The Loner Agent: The Players of Chess || Part-3

The Loner Agent:

The Players of Chess

It becomes difficult sometimes to review the past of our own. Reading this diary gives me an obnoxious feeling of extreme sadness but it also reflects the moments I had lived, the atrocities I had suffered and the seriousness of that event.

I had seen that cadaver being carried in front of my eyes. As I said, the whole nation had mixed feelings about that death. Amidst all this, I just wanted to remember this creature who had an impact on my past and which made me so famous. I maintained this diary in those days of mine and this reflects the character of that creepy creature. Let's continue!

Till now, I was told to murder the British Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivia Jones and Supriya Sharma wanted to do this to defame the party at the centre and make the elections unfair for the Prime Minister. A piece of cake for these political parties but all of it resulted in the mysterious murder of my friend Farhan Qureshi and the death of an unknown A.Q. (To read the other Parts of The Loner Agent, the links are given- Part-1= https://ardourfusion.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-loner-agent-suppressing-truth-part-1.html and Part-2= https://asceticfusion.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-loner-agent-scaring-fear-itself.html )

19th May 2000

My house door was open. And the lights were off while I could see a man sitting on the sofa comfortably and in style. He was sitting opposite to the rays of the bright sun and his face was skulked with shadows and when he got up, I was shocked to see that it was Mr. Raj Mohan Rai, my trainer. He had called me not much time ago to reach the training session. I went cold as I just kept my shivering pairs of legs one by one towards him. He was also coming towards me with the boldest looks he could have ever made.

"So, Mr. Srivastava? We've got an eye on you... I hope you understand that! You went to the police station but for what deeds? You can't leave this now! We're in this together!", Mr. Rai spoke boldly and with a sigh, he went silent looking for an answer from my side.

"I just went to prove myself innocent for yesterday's murder", I stuttered and shivered.

"You're so childish", he replied.

"I really mean it! I did go to prove myself. I did nothing yesterday! I didn't kill my friend!", I said with an innocent voice.

"Please don't prove that we've done wrong to choose you!", he yelled at me, "You cannot lose any information"

"What information? The police are on our side"

"Only this city's police are on our side, not the whole department, idiot! Not the crowd that was sitting there."

"Well, I understand...", I did understand this much earlier and even before them. It was just to ensure that an impeccable person like me couldn't ever betray anyone!

"Hmm... What did you talk about?", he was still interrogating me which was irritating (really very much).

"Just Farhan Qureshi... Nothing Much!", I didn't mean to tell the reality. All the things about deceiving them, the atrocities they had showered on the policemen, the lies about my family being captive and also using my code name THE LONER AGENT! Just because I have no one to talk to? That's judgemental!

Anger and cruelty of one's conscience gleamed in Mr. Rai's large blackish-blue eyes. He just lifted his eyebrows at me with suspicious looks but he seemed to have believed me.

I had to find a weak point which would be too complicated for them that after betraying these people, they won't be able to directly permeate who was behind all the mess that would be created. These are just my assumptions but the real horror would be the day of 30 May 2000. 11 days from now! The visit of Olivia Jones to India. My plan was simple enough to understand but complicated enough to carry out. Police would help me to escape but I had to leave the place as soon as possible after firing the bullet that would never hit Olivia Jones. Supriya's dream of getting me caught to defame the Indian Leader Party to spread fake propagandas for the benefit of the Hindustan Sanrakshan Party would never come true! I don't know how'll that be done.

Abruptly, Mr. Rai started again, "Mr. Arnav Ahuja, Supriya's assistant, will escort you to the training ground. Get ready in 15 minutes and take a bath"

I nodded. Then, I stepped forward trying not to make eye contact with him and rushed towards the bedroom (after then, to the bathroom).

The moment my hand touched the door's knob and the hinges started to creak, Mr. Rai turned back and told me, "By the way, you look handsome in the dark."

"Very peculiar thing to say at this moment...", his sentence was suspicious.

"Yeah! I know that because the one you saw on that night in the pitch dark atmosphere was me who chuckled 'We--'!", Mr. Rai spoke in a bit of his style that showed-off. (Doing a murder is a show-off? That's outlandish!)

"Farhan's night? You were the murderer?"

He snickered which, of course, said the thing I didn't want to hear, a yes from him. I became more deliberate now to finish these people out now! I didn't react much and went my way with a lot of questions with no answers to them! It was like a storm that had struck my mind and I was not able to find a way out of this devastating statement!

