Part-4
She parked the jeep near the damaged Jaguar and descended from the driver seat.
Khushi had come back to the accident spot alone after couple of hours when the doctors had assured her that all of them were alright as the cuts and bruises were not deep as they looked before.
She had sighed in relief when she had found out that he was fine, unnoticed by Abhay and NK.
Khushi had informed his family about the accident from the hospital phone and left Abhay on guard till they reach, asking him to take necessary measurement.
Then NK had gone to headquarter and she had come here after getting instructed by Sir, well she too wanted to come, didn't she?
**
She walked around the car checking it thoroughly from outside to see the damage and to make an idea that how this whole fiasco happened.
Nothing came to her notice.
The doors of the car were still wide open as no one cared to close them when they were taking the men to ambulances.
She sat down on the driver seat and checked the breaks only to find them fine.
She turned on her seat to have a look around and something caught her eyes. She leaned towards the back seat from where they had taken Arnav out and picked up the shiny thing.
It was a cufflink, A.S.R, the three letter engraved on it. She recognized them as Arnav's.
This filthy rich guy had only one knack and that was, he only liked to wear tailor made shirts, and the cufflinks of the shirts would have his initials engraved on them.
She sat beck straight, resting her head on the backrest as she stared at the small shiny thing in his hand made of white gold.
Did he tell her about his liking?
No.
Did she ask him?
No.
Then how come she knew?
The answer was simple; it was hard to miss such details about a person for her sharp eyes with whom she had spent so much time in last two months.
When he though she knew nothing about him, she knew almost everything, almost.
She knew almost every details of his body, every cut and stretch marks, every mole and knew about the almost an inch long birth mark on his right hip bone, like the back of her hand.
She knew he knew these details about her too.
But she knew a little more about him, his habits, his likes and dislikes, his little weaknesses and many more things which she would like to pretend she never noticed.
She couldn't miss the details to save her life as her instinct and senses subconsciously noted and registered them in her brain without her conscious command. It was the result of years of sharpening and tutoring them to react that way.
And last but not the least, though she would never admit to anyone and not especially to Arnav, that she wasn't that aloof and indifferent towards him and the thing they shared as much she showed to him.
Her nonchalant behavior towards their unnamed relation simply was to keep the little emotional distance intact between them to not let this get complicated, if it wasn't already.
**
She pocketed the cufflink unmindful of her action while pulling her phone out.
She dialed Abhay's number.
She had left the hospital after informing his family from his cell.
She didn't wish to make Arnav aware of her presence in there to avoid answering some unnecessary questions which would only make him... err... shocked she guessed if he didn't faint in his already weak condition.
"Hello", Abhay's voice came from other end.
"Is everything alright there?" She asked subtly.
"Yep all fine, his family is here and I am on my way to Headquarter. Where are you?" Abahy asked.
"Back to the accident spot" She answered while checking the compartments.
"Why?" Abhay sounded surprised.
"Sir wanted me to check the reason" was Khushi's short reply and enough for Abhay to not ask any question further, "I will see you in an hour" she added while coming out of the car.
"Ok." Abhay answered shortly and cut the call.
Khushi dipped her phone back to its place and bent down to check the tires thinking of checking the petrol tank and engine later.
**
As she surveyed the tires she found the reason why the driver lost control over the car suddenly.
Someone had shot the tire when the car was running in a speed of minimum 80km/h and thus the imbalance which lead to the accident.
The driver of the car must be a pro to find the quick solution to minimize the damage as much as he could, or else it would have been a deadly collision and if not all then the drivers of both cars along with the occupants of the passenger seats were bound to die, and other would have severely injured if not dead.
Khushi took a deep breath before pulling out her phone again and dialing the number on speed dial, "Dad, the tire was shot."
**
After a short crisp conversation she put the phone back in her jeans pocket and turned her head to look around to spot the place from where the shot had been taken possibly.
As she spotted the big rock afar and walked towards it she thought about the accident and her head fell back.
No, death didn't scare her anymore or she may say never, but the thought of some dear faces covered in blood and lying lifeless sure made her inhale sharply and she blinked her eyes a few times to get rid of the images her mind had painted absently.
She checked the area behind the rock and found shoe prints on the dust, enough to draw the conclusion that indeed the shot was taken from here.
