“He will be rotting in there. So much potential to finally do some good, all lost just because he got in this mess. I wish he had never met you!”

The wrinkled face quivered and tears leaked out as she had no choice but to quietly listen to those harsh words. The stick creaked, old and used, now unable to bear the weight but its owner did not have enough to even eat two meals a day so how would she buy a new one.

“He specifically ordered me to take care of you and that I would.”

Two blue one thousand rupee notes, a huge amount of money for someone like her. She watched as the police officer, his hairs greying hairs slowly walked away side stepping into the gutter water that was overflowing.

Tears dropped from her old face, she mumbled something while slowly moving towards a deprecated mud house.

***

“As you ordered, the ministers have been informed, boss.”

“They agreed to the profit redistribution?”

“I persuaded them.”

“Good. Is the AIG taken care of?”

“I have negotiated with his family. They will have no choice but to remain silent for now but we will have to release him eventually.”

“Hmmm, make sure he rots for a decade or two. Monitor the others to make sure they don’t cause any problem when you start the expansion.”

“As you wish, but will it not be better to just get rid of them.”

“We have to slowly boil these frogs, especially now that their most dangerous weapon has been taken care of otherwise they will lash out.”

The young man pondered while the older man sitting on the sofa looked at him.

“Understood.”

“Good. Now how will you proceed with the expansion.”

“First off…”

***

Everything was a haze, his mind just processing every little information wondering where he had made the mistake. As he started going through everything he could start seeing the small things that had seemed inconsequential at that time but had converged to put him in this situation. He was disturbed as he was suddenly hit.

“Don’t stop! Anyone that stops will get a beating.”

He was a criminal now and no ordinary one at that. He had risen in ranks through the operations against the terrorist and now the destiny had made him one. He laughed at himself.

“Is there a joke written on my face?”

He grunted as a stick hit him but still he felt it was much too amusing. When he came back to his senses he was in solitary confinement. Time passed and he tried to get information about what had happened during the operation but it was slow and time-consuming. It took a few months for him to piece together everything and it made him wonder who had planned everything.

Months passed and then the years. Exercise, meditation, prayers, reading. There was a lot of time and few things to keep him busy.

The fire for revenge was slowly chipped away with time. At the start, he had been hopeful but then a year passed then the next, and then the next. In the end, he was forced to accept the situation, that his carrier was over, that he had lost. now he just wished for a chance to get back at them.

The passage of time constantly tested his resolve and all he could do was protect the embers within, waiting for an opportunity to knock on his door. Six years passed like this.