I walked whispering and muttering in my own ears with my eyes on the floor. They were abruptly startled when I heard a voice from the darkroom, "You never noticed the dart-board? PITY!!!"

I became a bit afraid and my hands started to shiver. The light-switch was nearby and I, in my reflex action, opened the light as fast as I was able to. After the lights were switched on, I realised it was none other than the creator of my situation, the CM of Delhi, Supriya Sharma.

"Oh My gosh!", my heartbeat was still fast, "Why do you people always have to enter from the dark?"

"To keep an eye on people!", she answered stoutly.

"For how long have you been here?"

"When Mr. Rai arrived, I arrived with him. Since then I am here"

"And whassamatter with that dart-board thingy?", I asked furiously. I remembered that today itself before leaving, I saw the dartboard within the room with someone's picture on it and some darts stabbed on the head. I didn't mean to know who's picture it was.

"Who do you think that picture is of?", Supriya understood what I was thinking.

I gave a close look towards the picture and I was surprised to see that picture was of Supriya. Farhan wanted to hunt Supriya but why? The next moment my mind commemorated the picture of Farhan's brother with him and his ignorance about the brother on the phone call. Oh My God! Life comes in a full circle.

"I think by now you understand! You've got good deductive skills, I hope!"

"Don't mean to say that A.Q. was-"

"Yes, A.Q. was Ahmad Qureshi, Farhan's brother"

"Why did they want to hunt you? Both of them. Ahmad, too, was peeking on that day! I didn't recognize him because we bet him so badly and named him A.Q. from his button of the blazer"

"That's a long story! Farhan, one day, was just passing by the road while he saw Mr. Rai teasing some children because their parents had not paid our loan. He was such a fool that he filed a complaint against us! Since then, we're hunting him and his brother to tell them who we are.", a very obvious mentality...

"You could've killed them earlier", I exclaimed.

"Ahhh!", she took a sigh, "Killing people doesn't torture them for their mistakes, Abhi! We wanted to torture them as long as they lived! That day we knew that Ahmad heard everything we talked about Olivia Jones and he gave us no choice except to kill him! For prevention, we decided to kill Farhan, too"

I get it now why on the phone call Farhan spoke against HSP! What he was going through was miserable. I didn't understand why Supriya was telling this to me now... She knew Farhan was my friend and this could create a lot of hatred for them in me! Did she want to test me out or something? Yes, surely, she let out her first troop against me. Easy enough to fight. I said after thinking, "Indeed, this was wrong...", her eyes clearly told me what she was thinking. She was suspecting me but in a second I completed my sentence, "What Farhan did was wrong...", I didn't sound like myself and this sentence wasn't kind enough for a person like me... To fill this gap, I started again, "Doesn't mean that you were right!". I just went away without saying something again. Showed contempt for my friend, too, and didn't also say that they were wrong. Not a second later, Arnav, the one who was supposed to escort me, entered the room. I didn't give him even a look and rushed to the bathroom.

The shower was turned on and with the splattering of the drops, I heard a whisper from the room. I thought that Supriya was talking to Arnav.

I didn't close the shower to not let them know that I was listening them! I just went to the door without leaving a trace of footsteps and agglutinated my ear on the door. They were clearly heard.

"Mr. Arnav", Supriya started in a light tone, "You know what you've to do!"

" Stay close to this 'Sri' guy every time! If you say I can live with him."

"No, you can't do that! He might kill you! We can't suffer your loss!", Mr. Rai spoke. He was also there!

"Understood! Don't you think he will listen to all of this!", Arnav asked.

"Chances are minimum. This house has one bathroom and that too in the centre of the house! This room is more complicated because it has more walls like that of almirahs and all. Sound reflects more here than is absorbed.", Supriya answered in a bold voice.

"Are you sure he's betraying us?"

"YES! It won't matter if he fires the bullet that day and it doesn't hit Olivia Jones! He just has to fire but he shouldn't escape before that. Mr. Arnav, that day, you will be far from him but keeping an eye on the water tank! Mr. Rai would be near the Police and I would be on the stage as the Chief Minister! He won't be able to escape!"

"We understand!"

"Nice, let's move"

She knew I was trying to betray them! She is smarter than I thought! She was right about the walls of the room but wasn't accurate! Only this room has the door to the bathroom! It leaves the spaces of hinges for the sound to travel whereas a straight concrete wall has air gaps that prevent the sound to travel! A concrete wall absorbs more than it reflects because of the thin gaps... She was wrong! Therefore, the door helped me because it allowed the sound to come in the bathroom, unlike concrete walls. It would've been better if she had talked in some other room...

