SWAPPED PART II

"We found the guy who stole the card," Priya said.
"That's good! Where is he?" the Boss asked.
"He... he died," Priya said.

The Boss sat back in his seat, looking ahead at the deserted street through his windshield, silent for a few seconds.  He clicked his tongue and murmured something.
"What?" Priya said, frowning.
"I said, it's all so convenient.  Someone steals my money and then 'conveniently' dies.  Am I supposed to simply forget about the money??"

Priya was quiet trying to assess what he implied.  The Boss sighed and reached forward to retrieve something from the glove box.  A metallic click followed.  From the passenger seat, Priya got a glimpse of its source.  A gun.  The boss turned around to face Priya with the gun pointed at her and said,
"I don't know what kind of a game you think you are playing, but I will give you 10 seconds to tell me where the money is."

Anu caught Priya's hand in fear.  Her nails once again dug into her skin.  Priya winced and pulled her hand away.

"Just relax, okay?  I.... I will get you the money.  Put down the gun and..." then it hit her, "My husband! It was you! You are keeping him as a hostage!"

The Boss looked confused for a moment, then recovered and brought the gun closer to Priya's face, saying,
"Enough of your stupid games! Is this some kind of a scam you run on rich men??  Tell me where the money is right now or.... HEY!!"

Priya had managed to push the gun up with her left hand while simultaneously managing to open the door on her side and slid out to the ground.  Anu tried to do the same with the door on her side, but before she could, The Boss jumped on her and grabbed her while she struggled.

Priya realizing The Boss was busy, got up and rushed towards the concrete seat at the bus stop for cover.  The Boss squeezed out 2 shots in her direction, but missed her as Anu kept struggling.  The Boss turned his attention on Anu for a moment and hit her on her head with the butt of the gun, and her body went limp in her seat.  He cursed and locked the doors.  He rolled down the front passenger side window.

Priya had managed to reach the concrete seat and hid behind it.

"I got your friend here.  I am going to kill her if you don't come out!" the Boss shouted.

Priya, her heart racing, peeked over the concrete seat and saw The Boss pointing his gun at Anu's limp body in the passenger seat.

The noise of an oncoming vehicle could be heard.  May be she should wave down for help.

"I want that money, you bitch! I am going to count till 3...."

The vehicle urgently rushed towards them.

"1..... "

The vehicle, a van, screeched to a stop right in between them, blocking her view of the SUV.  Then gun shots echoed through the night as someone from the van shot at the SUV.  Not a moment later, The Boss fired up the SUV and raced down the road and took a left turn vanishing out of their sight.

Priya sat hidden behind the concrete seat as she heard the van's door slid open and someone stepping out.  She had another peek.  A young man was walking towards her with a gun in his hand.

"You are safe, dhidhi.  You can come out now," The Young Man said.  He put away his gun and waved his empty hands at her.  Priya recognized him,
"YOU!!" Priya shouted, "I told you to stay away from me!"

"But dhidhi, I saved your life.  I have had my men follow you for months.  I thought I lost you tonight, but I remembered how you spent a lot of time with that man, so I asked them to follow him instead.  I knew something was wrong," he said taking more steps towards her.
"Stay away from me! Dont take another step!" Priya said drenched in sweat and her body shivering in fright.
"I wont hurt you, dhidhi, you are very important to me..... and to my father," he said continuing to walk towards her.
"No, no!  HELP!! HEEELP!!" she shouted desperately on the deserted road.  The Young Man rushed towards her pulling out what looked like a metal rod from behind him and hit her right across her face, knocking her out.

***

When Priya came to, she realized she was in the van.  She was lying on the floor while 4 men sat on the seats around her.  Priya freaked out and sat up, looking around desperately for a way out.

"Oh, dhidhi, you are awake!" the Young Man said from the front seat and then got up and headed towards her, swaying and holding onto the sides for support as the van rocked on the bumpy road.

"What do you want??" she said.

"You know what I want, dhidhi, but more importantly, I want to help 'you.'  I will give you whatever you want.  I can give you lots of money if that's what you want, dhidhi!" he said with a forced smile.

"What? After killing me and taking my kidney??" she said.

"I wont kill you, dhidhi.  Okay, unless my dad needs another kidney in the future, then may be," he smiled and waited expecting her to find the humor in it, but then disappointed, continued, "The doctor says my father has some kind of a rare type, and you are the only one we could find that is a match.  And believe me, we have searched everywhere.  And here, lemme prove to you that I am someone who keeps his word," he said taking out his phone and dialing a number.

**

Ajay's left eye was swollen shut, but he could see fine through his right eye.  3 burly men stood in his living room making sure he stayed put on his sofa.  He looked at the clock.  It had been 15 minutes since these strange men barged into his living room and turned off the TV and beat him up.  Every time he tried to ask them what this was all about, they just threatened to beat him up even more.  But every minute that passed was killing him from the inside.  There were just 40 minutes left of the Game of Thrones episode.  He 'had' to watch it, because the moment it was over, his social feeds would be filled with spoilers from his psychopathic friends.

He finally gathered up his courage and said,
"How about I get you men some beers and we watch some TV together?" he said, smiling through his bloody face.

The burly men turned to look at him, with a scowl on their faces.  One of them rushed to him brandishing his fist to land another punch on his face, shouting, "WHY DONT YOU SHUT THE FU...." when his phone rang, and he stopped in his tracks.

"Hello."
"Leave the husband.  We got dhidhi," the mice-like voice from the phone said.
"Yes, sir," the burly man said, and motioned the others to move out.

Ajay sighed, relieved.  He had many questions as to what the hell all this was about, but he was more worried about the GOT spoilers.

"We will be watching you, so don't even think about doing anything!" the burly man said before he followed the others out and shut the door behind him.  Ajay gingerly stood up and plugged in the TV and continued watching GOT.


***

The Boss had driven for 15 minutes around the town, looking repeatedly at his rear-view mirror to make sure nobody was following him.  He finally hit the brakes.  Anu's limp body hit the back of his seat making her come to.  She felt a sharp pain in her temple, and it took her a few moments to recollect all the night's events.

"You will stay in your seat if you know what's good for you!" the Boss shouted at her looking at her through his rear-view mirror.
"Listen, I am in no way part of whatever is going on.  Just let me go," she said her voice quivering.

"You think I am dumb?!?  You and your friend are obviously part of some big scam.  Bet she's scammed a lot more rich men like me.  How else can she hire those men to protect her??  But she chose the wrong man this time!  Nobody can run a big business in this city like me without 'some' kind of a connection with the mafias.  If she thought I am all alone in this, she is wrong!  Time to get an army of my own into this shit!" The Boss said retrieving his phone.

***

To be continued in Part III.