#18

An orchestra was playing a romantic classical for the entertainment of the guest who were present on the terrace. Hitesh came to the terrace along with Vihaan. The former spotted Shreya who was busy talking to her colleagues facing away from them. Shreya felt a slight touch on her left shoulder. She turned around where Hitesh was standing by her. She could see Vihaan through over Hitesh's shoulder. Vihaan was standing at a distance away from them.

Hitesh said, " Your old friend is here, Shreya. "

She was surprised to see him there.

" My god! "

Hitesh called to him. Vihaan came to them.

" Hi. Congratulations to both of you. "

She said, " Thank you. Well, it's a quite surprise. Great to see you here. "

Hitesh said (patting on his shoulder), " When you are going to get married, friend? We also want you to invite us on your anniversary. "

He smiled bashfully.

The orchestra conductor announced while standing on the pedestal with a mic in his hand.

He spoke on mic, " Everyone here please. I would like to draw the attention of the beautiful people invited here on the auspicious occasion of the anniversary of the loving couple, Mr. and Mrs. Verma. I request the couple here to join the dance floor to make this moment a memorable one forever. "

The people on the terrace clapped for them.

Vihaan said, " He is calling you. "

Hitesh stretched his palm towards her who held his palm and they went to the centre of the terrace. They were joined by four more couples who took their position around them. On the instruction of the conductor the orchestra begin to play a symphony. The couples on the dance floor started ballroom dancing. The viewers around them were clapping with the beats. After couple of minutes clapping for the couple, Vihaan started imagining himself dancing with Shreya. He began to reminisce the moments when he once had a very close relationship with her during the early days of his career. Vihaan's phone began to ring. He took his phone out of the pocket of his trousers. He looked at the screen. He turned to the other side in order to get away from the dance floor.

" Excuse me. "

He walked through the terrace among the crowd and came to an edge of the terrace near the railings. He attended the call.

" Hello. "

Subhash said, " Seems you are a bit occupied. "

Vihaan sighed.

" I have attended a social gathering after a long time. "

" Where? "

" It's Shreya's anniversary. "

" Oh. Well, you know I have a special word for a person who attends his ex's anniversary. Can you guess the word? "

" No. "

" EX-TRA. "

" Oh, wow. Well, I remember you called me thirty seconds ago. "

" Check your email. I have sent you two images. Call me back once you see them.  "

Subhash hung up the call. Vihaan accessed his email account in his phone. He opened an image file which had an image of Nawaz. He kept looking at it for a couple of seconds. He swiped left to the other image which was of Razzaq. Subhash was walking with his pet golden retriever dog, Milo when his phone rang. He took the phone out of his jacket and attended the call.

" Go ahead. "

Vihaan said, " I know the second one. He was in London with Dhiven. "

" Can we meet right now? "

" Where? "

" How quick can you get out of there? "

Vihaan drove his car through the lanes of New Delhi. He arrived at the garden of five senses. He came out of car. He closed the door and stepped towards the entrance gate of the garden. He entered the garden and walked over the cobblestones. Since it was late night he could only hear the stridulation of grasshoppers and crickets in the serenity. Subhash was sitting beside Milo on a stone base which was built ahead of a stone staircase. Milo spotted a bird and barked at it.

" Shut up. "

Vihaan walked down the staircase. He came to them and sat beside Milo.

" Hi Milo. "

Milo barked.

Subhash said, " He is replying. "

" He is saying you shouldn't have called me in the middle of the party. "

He caressed Milo's hair on his head. Khurshid was sitting at the driving seat of his car which was parked at  the road across the garden from where he could clearly get a view of Vihaan's car. His smartphone which was kept on the passenger seat was displaying a three minutes countdown.

Subhash said, " The man you recognised in the photo is Razzaq Qureshi. The ISI calls him 'C-Mark6'. They have confirmed that Qureshi has been killed in action in London by an unknown agent whom we are aware of. "

Vihaan nodded.

Subash continued, " The other one is Nawaz Naqvi. They call him B-B-8. He is the brain behind the kidnapping of Mr. Dwivedi's daughter. An asset of the Investigation Bureau is operating from Lahore. He has confirmed that Nawaz has been off the radar of ISI. "

" That signifies that they are unable to set up their connection with B-B-8. Either he is killed or he has disappeared after his failure in London. "

Subhash said, " Just after a week there was an attack on the Indian delegation led by the CDS officer Vivek Chauhan in Paris. "

" And the Unicorn believes that he is behind the attack. "

" Our agent was there when the incident took place. She is currently looking into the matter. "

" Who is investigating? "

" Sarika. "

Vihaan sighed and hummed.

Subhash added, " Sarika has got a lead through her asset in Paris. She'll contact you once she finds anything about Nawaz. "

Vihaan nodded. They came near to the exit gate of the garden.

He asked, " Shall I drop you home? "

" Ah, well. Milo loves to travel in the car. "

Vihaan helped Milo to sit on the backseat of his car and shut the door. Subhash sat on the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt. He got his eye on a bakery shop across the street.

" Oh man. "

Vihaan asked, " What? "

" Actually, my wife had asked me to bring eggs home. "

Subhash began to unfasten his seat belt.

Vihaan said, " Stay inside. I'll bring you the one. "

" Oh, thanks. "

Vihaan paid the baker in cash. He picked up the egg tray having six slots. He came out of the shop and began to cross the road and headed towards the car. He was half on his way when the car exploded and burst into flames in no time. He saw another car driven by Khurshid who was reversing his vehicle in order to escape the site. Vihaan dropped the egg tray. He took his gun and began to shoot at the car while stepping towards Khurshid. Khurshid took a reverse turn. He geared up and turned right and began to drive straight. Vihaan began to run behind him until the car disappeared from his sight. He stopped running and started panting. He turned to his burning car and kept looking at it for a while.