Chapter 52

Bloomie

@bloomie

You know, I am honestly surprised ki how come nobody asked me that if Sikandar wanted to kill Arjun then why didn't do it? He hated him more after Roshni got hurt. 

Part 52 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

They were all in the conference room, trying to make a head and tail out of case. The body apparently belonged to a certain Vinod Chatterjee. His wife had come forward on seeing the news. She had been called into office at 9 a.m. Only upon her arrival would they get further leads.

Rathore entered the room with a grim look on his face.

Rathore: team!...

Shree: sir please ek aur case mat kehna

Rathore: ek aur case nahi hai

They heaved a sigh of relief.

Rathore: do aur case hai

Chorus: KYAA?!?!

He dropped in his chair: yup

Riya: sir last time I checked hum insaan hai machine nahi, what’s wrong with Vikram sir?

Rathore: high profile hai

Ayesha: case kya hai sir?

Rathore: Taj mein is hafte jewellery exhibition hai.

Ayesha: ha maine paper mein padha tha

Rathore: kal raat waha se 2 crore ka necklace chori ho gaya

Chotu: itni tight security mein se?

Rathore: ha

Riya: aur dusra sir?

Rathore: dusra victim ki family ek badi team chahti thi aur commissioner sir Rawte ko involve karna chahte hai

Arjun raised his eyebrow mv “mujhe? Kahi Sikandar se related toh nahi?”

He sipped his tea: case kya hai?

For a millisecond, Rathore’s face softened. He masked it immediately but Arjun read the flicker. Before he could ponder over it, Sameer spoke.

Rathore: abduction… businessman, kal raat.

Riya: sir suspense kyun bada rahe hai? naam boliye na

He took a deep breath: Dhruv Manish Rawte

Arjun froze.

Shree giggled: Rawte? Arjun sir aapke rishtedaar toh nahi?

Arjun comes out of his trance and glares at him murderously.

Riya mv “Dhruv? Inke bhai ka naam bhi toh Dhruv tha na?”

Rathore opens his mouth to speak when two men and a woman barged into the conference room. The middle aged one demanded to see the chief.

Man: ACP Rathore Kaha Hai?!

Rathore and Arjun immediately stood up. Only then, their gaze fell on Arjun. The woman teared up. Raima couldn’t believe she was seeing her son after so many years. The younger man felt relieved.

Vedant: bhai..

Suryakant glares at him.

He shuts up and steps behind. Arjun turns to his father and they engage in a glaring battle.

The juniors exchange glances. Shree cursed himself for the joke. It did turn out to be his family.

Suryakant(crossly): tum yaha kya kar rahe ho?

Arjun was actually surprised they recognized him so fast. He was 19 when he left. It had been 8 years since then.

Rathore: ACP Arjun Rawte ETF ke second-in-command hai.

Suryakant glares at him.

Rathore mv “jaisa baap waisa beta. Carbon copy hai lekin ek dusre ko jhel nahi sakte, huh! Ab toh bhagwan hi hum sabko bacha sakte hai aaj.”

Suryakant turns to Rathore: mera beta kidnap hua hai, Tum Log Use Dhundh Rahe Ho Ya Nahi?

Rathore: hume abhi-abhi case mila hai. main request karunga ki aap shant ho jaaye aur hume apna kaam karne de (he turns to the others) Rawte commissioner wants you on this one…

Suryakant: Bilcul Nahi!!

Rathore: dekhiye mujhe jo orders mile hai main wahi follow karunga. Aapki koi authority nahi chalegi yaha

Before Suryakant could protest any further he turned back to the team.

Rathore: Arjun you’re on this one. Main tum aur Chotu Taj pe bhi work karenge. Ayesha tum, main aur Riya ridge road waale par focus karenge. Shree tum sabke liye technical work sambhaloge. (the poor man frowned thinking of all the work load) aur Riya, tumhe ATS ke saath case transfer ki details bhi sambhalni hai

Arjun: Riya, tum mere saath abduction par bhi rahogi

She nods. Rathore clenched his jaw but controlled.

Just then, a junior knocked and entered.

Mita: sir, Mrs. Chatterjee aayi hai

Rathore nods and gestures to leave.

Rathore: Ayesha talk to her, Chotu Taj chal, Shree tum apne station se hiloge nahi aaj, is that clear? Riya keep me updated with ATS aur Liza ko extension pe call karo, I want a team at the hotel

She nods and immediately follows instructions. He and Chotu leave. Ayesha walks out.

Arjun: Shree, in teeno ke phone tap karo

He nods. Riya moves out with the three of them to Shree’s station. Here, Arjun takes a deep breath. He gulps down the rest of his tea. He was going to burn the person who had dared to touch his brother. He took a few moments to gather himself and went out.

