~Chapter 10~

Purvi's apartment:

Abhijeet, Pradyuman and Tarika rushed in with the bomb squad. The first responders had already pried open the lift's door. Purvi was standing at a corner with the bomb strapped to her. Her face was wet with sweat and she was breathing heavily. One bomb squad personnel rushed in and looked at the timer

"Sir... 6 minutes left... is the apartment clear?"

"Yes, we gave orders to clear as soon as we heard the news... Abhijeet go check with the local police... score the area once..."

Abhijeet nodded and left

"Tarika..."

"I'll stay here"

Her face was pale and her lips were trembling.

"Ma'am its risky"

"I won't leave"

The bomb squad personnel nodded and went to help his partner. Pradyuman looked at her.

"She'll be fine. You don't worry. What's happening over there?"

"Sir, there are exactly 7 wires connected directly to the trigger... the circuit boards are too small... we are trying to find the one that connects with the timer. Looks like the bomb was custom made. The bomb maker is an expert. The bomb is so clean"

"Quick, quick do it fast. Where is Daya?"

"Here sir..."

Daya entered in with Zoya...

"Zoya?"

"Sir, she insisted that she had to come."

ACP just nodded and looked at Zoya but her eyes never left the lift. Just then Abhijeet entered in

"Sir the building is empty... what's the status here?"

One of the bomb squad personnel walked towards them

"Sir, there is only 3 minutes left. I think it would be better if you leave now. Although the bomb looks like its low intensity, we can't take the risk"

Pradyuman grit his teeth

"None of us are leaving until you diffuse the bomb"

"Sir it's a complex circuit.. There are exactly 99 tiny circuits built... Ma'am... Ma'am..."

In the midst of the conversation, Zoya suddenly ran forward into the lift. Purvi looked at her surprised

"Zoya?"

She pushed away the bomb personnel who was working on finding the circuit. Abhijeet screamed and rushed forward to prevent her. She raised her hand

"Stay... I won't let anything happen to her. I have seen this already. I know exactly how it works."

She scanned the wires and the timer which showed 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

"Give me the plier"

She looked at the bomb and started counting the circuits from the right.

"1... 2... 3... 4... 5.... 6... 7..."

At the end of every 7th circuit, she loosened the interlinking wire. As she came to the 49th circuit, the timer showed 1 min and 30 seconds left. She started counting from the left and as she reached the 49th circuit again, the timer showed 7 seconds. She knew that was it. With a wrench, she pulled out the central wire and the timer stopped. She heaved a sigh of relief and whispered

"I did it..."

She looked at a relieved Purvi who said

"Thank you Zoya... Without you..."

At the same time Zoya’s eyes caught a flash and she knew it was the light reflecting on metal. She quickly rushed in front of Purvi as the shots sounded hitting her right on the chest. She fell down as there was another blast. Smoke filled the elevator and the room where the team was standing causing complete confusion. Abhijeet tried to move inside the lift as he was closest to it and just as he did he saw a tall shadow on the lift's floor. He looked up and in the midst of the smoke, he vaguely spotted a hooded figure

"Daya... Sir... on the roof, on the roof... Tarika, Zoya is down"

Daya and Pradyuman rushed out as Tarika quickly called for the ambulance and made her way to the elevator. Purvi sat down and grabbed Zoya’s fallen figure onto her lap. She was bleeding profusely and Purvi put her hand on the bullet wound trying to stop the blood.

"Zoya... Zoya... stay with me..."

Zoya lifted her hand and carressed her cheek

"You really are beautiful... Raghav was right"

Her words made Purvi gasp in shock. Zoya’s breath started to get shallow. Tarika checked her pulse and felt it dropping. She looked at Purvi and said

"Lay her down. We'll try CPR"

"Nooo... let... me... stay... here..."

Zoya said feebly. She looked at Purvi and slowly slid her hand to her necklace and said between breaths

"Neck... key... use... it.. Ra...ghav... loved... you... ver..ry...mu..much..."

"Ok ok please let us help you, Zoya..."

"No...oo... Sim...Simran... not...Zo..Zoya..."

Her lips curved up and her face brightened

"Free...dom... at... la...last..."

Her eyes shut for one final time. The smoke cleared just then and in the light of the apartmemt floor, Purvi looked at the face of the one who had sacrificed for her and it looked completely different, all the hard lines now gone, it looked soft and peaceful. Purvi looked at Tarika and she nodded. She looked at Abhijeet and he sighed. The sound of footsteps made him look up, Daya and Pradyuman came down the stairs

"We lost the suspect"

"We lost the victim"

Abhijeet let out a painful groan. He knew for sure that the suspect was the one who was after him and he knew where he would get information. Without saying anything, he just left the apartment. Pradyuman looked at him leaving and turned to Tarika

"Go... we will take care here. He needs you now"

****

Manisha's home:

She had sat still on her couch ever since they left unable to move a limb. Purvi was part of the family. She didn't know what she would do if they lost her too. Three years ago, she was right here when ACP Pradyuman had rung the bell to inform her that her husband had been shot. Just like back then, the sound of the door bell ringing hit her ears. She felt her heart sink. Expecting the worst, she walked towards the door and as soon as she saw Abhijeet and Tarika on the security camera, she opened it quickly.

