Sixer

ETF returned from the mission with load full of drugs confiscated and half the gang members arrested, after getting involved in a gun fight in which thank fully nobody from their side got hurt, but 3 of NCA officers did and was rushed to hospital. All in all, a good night, and yet, the seniors had a yelling match not long after setting foot inside the office. The juniors tried not to listen, but it was hard. The duo, Chotu and Shree, had identical looks of understanding after listening like 2 minutes of the shouting match- it was that girl, Nadia.

Their Arjun sir had a habit of latching onto a point relating to a case, and miraculously each time it helps them to solve a case. Looking at things at a minuscule level and all that, probably. This time, there was this bar dancer Nadia. She caught his attention the moment they arrived, he spent the majority of time eyeing her and when chaos started, he could not stop looking for her. Even though the ring is kind of destroyed now and their work is done, ACP Rawte can’t let the girl go, and wanted them to search for the girl. Of course, to Rathore, this was ridiculous. By the time Chotu was trying and failing to see the logic to Arjun sir’s point, Shree was already ready with his bag. Time to go and take some rest, the duo can wait. They video called Riya on their way, which extended till Chotu went home and introduced his Mother to her. By the look of absolute awe on her face, he decided that maybe, he would invite her for food someday. Even his Mother was curious- what was this young girl doing in a office full of men? The only person she had met was Shree (they often had drinking session on his terrace) and seen Rathore sir on TV whenever he has press meets.

The Dr. Arrived next morning and immediately caught on to the broodiness of the room. Arjun eyed her from his cabin and Rathore was nowhere to be seen, and as she was pouring a mug of coffee for herself, Shree chastising her for the sugar cubes (she takes 3), Chotu filled her in about the fight the two had.

“I still don’t get what was her hype.” Shree rolled eyes, then frowned, “What was her name anyway?”

“Nadia.”

At that, the mug fell from her hand, spilling hot liquid on her hand and on the floor, making a mess. The two fussed over her and from the corner of her eyes, she could even see the ACP arriving, the Dr. Silently rebuked herself. Nadia is a fairly common name, no need to get so startled. And what if it’s the same Nadia who’s name she saw sometime back? It’s really not her business. She politely rejected their help, went to medic room and started to wash her hand to get rid of sticky liquid, wincing and trying to hide every now and then. Once the hand was dried, she searched for a cream to put over burn.

And also jumped at ACP Rawte standing in a corner of room, showing the tube she was looking for. He motioned her to sit, and waited stubbornly until she complied, and then slowly, with utmost care, started to put the cream over her hand. He had to still when her hand jerked at his touch, wondering if she was sensitive to touch in general, his was repulsive or she was in a lot of pain. She watched him for a while, but soon, her mind was diverted to Nadia again. It was illogical, really, and yet, she could not help.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” He asked out of nowhere, snapping her out of her musing. Taking a few moments to answer, she shook her head.

“We are fine.” Arjun replied, shaking head at her worry, “Nobody got hurt. It was as smooth as it can get.”

“But you are not satisfied.”

“I am never.” Closing the tube, he sighed, “I don’t like loose ends.”

“What makes you think you have this time?”

“This girl.” It just stumbled out of him, and he stopped just as quickly. He don’t do this- sharing concerns. With the Dr, he is always walking on a fine line- at times she makes him want to share and he does, without revealing too much. Other times, his temper makes him snap, and he feels guilty almost immediately. He is used to being alone, doing his own thing. Nobody ask him or talk to him easily, there is always fear, suspicion, a tone of rebellion from other side. Of course, when he sees something different, he blanches internally, shuts it down.

The thing is, the Dr. Knows this pattern. Someone else would feel irritated at the hot and cold- silently following her and tending to her wounds, and yet closing off and brooding as he sat next to her. But she also comes from same school of behavior, minus the brooding. She gets lost in her head, just like she got lost in the conversation she had with Chotu ages ago Soulmate? Marks?

