Chapter 6

5.

Zoya

I shampooed my hair for the third time making sure the smell of pure death had left it.

Still, I was grateful for the dumpster to exist. If not for it, we would have lost the one clue we had. Although now the question was what do we do with it?

I had placed the torn piece of shirt in a Ziploc plastic bag. We didn't want to risk washing it as it would compromise our evidence. We would just have to deal with the odor for now.

I'd wanted Jahapanah to rest a little and let himself sleep but the man simply refused.

That stubborn brat!

Tiptoeing back to his room, I pushed the door as gently as I could and closed it behind me.

It was quite dark; the only light shining from the bright night moon.

It was when I walked towards his bed, I found him fast asleep. His perfect cupid's bow slightly open, as he lightly snored.

I snickered. He was the cutest thing. Especially when he wasn't wide awake and breathing fire on everyone around him.

My eyes traced the dark circles that had formed under his and I wondered why anyone would want to hurt him. And his family.

He was resilient, brave, smart, and kind; some parts of which he showed and some he didn't.

It reminded me of a story phuphi had told me about him.

"'He was about ten years old when his Abbu had left us for good. Helpless, Loveless and Moneyless. I didn't have a grand education to my name so I did what I knew I could. Sewing was something I always enjoyed, so I turned it into my profession.

Her eyes had misted as she reminisced some more. 'I saw him one day hiding behind the door secretly watching me. When I told him to come in, he sat by my side without a word. The next day...' She held my hand as she recited the memory in sad wonder 'The next day he had found his own needle and thread and sat with me helping, learning and sewing. Ammi aapke hath dukh jayenge, main karunga, he would say'"

I never could have thought he was capable of such love and care. No, it wasn't his fault that he became steel. Refusing to feel. Renouncing intimacy.

I hated...hated his father. What he put that child through for the sake of his own selfishness was unforgivable. I liked to think I was a forgiving person but, in this case, I understood every bit of anger in his soul.

Yes, I was here to get answers from my father but deep down I knew, I hated him too. The realities of our lives would never change.

We were abandoned children. Abandoned by weak men. Marshalled by great women.

How had I never realized that he and I were so alike?

***

After racking my brain for a successful solution all night, my brain had finally given birth to a good idea. Scratch that, an amazing idea!

I had located sorts of a logo on the part that had ripped off. So naturally I was going to hack into one of the image-match softwares and get this plan going.

Such were the instincts of a computer engineer.

Mr. Khan had taken the route of going to the police. Shockingly. It was a friend of some friend who knew another friend that could guarantee an officer who was trustworthy.

I was finding it more difficult to believe that he had friends. Plural.

Nonetheless, we needed to get the shirt to a lab; and for that we needed someone involved with the law. The DNA match would end all quests.

I grudgingly understood his point of view. My anxiety had been shooting through the roof these days.

I wouldn't tell him, but I slept by his bed last night, waking up just in the nick of time to get away. I was paranoid something might happen, and I would be two seconds too late.

Repeatedly and obsessively, I checked on Phuphi, Najma and him through the entire night. Taking turns one by one, like I was stuck in a loop.

"You know I can hack into the system; all we need is to get this into the lab. I don't think we should get the police more involved than we already have."

"Hacking federal database is no joke Ms. Farooqui. We have enough trouble as is, we don't need more" He scolded me like a school teacher.

Fine! I get the point. Boring-by the book-sometimes right Jahapanah.

"Are you sure you can trust this man?"

"Yes" he simply said, not clarifying anymore.

I rolled my eyes at him. He looked at me unblinking.

"Don't try anything Zoya. I am serious."

His voice was so demanding, how could I not?

"Let's wait and see what they come up with first and then we can make decisions"

"Fine" I heard his teeth snap.

Does he not know me? Did he think I would back down?

His computer beeped. I ran to the green couch where it was placed and desperately looked for results.

"Do you care to explain what you are upto?" Asad asked grave.

"Chill Mr. Khan, how can I hack into federal database without lab results. I have no contents to match it with. I am just hacking into a normal software company."

"WHAT?"

"It's okay" I rushed to reassure him, the nerve in his head was dancing "I have done it a million times"

Oops! That was the wrong thing to say.

"Look I am experienced in this alright, they teach us this in school"

"They teach you to pry on people's privacy"

His tone got the best of me, and I mirrored the harshness.

"No. They. Don't. Teach. Us. Invading. Privacy" I enunciated like I was talking to a two-year-old. Which he was being.

"Look I'm doing this for the best. Can you step off your judgement panel for one second"

Something in my stance must have clicked, because I saw his posture relaxing momentarily.

"They will and can use everything against us if this thing blows up, so we have to be carefu..."

"My IP address is untraceable." I cut him off to shut him up.

I saw the anger bubble beneath the surface, but I didn't care. We didn't have time. More so, it was insulting to think that he didn't see I was obviously covering our tracks.

"Oh my God"

"What? What is it?" Asad threw the covers aside with his good arm and rushed towards me.

"Phoenix Security" we both said in unison as the software completed the search to a 100% and showed us the completed logo.

He looked down on me with hopeful eyes.

Our first lead.

"You think you can hack Phoenix Security's website?" he asked sincere.

"It's a security website so the walls are going to be built up high" he cocked his head to the side confused "the computer firewalls" he nodded "But I think if we try hard enough, I can."

"I mean if you put in the same energy, you did making me say sorry once with your magical app, we should fare okay" I turned ready to give him a piece of mind but instantly became a puddle of mush when I realized he was teasing me.

The faint smile didn't leave the corners of his lips as he moved back to the bed.

I ignored my ignited heart and got back to task at hand.

"Miss Faaroqui" His voice was so tender, my heart picked up in double time.

"Do what it is you need to do, whatever is required of me to protect us, I will follow through. You won't be in any heat because of all this."

"Phuphi means as much to me as she does to you. You might find it hard to believe given our history" I gestured the space between me and him "But I love her. I'm not worried about catching any heat. If anyone should be worried, it should be the enemy."

I tried to read the expression in his eyes as I monologued, but I hit a wall. 

***