The Dust Will Never Settle (23 page)

He pulled over to the side of the road. He was miles away now and the deed had been done. Retrieving both pistols from the car, he wiped them clean and dropped them over the side. The murky waters of the sewage drain below swallowed them up. They were good weapons and he was not happy to see them go, but he knew it was the best thing to do. And he knew Pasha would be pleased. Thinking about the fat bonus that Pasha would dish out, the man with many names and no permanent home walked back to his car and drove into the night.

Day Seven

R
avinder knew something was wrong when Mohite rushed into his office the next day.

‘What happened?’ Ravinder asked.

‘SIGINT just intercepted a phone call from Muzaffarabad. They identified the caller as one of the Jaish-e-Mohammed commanders.’

‘And?’ Ravinder prodded. ‘Who was he calling?’

‘They’re not sure, but it was probably Javed Khan.’

‘What was the call about?’

‘SIGINT couldn’t clarify that.’ Mohite looked uneasy. ‘They were using some kind of one-time use and discard code. The thing is that they triangulated the mobile on which Javed was talking… It’s somewhere in south Delhi, in the Lado Sarai area. The call was very short, so they couldn’t get an exact fix.’

‘Hmm…’ Ravinder understood the implications. Lado Sarai was literally a jungle of alleys and unsurveyed houses. Trying to find a couple of men in it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack – even if Javed was still there. The manpower required was not available but it had to be done. ‘Have some more posters of Javed and Aslam plastered at prominent places all over Lado Sarai. And tell the SHO to carry out a cordon and search. Even if they don’t find them, at least they will spook them and keep them on the run.’

‘Right, sir.’ Mohite turned to the door. ‘And Govind,’ Ravinder called after him. ‘Tell…’

There was a loud bang. Both men spun around.

The window had flown open. The latch had come loose. The two men exchanged sheepish glances. Mohite’s gun was in his hand and Ravinder’s hand was on the butt of his weapon.

Damn!
Ravinder realized they were both on edge.
Not good!
The relentless stress was taking a toll on them.
Not good at all!

Taking a deep breath, Ravinder resumed, ‘Tell the duty officer to again take a round and brief the guards at the office and at all three of our residences.’

Mohite nodded unhappily and left. Both knew that till such time as Javed and Aslam were captured, the threat to their lives was acute. Both also knew that their chances of catching the terrorists were slim unless they got lucky… or one of those bastards slipped up.

Ravinder called Gyan to get the window fixed and began to run through the arrangements for Nanda’s meeting with the terrorist for the weapons. They needed to get that right. With Rizwan Khan knocked out of the picture, it was now their only hope of catching the buggers and stopping the terrorist strike.

Hopefully it would be the same lot…

The phone rang again. It was Ashish. Before Ravinder could brief him about the latest SIGINT intercept, Ashish told him that Thakur was on his way to the Games Village and wanted to meet both of them there.

Fuck!
This was the last thing he needed now. He checked his watch – there was still time for the weapons pick-up. He called Mohite as he walked to the car and asked him to take care of the deployment for Nanda’s meeting.

‘I will be there as soon as I can,’ he assured Mohite. ‘Just make sure our teams are deployed carefully, and in time. And ensure that the weapons being carried by Nanda have been dummied. I don’t want live weapons in the hands of a terrorist.’

‘What’s the problem with that, sir? We will take the bastard in as soon as he lays a hand on the weapons.’

‘Even so, just make sure you brief Nanda.’

‘Don’t worry about it, sir,’ Mohite perked up, happy at the opportunity to redeem himself after the fiasco at Rizwan Khan’s.

But knowing Mohite, Ravinder couldn’t help worrying.

Ruby saw Mark cross the road and walk up to the main gate of the Garden of Five Senses. He had seen her and given a discreet nod before heading inside. Ruby continued ahead to the pre-decided spot, at the end of the garden from where she could keep an eye on things without exposing herself.

Located at the Said-ul-Azab village in Mehrauli, the Garden of Five Senses is spread over twenty acres and is one of Delhi’s famous tourist attractions. With meandering pathways and beautiful lotus ponds, it is a popular spot and hundreds of people flock to it daily, for exercising, destressing or just plain old-fashioned romancing.

For the next half hour, the deadly duo scoured the ground: one, visually and the other, physically. Between them they raked through every inch, quadrant-by-quadrant, checking for anything out of the ordinary. They spotted nothing.

