As soon as Jaideep saw the car turn off the main road onto another street, he was convinced that Sujan's game had begun.
Until now, he had been using the sparse traffic on the main road as cover. But on this new road, if the taxi driver noticed the motorcycle's headlights following him, he would immediately suspect he was being tailed.
Jaideep had no doubt that the taxi driver was also working with Sujan.
So, before turning onto that road behind the taxi, he switched off his motorcycle's headlights and continued following using just the taillights.
Then, he saw the taxi stop at a spot and halted his motorcycle as well. At the same time, he noticed several shadows emerging from the darkness to surround the taxi.
Suddenly, the screams of girls echoed in the night.
That was enough. He revved his motorcycle at lightning speed and rushed toward the scene.
Before the goons could properly register his presence in the darkness, he rammed his motorcycle into two of them, knocking them down. Then, as the bike tumbled, he launched himself into the air like a ball, landing with his heels smashing into the noses of two more goons before hitting the ground.
His well-trained body, strengthened through rigorous exercise, moved like a steel pendulum, his arms and legs striking in all directions.
The goons were already startled by the unexpected attack. But when Jaideep, with incredible speed, began unleashing a storm of punches and kicks while spinning around, they became utterly panicked.
The darkness made it hard for them to figure out whether they were being attacked by a single person or multiple people.
They had been told that the taxi would have only two girls, whom they had to extract and transfer to their Matador van before taking them to a deserted hideout.
They had no clue that someone else would be following them.
They weren't prepared for such a situation.
That's why Jaideep's fierce assault completely rattled them, and for a moment, they were thrown into utter confusion.
However, once they realized that their attacker was alone, they regained their courage and, now more furious than before, rushed to surround Jaideep from all sides.
They successfully encircled him.
But just then, a series of gunshots rang out in the night, echoing sharply.
The sudden sound terrified the goons, and they scattered in all directions. The taxi driver was among those who fled.
A little distance away, a Matador van was parked. Stumbling and falling, the goons hurriedly climbed into it, and the van sped away from the scene.
The gunfire startled Jaideep as well. He decided against chasing the fleeing goons and instead glanced around to locate the source of the shots.
Even in the dim light, he spotted a pistol in someone's hand—Shefali, who was walking toward him.
"Thank you so much for your help," Shefali said as she reached him. "May I know the name of my unknown savior?"
"My name is Jaideep."
"I'm Shefali, and this is Sharda," she said, gesturing behind her. "We both came from America."
"I know."
"You know? How?"
"You probably know Uma Shankar Ji, who used to write letters to you."
"Yes, I do."
"I'm his son."
"Oh?"
"We had somehow found out that Sujan was planning to kidnap you."
"What?"
"That's why I was following your taxi from the airport itself."
"If you already knew about it, why didn't you warn us at the airport?"
"There were several reasons for that."
By then, Sharda had also walked up to them, shivering from the cold. "Are we planning to stand here all night?" she asked.
"Let's go," Shefali said, putting her pistol back into her purse. "But first, let's thank our kind rescuer properly."
"I think we can talk later," Jaideep said. "Right now, we should get out of here before those thugs return with reinforcements."
"But if they do come back, they'll have to face you again," Shefali remarked. "Your fighting skills left me stunned! You fight incredibly well."
"Thank you."