Chapter 11

[MEMBERSONLY] [NOCOPY]

Chapter 09

The moment Arjun walked out of her house, Riya’s phone buzzed indicating an incoming call. She glanced at the caller ID, surprised to receive a call at this hour of the night. No normal person would dare to dial someone's number at this indecent hour. But then again, Shree wouldn't exactly be categorized as normal. 

Irritated at the constant ringing of her phone, she picked it up and answered the call. However, before she could say a word, Shree’s chirpy voice sounded, “Hello future Mrs. Akdu! How was your romantic rendezvous with your beau?” 

Riya’s eyes widened at his addressal and she was half tempted to smack his head, the blush gradually spreading across her cheeks. Understanding that he was about to tease her once again, she rebuked him, “Shree! Tum yeh kya bakwaas kar rahe ho?” 

“Arey wah Riya. Ab tumhe meri baatein bhi bakwaas lagne lagi? Haan tumhe apne Arjun sir ke ilava aur kiski baatein achhi lagengi,” he continued with a mock hurt in his tone. 

“Haan Shree. Ab toh yeh Mrs. Rawte hone waali hai toh fir humari baatein isse kyun achhi lagengi?”, came Chotu’s voice in reply. 

Quickly checking the call screen, Riya realized that she was on a conference call with her friends. A smile curled on her lips and she playfully glared at her phone, imagining that her harsh gaze is burning the two idiots to ashes.

Assuming her silence to be her shyness, Shree smirked widely. Finally an opportunity to get a rise out of his best friend. “Achha Ri, yeh batao ki tum dono ne kitna romance kiya? I mean Arjun sir ne tumhe saamne se drop karne ka offer diya toh itni asaani se toh nahi chhoda hoga.” 

Riya smirked, her eyes glinting evilly with mischief. Adopting a sickly sweet voice, she said, “Shree, maine tumse puchha ki tum aur Lisa kitna romance karte ho jab tum usse drop karte ho?” 

The silence on the other end indicated that she was successful. She could almost feel the redness of his cheeks. Chuckling quietly, she waited for him to make several futile attempts of denying any chemistry between him and the forensic doctor. But none came and she sighed. 

Chotu, on the other hand, was slightly confused. “Kya matlab?”, he asked after waiting for an explanation but not receiving any. 

“K-kuch n-nahi Chotu. Yeh Ri toh aise hi kuch bhi bolti rehti hai,” jumping to his own rescue, Shree exclaimed. 

The trio gossiped for a while, momentarily forgetting that it was close to 1am and they had to report early for duty the morning after. They discussed nonsense, taunting and teasing one another.

The energy, despite the weariness of the long day, was high until Shree asked, “Guys, want to hear a joke?” 

Unwilling to hear a lame joke from the tech expert, Riya and Chotu agreed begrudgingly. Shree smartly cleared his throat and said, “Wanna know how I escaped Iraq?” 

The two waited with bated breath, praying that maybe his joke wasn't as bad as the duo were expecting. The rolling seconds cleared the way for their rapid heartbeats as they readied themselves for a possible ear infection, or bleeding if the joke was dangerous. 

“I ran!”, he completed, his voice betraying the excitement he felt. “Get it? I ran. I-ran. Iran. Hahaha.” 

God, I will gladly accept any punishment but please stop Shree from ever cracking a joke again, they groaned internally. Faking a laugh to boost their friend’s confidence, the two began plotting on how to cut the call in order to avoid more lame comments and jokes from Shree.

Suddenly, the gears in Riya’s head began grinding as her mind recapped the last sentence that escaped Shree’s mouth. Connecting the dots, she thought about the text she received the previous night. Playing it in her head on loop, she rested her back against the backrest of the bed and closed her eyes. 

‘I talli now. Mere ghar aana. Three weeks.’

‘I talli now. Mere ghar aana.’

‘I talli now.’

‘I talli.’

‘Italy’, her mind said after a while of pondering. Her eyes widened in realization as she decoded the message concealed in the not-normal text. Why did I not think of this before? He’s in Italy! she exclaimed mentally and understood the information conveyed to her. She finally had the lead she was trying to find for the past four years. 

She almost shouted out of joy, “You’re a genius Shree. Thank you so much. I love you yaar,” before hanging up the call, without giving the duo a chance to reply to her proclamation. 

Almost instantly, Riya dialled another number. A number she knew by heart because of her necessities. Tapping her fingers in impatience, she cursed the person for taking his time in picking up. 

“Hello madam ji?”, came the reply from the other end.

She sighed in relief and said, “Tumhare sir ji ka message aaya tha.”

The silence on the other side was followed by a sharp intake of breath. She recognized it as a sign of curiosity as the person said, “Kya kaha sir ji ne?”

“Tumhare sir ji ne usse dhoond liya hai. Wo abhi Italy mein hai. 3 hafte baad wo India lautenge toh hume jo jaal bichhana hai wo abhi se plan karna shuru karna padega”, she relayed the information. 

She could feel him nod at her words. “Aap sirf hukum kijiye madam ji. Hum sab kaam kar denge.”

“Theek hai. Main tumhe jald hi poora plan bataungi. Lekin ek problem ho gayi hai,” she answered in a grave tone. She knew that she had to share every news with the person to ensure the smooth execution of her plan. And the time was clearly not on her side.

