Life Of Rawtes

4) Confession and Bharat Milap

The ETF team was sitting in the conference room while Riya was explaining a case.

Riya- "Statistics ki maane to aise Royal families me hone wale young ladkiyo ke murder 70% times honour killing hote hai."

Sakshi- " That's possible. Waise bhi Avni ki shaadi jis ladke se hone wali thi woh ek normal family se belong karta hai. So this means ki Avni ki family ke sabhi log suspects hai."

Arjun who was continuously looking at the Billboard with a marker rotation freely in his hands, interrupted them.

Arjun- "Shaadi Wale din, 1000 mehman, 20 se zyada royal families, sheher ki naami hastiya aur mandap se dulhan ka gaayab hona. Aur yeh sab kuch apni izzat bachane ke liye. Samjhe ya...samjhau?"

Sameer- "Toh tumhara matlab ye hai ki royal family me se koi bhi humara suspect nahi hai?"

Arjun- "Maine Aisa kab kaha, Rathod? Maine sirf itna kaha ki murder ka motive Honour killing nahi hai."

Sameer- "Let's conclude on this. Kal tak body ki postmortem reports aa jayegi, right Liza?" she nodded, "Toh phir kal hi hum Shekhawats se milne jaayenge."

Riya, Ayesha and Sakshi stayed back to pack their things.

Sakshi- "Aaj bohot late ho gaya nahi?"

Riya- "Ha. Humari job hi aisi hai ki time ki koi boundation hi nahi hai." 

Both Sakshi and Ayesha nodded.

Riya- "Accha Sakshi. Aaj mujhe drop kar dogi please?"

Sakshi- "Mai toh aaj Ayesha ko drop kar Rahi hu...tum Sameer ya phir Arjun ke saath chali jao."

Riya nodded. She'll ask Sameer to drop her. Who would want to walk into the lion's den and ask him to have them for dinner!

Ayesha- "Tum Arjun sir ke saath hi chali jaana, Riya. Sameer Sir ko ulta jaana hoga tumhe drop karne. Faltu me unka time waste hoga."

Sakshi with a naughty smile- "Oho! Kisi ko Sameer 'Sir' ke time ki badi chinta hai?"

Ayesha blushed- "Kya kuch bhi? Mai toh aise hi bol rahi thi."

And that is how, Riya found herself yet again sitting beside Arjun on the passenger seat. The silence was awkward. It was clear that both of them were thinking about the events of the afternoon. Riya's cheeks redenned as she thought about the incident.

Arjun's phone rang. However, he didn't pay any heed to it and focussed on driving.

Riya- "Sir aapka phone baj Raha hai."

Arjun- "Sunai deta hai mujhe, Riya."

Riya looked away. This man was so annoying. Why can't he pick it up if it was audible like any normal human being. Or atleast put in on silent!

The phone rang again. This time, Arjun picked it up on the second ring itself. He had a tensed look on his face. Riya wondered what had him so edgy.

 "Hello."

"Soi nahi tu abhi tak? Time dekha hai?"

"That's not done. We'll talk once I am home."

"Bas 15 minutes me. Bye."

Riya looked at him shocked. For the first time in her 2 months in the crime branch of ETF had she seen the man talk in a not so formal tone. But who was he talking to? A girl by the sounds of it...maybe his girlfriend? That didn't sit well with her. Her heart burnt with jealousy at such a thought.

Without giving it a second thought, she asked, "Kiska phone tha, sir?"

Arjun gave her an icy cold look. Riya knew at that very moment that she had messed up big time!