AvNeil Fan-Fiction : Chase Against Time Ch31: Pg41 on 11/09 - Page 26

I sincerely apologize for the delay caused. But this would have to wait a couple of days more. Got something urgent and extremely important at the work front. Sorry, but if I track my activities and my plans, there's a lot in my bucket that needs urgent closures. So, unfortunately you have to wait a little longer for the updates.

Thanks for all your love. I hope, I haven't screwed up yet.

Next update coming up in sometime.

Apologies for the delay!

First things first, I apologize for having delayed this fiction for about 2 months. I understand, no matter how crazy and hectic life becomes, commitment to work is also one of the priorities of any individual. And this is a form of work for me at least. So I genuinely apologize for not having fulfilled my part and made many of you all wait.

Secondly, I know that it's been too long since this has been updated and I completely get it if there are people who no longer feel like continuing to read this any further. It's your call at the end of the day.

Thirdly, this will be updated on Tuesdays and Fridays. That's the timeline I have put up on Wattpad and I will be following the same here. Well, there are possibilities of it being uploaded a tad bit late like today. Because it is technically Wednesday now. But I can at least get this much of leverage, I believe.

Just in case, if you wish to read this on Wattpad or you wish to follow me on Wattpad and check out other books by me. You can search for the user id Mystic_Blues

About this chapter, this has been one of the toughest chapters for me if I consider the planning stage. However, the writing only took me a couple of minutes all together. Yes! Not even an hour. But then I am not really satisfied with this chapter. -_-

Anyways, here's the chapter for you all.

*

"I'd like to see you try," his lips curved into a smile but his eyes held hers pointedly.

The air in the room had thickened. While everyone was on alert, Ananya had stepped forward to make things right, and less complicated. She had handed over the helping hand to explain. Explain, what? She had no clue. All she knew was that she couldn't mess things up when she was so close to tighten her claws around the murderer.

She let out an exasperated sigh. The room now felt cold. "What do you want to know?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Still planning to hide information?"

"I am just," she started only to be interrupted in between.

"I need to know everything. Every. Single. Thing. I hope, I am clear," his voice held indifference.

She simply nodded at him. Looking around, she wish there was escape from him at that moment.

Her eyes caught the sight of her team; Aman was on his toes, shaking his head as he signaled her to back off. On the other hand, Ali had his fingers curled at the back of the chair in an attempt to suppress his anger while his features masked with calm. Behind Ali stood Zeenat. Her eyes focused on Neil as she tried to work a plan at the back of her mind.

*15 minutes earlier*

She walked into Aman's den and saw him indulged into work; so much that he didn't even realize her presence. His fingers tapping vigorously onto the keyboard while the codings appeared on the huge screen system. The connecting workstation loaded with equipments and gadgets. Among all the technical stuff scattered over, her eyes gleamed at the bowl of truffle balls.

Walking towards Aman, she aimed for a handful of truffle balls but not before smacking his head gently. In an instant, Aman cried, "Di!"

It was difficult to decide if he was more upset for being smacked or for his truffles. She rolled her eyes at him, such a cry baby!

She popped one chocolate into her mouth while dropped the rest into the bowl again. And his smile returned. That was her brother; her baby brother. Her Aman.

"Where are these two?" She asked getting back to business.

"The two of them should be here any moment," he informed.

She glanced at the digital watch at the workstation as it read, 9:58 p.m. "They only have two minutes with them. I hope they know that," she spoke to no one in particular as she went ahead to take her seat.

"We are very well aware of it, Ananya," she heard a female voice from the other end of the room. "And we are before time," she turned around to see Zeenat walking through the door with Ali in tow.

"Glad that you are," Ananya threw it right back at Zeenat with a smile cracking up her lips.

This was her team. Aman was the best with gadgets and all the technical stuff, while Zeenat and her were mostly out on the fields. Ali was the recent addition. He owned a chain of luxury hotels across the globe which was also the undiscovered fact about him. He was only known for his clubs at Goa.

