around their university and the neighbouring universities too. But he was too discreet and never got caught. The police don't have enough proof to arrest him yet, but they are itching to do so. Our guy in Jersey, Jared Kohn found out about this recently it seems, and threatened to tell me and you everything unless Loki changes his ways. Jared had been missing for past one week or so, and that's why I wasn't able to contact him. Yesterday they found Jared's body..." The mobile slipped from DJ's hands and landed in his lap and he stared blankly at it, as Suraj Chacha continued. "The police haven't released any official statement yet but Patil tells me that he could have been murdered a week ago. For a moment I felt relieved because Loki had come to India much later, so he might not be involved in this. But here's the worst part, Patil swears that Zoya and Loki left US a week ago, and they might have made a run for it because of..." Suraj Chacha paused, unable to continue.

DJ continued to stare at the phone. He felt as if something shattered inside him. He was still the same DJ, sitting in his bedroom in the huge mansion he had built as he became the king of his domain. But at that moment, everything around him collapsed, and he felt as if he was back in his childhood, desperate to provide food for his mother and little brother, as everyone around shunned him and refused to give them shelter or work. He promised to himself that day no matter what happened to him, he would take care of his mother and little brother and protect them from all the hardships. Where did everything go so wrong?