"I spy you!" - 25

The situation suddenly became friendlier towards Vasupradha. There was a knock at the door and all the three men turned towards the door.

Vasupradha did not lose a moment. She was slid out from below the cot and rushed towards the guy with the gun. She did not even think what could happen next. She hit his head with the butt of her pistol. The man fell on to the carpet like a bull. Next moment she held the gun pointed at the guy sitting on the chair. Gupta jumped out in a jiffy and put his foot at the neck of the fallen guy.

The man sitting on the chair was stunned. It looked as if he had never expected any sort of resistance from Gupta. Vasupradha ensured that her pistol-held hand was rock steady. When he saw that he could not do anything he just stood up. Vasupradha aimed her gun at his face.

“No, no! They will go. They should have known what is word commitment” said Gupta hurriedly and removed his foot from the fallen person’s neck.

Both of them staggered out of the door very fast and Gupta closed the door immediately and went back and sat on the bed.

He was in a furious mood. He was muttering to himself loudly, “What do they think of themselves? Is theirs the only country? I shall send feelers to some other country and sell them!”

It was at that moment Vasupradha searched for a video clip in her mobile and played it loud.

A small boy’s voice said, “My father is a good man. He is a great patriot. He takes good care of us. We all love him. We always want him with us”

Gupta’s mouth was open with shock. He came near her and snatched the mobile.

Vasupradha could feel the dilemma Gupta was undergoing. When she recorded the video she had a very vague idea how to use it. The idea got solidified when Gupta muttered to himself that he will sell the secret to some other country.

“Are you holding my son for ransom? Will you kill him if I don’t listen to you? Is that why you were behind me all this time?” words were rolling out of his mouth with a high speed.

Vasupradha said, “Hold on!”

He kept quiet and looked at her.

“I went to your home and met your family. Great family I should say. They have high aspiration about you. They feel that you are the best person ever as far as love for the country is concerned. Your son who is so small is imbibed with love for our country. When that is so, how can you even think of selling some important documents to the other countries?” she said and kept looking at him.

He kept silent for a long time. Vasupradha knew that she had played her pawn and she now had to wait for the reply from Gupta.

He must have been silent for more than an hour. He went on playing the video clip repeatedly. Vasupradha had also captured the other members of his family in her photo album. He seemed to weigh the situation for quite a long time.