While Aman was Ananya's brother, Zeenat and Ali were her best friends. The best people to work with.

Everyone was settled as Zeenat popped the first question, "So the party is on?" She referred to the text Ananya had earlier forwarded them.

With a curt nod, Ananya confirmed their suspicion about the Alert. "There's more to it."

"Shoot," Zeenat leaned back onto her chair, ready to take whatever was coming their way. Ananya smiled at her. This was way they were best friends.

She looked at Ali and Aman, who were equally prepared to listen.

"The murderer is playing sick games," Ananya spoke while she replayed the incidents in her mind.

"Nothing new," Zeenat remarked. Her indifference towards the murderer and his antics clearly visible.

"But what's the matter this time?" Ali spoke for the first time since entering.

"Long story." She mumbled.

"We have all night," Zeenat informed, "might as well get some popcorns and snacks to survive the night though," she nudged Aman, who simply ignored her.

Ananya rose from her seat while her fingers ran across her temples. She looked across the table at Aman as she commanded, "Play the footage." The screen lit up with the images and soon their eyes were glued. It was the recording of her attack.

"It aimed the gun to your sides," Zeenat scrunched her nose in confusion. "Had it been anyone else, I would have claimed it to be a poorly aimed shot. But this one," she pointed at the screen, "we all know the records." Her eyes rolled. Definitely, the murderer nailed all his shots, if they checked the previous records, the murders in the city were unfortunately clean point-blanks.

A sudden thought creeped into Ali's head, "So was this a trap for us?" He asked thoughtfully.

"I thought so, initially," Ananya slumped onto her chair. "That's the reason why I had to announce a 'Red Alert' situation," she further added.

Zeenat sprung back, "You mean to say, there's more," she asked, horrified.

"I think so," Ananya mumbled in response. "Look closely Zee, the murderer had a perfect chance to shoot me dead, to strike me off from his list and move on to the next. But he chose not to," whispering the last bit, she tried explaining her theory.

"Think of it, the murderer had not let a single clue or trace of evidence back at the crime sites. Not before this," she referred to the recent attack on her. "And suddenly, it attacks me. A failed attempt to murder and it leaves behind a perfectly shot recording of the attack," she provoked them to think.

"We can't just claim it to be a trap for us to think it as one," Ali stated.

"Ali," Zeenat threw him a stern look in order to have his mouth shut. She was still laying out her suspicion. They needed to first know her thoughts, then wear their thinking hats and pour in their thoughts and finally draw conclusions. That's how they worked always. And he needed to learn this.

"And we are not," Aman countered. "She is just trying to be cautious." He stated in Ananya's defence. Though she loved to see her brother defending her, she was capable enough to fight her own battles. However, this wasn't one of the battles.

"Ali, even though if it's not, we need to be careful. There's a lot at stake," she reminded him. "If it is going out to attack someone else, we do have everyone on alert." She diverted her attention to Zeenat, "I hope that we are ensuring everyone's security, Zee. No goof ups there," her voice stern.

"Don't worry, I am monitoring all of it. Your security included," she replied with a wink. Both her statement and the wink had amused Ananya.

Brushing off the look at Ananya's face, Zeenat added, "I need to know more. What's running in your head?"

Ananya laid out her suspicions apart from finding no evidence on earlier crime sites, the security systems of the restro-bar and the nearby premises were not hampered which was unlikely. She also enlisted a couple of more doubts. They discussed the possibilities and consequences for each.

"Don't worry, we will be on our toes. Working harder this time to ensure that we have our claws at its neck to choke the murderer down," Zeenat assured.

*Currently*

They were about to wrap this meeting after one final discussion had Neil not interrupted. She looked up at him, "What all did you hear?"

"Doesn't matter," was his response, ice cold.

Sending prayers to the Almighty, she prepared herself for a round of interrogation with the Cop.

*

Personally, I am not even remotely satisfied with this chapter. But then again, I wanted to give you all an insight to these new characters, just a tad bit, teeny tiny one. Agreed, these are not completely giving out their traits or their characterizations but we will sort that out later.

