Chapter 33
33
A rmaan paced impatiently as Mihir and Rajiv scanned through the Club Poseidon footage from the night of his attack. Lavina still hadn’t sent across the photo of Rehana with her boyfriend. And now, all this waiting was making him antsy.
"Try and find Rehana’s group,” Armaan said, pausing to look into the laptop screen.
“Already doing that,” Mihir replied.
Rajiv’s phone rang.
“Fuck,” Rajiv swore, rushing to his feet. Seeing Rajiv’s tense expression, Mihir rose to his feet too.
“What happened?” Armaan asked as soon as Rajiv hung up.
“The two bodyguards I’d put behind Navya have been attacked,” Rajiv said, tapping into his phone. “Navya’s phone is switched off.”
Armaan’s heart began to run. Full on panic set in when his call also didn’t go through to her.
“Check with the team you have following her,” Armaan told Mihir. “We need to ensure she’s safe. And where the fuck is Arlo? Ask Vasily to check on them.”
“Vasily’s phone is switched off,” Mihir frowned. “This doesn’t make sense. His phone is never off.”
Rajiv spoke into his phone and then looked at them. “My team is with your other two guards, Arlo and Chekov, they said. They were waiting in the cars just as you left them. Only your head of security is not to be found.”
Terror exploded inside Armaan. His chest was so tight that he couldn’t breathe. He forced himself to exhale and inhale again, yet nothing calmed the panicked beating of his heart. The back of his head began to pound as memories from the night of the attack assaulted him. His vision whitened, and suddenly, the events of the whole night appeared crystal clear in his head.
“I know who’s behind everything,” Armaan said.
“It’s Vasily,” Mihir said at the same time as Armaan. He turned the laptop. The paused screen showed a clear image of Vasily leaning against a railing in the club.
“He was the one I saw hiding behind a pillar that night,” Armaan added.
“Are you sure?” Mihir asked.
“Yes.”
Mihir tapped on his phone and spoke to someone on the other end. “The security we hired to protect Navya says she’s heading toward the Abu Dhabi highway. I’ve told them to move in and check if someone is with her.”
A minute later, Mihir said, “Vasily is in the car with her, and they think he has a gun pointed at her.”
Armaan breathed in and out, calming himself through the fear gnawing inside him.
“We will make him pay; I swear it,” Mihir vowed. “Our guys are sending us a location pin. I’ve mobilised more resources. We will bring her back.”
Armaan straightened. “We bloody well will. We suspected the wrong man. Update Arlo and Chekov; they need to know everything.”
Rajiv’s phone pinged. He turned it around to show them the images sent by Rehana. Sure enough, it was Vasily with her.
Armaan rushed out of the door, Mihir and Rajiv following him. There was no time to lose. A Land Cruiser stopped in front of them.
“I’ll drive,” Rajiv said.
“No, I will,” Armaan overruled. He wouldn’t be able to sit still, knowing Navya was in danger. Rajiv sat beside him, entering the coordinates on the console screen, while Mihir sat at the back. Armaan drove as directed by Rajiv.
His phone rang. It was Navya. His heart pounding, he answered the call on speaker. Before he could say a word, voices filtered through the line.
“So, you were behind everything,” he heard Navya say. “You organized the attacks on Armaan and Vedant.”
“Yes, of course,” Vasily accepted.
Armaan shared a look with Rajiv. Mihir leaned forward and put Armaan’s phone on mute as they continued to listen in to the conversation.
“We would have acted on Armaan much sooner,” Vasily said, “but you distracted him from his routine. All our plans to attack him failed, thanks to you.”
“What do you mean?” Navya asked.
“On New Year’s Eve, I had a plan in place. The Oshnovs let their staff invite a limited number of guests, so I allowed three of them inside. You, your sister, and that man who tried to spike your drink.”
“What?” Armaan gasped at the same time as Navya.
