It is a staredown and either shows the sign of giving in. The eyes are fixed and the rest of the bodies are frozen still. After a few seconds, the sound of breathing creeps through the air and one pair of eyes moves from the opponent to the cup of coffee that lands on the coffee table in front of him. Both of his feet touch the floor as he leans in to get the cup.
"I wasn't aware that you've got a dog, Miss Haseena." Haseena's lawyer addresses his observation as he takes off the glasses and takes a sip of the coffee. His eyes are still on Jabba who is incredibly well-behaved. He is just sitting there with his smile; minding everyone's business so silently. Everything and everyone are so interesting for him.
Haseena sits back on the couch after getting Aanya her tea. She crosses her legs and calls Jabba over; which he follows her order so strictly as if she is really his mom. "This is Karishma's dog."
"Oh. I see." Her lawyer leans back into the armchair and puts his glasses back on the tip of his nose. He makes it obvious that he is not really a big fan of the statement concerning his client's girlfriend. His advice is obviously ignored and he can't do anything about it.
"Look, you need to put your little suspicion on Karishma to rest already. We all agreed that the password- access thing could be anyone. Besides, I trust her. And. She has been nothing but amazing to me. I don't know what else I can tell you." Haseena says everything so calmly as if she is not bothered by another rock that has been thrown at them. She is now convinced that they are standing on the solid enough ground. They are building something great together. "Have you checked that footage Captain Lanna mentioned?"
"Well, as she said, they are not quite clear." Her lawyer takes off his glasses again and sighs. "Without Will Hughes's statement, we barely have anything. The district attorney is practically turning around now."
"I mean... It is impossible to leave zero trace, right? It must be something." Haseena exhaustedly questions the exact same thing that has been circling in her brain for weeks now. She can't seem to settle on the idea that Brian committed a perfect crime. "Fingerprints. Traffic cams. Eye-witnesses."
"He is a cop." James casts his opinion from the armrest that he has been perching on next to Haseena. "He probably knows how to hide and how to dodge things like that."
"Yeah." The lawyer responds shortly. James has just said what he keeps silently on his mind.
Haseena glances at James before making him her personal cushion by leaning against him. This whole thing is eating her up and she becomes too tired to fight it. "What do you suggest?"
"We can file but I'm almost certain that it will be dismissed in a heartbeat." The lawyer doesn't even try to bend the truth. He knows he can make more money out of Haseena but with his experience and his time with this young girl, he doesn't want that. "Unless a confession miraculously lands into our hands."
"Have you talked to Karishma?" Aanya sighs deeply. She wants to help. She sees with her own eyes how hard this has been on Haseena. She can see that Haseena cannot move on if she doesn't get some sort of a closure. "She is also a cop. It wouldn't be hard for her to squeeze something out of Detective Park."
"I don't know if she'll do it." Haseena says underneath her breath as she closes her eyes and remembers the time Karishma made her stance on this. They have yet to discuss on how far Karishma would go with the 'I will help him as much as I can' and the 'I might not be on your side' things.
"You should talk to her. I mean it's a little impossible to think that Karishma would refuse to do things you ask her to if you ask me." James shines the light on the thought that everyone has. "She probably acts like she doesn't want to but-"
"She pulls through." Aanya finishes James' sentence with a nod of agreement.
"She pulls through." James repeats and feels a little delighted that they finally agree on something.
"That might be the best we can do." The lawyer jumps in.
Haseena reaches for her phone from the coffee table before unlocking it and locking it again a second later. She remembers something from a conversation she held with Karishma earlier today. "Karishma is in her last counselling session. She's turned off her phone. I'll talk to her tonight."
......
"Hi."
The greeting wakes Brian up from the short visit to the darkness. He struggles to open his eyes as he feels the warm-hard ground touching his skin. His hands are tied behind his back by the zip tie that slowly but surely cuts through his skin. The pain in his stomach is still growing to chase those fine feelings away from his existence. After a minute has passed and Brian has failed to fully come to, a bucket of iced-cold water is poured on his face. That leaves his body no choice but to be awaken and fight back.
"Hi." The voice greets him again as he gradually comes to realize that it sounds so familiar.
Brian tries to shake his head to lose some water that is blocking his sight. Once he is able to open his eyes and catch the sight of the one who greeted him, he smiles. "Kid."
Karishma smirks as she squats down next to Brian. "Are you comfortable?"
"I am." Brian chuckles although his entire being is in pain. Some water on his face is still playing a waterfall in the drought to make his sight a bit blurry. Even so, he can see that Karishma in front of him now is not the Karishma he has known as a partner. Her eyes turn cold and emotionless. Her eyes turn her into something he can't predict.
"This kind of mattress helps with back problems."
"Definitely." Karishma nods a little to show her ironic agreement.
