Chapter-8

5 months ago

aakanksha4

@aakanksha4

An hour later, Shree ran inside the ETF Office as fast as he could, almost crying.

 Stumbling over the stairs, he opened the door of the conference room to find the two seniors chatting. Both of them looked at him and he blurted, not knowing what was about to follow.

“ Sir… I'm sorry…They…They took her!”

What followed next was something he wasn’t expecting.

Rathore took a deep breath and looked at Arjun , while Arjun, he just smiled shaking his head, as this was exactly what he was expecting.

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“Where's Chotu?”, Rathore asked Shree , his voice lacking any emotion.

“Sir… he went after…”

“Mmm..hmmm", Arjun said nodding his head in negative.

“Call him back!”, Arjun’s voice was as cold as it could be.

A shiver went down Shree's spine. He didn’t know what to say or do or even think. He quickly called Chotu and did as instructed.

It was then that he walked into the Conference room and observed his surroundings. The room looked like it had just been hit by a tornado. Some chairs laid upside down, one broken, the conference table had nothing on it, everything was on the floor, except a file. Glasses shattered to pieces, pages all around the room.

Among all the mess, Shree pulled out a chair for himself and settled. He then dared to look at what he thought, could be the possible cause of the state of the room, the tornado himself, ACP ARJUN RAUTE.

But he, he looked calm and composed. No expression at all, that is, his usual self. The room had a deafening silence, something that was scaring him. Shree kept his mouth shut and waited for Chotu to arrive.

It was minutes later that Chotu rushed inside the room. Panicking, he asked,

“What happe….”, One look from Shree and he ate his words reading the room.

Without a word, he too rushed and grabbed a seat next to Shree. Both of them exchanged looks and waited for their seniors to put an end to their confusion.

Rathore, finally took upon himself when Arjun didn’t utter a word in response to the duo’s questioning gazes.

“Team… we don’t have much time. Our enemy is already here, much ahead of us, maybe..”, he hesitated in saying those words but continued.

“We’ll be at war anytime. Since they have taken Riya..”, Rathore gulped hard as Arjun stared at him at the mention of her name. Shree and Chotu just shifted their gaze back and forth between Rathore and Arjun.

“Chotu, activate all your informers. Now that we know Sikander is in India, he will use his past trustworthy contacts if he plans to bring us down.

Shree, open all his past case files, whatever we have about him. We need to list out his possible hideouts, he might be using one of those places to operate. Or a completely new place…” he began pondering over his words.”

“Zroorat nahi hai Rathore! Kuch karne ki zroorat nhi hai!”

The three spectators finally lifted their heads to read Arjun’s face. NO EMOTIONS! But some emotions were certainly simmering underneath.

“Par kyun?”, Chotu spoke almost instantly expecting him to blurt out the truth, but he, didn’t utter another word.

His composure scared them. The old Arjun Rawte showed anger, that’s it. Supposedly, that was the only emotion he knew. And he masked all other human emotions under this mask of ANGER. 

But now, knowing him for years, he had open up to them, more importantly, started showing emotions. They had seen him cry for Roshni all this while and that day, for Riya too, when she was on the hospital bed. They had seen him in guilt over her condition, in pain whenever her wound bled, in awe whenever she smiled and they had not missed the mischief in his eyes whenever he argued with her.

More or less, they knew Arjun had developed a soft corner for her.

Then suddenly, Arjun got up from his chair and picked Roshni’s case file.

“I am in my cabin. Shree, tell me when it rings!”, he said pointing to his mobile phone that he left on the conference table and moved out.

As soon as they heard Arjun close the door of his cabin, Shree and Chotu quickly drag their chairs next to Rathore impatiently. 

“Sir…”Shree was about to shoot questions at him, when he himself spoke up, “I'll tell you!”. He sighed.

Flashback

Arjun walked into the conference room and threw away all the chairs in anger.

 Hearing the noise, Rathore ran into the hall. One look at Arjun’s face and he knew something was terribly wrong!

Not acknowledging Rathore’s presence, Arjun took the glasses lying on the table and soon they met the same fate that the chairs met few seconds ago.

Rathore rushed to him and tried to stop him with all his might. 

Arjun gave an animalistic roar and jumped to the stack of files. Their pages flew in the air and Rathore tried to stop him.

“Rauteee..”, he shook him to break his trance but he seemed possessed. He pushed Rathore to the other end of the room, not paying heed to anything he said. He was about to throw another file when he just, suddenly stopped.

