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Glad that they found The girls. Love Arnav and Khushi cute moments. Hope they are safe. I think Sam is Shyam. Loved update. Can’t wait for more.
Glad that they found The girls. Love Arnav and Khushi cute moments. Hope they are safe. I think Sam is Shyam. Loved update. Can’t wait for more.
Hey... Just came across this ff.... It's wonderful...
Do PM me while updating the next chapter...
And the last chapter... I was holding my breath to know what happens.. It's just fabulous....
Eager to know what happens next
I just happened to see this wonderful story yesterday.. I read all the parts in a day..
what a marvelous story teller you are !!!
I really loved the characters and themes that you have portrayed.. a huge fan of the sibling bond and terribly missed akash, payal, nk and lavanya in the last few chapters..
Thank you for your efforts.. a writer brings joys to the lives of readers.. and I am so glad that I read this beautiful story..
True.. i miss their sibling bonding...
i miss when all of them are under same roof..
when will this happen..
From the author's desk: Hello everyone! Hope all of you are safe, here I am as promised. I was so so happy to see some new readers join us! Belcomes, Belcomes! Jappies to you all 🤗and I am ever so thankful for my loyal readers wa for having my back and sending me all those comments wa~ I do miss some of you who are yet to comment, praying you are safe and sound...
Here is the promised part, and you all know the drill.
Happy reading...
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Chapter 20: The Rescue mission
Part 3: Between Life and death
Arnav and Khushi lay low, side by side, staring at each other.
2 of the girls were here, in the trunk. Where are the other 2? Which of the two are here? Just as they were thinking, the man who had approached the vehicle asked
"What's that?"
“What’s what?” they heard the other men ask. It was too late to move from there. If they moved, they will be exposed with the man standing on the other side, that close.
“Did you hear that?” the man asked the other men
“I don’t hear anything…”
“me neither”
“I thought I heard something”
Arnav and Khushi on the other side froze. The man started to walk around the car in his drunken stupor
They heard another man coming near the car. Arnav took a chance to lift is head towards his left and saw under the vehicle to figure out where the men were standing. If they were going to come too close, he thought he will expose himself to buy time for Khushi.
But surprisingly, the men were not coming around the vehicle. They were standing facing the other side and peering into the darkness.
“Someone is out there”
“I can’t see anyone” the other man said.
“Come here, Mario… You have had too much” a man in their gang pronounced.
“No one can come in- no one knows this place” another quoted.
“even if anyone spotted this place, they cannot come in- nobody can cross Bandit, Pistol and Max – they will not let anyone inside alive”
“Ok Ok, I might have imagined something” the man named Mario concluded and walked back to the campfire with the other man.
Khushi and Arnav looked at each other and sighed, letting go of their breaths.
“Is Anjali and Riya here?” Khushi asked
“there is only one way to find out” Saying so, Arnav sat up again and crawled to the rear of the car
“Where are you going?”
“Relax” she heard him whisper in darkness “I am going to talk to the girls, you try to open the door”
A few minutes later, Arnav positioned himself next to the rear wheel and risked his head towards the rear light. He tried the lever for the trunk, it was locked as he expected.
“kiddo, are you there?” Arnav whispered into the hole that held the rear lights before.
There was total silence. He thought perhaps she was bound on the mouth before he heard a reply – a whisper.
“hmm umme hnn” it was a soft murmur as if someone was making an attempt against bound mouth.
“Anjali?” Arnav whispered back into the hole again hoping it was his sister.
“umm hmmm”
“Tara? Tanu?”
“hmmm”
“shhhh…” Arnav whispered again, he couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed, his sister wasn’t here. He needs to get to her as soon as he has rescued these girls. “Ok don’t worry, we are here…”
Arnav gestured Khushi who was kneeling next to the door towards the door, and she nodded
As she tried picking the door, Arnav nodded at her as if to encourage her and then turned to the hole.
“Are you bound by ropes?”
“hmm”
“Ok, we are trying to get you out, keep calm ok?
“hmm”
After a struggle of 10 mins, Khushi turned to look at Arnav with a smile and a thumbs up.
“Ok I am coming in on the other side” he told the girls and then crawled back to Khushi.
