The two things that snap people out from their smooth mask to show the world - Getting hurt and Love someone. The feeling is primal, raw, unabashed.
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"Oh my God we are going to die!" panicked the crime journo, her eyes widening and boring holes in the electronic device with colorful lights blinking, gulping every now and then.
"Shut. Up." came the biting reply of ACP Mukherjee, her fingers clutching a small knife as she cut wires on the device, eyes fixed on it, "somebody get her outta here."
"we should wait for bomb squad." Second in command Rawte ran his fingers through hair, clearly panicked and displeased with the situation.
"Then wait." the former replied, really want to glare at the man herself but not moving her eyes from the device, "I am not waiting around."
"Alright kids, lets focus on the elephant in the bus stop." Sameer said, as much calm as he can manage, "there is no timer on this thing, that should be good, right?"
"That only means someone has the trigger to blast it." she informed, now turning her neck to give the trio beside her a look, "Get out. Now."
ETF has a spectacular start of a day, they arrived at a bus stop to look for a man who was running from the police on his way to jail, but then they heard some people yelling bomb and running toward south and suddenly all the worries about escaped criminal was forgotten. People stumbled and ran all over each other, and by the time police arrived to barricade the whole place, there were only 4 of them and police several hundred feets away from them, not wanting to be any part of a bomb blast.
"That means the person with trigger might be watching us right now? waiting to explode it?" the crime journo panicked, "We are sure going to die!"
Rathore gave her a look, barely opening his mouth to tell her to take a deep breath and calm down, when Rawte kneeled down beside ACP Mukherjee and asked, "Do you have any idea what to do with this thing?"
"Of course she has." The crime journo recovered momentarily, voice shaking and foot tapping in a nervous reaction, "she was in bomb squad."
Your knowledge when it comes to her is unsettling, Rathore was saying to himself, when a police came near them, tiptoeing as if a wrong move will set off the bomb, and nearly dragged Sakshi away. she looked torn between staying and leaving, offering Sameer or Rawte to come, but the men didnt want to leave another officer alone with this electronic killing machine. when she went away, the air was silent for the first time in 30 minutes.
"They are arriving." he said to his both team mates as he received a call from ETF office and ended it, giving a look to the lady officer's head, "the Director is not pleased with you."
"I am not exactly hoping for medal." she replied, face twisting as she cut another wire, then frowning at the device. beside him came the exasperated sigh of Rawte, somewhere along the line he had come to accept both her biting replies and recklessness which bordered on stupidity, not that he had any other option. he turned to look at his best friend cum colleague, and the man give a look.
"Dont even think to shoo me away. If I leave, you both will fight and make the bomb explode on its own."
the most admiring quality in Sameer Rathore was his ability to lighten the atmosphere, irrespective of the situation. the second in command sighed in resignation, while the ACP's lips curled upwards.
"I am taking a guess here." she said after some moments, "your last chance."
"Go ahead.'' the senior officer said, and the second in command gave his silent support. her fingers paused for less than a sec, then she pulled the blue wire from the device.
the three held their breaths as one by one all colorful lights went out, and the machine looked. . . dead. the second in command get up from ground, running fingers in hair, exhaling breath as it finally dawned on him how close he had come before dead, and he didnt run away from it. the senior officer mirrored his, and both the men shared a look. ACP Mukherjee didnt move instantly from the bomb, her fingers pulled some more wires and moved the deviced carefully up and down to see it was totally off. when she was satisfied, she dropped the knife and got up as bomb squad arrived in their heavy suits, police hot on their heels. Rathore and Rawte already signaled them to come, along with the rest of ETF team mates. they all shared a look with each other, the crime journo talking how she thought she was going to die, Chotu bemused at missing such a chance, while Sameer joking if luck was with them, they can get more these bomb surprises in the upcoming days.
The Director was furious when they arrived, they all could feel the anger radiating off her. her face looked normal, but the set of her jaw and those eyes filled with silent fury, adding that crossing arm over chest? they all knew on whom this anger was directed, and the subject barely looked affected from it.
