Chapter-1

“Shit! Ye maine kya kar diya.” Arjun shouted almost pulling his hair in frustration.

Two seconds later, his ego made him rephrase himself. “Ye kya ho gya!”

The rain looked merciless. He cursed the sky. Suddenly his eyes fell on her bracelet lying among all those scattered things on the road. He picked it up and observed carefully. She really loved this silvery thing. He knew because he saw her beating the hell out of Shree when he accidentally held her wrist tightly, while dragging her out for lunch. He often heard Shree tease her about her prized possession whenever he held her hand after that day.

Bringing himself back to the reality, he again cursed the sky, the damn sight in front of him and Ms. Riya Mukherjee's landlord.

“Where would she be, at this hour, alone?”

Riya’s things were lying on the road. The crockery shattered in pieces and her clothes lying in a pool of mud.

The sight in front of him was really disturbing. Riya was not somebody who would just go away like that. But the evidences here, showed that it might not have been JUST like that. The landlord might have thrown all her things on the road and asked her to leave, that too at this hour.

He felt like going in and punching the man so hard, that he regrets what he did. BUT, wait, was he the only one at fault. The answer was NO.

Arjun could still hear the man’s words in his head.

“Aapne sahi kaha tha Sir ji. Ye ladki thi hi gadbad. Raat raat ko laut kr aati thi, vo bhi kabhi kisi ke saath, kabhi kisi ke saath. Aapki saari baatein sun li thi maine, aur main tabhi samajh gya tha. Maine to turant nikaal diya use apne ghar se. Ab ek police wala kisi ke baare mein galat thodi naa bolega.”

“Damn it.” He shouted, banging his fist on the SUV's bonnet. And he instantly thought of Rathore, you exactly know why!

He sat inside the vehicle and called him. As soon as the bell started ringing, he thought to himself, “What will I ask him? That Riya just got homeless because of me, and I don’t know where she is? He regretted his action instantly, but before he could cut the call, the damage was done.

“Bolo Raute", barked Rathore from the other end. His voice showing how frustrated he was with the work load. The ETF had a case in Pune, so Shree, Chotu and Rathore were there. Arjun was called to the Police Headquarters, so he decided to join the team the next day. And Riya, why the hell was she in Mumbai, he didn’t know. But right now, if he dared to ask about Riya, the Chief might kill him over the phone. Rathore was like an elder brother to her, and protective too. So now, whenever Arjun would taunt Riya over something, he would earn a glare from Rathore too. And if he comes to know that Arjun, caused Riya some trouble, matters would turn worse. But he might know where Riya would be now, and he needed to know if she was ok. She might be in trouble.

“Agar tumhe kuch nahi kehna h, to phone rakho!”, said an irritated Rathore.

“Vo...”, said Arjun trying to form words to somehow gather some information about Riya. He was turning restless. “Kal Pune aana h?”, he spoke cautiously, expecting him to mention Riya in the answer.

“Invite bhej doon?”, he shouted. His patience ready to snap any instant.

“Akele aa jaun?”, Arjun gave another try. May be this time he would give in, and ask him to bring Riya along or at least mention Riya in this useless conversation. This was it for Rathore.

Rathore left out a heavy sigh, trying not to lose temper and said as calmly as possible. “Apne chai wale ko saath le aana Raute, shayad yahan tumhe tumhari favourite cutting chai naa mile!” Sarcasm dripping from each word he uttered.

Arjun was irritated. He thought of giving it another try, but before he could say a word, Rathore spoke, “Raute, get some sleep. Aur agar gossips hi krni h to kisi aur ko call karo.” And he cut the call.

Raute banged his hand on the steering. Without wasting another second, he started the engine and began driving.

“She might be staying in some lodge or hotel or guesthouse nearby. At this hour, where would she go otherwise.” , he thought to himself.

As per his information, Riya had no one she could call her own in this big city, other than her ETF family. Since the trio was out of city, she could not go to their places as well.

So ACP Arjun started trying his luck, on each lodge, hotel or guesthouse that came in his way. While he did not bother to check some of them, as he thought they didn’t meet Miss. Riya Mukherjee’s hygiene standards, some were at too shady locations, Riya wouldn’t even step in them, he thought to himself.

After an hour of random searching, he realized this wasn’t that easy. His wrist watch showed 11:50 and he started worrying even more.

So he thought of giving it another try. Not with the search, but with the Pune Party. “Shree", he spoke out loud. “The best friend. Of course, she must have called him to tell him how her landlord threw her out of the house because of me, and how bad a person I am. She shares everything with him. He must know it all.”, he said enviously.

He dialled Shree's number and he picked after a bell or two. “Sir!”, Shree greeted.

“Vo Shree, umm...”, the same question playing on his mind. “What do I say?”, he thought to himself. Unable to find any words, he talked random stuff about the ongoing case, and cut the call.

Here Rathore saw Shree chit chatting on the phone, standing at a corner on the crime scene, so he approached him.

“Shree!”

Shree was taken aback. “Sir!”, he said almost immediately.

“Ye kis se guftagoo chal rahi h.”

“Arjun sir ka call tha, Sir", he spoke defensively.

