Arhi FF: Destiny Games T6 (Chapter 21.2 Updated 19th July) - Page 8

Hope they find them soon awesome 

They have Anjali's clues. At least they have that to go on.

Who is Kiran? What is Shyam after by blackmailing her?

Wow they have so many rivals. I hope they find them soon. 

welcome  back 😊 loved the update 

Wow.... Anjali is brave but where are te kids

I hope everyone is fine!! Kamlesh Khabri part was very funny!! 

oh god... so many twists and turns..

that was a fantastic update... so many question and very little answers...

who is kiran...who is her son?

where are the girls? how is the iwatch going to help now?

where is this aman? havent got any info from him except he liked khsuhi and they are friends

From the author's desk: Hello peeps! surprise, another update within a week... 

I had some time in hand and so here I am with another update... Thanks for your wonderful comments. hope you enjoy this one, Happy reading!

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Chapter 19: Games with no rules

Part 4: Split Chase

“You are one of those kidnappers” Khushi exclaimed. 

“Kidnap, what kidnap?” 

“Tell me the truth, were you not involved in the kidnap of 4 girls from ACP’s house?”

Rajesh phone beeped. He checked it and then turned to Abhi.  

“Sir, this guy was at your place, we found a match for the only other outsider finger-print at your house – it belongs to him- Kamlesh Kabiri.” Rajesh updated to Abhi and then turned to Kamlesh showing his SMS “You left your fingerprints at ACP Sir’s house, we have your finger-prints in our records for your previous arrests for theft and you cannot lie any further”

“Jaanu, I went to the neighboring apartment to deliver some stuff, I saw this house bared open and some expensive stuff was kept at the front shelf, I got tempted, went in nicked some stuff and came out I didn’t see any one there. I was not involved in any kidnaps”

“Sir, this guy will open his mouth only if we do it our style” Rajesh told Abhi

“Tell me the truth, who are you working for these days?” Khushi asked Kamlesh again.

“Why I operate alone… I don’t work for anyone; I am a free bird Jaanu”

Khushi crunched her eyebrows.

“What did you go and deliver in that apartment then”

“Some food parcel Jaanu”

“So, you don’t know about the kidnap?” Abhi asked Kamlesh

“I don’t know about any kidnap sir”

“Then how come you were walking with the girls and other men – we saw it in CCTV” Abhi said.

“Some other people may have taken the lift down when I was taking it as well. am not connected with them”

“So you don’t know them?”

“No Sir, I don’t even remember their faces. I go to many apartments to deliver parcels”

“Then how come you were also wearing a mask just like them?” Abhi asked him.

Kamlesh looked on quietly. 

“I was not wearing any mask”

Rajesh showed him a clip of them. 

“You are wearing the same shirt and you were masked too”

“This is not me Sir” Kamlesh lied blatantly

“You Rascal” Rajesh went to hit Kamesh

“We can pay you more than the other party” Arnav offered him

“I don’t want money Sir, I can take what I want” Kamlesh said holding up a wallet 

“Hey that’s mine” Rajesh exclaimed searching his pocket “when did you manage to pick it?”

“Be careful with your property Sir” Kamlesh said throwing back the wallet “Kamlesh does not steal from a friend’s friend. I took it out of practice when you came near me, but I am giving this back for your sake only Jaanu!” he said looking at Khushi

“If you co-operate this us in this, you will be rewarded.”

“how is a reward going to help me Sir, you will arrest me after that”

“Sir, we should not be talking to this idiot, we will drag him to the police station and use the cane, everything will come out automatically” Rajesh said

Kamlesh looked on.  Abhi raised his eyebrows at Khushi. 

She knew that they were dealing with this man so patiently just for her sake. 

She turned to Kamlesh

“Kamlesh, Devimaiyya has given you this golden chance to come to the good side. 4 innocent girls have been kidnapped”

“Jaanu, I was not involved in any kidnap”

“You may not be involved directly, but you knew what happened after they left home. Imagine this could have been me or Preeto… You have little sisters at home.  They could be next. You steal, but you are a caring friend and brother… You would be helping the kidnapper by not telling us what you know…”

“What do you want me to tell?”

“You tell us all that you know”

“What will I get?”

“I won’t press any charges against you” Abhi said

“Like you will let me walk free? No lockup?”

“That’s right, No arrest”

“Not even for stealing at your house?”

“Free of all charges”

“Mother Promise?”

“yes”

Kamlesh thought for a few seconds.

“No, I don’t want it” Kamlesh said 

“You don’t want to walk free?”