“Can you drive a car?”
“I don’t have a practical experience”
“Alright then, roll under the SUV and get to the other side, get in and wait, I will come with the girls…”
“Are you trying to tell me that I have no active part in the rescue?”
“Khushi, you just told me you don’t know to drive the car”
“I will get the girls” Khushi said. “you get the car, better option- because you know how to drive it…”
“you wouldn’t know to open the trunk… you may have to open access the front panel to open the trunk.”
“I have travelled in some of these old cars, the trunk will be accessible from the passenger side.”
“Not this one Khushi”
“No harm trying”
“Careful” he muttered in annoyance, as she crawled in.
By the time, Khushi slithered into the car, trying to push open the barricade under the passenger seat, and realized that Arnav was right, he had already sneaked inside from the front and pulled the lever for the trunk and got out again.
As she came out, he was waiting for her, with an expression on his face which plainly said – I told you so
“There is no need to rub it off on me”
“I didn’t say anything” that smirk again. She huffed.
“What now?”
Now comes the toughest part, he thought thinking how to tell her his plan in a way that she will agree to it.
***
The onlookers had gathered outside the house as the police vehicle was being filled with the rounded-up gang members.
Abhi was still kneeling down inside the house, holding Anjali’s unconscious frame against his head, his shirt held tightly against the bleeding back of her head. His vest was also smeared with her blood. Riya stood next to Abhi holding him tight and sobbing.
Anjali looked so fragile as she lay still on his hands. Her action this evening was nothing short of heroic. Right from childhood, Anjali never spoke much in front of him, he knew her to be a careless, clumsy and bumbling, shy, nervous and reserved girl who was always shadowed by her overprotective brothers, until recently when he discovered her steely determination when he had asked her to help and then the bubbly and a more daring side of hers that he came to know of more recently during their raid in Magic Cauldron. He had presumed that the shy kid had transformed into a vibrant personality as she grew up. He never imagined that she would be this courageous to throw herself in the line of fire to stop a criminal – To save Riya… was it an instinct? How did he miss to notice this personality of hers?
When he saw her falling down with a streak of blood straining the wall from the back of her head, her eyes had a look that will haunt him for ages. It broke his heart. He ran forward to hold her as he broke out in cold sweat. He rushed to her, not even minding that the tall man who did this to her was getting away.
The cops were held up with other gangsters and were not able to stop the man from getting away. The other men in the gang had given themselves up to let the man run away. He was the closest and he let him go. Anjali’s state hit him emotionally. He was revisiting the dark space that held memories of losing Adhi. He didn’t want Arnav to go through something similar because of his mistake- because of him failing to save his friend’s sister.
He had then tried to revive her with CPR when there was no symptom of movement or life. Thankfully, she had started to cough a bit and spoke something that he couldn’t figure out. He kept calling her name, but she then lost her consciousness and had not regained it yet, the up and down heaving of her chest was the only indication of her being alive. Holding her head in position, he prayed she will be OK.
He wouldn’t be able to face his friend if anything happened to her.
“Is the ambulance here?” he asked Rajesh who came in
“On the way Sir, should be here any minute”
Within a few seconds, they heard the sirens of the ambulance splitting the air. The paramedics came in, and within a few minutes, Anjali was being transported to the ambulance to be taken to the hospital.
“Sir, the gangsters have all been rounded up and the premise has been searched, everything is in control”
“I need a bike Rajesh” Abhi voice sounded exhausted.
“Sir, Gajanan is ready at the wheels, please take the jeep”
“Get me the bike key, Rajesh.”
“Yes Sir”
Rajesh handed the key and stood aside as he saw Abhi went out holding his daughter in his hands. He could see that the ACP was deeply worried and concerned. Rajesh would have insisted Abhi to take the Jeep, but he figured out that Abhi wanted some privacy to come to terms with what he was feeling right now. Rajesh acknowledged that he was witnessing a totally raw and private emotion in Abhi that he wasn’t sure if he had seen it ever before in his superior’s face. Or perhaps, he had a glimpse of it – Only yesterday, at the Magic Cauldron.
what a long day it has been today… Rajesh thought sadly as he remembered the events last evening, but owing to the events today, it already seemed as if it happened eons ago.