Rathore shook his head in disbelief. “Pagal ho gya h ye aadmi. Ek din case se bahar kya raha, ise FOMO ho gya.”

Shree smiled hearing that Genz word from Rathore, but Rathore had already started walked away. Rathore had sensed his amusement, so he gave out a chuckle and shouted, “RIYA EFFECT!”, disappearing out of Shree's sight.

Here Arjun was growing restless. The super cop was failing in each of his attempt to track Riya. “Her phone has been off ever since last saw her. Her landlord has literally thrown her out, her things are lying outside her house, she hasn’t come back to collect them either. Shree and Rathore are not in town, so she isn’t spending the night with them. As far as I know, she has no one in this city. She isn’t staying anywhere around. Shree and Rathore do not clearly know about what happened here, otherwise they wouldn’t behave that calm. Where is this girl inviting trouble now?”

Some more time passed and Arjun's concern turned into anger now. “This is one hell of an irresponsible behaviour she has showcased. First in the afternoon and then, now. She could have called somebody to ask for help, or at least switched on her damn phone. But she chose to roam around on these streets, alone and that too at this hour. Good for her! Let her be! I will see her first thing in the morning and....”

He grunted in frustration and drove back to his lodge. He quickly changed his clothes and jumped into his bed to get some rest. But his eyes refused to shut while his thoughts refused to come to a halt. The scenes from outside Riya's home appeared before his eyes, while his mind, thinking about all possibilities of her state, good and bad. He tossed in his bed, sleep was not on the cards. Tired, he didn’t realize when he drifted off to sleep.

At 6 in the morning , Arjun was good to go. Dressed in his usual denim and shirt, he had decided to see Riya first thing in the morning. He knew if she was safe, she would reach the office at 8 am sharp. And if she doesn’t come by then, he would tell Rathore everything, and the team would easily track her down. Rathore had already texted him sometime in the night, that they had already cracked the case in Pune and they would return in the morning, so he should see them in the ETF office itself.

At 6:25, Arjun stood outside the ETF office, sitting on his car's bonnet, sipping his favourite piping hot cutting chai. As time flew, he grew anxious. There were no signs of Riya. Around 8, a cab stopped by. Arjun jumped down from the bonnet in relief, only to find out Shree and Chotu getting down. The relief on his face vanished, which didn’t go unnoticed by the duo.

“Good morning, Sir", they wished in unison, only to earn a disinterested look from him. Not getting a reply from him, they started walking inside the building, when they heard Arjun ask, “Rathore?”

Shree turned back to inform that Rathore had gone to submit the case file in Commissioner’s Office, while he dropped them midway.

Another hour passed by, and there were no signs of Riya or Sameer. Arjun, by now, had gulped down half a dozen glasses of tea. He was growing restless, sometimes sitting on that bonnet, while other times, walking to and fro.

Unable to take this anymore, he picked up his phone to dial Rathore’s number, when suddenly Rathore’s car screeched near his. He breathed in relief.

At this moment he was ready to accept his fault, that he caused Riya trouble and she is missing ever since he scolded her, and her landlord overheard, and threw her out. He was ready to take all the blame on him, if Rathore would somehow help him find her. She might be in trouble and he has already wasted a lot of time.

Rathore got down from his car and approached him. He had sensed something was wrong last night itself and the empty tea glasses were the proof. He was about to ask him , when suddenly his phone started ringing and walked in he ETF office without turning back. Arjun had finally given up hope. His mind clouded with numerous possibilities of what might have happened to Riya. He felt dizzy, his heart beating countless times a minute .

He suddenly began to remember all that happened yesterday.

The team was supposed to go to Pune, while it was decided that Arjun would join them the next day. He returned from the headquarters after finishing his work, when he heard some noise coming from his cabin. He stealthily walked near the glass window, only to find out Riya, sitting on the floor, clicking pictures out of some case files. His temper rose. What in the world was this girl doing in his cabin? Wasn’t she supposed to be with the team in Pune? Was she stealing something ?

And something clicked his mind instantly. “Was she clicking pictures out of Roshni’s case file?”

His anger knew no bound. As he walked towards the door of his cabin to confront her, he saw her getting up, putting everything back to its place, and walking out of the building, talking to someone over the phone. Before he could stop her, she was already seated in a cab, and had left.

“Thus isn’t over yet, Riya!”, he gritted his teeth, and began following her, in his SUV in no time.

After a 20 minutes drive , she got out of the cab and started moving inside a building, when she heard a car come to halt dangerously close to her. She jumped in surprise. But this surprise turned into fear in no time. She saw Arjun getting down of the car, his eyes red in anger, teeth gritted. In no time, he stood just inches away from her, holding both her wrists with both his hands. Riya struggled, with her wrists and her words. “Sir......maine.......kuch....kuch bhi nhi.....kiya!”

That brought the end of Arjun’s patience. He took two steps back leaving her wrists, nodding his head in disbelief and SMILING, wickedly. Yes, Riya was shocked. “What is up with him?”, she had just begun thinking, when in no time, he pounced on her as a predator, covering those two steps back in one. Sensing him standing dangerously close to her, she shut her eyes in reflex. The next words she heard were hurtful.

“I never knew Riya Mukherjee could act so well.”