She knew that I would stay with them all day long so she decided to talk about this at this point of time! You let out your knight Supriya but I know what exactly I have to do! I 'check' you in this real chess. You can't run away!

Well, that reminds me to first hide this diary today...

I came out of the bathroom with no expressions and then just went on with them. They took me to a plain ground very far from the city and gave me a sniper to practise. It mostly impressed them!

"You will have two bullets", Mr. Rai spoke amidst the gun fires, "If you miss one, shoot out with the other"

"Okay! Done".

At the end of the session, I commanded Supriya to galvanize the back of the sniper with more zinc and mix more metals to make it heavier. I gave the reason that it suits me!

At night, I was too tired to carry my plan out but I had to fire Supriya's knight against her! I, with the landline of the house, called the policeman I had met. He picked up the call and I said, "It's me, the Loner Agent!"

His voice got darkened with a bit of seriousness, "What do you plan to do? Any help"

"Lots of help! I want you to fire Arnav Ahuja tomorrow"

"What? Supriya's assistant?"

"Yes! The bullet shouldn't hit him. Send your man so that they can't be seen! At the gun shop in this area! That's isolated"

"You know what you're doing?"

"I know! People will surely question the police but the gun shop area is densely populated with criminals! The controversy won't spread too much"

"As you order!"

"And also if you can, please delete these call recordings and also that I called you!"

"DONE!!!!"

I just shut the phone call off and dialled Arnav, "You're in danger man!"

"For what?", he replied furiously.

"When I was with Supriya today in the darkroom, she told me that she was assured that you are betraying us! I know you aren't! She was trying to execute you tomorrow when we'll reach the gunshop to galvanize the back of the gun!"

"What! That's rubbish"

"I know it is! She's playing on both sides! I bet you that a bullet will be fired tomorrow on you! She has confirmed that... Please don't let her know about that! If no incident can lead to your death, you're free to express the truth! Also, if you don't die tomorrow due to some mistakes, I will kill you when I'll kill Olivia Jones. I don't have two bullets for backup! One is for you and one for Olivia Jones. You will be far from me that's why I have the sniper in hand"

Arnav was quiet for some time! He seemed to have believed me, "How'd you know that I'll be standing far from you?"

"Supriya told me of course", I lied again and these facts were believable that blocked Arnav's mind, "If something happens tomorrow, then listen, don't call me! On 30 May, just don't stand far from me! Stand with me on the terrace of the water tank! And also don't let these recordings go in the hands of Supriya! I know these will be recorded"

"Okay, But??", he was very much confused and I again shut the call off...

This acting was convincing and I had backfired Supriya's knight as the main key for my victory!

That was the best thing I did to win this fight! It wasn't like Supriya wasn't playing good but the difference is that all her good moves started this game but in the end, she really messed up a lot with the idea of the door being soundproof! I continued again... There were no pages that continued from 20th May! The page I saw next was the page of 15th June... I started again-

15 June 2000

Oh My God, diary! Saw you after a lot of days... The last month was too terrifying to manage. It started on the 15th of May! Since then, today I have a chance to sleep properly at my home... My family has taken me back because of my heroic deeds and all. These all days in police custody were horrible. After 19th May, the training sessions to kill Olivia Jones were too drowsy, that handling my body at night was very difficult. That's why I didn't write! And there are so many things that happened that I want to tell you.

On 20th May, when I reached the Gunshop with Arnav, he was a bit scared but I handled him all along. The policeman did what I asked him to. A bullet was fired near Arnav that didn't hit him and the shooters ran away! It was common in that area and no one reported it to the police as I thought... But this news reached Supriya and Arnav later told me that she was furious on this.

That was a bit astonishing for me. I had gained Arnav's trust that Supriya is deceiving him and he should do as I say. After the news of the shooters, Supriya must've understood what was going on. Didn't she think of Arnav coming on my side if she was sure of my moves? The second thought that hit me was whether she was acting to tell all this to Arnav or she was really unknown to my plans! I had no other plans if anything goes sideways. The next nine days were all spent in training sessions and then arrived the day of the execution of all the plans. The day of 30th May 2000.

