~Chapter 3~
Abhijeet sat on his couch with a book in his hand which he wasn't actually reading as his eyes were fixed on his daughter's door. Just then, the door opened and in entered the person he was eagerly waiting for. As she shut the door and looked up, he asked
"Has she slept?"
"Yes..."
She twiddled with her fingers before saying,
"We need to talk."
"Yes... uh... sit..."
He vaguely gestured to the seat opposite to him. She sat down.
"Uh... What is it that you wanted to talk?"
She drew in a deep breath.
"You didn't tell Shreya that you're suspended?"
"No I did not... did you?"
"No"
She was silent again.
"Is that what you wanted to ask?"
"No... I uh..."
She looked into his eyes.
"You... Have you been sleeping lately?"
He sighed.
"Tarika... tell me what you wanted to talk..."
She shook her head. Seeing her twiddling with her fingers again, he clicked his tongue. They have never been this uncomfortable before. He tried again.
"Tarika... what is it?"
"I came to tell that Daya... yes Daya has gone to get proofs"
"I know, I heard... Can I ask you something?"
"Yes"
"Why did you come here?"
"Can't I just come?"
She looked away trying to blink away the tears taht came uninvited. She hated to think that they had become such strangers. He shut his eyes unable to see her in pain. She stood up.
"I'll take my leave. Thank you for the dinner. I'll go home"
He said nothing, probably she had to go to work tomorrow. It was already late. She interrupted his thoughts.
"True it's late... but I don't have to go to work tomorrow"
He lifted his eyebrow, she shrugged. Of course she had read his mind perfectly as before.
"I have some leaves left, I thought of availing them until.... uh until..."
"Until I come back?"
She nodded, he sighed.
"Tarika, we don't know when I would be able to come back... don't make me feel even worse than I already do."
She looked at him and said softly,
"I hoped I could make you feel better... But it seems some things never change..."
"That's not it... you are misunderstanding me... you don't really know how much your presence here today means to me... it's just that I know how much the lab means to you and you are giving it up because of me?"
"I am not... I have given the bullet shell from the evidence for testing to know when the bullet was fired in the first place. The results will be out tomorrow and I trust that we both will be in by the day after. I came here today to tell you that"
"What if we can't get enough with that?"
"Daya will find something"
"What if it takes time?"
"Purvi will get something or ACP sir would or Salunkhe sir would or someone from the team would... Believe, Abhijeet. All of us are working to get you cleared and you will be..."
Unable to say much he nodded. She turned round to leave when he reached out and held her hand stopping her. She felt her breath stop and a deep warmth flooded her stomach just as it used to do before. Feeling her body still, he withdrew his hand. She looked at him.
"What?"
"You cooked me dinner, won't you let me make tea for you?"
She understood his unspoken words but her mind refused to stay again. She didn't want her heart to be broken again. She needed something more than his unsaid promises.
"Some other time..."
As she walked to the door, she heard his voice again.
"Just so you know... I stood here all those days waiting for this day... All those days you were gone, I hoped all that had happened was just a bad dream and you would come back just like you always did..."
She cut him.
"I always did because I always thought that's what we both wanted... I didn't know you wanted otherwise..."
Unable to bear her cutting words, he pulled her towards him. As her eyes met his, he searched her eyes for the answers he had wanted for long. She tried to wriggle away but he held her firmly
"Tarika... stop trying to run away... we both know that's not what you want..."
Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke a little as she whispered
"But isn't that what you want"
He let her go and looked surprised.
"What?"
"Don't... please don't pretend... enough of all this... those were your own words... She suffocates me... Isn't that what you told Daya?"
"Tarika... that..."
"What? Are you going to refuse it?"
He heaved a sigh, he recalled behaving crazy after Freddy's death. He also recalled her hovering around him and doing everything she could but... unfortunately she had borne the brunt of his madness. Fits of rage, cruel words, anger, meltdowns it had all been reserved for her. Through it all she had stood by his side silently offering support then suddenly, one day she had disappeared. No phone calls, no goodbyes, no farewell message... she was just gone. The shock of her disappearance had sobered him and he had slowly gotten back on his feet. By then, it had been too late. As he stood there reminiscing the past, she looked at him standing silently and suddenly felt her anger rise. In a bitter tone, she said
"Silence, once again... Why did I ever believe things would be different? You say you waited for me... Had you really wanted me back, you would have found ways to reach me. Everyone else were in touch... one phone call, Abhijeet... that was all I wanted... I would have run back here without a second thought... You are angry I left but did you know how difficult it was for me to listen to every cruel word that came from your mouth? I kept quiet because I knew you were suffering mentally but then you had to go and tell Daya that day that I was suffocating you and your only wish was that I left. You know what... I did that too, Abhijeet... I thought if I give you some space, you would come to your senses soon and you will call me... but no... I received not a single phone call or a message... Shows what our relationship meant to you... my fault I expected I was something more than just another forensic doctor to you."
She swallowed and brushed away the angry tears that had started somewhere in between her outburst. His hands automatically reached out too, she shrugged him off.
"Tarika... I am sorry for everything... for every tear, for every pain... I have nothing to offer but my apologies..."
"You think that is what I want? An apology?"
"What is it you want Tarika? I can't see your tears, I can't see you hurting yourself because of me... I was an idiot but I can't undo the past... If I could I would gladly do it... I can only say I am sorry..."
She walked close to him and looked him in the eye, her eyes reflecting the anger she had.
"You can't see me hurt uh? Then give me answers...Tell me why it was so easy for you to let me go, tell me why you never thought of me, tell me why our relationship meant nothing to you, tell me why it was so easy for you to move on when I just can't. Tell me."
