Part 18 Meeting
Khushi was biting her nails nervously. She didn't know how Arnav found out the Rejoice truth. Did she leave a hint? Without any hint, there was no chance for Arnav to guess it was she. What was that? Taking her mobile, she checked the Email sent by her. She mentioned the DARK STREET in bold letters in the mail. It was exactly the next day she met him in the DARK STREET. She was the only one who knew the reason behind the DARK STREET's sudden improvement. She met him in the street the previous day. Would he have connected the dots? She sighed with a pout. What was she going to do now? How could she tell him she was the one? What would he think if she told him after traveling a long way with him? She was confused.
In the meanwhile,
After disconnecting Khushi's call, Arnav signed a few files, smilingly. Khushi would not have expected him to open up the secret directly. He knew she was the one. Then what was the point in playing hide and seek? It was already late though. He knew Khushi. She was the most reliable person in the district than anyone. She was the daughter of a Tahsildar. Then there was nothing to hesitate. Let's see what Khushi Gupta would do...!
Of course, she denied accepting the truth but she could not do it for long. He never met such a person in his life who had the same wavelength as him. Her thoughts synchronized with his. She was concerned about the country and society, just like he did. At the same time, she was lovable too. He liked her very much...! Of course, a man would give his TIME only if the person was important to him. It was always about the priorities...! If the person wanted, he/she would give his/her time no matter how busy they were. That was the secret of Arnav to give his time to Khushi.
That was when he got a call from his secret team head. Arnav attended it.
"Yes, Mr. Sodhi?"
"Sir, Shyam got a call from a new number. The opposite person called him DAMADJI"
"Oh..."
"Shyam is going to go to his village with his family tomorrow to attend a pooja in the temple. His uncle invited him, sir"
"Oh..."
"The call didn't seem natural sir"
"Why so?" Arnav raised his head and stopped signing.
"The call was made just a minute ago. No pooja can be fixed all of a sudden that too after 10 o'clock, sir. then why did his uncle call him in this time and invite him? Their talks sounded so artificial. More than that, his uncle hinted to him about their PLAN that was planned THREE MONTHS ago."
Arnav closed his eyes thoughtfully.
"The opposite person would have spoken changing his voice, sir"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir"
"OK, follow Shyam to his village. Get to know who he meets in the village and the pooja has really been arranged"
"Yes, sir... our team is ready"
"Good... go ahead"
"Yes, sir"
Arnav disconnected the call. He never believed Dev was changed. The much he knew about Dev and Shyam, they were not CHANGING KIND. He knew they were lurking only to pounce at the right time. He had been expecting them to do something for long but he didn't know why now. Everything would have an end. So was this issue. He wanted to see what they would do. He continued his work thinking about them.
The next day
Shyam called the Disaster Management Department Tahsildar. He attended the call.
"Sir, I need a day off today"
"For?"
"Emergency"
"Is everything all right?"
"Yeah... going to my village to meet my uncle"
"Mmm... ok"
"Thank you sir" he disconnected the call.
Keeping his phone in his pocket, he came out of the room.
"Anjali, I'm getting late"
"Yeah, coming" She brought him breakfast.
He finished eating and stood up.
"I won't come for lunch"
"But, why?"
"A newly joined assistant is going to give a treat. We are going out for lunch" he lied.
"Oh..."
"Bye..."
"Bye"
Arnav's secret team was watching Shyam from different directions. One of them was waiting at the opposite shop of his house. When Shyam started his bike and turned LEFT,
"He is coming to the bus stand..." the information passed.
If Shyam had turned RIGHT, he might have gone to the railway station.
"He crossed the government school"
"He came to the parking lot"
"He got into the bus that is going to Kailashpur"
Two men from the secret team got into the same bus and took seats.
The information was passed to the team members. At the same time, Arnav entered the room that was in the Camp Office (collector's Residence) itself. The team head, who was directing the team stood up, seeing Arnav.
