With his spoon raised mid-air, Jay paused. Noting his wife absent-mindedly pushing around the uneaten food on her plate, he put down his spoon. "Darling, why aren't you eating?"

Salena pushed away her plate. "I am not hungry."

Jay shook his head in vain, the earlier enjoyment of his meal lost.  He was well-versed with his wife's facial expressions. She was sulking. Valiantly, he tried to recall the date. Had he forgotten any important event?

"You are missing the kids. Aren't you?" he hazarded a guess.

She let out a deep sigh. "It's been weeks since our last family dinner. Sarah hasn't been over in a month. I can't even remember when I last met Danish. At least you get to see Danish at the office every Saturday."

Relieved it was a trivial matter, he smiled broadly. "The semester exams are approaching. Both of them are rather busy. Still, I shall instruct them to come over for dinner next weekend."

Salena brightened up at the prospect. "Good. I will have the chef prepare all their favorite dishes." She pulled back her plate and hungrily dug in.

Thoughtfully, he watched her eat. He had been waiting for a while now to bring up the topic of Rachel. Would this prove to be the right moment?

Unaware of her husband's inner turmoil, Salena ladled out the steaming prawn curry for him before helping herself.

Jay cleared his throat; well aware he was treading on landmines. "Pamela's daughter must be studying at university now. After all, she is similar in age to our Danish."

Though Salena stiffened in response, she continued to eat in silence.

Jay sneaked a glance at his wife as he picked up his spoon. "I was just wondering, how she must be doing?"

"The prawn curry is way too spicy. I shall warn the chef to be careful or else I will have to fire him," commented Salena still not looking up from her plate.

Jay spooned up the prawn curry and gingerly tasted it. Relishing its perfect flavor, he frowned. Just as he had suspected, Daniel and Pamela remained a forbidden topic for his wife. He was well aware of the soft spot both his children had developed for Rachel. Hell! Even he had grown fond of the mini-Pamela. Should Danish ever want to date Rachel, how would they dissuade him?
.......................................................................

"This will not do!" exclaimed Rachel. She narrowed her steely eyes at the three ace swimmers seated opposite her. "You should have informed the Student Council of the situation. One freshman almost drowned, another was molested and a third one is on the brink of being suspended. All to assuage the ego of a maniac."

Danish shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "We didn't think expulsion from a mere university club would push Rawat over the edge."

Rachel looked away, tempted as she was to lean over and wrap her bloodthirsty hands around his delicate throat. How could such a handsome guy be so dense?

"Who knew Rawat would go to such lengths to take revenge?" blustered Milan offering Rachel his winning smile.

"He has already caused trouble for our club before," supplied Niam absentmindedly.

Milan rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Come on, man. Rachel is mad with us."

Rachel impatiently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "How can we be sure that Rawat is the mastermind behind Narong? The only connection between them is that they study in the same faculty."

Niam leaned back, "Something is surely afoot. Stronger ties bind Narong and Rawat besides being mere acquaintances. I am sure of it. Besides it can't be a coincidence that Rawat has a major issue with Milan and Kris just happens to be Milan's mentee."

Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "I can dig into Rawat and Narong's university profile. A copy of the admission records is maintained in the Student Council room. But if Niam turns out to be right then we have to get Narong or Rawat to confess without divulging Kris's secret or else P' Day will have no qualms in suspending Luke."

"It's a sick world when punishment is meted out for doing the right thing," opined Milan.

Frustrated, Niam roughly pulled his long hair into a man bun. "It wouldn't be easy to get Rawat to confess. He is a hard nut to crack. We would have a better chance with Narong."

Rachel's eyes glinted dangerously. "Then we should give Narong a taste of his own medicine."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Danish docilely.

"We blackmail him back!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

The three boys glanced at each other. Had Rachel finally gone insane? By their humble estimate, she had long been headed that way.

"I am not insane. There is no need to look at me like that," she snapped. "I plan to convince Narong that there is a witness to his and Rawat's misdeeds. A witness that is willing to keep his mouth shut for the right sum of money."

Milan let out a whistle, "Lady, that is diabolical. You must have watched way too many episodes of Law and Order."

Rachel glared at Milan angrily before continuing. "We must obtain an unknown phone number that can't be traced back to us. Then we will send Narong a couple of messages, convincing him that someone is shadowing his every move. Once he is rattled enough, he will lose his self-confidence and make mistakes. Mistakes that we will be tracking."

"Then this elusive witness will set up a meeting with Narong to presumably collect the money. We can place hidden cameras in the meeting venue and get a recording of Narong's confession. That is if the so-called witness is successfully able to goad him into confessing," added Niam.

Danish nodded in approval, "This plan might just work. But who would be the witness?"

"Milan," replied Rachel triumphantly.

"What?" squeaked Milan. "Why me?"

Rachel grinned with delight. "You are Kris's mentor; you can easily keep an eye on him. Narong will surely try to approach him again to pressure him into submitting. Besides, everyone knows you are unconventional, undisciplined and corrupt. It won't come as a surprise to Narong when your identity is finally revealed."

"He is adept at acting and lying. The plan should work beautifully," agreed Danish.

"Why do I feel like I am being insulted?" groused Milan.

"Milan should procure a sim card and start messaging Narong," declared Niam.

Milan huffed, "How do I get a sim card without using my ID documents? Besides what messages should I send Narong?"

