Pools of Blood

Chapter 9

Jasmine opened her eyes and looked at me.

"That was how we met. After that our meetings became more random. Coffee dates turned into lunches. Lunches turned into dinner. Every Sunday we used to sit in front of the Eiffel Tower, on the grassy meadows with a bottle of champagne, and enjoyed the evening ambiance. Life was like a fairy tale and I felt like a princess. I never thought I would meet my prince, far away from home in a strange foreign place. His love, his sincerity, and his playful nature gave me enough strength to deal with numerous patients each day. After two months of being in each other’s arms, news came that he had to go to Afghanistan for a new case. Before going away, he proposed to me for marriage. In front of the whole hospital, he knelt down on his knee and uttered those three magical words. I was flying high. He placed a blue diamond ring on my finger and I cried in happiness. Alfred was my harbinger of happiness. I had lost my parents at an early age. After years of solitude, God sent me an angel who would brighten my life forever."

"How come I never have heard of this engagement. I only came to know of your relationship after Amiya’s death."

-"Yes. Alfred wanted to surprise everyone. He even laughingly said that when he would introduce me to you and his sister, he would probably be beaten for keeping this secret. He wanted to bring it up on his birthday. But it never came. Who would have known that you  would meet me lying in the hospital and I would never be able to Amiya at all."

She sighed. One doesn’t know pain until one stares at oneself in the mirror with tears in her eyes, begging to just hold on and be strong.

"Alfred always kept a diary with him where he wrote down notes of his cases." Jasmine continued after sometime.

-"Yes", I agreed. "I have seen that diary. Black, leather-bound, eleven inches, white paged."

She nodded.

"Before going to Afghanistan he told me titbits of his case. It was a huge illegal business growing, evolving under the guise of a reputed corporate firm named FTH."

-" I have heard of FTH. They sell software parts all over Asia and to some parts of Europe. Very big business, thousands of outlets and branches. How could they commit illegal crimes?"

-"That was the same question I asked Alfred. He said that the branch of FTH which was in Afghanistan had come to Interpol’s radar. Some other CIA officers were sent to investigate their work and they never returned. From the reports and materials recovered, Interpol had suspicions of debauchery, money laundering, trafficking of girls, and contract killing to be the major work of FTH’s behind closed doors. But they are too clever not to leave any clues behind. On the guise of a corporate firm, they were doing business with Satan, amassing enormous wealth, intervening with different political organizations, and driving influential people. So, no police cases, no criminal records were found against them. So Interpol decided to send Alfred to end the matter."

" I too heard of his going to Afghanistan on a case."

-" Yes. He almost destroyed the whole racket, all the invisible sleeping cells working there single-handed."

-" But I have never heard about the owner of FTH. That company is veiled in secrecy."

"Yes. No one has seen the real owner of FTH. Everything was controlled and directed by a single man named Oman Usman. He was the sole coordinator of the whole industry. All the black illegal crimes were presided by him. He pretended to live a very pure, serene life but everything was a façade. Girls were trafficked from different small countries and were deported to Arabian Peninsula, smuggling of drugs, heists, killings, you name it and he did it. Everything was in his domain and Alfred was after him. For months he had been chasing him and at last, found out his base in Afghanistan. He had been ordered to shoot Omar on sight."

-" Yes. Alfred was successful. It became a piece of breaking news that drug mafia Omar Usman was shot dead by some unknown vigilante."

-"you are right. Alfred returned to France. We celebrated his victory. My exchange program has already ended and so we thought of returning back to Busan and announce our marriage. He had been in France for only 48 hours when the news of Amiya’s death came."