FF: Ek Aur Zindagi.. Ch:29 page 137 - Page 71

PART 21:

CHAPTER 22:

Arjun was ready to kill the men onsight. But his duty held him back.

Ar: kiske kehne pe kiya?

man: boss ne kaha.

Ar: aur ye boss kaun hai?

The men were really frightened to answer him. It would cost their life.

Sakshi: I think I can help here Arjun.

She walked over to him, who was still holding a man's collar. The man gulped as he knew that this was the end of the game.

Sak: Vimal Bharadwaj. Yaad hai tumhe, Arjun?

Arj: wahi jiske bhai ek police shoot out pe mare gaye the.

Sak: exactly. Ye log ussi ke admi hai.

Sam: aur tumhe kaise patha?

Sak: I have seen them before with him. Agar doubt hai tho inn logonse puchlo.

Arj: (to the man) kya ye sach hai? kya tum log Vimal ke admi ho?

The man was under the glare of the ACP, he had no other choice than nodding yes, resulting in getting a tight blow from Arjun. He threw him to the corner.

Arj: tho ek saal se zyada laga usse badla lene me. Vimal, ek leading diamond merchant. Jiska chota bhai Vinay, jo diamond ke saath aur bhi dhande karthe the. Bade bhai se bhi bade buiseness man. Illegal arms ke one of the biggest supplier.

Sam: aur usse pakadne keliye hamare mission me hi Vinay ke death hua.

Sak: Vinay ke death ke baad Vimal kaafi hadd thak toote the. Par lagtha hai wo badle keliye wait kar raha tha. Aur Adi was his best shot.

Sam: Sree, give an alert on Vimal. Wo jaha bhi ho, mujhe information milna chahiye.

Sak: uske khilaf sabooth nikaalna mushkil hai Sameer. He has good hold.

Arj: court order nikalo. Usse bahar nikalne keliye koi zagah nai dena chahiye. Aur nikalne bhi nahi dunga mien.

His tone had all the rage in it. Sameer noticed it.

Sam: nahi hone dunga. You just relax. We will get him. Kaafi shathir khiladi hai. Apne aapko kabi bhi chupa sakthe hai. But we will get him out. Chotu, in logonko girafthar karo aur teekh se pucho. Jo bhi information mile, collect and we need to act quickly.

Arj: let's go Rathod, bohot kaam bacha hai.

Sak: nahi Arjun. Iss waqt Adi ko tumhare zaroorath hai. He is really tensed. Aur iss hadd thak kabhi nahi dara tha. Go to him.

Sam: she is right Arjun. Aaj raath usse hum dhoondhenge. But now Adi needs you. Baaki sare kaam hum dekhlenge. Let's finish it for once and all.

Arjun wanted to get Vimal in his hands. He deserved his wrath. But it was true too, Adi needed him. He nods and goes in, while the team gets to work. Adi was already asleep on Aisha's lap. They were in ths sofa, with Adi's head on her lap. He reached the door and stopped.

Aisha was patting Adi's hair. Now she was not the cop n his office. She was a woman, a mother to be precise. Her eyes and mind were only on Adi. She looked at the kid with love and was stroking his hair.

Arjun's breath stuck for a second. He knew something was bonding between Adi and Aisha. And honestly he couldn't blame the kid. And kid would need a mother. But to see her as Adi's mother, meant a lot of changes, which he was not sure to accept.

Was it just her love for Adi, as for any other kid? Was Sam right? Was she genuinely loving the kid as a mother?

Mother... he stopped his thoughts. How could he think of such things without knowing her side?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to meet Mrs. Sharma's eyes. She was smiling as if hearing his inner turmoil.

"tumhare har sawal ko mien janthi hu Arjun. Ek baar puchne se koi problem nahi hai. Dekho, Adi kithne araam se sorahe hai. wo dono ek dusre ko samajthe hai. socho Arjun. iss baar apne aur Adi ke bare me nahi, balke sirf Adi ke bare me.kya wo sahi me khush hai?"

Her words did reach deep down his heart. He knew it was right. But still he needed some time.

He moved ahead to them. Aisha was oblivious to his presence, until he knelt down on his knees in front of Adi and herself.

