WA&R

Chapter 8

Dubai;

Nakul was loading the guns with Aditi while Zoya, who for the first time was going to be needed on the field, was overzealous about it and couldn't stop bugging them with questions.

"Do I get to blast some bad guys?" she squealed.

"No," answered Nakul.

"Oh! Am I the grifter? The hitman? The getaway?"

"No."

"I know Victor is like Johnny Bravo, but I can throw a pretty good punch. I can shoot too!" Zoya hopped around Nakul who was handling sharpshooter.

"Really? Asked Nakul and Zoya grinned. He tossed the sharpshooter in her arms and they chuckled as she managed to hold it in her hands.

"Oof! Okay... I got it... Take it. P-Please, take it- Oh my God, thank you," she sighed in relief when Aditi grabbed the sharpshooter from her arms and shoved it into the car.

"Do what we say, alright? Now go sit in the car," demanded Nakul and she scurried to the car.

"Don't be so hard on her," said Aditi.

"It's kind of my job, you know..."

"Oh, is it?" mocked Aditi.

"You don't know? They don't call me bossman for nothing!" replied Nakul, a small smirk forming on his face.

"Chup! Now come on, we don't want to be late," muttered Aditi, smacking Nakul's arm. He chuckled and followed the team to the cars.

It was an 'all hands on board' mission. Today was the day when Shoaib was to lead a tour to Abu Dhabi. The past one month had gone in planning and thinking out the plan meticulously. Nakul and Victor registered themselves as tourists to be the eyes inside the tour. Aditi, after mailing the tourist company, got registered as a safety officer accompanying the tour. Zoya and Pranav were to follow them with a minibus decorated to look like that of a media channel scooping for travel bloggers.

As and how the tour progressed, Nakul and Victor gave updates to Zoya and Pranav as surreptitiously as possible. Their job was to blend in and they couldn't risk getting caught. So, Nakul asked questions about certain sites and emblems while Victor took pictures like any enthusiastic tourist.

"That one's quite handsome, isn't he?" asked a middle-aged lady, her eyes fixed on Nakul. Victor gawked in surprise and laughed.

"Yeah he is..." said Victor. As Nakul and the team could hear everything through the earpieces, he screeched, "Shut up, Victor!"

"Are you two here together?" the lady asked inquisitively. But, who was Victor to refuse any attention? The more they fit with the crowd, the better their cover was.

"Yes. This is our honeymoon!" he replied. Nakul stopped in his tracks, shocked. Through their earpieces, they heard the team burst out into laughter, Pranav exceptionally shrieking like a teenage girl. Aditi tried to control her laughter as she was closer to Shoaib, but even she couldn't hide the smile.

"Aren't I right, darling?" asked Victor catching up to Nakul, putting an arm around his shoulder. Nakul gulped and somehow managed to smile.

"Hehe... Right. We're... Yep!"

"He's the shy one too. What about you? Are you here with anyone?" asked Victor.

The rest of the tour went smoothly and as the sun slowly set, it was time to leave. While returning, Shoaib had travelled along with the tourists in the tour bus.

However, he received a phone call just before leaving. His face changed colours and he left in a taxi before the tourists. Nakul and Victor signalled the team to get the minibus closer to them so that they could exit and follow Shoaib in sync. The Five slid into their minibus and started following the taxi.

"Shift to the Middle Lane, Pranav," Victor said while gripping the handle with his strong bulky hands.

"No, stay in the right one," Zoya said from behind.

"Middle-"

"RIGHT!"

"Shut the Hell up!" Nakul shouted and kept his eyes straight on the road ahead of him.

However, Pranav had lost track of the taxi in the exchange of banter.

"GREAT!" Aditi shouted, throwing her hands up in dismay.

"Zoya, track down taxi number," Nakul said as he repeated the number plate of the taxi to Zoya.

Zoya pointed towards a warehouse,

"That's where the signal is coming from"

"Pranav, stop the bus here," Nakul said as all of them loaded their weapons. The warehouse was right next to the Highway where hundreds of civilians were travelling. The Five decided to outman Shoaib and slowly decided to enter.

Gun in hand, Nakul was at the front. He guarded one exit and signalled the others to go forward. Slowly and steadily, communicating through various hand actions, the five finally entered the warehouse.

The Five looked as a pair of feet dangled from a chair and a man sat there with his back facing them. With a slight movement of the feet, they surrounded the chair only to find a laughing Shoaib.

All of them looked at Nakul, perplexed. Nakul knew exactly what was going to happen in the next few seconds but he couldn't do anything. The sound of heavy footsteps filled the warehouse and all of them formed a circle around the circle of the Five, pointing their guns at them.

The Five's bodies were taken over by little red laser lights and they knew, if they moved, they were a goner.

"Haha, Losers," Shoaib remarked.

And that's when Victor pointed his gun towards Shoaib.

"Oops" stammered Zoya.