"Perhaps you should watch a couple of episodes of Law and Order," suggested Rachel sweetly.

Milan groaned loudly. The marked absence of a filter between his brain and mouth had again landed him in trouble. Why did he ever open his mouth?

.....................................................................

Milan surreptitiously took shelter behind a bookshelf, ensuring Kris was well within his sight. Carefully he inserted the new sim card he had obtained by bribing Jay Zacharia's driver, into the second sim slot of his phone. Muting his phone, he waited for his prey. Sure enough, a short while later Narong appeared. It seemed as though, both he and Narong had been stalking the unsuspecting Kris.

"Hi, there. Sweet Kris," smirked Narong triumphantly. "Prepared to be my slave?"

Startled, Kris dropped the book he had been contemplating. With dread, he turned around to face his tormentor. Narong crowded into Kris's personal space, forcing poor Kris to back up till he was flush against the bookshelf.

Narong leaned in to whisper in Kris's ear. "I have so many favors to ask of you, dear Kris. Make up your mind soon or your friend Luke will have to pay the penalty. I am sure your confession video would trend should I choose to release it."

Narong lasciviously rubbed a finger against Kris's lips and then licked the said finger. Repulsed, Kris shuddered violently at the blatant display of sexual dominance.

Milan had recorded enough. He quickly typed a short message and sent it to Narong.

When Narong's phone beeped, he growled with annoyance. His stupid but rich cousin must be messaging him. Wasn't he following all the instructions? But no, that nagging fool also demanded regular updates. He moved back and took out his phone.

With Narong out of his face, Kris found himself able to breathe. He watched with curiosity as Narong paled and then made a hurried departure. He mentally thanked the person giving this bastard a tough time.

Milan smiled broadly; his eyes alight with mischief. Rachel had failed to mention how enjoyable it would be to mess with this weasel. He glanced at the message he had sent.

I am well aware of how you have obtained the video you are using to blackmail Kris. Now, if you have finished salivating over your prey, run along to your master. Rawat would surely want to know.

....................................................................

Milan and Niam put away the extra swimming supplies even as Danish cleaned out the lockers vacated by the earlier swimmers. They worked in silence, each preoccupied with their thoughts. Narong had failed to reply to Milan's message. If the two blackmailers did not take the bait, they had no way of saving Kris or Luke.

Neatly folding towels engraved with the university logo, Niam cleared his throat. "The exams are way too close. We should stop the training sessions. The sophomores have been complaining."

Danish nodded in acknowledgment, banging shut the last locker. "Send them a message that henceforth all swimming club activities shall remain suspended due to the upcoming semester exams."

"It is good you plan to hand over the keys of the swimming club to Professor Gabriel for the duration of the exams", stated Niam as he sealed shut a box of swimming caps.

Danish shrugged, "If we don't have the keys, Rawat can't cause trouble."

Milan rolled his eyes as he neatly labeled the box Niam handed over. "He will surely die trying."

Niam began to systematically stack the labeled boxes in the storage cupboard. After putting away the last box of swimming goggles, he cautiously secured the doors. "Now, that Narong hasn't taken the bait; it will be better if you focus on your studies, Milan. Kris has enough on his mind, he wouldn't be able to help you anymore. Unless you want to ask Rachel for help."

"I would rather chew iron pins," retorted Milan. "Then get myself skewered by those debate club girls."

Niam glanced at Milan strangely but withheld any comment.

Danish put away the locker keys in his drawer, along with the storage cupboard keys that Niam had handed over. "We are done for the night. Let's go home."

Milan's phone pinged loudly.

Danish and Niam stared at Milan expectantly as he fished out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it.

"Yes, those idiots have taken the bait," yelled Milan overjoyed. He showed them Narong's message.

What do you want? You can have as much money as you desire but you must keep your mouth shut.

"Give him a fitting reply, but don't appear overeager," cautioned Niam.

Milan typed in a message and with the approval of his friends, he hit send.

Interesting proposition. Can a blackmailer be blackmailed?

.....................................................................

Seated in the VIP section of a high-class bar with a whiskey tumbler in his hand, a wide-eyed Narong watched his drunk cousin passionately kiss the girl who had been booked for the night. When Rawat began to grope the girl's sizeable assets through her skimpy top, Narong looked away embarrassed. He ordered another shot of whiskey from the hovering waiter.

Gasping for air, Rawat finally pushed the girl away and sat back. "Has the bastard replied as yet?"

Narong simply shook his head in denial.

Rawat smirked and knocked back two shots of vodka. "He will. Can anyone refuse the lure of money?"

Immensely relieved when his phone buzzed, Narong read out the reply he had received.

Rawat let out a low menacing laugh, his sinister eyes glowing. "See, I told you. Money can buy everything. Find out how much he wants to keep his mouth shut. I shall have my revenge on P' Milan by bedding his mentee. Thereafter I shall release compromising pictures of Kris, depicting him as a prostitute. Kris's reputation will be blown to smithereens and he will be rusticated from university. As for P' Milan, everyone will assume that he was an accessory to Kris's misdeeds, causing his credibility to be destroyed."

Rawat's right hand began to restlessly roam on the girl's bare thigh. When his fingers inched under her mini skirt, Narong tossed back his drink and left. For all the money in the world, he wasn't going to sit and watch his cousin make out.

Hi guys. I hope you are enjoying reading this story as much as I love writing it. Do vote and comment.