Spies & Spice (Completed)

Chapter 22

Nandini welcomed them discreetly and as they entered the spacious living room, they found Sharmila and Monty playing chess on the dining table, still in their pyjamas.

Monty was the first to rise, and greeted them in a flustered manner.

Ajit quickly put them at ease.

"Relax... Monty and Sharmila, please sit down. I had just come to see how you guys were doing and to have a general chitchat."

"We are fine sir, Nandini is taking care of us so well." Monty said gratefully, as Sharmila just smiled and observed everyone with a keen eye.

"Is everything comfortable, accommodation wise?" Ajit looked around vaguely at the study and kitchen to the right, and stairs on the left which led to the three bedrooms upstairs.

Everyone smiled pleasantly at one another till Sharmila got the wind up and asked, "Is there any new update on the shootout Rajiv?"

"Yes there is and there isn't. I wanted to check a few points with you and Monty, because I thought you guys might give me a better narrative of what happened, now that the initial shock and trauma are over. Ajit Sir will speak with Monty. Sharmila, would you mind to come this way, so we can have a quick chat?" Rajiv pointed towards the spare study on the right.

"Sure." Sharmila followed him with a smile but her mind was already alert to the sudden shift in the mood.

Once they were both seated comfortably, Sharmila said nothing, and waited for Rajiv to speak.
"Hmm. It's nothing. I am sure you have gone through what happened at the villa again and again in your mind as well as discussed it with Monty. Did you remember anything that you forgot to tell us on that day?" Rajiv asked casually as he observed Sharmila's nonchalant face.

"Yes, I will never be able to forget what happened that night..." she sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly, "those thoughts keep churning in my mind all the time, but there's nothing new that I could recall." Sharmila's response was prompt.

"What about events before the shootout?"

Sharmila blinked once and repeated, "the same, we have told you everything."

But Rajiv's expert eyes caught the tiny flicker of forced calmness and a slight shift in Sharmila's body posture. He knew he was onto something there, but didn't press her any further, as he was keen to give her a false sense of relief.

"On that night, before you saw Victor, you said you heard one or two bullet shots coming from the back of the villa, am I correct?" Rajiv waited to see if she fell into the trap, but Sharmila was too sharp.

"No, Rajiv. Not one or two shots. I heard the AK47 round going off and then a loud grunt, and that's when I wondered who these attackers were, who would carry such guns and I was scared for Victor too. A few moments after that, I heard multiple gun shots in different directions from the front of the villa, and I was tempted to go and help Monty. But our mission was to save Victor, so I stayed in the backyard and ran towards the nearest door behind a creeper."

Sharmila's tone was clear and firm.
"Hmm... So you definitely heard a grunt? Did you see Victor getting shot? "

"I couldn't see anything Rajiv, it was pitch dark. But yes, after the AK47 went off I clearly heard a grunt. When I saw Victor run towards me later, he was already injured in the elbow. He was holding his elbow with his other arm, to contain the blood flow."

"Other than Victor and that gunman, did you see anyone or notice any other movement?"

Sharmila thought for a moment and shook her head, "No... the only other person I saw, I mean I saw a bare outline of, was that other guy who tried to shoot me as Tanvir ran away. But that was much later."