We Never Knew [ON HOLD]

Chapter : 15

Chapter : Fifteen   

The silence of nightfall didn't help provide Kirti any solace that night. She kept sitting over her bed, hugging her knees close to her with her back resting against the headrest of the bed. Her eyes kept flickering over the vast dark backdrop outside the window where even the stars weren't glowing down tonight. The darkness and void of the sky resembled Kirti's consciousness which had equally turned fearful and atrocious.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried to erase the memory of Sekhar's wound from her mind. But it was easier said than done. Furrowing her brows into a frustrated frown, she exhaled out and clenched her jaw when that name crossed her mind; Ifaaz Rehman.

Averting her eyes over to the two girls, Kirti checked and found that Shruti and Jiya, both, were deep asleep. Shruti was on the bed to the extreme right while Jiya was snoring lightly right next to Kirti's bed. The two looked like peaceful little angels in their slumber.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Kirti bent over to peek underneath her bed and grasped the duffle bag from there. Pulling the bag soundlessly, she settled back on the bed and placed it over her lap. Glancing one last time at the two girls, she reassured herself and unzipped the bag. Rummaging into the contents, she pulled out that dark blue, timeworn file which was tethered up securely. It had been quite a while since the last time she went through the data of this document but everything was still crystal-clear in her mind. Holding this particular file never failed to make her fingers tremble and breaths turn shallower. It always managed to make Kirti realize who she was dealing with and that everybody, whoever cared for her, were oblivious of the danger lurking about because of this very file.

Flicking her eyes over to the girls one last time, she untied the file, her fingertips brushing over the thick, leathery cover. Opening it lightly, she looked at the first thing that caught her eye; his name. There were a few pictures attached to the data and Kirti well knew that memorizing his face wouldn't be of any help. He'd be clever enough to change his outwardly appearance every once in a while; moreover, this file and it's data were history now and who knows how much Ifaaz would've changed in terms of physical presence. But no matter how many times she looked at that face, it always made a shiver run down her spine despite her resolution to stand strong and to be courageous.

Ifaaz had an unusually fair face for a person who was of Indian origin; with his long face and brown-blonde hair, he did possess something foreign to his looks. His crooked nose and that sinister smile playing on his lips as he talked to another guy in the first photograph made Kirti's breath hitch out of fury and disgust. His eyes were shielded off by some pricey sunglasses and Kirti was thankful that she didn't have to bear the sight of those ill-intended eyes at the least.

The next photograph, however, gave a clear view of his tawny, hawk-like eyes which looked into the far distance at something with a composed, cunning stare. Kirti's fingers grasped the edges of the loose sheets tighter as a wave of rage rushed through her veins at the thought that this very guy was the reason for the turmoil in her life.

Her eyes trailed further down to skim through the data which had been compiled about Ifaaz and his group by her father. It mentioned about the different nationally-based companies which had been robbed down of their confidential data by Ifaaz for international deals which included heavy payment of cash to him. Ifaaz had even dismantled the firewall of national banks on several occasions only to have some fun and to illegally transfer massive amounts of money for his benefit. The first time he had initiated a hack was on 15th of August, 2001. Since then he's been a constant threat to almost every other rich enterprise, be it in terms of money or information.

The next big hack was initiated on 2nd October, 2001, where he seized away the blueprints of the headquarters of ICICI Bank situated in Mumbai. Ifaaz then, most presumably, sold these blueprints to some mafia who'd have some motives to achieve through the Bank.