Willpower has the ability to bring someone to his/her knees . . . a little bit knowledge won't hurt too.
--
Special Agent Vir Rahane absolutely hates hindrance.
Everybody knows it. From a faulty tire to software crash, he hates these small things, or, the things which stand between him and his work. Like many of his superior, he is a total workaholic with no social life. As he dedicated his life to his work, to everyday surveillance of assets and occasional National security, he expects everything and everyone to go as he pleases, provides him support. In the due course, he sometimes forgets the world doesn't move, or will move, just because he wants it in his own way.
He is yet to know it fully.
Coming to work in Intelligence agency was a natural course for him. There was no second career option for him, and he was adamant he will be here, of course his hard work and tenacity paved the way too. His father was a founding member of RAW, when it split from IB and became an independent agency of its own. He wanted to work in that agency, wanted the best of both worlds, so he did. Today he is a liasion Agent, a bridge between RAW and IB.
Past several weeks were unusual for him, to say the least. His superiors sent him to talk to ETF Director one day about some surveillance they were doing on an asset way before he even joined Agency. He only knew one thing, the man was Agency asset and none else was allowed to go near him. It was enough for him, and he made the Director understand it as best as he could. Later, he thought, The Director looked slightly surprised when he mentioned about accessing RAW database. But he didn't pay much attention to it.
But he should have.
Some weeks later his superiors ordered him to talk to an officer from ETF, who has a direct connection with the asset. He put his foot down and demanded to know what exactly is going on, because it's the second time he was in contact with another ETF officer, and whatever is going on between the Agency and ETF, they sure as hell know things which he is unknown to. He never goes out with half knowledge and won't want to be on back foot.
So his superiors told him, and he realized this was exactly the kind of hindrance he hates. Human hindrance.
So some low ranking officer is messing around the most powerful and discreet agency of country, going as far as provoking them to show their cards. If he was another Man, he would have applauded at the audacity, but as an officer who plays by law and loyal dog, it was a nuisance and point of irritation for him. His superiors had the clear order to eliminate the threat, so he will. No other choice.
He looked over the papers his co-workers provided him, as he stood outside the Interrogation room of IB and looked inside through the glass wall. Inside, the woman was drumming her fingers on the edge of table, her face hidden by hair which was tied and brought to a side, eyes looking somewhere down but not looking at all. He could see the wheels in her mind turning, but he could see she was not a least bit nervous about this whole arrangement. Why would she, she was the one asking for it. A part of his mind said Agency took this step in a hurry, playing by her rules and bringing her inside, but then, if they did, that's because the asset and big picture was something important. His superiors didn't say what, though.
ACP Riya Mukherjee. DOB 4th April. Mid twenties. Born and brought up in Hydrabad. Father is a Hotel tycoon. Has two siblings. Served in Mumbai Bomb squad, before transferred to Investigation Department for not abiding rules. Resigned due to personal problems, MIA for 3 years which has no records. Joined Emergency Task Force ETF 11 Months ago. The Director, Aisha Kapoor, was her room mate in Police Academy, later served with her. Commissioner Raghu Ram personally recommended this addition.
Interesting bio, to say the least. While he had studied and met many rich kids, he can say most of them don't even think about this hard life of IPS or intelligence. They think about Harvard, world tour, vacations in Miami and 4 bedroom apartments. These papers clearly says she had those options in life, but she break herself free from that life. He wondered why is that.
And then, rule breaking. Pages after Pages of records of rule breaking. It's like she had taken personal offence to abide by rules. Sometimes it's mild torture during interrogation, sometime shooting the escaping guilty, sometimes tricking, sometimes bribing to get something. While these things are not uncommon, but to see these offences in a Lady officer's bio is uncommon. Mostly Lady officer are obedient, do as they are told and stay within boundary. From the looks of it, she should have been in Narcotics, she would have been better appreciated.
But the thing took him by surprise was . . no victim. Not a single killing. Shooting someone, plenty, but not a single victim. How is that possible that someone who gives vibe of recklessness from pages of records never killed one single person in her life? It's impossible, but true.
Now he was intrigued. If she intended to give this vibe through her records, then congrats, she succeed. Vir Rahane is on aboard.
He handed over the pages to the agency standing by him and walked toward the door, pushing it and entering. The woman stopped drumming fingers and looked up, clearly waiting for this moment.
"ACP Mukherjee." He greeted, "I am special agent Vir Rahane. Thank you for coming."