Shree’s station-

He noted down the numbers of Suryakant, Raima and Vedant.

Vedant: par firauti ki maang toh dad ke phone pe aayi thi, toh fir humara..

Shree: chance kyun lena? In logon ka koi bharosa nahi, fir end moment pe nahi kar paayenge

Riya: Dhruv ka bhi number de dijiye, shayad kaam aaye

Vedant nods.

She turned outside and called out: Vikas! Devansh! Mita! Hetal!! Jaldi aao, Shree tere department mein se 3-4 bando ko bula

Shree obeys without asking. Dialling the extension to the tech department, he calls Trisha along with 3 others.

Suryakant(crossly): ab kya hume uske phone ka intezaar karna hoga?!

Riya: woh aapke bayaan aur cooperation pe depend karega, give me 5 minutes

Arjun reaches there: firauti ki maang ki hai?

Raima(tensed): Arjun, un logon ne hume 48 ghante diye hai please…

Suryakant: dhundh paoge ya fir main commissioner se baat karu?

Arjun gritted his teeth but did not respond. He knew it would only result in a fight and he didn’t want to waste time. The others reached by then.

Shree: Ri, sab aa gaye

Riya: ha, great! Ok (rubbing her hands) humare paas bahot kaam hai. Shree, tum chaaro ke call records nikalo pichle do mahino ke. Ayesha Vinod ki patni se baat kar rahi hai, unke bhi call records nikalo. I’m sure hotel se CCTV footage wagera bhi aayega (turning to the tech guys) tum log saare call records mein phone ke owner ki details nikalo, check out agar inke business rivals mein se agar anyone has shady contacts, jaha se firauti ki maang hui woh number bhi nikalo. Kidnappers ne definitely alag-alag sim card use kiye honge (she instructed her department) mujhe known, unknown aur fake contacts sabki case wise list chahiye. research shady people, pata karo ki aaj kal kaha hai kya karte hai, everything you can find out! Rathore sir aur main, Chatterjee par work kar rahe hai, Arjun sir aur main, kidnapping par aur Rathore sir aur Arjun sir Taj ki chori par so you know where to go, Get to Work!!

Chorus: Yes ma’am!

Shree was more than relieved at the extra hands. Damn, he loved that woman! Trust her to always organize work no matter how much it was. She turned to the Rawte family.

Riya: aap log humare saath aayiye aur hume detail mein puri kahani bataiye

She looked at Arjun who nodded.

Arjun and Riya’s cabin-

Suryakant and Raima sat in front of Arjun. Riya pulled out a chair for herself and Vedant. She sat with her diary in her hand, ready to take notes.

Arjun: kab hua ye?

Suryakant: kal raat ko

Arjun raised his eyebrow: puri kahani batayenge ya fir mujhe 100 sawaal karke time waste karna hai?

Suryakant: apni life waste karne ke baad tumhara time waste ho ya na ho kya farak padta hai?

Riya squinted at him while Raima and Vedant looked at each other in worry.

Raima: Surya please, kam se kam Dhruv ke baare mein toh socho

He glares at his wife but continues.

Suryakant: jab woh office se waapis aa raha tha toh kuch gundo ne uski car ko gher liya. Driver ko dhamka kar, use utha le gaye

Riya: kisi pe shak hai aapko?

Arjun: driver kaha hai? naam?

Vedant: John D’souza, darasal uh…

Arjun: kya?

Vedant: bhai ko, actually unhe dhamki ke calls aa rahe the

Riya: kaun dhamki de raha tha?

Vedant: Zorawar naam ka admi hai. woh extortion ke liye bhai ko pareshaan kar raha tha

Arjun and Riya glanced at each other.

Riya: extortion? Aap logon se? I mean usually, extortion waale toh they stick to lower rungs aapke jitne powerful logon ke peeche woh nahi padte. It’s risky

Vedant: actually, humara ek project hai BKC mein hai, waha ke land mafia mein ye shaamil hai. humne haal hi mein zameen kharidi thi lekin woh keh raha hai ki hume use alag se paise dene honge. Bhai ne saaf inkaar kar diya toh woh dhamkiyaan deta rehta tha

Arjun: Aur Kisine Bhi Isse Pehle Police Complaint Ke Baare Mein Nahi Socha? Are You Insane?

Vedant lowered his head: hume laga mamuli gunda hai, ignore karenge toh chala jaayega thode din mein chup-chap

Raima: Arjun hume paise dene mein koi problem nahi hai, usne 48 ghanto ke andar hume 75 crore maange hai lekin agar fir bhi usne Dhruv ko kuch

She teared up. She would never be able to bear another loss of a child.

