Little Book Of Red Lies | Shubman Gill ✓

38. Hatching a plot

Days pass, with the pace of a tortoise for both Shubman and Kavya. With every passing day, Shubman turns his focus inwards. Cricket keeps him going. He plays one ball at a time with the heightened awareness that somewhere, Kavya was watching him. And boy Kavya, did. IPL matches were the only good thing in her day, else she felt as if it was 2020 again. Anand knew how to drive one insane. He refused to let her go out to get some air. Refused her when she asked for a diary to vent her emotions out.

He revelled in the fact that each day, Kavya was becoming a tinge more restless. He had promised Shubman that he would let her go once he rises to fame in the cricketing world, but that was not what he was going to do. In reality, his plan was to turn Kavya a vampire and seduce her. Not via compulsion but by his charms. He was willing to wait an eternity If it meant getting a chance to feel Kavya's body beneath his.

But what he did not know was that Shubman would never let him succeed.

******

Shubman Gill

It's been 96 days since Anand laid his greedy conditions in front of me. Ninety six days of planning today to perfection.

Anand believes that I have successfully forged the identity of a new player - Ankit Das. A player was too young to have played much domestic cricket. I had convinced a team of cricbuzz officials to add a few false matches to the 2021-22 and 2022-2023 Ranji seasons. And no, I had not used compulsion but taken them into confidence. They were a bunch of understanding people who sympathized with a vampire, regardless of how bizarre he sounded.

By now, I had searched every city in India. Kavya's scent had been the strongest in Dalhousie. There were 53 newspaper vendors in the city. Every one of them knew how Anand looked. Shalom had shown his photo to half of them and Poornima had convinced the rest that her daughter had been kidnapped by him. They were all protected by vervain infused pens on them, very skillfully gifted by the two women, for the help they provided.

They had been told that Anand was a dangerous murderer who had skillfully escaped the police earlier and so they needed to be careful and not make him suspicious or alarm him by recognising him and alerting the police. Instructions had been clear, if Anand showed up at their shop to buy a newspaper, they had to pretend he was a regular guy and give him what he wanted while messaging Shalom or Poornima that he had been spotted.

I was very certain that when I send the photo of a fake headline announcing the team India squad for the ODI series against Australia, he would definitely want to cross check. But we couldn't risk the public being suspicious. And so, all the 53 vendors had fake copies of Hindustan Times and Times of India to make him believe that he had been selected.

It was a risky gamble, I was aware. Anand could travel to Mumbai to read a newspaper, for all I knew. But having been on the recieving end of getting a call for India, I knew how joyfully blinding it could be. I was hoping that his shrewdness would be defeated by ecstasy.

I pray for one last time before I send the newspaper clip to him. Waheguru meher karna.

"Ankit Das, the underrated all-rounder of Kolkata, receives a dream Team India call up."

*****

My heart beats violently as Anand gives me a call.

"Not bad, sugarcube. You did it!"

I want to cry out of happiness. But I know that it's too soon to believe that he's not the one playing a reverse Uno card on me.

With a voice devoid of emotions, I tell him, "You need to play along well now. Your name is…"

"Ankit Das I know. I was born in a lower middle class family. Typical rags to riches story. I must say, I love how sentimental you've made my story sound! People are going to fall on love with me with the snap of a finger."

And that is what scares me. If he finds out that no one knows about him…. I swallow.

"For that you'll have to give them something to celebrate. We need you with the squad as soon as possible. Besides everyone is excited to see you at the practice match."

I lie. They're feeling a lot of things. And excitement is definitely not one of the feelings.

"Oh and I can't wait to meet these brainwashed dumbos!"

For the umpteenth time, I ask myself to keep my anger at bay.

"One more thing. Their families will be there to cheer them from the stands. Do you want to bring someone? Perhaps someone you held a grudge against or…I don't know."

I add ambiguity to my statement because we don't want him to be dubious about my behaviour. But the person I am hinting at is Kavya. He needs to bring Kavya for the plan to succeed.

There's silence on the other end. Then the devil speaks up,

"I know exactly who I want to bring."