17. The warm browns

*****

Marwan was quick to get in touch with major Mathur. The urgency in his tone had said enough for the senior to arrive the very next day in Bandra. Daiyan had been discharged but decided to stay back at the hospital since Parizad was yet to get a clean chit and hence, the case now rested in the others' hands.

"Lekin yeh ho nahi sakta, Marwan. This man..."

Mathur pointed at Kabir's laptop screen, a look of conflict passed through his age-old eyes as he tried to make sense of all the things.

"This man is yet to be released. He was convicted for hit and run, sexual assault and attempt to murder of his own wife. He's been in prison for almost 4 years now..."

He paused, a look of recognition struck him hard and he groaned in frustration. Everyone else just stared at him with an expression of their own. Major Mathur took a deep breath, a hmm was what he said next before laughter bubbled out of his throat.

Marwan and Aliya shared a look. The two suddenly concerned about the well-being of their senior while Ziah, Laiha and Kabir remained clueless and felt a little out of place with all the criminal talk going on.

"God, that was a clean work, wasn't it?"

Mathur whispered to himself as he chuckled again. But the thing about his laughs was that they were anything but humorous.

"Sir, you alright?"

Marwan's hesitant whisper made Mathur give him a glare, straightening the former's almost immediately. Mathur fixed the stiff collar of his navy blue t-shirt and rubbed his temple lightly.

"I'll be perfectly fine when people with money stop messing with the judiciary system."

"Matlab kabhi nahi."

Marwan snickered at his own words. Aliya who stood by his side jabbed him in the stomach by her elbow, a look of pure frustration was what Marwan gave her in return to which, she just glared and mouthed 'behave'.

"I remember clearly reading about another session of his hearing. Somewhat a week from now maybe. Sounds like in exchange to his job being almost successful, the person offered him an early release from the prison."

Mathur ran a hand across his stubble. His eyes seemed deep in thought as he replayed what all Marwan had told him. The accident surely was planned if the police was not able to even identify the driver for a hefty fine, licence cancellation and jail for a month or more.

If he was let go off the hook so easily, then surely there was another power holding the collars of the police department.

"But why Daiyan? How much I remember we haven't even raided an elite for so long!"

Aliya muttered under her breath. Marwan nodded his head in agreement but knew it was something more than that.

"It's not always the recent ones, Aliya. Some people can't digest defeat easily. Even a single blow to their powerful financial ego is something they don't take without the promise of giving a bigger one in return."

A silence fell over the room. No one knew how to trace the small clues to the person responsible for it all- after all, they knew well that this wouldn't be easy.

"What about the girl trafficking racket?"

Marwan's words did more than enough to change the silence into something suffocating. Ziah clenched her fists to stop the visible tremor but as her shaken eyes met Marwan's, the latter relaxed his posture a little and gave a look of comfort to Ziah who looked away, not wanting to be shown pity for she had had enough of it back then.

Marwan sighed under his breath. His mind knew what she might be going through- maybe not completely but he did have the slightest bit of idea. His eyes urged her to look his way but the stubborn woman kept her face downcast, not looking up once and that just added up to his building vexation.

"The trafficking- no, we weren't able to get much from the men we captured. They were given instructions on phones or by people whose chain seemed never ending. We tracked down most of them but they too told the same thing. The person was clever to make a chain long enough for us to not get hold of him easily."

"It could be the same person. Daiyan and Marwan were the head of the mission, most likely if any of the men were to have escaped, they'd have addressed these two."

"But the attack was done-"

"We can't be too careless. If Daiyan has been attacked, then most likely, he'd come for you next."

Mathur gave a look to Marwan that clearly said more than enough. The latter ran a hand through his hair, something he'd do when he was worried and the action seemed to be occurring more times than he'd like.

"So what do you want me to do? Hide like a coward?"

"Or maybe set a trap for when he strikes."

Aliya retorted back. Her eyes tried to hide the concern in them but Marwan had clearly seen pass through the sarcasm that she coated her words with.

Ziah finally trained her eyes on Marwan upon hearing about the potential threat. The dark part in her whispered a few times that this was all her fault but the reasonable one was quick to suppress the gnawing guilt.

She had been there along with the many others. It wasn't her fault and neither was it the commandos. The one responsible for it all was the person who thought that humans could be sold from one person to another just to make more money and invite the sick fame.

"But how can you be so sure that it's the same person responsible for the trafficking? He could be someone else for all we know!"

Laiha's words cut through the air and they did make sense. How could they think that out of the many missions that they had done, the person responsible for that one crime would be the one playing the revenge game.

"Then why not ask it to the driver himself?"

A smirk pulled on Marwan's lips, an action that clearly indicated anything but good intentions. Aliya looked at Kabir, a silent conversation being held before the tech expert turned the laptop his way and got indulged with trying to find a way to get in.

Ziah watched the whole scene mutely. Her mind was waging a war she didn't want to take part in. It was over a month since the trafficking incident and not once had it resurfaced- maybe because her nightmares were shielding by an invisible force, a force that she didn't want to acknowledge.

Rubbing the back of left palm, she politely excused herself from the room. They were back at the Qureshi estate and were sitting in a guest room a few rooms ahead of hers.

She had expected Waheed to be pacing around the living room but much to her luck- or maybe Marwan's, the man had not been in sight since the past 3 hours that they were here.

"Ziah, beta kaha ja rahi ho?"

