Chapter 17

[MEMBERSONLY] [NOCOPY]

Chapter 15

“Sameer!”, Arjun yelled almost instantly. He knew they were running out of options. And it seemed that whenever they believed that they got two steps closer to solving the case, they actually went back four steps. 

Footsteps echoed in the silent house as Sameer strode across the hall to reach him. He burst into the room, his movements ceasing at the petrifying sight. “Dammit!”, he screamed in frustration, “Ek aur dead end. Ab hum Sikandar tak kaise pahunchenge?” The flimsy thread of patience was almost at the verge of breaking. 

Although Arjun felt the irritation kicking in, he decided to think about their next action with a calm mind. “Hume yahan zaroor koi na koi clue milega Rathore. Bas apni aankhein khuli rakhni hongi,” he responded. Sameer nodded in acknowledgement and the ACPs split in different directions for the second time. 

Sameer returned to the room he was previously searching while Arjun remained at the murder sight, trying to find a clue to move forward with the solution. He shuffled through the papers, flipped through the files but only disappointment met him. However, he refused to lose hope, refused to let his anger ruin his chances of locating the man who murdered his wife. Remaining strong and determined, he began the search with a more patient mind. 

Suddenly, he heard a voice call out his name. Instantly his eyes drifted to his surroundings, attempting to locate the source of the feminine voice. However, only the walls of the room met his eyes every time he spun around. There was something familiar in the husky tone of the invisible voice.

“Arjun,” breathed the voice in his ear. 

Without a second thought, he closed his eyes and focused on identifying the face behind the sultry whisper. His mouth opened slightly and “Roshni” escaped his lips. Her smiling face flashed in his mind and her slender figure glided towards him. He, patiently, waited for her to reach him and wound his arms around her petite waist. 

"Tum mujhe chhod kar kahan chali gayi thi, Roshni?" he complained to her playfully. 

She giggled, her eyes twinkling in mischief. Bending her head closer to his ear, she whispered, "Main toh humesha tumhare saath hoon Arjun, bas tumhe mujhe mehsoos karne ki zaroorat hai." She backed up, but refused to leave his warm embrace, "Kya hua ACP Arjun? You seem to be tensed." 

The agitation was visible on his face as his eyebrows furrowed in a disturbing frown. He shook his head, his messy hair falling in his eyes, giving him a more raw yet attractive look. “Ek bohot tough case assign hua hai mujhe. Bas isiliye thoda pareshaan hoon.”

She smiled gently at him, her hands trailing along his cheeks to cover his eyes. "Koi case tough nahi hota Arjun. Jab bhi pareshaan ho toh bas aankhen band karke shaant dimaag se sochna. Aksar solution humare saamne hota hai lekin hum usse dekh kar bhi andekha kar dete hain," she suggested him wisely. 

Without another moment of hesitation, he followed her advice and closed his eyes. Images of the body, flashes of the room played in his head as he carefully observed every inch of the closed quarter. 

Strangely, a picture popped up. A portrait adorned the green wall adjacent to the dark brown desk in the room. The crooked frame made way for a crumpled piece of paper to peek through. Underneath the paper dangled a necklace, the broken pendant shaped similar to the one he found near Sumit's body. 

Suddenly, someone repeatedly calling his name brought him out of his thoughts. He, instantly, opened his eyes and noticed the concerned face of Sameer staring back at him. He quietly observed his surroundings and realized that he was still standing in the middle of the chaotic room. 

His mind flashed to the conversation he had with his late wife that dated back to the first case he received as an ACP. Her advice was fresh in his memories and it proved to be the core reason why he always solved the cases assigned to him or his team. He drew in a sharp, laboured breath and shoved those bittersweet memories to the dark voids of his mind. 

Not bothering to answer Sameer, Arjun stepped towards the portrait and retrieved the paper along with the pendant. Wordlessly, he unfolded the paper and read the random alphabets and numbers written in the middle of the otherwise blank page.