"Are you going to kill me?" Brian asks as he rolls back to his side. He now feels the pain around his wrists but still he tries to lose the zip tie. He knows if he can do that, he can definitely fight her. He can get away and maybe he can do something more.
"I'm not." Karishma stands in front of him with her hands in her pockets and chuckles a little as if she has just heard something so ridiculous. "I'm not going to kill you. No."
"Arr." Brian groans as the pain spreads from his wrists up to his arms. It hurts enough only the zip tie tying around his wrists but now there is some sort of pressure pressing on them.
"He is untying it." The male's voice that is deep and low describes the situation in Karishma's blind spot. He uses his foot stepping on the zip tie between Brian's wrists and makes it cut further into his skin.
"Who the fuck are you?" Brian tries to turn and face the mysterious man with the accent. He is tall and muscular with a French crop and a clean shave.
"Oh, I'm sorry, mate. I haven't introduced myself, have I? Where have my manner gone?" The man squats down and pulls Brian's shoulder harshly so that he is on his back and facing him. "Cheeta Malik. I believe you know my sister?"
"Oh, well." Brian smirks and tries to appear as tough as he always was although his eyes are telling a different story. He knows that Haseena's family are cops and that was one of the main reasons he chose to go on his ingenious plan with Haseena. What he doesn't know or come to realize is that they would break the law that they are so adore. It might be a bit slow but he starts to admit that he had made quite a mistake of choosing Haseena as his victim. "I cannot know her more than my partner for sure."
Cheeta slaps Brian's face gently. "You're a funny man."
"Thanks."
"Let's see how long you'll ever be." Cheeta hits his punch right on Brian's stomach; the same spot that he hit him with a bat and the same spot he was shot by Haseena.
Karishma watches Brian curl in pain. He barely makes a sound but his silence is so loud. He is shattering by the physical pain but that's not exactly what Karishma wants from this whole thing. She crosses her arms as Cheeta stands by her. Cheeta is evidently taller than her and with the muscles he has gained from his great amount of time in the gym and his few years in BSF. He is practically an intimidating giant. "That must hurt."
"No." Brian breathily answers with his veins trying to popping out of his head.
"No? But do you know what hurts?" Karishma asks without moving in or away from where she is.
"Getting shot in the stomach?" Brian fights his pain until he can barely feel a thing but he can't give up. He can't just lose to these people. "Again?"
"No." Karishma shakes her head before pushing Brian to go on his back again and turning him around to another side. He needs to see someone and she has to make sure that he sees it with his wide-awake eyes and conscious mind. "Seeing the one you love hurts and not be able to do anything about it."
Brian's eyes become wider and his fear makes its way out in the open through them. The frighten scene he sees is Joanne, his wife, being tied up to the sloppy wooden chair with a cloth covering her mouth. She is crying. She is scared. She can't do anything. "Jo."
"We'd been trained, Brian. We've been trained for this kind of things. We might be abducted. We might be shot at. We might shoot others. But when the day is done and if we're lucky enough, we'll wake up, go through counselling and move on like nothing has happened." Karishma looks at Joanne and back at Brian whose eyes are fixed on his wife; trying his very best to ensure her that everything will be alright. "But with them. With them, things are different. This whole thing haunts them. How many nights do you think Jo will stay up after this? How many times do you think Jo will be startled when she hears the knocks on her door? How many days do you think she will be able to stay in that house alone like before? So, no, Brian, I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to make you suffer. I'm going to put Jo through the exact same thing Haseena is going through."
"Don't hurt her." Brian whispers. Now, he feels the weak in his knees although he is not even standing up. This is his Achilles' heel and Karishma is shooting the arrow right into it. "Please, she is pregnant."
"Oh, don't worry." Karishma takes her steady steps towards Joanne and stops by her without turning around. They are making sure that whatever happens to Brian, Karishma will be able to say that she doesn't see it. "We're not hurting her."
Karishma's last word acts as a cue for her accomplice to act more. Cheeta is more than happy to act as the brawn in this. He was rage to hear about this but when his parents came over and came back with the news that Haseena was fine and in a good hand, he was less worried. However, with the aftermath that was told; the way Karishma laid it down, he cannot just sit around and do nothing when his little sister is going through hell. So he came. He came with a few men he trusts with his life. They have put all of this together in the matter of days. They have put all of this together without spilling a word to Haseena, his parents or anyone.
"Ready, mate?" Cheeta grins devilishly as he sways the bat in his hands. He doesn't know much about the American game of baseball but he surely comes to enjoy it with Brian as his own personal ball.
"I love you, honey." Brian says and lets his words travel through the muggy storage unit that has no window or ventilated air.
______
A big thanks to everyone who are still here.
Take care.
Bye'll 👋 👋