BOOM!

Back to Present…

Agent 3 asked, “Why now? Why did you decide to step into this now?”

Tears welled up in Arjun’s eyes as he clenched his fists. “Do I have anything left to lose?” His voice was steady, yet it carried the weight of years of frustration and determination. “I’m going all in on this case now. It’s time for a comeback. Everyone will be watching! I’m going to make sure this case is feasible. No more running in circles.”

“I am so up for it, let’s get them!” – agent 3

The air in the mansion was thick with tension as Arjun Roy led Agent 1 and Agent 3 toward the broken brick wall, their footsteps echoing through the hollow basement. Captain Singh remained upstairs, coordinating with his team to secure the scene. The discovery of the secret passage changed everything—Gaitonde and his son had been planning this escape route for a long time.

Arjun ran his fingers along the rough edges of the broken wall. “They knew exactly where to break through. This wasn’t improvised. There’s something deeper at play here.”

Agent 1 pulled out his flashlight and shone it into the passage. The tunnel ahead was dark and damp, the air thick with dust and the scent of decay. “If this leads to the city tunnels, they have a hundred different ways to get out. We could lose them.”

“Not if we’re smart,” Arjun countered. “They’re on the run, which means they’re desperate. They’ll have a plan, but plans have weaknesses.”

Agent 3 glanced at him. “You seem pretty sure of yourself.”

Arjun’s expression darkened. “I’ve been chasing shadows for too long. This time, I’m making sure the ghosts don’t escape.”

Without another word, Arjun stepped into the tunnel, his silhouette swallowed by the darkness. Agent 1 and Agent 3 exchanged a glance before following close behind, their weapons at the ready. The tunnel walls were damp, covered in patches of mold and dirt. The ground was uneven, and every step echoed, amplifying their presence. It was a dangerous place to be chasing criminals, but they had no choice.

After several minutes of navigating the passage, they reached a fork. Arjun stopped abruptly, his sharp gaze analyzing the diverging paths.

“They would have gone left,” he said confidently. “The right side leads toward collapsed sections of the old tunnels. Left takes them closer to the city’s underground sewage system—plenty of exits.”

Agent 3 hesitated. “How do we know they didn’t double back?”

Arjun smirked. “Because Rakesh is arrogant. He won’t waste time doubling back when he thinks he’s outsmarted us.”

Agent 1 nodded. “Then left it is.”

The tunnel sloped downward, leading them into a larger chamber. Old wooden crates and rusted metal barrels lined the sides, remnants of past illegal operations. A faint sound of footsteps echoed from further down.

Arjun raised his hand, signalling them to stop. “They’re close,” he whispered. “We need to be careful.”

Agent 1 tightened his grip on his gun. “What’s the play?”

Arjun studied the space ahead, his mind calculating possibilities. “We split up. You two take the left side, there you’ll see another tunnel, cross it and wait at the end. I’ll circle to the right and cut off their exit.”

Agent 3 frowned. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

Arjun’s jaw tightened. “We don’t have time to debate.”

Without waiting for further protest, he slipped into the shadows, moving with silent precision. Agent 1 and Agent 3 followed the plan.

As arjun advanced, the faint glow of a flashlight flickered ahead. Voices murmured in urgent whispers.

Rakesh.

As he edged closer. The figures of Rakesh and Kailas came into view. They were hurriedly opening a hidden trapdoor in the ground, behind the computer table, leading to another level of tunnels.

“We don’t have time, Baba,” Rakesh was saying, his voice laced with frustration. “They’re right behind us!”

Arjun crouched behind a rusted metal barrel, his heartbeat steady despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins. His sharp eyes tracked Rakesh and Kailas as they worked frantically at the hidden trapdoor. The faint glow of the computer monitor illuminated their tense faces.

A single glance at the screen told Arjun everything he needed to know.

The pen drive.

With the help of the computer, Rakesh had transferred the documents onto a small, easily concealable drive. Arjun’s mind raced – who are they going to sell the documents, this isn’t a simple case.

Keeping his movements silent, he activated his earpiece. “Agent 1, Agent 3, we have a major problem. They have a pen drive with the documents as well as the case. Rakesh is smart enough, I guess. We can’t let them escape.”

Agent 1’s voice came through, tense. “We’ve got the only exit covered. They won’t get past us.”

Arjun’s gaze flickered to Rakesh, who had just pulled out a small remote. His fingers moved swiftly, pressing a sequence of buttons. Suddenly, a mechanical whir echoed through the chamber.

“Wait—” Arjun realized a second too late. “They have another way out!”

A section of the tunnel wall behind Rakesh and Kailas groaned before shifting. A hidden metal door slid open, revealing a narrow, dimly lit escape passage.

“They rigged the tunnel!” Arjun cursed. “Agent 1, Agent 3—move now! They have a second escape route!”

Before the agents could react, Rakesh grabbed the suitcase, and both he and Kailas dove into the passage. The metal door began to slide shut.

Arjun lunged forward, drawing his weapon. He fired at the control panel, hoping to jam the mechanism, but Rakesh had anticipated it. The panel was reinforced. The door sealed with a deafening clang.

Agent 1 and Agent 3 rushed in just in time to see the sealed exit.

Agent 1 pounded his fist against the door. “Damn it! How did they—”

“They planned this for months,” Arjun cut in, scanning the tunnel walls for any weaknesses. “They knew the mansion would be compromised eventually. This escape route wasn’t built overnight.”

Agent 3 exhaled sharply. “What now?”

Arjun turned back to the computer. His fingers flew over the keyboard, accessing the recent activity logs. Within seconds, he found what he was looking for. The last file transfer. The location of their intended meeting point.

Then another detail caught his eye—the pendrive was still connected to the computer.

Agent 1 stepped forward, taking the pendrive from Arjun. “Let me handle this,” he said confidently. Pulling out his portable decoder, he linked it to the drive. Within moments, lines of code flashed on his screen, breaking down the hidden files.

Then, Agent 1 noticed a peculiar .txt file buried deep in the drive’s directory. At first glance, it appeared empty, but his instincts told him otherwise.

“This file is hiding something,” he murmured, running it through a secondary decryption program. After a few tense seconds, a string of seemingly random letters and numbers appeared.

“hH0OQBhy0C5eFL9xcnn4fvyury3i/VkEeKvPq1Z4NKI=”

“The Hell is this”

“The bastard’s encrypted it way worse!”

Agent 1’s fingers moved swiftly, decoding the cipher until, finally, a message emerged.

“28.5561 N 77.1000 E”

He read it aloud. “Coordinates. This is the location where the documents are to be handed over.”

Arjun’s expression hardened. “Cross-check it with known locations.”

Agent 1 tapped a few keys and nodded grimly. “It matches a private airstrip on the outskirts of the city.”

Agent 3’s eyes narrowed. “That’s where they’re meeting their contact.”

Arjun’s jaw tightened. “And I think I know who.”

Agent 1 glanced up. “Who?”

Arjun pointed at the decoded logs. “Mohd. Bilal Sheikh.”

Agent 3 exhaled sharply. “You mean the terrorist affiliated with ISIS?”

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