CHAPTER 55: A lead or mislead?
(A week after the attack on Anika)
“He is dead”
Abir said as he checked the breathing of the man that lay in front of them…. Ranveer looked at him and then his eyes turned to the wall in front of him…. He walked to the wall and read the message yet again….
“It is not so easy to reach me,
DCP Randhawa and Shivaay Singh Oberoi
Try harder next time”
A week….
Not only seven days but seven nights….
They had spent finding the person who had tried to kill Anika near the police station…. The message Anika had received was not from any mobile phone but from a laptop using the internet…. Tracking and tracing it was not easy…. However Shivaay and Ranveer used all their resources and had finally found the location from where the number was accessed…. When they reached the place all they found was a man lying with blood around him and the message on the wall…. The person had been stabbed the same way Tia was…. The person who had killed this man was definitely the killer…. The things scattered around showed that the man had tried to fight back but could not save himself….
Anika was shocked seeing the person, who had tried killing her, lying on the floor dead…. She had never thought that something like this could happen….
Shivaay clenched his fingers into a fist as he read the message on the wall…. The person was going to pay for this…. He had tried to get Anika killed…. And Shivaay was not going to let him live in peace….
Shivaay: I am not going to spare this person. How dare he challenge Shivaay Singh Oberoi?
Anika: Relax, Shivaay, this is not the time to get angry and do unnecessary things.
Mishti: Anika is saying the correct thing, Mr. Oberoi, we have to keep calm, and anger may spoil things further.
They all looked towards Abir when he called Ranveer saying he had found something…. The four of them walked over to Abir who was examining the body….
Ranveer: What did you find?
Abir: This….
He signed towards the hand of the man…. They all looked in the direction Abir pointed…. The man’s hand had something crumpled between his fist…. It looked like a piece of paper…. Ranveer signed Abir and Abir opened the fist and took out the paper…. Abir looked at the paper and read the contents…. It looked like a bill paid at some pharmacy…. Some part of the paper was torn and the name of the pharmacy was incomplete…. “– Lane Pharmacy”…. Could be read but finding the entire name and the pharmacy would take time….
Ranveer: Abir, you examine the body and see if you find something else. And Mishti, you search all the pharmacies with the similar names, even if we have to search the entire city, we’ll do it. The person has challenged me and I’ll make sure he regrets it.
Mishti: Yes Sir, I’ll immediately start the search.
Mishti and Abir got to the work assigned to them…. The other policemen were searching the house to find anything else….
Ranveer signed Anika and Shivaay to come to a side as he wanted to talk to them…. Anika and Shivaay followed Ranveer…. Over the week, working together had reduced the tension between Shivaay and Ranveer to some extent…. They both had very different ways of working together but could accommodate each other’s ways….
Ranveer realized that Shivaay was not indeed that arrogant and rude as he had assumed him to be…. Another thing that Ranveer had observed over the week was that Shivaay cared a lot for Anika, not only because she was his lawyer but also because she meant something to Shivaay…. One thing that Ranveer missed was that he could not meet Priyanka nor could she come to the police station to work with them…. Shivaay and Anika’s constant presence had left no chance for Priyanka to visit him….
Shivaay had also learnt quite a few things about Ranveer which made him respect Ranveer to some extent…. Ranveer’s hard work and dedication to his duty made Shivaay look at him with a new perspective…. When they had first decided to work together Shivaay had thought they would end up being enemies for a lifetime but surprisingly things ended up the other way….
The only thing the attack brought as a relief to Anika was that Shivaay did not talk to her about the conversation he had heard in Raichand Mansion…. Anika thanked God that Shivaay’s attention had been diverted on finding the attacker and he would for some days not ask her about what she was hiding…. Only she knew how much harder it had become working with Shivaay now that he knew that she was hiding something….
Ranveer: Mr. Oberoi, with whatever we have found today, we have to more careful, the danger has increased. Ms. Raichand, you have to be very careful and I think you should avoid going alone anywhere.
Shivaay: Don’t worry about that, I’ll make sure that Anika is never alone. I’ll always be there for her.
Anika looked at Shivaay hearing his words…. Ranveer smiled a knowing smile…. Another thing that confirmed his doubts…. Anika did not know what she was supposed to feel, should she be happy that he cares for her a lot or should she be sad that she has to lie to him more…. Over the past week, Shivaay’s words and actions were making it quiet obvious for everyone around him that he cared for Anika in ways more than a lawyer or a friend’s sister….
Ranveer: Mr. Oberoi, I think you both should head home while we cover up everything here. And if we find something, I’ll inform you immediately.
Ranveer and Shivaay shook hands…. Ranveer asked Anika to take care and then walked back to Abir…. Shivaay and Anika walked outside the place….
*****
Shivaay and Anika reached Raichand Mansion…. Anika quickly got down from the car…. Throughout the journey Shivaay tried talking to her but she was busy on calls with someone or another…. Shivaay could feel that she was deliberately doing it to avoid their incomplete conversation from a week before…. And now seeing her hurry to get out of the car only confirmed his doubts…. What did she think that avoiding him would help her, then she was thinking wrong…. Shivaay Singh Oberoi was not going to let it go so easily…. He knew that the past week had been hectic but now he was not going to leave the topic unattended…. He was going to talk to her and she had to talk to him…. Anika took fast steps towards her house not wanting to be alone with Shivaay…. Shivaay also quickly got out of the car…. He took long steps towards her and grabbed her hand…. That was it…. This is what Anika did not want to happen…. Shivaay quickly turned her around and pulled her towards him…. Anika landed on his chest and kept her other hand on his shoulder for support…. Their eyes met but Anika looked away…. She could not afford to lose herself in those alluring eyes…. It would only make things harder…. Shivaay used his other hand and held her chin to make her look at him…. Having no other choice Anika looked at him trying hard to maintain a straight face…. Shivaay should not get the slightest idea of what was going inside her heart or mind….