"In my cabin. Now." with the four words she walked, footsteps echoing loudly in the air. as soon as she left everyone exhaled their breath, sharing look with each other. ACP Mukherjee rolled her eyes but followed her, leaving the team mates to talk about the possible consequences.
"How did you know she was in bomb squad?" Sameer asked as soon as the team settled down in their seats in discussion room, to which the crime journo smiled cheekily, looking proud.
"I am a journalist. That's what I do."
"first you know her first name when we met her first, and now you know her bio-data?" he tilted his head, "TMI to know about someone whom you dont even like, is not it?"
"May be." she sing sang, and all of them nearly jumped when the glass door was banged open and the topic of conversation, ACP Mukherjee, entered inside, not a hair out of place. she settled down in her usual seat, not noticing the way other team mates giving looks to each other, thinking the trip to Director's den was relatively short.
she moved her neck to meet her team mates, who didn't even try to hide their curious expressions. she asked through her expression What? then replied when none of them dropped their silent questions, "I am not fired, or suspended."
"They found the escaped guilty." Rawte informed the team, ignoring the former, to which all of them nodded.
"He made us chase him and put in front of a bomb, and then police get the pleasure to find him." Shree said in a sarcastic tone, to which almost everyone scoffed.
"You cant get everything." the second in command unexpectedly joined in, his eyes surprisingly light to which everyone reacted, and the crime journo gasped happily, "You either get a criminal, or you get a bomb."
She was the loudest to giggle after that.
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"You are avoiding me for far too long!"
"I am not avoiding anything, Roshni." came the tired reply of ETF second in command, his eyes going over everything and nothing in the office through the glass walls of his cabin. he heard her sighing on the other line, then it was quiet. he braced himself for whatever that was coming.
"I am not having any of that." she was determined, "Lunch. with my friends."
"Why I should have lunch with your friends?" the tiredness was gone and irritation filled him.
"Because they are insisting, and I am keeping them off for far too long." she reasoned, "I will book place. 3 days later, near the cafe of my college. wear the purple shirt, and that bracelet too.'' he stilled for a second, a surprising expression falling on his face as he remembered something, "you dont wear it anymore, wear it, ok?"
he scarcely remembered to hum and cut the call, brows frowned together as he stared at nothing.
Her Bracelet. The Silver bracelet with aqua colored stone which she gifted him but he wear it because he liked it. where the hell is that bracelet?
its not like he is particularly touchy about things. messy cupboard, bottles not kept in a order in kitchen, DVDs haphazardly organized near TV set, clothes waiting to be washed from 2 days, it was normal for him. while he is not the careless, messy person, he is not too organized either. but then, he don't like to lose things. he don't like to lose things which is his.
he never loses things. he is too focused and careful person to leave things and not remember where he left them.
this bracelet thing, he noticed it before. its always on his wrist, as natural part of him as his brown shades and gun. he noticed it sometime, only to push the thing aside for something more important (work), promising himself to find it later only to forget about it for something else (work).
"We got a case." there was a knock in door and Sameer was calling out for him.
just like that, the thoughts about bracelet was gone from his mind.
The case, murder of newlyweds near the forest, looked both simple and complicated. while they had many theories to discuss, there were no ID on them. the people living near forest, they don't remember seeing them at all. the bodies looked 9 days old, already decomposing, making it hard to exam them. there was no missing person report for any newlywed couple either. even after 3 days, none responded to the press report ETF released in the hope for someone to identify them.
Liza was going over her examination in her lab on the 2nd day; the air was too heavy with the extra medication to cover the awful smell of decomposed body. There were identical scars on both of them, looks like knife but sharper, goes deeper, and wider. Possibly because of mugging, that explains no purse or wallet near either of them.
"It's not mugging Liza." Rawte dismissed the mugging angel casually as the forensic expert looked at him, "its forest, none goes there even in broad day light. less possibility any thief will be there."
"Maybe they went there for extracurricular activities." Sakshi chimed in, earning three pair of eyes on her, "you know, newlyweds, all the hormones."
"Of course, honeymoon suit was not enough, right?" Sameer mocked, and Shree Chotu along with Liza burst into laughter. the crime journo looked unashamed, but the second in command looked pissed at the lack of seriousness coming from his best friend.
