Chapter 16

[MEMBERSONLY] [NOCOPY]

These are some really scary times. I hope everyone is staying at home and practicing social distancing. I know it can get really boring, but this is only temporary. Stay safe everyone!

As for my story, I'm back here to stay and I will update this every Friday from now on. Also, my index and a story topic have been closed. Does anyone know how I can get them to re-open?

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Chapter 14

Aisha, Chotu and Riya were the first ones to leave for their mission as they already knew the target location. However, they were instructed thoroughly by their seniors due to the high-level of danger. Dongri was a couple hours away from their office and therefore, the details were kept covert. 

The trio, a few hours later, reached the said hideout of Pathan. A shabby, old dockyard covered in wild grass and algae welcomed them. The rusted building was run down by the years of inuse and the constant attack of the natural storms. They camped outside the dock, reading the situation and formulating their plan of action. Chotu had concluded that there were roughly 20 armed goons guarding the place, three of which were acting as watchguards. 

Huddling by the car, the ETF officers formulated the plan to counter all the goons. They drew a quick floor plan, mentally marking all the escapes and location of each man on the ground. They knew they had to be quick because the longer they stall the mission, the higher the chances of them being discovered. 

Slow seconds rolled by before Chotu spoke, "I think Riya ko backdoor se andar enter karna chahiye aur Aisha, tumhe rooftop se. This way we can silently infiltrate Pathan's base, eradicating maximum number of men before the insiders are alerted." 

There was a missing piece of information and Aisha noticed that. "Humara toh theek hai lekin tum kahan se attack karoge Chotu?" 

Chotu smirked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "I'll be at the front gate," he stated confidently.

Eyes widened at his declaration, Aisha almost yelled in surprise, "What?! Are you crazy Chotu? Tumhe pata hai na ki yeh kitna risky hai. No, tum aisa kuch nahi karoge." 

However, Riya supported the plan made by Chotu. “Nahi Aisha. Chotu is right,” she began, “Front entrance ke gundo ka size dekha hai na tumne? I admit ki hum dono bhi ETF officers hain and we can deal with the goons as well. But it will take us a lot of time to enter the place if we chose the straight route. Humare paas itna time nahi hai. Chotu will kill those people much faster. We can’t afford the risk of Pathan's men feeling suspicious.”

Although, Aisha wanted to protest more, the gravity of the situation and the logic behind Riya’s explanation froze her words in her throat. She merely nodded and walked away, grabbing her position for the attack. “All the best!”, echoed the voices of the remaining duo as they lost sight of the more experienced officer.

Before parting ways to execute the mission, Chotu and Riya faced each other. “Apni 11:30 waali ke khayalon mein itna mat kho jaana ki seedhe upar pahunch jao. Kal Sunday hai aur wo market mein tumhara intezaar karegi,” Riya teased him lightly, worry evident in her voice. The impending danger scared her, not for herself but for her friends.

Chuckling humorously at her poor attempt of lightening the tense atmosphere, Chotu gently tapped her head. "Agar tum mujhe iske baad hospital bed pe mili na, toh I swear I'll empty my revolver in you," his voice dropped to a whisper, "Aur andar jaakar Arjun sir ki tarah heropanti mat dikhana." 

Her mouth dropped in an 'o' shape and she raised her hand. However, he ducked the swing of her wrist and ran towards his designated spot, laughing quietly at the red cheeks of the hygienic research specialist. Amused she was at his immaturity. Shaking her head in defeat, she composed herself and adopted the expressionless cop face, or the akdu face in Shree's language. 

Minutes later, she entered the old building through the backdoor. Surprised by the absence of guards, her alert stance stiffened further and she cautiously stepped behind the plastic containers. For a moment she wondered if this was a trick, if ETF had walked into a trap, before shoving the suspicion to the back of her mind. She couldn't afford to get distracted, not when the stakes were high. 

Stealthily sneaking up to the two goons facing in the opposite direction, she hit the hilt of the gun on their heads, knocking them out cold. Slowly, she moved forward and quietly killed all the goons in her perimeter. When her gun failed her, she opted for the tiny knife concealed in her waist-belt. The closer she got to the main room, the more she noticed. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw a feminine shadow against the tattered curtains. She immediately spun on her heels with her gun facing the perpetrator, startled. Sighing in relief, she realized it was Aisha who had successfully executed her part. The two shared a look and walked forward, their steps small yet wary. 

Unfortunately for the women, a drowsy goon woke up from his unconscious state and ran towards the main room, alerting his comrades of the infiltration. A gunfire battle broke out soon after. 

Riya, Aisha and Chotu, who had joined the group amidst the chaos, were having a hard time coping up with a dozen men. The odds were against them as their limited ammunition was rapidly running out. Suddenly, a bullet flew out of nowhere and embedded itself in Aisha's leg, momentarily knocking off her balance. 