Taking advantage of the situation, Rathore ran to him and snatched away the file. No wonder, it was Roshni’s case file. Rathore kept it on the conference table and made Arjun face him. He needed answers and he needed them urgently.

“Raute stop acting like a fool. What’s wrong? Tell me!”, he shook him vigorously, “Tell me!”

He left out a chuckle.

“Fool! Of course, I am a fool!”

Suddenly his eyes grew darker.

“ I was a fool to trust that girl, to believe that she is a victim of my past, to let her tears affect me, to let her enter my hea…”, he stopped. 

“She is a cheat, a deceiver, a …”, he kicked the chair already lying on the floor.

“I will kill her! I will! She’ll be dead! And so will be that Sikander, who has sent her.”, he shouted!

“And if I am a fool, so are you! Each one of us, who have been sympathizing with her, taking care of her all day and night long. We have failed as police officers. We were deceived, we all are fools!”, Arjun was spitting venom today and Rathore just looked on.

“Where is she now?”, Rathore’s voice was weak.

Arjun smiled. “Must be laughing at us, our stupidity, our emotions! And even better, executing the next part of her PLAN!”, and moved to the other side of the table, picked up a chair and sat on it with a loud thud, dejected .

Rathore could see through him. He sat there holding Roshni’s case file close to his chest with his eyes closed. His dropped shoulders were a clear indication of how he was considering himself a failure. And this was not his failure as a police officer that was eating him up, rather it was his guilt. He had started falling for Riya. He might not admit it, but he definitely knew it. And that is why, he was unable to come in terms with her truth and his, too.

Flashback ends

“What!!! She was sent by Sikander!”, shouted Shree not believing what Rathore just said.

“Not possible!”, exclaimed Chotu.

“She was almost killed by them, that too, in front of Arjun sir, how is this even possible?”, Shree shook his head vigorously.

“And how did Arjun Sir come to know?”, Chotu asked another question hoping Rathore would atleast answer it.

“I don’t know anything! I just told you what all happened here. Ask Arjun if you need answers!”, an irritated Rathore spoke up.

The following hours of the day were as stressful as they could be. Arjun had locked himself in his cabin. All they could hear was the sound of something being smashed into pieces or some other thing being banged on the wall, every now and then. The trio just shifted impatiently in their seats.

The clock struck 8 and Arjun finally came out of his cabin and entered the conference room. The trio looked at him in anticipation, but his face, still hiding every emotion.

He took his favourite seat and checked his phone. NO CALLS!

“Sir, if you want, we can track Riya's phone!”, Shree spoke as cautiously as he could. Arjun’s lifted his eyes at the mention of her name. Her name sounded so alien to him, he couldn’t believe it. Hatred ran in his veins but he still somehow controlled the urge of breaking something, if anything was left in this office that wasn’t broken by now.

As a reply to Shree, he just nodded his head in negative and spoke something after hours, his voice almost choked.

“We don’t need to look for her. They'll call us on their own.”

Rathore had been a silent observer to everything all day since Arjun’s outburst. And even now, he chose to keep mum. He had decided to let him be, but just for today. Tomorrow, he will take matters in his own hand. Arjun was having a tough time in dealing with all at once. Roshni’s case had officially been transferred to them, Sikandar was back and to top it all, Riya. The girl had officially managed to turn Arjun’s life upside down. 

“Let’s call it a day!” He said getting up from his chair.

“Do not do anything without letting us know.” He said to Arjun, almost in a threatening tone, pointing towards his mobile phone.

The three men started packing their stuff but Arjun didn’t budge. Seeing this, Rathore eyed him questioningly.

“Go home and sleep", he ordered.

“I can’t! Neither can I go back to that place, nor can I..”, he swallowed hard, not looking anybody in the eyes.

The trio froze at his remark. He was dying inside, and they were unable to save him. They looked at each other in disappointment, but without a word being exchanged, their next move startled him. All of them, got back in their respective seats they had just left seconds ago. That was how much they cared for hum and he knew that well. He might have never accepted, but he was really grateful for their presence in his life.

The following two days were the same- UNCERTAIN. The four men had been seated around the conference table while Arjun’s phone sat exactly on the center of the table, like the star of the show. By this time, Arjun’s patience was held by a loose string, ready to snap any moment. All of them were growing more restless with each passing second.

