#30

Nawaz quickly held his hand tightly and hurled him on the ground and snatched his gun. He turned to Mellisa who pointed her gun at him.

"I am going to pay you more than him if you obey me. Do you understand?"

She sighed. She nodded and slowly put her gun down. Nawaz walked towards her and disassembled Fawad's gun. Fawad stood up and faced Mellisa. Nawaz gave a smile to her after which she pointed the gun at Fawad and shot him dead. Nawaz looked at his wrist watch.

"Well, you have got me late, girl."

She looked at him and smiled.

"Don't worry, I will let you to beat the clock before your flight's departure."

"Is that so?"

"Why? Can't you count on me?"

Melissa drove the SUV at the speed a bit lesser than the maximum one. Nawaz was sitting beside her on the passenger seat.

He asked, "Can you pull over there?"

She slowed down the SUV and stopped at the roadside. He started searching under his blazer.

"What happened?"

"I think have forgotten to bring my glasses."

"You can buy the one new one at the airport."

"No, just let me see. I won't take long."

She put her head against the seat and looked outside the window randomly. He looked at her. He got a pocket knife out of his pocket and quickly stabbed her on the throat. She started bleeding from her neck. He unlocked the door and pushed her outside. She fell on the ground near the SUV. Nawaz drove the SUV away.

Namphor (in his early thirties) was on his way on foot carrying a backpack and wearing a cap at night on the streets of Monaco. He stopped walking when he saw Penchez (in his early forties) who was standing before him. Namphor was knocked for a loop when he saw the person before him. He kept his eye on him for a couple of seconds. He turned around in order to get away from him. He was about to run when Hepkins (in his mid thirties) came before him. Hepkins held Namphor. He grabbed his collar and pushed him towards Penchez who grabbed his neck.

"Where are you running, huh?"

"I was not running, I... I was just walking back to my home."

"You won't go home. Marcello wants to have a word with you."

An SUV arrived there.

Namphor, "I had promised Marcello to return him what I had borrowed from him."

"You didn't borrow from him. You stole it."

"I know, that what I meant."

Hepkins opened the backseat door of the SUV. Penchez pushed Namphor into the SUV. He sat by him on the seat. Hepkins sat on the either side of Namphor. Penchez threw his backpack outside before the SUV left.

Penchez said, "Call Marcello."

Hepkins accessed his phone and made a call to Marcello.

He said, "Yup. We have him. We are coming. (Pause) Nah, he didn't say anything about the painting."

Mr. Ved Krishnan (in his mid fifties), associate director of the Arclight was sitting before the Defence Minister Rajeshwar Nath. Aditya was standing behind the former one.

Rajeshwar said, "Mr. Krishnan, you were sure about your officer who had the responsibility to escort the Unicorn agent to the safe house."

"This is true, sir."

"What went wrong then? The agent escaped from his custody."

Krishnan nodded. Aditya cleared his throat.

"Sir."

Rajeshwar looked at Aditya.

"Yes, Mr. Mehra."

"Sir, actually everything was going well until the agent was hospitalized."

Krishnan said, "Yes sir, don't take it as an excuse. I agree it was some sort of negligence but we have to agree that the Unicorn agent is a step ahead of us."

Aditya added, "And we are working on it sir to take him to our custody to put him on trial."

Rajeshwar asked, "Do you really think Arclight will be able to do so?"

Krishnan said, "We have to, sir. Vihaan Bakshi, who is also known as 'ALPHA' is accused of the murder of Mr. Subhash Bansal. He has gone rogue now. We have no option but to bring him to justice."

Rajeshwar nodded.

"Let's see what happens. Well, you may leave Mr. Krishnan."

"Thank you sir."

Krishnan left the chair and turned to Aditya who nodded. They both came out of the cabin and went downstairs.

Krishnan asked, "Where is Sameer?"

"He is waiting outside."

Outside the ministry, Aditya's car was parked behind Krishnan's car. Sameer was standing with his hands folded by Aditya's car. They came out of the ministry building to the car.

Krishnan asked, "Any idea about Vihaan?"

Sameer shook his head.

"Nothing yet. Either he has left the country or might be planning to leave."

Krishnan hummed and nodded.

He asked, "Do you know anyone with whom he has worked earlier?"

Aditya nodded.

"I think I know someone. He could be our key person to get our hands on Vihaan."

Sameer nodded.

Aditya said, "Let's hope Vihaan hasn't left the country yet."

Vihaan was sitting at the backseat of a moving speedboat. He was wearing goggles and had a bag kept beside him. The operator stopped the boat at the pier of the Port Hercule of Monaco. Vihaan picked up the bag and stepped upon the pier. He walked through the walkway and came out of the port. He walked through the aisle having cobblestone streets. He had the smartphone in his hand which was navigating him to the location. He turned left as per the navigation. A steel staircase appeared in the aisle. He climbed the staircase and came to the terrace. There was an old fashioned metal gate on the terrace. He opened the gate and walked. The rope outside the rental apartment had quarter a dozen of woman's clothes hanging on it. Two dumbells and a skipping rope were kept at the corner of the terrace. He knocked the door. Sarika opened the door. She was in her gym outfit which had become wet with her sweat.

He said, "You were working out."

She nodded.

"Come in."

The small apartment had a living room with a round table at the centre. Sarika's luggage was kept at the corner of the room. Vihaan kept the bag on the ground by the wall.

She asked, "You hungry?"

He looked at her. He paused for a while and then nodded.