The job.....part 4

read    part 1  ,part 2,   part 3

Abhijeet looked like he had been hit by lightening. He did not pause once and started wading through the tunnel, immersed in deep thoughts. Was Sanjog right? Was his organization really into such a murky racket? If it were indeed true, what would he do? Should he help his friend? Should he tell his boss, or maybe Sahana? Should he stay away from it all?

As Abhijeet emerged from the other end still immersed in thought, he saw Sahana was already there and jumping jubilantly.

“I won!! Yippee! What took you so long?” she looked so child-like in her victory!

He could barely let out a smile.

“What’s the matter? You look tense. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, my love, but I’ll tell you later. I’ll be fine.”

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Abhijeet looked serious when he arrived at work and his boss Narayan asked him if everything was ok. Yes, Abhijeet had replied, he was just tired after the hectic weekend.

He tried to appear more cheerful and continued with his work. Few weeks had passed and he suspected nothing unusual.

He had started staying in late on the pretext of completing his work and tried to keep an eye on the employees and ear on the conversations. He had almost convinced himself that Sanjog had been mistaken. He decided to drop his guard and go home on time that day. It was a Saturday so they could go to Noida for the weekend and meet his family.

As he entered the lift, Mr.Vasan, his superboss was already there. They exchanged greetings and rode together to the ground floor. Abhijeet got out but Vasan stayed on. Abhijeet had walked a few meters and suddenly realized Vasan was still in the lift. He went back and pressed the button and it took a while for the lift to open and when it opened there was no one there.

He was certain; Vasan had not got out with him. So where did he go? Was there a really a basement beneath, to which he had access? How many of the employees knew about the basement? How many of them had access cards? If it was true, than Sanjog had been right! He must find out.

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He quitely made up his mind to help Sanjog. If not for Sanjog's cause, atleast for his own peace of mind. Since it was Saturday, he drove to Hotel Blue Moon and waited for Sanjog to show up. Sanjog walked in and  a look of gratitude spread on his face as he saw Abhijeet. He sat on a table adjacent to his friend and motioned for him to follow. He disappeared into the washroom and Abhijeet followed.

Abhijeet told him of his chance encounter at the lift and his desire to find out more.

“I am glad you agreed to help,” Sanjog looked relieved, “Thank you.”

He handed over the access card to the basement floors, and other details Debashis had managed to pass on to him. The plan was discussed and they left their separate ways.

“If you get any information, we’ll meet at the hotel’s discotheque on Monday night.”

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The following Monday, Abhijeet stayed late in the office again on the pretext of completing his thesis and waited for the staff to clear off. When he was sure there was no one left, he entered the lift to find out what deadly secrets it held. He searched the lift for a slit to insert the access card, and realized there was no slit. But there was a red light below the symbol for ground floor.

‘Maybe the card has to be read not swiped’, he thought.

He kept the card on it so that it would be read. Miraculously the lift began its downward descent and did not stop at ‘G’ the ground floor, it went further down and for the first time Abhijeet felt a panic wave sweeping through his body! He was about to enter into unknown territory!

read part 5 

The job..part 3

read part 1 ,   part 2

“What a pleasant surprise! Where were you? I have been trying to contact you for the past six months, Sanjog…”

“Hush…don’t call out my name,” Sanjog cut him short, “ I’ll tell you the details later, but let me tell you something important before time runs out” he was almost whispering.

“What’s the matter Sanjog? You are scaring me.”

“I need your help. I am investigating a case. Some months ago, some inmates disappeared from Baba Gurudebji’s charitable home in Panchkula. No one took it seriously because, on the outlook it seemed like they had left on their own. But then it started happening on a frequent basis. More people started leaving. Just like that. Today they were here, tomorrow there were not.

It seemed like suddenly long lost relatives were finding their kin or companies had suddenly started hiring these guys! No one thought anything was amiss. But my friend Sonia who is a volunteer at the home felt something amiss. All investigations drew a blank and that is when I planted my bait at the home.”

