Chapter 8

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 7 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

Early next morning, Arjun and Ayesha were the only ones who had arrived at the office. Both of them were busy in their respective jobs. Ayesha with Chetan’s location, Arjun with Chetan’s work.

Every case that he had been a suspect in, involved a freak accident of the victim. He recalled the bomb in his car. His mind moved to the road accident of Dr. Kunal Mehra, mv “road accidents hi iska modus operandi hai, isliye aasani se haath nahi aata…jab fail hua toh usne seedhe bullet ka raasta use kiya. Agar Chotu ki nazar nahi padti toh sketch bhi haath nahi….”

His chain of thought was broken by Sakshi barging in and stomping the newspaper on the table.

Sakshi: log kitne ajeeb hote hai, hospital mein se suicide karne ki koshish kaun karta hai?

Ayesha: kya hua?

She gestured towards her paper: are kal raat Lockhart ke ek patient ne building se kudne ki koshish ki and you know what’s the weird part? Woh 8th floor par thi lekin usne suicide karne ki koshish 3rd floor se ki

Arjun’s gut itched. He grabbed the paper and started reading. A blurry picture of a girl on the pipe of the hospital was visible.

Ayesha: 3rd floor se kud ke kya faayda? Zyaada se zyaada haath-pair tutenge

Sakshi: I know and woh 8th floor se 3rd floor tak gayi toh andar kisi staff ne dekha bhi nahi upar se…

Noticing Shree hadn’t arrived yet, Arjun grabbed Sakshi’s arm, shocking the ladies.

Sakshi: Arjun tum kya kar rahe ho?.... Arjun chodo!! Arjun!!!

Ayesha: sir aap kya kar rahe hai?

Arjun glared at her: tum beech mein mat pado!

Ayesha: but sir…

Ignoring Sakshi’s protests, he dragged her outside. Confused and stunned, Ayesha followed them. Arjun barged into the record room and bolted the door, effectively keeping Ayesha out.

Ayesha: Arjun sir!!! (banging) Arjun Sir Open The Door!!!

Inside-

He pinned Sakshi to the wall harshly.

Sakshi(fearfully): Arjun tum kya kar rahe ho? dekho main maanti hu ki main tumhare saath flirt karti hun lekin woh toh main har handsome insaan ke saath karti hu, dekho mera tumhari feelings hurt karne ka koi…..

Arjun: Shut up! Mujhe tumse zaroori baat karni hai

Sakshi: baat? Kya baat? Dekho main sach keh rahi hun, mere dil mein aisa kuch nahi hai please….

Arjun glared at her: Sakshi Will You Shut Up?

Scared, she put a finger on her lips.

Arjun: dekho! Mujhe tumhari help chahiye!

Sakshi: help? (surprised) tumhe! the great ACP Arjun Suryakant Rawte ko meri help chahiye?!!?

Arjun rolled his eyes: ha, karogi?

Sakshi: ha bolo na

Arjun held up the paper: ye paper tumhara hai right?

Sakshi: uh….ha

Arjun: toh ye jo journalist hai use tum jaanti hogi?

Sakshi: ha

Arjun: aur woh tumhari dost bhi hogi?

Sakshi: uh….professionally, ha

Arjun: great! (he stepped closer) meri baat dhyaan se suno, kya tum apni dost se baat karke us patient ka naam laa kar mujhe de sakti ho?

Sakshi(confused): par uska tumhare saath kya lena dena hai?

Arjun: Sakshi sawaal mat karo! Kar sakti ho ya nahi?

Sakshi: ha kar sakti hu

Arjun: toh karo aur dhyaan rahe ki is baare mein kisi ko bhi pata nahi chalna chahiye, office mein bhi nahi waha bhi kisi ko nahi, hospital mein bhi nahi, kisi ko bhi shak nahi hona chahiye ki main uske baare mein pata kar raha hun, clear?

Sakshi: ok Arjun kisi ko kuch pata nahi chalega, main use bhi nahi kahungi ki information tumhe chahiye, hm?

Arjun nodded: thank you

Her eyes widened: thank you?!!? tumhare dictionary mein ye shabd hai?

Arjun: I’m not manner-less (he walked towards the door which was still being banged by Ayesha) aur apni dost se bhi kaho ki apna muh band rakhe

He unbolted the door and left. Ayesha ran inside.

Ayesha: are you okay? Kya hua?

Sakshi opened her mouth to speak and then pretended to blush: kuch nahi…chod na woh sab

Ayesha(confused): tu sharma kyun rahi hai?

Sakshi blushed more: come on Ayesha, bas bhi kar ab!

She ran off confusing her further. Sakshi slipped away to her private desk and made a quick call to her friend.

Arjun closed the door of his cabin behind him. He fished out his phone and dialled up Kushal.

Kushal: ji saab?

Arjun: Kushal kya Shree kal Lockhart Hospital gaya tha?

Kushal: nahi saab

Arjun felt disappointed: acha? Aur kuch pata chala?

Kushal: nahi sir, woh toh bas ghar se office aur office se ghar jaate hai, baahar jaate bhi hai toh ETF case related, aapne jo jagah batayi thi waise kisi jagah par nahi gaye abhi tak

Arjun: theek hai, alert raho!

Kushal: ji sir

Call disconnect

Arjun mv “aakhir ye admi sab kuch kaise raha hai? kuch toh chut raha hai”

A knock resounded on the door.

Arjun: come in

Ayesha entered: sir Rathore sir ka phone aaya tha, Chetan ka pata mil gaya! woh hume directly wahi milenge

His senses alerted: kaha?

