The job...part 6

read part 1   part 2,  part 3,  part 4 ,part 5

“I don’t know how much time it will take, but it will have to be very quick. If the CCTV captures me I will have no way out. I have to complete the work before anyone has any clue of what I am up to” said Abhijeet as he spoke to Sanjog at the hotel’s discotheque. The jarring sounds made talking and listening difficult.

Sanjog had been aghast at the details Abhijeet had managed to get. He looked at the photos in Abhijeet’s mobile, and listened to the recording. The quality of the photos was okay but the recording was not too good. He also worried that if Abhijeet were to be caught; all the data would be lost. He searched his pockets and took out what looked like a pen and slid the tiny but powerful camera into Abhijeet’s hand.

“Use this. This will transmit whatever data you scan, directly to my computer. Promise me you’ll be very careful. I’ll have a car waiting for you at the back of the building with the keys in the dashboard. Meet you at Blue Moon discotheque after the job is over.”

He was also worried for the safety of Abhijeet’s wife and parents. Debashis's parents had miraculously disappeared few days after he went absconding. This time they would have to be extra careful.

“Abhijeet, till all this is over I think you should send your wife and parents to a safe place.”

Abhijeet nodded in agreement. He was also concerned about the safety of his family. He would talk to Sahana about it.

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“Sahana, it’s been long since we planned a holiday. Why don’t you go to Noida and pick up Ma and Baba and reach Shimla? I’ll join you guys by tomorrow.”

“That’s a fantastic idea!”

Sanjog had the hotel bookings ready, for Sahana and Abhijeet's parents. Sahana could not stop beaming as Abhijeet hugged her as he sent her off, barely noticing the worry behind his smile.

“See you soon, love.”

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As the day passed, Abhijeet was increasingly anxious and tried replaying the plan over and over in his head. He wondered whether he should carry any weapons on him, but he neither had any nor could he meet Sanjog and ask him for it now. He had learnt a little bit of self defense while in college, but he realised none of the strategies came to his mind now. 'Let me not worry too much, or it will take my mind off the job,' he thought.

As per the plan, Abhijeet had to get in along with the sanitization crew. It would be the safest bet, Sanjog had said. He was carrying a handkerchief soaked in chloroform in his coat pocket. It was 9.55pm. The staff would be in any time. He hid in the unit 2 lab near the changing room. Almost 10 minutes had passed before he sensed any movement.

A maintenance staffer entered with a spray into unit 2. Abhijeet quickly grabbed him from behind and covered his nose with the handkerchief dipped in chloroform. The staffer tried to resist but soon fell down unconscious. Abhijeet changed into the man’s gear and set out to the lift. He used his card and was soon in the basement.

He entered the cells one by one swiftly, clicking photos of the inmates, using Sanjog’s pen camera. He photographed the room, opening the files and clicking the contents. He had successfully finished about 30 cells and decided it would be better if he used video mode to scan all other files. The more the better. He wondered what was in the basement no.2 and whether he would have time to go there.

He was at the far end of the corridor and he could just about see the lift door. He saw the two staffers waiting for the lift. The door opened and he saw them get in and away. ‘Looks like half an hour is already up,’ he thought. A few more clicks and he would run off too.

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“Chandrakanth, I need you urgently in the 7th floor. Emergency.”

As soon as he received the message from Vasan, he knew it had to very urgent. He rushed to the 7th floor, where he saw Vasan looking at the CCTV cameras.

Chandrakanth was furious when he saw the footage.

“I always suspected the boy, we should have been more careful. I always saw him working late in the office. How did you know?”

“I went to the 2nd unit some time ago and found a man unconscious! From the ID his pocket I realised he was from the sanitization crew. I immediately came to the 7th floor  to see if anything was amiss. Imagine my horror when I saw three staffers in the basement against the regular two. Everything else seemed ok. So I checked the footage of the previous day to see if there was any change there.

The CCTV footage from yesterday showed our boy gaining access to the basement, and he was there, clicking pictures on his mobile! In fact you and Ranjeet were around when he cleverly hid himself in the nursing table.

“Where is he now?” thundered Chandrakanth.

“Subject no 32, Chandrakanth, he must be still in, we’ll get him. I have asked security to sound the emergency alarm. Hurry up. Let’s meet our hero in the basement.”

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Abhijeet was busy scanning the files with his recorder when the alarm rang. His blood froze! Had he been caught? How would he escape now? Was there an escape route? His breathing grew heavier. Was there a fire or something? Either something had gone wrong or he had been detected. He closed his eyes and prayed. He wondered if he should try running to the lift but he was at the far end.

“Snooping around my boy?”

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