*flashback*
Abhimanyu had been in his room along with Rajesh and a couple of other colleagues investigating a case from narcotics division.
Abhimanyu’s desk phone rang. The display beeped red, indicating the call was from an unknown number. Usually only the superiors or other colleagues reached the ACP’s direct line, this was not a listed number. The front office desk number was the one listed in the public forums. So, if it was not from anyone in the department, the calls that usually reached the direct line of the ACP was his family that had this number and since it was a voice over IP device, if the call happened to be from a known number, the name of the person calling gets displayed as authorized people contacts got stored in the system. An unknown number usually indicated it was an unauthorized call. All the lines in the department had dual connections to listen to and had a recording facility just as a precaution and for further investigations if there were any threats or demands from fugitives.
Noticing that the call was from an unknown number, Abhi signaled Rajesh to put it on speaker.
“hello, Am I speaking to the Assistant Commissioner of Police?” a sweet female voice came over the phone, surprising the men in the room.
“Yeah, who is this?” Abhi asked in an inquisitive tone, perhaps trying to place the well-known voice that he was miserably failing to recognize at the moment.
“emm… this is Anjali, Arnav’s sister”
“Hey Anjali!” he exclaimed “Wait a min” he said reaching for the receiver to put it off the speaker, but she went on before he could do it
“Yeah, Sorry to be bothering you, but is our plan for the evening still on?”
Taken aback and completely thrown off about what she was talking about, and also acutely aware of the curiosity of his colleagues as they looked on, he asked “What plan?”
“Magic Cauldron?”
Then it hit him, the threat she had received, and he had told her that he would be there when she met the blackmailer. But the others in the room were now sporting expressions mingled with curiosity and controlled amusement. Very rarely did this office witness a young ACP caught offhanded in a interesting situation like this, Obviously, the others knew who Arnav was and Abhi's friendship with him - they assumed the invite was of personal commitments
He picked up the receiver and spoke into the phone. The men stood up to give him privacy, but he signaled them that it was alright as he spoke.
“Sorry Anjali, that completely skipped my mind……………..no…no…no… its alright, we will do it. ……………. I will get it covered in an hour’s time………………..Isn’t Arnav coming? … Ok alright……………………”
“Sir, shall we discuss this later?” a colleague in the room asked
“We will do it now” Abhi snapped, as he recognized the smug look and then turned to Rajesh
“Anjali’s blackmailer had asked her to meet him at Magic cauldron at 5. I had sent you the details about the case fours days back. Would you be able to cover this tonight?”
“Sure Sir” Rajesh said getting up.
“Thanks Rajesh” Abhi said and turned to the other men “Lets continue with our work gentlemen”
Working closely with Abhi, Rajesh knew that Abhi wasn’t someone who discussed about a case in front of other policemen – if they weren’t involved in it, But the only reason, the case summary was discussed now was to ensure that the other men didn’t assume anything else.
Rajesh had got out of the room and waited for the mail that came to him from Abhi only just then, with Anjali’s number in it. He wasn’t aware nor was he sent any information 4 days ago. Smiling, he connected with Anjali and asked her about the details and charted out a plan of action. She said she was starting from her college and may take approximately 30-40 mins to reach the pub.
“We will have reinforcements in an hour’s time. Start after 20 mins” he told her as he started to work on it.
Rajesh and his team of two more men left for the pub and just in time saw Anjali reaching the pre agreed venue 10 blocks away from the pub. Rajesh gave her a package instructing her to put the small mic cum speaker device which looked like a hair clip on her.
“You will be able to hear us and we will be able to hear what they men say” he explained and then they went through the plan again.
They went separately to the Magic cauldron after that. Anjali was already seated alone in one of the tables when Rajesh and his men casually walked into the pub, watching her movements and keeping note of anyone who would approach her.
Noting that she was sitting by herself at a table close to the bar, watching the others uninterestedly, Rajesh and his men stood by the bar with a good view of her as well as at a position where they can jump into action if need be. Nothing happened for at least another 5 mins. Then a young man approached her.
From the expression that Anjali gave, they knew that she knew him- they heard her exclaiming “Jay? It’s you? How dare you?”