"Sit" he pressed his shoulder.
Pulling another chair, Arnav sat with him.
"Our team is following him sir but he is not going to his Father-in-law's village"
"Is it?"
"Yes, sir... his wife's village is in the opposite direction but he is going to Kailashpur"
"Oh..."
"And, he is going alone sir. When he spoke to his uncle, he said he would bring his wife with him."
"Mmm"
Shyam got a call from the same number.
"Sir, this is the number..." Sedhi said.
"Mmm"
Shyam attended the call.
"Hello, Damadji, are you coming?"
"Started... will reach in forty minutes"
"Waiting"
"Yeah..."
The call got disconnected. The very next minute, Shyam got another call. The team head looked at Arnav embarrassingly. Shyam attended the call.
"Hi, baby"
"Don't you come to the office today?"
Arnav raised his brows. OFFICE?
"No darling... I'm going to my village for an important purpose"
"Go... I brought your favorite keer for you"
"Is it? Anything special?"
"Nothing is special. I like to feed it to you"
"Sitting on my lap?"
"Why not? I always do..."
"Don't worry. I will try to come to the office as soon as possible. Ok?"
"Really? Will you come?"
"Yeah, how will I miss the chance of having you on my lap?"
"You easily said... only I know how hard it is for me to tackle Aman"
"Why? Did he say anything?"
"He always glares at me whenever I talk to you. he just went to Collector's room"
"Leave him... tiny vermin... I will take care of him"
"He shows attitude after becoming Collector's PA. Without you in the cabin, I don't feel like working here"
"Everything will be all right soon"
"Mmmm... I will be waiting for you"
"I'm planning to fix a simple outing just like we went last month. It's been one month since we stayed together, what say... I'm not getting sleep in nights in the sweet memories of our gatherings... my heart needs you again"
"My husband is going on a business trip next week. Plan accordingly"
"Is it? Woooowww... thank you so much... will meet you soon, bye"
"bye"
They disconnected the call.
Arnav looked at the team head who was bowing down. It seemed he knew about this already.
"Is she Simran?" Arnav guessed it right.
"How do you know sir?"
"What's the big deal? She is missing Shyam in her cabin and Aman is glaring at her whenever she speaks to Shyam. If Aman can do it WHENEVER she speaks with Shyam, she must be my steno, Simran who was in the same cabin with Aman"
"You are a genius sir"
"Why didn't you bring this issue to my attention?"
"We are dealing with a very important issue sir... we don't think this is important"
"It is... this is about my office reputation. It's not a place to entertain such illegal affairs...! Would they speak to their respective partners like this? I don't know how these people are living with no regret" he said controlling his anger. At the same time, he decided what should be done.
After a few minutes, Shyam reached the village. Shyam got off the bus. A few villagers also got down from the bus and Arnav's team members joined them. They didn't show a hurry.
One of them asked a villager.
"What temple is famous in your village?"
"Only one temple is there in our village... it's Shiv Mandir"
"Is any special pooja going to be held there today?"
"Special Pooja? What's special today?" The villager frowned.
"I heard like that"
"No... nothing is like that" he walked away.
They saw Shyam going into the wide lane. They started moving behind him, hiding behind trees and buildings giving enough distance between one another.
They saw him entering a temple. Someone was waiting for him there. Shyam went to him. The secret team could not see his face as he was facing his back to them. They could not hear their talks as they were standing far away from them and there was nothing to hide as it was a plain place. Shyam spoke to the man for more than half an hour. The man gave a small leather bag to Shyam. He opened it and took a bundle from the bag. No doubt it was money.
Shyam took leave from the man and left the temple with the bag. One of the secret team men gestured to another and followed Shyam, whereas another one stayed there to know who the man was.
After Shyam left the temple, the man came out of the temple and he was indeed Dev Sinha. The information was passed to Arnav immediately.
To be continued...