After throwing a glance around for last time, she drove out of the place, with the alarm ringing in her head "Someone is after Arnav Singh Raizada's life."
**
"Are you sure uncle?" asked an astonished Arnav. Still unable to believe that his accident was an attempt to kill him.
He had no idea who had so much animosity against him that it made him/them attack him and he sat numb in his room before Mr. Sashi Gupta, the Commissioner of Police,Delhi and one of his deceased father Arjun Singh Raizada's dear friends.
**
After coming back from hospital he was taking rest in his room under his Di and Nani's vigilant eyes, relieved that whatever the reason was, he was saved from the awkward meeting of the evening with that girl,what was her name, oh Yes Vedika... good riddance!
But his peace of mind short lived when HP informed him that Sashi Uncle was here to see him.
His first thought was, it must be one of his casual visit to ask after them. He did that at least once in a month after his father died some four years back.
His mother was already gone by then.
He liked Shashi uncle. After serving in police and dealing with criminals and crimes day and night for years also he was a jolly good fellow a nice fatherly company to pass time with.
So when he asked HP to call him in his room to chase some of his boredom away he had never expected that this visit of his will chase his peace of mind away all together.
**
"Yes Arnav beta, I am pretty sure. When in the morning I found about your accident I had sent my people to check all the possibilities just to be on safe side and they only confirmed that your car tire had been shot which caused the car to lose control. You were saved within an inch of your life but I cannot afford to take another risk so you need to take our protection, until we find out who the culprit is."
Com. Shashi Gupta explained as softly as a father would, seeing him in shock, but subtly letting him know that he had no other choice.
"But... Arnav started only to close his mouth unable to express his confusion by words.
Shashi understood his predicament and kept an assuring hand on his shoulder as he stood up from the couch he was sitting to stand by Arnav's side.
"I know beta that you have no idea of why and who? And that's the main problem is."
Arnav looked at his face tilting his head a little to the right, frowning.
Shashi smiled and paced towards the French door, leading to the poolside. He stood leaning over the frame crossing his hands on his chest as he explained "If you had the slightest of idea of who it could be, then we would have known where to start our search, but here we had nothing other than a few clues which only confirm that someone is after your life but that's all. So for the time being till we reach in some conclusion we can only offer you our protection."
Arnav's shoulder slumped. He leaned forward, resting his hand on his knees, drowning in deep thought.
Shashi let him lose himself in his thoughts, knowing he needed sometimes to compose himself.
As much he knew Arnav, he was a happy-go-lucky person, a responsible brother, grandson and a shrewd but compassionate businessman. At times little short tempered but a good man in heart. Just incapable of making any enemy and here he was getting attacked by unknown force. He had to feel astonished and confused.
**
When Arnav looked up after few minutes, Shashi could see the decision was made and he waited with a smile for him to speak.
"Uncle though I have no idea why this is happening to me but I do understand one thing that my life is in danger. But if I take police protection then all our employees and client will come to know about this and this would affect our business for sure, and I can assure you that not in a good way."
"They will be scared and will fear to relate to me and I cannot afford that at this moment. I have lots of events and projects coming up and any kind of drawback at this stage could be harmful for our business. So I would like you to investigate this matter in low scale and the same goes about my protection." The shrewd businessman ASR spoke, though still glued on his seat, unable to move because of the physical pain and of course in worry after the revelation.
Shashi grinned, he expected something like this. He was speaking to Arjun's son after all. Hence he nodded.
"Well, as you say."
Arnav looked at him surprised not really believing that he would agree to him so easily and the evident astonishment in his feature made Shashi only chuckle.
He looked away embarrassed.
Shashi walked back to him and patted his back before sitting down on the couch again.
"You know son you are just like your father so I expected you to think about your family and business first before yourself."
Arnav smiled.
"Well I have a perfect team in my mind for this job... he said smiling but then frowned... but this is not the kind of assignment they do. Anyways I would convince them for this." he added smiling again.
But this time Arnav frowned not getting the head or tail about what Shashi said to him or rather to himself.
Seeing his confused frown Shashi decided to elaborate a little, because if the people he was thinking about were going to work on Arnav case then he should clear a few things about them...
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
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