"Purvi?"

Tarika responded

"She's fine... The new inspector was shot..."

"Is she...?"

"We lost her"

She swallowed. She was relieved it wasn't Purvi but her heart beat fast for the inspector who had lost her life. As Abhijeet saw her trembling, he sighed and walked towards her. He put her hand around her

"I know its difficult but right now, I need you."

She looked at him and nodded. They entered in and sat at the couch with Abhijeet's hand still holding her shoulder. Tarika sat opposite to them.

"Bhabhi..."

She looked up at him

"I need the truth and only the truth. Tarika show her the photo"

She nodded, opened her phone and showed the picture to Manisha. Manisha took the photo from her hand and a small smile made way through her tears

"Where did you get this"

"I was checking about his past through my sources and one of them got this in a photo shop"

She stood up and walked to her room, she came back in some time with the same dress in her hand. She handed it over to Abhijeet

"We took this for my birthday that year... You gifted me this hideous dress..."

As he felt the dress, he said softly

"It's not hideous. It looks good on you. You look pretty"

"You said the exact same thing that day"

"Did I?"

"You did... I wore that to make you happy and you gave me the best present of all"

"Which was..."

She sighed and looked away

"You booked a table for us at Taj. It was the most wonderful night of my life"

"Us?"

She looked down

"Me and your best friend"

Abhijeet shut his eye recalling the memory he had just recovered

"Was he... was he... tall?"

She nodded

"He was... tall, dark, handsome... and... my first love"

"Love? But... you married Freddy... did you... did you guys break up?"

She shut her eyes and hugged herself tight. It was just as painful now as it was 25 years ago

"No... the blast that took away your memory... took him away too... You ask me why I never told you... I had you, living and breathing post the blast... but him... I only got the broken dial of his watch."

She turned to him, her eyes filled with tears that reflected only but a little pain that held her heart.

"Don't you think I would want to keep what I had? The day you didn't recognize your mother, I thought I had lost you but then when I met you again as Freddy's colleague... I was too afraid to loose you. You are all that I had"

Abhijeet nodded, Tarika looked at her

"Di... the watch... can I see it?"

Manisha got up again and went in to get the watch. Along with that she brought an old photograph. She handed over the watch to Tarika.

"It's still working. Ironical isn't it? The person who wore it is long gone but this is still alive"

She gave the photograph to Abhijeet and sat beside him. The photograph had a younger version of her and another man... tall, dark and handsome... Just like she had described. He felt his head lightening again as another memory flashed before his eyes. The man in the photograph was doing push ups beside him and they were laughing. He shook his head

"He was in the academy with me?"

Manisha nodded

"You met him there and brought him home. His father was a big industrialist and wanted him to join his business but he refused so that he could join the force. He disowned him and you took him in. He was like your brother. You were inseparable, used to talk about police work all the time. "

"What was his name..."

She took in a deep breath as she whispered his name with devotion

"Aryan... Aryan Shekhawat..."

Abhijeet looked at her trembling lips

"You loved him very much?"

She looked at him, her eyes burning with the passion she had buried for so long.

"Loved? I still love him... My love for Freddy was different. He was my husband and I loved him because I had to initially and then slowly the companionship turned into a comfortable solace. But with Aryan... he was my first love, my everything... I fell in love with him the day you brought him home and introduced him to me. I lost him 25 years ago but in my heart he is still alive. I haven't forgotten a minute I spent with him..."

Tarika interrupted

"Di..."

"Hmmm?"

"This watch... there's a phrase carved behind the dial"

"Fiat Justitia... I know"

"You know?"

"Mmmm hmmmm.. that was his favorite phrase. Abhijeet had this carved for him when he gifted him this watch."

"Me?"

"This was your motto. You both used to go on and on about how you'll become officers and make sure justice prevailed. Every case that came on the papers, you used to analyze and discuss on how justice could have been different. You were always keen on justice from a very young age. Used to get into brawls when you felt something was unjust. You know, you used to even punish yourself if you felt that you have caused injustice to anyone."

She paused a little looking, her eyes fixed on something her friends couldn't follow.

"Then when Aryan came, you found someone who thought exactly the same as you. I really had a hard time dealing with you guys. You used to talk as if you were going to bring justice to the world."

She turned to Abhijeet,

"You know were also partners once you joined the force and worked too hard to get justice done. You were top officers in no time. That's why the headquarters decided to send you out on missions. ACP sir ought to know more about your work. He was in charge of some of the missions you went."

Tarika stood up shakily

"Uh... Abhijeet..."

He looked up at Tarika. She silently pulled out the paper she had in her pocket

'Fiat Justitia'

"This was at my doorstep some days ago. I... uh... Abhijeet.... we aren't safe... call Daya and sir"

He reached out and held her hand

"Scared?"

"Shreya is alone, Abhijeet. I want to be with her now"

He nodded and turned to Manisha

"Bhabhi... let's go..."

****