"The murder weapon." the laughter was abruptly cut short by the curious voice of ACP Mukherjee, "its wider than knife, and sharper?"
"yes Ma'am." the forensic expert confirmed, earning a frown from the crime journo at the Ma'am, "I have a list of the possible murder weapons, none of them fit."
"it went all the way inside, that means its long." Sameer mused, "was there any added force near wound?"
The forensic head shook her head in No, "it was not." she motioned to a glass dish, "I also found some added element near the wound, something I have never, ever seen."
"What is it?" Shree asked.
"Iron rust." she informed, and everyone frowned.
"Are you sure?" Rawte asked, to which she nodded.
"100% positive. its weird, a murder weapon with rust? that means the weapon is old, but who carries something with rust on them?" she shook her head, "doesn't make any sense to me."
"It can be a sword." ACP Mukherjee said, frowning in the floor as if she is talking to herself, then meeting their eyes, "it fits, long, rusty, no need for added force."
"But someone needs to use extra added force, if he is going around and killing with sword." Sakshi pointed out, not agreeing with the other woman.
"if the person is an expert, then he can do it with one swift move." the ACP replied, her eyes falling on the body, "the wounds were deep, clear, and went all the way to the back. I don't think any other weapon fits." she met the crime journo's eyes again, "do you?"
before any of them can answer, the receptionist arrived, informing the team they have found someone who knew the male victim.
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in the end, it was not a mugger, or a madman in city killing off people with rusty sword, neither it was two newly weds feeling each other up in a forest where some orthodox, society saver demon made them pay.
it was Khaap panchayet.
they hear it, some day or other, parents killing children because they loved someone, head of village pointing at a woman and banishing her from village as she is a witch. ETF deals with urban crimes, where most reasons are grey, greed, jealousy, twisted revenge. Never they thought they will take a road trip, like this, for a case.
when they arrived at a small village in Maharastra with state police, they felt out of place and uneasy at once.
The village was like something straight out of movie, no electricity, cows and goats everywhere, women under long veils, men with turbans and big moustaches, all image of primal, dominating gender as if its not evident. they stood guarded when they reached at the door of panchayet ji, the head of village, giving the vibe they wont hesitate to start a bloodbath if they threaten him.
The head of village eyed the team with guarded yet flippant expression, a confidence that none can touch his hair as long as he is in the village. but in the end, he should not have underestimated the team, nor he should have eyed both the ladies with an expression something like disgust and scepticism.
"Why women are there in your team?" he asked the ETF team, his voice displeased.
"We are not here to discuss your unhappiness about women's presence in a crime fighting department.'' Rawte's snapped, his voice harsh. he showed all their findings one by one, like how the male victim was an orphan who fell in love with the girl who was from this village, and they eloped when panchayet were on them. in the end, even the big city of Mumbai could not save them. the sister of his orphanage, who gave shelter to them, identified one person who she remembered trolling around her locality before the newlyweds were killed. the Maharastra police IDed the man as a member of this khaap, already 12 cases on him but all stuck because none go against them.
the panchayet dismissed all charges, and none in the village opened their mouth. it was irritating, and when Rawte met Maharastra police DIG's eyes, he knew the latter dealt with situations like this many times. he could see the latter already resigning here.
"I think that's enough?" the head of village got up on his feet, a lecherous smile on his lips, so sure of his victory, "I told you, officer, we dont know anyone of your victims."
"The female is from this village." Sameer said, glaring at the man. the smile faltered on the older man's face.
"You dont have any proof." he emphasised each word. behind him his men scooted closer.
"Oh we have." The older man's eyes snapped toward ACP Mukherjee as she started speaking, voice irritated at the misogynist pig, "Some 3rd degree to one of your men, and they will spill all the beans faster than you can take out your swords." nobody could mistake the ice in her voice or the steeliness in her eyes. beside him, the team could see the village guards ready for anything and they tighten their grip on their guns, ready for anything. slowly, Sameer put Sakshi behind him to shield her for anything, and then he met Rawte's eyes, the latter barely holding his edginess or the anger that ACP Mukherjee pushing some low buttons.
the village head took some step toward the woman, and the team moved closer to her, silently protecting her, even if she didnt need it or her eyes never shifted from him to notice the gesture. he eyed her once again, from top to bottom, then gave the earlier lecherous smile, "You know, in this village, I keep women like you beneath my feet. And you dare to talk to me like this?"
