The Benefit Season (34 page)

‘
Hey’, said Arjun and
grinned.

‘
Get in’, Krishnamala
said, and swung the passenger door open for the two of them. The
other agent was in the backseat with a milk bottle at the mouth of
the baby. He smiled and nodded at them. ‘You managed to escape’,
she asked.

‘
Yeah. How did you find
this place?’ Arjun asked after they’d squeezed into the narrow
front seat.

Krishnamala started the car and without
switching on the lights swung into the road. ’CCTVs at the hotel-
we got the car description and registration. Belongs to a very
wanted gentleman. Very few people drive such expensive SUVs here.
And this is forest, reserve area. Quite a few check-posts here.
They couldn’t have advertised their arrival here better than if
they’d called up the police station themselves’, she chuckled.
‘Good to have you back’, she said, beaming at the two of them. ‘ I
followed your trail and reached here. I was waiting for backup,
which I think should be here…sometime or the other. I will radio
them to raid the place. We’ve an award on that guy hiding in there-
he’s quite a catch. The folks who leased out the place had no idea
who he was, till they recognized him from some photos I showed
them. Quite a few countries are looking out for that man. But
what’s more important for me is getting you to safety. You can
throw some light on what’s happening when we reach the circuit
house- rest now’.

ϖ

It was a chilly night,
yes, that one. The circuit house of Alwar was a worn down
British-era building, white with tall ceilings and sloping roofs of
red, baked clay tiles. An aluminum drip edge ran all along the
Italianate eaves with decorative wooden support brackets. Inside,
luckily there was a fireplace in the living area and it had been
set a crackle by the old
Khansama
¹
.
He got everyone blankets and disappeared to lay the food. They were
all ravenously hungry and polished off the hot chapattis and butter
chicken masala that he’d stirred up for them. Monal went
straightaway to one of the bedrooms and fell asleep. Arjun strayed
out into the verandah with a hot glass of sugary milk that he’d
been longing for so badly. He sat huddled with the blanket wrapped
close around him in a cane wicker chair that bit on the edges
slightly. Krishnamala, after putting the baby and her husband to
sleep, came to join Arjun outside. She didn’t want to press him
with questions at this hour though she was very curious about what
they had been through. She let Arjun pace himself to tell his
story.

‘
Can I return home
tomorrow?’ he said.

‘
Why not?’ she said,
patting him on the arm. ‘Missing them?’

‘
I can’t even begin to
tell you how much!’

‘
Must have been through a
lot’, she said, not able to help herself.

‘
You bet! And I am still
confused- I don’t know why me!’

‘
Aha, ahem, mmm, hmm’, she
said, goading him on.

‘
There are crazy goings on
here…and I can’t put my finger on them’.

‘
Ahem. Like…?’

‘
Like…’ and he blurted out
the complete story, honestly, truly, save the incident of
lovemaking amongst the mangroves and the swirling tides; as if he
were easing a huge load off his chest, while she listened
raptly.

‘
I see. People can plot so
long, and elaborately so! Almost like a five-year plan- a year or
so in this case.’

‘
Are you going to arrest
Monal?’

‘
For what?’

Arjun turned around to face her, pained.
‘After all that has happened to me, you still ask- “for what”? I
have been kidnapped, that too from my engagement ceremony, drugged,
restrained, shot at, nearly buried, set up for murder, nearly fed
to tigers and you still won’t act?’

‘
Who said I won’t act? But
what do I arrest her for? For following in her husband’s footsteps,
for doing his bidding? For rescuing you? Or for keeping you in the
dark about shooting blanks at him? Arresting Vishal makes more
sense, but then where is he? Let me think how we can use the
situation to get to the bottom of this betting racket, and put the
kingpins away for good, now that you have brought us so close to
them- I can almost feel my hands tightening around their throats! I
wonder what will become of Vishal though?’

‘
Do you think I should
have brought him along? I feel terrible already.’ Arjun said, his
innate decency overlooking the fact that Vishal meant to do him in
completely.