“Yes, Su Min had been bugging me to invite Reina and you to thank you for the concert tickets you gave us. And it worked out perfectly. After my man entered, I wiped his entry from the logs. He was to spike some girl’s drink, someone who was with a friend. He only had to create a big ruckus, ensuring he was seen, and instigate a fight. As the head of security, it would have been my job to see to it, and in all the melee, I would have sneaked in more of my men inside the party, who would have staged an attack on the brothers. The Oshnovs were all there at one place that night. Even if we hadn’t succeeded in killing them, it would have shaken them up to know someone managed to infiltrate their event. It was a good plan,” Vasily said. “But then you saw my man putting the plan into action. Before I could get there and handle the situation, he got into a tiff with you, the idiot, and then the bartender called Arlo, who obviously called Armaan and told him what had happened. Armaan saw the footage and came for you himself. My man was caught, and the plan failed.”
“He’s crazy,” Armaan said. “I can’t believe we put so much trust in him.”
Vasily continued talking, “Once the brothers returned from Russia, I heard Vedant inform Armaan and Mihir that Ivan was after them, and Mihir put a stop to all their night time activities, thereby delaying our plans. But I waited for the right moment. Soon, I learned that Armaan was going to Burj Al Arab that afternoon for the Tiffany of course, they’d be cautious,” Navya said.
“Drive faster,” Vasily instructed Navya.
“How? I’m anxious and scared,” she said quietly, sounding afraid. “I can’t drive on these bumpy roads. It makes me nervous.”
“Press the damn accelerator, Navya,” he ordered.
“I hate driving. Why don’t I stop on the side, and you take over?”
“No.”
“Okay, then keep talking to me. It keeps me sane,” she cried.
A few seconds later, she said, “Why didn’t you launch another attack immediately on the Oshnovs? With two brothers down, it would have been easier. Why wait till now?”
“First because I wanted to wait and see if Armaan remembered seeing me that night. I learned how he had only limited memory of that night and when he didn’t reveal my name, I knew I was safe. But I couldn’t wait for long. I couldn’t wait for him to remember everything,” he paused for a moment before continuing, “By then, your brother had also put security around Armaan in the hospital, and later Mihir further increased his security. Once Armaan was better, they changed tactics. They started switching cars. Perhaps, they even suspected that it had to be someone from the inside who had ordered the attacks. They stopped discussing anything personal aloud around the house. Instead, they went for walks at the beach or in their gardens, places which couldn’t be bugged, thus putting a halt on all my plans. Even as their head of security, I wasn’t informed of their plan to visit Vedant in London. I learned of it only when we were en route to the airport. They made it so difficult to make a move. But today, when I saw you with them at the beach, I figured that you all were on to something. I was worried Armaan had remembered that he’d seen me that night. You bringing them to meet your brother was further confirmation of that. So, I made a move.”
“Fuck,” Mihir cursed. “He was actually listening to our conversations all along.”
“If only we’d actually suspected him instead of Arlo, then Navya wouldn’t be with him now,” Armaan said.
Armaan heard Mihir make a call to Dmitri, telling him to scan all their rooms for listening devices.
Ignoring that, Armaan asked Rajiv, “What’s the distance to them now?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Mihir, what’s the status of the car following them?” Armaan asked.
“They’re right behind Navya,” Mihir assured him.
Navya’s voice was back on the line. “And now, what’s the plan?”
“That is for the boss to decide,” Vasily said. “Once I have you in custody, he will fly down to Dubai. A few miles ahead, a chopper is waiting for me. Once there, I will get further instructions.”
“What does Ivan plan to do?” Navya asked.
“My instructions were to bring you in alive.”
“And then what?”
“I’m tired of your questions,” Vasily said. “Be quiet now.”
“There,” Rajiv pointed, “That’s her car.”
Armaan pressed his foot on the accelerator, his car flying as he tried to close the distance between Navya and him.
“Mihir, tell the team to move in,” Armaan instructed.
Mihir barked out instructions, and six cars moved one by one in front of Navya, overtaking her. Now, only Armaan and one other car were tailing her. All the six cars ahead of her began slowing down, thus slowing down Navya as well.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Vasily yelled. “Overtake them.”
“How? It’s a two-road lane,” Navya replied. “And there are cars on both sides.”
“Why are you slowing down?” Vasily shouted.
“Can’t you see there are so many cars ahead of me?” Armaan heard Navya say. “They’re all slowing down; there must be a hold-up ahead.”
The cars in front of Navya slowly started coming to a stop, forcing her to halt as well.
Armaan moved to the front and stopped his car next to hers.
