Dealers of Death

A Chapter by SUGATA M

‘Hi Biki’

Malbika was thrilled to hear the much-awaited familiar voice. But she didn’t express her happiness, rather answered in a suppressive voice, ‘May I know where is your current location?’

‘Are you angry sweetie?’

‘Does it ever matter to you?’

‘Why are you saying that?’

‘Sameer, I have been waiting for you for last four hours, not even taken my dinner, feeling terribly hungry’

‘Sorry baba, I am touching Mumbai in few minutes, hope to reach your place by an hour, then hit the most romantic restaurant in Bandra with you for the most memorable dinner and then zoom to Goa….how do you find the plan?’

‘You are such a nuts; you would like to drive whole of the night?’

‘That’s my dream baby. My Land Rover is just crazy to take you for a long night drive that you will never ever forget in your life.’

‘And the driver?’ Malbika asked in a lighter voice with broad smile shining in her face

‘The driver is not crazy’

‘What? You are not crazy for me?’ Malbika expressed her fake frustration loudly

‘Dead men can’t be crazy. I am dead. You have already killed me long back, on our very first date only’ Sameer was laughing on the other end.

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid. If you don’t reach by next half an hour, I won’t let you get into my room.’ She disconnected the phone before Sameer could say anything.

Yesterday before boarding the plane in Frankfurt she surprised Sameer by calling him to say she will be reaching Mumbai and spend a couple of days over there.

Sameer immediately planned a trip to Goa with her on his recently bought Land Rover. And he made his promise to her over phone, ‘I will be driving down to Mubai from Valsad to pick you up from Taj and push off for Goa for the most memorable week end of our life.’

They were steady for last six months. Malbika does her flying mostly at international routes with her prime base at Mumbai. Sameer is at present busy with his construction job in the Southern part of Gujarat which is not far off from Indian business capital. They make it to point to meet even for a short period whenever Malbika’s flight touches Mumbai. Last time their rendezvous lasted for only fifteen minutes because both of their schedules were awfully tight. This time the situation is better off in the sense that both of them have simultaneously managed some free time in between their works. Malbika was feeling excited to the brim. Oh, Sameer, why are you still away from me?

She met Sameer in a return flight to Delhi from Bangkok. Both of them, at their first encounter in the flight relished the chemistry between them. Malbika indulged the fun-loving, simple and lively guy as a caring air-hostess but never let him cross the limits. But the woman of 24 years in her did recognize the invitation of an enchanted, love-stricken man. Sameer silently pushed his visiting card into her hand and sent a strong gesture for future communication with his appealing eyes while disembarking the aircraft after the landing. Malbika reciprocated. And they took off from there and never thought to take the back gear.

Malbika looked at her wrist watch. It is touching just eight. She was feeling absolutely lethargic to leave the bed. She didn’t even mind to switch on the TV. She was in love with the quietness of her surroundings. She hated to break the silence.

The bed-side telephone suddenly rang up.

‘Hello’ she picked up the receiver to say she doesn’t want to receive any call till Sameer comes.

‘Madam, good evening, this is from house-keeping’ a man’s voice was heard from the other side

‘House-keeping?’ Malbika was surprised. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Madam, there is small problem in the hotel. Please don’t try to get out of your room’ the voice sounded thoroughly apprehended as if the man was speaking not to catch anybody’s ears.

‘What happens?’ Malbika got up on the bed, ‘Why are you sounding so down?’

‘Madam, sorry, I can’t speak more. If anyone hears me talking to you on phone’ he broke and spoke again ”Please don’t open your door if someone knocks. Please Madam remember my words…’ the line got disconnected.

Malbika was surprised to the core. Is anyone joking with her? But that would be absolutely absurd in the most prestigious hotel of the country.

She rang up the reception. The phone kept on ringing. Nobody responded at the other end. She called up the room service several times but there was no response over and again. She tried all other numbers including the telephone operators of the hotel but it seemed she had suddenly become disconnected from the rest of the hotel.

Malbika felt her heart beats were becoming faster.

She has strong nerves of a seasoned flyer. She managed a couple of emergency situations in the sky including a near-miss emergency landing with fire caught in one of the engines in the mid-air. But the situation is different here. She felt something must have happened in the hotel, but couldn’t figure out what exactly cut off all her communication in one go.

What should she do now? Go out and ask for help? But the unknown man repeatedly told her over phone not to move out of her room.

She tried to ring up Sameer but her mobile showed no network. She made a try to catch him from the hotel’s phone and stunned to notice the phone became totally dead by that time.

Malbika was all on a sudden alerted on a faint knocking at her room’s door. Someone outside? Sameer? How come he managed to reach so fast?

Malbika rushed towards the door but couldn’t open it instantly. The unknown man’s warning note was reverberating at her ears, ‘Please don’t go out of your door’

Should she?

The door was knocked mildly but repeatedly. She looked through the bore hole and found a guy in hotel’s uniform.

She opened the door. Before bombarding the man with her uninterrupted flow of complaints she was taken on total surprise by him.

‘Madam, listen carefully, the hotel has been seized by a bunch of 10 �" 15 gunmen. We have no idea who they are and what they want. They already massacred the front desk of the reception and gunned down five of our staff there. They closed all the outlets of the hotels, cut the telephone lines, bombed off the dish antenna. We are running away from them around the hotel and looking for shelter and alerting the boarders as much as possible on the situation. Please for God’s sake stay inside your room, double lock your door, switch off the light and A/C and don’t make any sound from inside. Never open the door again whoever comes. Good luck’ The man, without giving her a chance to respond, swiftly ran down the corridor to reach the other end of the lobby to knock another door over there.

A chilling shock wave ran down her spine. Is she in a trance? A bunch of gunmen have captured the hotel and killing people inside. And she was relaxing inside without any information about what’s happening outside her room? How is it possible?

She closed the door with tremoring hand and put the double lock on. Should she switch off the lights and A/C? Then the room will become like a suffocating, airless prison cell. But that’s what she had been directed to do.

The room soon became dark. Malbika slowly moved to one of windows, hesitatingly uncovered the curtain and opened the window pans. The gushing wind from seaside hit her face to make her breathless for few seconds. Malbika tried to fill her both lungs with fresh air.

It is impossible to jump down from the 24^th floor. Even she shouts for help from here, if anyone below will be able to catch her voice?

A sharp bang on the door stopped her heart for a moment. Then the silence prevailed again. She slowly closed the window pan and started counting time. God knows how long she has to keep herself confined in the hotel room? Has there been any information passed to the cops?

Oh my god, there is no way to know what’s happening outside this room?

Suddenly the door was banged once again, and repeatedly thereafter, as if some crazy bull is desperately trying to break through.

Is it the gunmen the hotel guy was describing to her?

Mlabika was losing her senses. She didn’t bring damage to anyone in her life. Then why has she been targeted like this?

Will they rape her and put an end to her life? Malbika felt her brain becoming vacant.

She somehow pushed herself inside into the bathroom, locked its door from inside, wrapped herself head to feet with all the towels she managed to gather in the bathroom and sheltered behind the commode after switching off the light. Her whole body was shaking in irresistible panic. The fear caught her soul and blurred her psyche.

Sameer, will we ever be able to meet again?

prev chapter