“Sorry Vinod, Ananya. Tum logon ko itni short notice par weekend par bulana pada. Lekin mujhe tip mili hai ki unke do log yahan milne waale hain.”
“Sir. Last message jo mila tha hamein, uska kya matlab nikala hai police ne?”
“Most likely koi attack. Lekin usse zyada clarity agar police ke paas hai to woh humse share nahin kar rahe. Vinod tum woh corner waali table le lo. Main entrance ke paas rahunga aur Ananya you hang out near that shop pretending to window shop.”
“Ji.” Vinod left and Kabir stopped Ananya for a moment to tell her, “Dada aaj shaam nikal rahe hain. Kal se hamara kaam RG Pharma par bhi shuru ho jayega.”
“Ji,” she made to leave, but Kabir stopped her again, “Ek minute. Ye rakho. Aaj ghar wapas ja kar sun lena.”
“Kya hai ismein?”
“Khud sun lena.”
He had given her a small music player.
“Ananya. Hum log oopar food-court mein hain,” her mother and brother came there just then.
“Haan. Ma. Main kaam khatam hone par tumhein dhoondh loongi.” She explaied to Kabir when they left, “Ma shopping ke liye jaana chahti thi. Achanak aapka call aaya yahan aane ke liye to main unhein bhi yahin le aayi.”
“Okay. Aaj to lagta hai poori duniya isi mall mein aayi hui hai. Woh Ronnie aur Richa hain na?”
“Woh log bhi bahar jaana chahte the–”
“To tumne unhein yahin bula liya.”
“Ji.”
“Hum yahan lead follow karte hue aaye hain, Anaya.”
“Hamare saath aur log rahenge to hum kam hi conspicuous lagenge.”
“Ye bhi theek hai. Main apni position par jaata hoon.”
“Ji.”
—
A little girl was following her mother out of the shop, but she spotted some bangles and stopped. Ananya smiled fondly at her while keeping a watch on the surroundings from the corner of her eyes. Something about the young couple still inside the shop caught her eyes. Even before she had processed the information, she sensed the danger, picked up the girl and held her out to her mother. “Go!” she screamed at them. They escaped, but Ananya found herself at a gun point.
Kabir noticed immediately and ran in her direction, but stopped short when one of her captors fired a shot in the air. The shot also got the attention of everyone in the mall and few cries of fear went up, while everyone else tried to figure out what was happening.
“Hamare log chaaron taraf faile hue hain,” Ananya’s female captor yelled, “Everybody down on the floor. Sar neeche kar ke let jao sab log. Now.”
“Use jaane do,” Kabir said, his voice cold and steady, but Ananya could read the fear in the depth of his eyes.
“On the floor.” The man grumbled.
“Use jaane do. Main uski jagah lene ke liye taiyaar hoon.”
Seeing the man turn his gun towards Kabir, Ananya screamed, “Aap sun nahin rahe hain woh kya kah rahe hain. Sar neeche kijiye. Zidd karne se kuchh nahi hoga.”
He had himself seen the wisdom of her advice by then.
“Ananya!”she heard her mother scream from a floor above. She could see her through the central well of the mall. Ronnie, Richa and Armaan were by her side.
Another shot went up in the air and Ananya screamed at her mother to obey her captors too.
“Andar chalo,” the woman ordered her. Trembling with fear she followed them inside the shop.
As they retreated behind the glass walls, Kabir looked up. He saw them using stoles from the shop to tie Ananya’s hands. Without standing up, he shot an SMS to Khurana. The reply he received chilled his bones. Apparently police had already received information about the plans of the terrorists. There was a plot to bomb the mall, though exact details were not clear. Police and bomb squad were on their way. All around him was restlessness. Children were squaling. Some adults were also sobbing. He heard multitudes of prayers. He surreptiously glanced around and wondered where the the teammates of Ananya’s captors were.
—
The man stood at the door of the shop and guarded it from outside, while the woman, after tying her hands at her back and then tethering her to a hook in the wall, disappeared behind a wall within the shop.
Ananya cried silently. Then she remembered the little music player pressed deep in her hands. Could she listen to what was in it without a headphone? Without much hope she felt around it with her hand and pressed at the first place she guessed there could be a button. Through its weak, but funcitonal in-built speaker, a song wafted through.
“Mujhse naaraaz ho to ho jao, khud se lekin khafa, khafa na raho…”
Her silent weeping turned into sobs and the woman returned. She tried to snatch the music player from Ananya, but met with resistance.
“Ise mujhse lene ke liye tumhein mujhe maarna padega. Aur agar mujhe maar dogi to tumhara jo bhi plan hai woh fail ho jayega.”
The woman smirked, having decided that the music player was harmless, she let Ananya have it.
“Mujhpe chahe yakeen karo na karo, tumko khud par magar yakeen rahe,” sang the little device in her helpless, tied hands, when the woman produced an explosive vest.
“I’m sorry, Kabir,” she sobbed as the woman fitted the jacket on her. The song died out after exhorting her
“Mujhse tum door jao, to jao, aap apne se tum juda na raho…”
—
“Kabir!”
Kabir sprang up on hearing her voice and his mouth went dry on on seeing ticker on the time bomb fitted on her.
“Unke aur log nahin hain yahan. Sabko yahan se nikaliye. Ma aur Armaan…” she started crying.
Some other people around them had started stirring by then. Kabir looked around and picked on some young men and women who seemed to still have their wits about them and put them to the task of evacuating the mall.
It wasn’t possible to avoid the chaos, but he left them to manage as best as they could hoping that mall’s security would wake up and take charge of the situation. Then he called Ronnie and asked him to ensure Mrs. Kashyap’s, Armaan’s and Richa’s safety.
“Kitna time hai, Kabir?”
“Bomb squad aa raha hai, Ananya,” he said and held her tight taking care not to press anything on the vest.
“Kitna time hai?”
Although reluctant, he replied, “Aath minute.”
—
To be continued