Heyy folks! Happy New Year and thank you for patiently waiting on this update! Enjoyy! 🥳
Please Note: Sai has NOT met Virat before the prologue gunpoint scene. She witnessed his welcome event as an audience member as Inspector Kamal Joshi had felicitated Virat. Also, she witnessed his encounter with Mane by chance when she had the urge to barge into his house and demand for the VRS, but left when she got a call from Aaba to come home early as he had made misal pav for her.
Chapter 1
They sat in the jeep and throughout the entire journey to the police station, the girls seemed to be eerily silent. Virat looked in the rearview mirror to see that Sai and Sneha had dosed off to sleep, with Sai's head on Sneha's shoulder. Ah, the feeling of surviving an all-nighter and appearing for an exam, Virat chuckled to himself. That feeling was way too familiar to him, he was also always sleepless before clearing his training exams. When they reached the GC station, he heard a commotion: The staff and police officers were all running out of the station, all panicking and shouting out for help for those trapped inside. The GC police station was on fire! He took a quick glance at the girls and ensured that the jeep was locked from inside - maybe it is best not to disturb them and take charge of the situation that needed his urgent intervention.
Virat asked the nearest officer if they had reached out to the fire station and how this had transpired. The officer responded, "Yes Saheb. They are on their way now. We were sitting peacefully, eagerly having our lunch when we suddenly felt like something was wrong. When one or two of us went around the station to check the situation, we realized that the records room had caught fire, and it was spreading dangerously to the other spaces, so we immediately emptied the station as quickly as possible before the structure collapsed and a few got stuck in the chaos. We are sincerely hoping that there are no casualties, but cannot say at this point."
While the firefighters were doing the duty, Virat decided that it is his duty as the ACP to investigate the scene of the crime. He checked first if there was anyone who looked out of the ordinary - Nope! They were all dressed in uniform except for the chaiwala, whose identification id he checked very rigorously for any tampering, but it seemed to be genuine. Though the stench of kerosene was extremely strong, there was no sign of any can, which could provide him with fingerprints to find out who was behind this incident. There was a tree behind the station, could it be that the culprit was hiding there? He saw a shadow of someone near the trunk, and ran towards it in the hope he would get a clue.
Sai had woken up coughing due to the fumes. When she saw the sight in front of her, she knew almost immediately that Jagtap had caused this to happen. He must have made a call or his goons would have done it after seeing ACP Chavan and his tashanbaazi this morning. She tried to desperately call Aaba from her phone, but he was not picking up. Maybe he was busy saving his fellow officers or something, she tried to rationalise, but then realized she could not spot Aaba in the group of officers that was standing at the entrance or going in-and-out. She knew this station had only some odd 20-25 officers, she needed to check if he was okay. She could not have any harm befall her father only because she threatened to write a FIR against the nutty son of MLA Mane. A strange guilt started to eat her. She did not know much about politics, but she should have guessed what extent Jagtap can go to for the sake of revenge and his injured fragile ego. If anything happened to Aaba, she would never forgive herself.
She quietly left the jeep, locked it from inside since Sneha seemed to still be in deep sleep. Ah thank god for small mercies, the firefighters were already in action! She passed them as they were helping some officers on stretchers into ambulances. She saw some familiar faces, but Aaba was not there in the injured officers either. This meant he might either be trapped inside or was not at the station at all. Either ways, she needed the reassurance asap. She went straight towards the banyan tree behind the police station to climb up and spot if she could see anyone escaping and/or check and see from a safe distance if her Aaba and others had been rescued from the fire. She was just about to put her foot on the base when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Her gut instinct told her she might be in danger, so she jutted her elbow hard into the person and turned around too late to realize it was actually Virat. "Owwwwww!! Back when I saw you with that gunda and with the way you were handling the situation, my first impression of you was that you are truly Kamal Sir's daughter. But I was not aware you are so impulsive that you attack without even checking once if the person approaching is a target or a well-wisher." Sai looked at him wincing and while in another time she would have laughed out loud at the absurdity, she was not in the mood right now. "Sorry..sorry..I thought...I thought you were one of Jagtap's goons..."
"Jagtap?", Virat's face took on a more serious expression when he heard the name fall from her lips. "Yes, Japtap." Sai was getting impatient now. "Have you seen my Aaba - Inspector Kamal Joshi anywhere? I could not see him from the jeep. Never mind what your answer is, I'm going to see for myself what is happening in my town." With this, Sai deftly caught hold of the branch and climbed up the tree she knew way too well, she had been on this tree since her childhood. Virat was just left gaping at how skilfully she just seemed to find the right branch to look at the station from. He decided it is best to just ask her instead of following her lead, because his stomach was still recovering from her blow. "Sai, can you hear me? Do you see Kamal Sir? Also, while you are there with such a great view, please tell me if you can see any kerosene cans lying around or anyone you think might be associated with Jagtap."
Sai found her way and sat on the branch overlooking the chimney window station, peering to see if she could spot Aaba. What met her eyes was smoke and darkness. The glass was shattered, the rooms seemed to have been consumed by the fumes, but there seemed to be no soul in sight. She could hear Virat Sir call out to her from below, but she was not listening, her mind was occupied with concern. That means Aaba is not here, but then where was he? He was not the type to leave his police station in danger.
Question for my readers: Where is Aaba?
Watch the mystery unravel in Chapter 2! 😳
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