‘
Under the circumstances,
I wouldn’t blame you completely… or absolve you fully either. But
you have a point when you say that unless the gang gets the
whereabouts of the money from him, they’ll not stop pursuing the
rest of you. Closure is very much required. It was never your call
at all perhaps, his wife had to make the decision. I don’t expect a
civilian to do the lawman’s job and rescue sundry persons from
villains. Certainly not! So you, Arjun, I guess, are free of
recrimination, but of guilt- now that is a personal
matter’.

‘
What of Monal…what of
the money?’

‘
What of them? Something
needs to be done surely, but how? For all the bunny rabbit act, I
have a feeling that Monal knows more than meets the eye. The eye
that needs to be kept on her. The eye that alas, is leaving on the
morrow and I can’t stay it’.

‘
How do you mean’, Arjun
asked, shifting a little uncomfortably.

‘
Nothing’, she said,
putting on the airs of a keeper of the law wringing the hands in
misery at a wanted criminal slipping the noose on her
watch.

‘
What?’ Arjun prodded her
through his blanket.

‘
That money is dirty. It
belongs in the public’s coffers. Just imagine; we could clean up
the game. It’s such a shame that in a country where we worship
cricket, the temple beautiful is soiled and its priests are beset
by the devil’, she said, feeling the need for a little melodrama
here.

‘
Are you going to do
nothing about it then?’

‘
I am afraid nothing,
unless…’

‘
Unless what. Why don’t
you get backup. Isn’t it a tad too much bother with the baby and
the racket?’

‘
It’s not racket- it’s
soul music- Haryanvi folk to my ears. I don’t need backup and the
baby is not a burden. But did I hear right when you said she’d
invited you along?’

‘
Yes, but no more of it
please! I have to go look for a job and check if Aarti would still
have me. The whole world believes I’d eloped with Monal. Poor Aarti
must hear people’s laughter behind her back all the time. She will
never believe me and I will never blame her’.

‘
There’s a way you can
convince her of your loyalty still, whether your words move her or
not’, said Krishnamala.

‘
I am
not listening to you’, he said, the way Arjuna may have turned a
deaf ear to the preamble of Lord Krishna’s sermon in
the
Kapi
-
the Hanuman-bannered chariot while setting aside his
100-stringed
Gandiva
.
²

‘
I thought you were proud,
of noble spirit, O Arjun; man of fine fetter, and steel in his
nerves; not chicken!’

He squirmed, the long line of soldiers in
his blood red in the ears.

‘
The only way you can win
Aarti over is to play Monal into my hands’!

‘
Never, I cannot betray!
Not even the enemy! She’s not evil- she’s misguided. Let the
sightless couriers of fate take charge, let not my person shape
another’s destiny or downfall.’

‘
Why do
you lament those not worth lamenting for? Pick up your bow and
arrow and let the thunder, plucked from its bowstrings proceed, and
ring the skies with it. Be not
Klaibyaa
³
,
be a man, the man you ought to be!’

Arjun shook his head. ‘If that be the price
to pay, one for the other, I would rather have none.’

‘
None! What of your duty?
To those that await you, cherish you, wish for you to be true,
faithful, worthy of love and loyalty?’

He struggled with himself.
Finally he caved in at the appeal to his better sentiments.
‘Forgive me then, God. To you, Krishna, I surrender. If it were to
be done, done it were quickly. What is it, were that I to
do?’

‘
Follow her; lap it up. I
will in the morning give to you a transmitter embedded cell phone.
You will carry it on your person at all times and we shall follow
you closely. A red button on it is what you press when you want us
to come in; when we can catch them red-handed or if you are in
trouble.’

He nodded. ‘Is that all?’

‘
Just act like you’re
still swooning over her and that you have nothing to go back to, so
that her guard is down’.

‘
Fine. I’m
sleepy’.

‘
All right, I’ll record
statements from both of you in the morning for formality’s sake.
Then I’ll let the two of you walk.’