Next chapter, Neil interrogates Ananya. What still lies as a mystery is whether Ananya will spill her gut out or she will keep her cards undisclosed? Also, if Neil can trust her with her words anymore?

Do let me know what you think.

Nexr chapter on 22nd June. Till then keep thinking.

And once again, just in case, there's anyone who wants to read this on Wattpad, you can head straight head to my wattpaW profile and check out this book. Or for that matter any other book that interests you.

She looked up at him, "What all did you hear?"

"Doesn't matter," was his response, ice cold. His eyes left hers and he glanced at other three pair of attentive eyes. They seemed to be ready to pounce for an attack. "I think, it's going to be a long story," repeating Ananya's words from earlier. He pushed a chair for himself and spoke, "we should rather take a seat."

She settled beside him and he immediately shifted to face her as he leaned back into his chair with his right ankle resting onto his left knee, "Start talking," he quickly noted the time before adding, "I would like to wrap this soon, even though we do have all night," his eyes roamed around before settling onto Zeenat for a beat.

'He was here,' Ananya gulped at the thought. Her eyes met Zeenat's while the thought crossed her mind, 'he has heard f**king everything.'

'Think of a plan,' she prompted herself while others settled into their seats.

She blew out a breath, "You have definitely heard most of it, if not all. What else do you want to know?" His eyes were glued at hers yet alert for any other movement in the room.

"That was a just a part of it. What I need to know are the details about all that I heard and all that I didn't," he stated with no specifications.

'I don't think any of my plans can work now,' she gulped at th thought. However, she wasn't going to give up, not yet.

"We were talking about the attack," she mummbled. "I am sure you have seen the footage of the same," he simply nodded in response to her. "And you think it's a trap to mislead?" She lifted her questioning eyes to meet his.

"I am not here to answer your questions," he scoffed at her. "You are supposed to tell me what you have been hiding since so long," he gritted out while he gulped down the words that were about to follow, "from me."

"I take that as a 'Yes' because even I thought so when I first saw the clip," she naratted.

"Hold on," he interrupted, "where did you get the clip from?" When she didn't answer, he sat his right foot back onto the ground, inching forward. His palms rested on either sides of her chair while his eyes pinned at her. "I. Need. An. Answer. Ms. Verma," he yelled.

Aman couldn't take it anymore, without a thought, he jumped in, "I gave her the clip." Ananya's eyes snapped at Aman. Neil, however, looked unfazed.

"Can you please explain, how?" He raised his brow at him, intrigued to know. The way Aman's eyes looked at Ananya, he could guess that the former was asking for permission.

"He is doing cyber crime investigation courses. So," she stated nonchalantly.

"That's still illegal," he snapped at her.

"Nothing about this case, that f**king murderer or his f**king insane tricks; nothing of it is within the legal boundaries, Officer," she retorted, unable to supress the bidding tension within her. Moreover, he wasn't reacting much.

"That's what you think," he pinned her with his pointed stare, "if someone does wrong then it doesn't give us an excuse to turn a blind eye at what's right and take the path that's easy yet wrong. You can't mend things by wrong means. That's never the way," he explained. "But anyways, it's of no use to tell you that," he shrugged the topic away with distate. He would deal with all of that later. As of now he had more important things to deal with.

She brushed away the uneasiness that she felt at his indifference. "So, like I said earlier,when you look at it, the attack seems to be a trap to mislead us but that might not the case," she further naratted her suspicions to him.

'Quite a possibility,' he thought to himself.

"So why are you or anyone of those who are working on this particular project being targeted?" He questioned completely leaving aside the attack and it's motive.

"I have already told you," she started tiredly but soon his fist banged onto the wooden table making her flinch while she forcibly shut her eyes.

"I am not in a mood to hear the same old crap, Ms. Verma," he reminded her. "So, why?" His voice composed as he asked.

