About half a kilometre from the warehouse was a fancy roadside café. It was attached to a petrol station on the left but had its own dedicated parking space and outdoor seating. Sitting on a busy highway, the café never had any problem with customers. Today, however, the place was unusually empty.

Monica had bought herself a cup of Cardamom tea while Isha had a cup of iced latte. ‘Monica, can I ask you something?’ Isha began.

She knew it was coming but she wasn’t prepared to face them with answers. However, this was the moment she was asking for, so there was no backing out now. ‘Firstly, I must apologise to you and others. I know I have been looking off lately…’

‘No please. There is no reason to apologize,’ Isha interrupted. ’We just wanted to know if something was wrong,’ she said in her extremely soft voice.

Monica smiled and thought for a moment. ‘Things haven’t been good at home lately. Got into a fight with my… parents,’ she lied.

‘Was it about marriage?’ Isha asked.

It was not where Monica was planning on going, but she thought she might as well ride the train of lies. ‘Yes,’ she said as she nodded.

‘I understand. Have been fighting with my parents over it for five years now.’

The number of years, caught Monica off-guard completely. ‘Five? Isha, how old are you?’

Isha rolled her eyes and whispered, ‘thirty.’

‘Oh. I got a good amount of time,’ Monica said and sipped her tea.

‘Don’t tease me!’ Isha exclaimed.

The two chuckled for a good few seconds before calming down. ‘I hope that is all. We were scared it might have been something more,’ Isha said.

‘Sorry for scaring you like that. I just wasn’t myself.’

‘It’s alright. Tell you what. We can go out for dinner tomorrow. It would be an easy way to get along with the guys.’

‘Alright. I am down for it,’ Monica replied.

Things turned out better than expected. While there was nothing she could do about the lost days, she could more than make up for it in the two days that remained. For the first time in a while, she felt like she could finally sleep peacefully. However, that peace didn’t last long.

She couldn’t remember what time it was, but the room was pitch black. She had dozed off into deep sleep, only to be awoken by a loud knocking at the door. She felt something was wrong. Her senses sharpened and her sleep vanished. She stared into the ceiling with wide eyes as she waited to see if she heard it right.

Every passing second felt like an eternity and her anxiety grew. Her nerves began to shiver, and her heart began to pump faster. Sweat poured down her forehead and her skin began to burn. Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.

Monica jumped out of her bed, but her motion made no noise. She landed on her toes before running over to the door, quiet as a mouse. She looked through the door’s eyehole to see a well-lit hallway and a burly man standing in front of her door. She recognized his face immediately.

She swallowed hard as she held onto the doorknob, contemplating whether to open the door or not. She saw him wait patiently in front of the door; he had a calm look in his face as he stared down at the door.

She prepared herself for what was to come, ready to turn the knob when she saw him simply turn to his right and walk away. She found herself breathing heavy as she patiently watched the empty hallway for any sign of him returning. She counted until thirty, before unlocking the door and running outside.

She walked down the hallway, past several closed doors, before reaching the stair at the end of it. She took the fleet that went upstairs and didn’t stop until she reached the terrace. The door to it was unlocked, which made it easy for to her get out. On reaching the parapet, she looked down below and spotted the man walking away from the hotel.

He walked down the street, which was lined with stores, most of whom were closed except for one. A small shop tucked into a corner, the lights in it were burning bright. He stopped before it, walking to the counter whereupon he ordered a pack of cigarettes. He proceeded to pull one out, placing it between his lips as he looked both ways of the street, as if expecting someone. The storekeeper kept quiet, returning to watching tv which was sitting on the refrigerator. The man waited for a good few minutes before taking off yet again. He continued down the street before reaching a small opening between two buildings. He squeezed through before reaching a dark alleyway. He continued to walk through it until he found himself in an empty plot of land where an old, rusted car was parked. Three men got out of the car on seeing him approach them, Monica now recognized all of them. She leaned over the parapet of the building next to the car and watched in complete silence.

Pandian tossed the pack of cigarettes to Nayar who responded, ‘you didn’t go to buy cigarettes.’

Pandian took a whiff of his cigarette and said, ‘she is there alright.’

‘Then what the fuck are we waiting for?’ Mallesh said, seething through his teeth.

‘Keep your voice down. Or we will be in big trouble,’ Gana replied.

‘Exactly. We can’t barge into her hotel and walk away like that. We aren’t in Kasipuram,’ Pandian replied.

‘So, what is the plan?’ Nayar asked as he pulled a cigarette out of the pack.

‘We have to be very careful, or we are fucked,’ Pandian said.

‘Pandian. Are you sure she is who you are saying she is?’ Gana asked.