Navya looked to her side. Her eyes widened when she saw him. Seeing him, Vasily pressed the gun harder into the back of her head.
Exiting his car, Armaan went to Navya. Vasily dragged her out of the car, the gun pointed at the side of her head. All of their men surrounded him and Navya, their guns pointed at Vasily.
“Drop the gun,” Armaan said. “You’re outnumbered.”
Vasily looked around and gulped. “How… how did you find us so quickly?”
When he began to look around again, Armaan looked at Navya and gave her a nod. She held Vasily’s hand and twisted it in a quick move, just like Armaan had taught her. Armaan reached her before Vasily could react and grabbed the gun from him, kicking him hard. He fell on his knees. Mihir pointed his gun at Vasily. Arlo, Chekov, and a few of their other security guards surrounded him.
Navya flew into Armaan’s arms. He held her close, breathing her in. She was safe now. She’d always be safe. He’d ensure it.
He held her by the shoulders. “Go home with Rajiv. I will meet you there.”
“But…”
He shook his head and turned to Rajiv. “Please take her home.”
Rajiv nodded. Taking Navya’s hand, he helped her into his car before taking the driver’s seat. Within seconds, they were off. Two of the security cars followed them back.
Armaan turned to Vasily. “Where is Ivan?”
Fire flared in the other man’s eyes. He laughed. “He will destroy you, one way or the other. This was just the beginning. We have so much on you now.”
“You have nothing on us,” Mihir said. “A few random conversations about our locations don’t count for anything. Some vague talk about business means nothing.”
Vasily gave a slimy grin. “Are you sure that’s all you guys spoke about? What about Karina?”
A new kind of alarm filled Armaan’s veins. Even Mihir looked visibly disturbed. Of course, they had spoken about her at length in their homes in Dubai and London. Vasily was there that night when they were torturing Dorab, and if this fucker had heard everything, then it meant…
“Yes, Ivan knows about her,” Vasily scorned. “And yes, he is looking for her. You just handed him your biggest weakness. You all failed her once, and now, you’ve failed her once again. Wherever she is, he will find her and make you pay through her.”
“So, Ivan ordered the kill on Dorab,” Mihir guessed aloud. “You knew he was waiting to talk to his boss and that we were keeping tabs on him. But Dorab didn’t know anything anyway. Why kill him then?”
“Because they wanted Dorab’s boss to return,” Armaan deduced, and seeing the surprise on Vasily’s face, he knew he had guessed right.
“Which means that they’re also waiting to question him,” Mihir said.
Armaan looked at Vasily. “Thank you. You’ve been very helpful. Now we know what to expect.”
Vasily’s face contorted with anger. “Ivan is the rightful heir to O-Corp. He would have inherited everything had you three orphans not come into the picture. You know nothing about our country. O-Corp belongs to Ivan Oshnov, and he will take it back from you at any cost. The wealth of our country belongs to one of our own and not to you outsiders.”
“He can try, but he will fail,” Armaan said coolly. “And you? Is this how you’re repaying Alexander? He saved you from the Russian mob. They let you go because of him, and you’ve been plotting against us since the beginning. We made you our head of security. We trusted you.”
“Now it makes sense,” Mihir said. “Ivan has been silent for years, and he started plotting against us only when you became our security head. He was waiting for you to be in the right position to hurt us. I’m sure you were the one who told him about our plan to nab him when he visited his mother’s grave. Isn’t it?”
Vasily’s silence was further confirmation.
Armaan lowered his chin. “You were right, Mihir. Ivan knew we were waiting for him that day, and that’s why he didn’t show up. No worries. We will catch him at some point soon.”
Vasily scowled.
“Ivan will never gain access to O-Corp,” Armaan said. “We may be outsiders, but it is our destiny, and we will keep what is ours.”
“Where is Ivan?” Mihir asked again.
At Vasily’s continued silence, Mihir said, “What do we do with him, brother?”
Armaan smirked. “I’m not in the mood to get my hands dirty. My woman is waiting for me. Our guys can have fun torturing him before they kill him. They won’t forgive him for being a traitor. However, he knows all our torture tactics; he may even be immune to them. He may put up a fight, or he may endure them longer. What is the fun in that?”
“What do you suggest then?” Mihir asked with a smile. They both were toying with him.
