*tw: mentions of violence and drug abuse*
Segment #15
Darshan ran behind Ishaan who was running behind a motorcycle. The thin figure on the motorcycle was a woman. Darshan prayed that the dim streetlights hadn't given away Ishaan to the rider. When he was close enough, he grabbed Ishaan's arm and pulled him closer and then pinned him to a wall.
"Are you mad?" He asked the shorter man, his grip tightening with each second to hold the resisting Ishaan down.
"Leave man, let me kill that..." But Ishaan didn't get to swear as Darshan was so close to him he could his brown eyes in the dark. He looked at the other man and sighed heavily. Darshan took it as a win and stepped back, but that was enough to send Ishaan into a fit of rage.
"I could have killed her! Why did you stop me?"
Darshan looked at him as if he was the biggest idiot to walk the planet.
"You could have blown your cover. "
"It's always about the cover." Ishaan pushed him away.
"You just want a big case on your record. You are nothing but a detective who thinks he is too big to stalk cheating husbands so you want something big. But guess what? This isn't about you! This never was. So stop trying to control me! Because you don't know what any of this feels like. In a week, I lost the only two people who care for me like a family, I could have avenged them!" Ishaan snapped and glared at Darshan.
To his credit, Darshan was unfazed. His calm expression was back.
"I am sorry that you lost your chance. And yes, I can't understand how you feel, I just knew Gaurav as an acquaintance, didn't even know Trisha existed before this case, but I am truly sorry for your loss. However, this is not how you are going to avenge them. You have to bring them all to justice. Ayesha, Bissa, and Simba, they all have to be brought to justice, and killing them won't solve any of this. And yes, this was just a case before, but now, all this means so much more, because I realized I could lose so much, I could lose..."
He stopped himself before he could give away anything more. Ishaan looked down at the ground, guilty of his outburst. Before he could open his mouth to apologize, Darshan said, "Let's just go home."
Ishaan slumped his shoulders and followed the other man.
_______
Darshan threw himself on his office chair.
"Are you leaving?" He asked Nushrat who was packing her bag.
"Shouldn't you be leaving? Why are you here? Go home."
"Can I stay here? I don't want to go home." Nushrat studied his tired, dejected face and nodded.
"I am sorry about Trisha." Darshan nodded, accepting the condolences.
"It's just that nothing is falling in place. It's like Pandora's box, it's unending events of drugs and violence. Does it even end? What's the point of this, Ishaan's cover isn't helping, Aarav is a massive jerk and Simba is just some bloodthirsty hound waiting to kill someone."
"What do you mean Ishaan's cover isn't helping?"
"No, I mean, Ishaan gets great access to the big shots in the city, which means he can be of use to Ayesha, but aren't we using them just to get in Ayesha's good books."
"Is that what Ishaan told you his reason is for his cover?"
Darshan shrugged. "He never said, but it is kind of obvious."
Nushrat huffed. "Remember the shooting at the restaurant in Chembur about three years ago?"
Darshan squinted his eyes as he tries to jog down his memory and then his eyes widened.
"Didn't an inspector die in the shootout?"
"Ganesh Kulkarni, Mumbai Police."
"What's that got to with this?"
"The restaurant was a front for money laundering. The silent partner was Juneja." Nushrat answered, enjoying the feeling of knowing something that Darshan doesn't.
Darshan looked at her in confusion. "But Ishaan said that he was in clean."
"Silent partner, Darshan. And who kept him out of this whole mess? Manohar's P.A, himself. A direct call from the office of the MLA."
Darshan looked at her in shock. He asked the question without even meaning to.
"Was Ishaan there at the restaurant that night?"
Nushrat nodded.
Edited by oh_nakhrewaali - 9 months ago
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