Captain Khalid Rahmani, one of R&AW's finest, is dead to the world. Another soldier who sacrificed himself for his people. Little did they know that nothing is how it appears to be.
He's still alive, albeit with an alternative name and a new persona...
The bright lights of the nightclub's neon panel blinked with vibrant colors under the heavy rain as many people lined in front of the place in the hopes of getting a pass to enter despite the miserable weather, some of them carried umbrellas from different sizes, shapes, and colors, some of them used their jackets, bags or whatever they had in hand as a shelter, while some just stood bare under the drizzle.
Looking at his watch, Khalid knew that Jiya was about to go out at any minute. She would have finished her singing number by that time and she would be getting ready to leave. The only problem was the bodyguard that was assigned to accompany her, he was planted by the back door that she would usually use as an alternative exit to avoid the masses on the front.
He had to act fast.
Pulling his hood down his face, Khalid decided to take advantage of the fire escape ladder of the neighboring building. Climbing it silently like a cat, he managed to reach the roof and then parkour his way to the club's roof where he lightly landed without any mentioned noise, taking extra precautions because of the slippery surfaces and, again, use the fire escape ladder to descend toward the dark alley where the back door and the guard where situated, away from the public eyes and all the buzz.
Jumping down with an intentional thud behind the guard to get his attention, Khalid used the surprise element against the latter by sending a well-aimed punch to his jaw, making him losing his balance and staggering a couple of steps back. When the guard was about to pull his gun off his belt, he instantly grabbed his head by the ear and thumped it forehead-first into the nearest wall, sending him toppling to the ground in a puddle of mud.
That was easier than he expected, although he felt slightly bad for Jiya, assigning such a wimp to guard her wasn't a good idea.
As if on a cue, Jiya stepped out of the small door. Her umbrella was the first thing Khalid noticed once she appeared in the open-air.
Seeing her expression changing from confusion to shock to fear at the scene of the crumbled guard by her feet, Khalid wasted no time as he wrapped a hand around her face, giving her a moment to gasp before pulling her deeper in the dark and knocking the umbrella off her grip in the process.
"Don't scream," he commanded, pulling her arms behind her back to prevent her from wrestling him, "I'll remove my hand from your mouth if you promised to be quiet, deal?"
Frantically nodding, she gave him the gesture that she agreed to his condition. Once he lifted his palm off her face, she sucked in a breath as if she was about to suffocate.
"Please, don't hurt me!" Jiya pleaded, attempting to look over her shoulder at him, her hair getting plastered to her face by the rain, "I'll give you everything, you can take the money, and... and the car keys... it's with him!" she sobbed, gesturing toward the guard who was, much to Khalid's luck, still a wet heap on the ground.