When Arjun saw her staring at his bandaged arm, he sneered, “What are you staring at?” Good thing she did not notice the absolute wrath on his face- shock, anger, also a tinge of fear as to why she would look at that.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” She asked, throwing him off at the odd question. When the silence took long, she looked up, “Um, maybe . . . “

Arjun rolled eyes at her fumbling, also relieved at the question, “I live in this world, Riya. I know what you are asking.”

“So, do you believe?”

”Hard not to when the physical evidence is writ on your skin.” He replied, “Why do you ask?”

“Just . . . thinking.” Riya’s words halted, “How it works.” At his furrowed brows, she clarified, “A physical mark on your skin means you are bound to that person, how that happens? There is no logic.”

Arjun was sardonic, “What about the fact that random words are etched on your skin, that’s logical?”

“Two people just bound for life? What if one is dead, or for some reason they never cross each other in their lives? They will live alone?” She continued as if she did not even hear him.

“Where is this coming from, and also how do you know about this?”

“Someone showed me.”

His eyebrows shot up, “Did they?”

“Uh ha.” She hummed, absent minded, “You know, in this office I saw three person’s marks.”

Suddenly, he was nervous. Was he one of three, but that’s impossible, is not it? He is always so careful- not about the mark per say, but about himself.

“Do you believe?” Arjun asked. Riya stared at him for a while, and for some reason it made his chest thump. Just when it looked like she will have an answer- Yes or no, or some long theory, Shree knocked on the door.

(The conversation would be revisited after a long period of time.)

They got Nadia’s clue, ACP Rawte threatened to go lone wolf to meet the girl, rescue her, or some other plan he did not share. Rathore won’t have it- that’s how it goes every time, hence the ETF men, once again, walked into those shady alleys and dangerous criminals. Liza made a comment about maybe the ACP deliberately does it, knowing he won’t go alone, as she stood in her lab, cut into a body and opened up the flesh. Riya stared at her handiwork, thinking about the officers and once again, about Nadia. She was getting obsessed with this and knew her mind- it won’t rest until the lady arrives, or disappear.

But Liza’s mind was somewhere else, and she almost requested the other doctor if they can visit the back up team in the other side of ETF building. As the men went undercover, this team kept an eye on their movements and will call for help if things go south. The doctors stood there awkwardly, flinching at the gunshot that flew and holding their breath when things were too quiet. And then, on screen, they saw Rathore. And a girl, who was presumably, Nadia.

“They got her.” Someone confirmed, but really, that was unnecessary. They way Rathore ran after her, followed by ACP Rawte, everyone knew who she was. The video was cut off after a while and the audio was fuzzy. Liza whispered questions to Riya about jargon she did not understand, the latter absent minded replying to them. Shrill tone of landline broke the buzz in the room- it was Chotu. The hunt is over.

For all her curiosity, Riya never really saw the lady with her own eyes. But she knew how things went next- Nadia was, to their surprise, was undercover police officer from NCA, most probably holding a rank of ASP. She was deep for 2 years before she felt her cover might blow off, and that’s when she signaled SOS for rescue. The pub was raided and gang scattered, and they got someone else who was a mole. Nadia, or whatever her real name was, was safe. She signaled back to her department again but ETF arrived, guns blazing, and she was pulled off. 2 years of hard work, getting into character, connections, information, gone, just like that. As per Chotu, the lady officer got a temper- the tongue lashing she gave Rathore in the presence of seniors from both the department was something he had never thought was possible.

“I get her anger though. Her career is essentially over as a UC agent, all hard work going to drain.” He shook head as the other three listened. These days, the bone doctor joined them too, and after the initial coldness from Shree he seemed to be comfortable with her. “At max, she will get a desk job once things settle down.”

“Yikes.” Shree wrinkled nose.

“Rathore sir did not say it was ACP Arjun’s idea?” Liza asked, incredulous, “Just took verbal abuse from a random officer?”

“She is not random.” Riya spoke up immediately.

“Not my department, not my officer.” She shrugged.

“I don’t think it mattered if Chief did it or Second in command.” Chotu replied, eyeing the two women warily, “ETF did that to her.”