‘
Can I at least inform my
family of my well-being? Can I speak to Aarti and mom?’

‘
I’ll let them know you’re
fine, and that you’re on a secret govt. mission. Trust me, I’ll
handle it. It’ll be over sooner than you think- don’t you
fret.’

‘
One call’.

‘
All right. Have your
story ready, of why you’re going to be away for a couple of days
more. Good night’. She ruffled his hair and walked in. He stayed
put for some, and then went in too and crashed on a bed in one of
the empty rooms.

ϖ

Monal gave her written
statement in the morning to a woman cop from the local PS. She
blamed criminals for coercing her innocent husband into
cricket-betting and cash deals, one of which may have gone horribly
wrong. She stated that Vishal wrongly believed her of having an
affair with Arjun whereas it was simply a case of mutual respect
and affection for a highly valued colleague in the office. She had
simply done her bit to rescue her colleague when she’d learnt of it
on the day of her wedding anniversary. She’d had the gumption for
it because of her martial arts experience and the extensive army
boot camp training she’d had while studying in France, where her
parents lived. There was no question of a romantic involvement or
elopement! She and Arjun had kept a low profile to prevent being
traced by the mob that was under the mistaken belief that she and
Arjun had their missing money. She begged that her husband, a good
man who had only erred in judgment, be rescued from the old fort at
Sariska.

Arjun stated that he had
till the parley with Chotta Shameel no idea of what was happening
to him and why. He was thankful to his esteemed boss for rescuing
him. He could not bring Vishal home, however, because of lack of
opportunity.

Krishnamala assured the
two of them that the fort had already been raided early this
morning, and gunfight was still raging, and that there was little
chance of the villains getting away. There was an award on the
dreaded don holed in there, and they would certainly get due credit
for their bravery and information. She wished them Godspeed and
good luck.

‘
You mean I can go?’ Monal
said incredulously.

‘
Why, have you done
something wrong?’ Krishnamala said, with a straight
face.

‘
No.’

‘
Then off you go, before I
change my mind’, she winked. ‘Since you two have been through so
much, the department has arranged a jeep to take you till Delhi.
There you can decide what you wish to do with your lives. And don’t
you worry for your husband, Monal, leave him to us’.

Krishnamala, her husband
and the baby whose tiny hand he held waved after them as the police
vehicle drove off. Then she went in and turned on a handheld
monitor. Its screen came on and it made a small sputtering sound,
which gradually settled into a steady beep. A small green dot on
the screen’s map began to blink, going farther away from them,
towards Delhi. Arjun had activated his transmitter and it was
giving back a strong signal passed down to the cops from an unseen
satellite orbiting above them.

ϖ

Monal seemed pensive on
the ride home. She wrapped the blanket close and looked out the
window the entire way, without once turning towards Arjun. But
she’d snuck a cold hand out and gripped Arjun’s tightly, never
letting go of it.

Arjun had spoken to a
delirious mom and Aarti that morning. Aarti had taken a transfer to
Delhi and was living with her dad now. They all got together nearly
every evening, huddled in worry and in wait for some news of their
lost boy. They were beyond themselves with delight and couldn’t
wait to smother him with hugs and kisses! Aarti was relieved that
he hadn’t run away with a woman from his office while his mom was
thankful that her son hadn’t besmirched the family name! Of course
Aarti would have him back, but she sounded like she wanted to ask
him some questions first! Krishnamala was right, the only way he
could win her back, with the painful past completely erased, was to
hand Monal over on a platter to the law, provided the former’s
hunch was tight and Monal really had more fingers dipped in the
gravy train than lawfully permitted. Her guilt was his proof of
innocence. Exposing her would be the only true and solid way of
showing that he’d been set up, that he’d been made a pawn in the
larger dirty game he had no clue about. Well, he would expose her
if it took ripping her clothes off! Meanwhile, he would woo her
like no other. Coming as a soundless shadow and so departing, he
meant to cause greater grief than a thousand soldiers armed with
proof.