Page 32 of The Pursuit
I opened my mouth to protest, to rage against the unfairness of it all, but Sudesh raised a hand to stop me.
“Just take a minute and be grateful you’ve got someone watching your back like that, yeah? That kind of loyalty is rare.”
His words struck home with brutal clarity. Krish had sacrificed everything... for me. A strangled sob escaped my lips as Sudesh left the room. No matter the fallout, I wouldn’t abandon Krish to face it alone. Not after he’d put my life above everything else.
And just as I made this resolve, my phone rang loudly next to the bed, and the caller ID flashing on the screen stole my breath away.
KRISH
Seated at the desk in our covert ops base, Phoenix Headquarters in Singapore, I focused on the mission reports, my jaw clenched so tightly that my temples throbbed. The room buzzed with activity as my team worked diligently to compile a report on today’s mission, one that was meant to be a success but ended with an unexpected turn of events. The words blurred on the page as I forced myself to relive every painstaking detail of the operation. My mind drifted back to the chaotic scene at Ron’s hideout.
With Trisha’s tracking chip compromised by Max’s men, dispatching Ayaan to rescue her became our most viable option. We relied on Ayaan’s distinctive black beaded bracelet, equipped with a tracker, to locate them and pinpoint Ron’s actual hideout. By the time my team and I arrived on the scene, the fight had escalated into a full-blown firefight between Ayaan, Trisha, and Ron’s henchmen.
When Ron made his attempt to escape via chopper, everything shifted in an instant. I recalled the chopper landing, its blades slicing through the air with a deafening roar. My instincts screamed at me to take action, to explode the chopper and prevent Ron’s escape. But then I saw him dragging Trisha towards the chopper, a gun pressed to her temple, and my priorities shifted entirely.
According to the plan, we were supposed to take the kingpin alive to extract vital information on the cartel’s expansive network. But seeing Trisha’s life hanging by athread, I couldn’t let protocol decide her fate. Without hesitation, I raised my gun and aimed at Ron, pulling the trigger.
My hand still burned from the recoil of the gun that dropped Ron like a sack of potatoes. In that split second, all remaining doubt had been dispelled. I knew the price, knew there would be consequences for deviating from the operation’s primary objective, but in that moment, none of that mattered as Trisha’s safety outweighed everything else.
She was receiving medical treatment for her head injury, still unconscious but stable, thanks to Ayaan’s quick action, securing her after my shot. The thought of those agonising moments, not knowing if she’d survive, twisted my gut into fresh knots of dread. Only after she was airlifted with the emergency medical evacuation team did reality come crashing back in. We’d eliminated the heads of this particular cartel, but failed to extract crucial intel about the larger network.
I had made a choice, one driven by love and duty, to protect the woman I cared for above all else. Trisha was someone I couldn’t bear to lose. And if given the chance, I would make the same decision again without hesitation.
Across the desk, Ayaan watched me impassively, giving me space to process everything. He understood me and the impossible choice I’d faced at the battleground today. Taking a slow breath, I turned to him. If anyone deserved answers first, it was the man who’d risked everything to get us this far.
“You’re probably wondering why I took that shot instead of trying fora non-lethal takedown.” My voice sounded flat, drained of emotion after wrestling with self-blame.
Ayaan merely arched an eyebrow in response.
“Yeah, I knew you would be,” I replied to the unspoken question with a bitter chuckle. “Let’s just say I don’t have any regrets about putting that bastard in the ground after what he tried to pull.”
My voice hardened as the memory resurfaced with double the intensity. “He was going to kill her right in front of us, then fly off to safety. And even if by some miracle she did make it, he’d just vanish into the ether with all the intel we needed to dismantle this drug cartel hierarchy.”
I shook my head in disgust.
“So, you’re damned right. I took the shot when I had it. Was it a violation of operational parameters? Sure. Did it put the entire mission objective at risk by eliminating our best chance at a bigger bust? Absolutely.”
Ayaan continued to remain silent, just hearing me out as I continued.
“But Trisha is still alive because of it. And I’ll make that call every single time if that’s the price to keep my agents safe, no matter the consequences.”
The silence stretched between us, thick enough to cut with a combat knife. Ayaan held my gaze for several heartbeats before giving a slow, solemn nod of understanding.
“I know you would,” he said at last. “Which is why I’d follow you into literally any hellscape on this planet. Notmany people have that kind of commitment. I know the protocols say completing the mission is our priority, but I, too, wouldn’t let our agents lose their lives when we could save them in some way or the other, even if it means putting another few months of work into finding the intel that Ron could have provided us. I still believe saving Trisha was the right call.”
I snorted at the praise, leaning back in my chair.
“Let’s just hope the boss back in Austria, your father, sees it the same way when he debriefs us,” he adds. “But don’t worry, we’ll handle it. Together. Like we always do.”
There would be fallout; no doubt about it. Questions, second-guessing, and likely even disciplinary actions for going off-script in such an epic fashion. But as long as Trisha pulled through, as long as my team came home to fight another day, I could endure whatever hell rained down on me.
***************
The medical staff informed me Trisha had already been dispatched to a safe house for recovery. Impatience gnawed at my gut as I made my way across the GLEN compound, desperate to see her after that harrowing brush with death.
I should have known she wouldn’t rest once she regained consciousness. Stubborn as she was, of course, she’d already be back on her feet, likely packing her go-bag for the next high-risk deployment.
I keyed open the door to our safe house, the placewhere we lived together the last two weeks, and found Trisha in her room. She moved with her usual efficiency, stuffing gear and essentials into her bags. Just watching her in constant motion, safe and unharmed, filled me with overwhelming relief, a deep sigh escaping my lips as tension eased from my shoulders.