We even didn't have time to sit, talk and revise the plans to kill Olivia. Supriya was busy in arrangements and the same for Mr. Rai. On the other hand, I was continuously in contact with Arnav.

I was given entry in that area and I faced no difficulties to climb the water tank. The police allowed me and I was not seen by the public. My clothes were simple like an ordinary citizen! My hands were covered with gloves but no masks! Rather, I had ordered Arnav to wear masks to cover his identity. I had just rolled a handkerchief around my face... I stood there. I lied on the floor and concentrated my eyes on the rally. Olivia was sitting on the stage. A simple foreigner who I really didn't want to kill. I don't understand how can Supriya go this far for her popularity?

I, abruptly, stood up and asked Arnav, "Can you hold this gun for a minute! I need to go!"

"Where?"

"I'll tell you later.", I didn't go much far but had an eye on Arnav. He applied all his foolishness to touch the gun at all points. He placed his finger on the trigger even acting as a sniper.

I came up to him again...

"Where were you?"

"Sorry, I am late! I'll tell you first let me shoot."

I knew where I had to fire the bullets. I kept my eye concentrated in the scope and I could easily spot a man. But I decided to fire the first bullet in the space between Olivia and the Prime Minister. I did that... My one mistake could've lead to someone's death. There was a hither and thither in the crowd and I instantly changed my angle and fired the bullet directly in Mr. Rai's head who was also acting to rush with the crowd. He instantly died and Arnav had no reactions. He knew nothing about his own next steps. The part of my gun that was galvanised to make it heavier was now stabbed in Arnav's cheeks. He really fainted in there. The gun was too heavy to handle. I threw my gloves and handkerchief in the crowd and they were trodden with heavy footsteps. I, instantly, climbed down the tank and reached the army. I knew that the army was on three sides while the police force on all sides. That's where I got the entry to water tank! I reached the army with a very drowsy face of mine. They just ignored me like someone else! I instantly yelled at them, "I know who fired the bullet!"

Nearby soldiers were stunned and they took me away from the normal crowd. When the situation was in control, my statements were recorded so that I don't change them later.

I said, "I was kidnapped by that man to become an alibi of his game. He took me to the top of the water tank and decided that he would run away leaving my name behind as the culprit. But he seemed to have been an amateur in sniping and the second that he hit went out of his control and he messed up with the recoil of the gun. After firing the second bullet hastily, the gun backfired and hit him where he fainted instantly. I have a doubt on Supriya Sharma because he was answering to her actions but I can give no confirmation.", I was in police custody for some next days. Because Supriya was losing, police people also lined themselves with the army persons.

Whereas, Arnav was in custody when he came back to his states. He refused a lot about this but every clue was against him. I had worn simple clothes with no face coverings but it was not in the case of Arnav. He was dressed as an agent. The fingerprints of the gun and all other things went against him. In some days, he knew what his fate was and surrendered without taking Supriya's name. he showed his loyalty whereas Supriya couldn't sink much lower. She refused to know Arnav and Mr. Rai...

I was involved in court in the next few days to give evidence and all. It made me famous and I was rewarded for my bravery. Supriya, because of no sure evidence, was proven innocent in the High Court while Arnav was sent to lifetime imprisonment.

Supriya had done a beautiful work to drag me into this game. She chose me and expelled me out of the army. All the plans were undoubtedly brilliant. The thing is that an ending is always influenced by the start but is not the same. All of this ended up in mostly eliminating her support though she was declared innocent! The first mistake she did was to tell me about the reality of A.Q. because that made me more determined to finish her off... You can't challenge one's determination!

Huh! So many things in just a month! I was given protection at that time and after she was proven innocent, I had moved into some different city with my family, so that Supriya's supporters won't kill me! 

Well, five years ago, this decision of the High Court was challenged in Supreme Court and I don't know how Supriya was proven guilty. There were rumours that she was too tired of this life that she surrendered. This was difficult to believe but it was the truth. She was, too, sentenced with life imprisonment and I felt good that I removed such people from Indian Democracy...

And well today, Supriya died of heart attack and while her body was being transported to the cremation centre, a large crowd had gathered like me. Some were her blind followers while some people like me were also there, her haters!

I now believe life comes in a full circle...

-Abhinav Srivastava

(This Story was just a part of fiction and never means to hurt the leaders of Indian Democracy or the Indian Judiciary. This is just a story based on conceptions about politics. If you liked or need some improvements in the story, you can mention down below in the comments section😀)