The response was instant. Rawte could hardly see her imprinting the fingers of her left hand on his cheek, and heard at the same time DIG of Maharastra police shouting orders to his men. air filled with sounds and then there were guns everywhere, pointed at the guards and the panchayet himself. he looked around, for the first time not sure he can get out of this, unscratched, and how outnumbered his men were infront of ETF and state police. he turned to look at the female in front of him again, glaring at her only to outmatch by hers, "Women you keep under your feet? We give birth to scumbags like you." she then took a step closer to him as he gaped at the audacity of her, "I wish your Mother had strangled you the minute you were born."
he went to lunge on her, eyes and teeth coming out violently as if he is going to tear her apart, when he found himself nearly picked up from ground. Chotu was giving a disgusted expression to him, only to throw him on ground where state police picked him up. Shree came to stand near them both, and he replied, "Not worth of wasting my strength."
Sameer and Sakshi could not let go of the moment, the former giving a punch in his stomach while the latter stayed content with a slap. the village head was in the police car some moments later, some peers of him who loved him too much was being tackled by police and dragged away to custody as well.
ACP Mukherjee found Rawte sitting on the SUV bonnet, staring into nothing, when they all stopped on their way back near a lake, to enjoy the view for a while. she could hear the excited voices of their colleagues, and she must have stared at the man too much, as he suddenly snapped out of it and looked squarely at her.
for a moment she felt as if he knew she was staring at him.
there was something unfamiliar the way he looked away from her gaze, or the way his posture stiffed slightly to protect himself. she realised it after a moment, that she caught him unguarded.
its not like they have any. . . relation. none of them like to chat, with his dislike for her and her indifference to everything. professional relation, well, he dont approve of her jumping into danger straight and she dont care what he thinks. still, it was the second time she was there when he was. . . different. she remembered that night in Gym, that was different, and this seems different as well.
never the one for personal space, she sat right beside him on the SUV bonnet. he stared at her for some moments as her gaze fell to the distant team mates, seeing but really not seeing.
"We live a city, a modern city which is expanding every year." he started talking, staring like her ahead to the team mates but not really seeing, "we talk about the bad condition of roads, 4G network, new discos, the rising price of things. its not like that we dont read news papers, the orthodox evil rituals in darkest part of country, woman subjected to violence because she cant give birth to a boy, or even cases like this, honor killing. But coming across to them, it makes it feel . . . "
"Real." she concluded for him. both their eyes meet, and he nodded softly.
"Yes." he sighed, "its just. . . hard, to know things like this happen. And for what reason? why these people even do that? what honor they are even talking about? how can honor is bigger than a person's life anyway?"
"Only people like them can answer these questions." she replied, now looking ahead, "and I dont think any of us like those answers."
his lips curled up to a small smile, "No, i dont think we will."
They sat there for some moment, the silent surprisingly comfortable for both of them. it was like a surreal dream, both person who dislike each other, sitting in comfortable silence. its not happening.
the dream was broken when her phone rang. he watched as she moved away from him, talking, and then got up to go behind the wheels as he saw the team mates coming back. he opened his side of door, and then paused.
that was his silver aqua-stoned bracelet on his seat.
he was surprised, of course, and then his eyes found its way toward her, whom he could see through the SUV door. her eyes met him once again, just for a second, as if she can sense him looking, and then she turned once again, still talking to phone. he took the bracelet, touching the chain with his thumb. before he can think anything else, the team mates arrived and got inside the SUV. he put on the bracelet, not removing his eyes from the reflection of her as she settled down in the back, and started driving, leaving behind the beauty of lake as the Sun slowly set down infront of them, heading for their modern city filled with traffic, noise and regular problems.
for the first time they preferred Grey over Black and White.
