Chapter 22 - Apprehension

The door burst open again. NK appeared and a fresh round of confusion set in the room.

“Fantastic, we have the perfect reenactment of Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom!” ASR threw his hands in the air. He then beckoned NK into the room with a flourish, “Please come in. You were missed. Now, you can explain to me what in the world is happening here, I’d be oh-so-thankful to you!”

The cutting sarcasm wasn't lost on NK, who wore a very matter of fact expression. Khushi couldn’t suppress her smile despite the odd situation she found herself in. The betrayals never ended and for once, she thought she was beginning to get used to them.

“Alright, ASR. Cut it. I can explain.” NK shut the door behind him and stood in the passageway blocking the only exit out of the apartment. ASR sensed something amiss and decided to give it a go.

“OK. Spill it.”

“Payal, Gitu and Khushi. Please sit down where I can see all of you clearly.” NK ordered and the three women complied, for there was little alternative at this point.

“OK. So I don’t want to raise any alarm here, but the building is surrounded by agents. If any of you have any trick planned up your sleeve, I seriously recommend you hold your horses and think through.” NK continued his business like instructions.

ASR shared puzzled looks with Khushi. Gitu was visibly agitated but Payal sat poker faced.

“The suspense is killing me man, just spill.”

NK took a few steps forward and moved part of his jacket aside revealing a holster with gun. It was clear to anyone in the room that the man meant business. ASR leaned against the wall and for once felt like an utter fool not in control of the on-goings in the room.

“A few days ago I caught Gitu doodling through my laptop. She was furiously noting down account information of Khushi’s Swiss accounts and spying on emails regarding the case.” NK watched Gitu as her face melted with guilt.

“Why Gitu!” Khushi’s voice rose.

“Khushi, please. Let me finish before anyone jumps the gun.” NK insisted. “Gitu explained to me that she needed money for her dad’s treatment. I knew she was bluffing because I’d already done a background check on her and I knew her dad was no more.” Gitu sat impassively with her eyes downcast while Khushi grew more bewildered.

“Were you trying to steal money from me, why Gitu?” Khushi’s voice shook with incredulity.

“Please, let me finish first before we pass summary judgments here.” NK appealed, noting an agitated Gitu, who was upset at Khushi’s allegations.

Payal grew impatient and rose from her seat, “Well, you guys have a nice mess you can all deal with. I have better things to do.”

“Sit down, Payal!” NK thundered, his voice steely with determination. Payal cringed back in fear and without further protest, simply sat down.

“I still don’t understand, you had only to ask me Gitu, why, why, why?” Khushi was bordering on hysteric outburst and NK knew he had to intervene fast.

“It was not stealing money, Khushi. It was payment for information on your whereabouts and your activities.” NK added somberly.

“Wait a minute. So Gitu took money from Khushi’s account to pay for information on her?” ASR began piecing the puzzle for everyone’s benefit. “But who was getting paid and why is Gitu in the middle of it.”

A sense of discomfort passed between NK and Gitu, a silent debate on whether they should share a deep secret held between them, a silent agreement reached and NK delivered the news.

“Gitu works for CIA.”

****

The bomb exploded inaudibly in the room, leaving stunned spectators in its wake.

Khushi was the first to react with a hysteric laughter. “What!”

“Gitu works for the CIA, Office of Narcotics to be precise.” NK reemphasized.

“Is this true?” Khushi looked at Gitu seeking explanations. Gitu nodded. 

“Wow! Wow, wow, wow!” Khushi got up and took short paces in the living room, “I mean wow. In all the years we’ve known each other, you never once mentioned this to me. It never occurred you to tell me. I don’t know what makes me more mad, that you took money from my account or that you hid your real identity from me. Is Gitu even your real name?”

“Come on, Khushi! Everything you know about me is real, our friendship is real, I….I just do the narcotics analysis for CIA, do covert operations as needed and report analysis to CIA and FBI as needed. Look, I knew something big was going on about with your history and past. When I found out that the Russian mafia was behind your attack, I had to know how you were connected. I've done a ton of work on Russian mafia and their drug cartel operations across the globe.”