"uzwfsn lmffyn 3 hmtbpn rfmfq 50"

As he turned around to face his puzzled chief, his mind reeled back to the green bag that he had seen the corpse carry two nights ago. However, the bag was missing from his line of sight and he wondered what had happened to it. Why was the money so important and who took it?, he silently scratched his brain for a plausible answer. 

"Rawte, tum theek toh ho?" came Sameer's voice, momentarily startling him. He had forgotten the presence of the other man in the premise. Nodding as a reply, he finally faced the man. Understanding that he wouldn't reveal anything, Sameer continued, "Mujhe doosre kamre mein kuch mila hai." 

Sameer spun on his heels and walked back towards the room he had left, followed closely by Arjun. A book rested on the small bed, opened at a particular page. Sameer picked it up and brought it closer to Arjun. 

"Iss book ko dekho Rawte," he began shifting through pages, "Har page pe ek naam likha hai aur uske saath uski poori detail. Yeh naam unhi logon ke hain jinki laashein hume mili thi. Iss mein unn social workers aur Sumit, sab ka naam hai. But the last few pages seem to be missing. Zaroor Hemant ke qaatil ne unn panno ko phad diya hoga." 

Arjun skimmed through the entire book, noticing the torn pages. The book ended at Sumit's name and curiosity arose in him to know who the next victim will be. It was clear that the murderer, or Sikandar, was killing people according to the names listed in the thick binded papers. And now a new mystery stood before them. Who will be the murderer's next target and why?

Gathering the evidence they had stumbled upon and informing the local police of the crime, the khadoos ACPs returned to their office with the dead body. 

"Tumhe kya mila, Shree?", was the first thing Sameer asked as he stormed into the office premises with his second-in-command. 

Just then he noticed that the trio has still not returned from their mission in Dongri. Although he was worried for his team members, he knew they were capable enough to take care of themselves. Sparing a last thought to the missing officers, Sameer faced the white screen that, now, displayed various pictures and numbers. 

Shree typed a few codes into the passlock and an image popped up on the screen. "Sir, maine uss caller ke database ko hack karke uski location toh pata laga li but I'm not sure how accurate it is. Uska network system bohot zyada secure tha toh yeh ho sakta hai ki jo location mere tracker ne identify ki hai wo false ho ya wo entire call hi ek hoax ho," he said with a slightly ashamed tone. 

"Koi baat nahi Shree. Just tell us what you think is the right location," Arjun urged him to continue. Even a fake location was necessary for them to move further. 

Relieved at the small comforting gesture, Shree nodded and said, "According to me, Sumit ko saare calls DK Ltd ki Old Mills se aaye hain." 

Shocked they were at his revelation. The caller was hiding inside the mills they had thoroughly checked, yet he managed to escape their sight so stealthily. Arjun simply removed the broken pendant from his pocket and picked up the one he found outside the factory. Holding them together, he noticed that the two broken halves belonged to each other and a completed design was present in his hands. 

Confused by his actions, the other four people exchanged glances before Sakshi asked, "Tum kya kar rahe ho, Arjun?" 

The man in question smirked and faced the team. "Confirm kar raha tha ki humara suspect hi murderer tha ya nahi," he informed them.

His puzzles agitated Sameer. Despite trying to keep his cool, he failed miserably and ended up saying sarcastically, "Tumhari paheliyon se main tang aa chuka hoon. Agar tum seedhe-seedhe jawaab nahi de sakte toh tum apna muh bhi khola mat karo." 

That wiped the smirk off Arjun's face. For a second, he was reminded of the bitter Sameer he was used to seeing for the past two years and it crushed his hopes once again. Reading the change of emotions on his face, Sameer realized the grave mistake he had committed. He cursed himself for his sharp tongue and silently apologized through his eyes. 

Arjun, ignoring the taunt, clarified his statement, "Sumit ki body ke paas mujhe ek necklace mila tha, toota hua. Aur aaj Hemant ke ghar mein mujhe ek aur toota hua pendant mila. Maine dono ko milaya toh mujhe pata chala ki it was a perfect match. Abhi tak hum Hemant ko sirf murder suspect maan rahe the. Lekin iss baat se yeh saabit ho gaya ki Sumit ka khooni Hemant hi tha. Samjhe ya samjhaun, SIR?" 