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"I take it the work is done." she put the phone on her ear and started talking, distancing herself from the Second in command of her team as she walked. she stopped only when she was at a safe distance, and waited for the other man to start talking again.
"I knew it." Raghu sir's voice surprised her, and she closed her eyes shut, cursing.
"I told you, you will get your chance but first, I need my information." He was pissed, very, very pissed, something she didnt face for many years. she opened her eyes, bracing herself for an argument.
"I need him." she spoke quietly, emphasizing each word, "You can have him later."
"I am not sure he will survive for later." he answered harshly, to which her jaw clenched. then she heard his sigh, "you going behind my back only drag the process, Riya. I need my team to work w/o any hindrance, and if you create the hindrance, it will only mean you wont get anything anytime soon." he spoke hurriedly when she opened her mouth, "and that was not a warning. its clear cut truth."
she didnt say anything, because frankly, she didnt have anything to say, "So there wont be any plan to pick up Johny anywhere available, I guess?"
"No." her clipped tone earned another sigh.
"Good. just for your information, your men got him. now we have Johny." she inhaled a sharp breath, "soon you will get him too."
"I am counting on it." she cut the call, hitting her forehead softly with the edge of phone, cursing silently. this means more wait, and she is tired of waiting.
it didnt look like the day was over for her, matching eye to eye with a evil village head and earning wrath of an entire village, not to forget, nearly escaping death if the timing of other police officers and ETFians were not accurate. Still, it was not over.
she least expected her past to be dangling in front of her in ETF office, in the form of a news paper cut out, though.
its not like she was unaware that the crime journo knew some bits and pieces of her, maybe even did some digging. The most surprising part was the person who was holding the paper. who knew, Arjun Rawte, second in command and no-nonsense personality, who can hardly bear light comments in crime scene, always on focus, always glaring at her and disapproving her actions, can team up with the nosy crime journalist to do a background search on her? who knew, that he actually gave a damn about her, though she would have liked if he didnt, not like this.
Anger was something like a second skin to her, always surfacing and showing its ugly teeth, may it be shady suspects to draw out confessions, or low life criminals to remind them they owe her favor and she is using that favor in that moment. she is always angry, but right then, it was nothing like the second skin she felt.
At that moment, she could put this place, the ETF building, on fire, and walk away leaving them burning inside it.
The crime journo looked scared, embarrassed, and what not, she observed, but she was hardly taking pleasure from it. The second in command . . . Arjun Rawte, left the news paper cut out on a nearby desk, his both hand on air and walking to her cautiously, as if he is afraid to make any move. Well, he should be, if he don't want this building to burn, he very well should be afraid. For some reason, she was angrier at the man than the crime journo who didn't like her since the very first time they met. Sure, she arranged all the links of her past, but somehow his involvement into this made it feel worse.
She felt betrayed that moment.
What was this, human nature to count on someone? Its desire to trust someone? She knew she could not trust anyone, yet somewhere down the way, her sub-conscious self wanted to trust on someone, maybe even did. Blame it on those Gym group exercises, the fights between the two of them, verbal and physical, his willing and unwilling presence beside her, compliments and loud disapproving.
Well, her mind said, it won't happen again.
"I can explain." her ears picked up the shaky voice of the crime journo, scared and cautious. She could hardly look at her, eyes fixed on the second in command as he watched her every move.
"Go. To. Hell." her reply was more for him than her. The next moment she left the two of them, door banging behind her. She half expected the glass to shatter, maybe it would have made her feel better, but it didn't.
Even the glasses of ETF disappointed her.
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He knew, one day, the nosy attitude of the crime journo of the team will land her in trouble.
He just didn't know he will be with her in trouble land as well.
In all fairness, he didn't know what the hell even happened. He noticed her working on her laptop, papers scattered everywhere. He could only see the mention of ACP Mukherjee in one of the lines, and he asked her about it.
she nearly jumped at his voice, and he knew, in that moment, that she was doing a background search on the ACP. he was all ready, glaring eyes and disapproving voice to chastise her for it, but then he noticed the papers on floor which she had dropped when she jumped at his voice. he bend to picked it up, and all went to hell from there.