“They will find out that I helped you and then hunt me down and kill me”

“Nobody will know”

“They will come to know if you let me walk free and they get arrested”

“We will protect you” Rajesh said

“Protect me? You are not even able to protect your own wallet”

Khushi was thinking who else this guy would go with and shelter as well… then it hit her. 

“You went with Bento again! Didn’t you?” 

“Don’t talk to me about that ungrateful fellow Jaanu. He unceremoniously kicked me out after his work got over. Didn’t even give me a drop to Lakshmi Nagar, I had to…”

“So, it was Bento who executed this kidnap!”

“I didn’t say that”

“Kamlesh, why are you protecting that scoundrel?”

“because he will kill me Jaanu- why are you asking me even if you knew the answer?”

“Bento” Arnav exclaimed “Didn’t Sameer say Bento was involved with Roy?”

“Yes, the same man- he is a local don” Khushi told him and she turned to Kamlesh

“Where did they take the girls?”

“How will I know?”

“Kamlesh, atleast now show some repentance, the girls are in danger and are you not ashamed to have helped them kidnap girls?”

“How will I know they were going to kidnap girls? They just said they need my help some help with some operation and promised to pay me well and I went”

“When did you last see them?”

“In front of that booth bungalow in greater Kailash”

“That haunted house?”

“Yes the same. they separated the girls to different vehicles there”

“what?”

“Bento took two girls somewhere else and Mota Raju took the eldest and youngest to some house. They used a code word- I don’t know. They dumped me unceremoniously in the middle of the road. I didn’t even get payment”

“Do you remember the vehicles?”

“Mota Raju went in a Maruti van. Bento drove his own car.”

“How do we find where they went?” 

“We are back to square one” Geethu summed it in one sentence.

“Sir, arrest me and keep me in lockup only, That way, I will be safe atleast – don’t put me in the same lockup as them” Kamlesh requested. 

Rajesh gestured to the other cop to take Kamlesh away. 

“Retain him in the jeep” Abhi instructed the other cop “We need him to show the place where the split up happened”

“Oh, this is so frustrating” Khushi said as a sob escaped her lips 

“Khushi, we are going to find them” Arnav consoled her 

“The girls are going to be Ok, we will get to them” Geethu seconded him.

“Arnav, I am heading to that place with my men, you take Geethu and Khushi back home. I will let you know if I find any clue”

“Nothing like an additional 3 pairs of eyes to search” Khushi said. “We will come with you”

“I am not going home Abhi” Arnav told his friend determinedly.

“Arnav, we don’t have any leads, if you go back home, you may crack some lead but by following me, it is not going to really help”

“Why will it not help? 

“Arnav is right, I am not going home either. Not until I see Riya” Geethu’s voice cracked with angst.

“Geethu, please trust me in this. I am concerned about Riya’s safety too and I will bring her back to you. Please go home- work on this and find something that will help us lead to any of the girls”

Abhi caught Arnav’s eyes, “I will call you” he said and then left. 

***

Khushi saw that neither Arnav nor Geethu were speaking anything, clearly lost and dwindling in hope. Otherwise, there was no reason why Arnav didn’t start his car even 10 mins after Abhi left in his jeep with his team. 

“We may find something if we go home” she said “something that may lead us to them”

Geethu burst into tears. 

As Arnav side hugged her from the driver’s seat, Geethu said “I want her back Arnav, I cannot lose her too”

“She will be alright. Remember Anjali is there with her, she will look after her” Arnav said consoling his friend. “Nothing is going to happen to Riya. You are going to raise her and fight with her during her teenage and then cry bitterly like this when she moves out of home for her higher studies… Ok?”

Khushi watched Arnav as she realized that his voice was strained and sounded downhearted but she also felt he was putting up a brave façade in front of others. She realized that he was feeling devastated too, but still was holding everything together for his friends. 

Anjali and NK had told her how he was holding everyone’s hope together when everything was in shambles after their father’s death. She was now seeing that persona of his in action, someone who would easily hide his doubts and fears to stand strong for someone else and her heart went out for him. She strangely felt this urge to protect him and wanted to be for him what he wanted to be for others.

“Yeah, Riya is going to be Ok and others too…”  Khushi said.

“Sorry, I was so selfish to think of only Riya” Geethu said, wiping her tears. “I want the other girls – Anjali, Tara and Tanu to be safe too”

“No Geethu ji, don’t feel bad for that, as a humanitarian you want all of them to be safe, but a mother will always come first”

“I can’t feel more grateful to have you both here with me, thanks”

“What next?”

“there should be something that we are missing”

“Or places that are left to check” Arnav said thinking hard. 

“Were you thinking of hunting for them on our own?” Geethu asked Arnav

“Did you expect me to sit at home and wait for news?” asked her with a hint of frustration as he started the car

“Where are we going now?” Khushi asked

He caught Khushi’s eyes on the rear view mirror. 

