Chapter 6

                                    

                                          
 A Race against Time
The sky deepened into a natural black as night embalmed as easily as  pushing a switch. The world had settled into their nests leaving the dangers to those who still dared to be awake.
The MPT was far from sleeping. Everyone was on high-alert, ready to perform their duty.
SS and Amar were gazing at computer screens extracting data from the hard drives while Haseena and Karishma set about interrogating the suspect.
The man, Black Spyder didn't seem as much of a threat sleeping in the concrete bunk of the prison. Karishma forcefully rapped him awake. The man was startled, his head bowed down, breathing in uneven tones.
Haseena looked at the man. He looked as if he hadn't got much sleep or enough sunlight in days.  He looked exactly as someone who'd spent all his time hacking away at computer screens. If this man hadn't committed such a big cyber-theft, Haseena was almost compelled to feel sorry for him.
She shoved her emotions down. This was not the time to be emotional. Her main objective was to find Rani.
KS rushed forward and slapped him twice hard. The man jolted awake, his senses fully open.
"Agar tum sab kuch bata do toh zindagi bahut asaan ho jayegi, agar nahi toh main tumhe itna maarungi ke tum dinon tak chal nahi paoge," KS roared, showing her usual bhaukhal.
Haseena sighed. This was expected from KS. At least she had managed to limit herself to two slaps.
The man sat down hearing KS's threat. He gulped in fear. He knew that KS would be more than likely to deliver on her promise. He didn't want that to happen. There was also another side that he had to think of. He was the Black Spyder, a big hacker known across the web. He wasn't about to tarnish his image by not cooperating with the police.
"Thik hai, main sab kuch bata doonga par...mujhe ek deal chahiye." He stammered, his voice hesitant and unsure.
KS raised her hand to slap him again and the man cowered in fear. Haseena raised her voice "KS shant ho jao." She looked at the man and asked "Tumhe kya chahiye?"
"Meri izzat bachane ke liye."
 "Thik hai, agar tum sab kuch bata doge aur tumhari jaankari hume Rani aur sabke paise wapas paane mein madad karegi, toh main commissioner se baat karoongi," She said. "Lekin," Haseena raised her eyebrows and continued "koi waada nahi."
The man looked at her and decided to take her offer. This was probably his best bet. He slowly nodded.
"Mera asli naam Vijay Chohan hai. Rani aur main bahut purane dost hain. Kam se kam mujhe aisa lagta tha," his voice dropped down to a dismal note when he thought back to how Rani had abandoned him. "Lagbhag teen mahine pehle, Rani ne achanak mujhe phone kiya aur meri madad maangi. Usne mujhe zyada kuch nahi bataya, bas yeh kaha ki usse ek hacker ki zarurat hai. Wo mujhe bahut paisa dene ko tayar thi, toh main maan gaya." He paused for a while, staring hard at the cement ground as if willing his mind to continue. 
"Meri usse sidhi mulaqat nahi hui thi. Abdul mera contact bana tha. Maine us warehouse mein apna setup kiya aur jo bhi usne kaha wo kiya. Mujhe paise milte rahe, isliye maine zyada sawal nahi kiye. Par..."
 "Par...kya?" Haseena prompted him, a voice teetering over the edge.
"Us party mein wo tumhara naam baar-baar le rahi thi," he pointed to Haseena. "Wo inteqam ke baare mein bak-bak kar rahi thi aur kaise wo tumhara naam kharab kiye bina nahi ja sakti thi. Uske andaaz mein kuch paagalpan sa tha."
Haseena's eyes glowed dark. Her breathing increased as she dug her nails into her palm to compose herself.
"Party ke baad, wo aur Abdul dono gaayab ho gaye. Mujhe toh yeh bhi nahi pata tha ki wo warehouse udaane ka plan bana rahi thi."