Their theory or plan, had failed miserably. Arjun believed this way and had convinced everyone that Riya was a part of Sikander’s plan. Her coming into his life, her kidnapping then and now was all a plan and he now knows it. Now, they were supposed to call him to her rescue and trap Arjun because they don’t know about Arjun knowing their truth. But this theory was falling flat with them not calling him even after 72 hours of her *fake kidnapping*.

 The cop's ego was hurt and also, guilt had started to seep in those cracks again. What if she was  not!

NO!! He jerked off those thoughts away, not wanting to fall prey to that emotion again.

Another hour was gone, and Arjun was seen pacing across the room. Rathore finally decided it was time to act and not keep on sitting idle waiting for the enemies to attack first.

“That’s it! Raute! Enough!”, he spoke in one go.

Arjun glared at him in response.

“Shree, you start looking for Riya! Also, Sikandar’s hideouts! Chotu, we need your network of informers!”, Rathore spoke in an energized voice. The duo were on their feet in no time.

“Sir! I've already prepared a list of his old hideouts, places which were once used by him for illegal dealings, places that were raided by police for drugs in the recent past that may be anyhow linked to Sikander and gang!”, Shree showed off the output of his hard work on his laptop screen.

“Sir, as per Shree's list, my informers are already closely monitoring each and every nook and corner of all these locations.”, Chotu added.

Rathore was impressed. But Arjun, he was pissed.

“Didn’t I tell you all not to do anything, but you still…. Don’t you trust me when I say that she is lying. She is not kidnapped, she is a trap! Don’t you all trust me at all?” His expressions changed from angry to disappointed.

Rathore had had enough by now.

“Stop being a dram queen Raute! You asked us to believe that she was a victim, we did. Now you want to believe that she is the villain. Fine! We’ll do that too. It has been 3 days. Your “they-will-call-us-themselves" theory isn’t working too well. You don’t answer our ‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’. What do you think we are supposed to do? What if Raute, what if, she is not what you think she is? What will you do then? You'll have another guilt for the lifetime.”

“She is exactly what I think of her. You'll find that soon. I'll prove it to you!”, his ego roared.

“That is only when, if we live on to see that day. Knowing Sikander is in town, we are not prepared at all. We'll be killed, in no time. We've got no plans!”, he tried to put some sense in Arjun’s head.

Arjun looked away, still not accepting defeat. Rathore was irked again.

“Arjun!”, he held his shoulders, “This is Roshni’s case, you were living for this day, your sole purpose in life! Have you forgotten her?”, he shook him and Arjun‘s anger rose.

Before Arjun could retort, Rathore continued, “ You trusted Riya with everything, I've seen you cry for her, feel her pain, care for her. And now, just few days later, you are after her life. And in all this mess, you are underestimating or rather forgetting about your worst enemy, the one who harmed Roshni, he could harm you, us or Ri..”, Rathore ate his last words as Arjun's blaming gaze met his.

“What do you want?”, Arjun asked without looking away.

“I want justice for whoever has been wronged in any way, like we've always done! Be it for anyone.”, Rathore’s message was clear.

“Fine! We'll solve this case! Like we've always done!”, Arjun agreed, finally giving up his ego.

The duo, who had been a silent spectator all this while, finally let out a sigh of relief seeing understanding being reached.

“Boys, get to work!”, Arjun finally spoke and they were elated. No more of sit-back-and-wait.

Within no time, the ETF team was back in action. Having collected any possible piece of information they could, they gathered for discussion.

“The CCTV footages will be here in a while!”, Shree came in and took his seat in the conference room. 

Arjun got up from his seat and started narrating the case details from the beginning, right from Roshni’s murder and started placing photos and sticky notes on  the evidence board. He was doing it bravely, though his voice choked twice. The trio was proud of him. Then, he brought in pictures of Sikander, Pathan Lala. Shamsher’s name was added as his picture wasn’t available. Next Riya was introduced and he clenched his fists tighter. He slapped her picture on the board angrily, the same picture they got from Shamsher’s computer.” 

He sat on his seat and looked at Rathore. He was staring at the evidence board.

“What?”, Arjun asked sensing he had something to say.

Arjun had placed Riya’s photograph in the middle of the evidence board, like the entire story revolved around her, like she was the center of it all, of his being. This was Arjun’s state of mind right now, he wasn’t able to come to terms with Riya’s deception. He may say whatsoever, the truth wasn’t hidden.

“Nothing! Commissioner sir was right when he said that you are a victim of your emotions, Raute! You've always been!”, Rathore shook his head in disbelief and Arjun returned an annoying glare.