"There's a reason why the NGO is going ahead with this collaboration," she blurted, leaving others shocked with her words. Her eyes flew open as she realised that she might regret giving out this peice o information to him.

Zeenat was stunned. She had her eyes pinned at Ananya while she prayed to the Almighty that for once she could successfully attempt telepathy and save her best friend. Ali, on the other hand, could see things falling apart but was unsure of how he was deal with it. Aman, however, still had faith in his sister. She wouldn't do anything without giving it a thorough thought.

"Me and my team," she spun a look at the trio and continued,"we are here to investigate something. And before you ask me, I can't leak any details about it," she heard other gasp as she poured in information to the cop.

"Oh, come on, Ananya. What more's left? Hold on, there is. You might as well give him your real identity then," Ali bursted out.

"Ali," Zeenat whisper-yelled at him while Aman shook his head in disbelief. Nothing was going right.

'There's still a lot more that's unknown to him,' she thought as she found disappointment in Ali's eyes.

*

Firstly, apologies for the delay. Guest alert. These are times when I feel it's good to bank a couple of chapters.

Anyways. This is time when I am trying and shaping up the story. Hey! I don't mean that I have no clue what to write. It's just that I am in a zone where I am oblivious about what all to pour in the chapter. The mystery cannot be completely revealed, yet we can't play the suspense game for too long. Basically, I am just trying to figure that out.

It would be great, if you all can let me know the loopholes of this story and the drawbacks of course. Anything that you feel this story lacks, just let me know. I can try and work on it. It's always good to make efforts and try to make the story better with each passing day. Every update. So hoping that I will do my job.

I leave you to do yours. Please do leave your feedback and reviews. That's motivating. :)

Neil was seated into his chair with his eyes pinned at a distant sight. Nothing in specific, apparently, everything about this case had his head splitting into two. There still were a number of things that he was unaware about. He needed to know everything. He had to.

He was certain of the fact that Ananya wouldn't reveal all her cards to him, even before Ali popped that one stupid clue at him. He would have dug into the details himself. That's what he was at.

He would have continued the interrogation game had Aman not sprang alarmingly. Initially, he was puzzled at the scene that played in front of his eyes.

*

Aman rose from his seat with a curse. Instantly, all four pair of eyes looked into his direction, three of them were alert while Neil's were glaring at him.

"Di, someone is probably trying to get into the office," he pushed his seat behind and marched towards his workstation while he punched a button on his wrist watch that was blinking red.

All four of them charged, pulling their sleeves as they readied themselves for some action. Neil chose to take a backseat while they worked on whatever it was. He wanted to observe, anyways, the information he was to get was to also be cross verified. So, he better prepare himself for some show.

The screen lit up with a cabin in view. There weren't any movements but their eyes were glued onto the screen. He was tempted to question them but even before he could a person dressed in black appeared on the screen. With cautious steps, it tip toed across the room. Neil's eyes zeroed onto the figure. He moved closer to the screen while Ananya threw instructions at Zeenat and Ali with Aman focusing on the footage.

The person on the screen moved towards the desk and tossed the files as if in search of something specific. It went to cabinets placed behind the desk and continued the search. On the other hand, Neil tried to understand the dynamics of this case. It definitely had a motive to break into one's cabin.

After shuffling through all the files in the cabinet, it kicked onto the cabinet door, frustratedly. It was a given that whatever the search was for, it hadn't gotten it's hand onto it. It calculatively glanced around the room. The team, however, didn't slow down.

He found the eyes of that person narrowing at one corner of the cabin. Walking towards the corner, it's hand forwarded towards the safe. The metal safe had a number safety lock. Surely, it wouldn't know the code to unlock the safe. At least that was the thought that ran into Neil's head.

"Damn," Ananya looked fumingly at the screen as it dusted off some powdered particles on the lock. However, she was composed enough to order Aman, "Drop the contents right when it opens the damn safe." A smirk adorned her face.

"But di," Aman was taken aback by her decision. It raised Neil's curiosity level.