“Kya hua madam ji?”, the person asked her. The worry reflected in his voice since she told him about ETF handling Sikandar’s case.

Taking a deep breath, she broke the news, “Uss commissioner ne jo lead di thi usko follow karke hum old mills gaye the. Wahan se x-zora II ke traces aur bohot saari dead bodies mili thi. Ab ETF ko shaq hai ki uss biological attack ke peeche bhi Sikandar ka haath tha.” 

“Oh no madam ji. Lekin uske peeche toh Dil-”, the person almost said the forbidden name panickedly. 

However, Riya instantly cut him off. “Jaanti hoon ki uss plan ka mastermind kaun tha. Lekin ab hume aur chaukanna hona hoga. Apne aadmiyon ko kaho ki chhup ke rahe. Jiss speed se Arjun sir iss case ki investigation kar rahe hain, mujhe nahi lagta ki hum zyada din Sikandar ka sach chhupa paayenge.”

A short silence followed. Suddenly she heard footsteps on the other side on the phone and wondered why the person was walking that late in the night. “Madam ji, aapne bataya tha ki ACP Rathore Sikandar ke wajood pe yakeen nahi karte. Toh hum iss baat ka fayda utha sakte hain”, the person suggested after thinking.

“Nahi! Isse Arjun sir ko takleef hogi aur main yeh nahi chahti,” she rejected on impulse, “Tum bas mere orders follow karo aur tumhare sir ji ka agar koi aur message aaya toh main tumhe bataungi. Agla call aane tak ETF ki nazaron se chhup ke rehna.” She disconnected and lied on the bed, surrendering herself to the welcoming darkness. 

Next Day

The team had gathered in the conference room, still puzzled about the case details they discovered yesterday. The entire night was spent in overthinking about the motive behind the mass murders, but alas, only disappointment was achieved. And it didn’t help that the chief was slowly losing his temper, both at the incompetency of his team on extracting a clue regarding the complicated case and at Arjun’s constant mention of the non-existing shadow that he claims killed their Roshni.

Finally having his patience torn into shreds, Sameer yelled at his team, “Dammit! An entire team of well trained officers and we still haven’t been able to answer the most important question; why would someone kill a bunch of social workers and that too so brutally?” 

Silence answered his question. He scanned the perimeter and notices his juniors facing every direction but his. And that intensified his anger even more. Before he could taunt or rebuke his team, Arjun decided to break the awkward quiet air in the room. 

“Those workers were just experiment Rathore. Qaatil ka maksad sirf iss poison ko test karna tha. Uska asli nishana koi aur hai,” Arjun informed.

Heads snapped in his direction, waiting for him to elaborate on his point. However, being the man he was, Arjun merely stood quietly in the corner and didn’t acknowledge the looks he was receiving from the perturbed team. He noticed the questioning eyes of Sameer. There was a time when he would’ve answered those questions in a minute. But not anymore. And he might never. 

After what felt like an eternity of silence had passed, Sameer felt the thin thread of his composure flimsily break. The name ‘Sikandar’ and the images of his friend’s broken, bloodied body had finally taken its toll on him. And it certainly didn’t help that the person who he held responsible for the crime had decided to play a puzzle game with him. The man who always believed that personal and professional lives should be treated separately from one another was finally mixing the chaotic relationship of both. 

Unable to control the taunt at the tip of his tongue, he burst out, “Of course. Ek qaatil hi doosre qaatil ka maksad samajh sakta hai. Tell me...Roshni ko maarte waqt tumhara kya maksad tha Rawte? Uss par kis cheez ka experiment kar rahe the tum? Apne gusse ka ya uske pyaar ka?” 

A grave silence enclosed the room, the thick atmosphere suffocating the people present within the premise of four closed walls. The harsh taunt almost caused everyone to wince but they visibly flinched, albeit unintentionally. The chief of ETF had crossed his boundaries this time and the team was aware of it.

Sameer’s words hit very close to home, increasing the sense of self loath Arjun felt for himself. His senses numbed and his nightmares resurfaced. For the first time, he had no comeback in his own defense. Nothing to revert the unbearable pain back to the man who was very effortlessly delivering it. Everything happened in a fraction of a second, but it felt like an eternity to Arjun, whose healing heart was scratched mercilessly once again. 

Unconscious of his expressions and the reflection of angst in his eyes, Arjun glassy eyes permitted a single tear to roll down. And it pinched everyone’s heart to see the ‘lion’, the heartless cop who forgot how to feel after witnessing the massacre of his better-half, so vulnerable. 

Sameer, still drunk on his blind hate and illogical reasoning for believing what he assumes is the truth, merely turned his head in the opposite direction. Yes, he didn’t like Arjun anymore and yes, they were no longer friends who cared about each other. But a broken Arjun was still the worst sight for him and he refused to acknowledge him. Unaware of his own thoughts, Sameer didn’t realize that he was fulfilling the vow he had taken years ago. 

“Tum sher ho Arjun. Humesha aise hi rehna. Kyunki main toote Arjun ko kabhi dekh nahi paunga,” he had said during one of their morning beach walks. 

Unable to bear the burden of guilt and the blood on his hands, Arjun escaped the room, hoping to relieve his pain in the form of an anguished scream or preferrably a wound to his body. A teary-eyed Riya followed him to ensure his safety. Just as the entrance door shut behind the retreating backs of the duo, five pairs of eyes turned to glare at the ‘sensible’ chief.

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