The sudden rainstorm fell hard on the crowd around the train station.
Pascal’s Indian rags were drenched and he had to stay inside the station while he waited for his pick up. His turban bent to the side and the greasy black powder on his face drooped like make-up after a cheerful night.
He waited for Sheela.
Whenever he stopped in one place, a crush of people pushed him on. There was nowhere to sit—even the floor was dirty and wet. He couldn’t even wait in a more civilized coffee chop as they were watching him and he didn’t want to run away and miss her. He also had no clue to identify in the crowd who was an hostile.
He didn’t yet know what had happened to Mayumi. His energy was waning. All this trouble to hide from an army of gangsters who held Mayumi hostage and still, he had no proof of Arocha’s malfeasance and nothing concrete to show Arun Kumar.
When was he going to see him? Or would he? Was Arun Kumar ready to listen to his daughter? Sheela was his closest ally to get Arun Kumar’s ear.
He and Sheela had agreed on a simple plan.
It was very early in the morning and the traffic was still fluid. She had said it would take only a half hour to reach Juhu Aerodrome, and she would pick him up a six o’clock in front of the station’s main entrance. Mayumi would hopefully be freed and brought directly to the aerodrome by Ari.
It seemed like a good plan. Nobody would dare touch Shela’s very distinguishable new yellow Mini Cooper and she would pick him up in a popular place, which would be safer.
But she was wrong.
Even though she was cunning, she was not prepared for what happened so quickly.
Pascal believed he was safe as long as he stayed in the crowd, hidden among thousands of anonymous people, but as soon as Sheela’s car stopped and she opened the passenger door, he had to disclose his location.
And…Arocha’s men were waiting for that very moment when they would intercept him.
The moment Pascal went down the stairs and had almost reached the yellow car, a powerful black limousine stopped behind the Mini in a loud screech of brakes. Three men ran from the limo and grabbed Pascal before he could even reach the yellow car.
He suddenly got face to face with the giant Russian doll. Igor! What the hell was he doing here?
Three other men came from nowhere and blocked his way back. In less than no time he was pushed into the limousine and the car was gone.
In a rage, Sheela closed the passenger door. She thought to drive after them, but the abduction was too well planned and she suspected that they probably would change to another vehicle before she could find them.
The clever Arocha knew Pascal would contact her and try to see her. He always was one step ahead; a real clever bastard!
What to do next?
…
In the lounge of the private Juhu Airport, Arun Kumar was pontificating one of his favorite sayings: “Every one of us is one with the essential spirit which pervades the universe.”
His security manager Arocha stood by with Mughal and his team: the three leaders of the group, plus Arocha’s cousins Raj and Singh.
“You have to understand that it is the spirit Brahman who made me one of the most powerful men in India. I want to show my gratitude. I feel that it is my duty to bring his message that we are all one divine being. The united spirit of all people will create a shared knowledge and expand peace and love, to everyone. That is why, as a devotee to Brahman, I have begun the development of the ambitious Cosmos Project in harmony with our friends from the BRIC.
China and Russia also need their people to reach a higher level of spirituality, become less materialistic, and stop acting like survivors. It will enhance their social and economic strength and their sense of community, which has been destroyed by communism, the KGB, the CIA, and the fake Democratic Principle. Real sense of community and mutual spirit will stimulate their energy. Happiness and social efficiency comes with the liberation of the mind.”
Arun turned to Arocha and talked to him as a father would.
“Arocha, I was so concerned about you. I am happy now that you have everything under control. I feel so sorry about your accident. I also deeply regret the death of your skilled guard. I will make a special donation to his family. I hope that both the driver and the bodyguard recover soon... Don’t worry about the car.”
Arocha had a large bandage hiding half of his face and one plastered arm was suspended in a strap. His rib cage was broken and his breathing was labored with pain, but he was amazingly strong and impassable.
“First, tell me Arocha, what do you think about the development of our spiritual project? Do you see it as feasible?”
“Of course master, of course, because we have the technology to achieve it.” Arocha answered.
Arocha didn’t seem to understand the real question and couldn’t answer his master’s obsession for universal peace. In fact, he disagreed totally with such fancy ideas. For him such a concept was a fantasy, not a business. Of course, he couldn’t tell Arun Kumar that he was, in fact, working with the military of the BRIC, on a program that was creating a weapon for mind control.
“But tell me now about the mantras necessary to fully start our program. What can I say to the ministers? The Chinese Premier and the Russian President are becoming impatient.”
Arocha now felt exalted. Arun Kumar was hooked and waiting anxiously for him to provide his dream. Soon Kumar will be eating out of his hand.
As Arocha had captured Pascal he felt that he would get the mantras very soon.
The Japanese girl was dead, but he didn’t need her anyway. Job well done!
And all this time, Arun dreamt of general harmony in societies… How pitiful! Was he blind?
Nothing could stop Arocha now.
“Master, I can now control the project. I virtually have the mantras and I can confirm they will be ready when you come back from China. We will then start the experiment.”
“No more problems?” asked Kumar.
“Only one. I brought you the order for the last equipment transfers to the laboratory, but we the shipment has yet to arrive. This is the last one and costs $150 million. We are still waiting for the final money transfers from the Chinese and the Russians. The total equipment and development costs are $350 million. We need to receive the money before you come back.” He felt so self-assured now!
“Really?” questioned Kumar.
The question was surprising; like an icy shower to Arocha. He perceived Arun Kumar’s tone was no longer friendly and the room was now full with a new team of security people that weren’t from his organization.