Anika: Shivaay, leave me, koi dekh lega.
Shivaay: Dekhne do, I don’t care.
Anika looked at him as he said those words…. He definitely meant what he said…. Anika tried to free herself and put some distance between them but Shivaay only tightened his grip on her hand…. He had learnt from the last experience that she had the strength to get out of his hold and so today he was not going to let her succeed….
Shivaay: Anika, stop trying, you are not going to succeed. It is better we talk….
Anika: I don’t want to talk.
Anika tried to sound confident but that was not possible in this proximity…. Even Shivaay could understand that the closeness was affecting her…. This was his chance…. He pulled her even closer while Anika looked at him shocked by his move…. Why was he making it so difficult for her…. She controlled her tears…. No way was she going to cry in front of him and let him win….
Anika: Shivaay, please leave me, it is hurting.
Shivaay: It is hurting me also Anika, and more than you.
Anika looked at him…. His voice was not commanding this time…. It was hurt-filled and had some longing…. He who always hid his emotions under the façade was now letting them reflect in his eyes…. Anika looked at him lost for a moment forgetting that she was supposed to stay away from this…. His eyes…. His eyes were her weakness and she was getting weak…. Shivaay could see her melting in his arms…. Indeed expressing his emotions was the right way to make Anika talk to him….
Shivaay: Anika….
Anika: No Shivaay, please….
With that Anika gathered up all her strength and pushed him away freeing herself from his hold…. Shivaay who had not expected her to do this was taken aback yet again…. Anika was strong not only physically but also emotionally…. Even Shivaay had to make extreme efforts to talk to her…. Anika quickly turned to the other side as tears flowed from her eyes…. She knew if he saw her tears he would not let her go and she might end up doing something she would regret later…. She took quick steps towards her house…. Shivaay took a few moments to recover from the shock…. He composed himself and called her name…. She did not stop…. He again called her a few times but she did not pay any heed….
Shivaay: Anika, I love you…. Please stop…. I really love you….
Anika stopped at her tracks as she heard his unexpected confession…. She knew she loved him but had never thought that even he felt the same…. Their memories from the past weeks played in her mind…. Shivaay was also shocked for a moment realizing what he had said…. They both stood in their places…. Anika did not turn to look at him…. She knew if she looked into his eyes now then she would not be able to stop herself…. Shivaay started walking towards her but stopped as her words reached his ears….
Anika: I am sorry Shivaay but I don’t love you….
Anika walked into the mansion without looking at him…. Shivaay stood motionless as her words ringed in his mind again and again…. A lone tear escaped his eye…. She did not love him…. He could not think anything beyond her words….
*****
“This is the list of all the pharmacies with a similar name”
Mishti said handing over the paper to Ranveer and Abir…. The body had been sent for postmortem…. The reports for which could be available only the next day…. Ranveer read the list…. Fortunately only two pharmacies had the name they were looking for…. “Medilane Pharmacy”…. They were in two different locations…. The date on the bill said that the person had visited the pharmacy yesterday…. So they had to check the CCTV footage for the previous day….
Ranveer: The two pharmacies are in two different areas, do one thing, Abir, you and Mishti go to the first location while I’ll check the second one.
Abir: Yes Veer.
The trio started for their respective locations…. This was an important lead…. Hopefully it would take them a step closer to the killer….
*****
“Are you sure you saw her”
Ranveer asked when Abir and Mishti informed him that they had checked with the pharmacy and its CCTV footage revealed that Pankhuri Malhotra had visited the same pharmacy the previous day…. Mishti played the footage on the laptop and Ranveer looked carefully…. The previous day around two o’clock Pankhuri had entered the pharmacy…. She brought some medicines and left after around five minutes…. The entire footage was thoroughly checked and the man who had attacked Anika had not visited any of the pharmacies…. It meant only one thing the murderer of both the man and Tia had visited the pharmacy….
Ranveer: Hmm, I guess it is time to meet the Malhotras.
Mishti: Many other people have visited the pharmacy, how can we conclude that Ms. Malhotra may have some connection to the man who attacked Anika.
Abir: Well, connection hai ya nahi, yeh toh ab Malhotra Mansion se hi pata chalega.
Ranveer: You are right, even my intuition says that this is our lead. But before we go there, find out the details of Ms. Malhotra, what she does, where she goes everything.
Mishti: On it Sir, we’ll get the required information.
Ranveer nodded and Mishti and Abir walked out of the cabin…. Ranveer was lost in his thoughts…. Was this a lead or a mislead…. He wondered but his gut feeling told him that he was close to the killer….
*****
Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well.
Here is the next chapter of the story, do share your views on the same.
The man who attacked Anika is dead, so the person who killed Tia is out in the open still committing crimes. Ranveer and team have got few leads, will it lead them to the killer, or is it a mislead?
How will Shivaay’s unexpected confession change his and Anika’s relation?
Keep reading and smiling!!!
Take care and stay safe!!!