Chapter 20: The Clean-Up
The sirens were deafening. They wailed from every tower in Cherlapally Central Jail, a mechanical scream announcing that the order had been broken.
Inside the bakery, the silence was heavy. It was a graveyard of white flour and red blood.
Ten men lay groaning on the floor. Billa was unconscious, his legs burned and blistered, his face a ruin of smashed cartilage. Ramu, the driver, lay dead near the ovens, the iron skewer still protruding from his stomach like a grotesque flag.
Arjun stood by the sink in the corner. He was washing his hands. The water turned pink as it swirled down the drain.
He looked at his reflection in the cracked mirror above the sink. His white shirt was torn, stained with Billa's blood and the gray dust of the floor. His hair was messy. But his eyes were clear.
"Shiva," Arjun said, turning off the tap. "Wipe the handle of the rolling pin."
Shiva was standing over Ramu's body, his fists clenched so tight his veins looked like ropes. He was shaking with rage.
"We lost him, Arjun," Shiva growled, not moving. "He's dead. The name died with him."
"He gave us a piece," Arjun said, drying his hands on a rag. "A Golden Sun. It's not a name, it's a symbol. It's enough to start a hunt."
"It's not enough!" Shiva shouted, kicking a metal tray across the room. "We were so close! I should have snapped Billa's neck when I had the chance!"
"Control, Shiva," Arjun's voice cracked like a whip. "Emotion makes you blind. Billa was just a tool. The hand that held him is outside. And right now..."
Arjun pointed to the main doors as heavy footsteps approached.
"...we have a Superintendent to manage."
The doors burst open.
Superintendent Reddy stormed in, flanked by twenty armed guards in riot gear. They had tear gas guns and lathis ready.
Reddy stopped dead when he saw the scene. He saw the blood. He saw the unconscious bodies of the kitchen gang. He saw the dead man.
He looked at Arjun, who was leaning casually against the sink, checking his fingernails.
"Drop your weapons!" Reddy screamed, his voice cracking with panic. "On the ground! Now!"
Arjun didn't move. He didn't have a weapon. He just looked at Reddy.
"We are unarmed, Superintendent," Arjun said calmly. "Unless you count flour as a deadly weapon. In which case, guilty as charged."
Reddy marched over to Ramu's body. He checked the pulse. He stood up, his face pale.
"A custodial death," Reddy whispered, the horror of the paperwork and the inquiry commission flashing before his eyes. "A murder inside the workshop. My career is over."
He turned on Arjun, his face purple. "You did this! You killed him!"
"Me?" Arjun raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely offended. "Superintendent, please. Look at the weapon. That's a meat skewer. This is a bakery. We use rolling pins."
Arjun walked slowly towards Reddy. The guards raised their lathis, but Arjun didn't stop until he was two feet away.
"Let me tell you what the report will say," Arjun said, his voice low and smooth. "Billa, the psychopath from the Kitchen, got jealous of the Bakery's success. He broke in with his gang. He attacked the workers. He killed the new inmate, Ramu, in the chaos."
Arjun gestured to Shiva.
"My men... they merely defended government property. We prevented a riot from spreading to the main yard. If anything, we deserve a commendation."
Reddy stared at him. "You think I'm an idiot? You think the magistrate will believe that?"
"The magistrate will believe whatever the evidence says," Arjun said. "And the evidence says Billa is here, in my territory, with weapons. Why would a baker attack his own oven?"
Arjun took a step closer, invading Reddy's personal space.
"Think about it, Reddy. If you blame me, I testify. I tell the court about the bribes you take. I tell them about how you let Billa run the kitchen like a mafia don. You go to jail with me."
Reddy swallowed hard. Sweat trickled down his temple.
"But," Arjun continued, "if you blame Billa... you solve two problems. You get rid of a troublesome gangster who causes fights. You close the case on Ramu as 'gang violence'. And the Bakery..."
Arjun smiled. It was the smile of a predator offering a deal.
"...the Bakery continues to run efficiently. No noise. No trouble. And your envelope gets a little heavier next month."
Reddy looked at the dead body. He looked at Billa's broken form. He looked at Arjun.
It was a choice between a scandal that would destroy him, or a lie that would make him rich.