For once Mohite had used his brains. All three of his teams were couples pretending to use the park for what most couples did: some intimate conversation and a lot of necking. But all three teams had their eyes and ears tuned in – eyes on the garden and ears to the tiny earpieces through which Mohite was controlling them.

None picked up on Ruby, parked at the periphery, but two of them spotted Mark as he entered the park. The third pair was alerted by Mohite. Six pairs of hands instinctively inched closer to their weapons.

Sitting in the car park near the garden’s smaller side entrance, Mohite nodded as he watched their target hove into the ambush site. He was sure this massive Caucasian was the man they sought.

‘I think our man is here,’ Mohite excitedly told Ravinder on the phone. ‘Blond firangi… huge… like a bloody tank.’

‘Good. That is how Nanda had described him…’ Ravinder was running late. As usual, Thakur had kept them hanging till the last minute. ‘Make sure everyone is alert. I am almost there…’

‘No worries, sir. I have everything under control.’ But that was what worried Ravinder. He cut the call and went back to cursing the traffic. Even with the siren and police light they were not making much headway – a lorry had overturned somewhere ahead, blocking the road for miles. After several agonizing minutes, the car finally passed the upturned lorry and speeded up.

Ravinder parked the conspicuous cop car well away from the garden entrance and walked the rest of the way. He was across the road, facing the garden’s main gate, when he saw Nanda drive up in his Mercedes, retrieve a blue carry bag from the car and head into the garden. He halted since he did not want Nanda to see him. The arms dealer appeared nervous and jittery and Ravinder could not risk him acknowledging his presence – that wouldn’t do at all since the terrorists would certainly be watching Nanda now.

‘The weapons dealer is here,’ Mohite said on the phone.

‘I know, I see him. Careful now… very careful. Remember, take him down as soon as he hands over the bag.’

‘Wilco, sir.’ Mohite’s voice throbbed with excitement.

Positioned behind a tree trunk, Mark spotted Nanda as soon as he had cleared the main gate. He watched carefully, looking for signs of movement behind Nanda. He saw none. Despite that, he was wracked with unease; something did not seem right. He tightened his scrutiny over the area.

The three surveillance teams stayed immobile, watching, their hands now within reach of their weapons. They needed only a word from Mohite to close in and seize the terrorist.

Though still uneasy, Mark waved at Nanda when he felt certain the man was alone. Nanda changed direction and walked towards him. Mark spotted the beads of sweat on his brow; unusual, considering the chill in the rain-soaked air. Closer observation showed that Nanda was decidedly uneasy. He was trying hard to act casual and kept looking around furtively.

Mark’s already tingling internal alarm began to sound louder. He intensified his scrutiny of the people around. The ambush teams stayed still, so he spotted nothing. But he wished to hell he had a weapon.

Well, I will – soon.
Mark had spotted the bag Nanda was hefting.

‘Are you okay?’ Mark asked as Nanda came up. ‘Sure.’ Mark’s scrutiny unnerved Nanda. ‘I am not used to doing such stuff myself, but because it is you…’

‘Is that the stuff?’ Mark ignored him. He was on edge and just wanted to grab the guns and get the hell out. He snatched the bag out of Nanda’s hand.

Across the road, Ravinder saw Mark grab the bag and cursed when he saw that none of the teams had moved in.

‘
Now!
Take him down now!’ he said aloud. The man had clearly identified himself when he’d accosted Nanda and taken the bag. What the hell were they waiting for?

Stupid motherfucker!
Ravinder reached for his mobile and dialled Mohite.

Mohite heard his mobile ring, but his attention stayed focused on the two men in the garden.

‘Wait! No one move,’ Mohite hissed into his radio set. ‘I want to see who else is with the firangi.’

The takedown teams stayed still.

‘Nobody move. Give him another minute or two.’

Unzipping the bag, Mark saw four Glock 17s in it. They had been unpacked and cleaned, just as he had asked Nanda to ensure. Lying between them were two boxes of ammo. He unslung the cotton bag from his shoulder and tossed it to Nanda. ‘Here’s your money. Want to count it now?’

‘No, no,’ Nanda shook his head, too emphatically. He was sweating. The handkerchief in his hand was soaked from his attempts to dry his face. ‘I am sure it is all right. I trust you.’

Mark sure as hell did not. Without another word, he turned and began to stride away swiftly. The alarm in his head had begun to clamour loudly. The need for the comforting feel of a weapon overwhelmed him. Dipping both hands into the bag, he expertly broke open a box of ammo and loaded a clip. The magazine slid into the weapon with a satisfying click.