“I don’t know- May be if you can show me Bento’s house?”

***

Kamlesh took the team of cops to the place where the actual switchover of the girls to different vehicles took place. 

Kamlesh said that the vehicle that he got into had Bento and the girls Tara and Tanu with a few other gang members. He was dumped at the main road and the car sped by. 

“We cannot guess where it went after that” one of the cops said, “only if we had any license plate number, we could do something”

“The other car” Kamlesh said “The guys were taking about paying toll”

Figuring out that the vehicle would have crossed the toll gate, they checked if the area had a toll gate nearby. There was one within 5 km from the place, the CCTV cameras of the toll gate for the approximate time that Kamlesh said was tracked. 

The footage was run through with Kamlesh who identified the vehicle. Then the other end of the toll was checked to see if the vehicle passed via that- it didn’t. 

“The vehicle could have taken a turn at any lane between those two toll gates” Rajesh said.

“There is a possibility that it took a U Turn and went out of the first toll gate” Abhi said as he asked to check the outgoing vehicles in the first toll gate. 

A quick search later, they got only a handful of vehicles that had gone in and then out of the same toll gate within a very short duration, indicating that they have taken a U-Turn. Only 2 vehicles had matched the time period that they were looking for and one of them got identified as Bento’s vehicle. 

Soon they identified from the CCTV in toll gate that Bento’s car had indeed taken a Uturn and had gone out of the first toll gate. 

Getting the vehicle number from the tollgate records, the police immediately sent out request to all the other jurisdictions asking for any information about the vehicle.

***

“Wouldn’t it be too easy to guess that any of the girls be kept in Bento’s house?” Khushi asked

“That’s what anyone would think and that’s why it is a good place to search”

“The police would have sent people there by now” Geethu said. 

“That’s the only lead I have got” Arnav argued.

“We can also go ask anyone else who is in his inner circle” Geethu said turning to Khushi “I was thinking of someone like Kamlesh” 

“To tell you the truth, I was surprised myself that Kamlesh was involved in this. He is a con man, a pickpocket who helps me with some information once in a while. He is not in the inner circle of Bento. He is pretty harmless”

“Oh really” A sarcastic comment ensued from Arnav; she could see him on the rear view mirror shaking his head in amusement.

“Anybody else?” Geethu asked. 

“I don’t know anyone- unless” Khushi paused looking at Arnav again through the center mirror. 

“yes?” Geethu prompted Khushi

“You want to go a guy called Vikrant”

“Have you lost your mind?” she heard Arnav say from the wheels. This time she got an angry glare from him. 

“Why? Who is he?” Geethu asked turning to Khushi

“Khushi’s ex” Arnav said

“No, he is not” she angrily retorted. 

“Why in the world would you want to go see him then?” he asked. 

“I was just thinking… why Anjali wrote Leapfrog on that slate” Khushi asked changing the topic 

“I am thinking of that too” Geethu said. “No idea if it was part of the clue”

“It is part of the clue, because when I picked the slate, the leapfrog side was up. If she had written the password alone to leave us a clue, then that side should have been up right?” Khushi asked

“She could have turned it facing down to protect it from the gang” Geethu told her. 

“What is the significance of a leapfrog” Khushi asked not buying Geethu’s explanation.

“It’s just a toy” Geethu said

“Why would Anjali write about a toy. Is there anything significant about that toy and Anjali?”

“No Idea” Geethu said and looked at Arnav

Arnav was still grumpy with Khushi for suggesting that they go to Vikrant. 

“Arnav?” Geethu prompted him. 

“She used to have one when she was younger” he muttered.

“What was special about it?” Khushi asked

“Nothing” he said still feeling irritated “It’s a well-known toy brand. Usually with a recorded voice teaching rhymes and it was known for its…” he screeched the car to stop and turned the ladies “Its known for its tracking abilities”

“What?” Geethu exclaimed 

“Oh how did I miss this. It has a GPS on it!” he said but his voice was drowned with horn sounds of the vehicles behind them

“Dammit!” Arnav started the car again 

“But they should have this toy with them for us to track them” Geethu said but Khushi caught what Arnav was trying to say

“Didn’t you say she got one for Riya this morning?” she asked

“Yes! she was trying to see if the tracking system was working- she configured it in her phone at the shop…” 

“And they carried the toy with them?” 

“hopefully!” Khushi said 

“We can find it out once it shows the location. Won’t we?” he said

“Where is Anjali’s phone?” Geethu asked as Arnav took out Anjali’s phone from his pocket with his left hand. 

