Just next to him, placed aesthetically, was Ameer.

There was no way in which Chezhiyan could tell whether his best mate was alive or not.
Trying to check his pulse, Chezhiyan grabbed his arm and frantically searched for a pulse. To his surprise, Ameer was still alive.

How could this be?
Does he know that Ameer is not dead? What sort of a n assassin is he, if he couldn't tell whether his victim is dead? 

A lot of similar questions pricked Chezhiyan's mind as he tried to conceal his joy on seeing his friend alive. He glanced at the man driving the vehicle.

The masked man had apparently decided to not turn back and was fully focused on his destination.

With all the excitement and adrenaline rush, Chezhiyan had failed to notice where the car was headed.
The masked man took the road beside the subway that would eventually lead them to the harbour staff quarters.

Chezhiyan couldn't understand what was going on. At the same time he was too cautious to initiate a conversation with him.

While he was thinking desperately, the vehicle came to a halt halfway into the road.
The masked man then ordered Chezhiyan to get down.

As much as he hated to obey the instructions of an assassin hired to kill him, he patiently waited to pounce at any sort of opportunity to escape.

The masked man too got down but instead of coming near Chezhiyan he went towards the unconscious Ameer and injected something into his arm.

Chezhiyan decided not to act out of panic and so he stood ground.

After he finished injecting the contents of a vial into the arm of Ameer, the masked man sat on the floor of the car and gestured Chezhiyan to follow suit.

Chezhiyan too sat on the stone fence that flanked the road. After what seemed like a few minutes both the men saw what they were waiting to see, Ameer walking up.

It took about three to five seconds for Ameer to feel completely conscious. He acted naturally after seeing his friend and tried to get down from the car and stand beside Chezhiyan.

Even then Chezhiyan was unsure of the man's true motive. He now wanted to obtain as much information as possible from him.

The masked man stood up and removed the mask to reveal his face. Chezhiyan guessed that the man would be in his late twenties from his face.
He had a clean stubble and a calm pair of eyes.

The man then began to talk.
"I am Arul, the assassin hired to kill you both. As you are aware, I have no intention of killing you. But then I need you two to reach the place where I need to go. "

Just as he said that sentence both the friends looked clueless. Sensing their feeling, Arul talked more.
"I work for money. By work I mean the underground things like murders, robbery etcetera. Usually I don't attempt things that I feel are out of my reach but in this case it was not like that. The person who gave us money to execute his instructions without a slight deviation didn't want to reveal himself to us. It was way out of character for us to accept such offers but we did. It was not because of the amount of money he offered but because of the challenge he gave us. All we had to do was obey his instructions and then he'd pay us. It was that simple yet complex. Not even once had I experienced such a feeling in my career. "

"Excuse me. So does that mean you don't work alone? " asked Chezhiyan.

"I used to work with a friend of mine but not anymore. He committed suicide after finishing the last leg of our task. I don't why he did that but I feel it has something to do with the person who hired us. That's the only reason why I accepted the touch up job of killing you both. You weren't a part of the initial deal between us but the sudden death of my friend made me to want to meet him and that's where I got lucky. "

Chezhiyan could not refuse to believe what he was hearing. Arul seemed way much professional than he had initially thought.

He then mustered the courage to shoot the question that was in his throat.
"Is the person you work for known as DOT? "

Arul's pupils dilated for a moment on hearing the name.
"How come you know his name? " he asked out of shock.

Chezhiyan then explained the whole plot right from how he came into this case. Ameer was so scared that he just nodded to whatever Chezhiyan said.
Chezhiyan didn't feel bad on letting an hitherto unknown assassin into all the details.

"Yeah that explains why he wants you both dead. But I am not going to kill you. I need you to reach him and get the justification for the death of my friend. " said Arul.

Sensing the open nature of the conversation, Chezhiyan asked "Could you elaborate the murders in detail? I mean the whole thing right from hiring you to till now? "

Arul let out a slight laugh and continued " Do you think I'd fall for such cheap tricks? Honestly? Though I have things to settle with DOT, I won't turn him in. I am a professional first kid so don't play your mind games with me! "

The best chance to extract Information gone begging without a fuss. Chezhiyan felt gutted.

After they finished their talking, Arul told them of the plan they needed to follow.
"See after I inform DOT about the current scenario, I am going to ask him to pay me in person. That way I get to meet him and to get him to budge I'm going to use you as a bait. You know what I mean, don't you? "

Chezhiyan nodded and told " You will tell him that you have kidnapped us both and then in order finish us off he has to pay you in person, using which you plan to confront him. Is that right? "

"Almost! I'm not going to throw you both as bait. I'm going to inform him that I've killed one and kidnapped the next. That way I can be safe. " said Arul and told them both to get in the car.

Then he drove them down the road and parked the vehicle in a shady area. The whole place seemed alienated from the bustling city.

The setting was so perfect that it resembled a climax shooting spot of a dark crime thriller.

Both the boy's had never been there once despite living their entire lives just a couple of kilometres away.

Arul got down and texted someone. He then waited for that person to reply.

-------

Inside his cabin, Suriya tried to call Kumaresan but he couldn't do so.

He realized that Kumaresan was asked to overlook the autopsy of Sathya and his killer.

He waited for him to call back.

What's more worrying him was the involvement of two youngsters. The more he thought of it, the more guilty he felt.

No explanation came up for the youngsters to volunteer to help except fate. But fate could be cruel most times. He didn't want the boys  to be hurt.

As he was thinking he also tried to call Kumaresan in between.

He then decided to come out of the station and have a walk.

The death of his junior and increasing suspicion on his fellow cop coupled with the boys' involvement made him sick.

The late night cold felt sharp. He was aware of everything present in the surrounding. He wanted to be someone who could feed his hunger for adventure. That's precisely why he left his initial job to take up the job of a cop.

He took a couple of steps out of the station and saw the spot where the two bodies lay just minutes ago.

He resisted his urge to go there.

He was in a state of trance. Somewhere between anger and sorrow.

He was brought to reality by a phone call. It was all too familiar for him to see the new number. After all he knew who could call him at this time.

"Yes? " he said.

"Its DOT " came the reply.. 

To be continued!.