He looked into her accusing eyes and he decided he wasn't going to let her go again, so without thinking much, he put his hand around her waist and pulled her closer. Looking into her eyes, he said
"You need answers? I'll give them"
He leaned closer to her lips and said
"Move away now, if you want to"
He waited for a few moments and then, he kissed her. The kiss was rough and passionate as he poured in all the years of longing and his guilt. She found herself melting in his arms. This was something she had dreaned of so many times over the years they had been together albeit under different circumstances. Although her brain kept sending warning signals, her heart did not corporate. As the kiss grew intense, she felt her knees weaken and as if understanding he held her tighter. The need for air made them break apart. He said in a soft voice
"That is my answer... I never let you go, you left and I thought it was because you couldn't tolerate me. I thought of you every second of the day but I couldn't bring myself to call you because I thought you left as I couldn't make you happy. Our relationship was everything to me, I lived and breathed for you, Tarika. Every moment without you was torture and hearing from the team occasionally that you might have moved on with this guy or the other was excruciatingly painful. I never moved on, you asked me have I been sleeping lately, truth is I stood here every night waiting for the dawn to break hoping that the dawn would bring you back."
He paused and looked at her. She looked away trying to hold back her emotions. He placed his hand on her cheek and turned her towards him.
"I am sorry I took things for granted. These days without have taught me how much you mean to me. I am sorry, Tarika... will you forgive me and give us one more chance?"
She gently removed his hand from her cheek and said
"It's very late, I need to go home...."
Abhijeet looked at the clock in their living room.
"It's almost 1, stay Tarika... The guest room is empty and I promise I won't bother you, you can leave early tomorrow morning. The road home would be lonely at this time."
She knew he was right and sighed. She wanted to be alone just then so without saying anything, she walked directly to the guest room and shut the door. He looked at the shut door and smiled, his hands lingered on his lips where hers had been just a few moments back. He didn't know what made him kiss her, on normal days he wouldn't have had the courage but today had been different. He had no regrets now, he knew it felt right and was sure she felt the same too. Her in his house was proof enough for him. Slowly, he dragged himself to bed hoping for a better today.
****
ACP walked into his safehouse and rummaged through his cupboard. He finally found what he was looking for, the actual case files 2199 and 227. He read and reread the files until something struck him.
"7 minutes"
He remembered just then that Tarika said 7 minutes was unaccounted in the evidence that Vaibhav had presented. He opened both the files and reached the lines which he had removed from the files he had submitted as proof. Case Number 2199 had these lines he had removed:
"Sr. Inspector Abhijeet and Sr. Inspector Freddy reached 7 minutes earlier than the time agreed by the team. Before the team could arrive and back them up, the shootout started and Sr. Inspector Freddy was caught in the crossfire"
He starkly remembered the conversation between him and Abhijeet post the case
"Did we not agree to meet at 20.00 hrs... Why were you there at 19.53?"
"Sir, I received a message in my burner at 19.30 that we are planning to attack at 19.50, that's why I rushed there... I thought I was 3 minutes late"
"What are you saying Abhijeet? None of us received any message like that, we all came as per the time agreed. Why didn't you call me?"
"Sir, the message seemed to be from you and I did try calling Daya and Purvi but I couldn't connect with them"
"What are you telling Abhijeet, I did not send any message... ok tell me... did Freddy also receive the same message?"
Abhijeet groaned
"No sir... When I said I got the message, he simply followed me... He didn't even think... How could I ever forgive myself?"
"Abhijeet... No, I know it was not your fault... You have never been reckless and you would never deliberately put Freddy in danger... I trust you."
"But sir, how could you? he came early because of me, threw himself in front of me, got hurt for me and now.... now he isn't here... all because of me sir... I am not fit to be a CID officer"
"Shut up, Abhijeet... I know better whether you are fit or not... Now go home, I have some work to do... and haan if I ever hear another word about fitness I will not be quiet... Go, I saw Tarika waiting outside"
When the time came to submit the case report, he made sure that the timing was altered... exactly by 7 minutes. He groaned a little and picked up the older case flipped to the part he had removed, of course he remembered that too... only too well.
"Inspector Abhijeet called up ACP Pradyuman to inform of the activities of fellow inspector Aryan Shekhawat. He had turned against his own department and was carrying out his own mission"
The call had coincidentally lasted exactly 7 minutes. Thinking again, he did not believe it was a coincidence at all, he was sure all 3 cases were connected. Scratching his head, he wondered aloud
"Aryan is dead, Freddy is dead, everyone linked to these cases except Abhijeet is dead... then who is targeting Abhijeet now?"
****
Manisha sat down in the bed and took the photograph of her husband she had placed on her bedside table and just like she used to do when he was away on missions, she carressed his face.
"Freddy it has been 3 years since you left and nothing has changed. I just talked to Purvi and you know what Abhijeet is in a soup again. Everything points to him being the killer. Once again. Why is it that he is always attacked? You know he is my favorite person in that bureau and everyday he proves why he is so. There is not a thing I lack now, Freddy. He takes care of me so well, every little wish of mine is fulfilled even without me asking. From monthly groceries to my closet, he takes care of everything. Sometimes I wonder if he is my blood."
She clicked her tongue and sighed.
"He still hasn't recovered from what happened that day. Freddy, should I tell him the truth? The truth about the money? What if it comes out in investigation?"
She took a deep breath and said
"Well, I'll tell him later. You know what, I wanted to go see him today but Shreya sent me a message that Tarika was there. Hope they finally talk, you know what my devar is a little dumb in the matters of the heart."
She yawned a little.
"Alright, it's time for bed... Goodnight Freddy."
She kissed his photograph and lay down.
****
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
17