Arjun cursed under his breath: usne ye maholat kab di?

Suryakant: kal raat usne hume phone kiya yahi kuch 11-11:30 baje yeh kehne ke liye ki Dhruv uske paas hai. hum toh uska office se aane ka wait kar rahe the.

Vedant: pehle toh hume laga ki koi mazak kar raha hai toh papa ne daant kar phone kaat diya

Arjun rolled his eyes mv “of course!”

Vedant: fir thodi der baad John akele ghar aaya aur usne hume bataya ki kya hua. Zorawar ka agla phone kuch 1 baje aaya tha. tab usne humse kaha ki hum paison ka intezaam karne lage kyunki ab woh sirf 20 crore mein nahi maanega. Usne hume dhamki di ki hum police ko kuch na bataye. Uska agla phone 2 baje aaya aur usne kaha ki use 75 crore chahiye agle 48 ghanto mein. Usne kaha ki woh aaj phone karke jagah aur waqt batayega. Hume kuch samaj nahi aa raha tha, isliye fir finally, dad ne commissioner ko phone kiya. uska kya bharosa? Usne paise lene ke baad bhi Dhruv bhai ko chot pahunchayi toh?

Arjun: kya driver ko pata hai ki aap log police ke paas aaye hai?

Suryakant: hum use kyun batayenge? Humne kisi ko kuch nahi bataya, ye bhi nahi ki Dhruv ka kidnap hua hai

Arjun: kaha rehta hai woh?

Suryakant(irritated): Hume Kya Pata?

Arjun sighed: kaam par aaya hai woh aaj?

Vedant: nahi, humne hi na bola tha, woh sirf bhai ki gaadi chalata hai

Arjun: aapka driver kaha hai?

Raima: neeche lekin usse…

Arjun picked up the landline and dialled the reception: ACP Arjun, Rawte’s ke driver ko upar bhejo

Suryakant: woh kya…

Riya: aapke driver aur uske beech baatein hoti hongi right? Shayad use kuch pata ho

Vedant: hum seedha John ko phone karke…

Arjun: Nahi!

Riya goes to her desk and dives into the system to find out about Zorawar. The driver arrived soon. He revealed the address of D’souza. Arjun called up the control room and asked them to get D’souza as soon as possible to the office.

Their work was interrupted with a knock on the door.

Arjun: come in

Ayesh entered. Her gaze darted around and settled on Riya.

Ayesha: ma’am?

Riya: ha?

Ayesha: Maine uski wife se baat kar li hai, Shree ke hissab se uska phone office se directly crime scene par gaya

She nods: toh fir waha puch-tach karte hai, Rathore sir Taj pe busy hai

She turned to Arjun for permission. He nodded. She picked up her gun and the ladies left.

Just then his phone rang.

Arjun: ha Rathore? …… What?! Kisne Jaane Diye Un Sabko? (He cursed under his breath on hearing the answer) bevkuf hai sabke sab! Tum log crime scene sambhalo, main Mehta ke ghar hokar aata hun

Call disconnect

Arjun: aap log Shree ke paas jayiye, kidnappers ka phone aaye toh woh trace kar lega

Suryakant: Aur Tum Kya Kar Rahe Ho?

Arjun: main aapka phone tap nahi kar sakta!!!

Suryakant: kar bhi paate toh karte?

Arjun glared at him.

Raima: Surya tum kya bol rahe ho?

Suryakant (angrily): Toh Aur Kya Bolu? Iska Bhai Gayab Hai Aur Use Puri Duniya Ke Kaam Karne Hai. Tum Toh Yahi Chahte The Ki Dhruv Humari Zindgi Se Chale Jaaye?

Arjun gritted his teeth. True, he resented his parents' shift from him to his elder brother but there was no way in hell that he wished harm for him. He had always loved him as an elder brother. He had grown up with him, played with him, shared his secrets with him. Dhruv had lied for him, protected him and many times had been the neutralizer between Arjun and Suryakant.

Vedant: dad please, aap kyun woh sab abhi nikal rahe hai?

Suryakant: Tumse Maine Kuch Pucha?

Vedant hung his head.

Arjun: aapko jo karna hai kijiye! Main wahi karunga jo mujhe karna hai, samjhe ya samjhau?

Suryakant: aur kiya hi kya hai tumne?

Arjun knew this was a never ending banter. He quietly left the room. Suryakant fumed behind him. Vedant cleared his throat and conveniently remembered he had to make a call to cancel the evening meeting. He excused himself and ran out……………………