The sudden voice of Madiha made her stumble on her steps since being too engrossed in her thoughts didn't give her the time to prepare herself for the elder woman's presence nor her words.

Getting back on stable feet, she turned around and gave a small smile to Madiha, hoping that it did well to disguise the anxiousness that was roaring within her with full force.

"Kuch nahi aunty bus thodi thakan ho rahi thi, isliye apne room mein wapas ja rahi hu."

All of a sudden, a concerned yet stern expression took over Madiha's face. She narrowed her age-old eyes at Ziah who suddenly felt more than nervous due to a reason she had no idea about.

"Thakan hogi hi na. When was the last time you ate properly?"

As she said the words, Ziah's eyes fell on the tray of snacks that she held. Behind her, approaching footsteps were heard and Ziah looked over Madiha's shoulders only to find 2 servants holding trays filled with food in their hands.

"Chalo, pehle khana khalo and then go take a power nap."

Madiha ushered her back to the room she had come out from and no matter how much her heart told her not to step inside and be alone for a while, she gave a tight smile to Madiha and hesitantly walked back into the room-

Even though all she wanted to do was lay in her bed and either cry or sleep.

"I know what you all are discussing is important, lekin abhi ke liye yeh sab side mein rakhiye and go wash your hands and come. Bhuke pait dimag nahi chalta kisi ka."

Madiha announced in the room full of people and the tense silence that Ziah was trying to escape in the first place deflated quickly upon Madiha's arrival. Ziah unconsciously trained her gaze on Marwan who was gawking at the tray filled with food. The excitement in his eyes was that of a child's upon seeing the delicacies on the iftar table and Ziah had to bite the insides of her cheeks to not chuckle out loud.

"Tum kaha chali gayi thi?"

Laiha's small whisper next her ears made her cover a shriek as her wide eyes looked at the sceptical hazel ones.

"Apne room mein ja rahi thi but.."

Ziah trailed on and Laiha got the message when her eyes darted to Madiha who was cleaning the table to make space for the food.

A chuckle was what Ziah heard before everyone had gathered around the food table. Each one eyed the food they liked the most or couldn't wait to eat it and Ziah had to cover the surprise because the tough and serious expressions on their faces were now replaced by merriment and moderation.

"Marwan, woh tumhare liye nahi hai!"

Madiha swatted her son's hand that was trying to sneak in the plate of masala pav and a pout was all she got in return. Numerous snickers were heard around the two and before Madiha could move the plate away from him, Laiha interjected,

"Khala, rehne de use. You know he's crazy about them."

Laiha passed her share to Marwan who was quick to grasp them. A wide smile was what he offered her in return to his favourite snack and Ziah visibly forced herself to look away from the heart melting interaction.

"Ziah, beta eat something. Wait, try these."

Madiha placed a small plate filled with sev puri in her hands before she could get the chance to say anything else. Ziah's eyes took in the fill to the brim plate and she gulped, not because she couldn't eat it but because the tangy smell along with the delicious looking way that it was aligned with made her mouth water.

Looks like she was hungry after all.

"Nahi khana hai toh you can give it to me."

As soon as Marwan said the words, his hands outstretched themselves to take hold of the plate from her hands but Ziah was quick enough to pull the plate more to herself and gave a warning glare to the man who was half way done with his own food.

"Kha rahi hu na. Itni kya jaldi hai?"

"Ab tum use aise ghur rahi thi toh mujhe laga..."

He tried to sound nonchalant but the hidden tease in them made her grumble under her breath and take a bite of the sev puri in hopes for the spicy tangy flavour to replace her second hand embarrassment.

"Marwan, stop troubling her. Apni plate finish karo warna woh bhi le lungi."

The threat in his mother's tone made Marwan finish his food within seconds while the others around him tried to hide their amusement by savouring their own snacks.

Ziah hid her smile behind the next bite of her sev puri but the burning gaze on the side of her head made her look up only for the spoon to be forgotten in her hold.

The swirling inferno that felt invisible amidst the warm browns made her heart skip a beat. The blazing worry in them was clear as the daunting sun at the time of its zenith and Ziah gulped her food down so as to not choke at the care that Marwan had directed her way.

His silly words were meant to do nothing but reduce the subsiding trauma in her mind and Ziah couldn't be any more grateful to the man than she already was. Tears pricked the side of her eyes as she blinked a few times.

Her gaze that was locked with his had now been broken and she took hold of the cold water to soothe the burning sensation in her throat- a feeling that clearly said that her tears would burst out at any moment now.

Finishing her food as hurriedly as she could, Ziah kept the plate at the side and gave a polite smile to everyone in the room. She excused herself again but this time she was quick to reach her room before any more interruptions could hinder the way for her tears.

Closing the curtains that were letting the rays of sunshine in, she relished in the slight darkness around and subtly got under the covers, pulling them up to her chin.

Staring into oblivion for a while, she finally closed her eyes and felt a tear trickling down her face until it disappeared like the many others that followed after it. A haze was what her mind developed before the memories back to the day when she had been taken out of one hell only to be put into another resurfaced and she lost herself amongst the ghostly stabs that she felt all over her body- physically and mentally.

*********

Awe, our Ziah bacha seems to be sulking. Marwan, do a better job!

Lol, now now, it's not his fault. Woh toh kar raha hai koshish.

Anyways, a memory trip is ahead, the dots will be connected and little by little everything will make sense. Like damn, the book seems messed up currently....

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