As he sat down by the table, he sounded as though he was convincing her of his genuine interest in her and had to retort to anonymity as she wouldn’t respond to his calls or messages. Jay seemed to place a proposition in front of her - something that she wasn’t ready to accept, and they seemed to argue for a brief period without much progress. As this was in progress, Rajesh and his men quietly looked on. They wanted something more substantial to get the young man behind bars, so that he will not dare to disturb her again.
Just then, he noticed that Jay was joined by three more people at the same table – two men who looked much older and sinister than Jay and a clingy girl.
One of them looked dominant and Jay seemed to have a pleading look at Anjali, perhaps intimidated by the one who sat next to him, placing a restraining hand over Jay’s shoulder. The other man sat on the other side of Anjali.
The cops looked at Rajesh for action, but Rajesh asked them to wait. This was a new development, he wanted to see the motive yet.
After that it had only grown more dramatic as the group started to harass her- showing up more pics of hers that was hacked into and stolen. The cops waited to spring into action, Rajesh had asked them to wait- they still didn’t get the motive behind these guys.
“Get the motive Anjali” He whispered into the microphone. “Make them tell you what they are upto”
“What do you want” he heard Anjali ask
“Your friendship” the dominant guy said
“I am not interested”
The dominant man gestured at the girl towards the bar. The girl promptly walked towards the bar and ordered for some drinks. From their position, Rajesh could see that the girl was spiking one of the drinks with some tablet.
As she took the glasses back to the table, Rajesh warned Anjali. “Don’t drink it. It is spiked”
As she was pushed a glass to drink, she refused blatantly.
“I don’t want it”
“you don’t have an option”
“I am not drinking it; I don’t know what is in this”
“It’s just the party stuff” the man next to her laughed evilly
“I am not stupid”
“Oh yes, you are smart” the dominant fellow said, “why don’t you then have a look at these pics?”
Anjali threw a look at Jay who was grimacing next to her. The man was showing her more pics of her and Jay in compromising shots- those that they had morphed – the ones that she was threatened with earlier in the month.
“As you take each sip, I shall delete these pics one by one” Rajesh heard the man tell her.
Anjali sat there staring at the pics as the man next to her pushed the glass of drink to her.
“Now, we are giving you an easy way out, drink it up”
“The more you delay, these are going online” The dominant guy told her
“If you thought I am anymore the timid girl that you knew, you are wrong. Very wrong” Anjali said, suddenly standing up with the glass of drink and splashing it on the face of the dominant guy.
“I am out of here”
“Let’s get them” Rajesh told his boys as he and his men were already rushing forward as the man next to Anjali stood up too and restrained her from getting away.
Meanwhile, at the table the man who sat next to Anjali said, blocking her and trying to hold her down and instantly
“Not so soon”
She turned and slapped the man across his cheeks.
“Don’t touch me”
“How dare you” the man grabbed her hair and yanked hair backward, causing her to yell in pain.
Rajesh and his men were already closer, but they were interrupted by two other men who stopped them, there were more men- and they had intercepted that the cops were there, monitoring them- they have come prepared.
As Rajesh tried to tackle the new men, someone else reached to her already, a man with a French beard and a cap who was sitting all by himself on the table next to hers had got up quickly twisted the man who tried to hurt her with his one hand and pointed a gun at the dominant guy.
It was only then Rajesh had recognized it was Abhi.
The ACP was here all the time!
After that things moved pretty quickly. Dramatic but the round up was quick. The men hadn’t expected that deception would be employed by Police. Rajesh and his team arrested all the Six including the girl and Jay. As the men were handcuffed and were taken outside to the jeep, Rajesh approached the two of them- ACP and his lovely young companion.
“You alright?” Abhi was asking her.
“Hey Bhagwan, that was so scary…” Anjali replied, her voice came out in jitters. She was literally shaking
“Its alright, its over” He heard the ACP say softly to her
“I didn’t know you were there, I thought only Rajesh bhai had come”
“Even I didn’t know you were here sir” Rajesh said joining them.
“There was no way I give my word to take responsibility and not be there” Abhi told them “By the way you were brilliant today- I am really proud of how much you are changed from last time”
She smiled.