"Do as I say, Aman," her authoritative tone left no room for any arguments. She was in her element; true element. Like a 'Boss Lady' she ruled the room.

"What's running in your head?" Zeenat popped from behind.

"It is in search of something and I definitely don't want it to get its hand onto whatever it is," she explained with a smile.

"But the safe doesn't contain anything related to this assignment," Ali tried making a point.

"Exactly! We know that. But does this stupid person know that?" She asked to no one in particular, her eyes not leaving the screen. "I really doubt that," she spoke with her hands folded across her chest.

"Aman," she called out and they all turned attentively towards the screen. Aman was already punching codes onto his system. "Take the contents down, on the count of three," she signalled him.

With the stated counts, the bottom of the safe split across resulting the contents sliding off the pipe beneath. The person could do nothing but stare at its loss. The bottom closed back and the person tried look through the wooden cabinet beneath it. But it was left disappointed. With nothing in hand, the person stormed off the cabin. It indeed gave everyone a moment of relief.

Neil had finally seen them work.

*

Though they were good at what they did, he wasn't letting anything hamper his decision or his line of thoughts. They might be good but Ananya has been hiding things from him; might have even lied to him. He didn't know the details and he wasn't going to make a judgement without having his hands on full information. It was about time, he gets his hands on it.

The doorbell rang and he walked towards the door. Finally, he might have some.

The elevator door slid open and she had the usual sight of the cops guarding her apartment. Of course, it wasn't enough to have two cops or more tailing her around the city. She had to have two each at her apartment and her work place. The thought pulled her eyes in a roll. Neil was never going to agree to her on this. It was pointless.

She walked out towards her apartment to witness an unusual sight. She glanced back at the constables, over her shoulder. They seemed perfectly at ease. That, however, did not cause to be a reason to let her guards down. She cautiously stepped forward, her eyes scanning the area with each step that she took. No movements caught her attention. Nothing suspicious, yet her suspicions rose.

Being as subtle as she could, she slowly pushed the door that was halfway open. The first area she scanned was, the kitchen. Nothing. She gulped as a slight movement at the farther corner of the room caught her attention. She didn't swing her head in that direction though, not immediately. She had witnessed something from the corner of her eye, something or rather someone near the bookshelf.

Her bag slid down her shoulder but she held onto its strap. She let out a shaky breath before turning around and swinging the bag across the room. The bag flew to hit it across its face, when it dodged and pinned her with glaring confusion. The bag hit the wall and slid to the floor.

She cursed out loud to find the only person she didn't want to face. Neil.

"f**k," he muttered under his breath, "thanks for the warm welcome," he scowled and placed the book that he had been looking through, back on the bookshelf.

"How was I supposed to know that I had a guest?" She shot her hands up in annoyance. Not to forget that the guest had crashed into her house without a prior notification to her. And he was very much unwelcomed. However, she kept that thought to herself.

What sort of a cop is he? She thought fumingly.

Above all, given the incidents that she had been witnessing or being put through, she didn't know what would hit her next.

"That would have you given the time to prepare," he shrugged before adding, "where's the fun?" She raised an eyebrow at him. Now what did he have up his sleeves?

"I have questions, Ms. Verma," he simply stated while he sat on the armchair and gestured her to take the one right opposite to his. She walked up, "You always do. What's new?" She asked already bored.

"The attacks," his tone flat as he pinned her with a blank stare, ready to pounce on the slightest of indication that she would give away.

As expected, she did react. She paled at the mention of it. He patiently waited for her to speak, not wanting to play all his cards right then.

"What are you talking about?" She stuttered. Her words shaky and the voice trembled, just the slightest bit. Neil wouldn't have noticed had he not been closely watching or studying her.

"The car that crashed into yours this morning, the elevator incident, also the one at the traffic signal," he counted on his fingers but stopped midway to spare a look at her, "do you still want me to list down more?" His tone equally accusing as his stare.

