The Endgame by S. Hussain Zaidi

The Endgame by S. Hussain Zaidi

Author:S. Hussain Zaidi [Zaidi, S. Hussain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Espionage
ISBN: 9789353578145
Google: BP_lDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2020-07-19T23:00:00+00:00


18

DCP Jaiswal was sitting at a corner table in a café in the Lokhandwala complex in Andheri.

It was late afternoon and the place was filling up. Jaiswal was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, with sneakers. A pair of sunglasses hung from the pocket of his shirt, of which he had left the top button open. A pendant shaped like a bullet hung from a thin silver chain around his neck.

Half the café was filled with young men and women in trendy clothes, ‘Bollywood aspirant’ written all over them. The café seemed to be some kind of informal recruiting spot for small assignments in the TV and modelling industry. The other half of the clientele was a mixed group. There were a few teenagers, three couples who had no time for anyone but each other, and a man with long hair and glasses tapping away at his laptop.

Jaiswal had eyes only for one man. The man was dressed like the actor-model wannabes but was clearly older. The way he carried himself indicated that he had seen the ways of the world and was not just some starry-eyed young man from rural India.

Jaiswal observed silently, pretending to be busy with his cell phone, as the man moved from table to table, shaking hands, patting shoulders, talking, whispering, smiling. Only someone who was looking carefully would have seen that half of the handshakes were covers for the exchange of money or small, slim pouches. It was smooth and quick, Jaiswal thought admiringly.

The man went on for about half an hour before he finally turned towards the exit.

‘He’s coming,’ Jaiswal texted Police Inspector Sushil Kadam, who replied with a ‘K’.

Jaiswal chuckled. God knows I’ve given him enough reasons to dislike me, he thought.

He waited for a full five minutes before he stood up. He’d already paid for his order. He walked unhurriedly towards the door and stepped out, putting on his sunglasses. The man was nowhere to be seen but Jaiswal was not worried. He walked over to where he had parked his car and waited near the door.

Sure enough, within the minute, his phone buzzed.

‘Nikam here, sir.’ Constable Nikam was calling from Kadam’s phone. Jaiswal had forgotten for a minute that Kadam always liked to drive himself. ‘Suspect is on a bike. We’re following.’

‘Where?’

‘Moving towards Vile Parle, sir,’ Nikam said.

Jaiswal kept the call going as he got into his own car and started up the ignition. He plugged in a hands-free device and slid one earphone into his ear before putting the car into gear. The last thing he needed right now was to be pulled up by a traffic cop.

For the next ten minutes, he drove patiently while Nikam guided him. At the Irla junction, he accelerated and caught up with Kadam’s car, which fell back. They reversed positions, with Jaiswal now taking the lead in following the suspect and relaying his location to Nikam, while Kadam’s car followed at a safe ten minutes’ distance.

They played this relay game



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