"Aisha!", screamed the two officers, concerned, while the former winced in pain. 

However, before they could help their fallen friend, another round of bullets rained on them. They silently cursed the backup force for being unusually late and continued retaliating. 

During the ongoing battle, Riya sneaked off in order to find an escape route, or preferably a way to cease the fight. Ensuring that she was alone, she smirked widely and hastily retrieved the hidden bomb, attaching it to an oil container and activating the timer. The red digits glared at her, indicating 8:30...29...28...27...26. Gingerly, she traced her steps back to the group, content with her plan. 

However, a goon intercepted her way. Just as he tried to slash at her with a sharp-edged knife, she ducked and punched him in the abdomen. Quickly retorting, she kicked his feet and spun around, pressing the revolver on his forehead. Without a moment of hesitation, she pushed the trigger, ending the game. The goon's eyes rolled to the back of his head, his body crumpled to the ground like a sack, blood continuously flowing out from the wound. A raw hunger reflected in her brown orbs; the colour of which could have easily frightened anyone. She didn't resemble the inexperienced officer who couldn't lift a gun to save her life, no, she was an experienced killer out on a mission. 

She felt a dull ache in the lower back of her neck. The sticky feeling confused her as her eyes focused on the motionless man lying limp by her feet. It took a minute for her to register that her skin had been punctured by the goon as the warm red liquid slithered down her body. 

Had it been any other day, she would have been screaming in agony...but not today. The pain was far from her mind because of the mission she was on.

Shaking off the distracting thoughts, she noticed that the back-up forces had arrived and they seemed to be overpowering the enemies. Chotu managed to catch a bullet in his arm, but was still holding his own against Pathan's men. Although her stance relaxed by a fraction, the concern for her injured friends overshadowed her senses. 

"Guys, we need to leave this place asap," Riya exclaimed, an urgency in her voice. Observing the confused gazes, she continued, "Main jab yahan se gayi thi toh I saw a goon placing a bomb in a corner. We have less than 5 minutes before this dockyard blows into flames." 

Shocked at her claim, Aisha said, "But Riya, humne ab tak Sikandar ke khilaaf koi saboot nahi dhoonda hai." Riya gripped her forearm firmly, wincing at the slight tension the action caused on her cut, and helped her out of the place.

"Aisha, saboot mujhe mil gaya hai. Agar hum zinda nahi bache toh uss saboot ka koi matlab nahi hai. Hurry up now," Riya shook her head and rushed the policemen to empty the soon to be charred walls and a chamber of smoke.

Everyone filed out, taking cover against the ongoing gunfire and settled in the parked SUVs. The second they hit the road, a massive explosion shook the surface. The trio glanced back, silently watching the entire building collapse into mere ashes. Sighing in exhaustion, they decided to report to their office instead of allowing the doctors to examine their scars. The case had adopted a much uglier face than they could have imagined. 

On the other hand, Shree was religiously working on extracting the location of the caller, his eyes sore from staring at the computer screen without blinking. He was running on caffeine and the dark circles under his eyes indicated his fatigue. 

In the past few hours, he had made several attempts of hacking into the caller’s IP address, peeking into the main operating system and even track down the approximate area of the phone number’s location. However, all his attempts proved to be futile. Instead, his own device had crashed five times, adding fuel to his frustrations. 

Using the private feature, he managed to breach through the firewall built around the culprit’s system. He entered the internal network as a ghost and immediately scanned through the data on the host’s computer. He quickly saved all the files and safely exited the software, deleting all his tracks.

He read the information found and worked on it. Ultimately, his efforts proved to be fruitful and he managed to note down a possible location. Although the news was shocking, he smirked wickedly at his success. He had to resist his urge to dance in joy and instantly yelled out for Sakshi. 

Sakshi ran towards him in alarm. “Kya hua Shree?”, she asked.

He turned his face in her direction and his smirk widened. He picked up his devices and said, “Let’s go. Hume Rajat ke ghar jaana hai investigation ke liye.” 

Eyes widened in surprise, she stared at him knowingly. “Tumhe caller ki location mil gayi, haina?”

His eyes twinkled and he nodded, walking towards the door and saying, “Haan mil gayi. But I’ll tell you once Arjun sir returns to the office. Ab chalo warna late ho jaayenge.”

The duo stood outside Rajat’s house, the scientist who created the x-zora II virus. The place had been sealed since the encounter and despite the closure of the old case, everything remained untouched. The lab inside his study was intact and the ETF hoped they could find some clues there. 

Cautiously, Shree and Sakshi entered the room, scanning the perimeter for any sort of evidence that could aid them with the peculiar case. The beakers were clear, the flasks empty and the apparatus tucked in their drawers. 