His words pinched Sameer, but his poker face didn’t show any signs of a crack. The damage of years wouldn’t heal in just a few days, he berated himself. Everyone realized that he was indeed right. However, before they could react to the newfound information, the door of the conference room slammed open. Five heads snapped in the direction and shock registered on their faces. 

In the doorframe stood the battered and bruised figures of the remaining three officers. Aisha had her arm looped around Riya's neck as the latter supported her entire weight. Chotu was holding his shoulder where a bandage peeked from under the sleeves of his t-shirt. Riya was dressed in a low cut tank-top, her shredded shirt tied around her waist and a few bruises on her arms. 

Their condition shocked everyone, who instantly sprinted to support the injured officers. Chotu stumbled slightly at the sudden attack as Shree and Lisa gently guided him towards a chair. 

"Aisha…", Sameer managed to say and walked towards her, worry dripping from his voice. Carefully, he shifted her weight on his body, relieving the weaker woman off the pressure, and placed her on the couch. Her leg was still bleeding despite the first-aid care she had received on the way. "Tum theek toh ho?" 

Aisha nodded but winced when he applied pressure on the wound. Turning his concerned eyes to her face, he grabbed the clean bandage from Lisa and wrapped the injury. His hands were soft on her skin because he didn't want to hurt her more than she already was. The tiny touch of his fingers on her calf burned her flesh and she flushed, dark. She wasn't used to being on the receiving end of his care. 

"Thank you sir," she whispered with a smile. Oblivious to his surroundings, he beamed at her and nodded in acknowledgement. And just like that, butterflies danced in her stomach at the curve of his red lips. 

On the other hand, Arjun merely stood by the table and stared at Riya, concern reflecting in his eyes. He wanted to run to her, wanted to ease her pain the way Sameer did for Ayesha, but he didn't. The soft side was just not made for him and he had accepted that when he lost his wife. He only watched from afar and faced the other direction. They might have shared a kiss, maybe two, but he wasn't going to change himself for anyone. 

He knew she was waiting for him to express his thoughts, and it amused him. If he wasn't so uptight, he would've chuckled at her expectations. His ears, however, refused to obey his brain and trained themselves on the words exchanged between the two girls. 

"Riya, are you hurt?", Sakshi asked.

Riya turned her attention towards the crime reporter and replied, "Bas chhota sa cut laga hai. I'll be fine." The two smiled at each other friendly. She walked towards Chotu with Sakshi, her eyes trained on the back of Arjun's head. Confirming that he wouldn't turn in her direction, she sighed loudly and glanced at her friends.

As soon as she crossed the emotionless ACP, his eyes caught an image that ran his blood cold. Within a fraction of a second, he spun on his heels and carefully observed what his eyes witnessed moments ago. 

Eyes wide in shock, he felt his heart pounding in his ears. His nightmares were coming true. He blinked severely, wondering if his exhausted mind was playing a sick trick on him. But his hopes were dashed when it refused to disappear from his sight. He was hallucinating, even though he would have preferred that he was. 

At the lower back of Riya's neck, beside the bleeding cut, was a symbol he could never forget. His hands clenched tightly at his sides and his eyes reddened. 

"Riya?", he called her lowly. 

She turned to face him and was perturbed to see the unmasked fury in his brown orbs. What have I done now?, she wondered tiredly. It was evident that he was angry, but at her or something else, she wasn't sure. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he was indeed mad at her; he always was for no reason. Due to the fight ordeal, she had no energy left to listen to his insults or taunts. She answered, "Yes sir?" 

"Tumhari back pe Sikandar ka tattoo kaise aaya?", he straight-forwardly posed the question.

________________________________

Do you like it? Please do comment to let me know your thoughts.

your reaction

0

nice

35

awesome!

0

loved

0

lol

0

omg

0

cry