‘No. Which is why we have to be careful. We set a trap. Make sure she walks into it. But most importantly, we need a means of escape. If she is the lady in white, she is sure to kick our asses in just seconds. Need a way to bail if it comes to that,’ Pandian explained.

‘And if she isn’t, we get ourselves a new good to trade,’ Nayar added.

‘No, we put a bullet in her head. I don’t want loose ends,’ Pandian said.

‘Sorry man. Madame ordered us to bring her alive,’ Nayar replied.

‘The fuck? Old hag is out to get us killed!’ Pandian said out in anger.

‘There is no other way now. How do we get her?’ Gana asked.

‘Tomorrow. She is going to return from her office, we catch our fish then,’ Pandian said.

‘Do we know when and where?’ Nayar asked.

‘I have an idea. Let’s get out of here. Police will start doing rounds any time now,’ Pandian said.

Monica watched them get into the car and disappear into the darkness. She couldn’t contemplate how frustrated she felt as things had just gotten from bad to worse. She knew she should have known better than to show off her strength in public, but she didn’t expect to get trapped like this. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should she face them, it would be a lose-lose situation. Could she avoid confronting them all together? She could, but she knew they will just aim higher to get to her. She had to think of this more carefully, or else she would be putting a lot of people in danger.

***

As lunch rolled around the next day, Monica felt anxious as she was unable to come up with an easy way to convince others to cancel the dinner. She tiptoed over to Isha’s cubicle, thinking of way to make this news easier for them to digest. However, when she reached her cubicle, her mind was blank as a clean slate. She peeped over the divider to see Isha shifting through piles of paper lying on her table.

‘Hey,’ Monica called to her.

Isha looked up to see Monica looking down at her with an awkward smile. ‘Wassup Mon?’

‘Did you tell the others about the dinner by any chance?’ she asked.

Isha took a second to reply. ‘Not yet, I thought I would tell them at lunch,’ she lied.

‘So, something has come up and I will need to return to my place before night. I hope that is fine with you.’ Her voice was low and it trembled.

Isha could feel the fear in her eyes but didn’t comment. She instead smiled and said, ‘it’s no problem.’

‘Thank you. I promise I will make up for it,’ Monica said.

‘Sure,’ she replied with a smile.

Isha watched Monica disappeared from behind the divider. Her smile dropped, replaced by an expressionless cold stare. She immediately picked up her phone that laid in the sea of paper and texted the others. She could foresee the barrage of questions coming her way.

***

Dusk soon enveloped the city, drenching it in an orange hue. Monica rode the bus from her office to a stop that was two blocks away from her hotel. She remembered the details of their plan very well, but they never mentioned when they would execute it. She secretly hoped that they held off on the plan until she left the city and never saw their faces again. But at the same time, she was fearful of throwing her officemates in harm’s way if she just up and disappeared.

As she continued to walk towards her hotel, her eye caught the sight of a burly man standing inside a small shop. His face was hidden by a newspaper, but Monica could sense that it was the man that was hunting her. Nevertheless, she crossed the shop without even attempting to look in his direction. As she walked a few feet away from the shop, the man exited the door and began to follow her. Monica didn’t flinch, instead kept walking.

She turned left and onto the street where her hotel was. The crowd wanned to just a few pedestrians, but her stalker closed in. As they neared the alley Monica saw the previous night, the stalker’s pace picked up. He got closer and closer, but Monica didn’t make any move. In a flash of a moment, two arms embraced her. One covered her mouth, the other gripped her waist. Monica held her breath, suspecting a sedative and she was right on the money. She felt a piece of cloth covering her face as she was dragged into the darkness of the alleyway. But Monica decided to play along, pretending to fall asleep.

Pandian’s heart was beating through his chest as he picked up Monica’s unconscious body and ran through the alleyway. He had done this a hundred times, but the fear of the moment never died. This time, the prospect of dealing with someone powerful enough to kill him with one blow, made him all the more tensed. The darkness of the alleyway gave way to the light of an open plot of land. There the rusty car stood, surrounded by his three mates. Seeing him pop out with the girl put a big smile on their faces. They quickly convened to nab the girl as quietly and quickly as possible.

‘Put her in the backseat,’ Nayar said as he got into the driver’s seat.

Mallesh pulled open the backseat door, ready to welcome Monica with open arms when suddenly she bursted out of Pandian’s arms. She flopped on to the ground gasping for air. Pandian stopped dead in his tracks with a horrid look on his face.

She looked at the four men with fear in her eyes. They stood motionless, not knowing what to do next. She seized the opportunity and screamed on top of her lungs sending shivers through her captors.

‘Shut up!’ Mallesh shouted as he got down on one knee and held Monica by her hair.