"You sent 2 men to bring me." She replied, giving the impression of casual and indifference, like she is often summoned by IB like this, "Not exactly a choice there."
He took the seat opposite her, fingers intertwining as he tried to figure her out. It's a normal process to do, profiling someone. She obviously needs something and he is here to politely show her out, before he hit some raw nerve and shatter her illusions. She looked right back, fully aware of what he was doing. Just like her records she give the aura of recklessness, but there is an undercurrent of determination and steeliness, the things which made her leave the comfortable lifestyle and take a difficult course. There is something else too, he noticed.
He was suddenly aware that it's the same room where spies and wanted criminals cracked under pressure, sometime endured brutal torture. She looked perfectly ease in here, of course unknown to the history of this very room. He should make use of this room.
"You also didn't leave any choice." he leaned forward, a classic move by him to intimidate someone, and she looked just like earlier, looking right into him and completely at ease, "I mean leaving breadcrumbs for our surveillance team to reach you. Why?"
"The answer is obvious, is not it?" She replied, "I need something."
"And why should we give you that?" His question was immediate.
"Before answering that, I need to know who exactly is talking here." She leaned forward, mimicking him, "IB officials who has no clue of what I am talking about, or RAW."
He was taken aback internally by her bluntness, "RAW doesn't exist, you know." He smirked a little.
"If it didn't, you would not be here." She smirked right back, and his vanished.
"So, like I asked, who is talking here?" She repeated her question.
He hated to be on back foot, but losing is okay as long as you win the ultimate battle, "How do you know IB is not involved?"
"I had resources."
"Did ETF Chief help a little?" He tilted head. Anger flashed in her eyes.
"No." She answered curtly, "She is off limits."
He suddenly knew how much she knows and how, "You were the one who accessed RAW database."
She remained expressionless. He clenched jaw.
"Why I should not arrest you right now for stealing and illegally breaking into RAW database?"
"You have no evidence." She answered.
"Give me time." He threatened. She leaned back, waving hands.
"Sure. Feel free." Her eyes never left him. He didn't move an inch from his seat, because already his co-workers outside, who were monitoring this interrogation, were on work, and he needed more time to figure her out.
"You intrigue me." He started talking again, "You went to great lengths so that we will come behind you. Your men even left note for us to contact you. Why?"
"Do you even know what your surveillance team was doing there?" She asked.
"Of course, I didn't come here without info." He answered, a little bit angry at her dismissing him as someone unimportant, "They were tailing Nasir Jamal. One of our assets."
"What kind of asset is he," She started smirking again, "who immediately goes to hiding once he knows RAW is tailing him for years?"
Crap.
"Did you help him hiding?"
"No." She scoffed, "I just sent the words."
"So you want him?" He asked.
"No." She shook her head slowly, "I want to know what is RAW's interest in him."
Now this was his turn to scoff, "Good luck with that."
"I don't depend on luck." She answered, "Also, good luck finding Nasir."
His smirk vanished and anger was back, "Where is he?"
"I am sure he is somewhere safe."
"Where is he?" he repeated, uttering each syllable separately.
"I do not know." She answered with full seriousness.
"Why should we believe you?"
"You know what?" her voice suddenly rose, "We are both wasting our time. We need come at a mutual point."
"What exactly were you thinking when you planned this?" He wondered, "Because, so far, it gives the impression of complete sillyness."
She remained silent.
"You honestly thought RAW and IB will make a deal with a low ranking IPS officer for a criminal who went to hiding? Do you even have any idea how vast is our network? We will find him, and we don't need to make any mutual agreement point to meet you." He was ready to leave, "You, on the other hand, should expect termination letter and jail sentence soon enough."
She hummed in response and he smirked as he stood up, elated with victory, but then her voice stopped him in track.
"Of course you will find him. 10 hour, 10 months, or maybe a decade, give or take. Just like you find Dawood and D company. Or his whole network." She answered flippantly, "Maybe he will be in Middle east, or, our dearest neighbour country, Pakistan. He may form another D company, or maybe it will be N company this time?"
He cursed in mind and turned to meet her smirking, "Your point?"
"My point is clear." She intertwined fingers, "You have some kind of interest in him, and I want to know what is that. If you are ready to come to a mutual point, I will share my interest in him." She paused, "So far, I am in safe zone. You cannot touch a hair on me."
"Arrogance will only take you little far." He commented.