They hummed, and Nadia’s topic was over right there.

It don’t surprise the team that their Chief, Rathore has connections to high places. Not just as a head of a department, per say- apparently he comes from old money and royalty, and someone will know that’s true if they saw his custom made Bullet. The surprise is when a case arrives from a rich, joint family who are into family business in snacks for generations, a man walks into ETF office and shake Rathore’s hand, and then turn to ACP Rawte and gives him a smile too. It seems that the two men had some interlinked past back in the day, which, judging by Chotu and Shree’s faces, they did not know. The four were having a discussion on this- more like three of them passing theories and Riya reading a book- then she made a comment.

“We can dig.” Feeling others stares, she added, “Their past. Should be online- family, school records, college, Police academy.”

“Do you want us to die?” Shree screeched.

“This is coming from someone who accidentally printed Arjun sir’s file, and just throw it away without reading.” At Liza’s look of surprise, Chotu nodded, “Yes, right here.”

“I was not interested.”

“Are you interested in this?”

She thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Not really.”

This rich snack making family had a wedding upcoming, but there was a threat on their matriach’s life- a 70 year old widow who held onto the join family ad business with iron clad hands. 3 days before actual wedding, Rathore got a hysterical call from his friend- Shankar. The old woman was missing, and there was a function going on house. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he turned to his team. Papers were scattered over the big table, there were 4 murder boards with family members, suspects, stick notes and comments. Arjun and Riya were going through the threatening letters the lady got, Shree’s nose almost touched his laptop, Chotu was making some calls to his connections.

“Guys.” They all turned, “We are going at a wedding.”

Predictably, chaos ensued- what, why, how, when, where. Rawte put his foot down and he did not go, and Rathore did not really need his tantrum on top his another friend’s worry and possibly dead old woman on their hands. There were some rude comments on ‘not working with team’ and ‘you want to be alone, you will be alone’ which were uncalled for, and the team went. Riya too- Rathore allowed, thinking she will be a better help than the brooding ACP.

They arrived as guests, adhering to the request that the disappearance issue should be kept private as they carry on their investigations. They were allotted rooms, and after a while grouped to make plans. The four of them took targets- people they will observe, find out their alibi and if they fit into suspect list. They went to visit the matriarch’s bedroom, looking for any clue they can find. There was nothing- not on the cctv, not in the room or the entire house, and yet Riya felt like things were in front of them, clear as day. Just had to see differently. But they had to act fast, a time line of 59 hours hanging over them. Shankar is lying to the family about disappearance, but they expect her to be there for the actual wedding.

Next day early morning, Rathore walked out to do a solo investigation in the middle of some rasam the ETF did not care about. Almost 5 hours passed and there were no signs of him. Fearing they had another disappearance on their hands, the trio rushed outside, planning to go through each alleys and homes to look for their Chief. Shree traced his GPS locations and narrowed down places they can look for, and they spread out.

Riya kept looking as she walked, and soon found herself in a farm, surrounded by livestocks, stench of cowdung and overpowering presence of bulky men. She saw a flash and was relived- there he was, Rathore. But he was tied to a chair as few men towered over him, most likely interrogating. There was a punch from one of them which sent the chair stumbling, and Riya covered her mouth. But she was spotted, and soon the men were after her too. It started to rain and she did not know what she will do- ETF did promise her she won’t do any ‘action’, and she may run, but hiding and protecting herself is not what she ever learned. Just when she felt like she reached a dead end- an open space with nowhere to hide, her feet halted.

And she stumbled upon someone who had miraculously arrived at the last moment. Riya knew before she even looked up to meet his eyes- ACP Rawte did enter, after all, and the timing could not be better. His fingers brushed over her bare back as he shielded her behind him, and what followed was ruthless fight between the men. One verses many, yet he won and he did not even had a scratch. By the time he was done beating the men into pulp and scaring the rest to flee, Riya had called the other two. They rescued Rathore and headed for the function.

They still had a missing old lady on their hands.