“I wouldn’t have without all your help”
“You had it all in you.”
“Thanks that means a lot- coming from the ACP himself” Anjali said
Rajesh quickly noticed that while Anjali had started to call Rajesh and his other two colleagues as Bhai, she never addressed Abhi as Bhai in spite of him being her Brother’s friend – someone whom she would have known from childhood.
Rajesh noticed Anjali stood shivering and crossing her hands across her shoulders.
He even smiled quietly as he saw Abhi quietly removing his jerkin and placing it on her shoulder – no words exchanged.
She smiled at him gratefully.
“Do you want to wait inside the jeep?” he asked her
“No, am fine here.”
“Get in and sit. It will be a little warmer inside” he offered her his hand, helping her get into the jeep.
Abhi stood next to her, outside the Jeep, waiting for Arnav who was on the way. Rajesh also saw them demurely looking at each other – but there was not much conversation – only some stolen looks exchanged between the two.
Rajesh felt he was being a bit obstructive in their presence, as if he was intruding their privacy in spite of being well within the official capacity. They weren’t particularly coy, but they weren’t casual either. Weren’t they family friends? Rajesh wondered, thinking of some reason to excuse himself and give them some time alone. Thankfully, Arnav arrived just in time saving all the three of them from the inevitable uneasiness.
*end of flashback*
Today, when he witnessed how devastated Abhi looked holding an unconscious Anjali in his hands, Rajesh couldn’t help but feel sorry for his Superior.
***
“You got the plan?”
“No, I don’t want to do this”
“Khushi, there is no other way”
“There are 10 men there- you cannot take them all on your own”
“I am not taking them heads on… I am going to try distracting them. I will pull them away from here, you have to open the trunk and get the girls out. All of you get into the SUV “
“Let’s wait for the help”
“I am not sure how long it will take for the police to arrive”
“I won’t let you risk your life”
“I am not going to…” he said impatiently “Besides, we don’t know if the girls are ok, imagine them cramped up in that small space”
“let’s try to relieve them… sneak them out”
“how? That trunk is not going to open without noise. Only way to pull this through is by distracting those men”
“But you are not going to give up yourself for that purpose”
“I am not going to voluntarily get caught. I will take care. Will you do your part?”
Khushi nodded reluctantly.
“Where is the josh Khushi? I thought you are always up for adventure”
True that, she was always up for adventure, but not at the behest of risking Arnav’s life. He was going to throw himself as bait while she could go check the car trunk.
“trust me, it will work. Wait for the men to come after me” he told her before he vanished into the shadows. She sent a silent prayer to Devimaiyya to keep him safe.
***
The doctor came out holding the scan and approached the help desk “Tell the OPD that it’s a head injury case – I need the duty doctors to be sent immediately to the emergency casualty section.” The doctor instructed the nurse and turned to Abhi.
“ACP sir, please understand, I won’t be able to change the rules” the doctor said for the third time that evening “We need the relatives of the girl to sign the consent form, I have already informed the surgeon and he is on the way- Please get it signed from the relatives- parents, brothers, sisters, or husband”
“I am family friend- I will sign it in the capacity of guardian”
“I need the relatives to sign on her sheet- look at this sheet, we suspect a skull fracture, We don’t know yet if the brain is impacted – In all probability, it is a major operation- the chances of survival are lesser- we cannot take chances. We need the signature from one of the relatives before the surgeon arrives here, please make it soon”
Abhi picked up his mobile and made that call he was dreading to make for the last 20 mins.
***
Just as Arnav was stepping into the shadows, his phone came to life. Some one was calling him. Though he had put it on silent, the screen lighted up, indicating his position.
He tried to put it off, but the damage was already done. The men have already noticed him. There was a sudden bustle of the men standing up and rushing towards him.
So much for creating discreet distraction, Arnav thought. Hopefully Khushi has enough time to make use of this opportunity, and hopefully, he should be able to hold these men’s attention until she did so.
To be continued
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Sorry to break your hearts and leave you hanging here, But I will be back soon... you have 2 weeks to comment and let me know you thoughts and show me your love, Stay safe until then.
Cheers,
Vi
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