"Self confidence." She countered. "Silly plan? From my side, not so."
He pondered over her words for a moment, "If you wanted him from the beginning, why not take him? And how exactly your men found us but we missed them?"
"My men are very good in keeping them in background." She replied, "For Nasir, I came across him by sheer co-incidence. After knowing RAW's interest in him, I was curious. If I did take him down, you guys would have been after me."
"So you made us come to you." He finished.
"Exactly." She agreed, "So, did we reach a mutual point?"
He thought carefully before answering. This interrogation, or more like meeting because he was in the backfoot in every sentence, has surpassed it's original point. Some new aspects came to light, about whom he can't have any decision. But he does need to serve one purpose of this meeting, finding their asset.
"Is Nasir still in country?"
"Yes." She answered truthfully, "The rat will come out once he knows it was a false alarm."
"And how exactly would he know?"
"Like he knew RAW was tailing him."
They stared at each other for several moments. He took a deep breath before answering.
"I can not tell you everything without consulting my superior."
"Then give me something." She replied instantly. He thought for a moment, and decided.
"The interrogation is over." He stood up, "You better make sure Nasir stays in country before you have the deal, ACP, or else the consequences will not be pretty."
And he shut the glass door behind him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Deputy Chief of IB was surprised to hear how the 'Interrogation' went. And he was not happy.
"I do not like this, Rahane." He said. The former sighed.
"I felt like she had me from all sides." He replied.
"Who is she?" The DC exclaimed, "What do we know about her?"
"From records?" He answered, "That she is an heiress, worked in bomb squad, has problem to stand by rules, never killed anyone, was MIA for 3 years with no record, and now working in ETF. Without records? She has problems, clear problems with over self confidence, dangerous recklessness and flippancy. She sat in that room like she does that every day. God!"
The DC was silent for a while, then he asked "What do you suggest?"
He sighed, running fingers in hair, "Honestly? I don't know. In one hand, I want to dismiss her words as something silly. We are one of the best intelligence Agency, surely we can find this Nasir guy from any slum he is hiding. But then I remember, this was the same ACP whose men somehow tipped Nasir, and left a chit for us to contact her. She clearly has people who are better than our people. She is resourceful, by hook or crook she knew our 9 years of surveillance in this guy and straight made us come for her. We can't overlook these too."
"She could have gone directly to Nasir."
"But she didn't." He replied, "Clearly, she knew Nasir was not one of our spy, and she wanted the truth from us. She knew going for him directly will be futile."
The DC started pacing back and forth in his cabin, pondering over his words, "Surely we have no other option to shut her down?"
"There is no evidence it was her who accessed RAW database. I can press ETF Director to give her up, but seeing their history I have no hope. They were roommates in Police Academy, later served together. Also, we can clash with Commissioner Raghu Ram, he has soft spot for her."
"Jesus." He muttered, "She is surrounded by forts."
"Tell me about it." Vir answered bitterly. Both the Men were silent for several minutes, then the DC sighed.
"Okay, we need to think about it in a different angle." He sat down in his seat and motioned him to do the same, which he did, "So what do we know about her interest in Nasir?"
"It's clearly not for ETF. There is no case which points them toward him, but then, we would have received official letters, not informers to informers."
"It has to be personal then." DC said.
"There is no record of it."
"You said yourself there is many things about her which is not in records." DC answered, "Maybe the 3 years she was MIA, somehow she came in contact with Nasir. Who knows?"
Vir hummed and he went on, "I say you try to find out about her interest in her. Who knows, maybe through her we get some breakthrough?"
"But she will want some info too." He reminded.
"Then give her. But not anything high profile, not until you have the idea what she is looking for. Then, if it serves both of our interest, we will give something serious."
"Mutual point." He remembered her words, and nodded slowly.
As he walked out of DC's cabin, he laughed in disbelieve. A low ranking IPS officer surely made a deal with country's best intelligence Agency.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vir met the intriguing ACP Mukherjee 3 days later in a crowdy Mc D outlet. He had offered to meet in a quiet restaurant, but she changed that for a new location. When he reached there, it was afternoon and the whole outlet was packed. He searched for her in the crowd and found her sitting in the farthest corner seat, looking into her phone.