Two hours into their brainstorming session and they already had clues, rather shocking.

The team looked at the CCTV footage play.

It was the day Riya was held hostage in her college. Three cars are seen stopping at the college gate, masked men get down from the two of them. They enter the college and lock students in various classrooms on gun point. When they find Riya in her classroom, they drag her out to an isolated room on the third floor. 

They drag her, tie her up, beat her and torture her. She shouts for help, cries and protests, but of no use. Shree, Chotu and Rathore somewhere felt bad for her. Nothing seemed odd until now. 

Minutes later, the ETF arrives at the back gate in the footage. Few minutes of planning and Arjun is seen going in the campus climbing the wall at the back side. Just as one of the masked man, probably their leader, sees Arjun getting in stealthily, he runs to inform the man who had been waiting in the third car all this while. That is when they see the man’s face for the first time. Pathan Lala it was!

Arjun clinched his fist in disgust. The urge to break his face took over him and he punched the table hard.

“I told you, he was right there! He'll come in now to watch me suffer!”, grunted Arjun as he knew exactly what was coming.

But then, what they saw shook them up. Pathan Lala gave the man some instructions and within minutes, all those masked men were out of the college building in no time.

They all settled in their cars and were gone, except that man who had informed Pathan Lala of Arjun.

“Sir, they’ve left!”, Shree exclaimed, “Who did you meet inside then?”, he was puzzled.

But their eyes were still fixed on the screen. Everyone was looking for answers and Arjun’s mind reeled back to that day.

Arjun enters the college and starts looking for Riya in each classroom. The peon then tells him about some masked men taking a girl to the third floor.

Arjun runs towards his destination stumbling upon the stairs. He reached the room and took out his revolver. A deep breath and he was good to go. Just when he was about to open the door, he was attacked from behind. A strong blow on his head and he was on his knees. The peon who had guided him to the third floor had attacked him. Arjun fell unconscious on the floor and the peon dragged him inside the room. Riya was already inside, lying unconscious at the other end of the room. Arjun was dragged in too, and tied on a chair facing Riya.

The peon took a seat in the room. Fifteen minutes and he received a call. He got up and seconds later, a man entered the room, limping.

Their eyes went wide at the shock. No, it wasn’t Pathan Lala. It was the same man who had stayed back after they all left. He was dressed up as Pathan with a prosthetic leg.

“He pretended to be…!”, Chotu gulped hard.

In no time, he shook Arjun and splashed water over his face until he was semiconscious or at least in a state where he could see things what they wanted to show him.

Then the dreadful scene played for Arjun all over again, like it happened before his eyes. Riya was tortured mercilessly and hurt just the way Roshni was. Arjun shut his eyes tightly not wanting to relive those moments again. It was like refreshing those memories, something that he hadn’t forgotten at all. As he shut the eyes, Roshni's face flashed again and so did Riya’s. He opened his eyes not wanting to see any further, but then, with open eyes too, he could see her helpless face on the screen.

Rathore switched off the screen seeing his restlessness and the four men fell back on their chairs, not knowing what to say, think or do. What they just saw had shook them to the core.

After a long spell of silence, Arjun spoke.

“I can’t believe it wasn’t Pathan. I can recognize him just by his footsteps.”, Arjun reasoned.

“That’s why they used that wooden prosthetic leg, they know you too well!”, Rathore replied.

“All of this is getting messy. Too well planned!”, Chotu said.

“But in all this mess, we have nothing as an evidence against Riya. She was actually brutally tortured. I mean, if they wanted, they could give her fake wounds or atleast be a little kind to her when Sir wasn’t in his senses, but they hurt her mercilessly. It doesn’t look like a drama.”, Shree reasoned as if defending Riya and he was right.

Deep down everyone agreed to him, even Arjun, but he won’t accept that.

“We need to look for this man and that peon. They might have done all this on Pathan's instructions!”, Chotu said.

“But why? Pathan could do all of this himself, why would he let go off this chance of seeing his enemy down on his knees.”, Rathore couldn’t understand.

The rest of the day was quiet. They all tried to look for information about that man and the peon, but didn’t get much success. 

Next day, brought a new hope. They finally had a breakthrough.

Commissioner Sir called and informed about an intel of two large consignments of drugs being brought to India , and who could be involved in this deal, of course, the man himself, Sikander. But he gave a clear warning of not trying to spoil the deal during the delivery of the first consignment. They had to wait and watch for today. They needed to know who all are involved at various levels, right from security to delivery, in short, they’ll let it happen today. But tomorrow, “Sikander won’t see tomorrow!”, Arjun had sworn.