“A Bait?”

 “Yes, do you remember Alok?”

“Alok? Our classmate from school? He’s here?”

“He dropped out of school after 9^th class and came here looking for a job. I helped him get a placement with a newspaper distribution office. Well, he agreed to act as an inmate and keep a watch for me.”

“What did you find out?” Sanjog was curious to know.

“After a couple of weeks he told me how some men had approached him with a job offer and the trustees had encouraged him to join. He agreed to the offer. They refused to divulge the details of employment and said they will come for him. A couple of days later they came to take him. It was weird, because who has ever heard of an employee being escorted to work? So I followed them from a distance. It brought me to Life Biotech…” he paused.

“You mean to the organization I work for?”

“Yes.”

“So what’s the catch?”

“He never returned. I tried meeting him casually as a friend, but there was no one by that name on the payroll. I waited three entire days outside the building, hoping he’d come out but he never did. I wondered what trouble I had put him into.”

“Then?”

“I was sure all other inmates had disappeared likewise so I tipped off the police. They promptly raided the place. But even a thorough search of the place did not yield any results. There was no one inside, not one inmate, not even my bait. They had just vanished overnight! I took a beating from the cops and my boss alike for what they thought was false alarm.

I realized that this kind of bait would lead me nowhere. I needed concrete proof. I needed to enter the place. I befriended a new recruit from Life Biotech, a certain Mr. Debashis Roy. He agreed to find out the inside story for me. What he told me was shocking.

I was right that the inmates were indeed being lured to Life Biotech.

Why the police did not find anything was because the eight floor tower was completely clean. The actually activities were being carried over in the two basement floors! But the existence of the two basement floors is not known to the outside world. In fact only the top and middle management knows about the existence and had entry to the two floors.

The lifts do not go beyond the ground floor and there are no staircases to lead down. Those who have permission to enter have a special access card that has to be swiped in the lift and that takes you down.

Between 10pm and 10.30, everyone including the security are out of the building, only three people from the disinfection and sanitization company are let in to sanitize the research labs in the  1st, 2nd and 3^rd floor and two persons are allowed into the basements. Debashis had managed to find out this and steal an access card He had tried to sneak in. But his bosses were in the basement that fateful day, and unfortunately they saw him before he could even step out of the lift or any evidence could be collected. He managed to get out and drop the access card with a detailed note in my post box. But I have never been able to locate him thereafter. God knows what they have done with him. Wonder if they have  kidnapped him or maybe even bumped him off."

He paused for breath.

“You are meeting me to warn me off this supposedly dangerous place?” asked Abhijeet cautiously.

“Not exactly….I need you to help me find what goes on there. A lot of lives including Alok’s are at stake. Will you help me get to the root of the matter?”

“Why don’t you go to the cops?”

“Neither the cops nor my boss will believe me again. I have enlisted their help twice and they were convinced I was on a wild goose chase. I cannot approach them again, atleast not till I have concrete evidence. Will you help me Abhijeet?”

“And be killed like Debashis?”

“No this time we’ll be more careful, and not repeat mistakes. I was publicly in touch with him, and knowing my interest in the case, Debu got identified.  I have gone underground since he disappeared, trying to piece the puzzle together, trying to work out a plan. I had to fake a serious accident and go off work for almost 5 months now. That is why the secret meeting with you. I have the access card to the basement floors, I have the plan; you need to help me execute it.”

“I have to think about it” said Abhijeet, not sure whether to get involved with such a dangerous mission.

“I understand," said Sanjog, placing an understanding hand over his friend's shoulder. "But please do not discuss this with anyone. I think you should leave now. You have been here too long. I hope Sahana doesn’t raise an alarm, not finding you on the other side. I’ll contact you again. I am usually at Hotel Blue moon around 8 every Saturday.. ”

                     

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read part 4