As he walked toward her, for the first time he noticed her, not like an IB-RAW liasion agent noticing a low ranking IPS officer, but one human to another. Like the last time, she was dressed in white shirt and black skinny jeans, curving her frame perfectly, her hair neatly tied in a pony and hanging on a side, few strands on hair on forehead. Despite her best formal attire, she looked informal and carelessly dressed, maybe it was the way she carry herself. It's not like he had never seen anyone more beautiful than her, but there was something in her which drawn him, also the first meeting helped.
Smooth, his mind taunted, scolding himself checking out a woman on official duty, real smooth.
He recovered quickly and remembered why he was here. He was way past his anger and irritation for being back foot on every step, because now, he had a new mission in hand, to figure out how much she knows and what exactly she wants, and if, it helps the agency, steer her into right direction and work with her.
Should not be difficult.
He took the seat opposite her and she snapped the phone shut quickly, now meeting his eyes as he spoke, "My location was better."
"I like the coffee." Now he noticed the McD mug on table, from which she took sip. The waiter arrived and he ordered a soft drink, before coming straight to topic.
"You have a deal." He started speaking.
"Do I now?" She answered in faux surprise, and he exhaled.
"Yes dear." He mocked and she smirked, "But first, I need to know why you need it."
"Before that, I need to know your interest in him." She countered, and he narrowed eyes, "Then I would know if I am mistaking somewhere. If my interest don't cross with yours, I will be out of your hair. Save both of us time."
He thought about it, but really, what else option he had? "Fine." He started talking.
"You know about his business?"
"Of course." She replied, "Fake passports and girls."
"We think he helps illegal immigrants to settle here and abroad."
"Like Bangladeshi, Pakistanis?"
"Not only common people." He paused, ""We are suspecting him of helping several big fishes out there. To help them flee country. To help them settle in country."
"Did you succeed?" She asked.
"That's classified." He replied, "But until now, none suspected we were getting infos through him. He was safe."
She was in deep thought after he finished, and he watched her, sipping his own drink. When the silence stretched, he became impatient.
"It's your turn."
Her eyebrows were knotted in deep concentration as she spoke, "What you said, it makes no sense with my cause."
"How about you let me decide that?" He offered. The knot vanished and she met his eyes, like challenging him. Well then, he was up for one.
"What do you want to know?"
"How you came across him?"
"I came across him by sheer co-incidence." She answered, "ETF Director sent me on an undercover op, nothing major. The subject's phone held contact details about him."
He frowned, "You only took interest in him out of all the other contacts? Why?''
She was silent for some seconds, debating in mind, before she replied, "I knew someone, and Nasir was in touch with him as well. It had completely escaped my mind, until I saw his name in that phone."
"Why was this 'Someone'" he air quoted, "was in touch with him?"
"I have no idea."
"You never asked?"
"I didn't get a chance." Her voice was too quiet and icy, "Like I said, I came across the name by co-incidence. I didn't think he was important, until I saw the same name in the phone of a low life. Then I started to dig his background and now here we are." She leaned back in her seat.
"Here we are." He repeated, frowning, "What exactly you want from us now?"
She shot him a look, "I am calling the shots now?"
"If you don't want to, then fine." He shrugged. She was not convinced, scrutinizing him through her impossibly dark brown eyes.
"What's your interest in here now?" She crossed arms over chest.
"We are just observing." He answered, "To be honest, we didn't see you coming. You proved yourself as efficient, resourceful, so we have decided to make a compromise. If your digging lead us to something big, then we will be there to clean up the mess. All for the big picture."
"So I will do the work and you will have the cake." She mocked.
"You will have help, anytime, anything." He offered, "You don't have to break into Director's cabin to access database."
"You don't have any prove." She smirked, which he mimicked.
"I only want to know whose help you had." He leaned forward, "Or you have any hidden trait?"
"Find out." She challenged, "Use your resource. A low ranking IPS officer surely can't beat the best."
"You already did."
"Flattery won't work with me. I know my limitations."
They both held each other's gaze for a while, then he shook his head.
"Man, are not you something?"
She looked sideways, surely to hide her eye roll, "So, what now?"
"You let him free. I want things just like they were."
"Sure." she nodded, "Then I need to talk to him."
"Torture-talk or just talk-talk?"
She drummed her finger once on table before answering, "I can't promise."
"Our name can't be flashed." He warned.
"But I need Men."
"What about yours?" He asked. She stared at him.
"They are strictly information only, not abducting."
"Okay, you get men." He offered his hand for shaking, which she met.
Soft hands, totally in contrast of the rest of her.
Get a grip.
Then she smiled.
Oh boy.