Few minutes back, Adi had hid his face on her chest and wept. "please mujhe chodke math jaana"

For the first time she could feel how much the kid needed a mother. She strokes his hair. "nahi Adi, mien yahi hu"

She never knew what made her say it. But deep down, she couldn't stop herself.

She put Adi on her lap and soon he was asleep. She saw the lines of fear and worry on his forehead. She gently pats on it and soon it was getting clear. She kept on looking at the kid's face. She wondered when she slept so sound lately. Not anywhere in the recent past.

Adi jerked in his sleep and whispered. "dad..."

She pats him back to sleep. Adi was so close to his dad, that even in his sleep he felt secured with that name. She had seen Arjun's worry at the recent stages. She was proud of the father and son. But it didn't stop her wonder, "how long will he be able to handle Adi, alone?"

She felt a precence in front of her, and Arjun was on his knees in front of them. His eyes did have all the concern that a father could have. The same that her father showed in every stage of her life. Until the very recent time when he was bed ridden. Arjun did have the same feel.

Arjun's hands lingered over Adi's hair. She could hear his stressed breath.

Ai: he is fine sir.

Ar: patha hai. I lost count how many times I have thanked you, Aisha. And now to the team.

Ai: its our duty sir. aur waise bhi Adi ko kuch hone nahi denge, hum.

His eys met briefly to hers. She was confident in her tone.

Ai: aap aur Adi ghar jayiye. We will get them. jo bhi hai, ab zyada waqt nahi chup saktha.

Arj: hm...

He gently takes Adi from her lap and place on his shoulder. Adi was clutching tight to Arjun's shirt, as if his life depended on it.

They thanked Mrs. Sharma for their help and walked out. Sameer and team were already ready to move forward with the case. The rechecked Arjun's premises and led them home. When they were inside, the team went away, as Sree had some information.

Arjun tucked Adi in his blanket. He could do nothing now. The stress had drained him. He knew his team will do the job, but he wanted to be out there. But now the priority was Adi.

He couldn't forget the scene with Adi and Aisha. The words from Sameer and Mrs. Sharma were lingering around in his mind. He didn't know what to conclude from these. He went in for a hot shower to clear himself, but nothing could help his confusion.

He came back to the bed and saw Adi hugging his pillow tight. He moved the pillow away and slid in its place. Adi's sleep was not at all peacefull. Arjun made Adi to roll up on him and held him tight.

His eyes fell on the picture ahead. There too Adi was asleep on him. She was near to them. But not now.

He closed his eyes tight to capture that memory. That was the only was they three to be together again.

***

Sameer had his sources from Sree and Chotu. They knew Vimal was alerted. Now they should plan well to get him. Vimal was now in a hide out. But he had to come out soon. He had a business to manage that cost him crores. So the best way to lure him out was touching the weak nerve, his business adda.

Orders came from ahead. They were allowed to give in a search anytime soon.

With the sunrise, three of his main centres were raided. Though they had tried to clean up the mess, it was too late. ETF was on time.

Sree had put a red tag on his identity at the airports, railway stations, etc. Soon information came in about a similar looking man with different identity to be located in an airport who was about to flee to Singapore. It was not a big task to the ETF to handle the situation. Though Vimal had contacts, it was over ridden by the team.

Before the real working hours of the team, they had Vimal in their custody. A whole day work was indeed fruitful.

Arjun who was held back home didn't have his sleep too. He placed the sleeping Adi back in bed and was connected with the team whole night through phone. And in between, Adi was getting more restless in the sleep. The child cried at times and Arjun was trying his best to keep situation under control.

When the team informed him about the arrest, Arjun had a bad news. Adi was getting a rise in temperature. He was treating the kid with wet towels. Sameer asked a doctor to reach Arjun's home soon.

Doc: temperature thode high hai. kafi stressed lag raha hai. fikar math kijiye. mien injection detha hu. Agar thode baad bhi temperature drop nahi hua, tho hospital layiye.

When everything was almost settled at office, the team went to Arjun's home. He looked so tired after the whole night of sleeplessness. Adi was asleep and a bit pale, with a wet towel on his head.

[PS: I know the edit is not perfect. Just a small try.😉]