Honestly, he was half expecting the ACP to strangle them both to death. for some reason, her eyes were fixed on the paper cut on his hand, which he didn't so much as look. she looked mad, the kind of mad which leave you breathless and on edge. she just stared at both of them, nails digging on palms, and just continued to stare at him. her eyes went dark, not the usual kind, but something . . . raw, animal- like.
that moment he knew she was not kidding when she said just because she don't kill, that doesn't mean she can't.
If looks could kill . . .
She was like those people who become quiet when furious, only showing it through her eyes. when she replied to Sakshi, both of them flinched at her tone, harsh, biting, disgusted by them.
when she left, both of the stood frozen for some seconds, and then he was running behind her.
it was dangerous, to go behind her when she is this much pissed. but a louder voice in his mind said him to fix it, though he was just at the wrong place at wrong time and no fault at all. he wanted this, whatever this is between them, to be fixed.
Yes, he didn't like when she hurt his neck when they first met. He didn't like when she went through an encounter w/o her bullet proof jacket. He didn't like when she showed up in a crime scene in less than formal dress. He hates she can't talk to him straight, always rude and sarcastic. He hates that she don't fear him, his angry glares and loud voice, and match it with her equally powerful icy stares and quiet voice. He hates when she call him Boss, not for once obeying him or realising the authority behind the word, making it sound mocking.
But somewhere along the lines, something changed from his side. he let her pin him down on floor for the 3rd time, willingly walking into her trap, not so much as struggling when she showed off arrogantly her strength. He admired her courage when she didn't hesitate to slap the village head, surrounding by his guards. He liked when she bickered with rest of team mates, playful to serious at an instant. He liked how she handles the bites of Sakshi with her own, appreciate the Juniors. He wont admit, but he liked how she cared enough for the nosy crime journo to lend her bullet proof jacket.
He wanted to fix this. . . however non-existent is the professional relation between them. He could say its because he didn't want any awkwardness in his team, surely not with someone he was trouble adjusting already, but it was not the truth. Somewhere in these months, the subtle and verbal arguments, the pinning down on floor, the short dresses and undercover jobs, something developed. when she looked at him tonight, he saw the disgust in her eyes and hear it in her voice. that something had broken, and he wanted to fix it.
he found her near the elevator, fists clenched, stiff posture, gaze fixed on elevator but he could tell she was really not looking at it. the hallway was nearly deserted, one person or two walking every now and then. he approached her cautiously.
"Its not like you think. Just calm down and we can talk about . . . "
he was cut short when she turned to him swiftly, her palm on his chest, and pushed him backwards with surprising speed. she always takes him by surprise, the swift and quick movement barely missed by eyes. But that moment, he knew, in all the earlier encounters, she was not really looking forward to hurt him.
she did, that moment.
he grunted in pain internally, exhaling a breath softly both not to show his hurt and not to spook her further. that will leave a bruise , he thought in mind, and then met her eyes. his mouth went dry just by looking into her eyes, angry and raw, as if she can do much more damage to him than hurt him.
she matched him toe to toe, head held high, her fingers twisting the coller of his shirt as she pulled him toward her, jerking them both, "How dare you?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper, harsh and disgusted like earlier.
he could not immediately answer her, all the voice which told him to fix it and explain died in mind. he took another breath, trying to find his voice, but it only came out as meek as he said, "Its not like you think."
why the hell he is repeating himself?
"I don't care a fuck." she answered in the same tone, and he again wondered how she does this, deadly yet calm, furious yet quiet, "It won't happen ever again, is that understood?"
The way she is ordering him, he would have taken offense at her swearing and her audacity, but all he could do was to stare at her. she left his coller, and he shivered as her voice fell on his ears.
"If you do that again, I will kill you."
her voice made no mistake to make sure she was serious, and then she took some step back. at some point, she had pushed the elevator button. he continued to look as she went inside, and could only stare at the place where she stood less than seconds ago.
he snapped out of it, and then saw several people glancing at him in the hallway, obviously alerted by the sound she made when she pushed him on wall. he also saw the crime journo, who looked more scared than ashamed at this whole situation.
He won't lie, he was also scared of her.