Suddenly, Sakshi's eyes fell on a vial, hidden behind the cupboard in such a manner that indicated its importance. She retrieved the bottle, studied it for a minute longer and decided to add it into the evidence box. Only Lisa could tell about the contents of the vial. 

They returned back to the office, a diary and the chemical bottle as their only proofs. Although angered by the lack of clues, they could only hope that the other two teams were successful in their tasks. As they waited patiently, Lisa burst into the conference room, her face white as a sheet. Shree and Sakshi were startled by the sudden intrusion, but the urgency in her eyes activated their duty-centric minds.

“What was in the bottle?”, Shree asked without beating around the bush. 

Lisa stared at him, her breaths uneven and a horrified look. She whispered after hesitating for a minute too long, “Ricin poison.”

On the other side of Mumbai, Arjun and Sameer were driving towards Malad in pursuit of their suspect. The approximation sketch Arjun had constructed was well enough for the informers to find the man and within an hour, the entire biography of him was presented to the senior officers of ETF. 

The awkward silence in the car was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. Sameer was feeling guilty for accusing his friend unnecessarily, for hurting him purposely time and again...for addressing him as a murderer. Yes, he never completely severed his relationship with Arjun. But on more occasions than one, he has verbally abused the man who was surviving in self-loath for being incompetent in saving his own wife.

Arjun, however, had so many questions he wanted to ask but he didn’t want everything to be a fragment of his imagination. There have been many times when his hopes were crushed brutally, and now he couldn’t afford another attack to this heart. But he somehow managed to gather the courage to speak.

“Why?”, his voice sounded strangled as he posed the question. 

Sameer’s head snapped in his direction. He could read the meaning behind the question and simply forwarded his phone towards Arjun, an angsty expression in his eyes. Puzzled by his gestures, Arjun silently grabbed the phone and his eyes fell on a video he knew all too well. 

Shock would be an understatement of what he felt in that moment. The memories of the past haunted him. The bloodied body of his better half flashed in his mind and he could hear a crack appear in his already shattered heart. Unconsciously, his hand traced the outline of the bandage on his arm that concealed the scarred name of Roshni. A tear rolled down his cheek as he re-lived the entire incident for a millionth time since the past two years. 

The video was recorded from the minute Arjun fainted due to blood loss. Roshni’s body was lying limp near him, her hand outstretched in his direction. His own skin was matted with red. Suddenly, a couple of men entered the frame and began searching around for something. A man with a mask snatched the piece of paper from Arjun’s grip, studying it for a few seconds. The word “Sikandar”, written in bold and capital letters, peeked out from the folds. Minutes later, the other accomplices of the man gathered around with files in their hands. They didn’t speak a single word in the duration of their search and left just as quickly. Soon, the police entered the scene and the video ended, screen blank.

The reason for their invasion was a mystery that Arjun wanted to solve urgently. What were they searching in my house? he wondered. But the answers seemed too stubborn to unravel themselves. 

Turning to face the offending person in the driver's seat, Arjun passed a questioning yet curious look to Sameer. Understanding the meaning behind the expressions, he informed, "Wo video mujhe mere ek informer se mili hai, ussi din when we found out about Sumit's murder." 

Instantly, Arjun realized his suspicions were correct. Sameer looked particularly sad that day and things began to change between them after they reached the crime location. So this video must have been the reason, he mused. 

"I'm with you, Arjun," Sameer declared, tearing through the sheet of thoughts Arjun was silently filling. 

He knew this was as close to an apology as he will be receiving from his friend, but the assurity of not being alone was enough to satisfy his insecure mind. Despite all the pain he had inflicted on him, the mental attacks scarring his bruised heart, he was glad to have Sameer in his life again. Tired he was, of walking along the path by himself. He was not alone in this battle for justice, no, this time ACP Rathore was his support. 

Unable to voice out his feelings, Arjun nodded in appreciation and sped off towards their destination. The small gesture erased all his fears and Sameer smiled whole-heartedly for the first time in the past few days. 

Minutes later, the duo were standing outside the door of the suspect’s house. His name was Hemant and he was a small pickpocket. Guns ready and stance stiff, they cautiously entered the house and eyed their surroundings vigilantly. The house was messy, clothes thrown in various directions and other artifacts lying carelessly on the ground. There were two rooms and both doors were open against the wall.

The eerie silence surprised them. According to the information they had received, Hemant was supposed to be at his house. But they didn’t relax their alert posture. Arjun and Sameer split up, scanning the place to the best of their abilities. Sameer advanced towards the right room while Arjun decided to investigate the left one. 

As he entered the room, Arjun froze as his eyes fell on the limp figure on the floor, a pool of blood drowning the body. A feeling of disgust overwhelmed his senses as he observed the view. The head was hanging from the ceiling, his facial expressions resembling those of the bodies and heads found in the old mills; the hollowed, wide eyes and the twisted smirk on his lips.

The suspect had turned into a victim.

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