“There can be only one consequence for his treachery. Let it be a lesson for everyone else. Arlo, return him to the mob,” Armaan ordered. “Tell them he betrayed us and Alexander’s bargain with them is now null and void.”
“No.” Fear finally shadowed Vasily’s face. “I beg of you. Don’t send me to them. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
Armaan smiled. “Good. Where is Ivan?”
“He’s in Reykjavik, Poland. But I don’t know where exactly.”
“Lies,” Armaan yelled.
“I swear, take my phone and see for yourself,” Vasily offered. “Read our messages, and you will know I’m speaking the truth.”
Mihir pocketed the phone and asked. “Where is Karl Leipzig, the guy who attacked Armaan?”
“Ivan called him back to Poland after the attack.”
“And the guy who shot Vedant?” Armaan asked.
“He’s there too. Check my phone. There are messages from him under the name of Paul Samson.”
“Brother,” Armaan called out. “He’s given us everything we need.”
Mihir looked at Arlo. “Take him away. Let the mob do with him as they wish.”
“No. Kill me yourself, please. But don’t send me to them,” Vasily begged. “I’ve told you everything I know, I swear.”
Armaan lowered himself to look at his face. “You tried to hurt the people I love the most. You hurt Vedant, and you tried to hurt Navya. For that, you will never see the light of the day.”
“Take him away,” Mihir ordered.
They stood together as they watched their men take Vasily away. Armaan let out a breath, all his tension finally easing.
“Arlo,” Mihir called the man. Arlo turned and walked to him. “You wanted to say something to us earlier. What was it?”
He tipped his chin at Vasily before addressing Armaan. “I was beginning to suspect him. You see, one morning, when Ms. Navya was leaving, he insisted I stand with him when he spoke to her. At the time, I didn’t know what he was going to tell her. But then he tried to warn her against you, and it annoyed me. We argued about it after she left, but he assured me he only had good intentions regarding her because she was connected to his girlfriend. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Then he killed your attackers the second you left the warehouse, even though I was still questioning them. That’s when a warning bell rang in my head. And then I realized he was the one who had forced me to take leave the night of the attack. Later on, I remembered that he, too, had taken leave that night. But when the call came about the attack on Mr. Vedant, he was back at the mansion, pretending as if he hadn’t been on leave at all. He even travelled to London with Mr. Mihir that same night. Something wasn’t adding up to me. Perhaps, I was thinking wrong, but I just wanted to run it by you both.”
Armaan lowered his chin. “Thank you, and I’m sorry for not hearing you out in the morning when you came to me.”
They had trusted the wrong man, but they wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Arlo gave them a nod and returned to the other men.
“I’m glad that’s over,” Mihir said, sounding relieved. “We can go back to living a tad bit normally, at least. But the threat is far from over. We still need to be careful. I’ll check Vasily’s phone and see what I can get from it. If Ivan is in Poland, then we have to find him immediately. I’ll also double up our efforts in searching for Karina, now that we know he’s also looking for her.”
“I remember you mentioning you got an old photo of hers.”
“Yes, Mrs. Braganza sent me an old picture of hers. The AI team I hired has given me a few options of what she may look like now.”
“You know, I have this ache in my chest concerning her—there’s this huge guilt that we failed her…” Armaan breathed out. “Seeing her picture will just multiply that pain. I’m not ready to see it yet. But I will soon. Now, I just want to go to Navya.”
“We all have failed her. All three of us,” Mihir said softly. “But we will find her, and that too, before Ivan does. That is a promise. Our family will be complete again. But now, go to your woman. You deserve every bit of happiness, brother.”
“And so do you, brother,” Armaan said. “You’ve been alone for far too long.”
“Not all love stories end in a happily ever after,” Mihir replied. “Some love stories become a war, and I’ve been avoiding one for years. And now, I have to double up my efforts because of Navya and you.”
There was only one woman Mihir had ever loved, and who he believed had betrayed him. That betrayal had, unfortunately, transformed his love to hate.
“Go, Armaan,” Mihir said, preventing any further discussion on the topic. “I’m sure Navya is waiting for you.”
With a last nod to his brother, Armaan climbed into a waiting car and drove to Navya’s house. They had a long journey ahead of them to be completely free of their burdens, but for now, he just wanted to hold her and never let go.