“Check this”

Geethu scrolled through Anjali’s mobile and located the app 

“Must be this. Oh… show up fast…” she muttered as the app took time to open up and then hooted seconds later “We got the location” she shouted in excitement “and thankfully it is not my house”. 

“Off we go!” Arnav said as he picked up speed.

Khushi sent a silent prayer up to Devimaiyya. 

***

Anjali observed that the men had finished their game. There was a general energy as they abruptly got up as if they were receiving someone else amidst them. 

A few of them ran down the stairs. Only one man stayed back at the table, watching them. 

“Which place is this?” she asked him. He didn’t answer. She wished the talkative thief was with them. If not for information, she would have atleast had some time pass. 

A few minutes later, the big fat man who had kidnapped her came back into the room along with one of his mates. 

As the other person removed the rope wrapped around her hands, the Big fat man spoke

“you want to leave from here?” he said placing some sheets of paper along with a pen in front of her. 

“Sign it up and you shall be on your way home” The big fat man told her

Anjali stared at the document in front of her before she picked up the paper and browsed through it. It was a bond asking her to sell her shares of Raizada Properties 

“What made you think that I will sign this?” she asked coolly.

“What made you think that I will not hurt you if you don’t?” the man asked her back. 

“Didi, I want to pee” Riya murmured. 

“We want to use the bathroom.” Anjali asked Raju. 

“Nothing doing until you sign this”

“Do you have any sense? she wants to use the toilet”

“Raju!”

Anjali heard another voice. This one sounded younger, crisp and commanding. She couldn’t see the source of the voice. The only view that she can have of the table showed that the man was sitting on the cards table with his back to her. 

Raju, the big fat man signaled his man in the room to untie Riya’s ropes and take her to the bathroom in the adjoining room where the man was seated.

“I want to go too” 

“You can go one by one”

“No, either we go together, or we don’t. I don’t trust her with any of you”

“Then stay here only”

“Do you want me to sign this or not?”

“Raju!” the mysterious man outside called again. 

Raju turned to face the man, whose back was the only thing Anjali could see. She saw that the man was signaling Raju to come to him.  Raju went outside the room. She could hear something being discussed in undertones before Raju looked up and signaled the other man to untie Anjali’s ropes. 

***

Abhi looked at the data in hand. The van was registered in the name of some Kanchan Agarwal. The van was reported to be stolen almost 2 years back.

“We got one lead and that too is wasted Sir” Rajesh said next to him.

“You are right Rajesh, this is not going to help” Abhi said, hitting the printout.

“if only we get their location” Rajesh was saying

“Right” Abhi said, hitting Rajesh shoulder jovially, “Phone number- that can be used to track”

He went over to the rear side of the jeep where Kamlesh was handcuffed and singing to himself

“Do you have Bento’s phone number?”

“No, his number is only with his very close circle”

“Do you have any of their number?”

“Nope”

“How do they contact you?”

“They come over to my place”

Abhi sighed loudly.

“But I know someone who knows” Kamlesh said grinning at the ACP. 

***

When Anjali came out of the bathroom along with Riya, she saw that the chairs around the table was empty. She saw around, the other men were downstairs. 

She heard some voices coming from the room next to the one where she was tied up. She could see shadows of Raju and the mysterious man talking there. 

Anjali contemplated if she could try escaping. But it would be a miracle for both her and Riya to escape from these men. She noticed that the mysterious man had left his laptop unattended in the table. 

Figuring out that the man was busy in the next room, she signaled to Riya to stay quiet and took a step towards the laptop. At the least, she can quickly browse through the laptop to find who he was. 

Hoping that the man had autosaved his passwords for his accounts in his laptop, she opened a browser, and then the man’s gmail account and quickly sent an empty mail to herself. The mail didn’t go as she noticed that there was no network. Thinking quickly, she typed face book on the browser, a cached page opened up showing the username as Sampkpr but it was asking for password. 

When she was thinking what else to check, Riya tugged her hand. She turned to Riya, gesturing with her finger on her lips, but Riya pointed her to the other side. That was when she noticed that the third man who had removed her ropes before was standing in front of them.

He raised his eyebrows at her asking what she was doing

A sweat broke out as she stood straight. 

“What are you doing?” he asked 

“Nothing”

“Get in there” he said indicating the room where they were tied up as he closed the laptop 

To be continued

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And the search continues... Tried a new genre with three different threads. Hopefully it was not confusing to read. Do let me know your thoughts 

I sincerely hope all of you are safe and sound. Please do take care 

Thanks for your comments and likes, I am elated to see each one of you who took time to give me comments. 

Thanks so much! see you all soon with another brand new chapter, Until then, stay happy and healthy!