‘Please don’t do anything to me!’ Monica cried out.

‘I said to shut up!’ he pulled out a gun and put it in her mouth. ‘Open it again and I will pull the trigger.’

Monica did not stop wailing. She continued to plead which quickly grew weary on Mallesh’s ears.

‘Mallesh! We need her alive! Madame won’t be happy!’ Nayar reminded him.

‘To hell with it. Let’s finish her here and be done with it!’ Mallesh argued.

‘Are you mad? She will get us all killed!’ Pandian said.

Mallesh gritted his teeth hard and grunted before pulling back his gun.

Fury filled Monica’s stomach. She wanted nothing more than anything to punch him in his face, but that wasn’t part of her plan. All she needed was a few seconds gap to bail on them, to make an escape. But as always, things never go according to the plan.

‘Don’t move!’ a man shouted.

Monica had never heard that voice before. She looked up and saw the others completely motionless. Looking back, she saw a man in a khaki police uniform pointing the gun at others. ‘Help me!’ she shouted.

‘Put your hands in the air,’ the policeman ordered.

‘Look here. She is one of ours. She escaped from our place, and we are just taking her back,’ Pandian explained.

Monica broke a cold sweat on hearing that. She trembled at the thought that the policeman would simply walk away from her, even if they weren’t lying. ‘No!’ she shouted, ‘I am an accountant!’ she held out her ID card.

‘Shut up!’ Mallesh shouted as he punched her in her cheek. Monica controlled her rage by squeezing her ID card.

‘I didn’t ask explanation. I asked you to put your hands in the air,’ the policeman said.

Mallesh got on his feet and pointed his gun at the policeman. ‘Who do you think you are ordering us?’ he said.

‘Put the gun down you idiot!’ Nayar ordered.

‘Do you have any idea who our boss is? Don’t you want to live, you asshole?’ Mallesh shouted.

‘Put the damn gun down!’ Nayar repeated.

‘Screw it, put a bullet in his head and deal with it…’ before he could complete the sentence, a loud bang echoed through the air and Mallesh’s cold body hit the ground.

Monica, who was still lying on the ground, looked at Mallesh’s dead eyes with horror. A bullet had pierced his temple, leaving a bloody hole in its place. Blood oozed out of it and flowed down his forehead. She fell dead silent as did others.

The policeman moved in and ordered, ‘get on your knees now!’

A small squad of policemen bursted out of the alley and quickly surrounded them. The policeman walked over to her and helped her up. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

Monica simply nodded. But he could see the shock in her face. He didn’t press her for any further questions, instead handed her over to a subordinate who guided her back through the alley and outside. He let her sit down on a fleet of stair in front of a closed shop, before returning to the scene of crime.

She took a good minute to get out of the shock of what she had just witnessed. Looking around, she saw two police vehicles parked right next to the alley opening.

‘Mon?’ a woman called out to her.

Monica looked to her left and saw Isha standing beside her. She trembled a little on seeing her face. ‘Isha? What are you doing here?’

‘I was heading to your place when I saw that man just pick you up and run into the alley,’ she replied. ‘Are you okay?’

Monica shook her head in disbelief. ‘Yes, I am. But why were you here?’

‘I will tell you later,’ Isha said before looking in the direction of the alley.

Monica saw the policemen exit the opening when she said in a hurry, ‘Isha, don’t let them see you.’

‘Who are they?’ Isha asked.

‘Dangerous men. Trust me.’

Isha quickly jotted a few meters away to where a small pack of people stood spectating the incident. Monica watched as the police dragged out Mallesh’s dead body which was wrapped in a white cloth and placed on the side of the footpath. One by one, each of the goons walked out, looking at Monica with ire. The police quietly had them board the second jeep from the back.

At last, the man who shot down Mallesh walked out. He had a two-star insignia on his shoulder strap indicating that he was the sub-inspector. He signalled for Monica to come, and she did as she was told. She slowly crossed the road and approached the policeman.

‘Are you alright? Did they harm you in anyway?’ he asked.

‘No sir… I am not hurt in any way. Just shaken,’ she answered.

At the same moment Isha appeared beside her. ‘Thank you very much sir. You saved my friend.’

‘You are very lucky. We just happened to be close enough to reach this fast. But now, I need you two to come with me to the station,’ he asked.

‘Sir, if I may ask, can she stay out of this? I will answer any questions you have. I don’t want to trouble her for my sake,’ Monica requested.

Isha nudged Monica but Monica whispered, ‘please.’ Isha remained quiet.

The sub-inspector thought long and finally said, ‘alright. You give a statement on what you saw and your contact details.’

Isha nodded in response.