“She’s somewhat of a Russophile” NK beamed proudly and out of place.

“Well, I knew the mafia had run into money problems recently with the string drug enforcement and I was on the lead to follow their money trail. When I found out about the Sabres, I knew there had to be something connected with their drug cartel. I was snooping in NK’s laptop to find out any suspicious activities in your account and….”

“And I caught her. We decided to collaborate to find the money trail.” NK completed the sentence, both shooting satisfied glances at their successful partnership.

“Wait. So, you were snooping around in Khushi’s account to find out that money was transferred from her account to Tennessee, why?” ASR cut in.

“Over the years Gitu has built contacts within the cartel. This is not the first time Khushi’s account has been hacked to pay off someone. The money trail is interesting. Money gets wired to an outpost in Tenessee from Khushi’s account. A local picks the check and deposits into a local account registered to a fake business. Later, the same business deposits the money into another account in Chicago, again registered under a fake business. We didn’t know who in Chicago collected money using Cash checks from the account. That’s when Gitu suggested we orchestrate a fake transfer to see who ends up picking the money from the Chicago account.”

“And…” Khushi and ASR asked in tandem.

NK and Gitu looked at Payal.

“Why are you staring at me? I am only here because Gitu invited me to coffee.” She looked around the room with all eyes directed on her. “Wait a minute, you guys think I took the money?”

“You had the motive. You hated Khushi all your life and you had all the insider information about her whereabouts. And I did not run into you by accident at the bank, Payal. I knew someone would be there to operate the account, imagine my surprise when I found it was you.” Gitu stood over Payal with her arms crossed across her chest.

Payal stood up with a start. NK reached for the gun and held it up.

“No sudden moves, Payal.”

“You guys are crazy, you are all crazy. Why would I do something like that? I can’t believe you will stand there and listen to all the crap they are accusing me of.” She spat at Khushi, who wore a pained expression that bespoke of her years of misery and shame borne as the step sister to her younger siblings. It all made sense now, the animosity, the hatred and rejection. 

"Easy, Payal. We wired your house and have records of your conversations. It took us a while but we found the secret cell phone you used to reach your contacts. The evidence is overwhelming." Gitu added.

“You're gonna let these bastards treat me like shit?" she glared at Khushi, "What can I expect from you bitch! You are the illegitimate kid of a royal, a wastrel, a tramp. I knew it! I knew it all along. You will not hesitate to throw me under the bus the first opportunity you got!” Payal’s rhetoric got wilder as Gitu and NK tackled her down to the floor and handcuffed her wrists behind her to calm her down.

“Leave me alone, you bastards. Bitch, let me go!” she screamed as she was dragged out of the apartment.

The raucous cries filled the hallway outside as Payal protested with every fibre of her body to resist the FBI agents who took her over from NK and Gitu. Her voice died down as the agents disappeared with her into the elevator.

NK and Gitu returned to find Khushi held by ASR. She was weakened under the weight of the final blow of betrayal.

Gitu wanted to comfort her friend. She reach out when to her horror, Khushi shrank back.

“Khushi..I..” Gitu began to appeal before Khushi cut her short.

“There’s nothing left to say, Gitu. Nothing at all.” She pulled away from ASR and spoke with exteme clarity in her voice. “I need some air.”

“Let me drive you guys home.” NK volunteered when ASR stopped him.

“You should have told me.” ASR seethed under clenched teeth.

“You are off the case ASR, I couldn’t have.” NK reasoned.

No more words were spoken. ASR and Khushi knew the road ahead was theirs to pave, together.

*****

ASR’s phone buzzed announcing a new email. He glanced at the sender and topic.

‘Sabres Crypto-analysis of Serial numbers’, senders were Akash and Avni.

ASR knew the work was far from over.

*****