He also observed that two police cars were outside, yet Arun Kumar almost never used public services. He even had his own air traffic controller.
Kumar, Arocha thought, must have received a threat last night from the young foreigner and hadn’t had time to talk to him. What else could it be?
I am too tired and probably overreacting, thought Arocha. I will achieve my objective soon. So much money! I must keep calm! In one hour Arun Kumar will be gone and I will be
At that moment a connecting door opened and Sheela appeared, looking furious.
“Hello sweet h….” started Arocha, but he stopped talking when he saw behind her the Japanese hostage whom he had believed to be dead!
The sky was falling on his head. Arun Kumar knew of his covert plan!
“Arocha,” said Kumar, “you break my heart. I have given you so much trust!”
But Arocha was smart! Without a hint of hesitation he replied, “Sheela! I know this woman very well; she is the accomplice of the young man we are tracking, I knew she would contact you. What story did she tell you?”
Arocha’s mind was reeling. Of course, Pascal told Sheela about his girlfriend’s kidnapping and she had the guts to manage her release. Kumar’s daughter was a force to be reckoned with!
He had, nevertheless, gone into counter-attack, and since Mughal Hussein had captured Pascal, he didn’t matter anymore
. They had control.
His story was very clever.
“Master, I beg your forgiveness for not telling you the entire truth. In fact, I didn’t bring the foreigner back to his hotel after the party as you requested. I wanted to interrogate him first as he was a threat to our Cosmos Project. On our way to his hotel he jumped the driver and tried to strangle him. The car then bumped into a truck and the foreigner escaped from the car. Of course we were not going to shoot him and we couldn’t move because the truck drivers were angry and started to attack us.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this in the first place?” asked Kumar.
“I wanted to be perfect and was ashamed. I needed to find him first for your safety!”
“So how do you explain this young lady’s detention in our tower? How could you detain someone?”
“I detained no one!” he lied. Then he turned to Sheela and asked: “Sheela, did you ever see that woman in our tower?”
“Ah, no. I only met her in a temple,” answered Sheela honestly.
“You see!” cried Arocha. “It is a scheme between this woman and her boyfriend.”
Sheela was nervous and impatient.
“This young woman confirms that she has the mantras you are looking for.”
Arocha directed his attention to Mayumi.
“You said you have mantras. What does that mean? Can you show us?”
“We have them; my friend and me,” answered Mayumi. “He has them.”
“And where is he?” demanded Arocha, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t know really. I heard he is now in Mumbai.”
“Can’t you see it is a trap to get you and your father? This couple wants your money. I checked at the hotel reception. This guy came to your party under a pseudonym. That is why he is hiding. He was very smart to approach you at the party; why do you think he talked to you?” Arocha kept on...
“And this young Japanese woman is a spy in a Buddhist group searching the mantras for us. I have already investigated it. Daisukei, our friend and PR to that group, has also checked on her and discovered she was a mole.
It is true Sheela, we are looking for mantras and these two foreigners know that as well. Daisukei is working for us. In case they found the mantras, he could help us purchase them. He warned me a month ago about this couple; when they knew the story of the mantras they made a plan to fake them and try to sell them to the Buddhists, but the Masters were suspicious.
Later in London the couple went to sell the intel to the British authorities and learned that Arun Kumar, the super-rich Indian, was involved in a vast project that required the ancient mantras. These two came to India with a scheme to try to sell you fakes.”
Sheela couldn’t swallow that story. Her deep connection to Pascal indicated a personality that was very different from a scoundrel.
“But how do you explain why her boyfriend was abducted in front of my car just minutes ago?”
Arocha had an answer for everything.
“I was going to tell you; this wasn’t done by us. We had several agents looking for that guy at the railway station because we suspected he would catch a train to flee the country. My men reported to my commander that he was captured before they could do anything. The car escaped through the small streets and there was too much traffic to run after them. We have to move fast to get them.
Our Japanese friend has the mantras now.”
But Sheela was persistent.
“Why then did he not get into my car?”
“Why should he?” answered Arocha. “It may have been another trick to avoid the confrontation with your father and our security team, so he put the blame on us. They could easily negotiate with you personally and say we are the bad guys. We will prove this when we catch him... and we will.”
He didn’t say out loud what he was thinking: dead, of course.
Arun Kumar was totally puzzled.
“Why did you hide this story from me Arocha?”
“Master, it is not the only one or first time I have kept such concerns from you. Many people try constantly to take advantage of you and it is my duty is to stop them without disturbing you; you have too much to think about. When you first told me to check out the guest you had a good intuition. Personally, I didn’t know he was an opportunist.”
Now confident that his lies were being believed, Arocha added:
“Sheela has a good heart and what she did was very courageous. Unfortunately, not everyone is sensitive and compassionate like her. We cannot point the finger at her.”
Arocha was brilliant! Now he was going to order his staff to kill Pascal—immediately after getting the mantras of course.
Arun Kumar mumbled to himself, trying to solve the dilemma. Then, he reacted as an angry father.
“Go home Sheela! Don’t do anything like this again before talking to me, and please apologize to Arocha. Look at how brave he was to defend our family!”
Kumar turned to his secretary.
“Kya, please call the police and ask them to arrest this Japanese woman and keep her until we can sort everything out when I return. In the meantime, we will have to find her accomplice... and thank you Arocha!”
…
“Never give up, never, never, never.”
Winston Churchill.