Reddy was a bureaucrat. He chose the lie.
"Get the stretcher!" Reddy barked at the guards. "Take Billa and his men to the infirmary. Then throw Billa in the Dark Cells. Solitary confinement. Indefinite."
"And the body?" a guard asked.
"Take it to the morgue," Reddy said, not looking at Ramu. "Write it up. 'Death due to stab wounds sustained during an inmate riot initiated by Prisoner Billa.'"
Reddy turned to Arjun.
"Clean this place up," Reddy hissed. "If I see one drop of blood by inspection tomorrow, I will shut this bakery down."
"It will be spotless," Arjun promised.
As the guards dragged the bodies away, Arjun watched Billa being hauled out. Billa groaned, his eyes fluttering open to see Arjun one last time.
Arjun didn't smile. He didn't gloat. He just stared at Billa with cold indifference, like a man looking at a bag of trash being taken to the curb.
Two hours later.
The bakery was scrubbed clean. The smell of bleach replaced the smell of blood.
Arjun sat in the small office. Nanda was sitting opposite him, looking terrified. Shiva was pacing the room.
"The partnership is over," Arjun stated, staring at the wall.
"But Bhai," Nanda stammered, adjusting his glasses. "We just started. Satya promised 5%. If we cancel now..."
"Satya didn't promise 5%, Nanda. He promised a distraction," Arjun slammed his hand on the desk, making Nanda jump. "He sent Billa to kill me while I was counting his imaginary money. He thinks I'm a fool."
Arjun stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the prison yard.
"He wanted war? Fine. But we don't fight like thugs anymore. We fight like businessmen."
"What do we do?" Shiva asked. "Do I send Mallesh to burn his office?"
"No," Arjun turned around. "Fire is too quick. I want him to bleed slowly. I want him to wake up every morning poorer than he was the night before."
Arjun looked at Nanda.
"Nanda, you said you know how to hide money. Do you know how to find it?"
"Yes, Bhai," Nanda nodded. "Money leaves a trail."
"Satya is laundering money for the Minister," Arjun said, his mind working like a chessboard. "He uses shell companies. He uses fake invoices. I want you to find them."
"From in here?" Nanda asked, skeptical. "I need a computer. Internet."
"We can't get internet," Arjun said. "But we have Mallesh outside. And Mallesh can get into Satya's garbage."
"Garbage?"
"Corporate espionage, Nanda," Arjun smiled coldly. "Every night, Satya's office throws out paper. Shredded documents. Carbons. Mallesh will bring them to us. You will piece them together. You will find the names of his shell companies."
"And then?"
"And then," Arjun's eyes glinted. "We don't go to the police. We go to the competition."
Arjun walked back to the desk.
"Satya has rivals. Other builders who hate him. If we give them proof of Satya's illegal dealings, they will file lawsuits. They will leak it to the press. We will use his enemies to destroy him."
"And the Golden Sun?" Shiva asked quietly.
Arjun paused. The image of the dying driver flashed in his mind.
The Golden Sun. Delhi. Corporate.
"That is the long game," Arjun whispered. "We keep our eyes open. We look for that logo in the newspapers, in the magazines. Whoever they are, they are powerful enough to make a Minister shake with fear."
Arjun picked up a fresh loaf of bread. He broke it in half.
"But first, we finish Satya."
He looked at Shiva.
"Tell Mallesh to target the trucks again. But this time, don't break legs. Hijack the materials. Cement. Steel. Sand. Steal it all."
"Steal it?"
"Yes," Arjun grinned. "And then sell it back to Satya's rivals at half price. We are going to build our own capital using his bricks."
Arjun took a bite of the bread.
"Billa is gone. The Kitchen is weak. Shiva, tomorrow you go to the Kitchen block. You tell them that from now on, they buy their supplies through us. We are expanding the monopoly."
Shiva cracked a smile. "Understood."
Arjun sat back. The grief for Ramu was shoved into a deep, dark corner of his heart. There was no room for sadness. There was only room for ambition.
The prison was no longer a cage. It was his kingdom. And he was just getting started.
"University is in session," Arjun whispered to himself. "Lesson two: Hostile Takeover."