Ayesha: Ashok Nagar ki basti mein sir, Shanti colony ke bagal mein, I think chup ne ke liye waha gaya hoga

Arjun: let’s go!

Ashok Nagar-

The team rounded up at the entrance of the basti.

Rathore briefed them: seedhe jaakar left, makaan no. 18

The ETF surrounded the tiny house. Rathore and Arjun were at the front door. They glanced at each other and nodded. Rathore broke open the door and Arjun entered. Their guns up and ready, they entered cautiously.

The shadow of a man ran across the next room. Arjun sped inside. Chetan pushed open a window to jump out. To his horror, Chotu was standing right there. Before he could realize anything else a hand grabbed his collar and pushed him on the ground.

Rathore jumped on him before Arjun and punched him: Kisne Bheja Tujhe?!?! (Shaking Him) Bol!!! Kisne Arjun Ko Maarne Ka Order Diya?!!?

Chetan smirked and bit his bracelet.

Rathore: NOOOOOO!!!!

He tried to upturn him in an attempt to save him. But the damage had been done. White froth drizzled from his mouth. Arjun fumed but remained silent, using his head. He barged into the other room. A table and chair were the only furniture there. The table was strewn with food parcels and garbage.

He threw all the dump away, trying to find something meaningful in the barrage of papers and unnecessary trinkets. He pulled open a drawer and found three Sim cards lying there. A wave of relief washed over him.

Ayesha entered behind him: Sir?

Arjun turned: ha?

Ayesha: woh sir…

Rathore burst in angrily: Kya Kar Rahe Ho Tum?!?!! Waha Woh Mar Gaya Aur…

Arjun: mar gaya na? ab kis kaam ka? Talaashi le raha tha, shayad koi clue mil jaaye

Rathore calmed down and ordered: Pure Ghar Ki Talaashi Lo!

Shree and Chotu had entered by then. The duo along with Ayesha started searching.

Arjun looked at Shree: yaha teen Sim cards hai, uthao inhe aur call records nikalo

Shree: ji sir

Arjun gets taken aback. Shree didn’t give out any micro-expression. There was no anger or worry on his face.

Arjun mv “ye react kyun nahi kar raha? Chetan toh isi ka admi hai, uske call records mein koi toh contact hoga inka jisse woh pakda jaa sake toh fir ye itna normal kyun hai?”

His thoughts were broken by Rathore banging the door to the wall.

Rathore: Kuch Nahi Hai Yaha Par, Ek Clue Tha Woh Bhi Gaya, DAMMIT!!!!

Chotu: ab aage kya sir?

Arjun: drop it

Rathore: What Do You Mean?!!?

Arjun: Drop the case Rathore

Rathore: TUMHARA DIMAG KHARAB HO GAYA HAI RAWTE?!?!?!

Ayesha: sir, aapki jaan ko pata nahi kisse khatra hai aur aap hai ki…

Arjun: lead nahi hai toh kya kar sakte hai Rathore? ETF ke paas aur bhi case hai. humara kaam khud ki nahi, logon ki raksha karna hai, samjhe ya samjhau?!

Rathore: lekin Rawte…

Arjun: baat ko kheencho mat, waise bhi hum unofficial investigation kar rahe hai

Rathore(angrily): dekh Rawte tu…

Arjun: agar dobara attack ho toh officially shuru kar dena, khush?

Rathore stormed out: You’re Just Impossible!!

Shree mv “agar official investigation shuru ho gayi aur commissioner bhi involve ho gaya toh ye log mujh tak pahunch jaayenge, sir ke informer ki nazar se toh bach sakta hun lekin woh log sab par shak karenge. Agar shehar ka saare khabri sab par nazar rakhne lage toh inhe Riya tak pahunchne mein zyaada der nahi lagegi. Dammit! Ye insaan ek saath do baar kaise bach sakta hai? marta kyun nahi?!?! ab toh khud maar bhi nahi sakta!”

Later in the evening-

Sakshi was at her desk, finishing a piece for her newspaper when her phone rang.

Sakshi: hey!........ha?.....oh ok…..kuch nahi yaar bas aise hi…. Ha, ha mujhe pata hai ye story tumhari hai, don’t worry, mera koi plan nahi hai is par work karne ka, main toh bas General Knowledge ke liye puch rahi thi….ha bol na?.....acha? theek hai, thank you so much Jheel!

She disconnected the call and looked around. To be safe, she went to the pantry and prepared a cup of tea. Taking the glass, she went to meet Arjun.

Arjun’s cabin-

She entered without knocking as usual. Arjun glared at her.

Sakshi: are gussa kyun ho rahe ho, main toh tumhare hi kaam se aayi hu

Arjun somehow managed to control his tone: mujhe chai nahi chahiye! tum jaa sakti ho!!

Sakshi: are!!!! (keeping the glass) tumhe information chahiye thi na?

His face lit up and hurried to the other side of the table: tumhe pata chal gaya?

Sakshi was confused seeing his enthusiasm: ha

Arjun: kya naam tha uska?

Sakshi: koi Riya Sen…

Arjun: SACH?!!?

Sakshi(surprised): ha…

Arjun hugged her happiness: oh thank you so much Sakshi!!! tum nahi jaanti tumne meri kitni badi madad ki hai

Sakshi was stunned. She couldn’t believe he was hugging her.

Outside-

Shree was returning from Rathore’s cabin when his gaze fell across the glass wall. Needless to say, he was shocked yet his devious mind was at play. He fished out his phone and clicked a picture of them. Smirking to himself, he went back to his desk…………………..