"Those were just accidents," she shot back, her tone came out harsh unlike how she intended it to be. She blew out a breath, "You might be overreacting, you know." Her remarks, explanations were more for herself than for him. Convincing both that it was just because the murderer had gotten them paranoid by his activities. However, she hadn't completely ruled out the chances of all those incidents being attacks or warnings. For now, she was exhausted.

"Even if I was," he started calmly, but couldn't resist to add, "which I am not though," she bit back a remark and instead chose to shaking her head with disapproval. "You should have told me," he pointed out to her, his eyes narrowed at her accusingly.

"I didn't think it was worth," her words fell flat. Truth be told, she knew, it was the exact opposite.

"Still, it wouldn't hurt if you start telling things," and the truth, he suggested exasperatedly. She wasn't the only one exhausted.

"Then the same should be applicable to you," she retorted, not liking his implications.

His head snapped at her, "Now what was that supposed to mean?" He looked puzzled.

"You had one of your watchdogs spying at me," she answered trying to keep back the frustration she felt at that thought. Definitely, what was she expecting from him? He could not trust her. And he shouldn't.

"I wouldn't have had to, if you told me things," he butted in.

"Yeah, that even makes you check me with agents," she rolled her eyes at him. Of course, she had hid things from him. But who was to be blamed. She couldn't trust anyone and everyone around. That's how it worked.

"Can I be blamed?" He asked.

She sighed.

Choosing not to answer his question, she moved out of her chair and walked past him. She pulled the curtains aside, slid the window open as she stood by it. It was early evening, the sun was yet to set. Her eyes drew close as she let the evening breeze brush across her skin.

Neil shook his head as he witnessed her. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. It's never been. His eyes took the sight of hers but soon caught an abrupt sight. A red dot trailing over her frame.

A red dot.

Aim.

Someone was aiming at her or pretending to.

He stilled. The aim moving up, towards her head. His armchair pushed aside while he looped forward.

A gunshot was heard.

No.

His hand stretched out, pulling her into his side. He tucked her at the wall beside with his arm across her shoulders, pinning her in place. She eyed him blankly, unsure if she had heard a gunshot.

"Was that a," she fumbled. But she also heard the shattering of glass. So it hit something.

"Gunshot," he completed for her, though not meeting his eyes. He was right besides her, with his back stuck against the wall while he tried to peep through the window. He had his gun out, firmly held in the other hand, she noticed.

The constables at my apartment flew in, "Sir," were their alarmed voices. Neil glanced at them and cut things short with his orders crisp, "Check on others and get the messed cleared." They shot on their toes as he finished.

He dished his hand out in order to close the window and the curtains. He wanted to block the view for the attacker but before he could do that, there was another bullet shot to it. The bullet hit the back of the armchair as Neil pulled back his hand. In the process, scratching his forearm with the sharp wooden edges of the window frame.

"Damn," he hissed.

"I hope, you won't claim this one to be another accident," he gritted out. Pulling on his Bluetooth device, he dialled someone.

"I am not dumb," she muttered, furiously.

"Sure not," he commented sarcastically while waiting for the other person on the call, "when you choose not to." He remarked.

Before she could come up with a reply, he spoke, "There's an attacker on the building across Ananya's. There was another attack," he nodded his head. Of course he was on the call, "Get there, now," he commanded.

Muttering a few more curses, he turned to look at her. "Stay away from the window, duck yourself, stick to the walls, out of the sight, just," irritation scribbled over his features, "just don't get shot or attacked," he whispered, with his voice desperate like she had never heard.

Unaware, how to respond, she nodded. "You have your phone on you?" He asked hopefully. She glanced at her bag that still lay beside the bookshelf. "Shit," scrunching his face, he looked at her bag.

"I will get that," she assured him before he could dive in to get it for her. "You need not worry. I can take care of this," she mummbled.

He shot a doubtful look at her, "You are goong to reach out for help, if there's anything," he instructed, sternly. "And I mean it, Ananya, anything," he pointedly reminded her.

*
So, what do you think is going on? What attacks were been discussed? And most importantly, are we at the final showdown yet?