BITTER & SWEET

Chaya POV: Higher Up

The moment the telephone rang, my mind started pacing and trying to guess who could it be.

Is it Soniya?

Is she making the first move?

Are we ready with any plan?

I noticed everyone is looking at me. I hurried towards the receiver.

"Hello," I said with worry evident to my own ears.

From the other side, a male voice answered " This is Dharma Singh. Commissioner."

"Yes sir."

"What I am going to tell you is very important and is your top priority right now. I don't want any mistakes, so listen carefully." The motor in my brain again started racing. " In that bank, daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is also there. Our top priority is to defuse the situation and no matter what nothing must happen to her. Do you understand ?"

"Yes sir."

"Chaya, I know your history. I hope you learned from your mistakes and won't repeat the same. Hope you understand this time consequences will be bigger than you can imagine."

I didn't reply to it.

"Rest all is in your hand. Now you will draw a plan and get ready with all alternatives but remember the top priority. I will be there in half an hour. You will execute the plan then. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Jai Hind."

"Jai Hind sir."

I saw Tanya giving the ID card back to Venkatesh.

The matter was already worse and now it smoked a pot and flying high.

I took a long breath "Ok everyone listens closely to what I am going to say. It must not leave this room. This situation has turned into a national security threat level because Tamil Nadu's chief minister's daughter is there."

People looked at each other with worry and some murmurs followed it. Everyone here knew what this situation turned into.

" We will approach this case more cautiously and every assumption we had about it has to be reevaluated but keep in mind"

I said slowly and clearly, " we will not let anyone die, does not matter high profile or not."

Why cannot I have a peaceful and easy case for once without any complication? I thought as I walked outside the tent.

I need to call Harish sir and let him know about the development before things out of hand.

"Yes tell me, Chaya," he answered the call.

"Sir, Do you know about the daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister?" I asked.

He didn't answer for a moment " Yes, It has come to my knowledge."

"Commissioner said he will come here in a few moments."

"This is not just a criminal case now. It has turned political and best chance for everyone to score some points for promotions and other things."

"What shall I do then?"

"Why are you asking me? You are in charge of the case."

"Sir, he told me that if I don't do what he said then things will turn out worse than last time."

"Are you scared?"

"Not for me but for people who are inside. If I just try to save the daughter, we will most probably lose some of our men and hostages."

"Did you meet Venky?"

"Yes sir."

"Chaya, I called him not because he the best but for his ability to make split-second decisions, his hard sense for justice, and his calmness. He is the total opposite of you but he can work around anyone and anything. You can trust him. Take his help."

"Will you be coming here?"

" As much as I want to be there. I have some work here that needs to be handled first. You can call me whenever you want."

"I really don't want to kill anyone today. "

" Hope you don't have to. Take care and be careful don't get entangled in their politics."

"Sure sir."

"And Chaya remember the deadline. Only till 5 o clock, we have time before she starts shooting people."

He dropped the call but worry still lingered inside me as I looked at the time.

1:30 PM.

Only three and a half an hour.

Things are not how they should be and if it continues, we will be facing some big challenges in this case.

Damn, I hate politicians so much. I should have become a diplomat, away from these crony capitalists and their politician friends.

I heard Venkatesh say as I entered the war room "She had this all planned but only the inside of bank part, if she was a pro, she would have avoided all the CCTV and wore a cap or something while entering the bank, but she didn't think of outside or city CCTV, her only and biggest worry was to execute the plan inside. Her clenched fist can mean she is nervous and doesn't want to die. That would mean she is doing this for a reason other than money, but if she chose a bank for holding hostage means she needs money but that is secondary, her primary worry is something else. Tanya, did you get the social profiles?"

"Yes but it's all inactive, her last post was on the Koo app, a poem about her mother," Tanya replied.

"What was the tone of the poem? Was she angry with her mother or worried or sad or complained about anything? " He asked

What is he trying to do?

What will he get from a stupid poem? Everyone does that nowadays for attention and some likes.

"Ah...... I would say she was worried about her but didn't complain about anything. It was more of sad and worried."

He asked Pawan " Where is her mother right now? Is she ill or have any disease ?"

I could not take it any longer we have been given a deadline and here he is trying to show off something.

Before any more guessing game, I interrupted "We have to act fast and swiftly. Seniors are coming hard on me."

I looked at Venkatesh and said, " Do your job properly and I won't have to shoot a bullet else we are going in by the sun goes down."

"I have a plan," he said.

"Spit it."

"I want you to call Soniya on a specific telephone in the bank and no other landline must work."

"What will you achieve from that specific telephone?"

"We will be able to guess where are the people."

How?

"These telephones used in banks have weak receivers or should I say very insensitive receivers. If you put your mouth even a little away from the mic, your voice will reduce drastically. From looking at the CCTV, one can easily make out, she is right-handed. Therefore when she will pick the phone from her right hand and speak while facing towards the right side or when her mouth will be on the right side that is when close to the mic, her voice will be clear and strong but if she turns left, her voice will reduce drastically by that we can tell how many people are there and on which side of her. It is better to go in with that kind of information than blind I guess. Right?" He explained and looked at me for approval.

I nodded.

"Perfect." He looked excited.

"But remember we will go in by 5. So talk to her all you want till then. If it does not pan out well, my snipers are always ready to take the shot."

"You do love guns. Don't you?"

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