The entire police force was on high alert, the Commissioner had told the ETF. They too were in constant touch of their informers.

Just then Shree's phone beeped, he had news. He ran excitedly to Rathore and Arjun.

“Sir, we’ve found the peon! Guess where does he live?”

Arjun and Rathore stood up at their little victory. 

“WHERE???”, Rathore shouted impatiently.

“Remember the flat right opposite Arjun sir's lodge, which Commissioner sir allotted to the constable who was going to watch over Riya.”, he tried to help them remember.

Arjun and Rathore looked at each other in surprise. Something was definitely not right, but they chose to first get hold of the peon and then look for answers.

“Shree, you and Chotu should go and drag him here, before he tries to play another game.”, Rathore ordered.

“Sir!”, Shree agreed and ran out immediately.

Rathore and Arjun took their seats in the conference room and waited for the duo. But they didn’t turn up. Rathore took out his phone and dialled Shree’s number.

“Switched Off!”

He tried Chotu’s number.

 “Switched Off!”

This was enough for him to understand that something was not right.

“Raute, you keep a check on the deal, I'll see where my boys are inviting trouble!”, he said and rushed out of the room.

Arjun wanted to stop him as he had a strange feeling crawling up from his stomach to his heart, but he couldn’t. Rathore had already left.

He sank into his chair and went back to staring at the evidence board again, his favorite work these days.

Here Shree and Chotu were tied in a dark room. They had been praying to God that somehow their Arjun Sir and Rathore Sir find them and save them from this trouble.

On the other hand, Rathore had reached the Ravi lodge and was about to enter the flat right in front of it, where the peon supposedly lived. 

But, just then, he heard some noise coming from the lodge where Arjun stayed.

He ran to the other side, but before he could register what was happening, the sight in front of him left him shocked. Some masked men had kidnapped Mrs.Wadekar and they took her along in a black car. Rathore ran behind it and took out his revolver to shoot but the speeding car disappeared from his sight in no time.

“Damn it!”, he shouted.

“What is this happening??? Ahhh", he almost pulled out his hear in frustration.

He wanted to call Arjun but refrained himself. Who knows how would he react especially when he was alone in the office. He decided to look for Shree and Chotu first, and then together they can look for Mrs.Wadekar.

He started moving towards the flat again but then a thought crossed his mind and he stopped. He turned around and spared a look at Riya’s room, right next to Arjun’s on the first floor of lodge. He had never been there. They never checked it, none of them had ever set their foot in there. How could they miss such an important site for the case. Without wasting another second, he climbed the stairs that took him to the first floor. He broke the lock with the back of his revolver. He threw the lock away and was about to open the door, when he heard a voice behind him.

“STOP!”, the man ordered and placed a gun at the back of Rathore’s head. Rathore froze in his place.

Here Arjun was pacing impatiently in the conference room. It had been a while since Shree and Chotu had gone and now even Rathore had disappeared. Also, there was no movement at all from Sikander’s end, absolutely nothing. Impatience, frustration and worry had started to take a toll on him.

Just then his phone rang. He ran to pick it up and before he could say a word, he heard a familiar voice and his breath hitched in his throat.

“Arj…Arjun….Please…save..me!”

It was Riya. Arjun’s head spun as his mind was clouded with thoughts.

She said the same words Roshni had once said when she called him that unforgettable night. He breathed hard.

“Save me!”, she said again, breaking his trance.

His heart bled at the pain in her voice. He wanted to run to her and hold her in his arms, but then his mind still tried to convince him that he knew she would call to trap him. Sikander wanted to lure him out to his death and wasn’t this the best possible way. 

Arjun didn’t let his emotions win this time. Rathore’s words rang in his ears, “You are a prey to your emotions!”

“Riya, Where are you? I'm coming!”, he tried to fake it, but even he knew the concern that dripped off his eyes and words weren’t fake. The line went dead. One look at Shree’s laptop screen and he let out a long sigh he had been holding for so long. The call had been traced.

He checked the bullets in his gun and gave the evidence board one last look.

“One of us dies today!”, he said to no one in particular, but to all his enemies. He knew it might be his last day.

 Deciding not to inform his team as he didn’t want to put their lives in danger, he finally left the ETF Office with a firm resolve. He had bring the truth out, get justice for Roshni and kill all his enemies- Sikandar, Pathan and RIYA..