We are the master of our own destiny, but we can't control our heart. So, maybe, there is someone up there who fix a tiny part of our destiny. . .
- -
"Tell me about my love life!" was the excited squeal of Sakshi.
"Seriously?" was the response of Sameer, with the eye roll of Rawte and widen eyes of Mukherjee, followed by a small mocking smirk and looking away with disbelieve.
ETF got a new case today, murder in a Fair. The fortune telling Old lady was the witness of crime, the shooting of a 40 year old Female attorney. she already talked to local police, ETF was here to know more.
The fortune telling lady motioned the crime journo to sit, which she did, and immediatly offering her palm. behind her the trio looked visibly irritated, until Rawte said, "we are not exactly here to know our fortune, sakshi."
"Hush, Arjun, let her concentrate." she replied with a stern gaze, before looking back to the lady. he gave up on telling, Sameer crossed his arm, ready to laugh in mind for any statement come out from the old lady's mouth. behind them Mukherjee started to stroll through the small tent, looking and touching anything and everything.
"You like someone." the fortune telling lady said.
"As if thats not evident." Sameer mumbled, looking at Rawte who looked back, raising eyebrows.
"Will he take interest in me?" Asked Sakshi, not too subtly stealing glance at Rawte who was oblivious at the conversation.
"he will always protect you." was the lady's answer.
"I see kids in future, 2, Girls. And loving husband. you will achieve heights of success. you will live happily."
Sakshi squealed in happiness, and then made a face as Rawte had enough, "can we go back to our case yet?"
The lady said almost the same things what she said to police, a man, almost 6 feet tall, with a cowboy hat was near the attorney, then everyone heard the gun shot and running in fear, the man ran faster than anyone, the gun showing in his hand. the lady only saw partial face of the man, there was a scar on his cheek which reached till his eyes. he had pale skin and brown hair.
the ETF finished the interrogation and was about to leave when the lady asked, "wont not you gentleman like to know anything?"
Sameer gave a look to Rawte, a mocking smile coming up, "Na, we will pass."
The lady turned to Mukherjee who was now touching the crystal glasses, "what about you, yoing lady, wont you like to know anything?"
Sameer was now openly grinning, something in him telling it wont end well for anyone, "Yeah, Riya, wont you like to know anything?" not noticing the way Rawte looked and frowned at the use of first name. she gave a blank look to him, then glanced at the lady, not moving.
the lady has moved, and now reached for her hand, tracing lines on her right palm, "Sceptic. Did not have it too easy in life, did you, dear?"
Behind them the trio were looking curious, and Rawte noticed the way Mukherjee's eyes narrowed, listening but not believing.
"Tough times ahead." the lady continued, still tracing the lines on palm, "Hold on. Let them in. Let him in. He will help, no matter what."
"He who?" Really, Mukherjee should have ask it, but Sakshi did, not one for the mystery talks. the lady smiled at the former, mistaking the way she went stiff was her curiosity.
"He will be always there for you. Your support. No matter what. He will fight for you."
"Who?" By now even Sameer was curious.
"Her soulmate." came the lady's reply. Rawte scoffed, looking away, and the lady frowned, turning toward him.
"Think of me as a cheater, do you young man?"
"I think we should move." Mukherjee said the first sentence since entering, snatching her palm from the lady. she walked faster than the rest, reaching out like it was needed to breathe.
"Do you believe her?" Sakshi asked as the four of them headed toward SUV.
"You didnt sound this confused when she was giving your future a happy ending." replied Rawte sarcastically, taking out his phone. he frowned and walked away, talking into it. Sameer shrugged, leaning againt the SUV.
"her tent looked too dramatic for my taste. I guess those crystal balls were the last straws."
"She is a liar." Mukherjee replied, non-chalant, "The easiest way to convince customer to paint their future life all bright and shiny and talk about love life."
"then how she guessed about my crush?" Sakshi asked hotly, narrowing her eyes. Mukherjee narrowed her eyes right back.
"Everyone got eyes, Miss Journalist."
Sameer barked a laugh, shaking his head. Sakshi flushed, but opened her mouth again, not ready to give up, "What about the guesses she made about you?
"Sceptic? the way she was making faces at those things, was not too subtle." Rawte was now back, voice irritated than earlier, "Now can we leave?"
"And didnt have easy in life? what about that?"
"Did you have it easy, Sakshi?" Mukherjee's voice was rising now, exasperated, "didnt anyone in your family died? any tragedy? everyone got scars, none have it easy. tough times ahead? everyone has their shares of troubles in future. the soulmate part was bullshit, totally in her character." she took a deep breath, calming herself down. beside her the trio went still, not expecting the outburst.
"I can tell more about you than her." finally she got back her old mood, less frightening. Sakshi narrowed her eyes back, crossing arms.
"try me."
"Favorite color, Green. those earings were gift from female cousins. you use fountain pen. undergoing new diet chart. changing wardrobe. dont like to tie hair for too long. in tension prick on the nails." she went on, not missing a beat, completely missing the way the men's eyes went wide like saucers. she then rose her eyebrow, glancing at them at once, "Lets move, shall we?"
"That was. . . wow!" Sameer said to himself as they all went inside SUV.
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"That was so cool! Will she tell me something too?" Shree was so excited to know about the 'freaky' power of ACP Mukherjee. beside him and Sakshi Chotu leaned, listening intently.
"That was not cool, its freaky! how she did that anyway?" she lowered her voice and narrowed eyes, as everyone entered inside discussion room. Mukherjee as usual took her usual seat, farthest from door, wiping her coffee mug with tissue before taking a sip. all took their seats and started the case discussion, letting it all out.
The attorney had got an - call to get some information about the new high profile case she was handeling, the murder of a MP some 2 months ago. she was alone that time in her cabin, her call was not taped, so probably the killer lured her out to kill.
"But that doesnt make sense why the killer chose Fair." Chotu said, "public place is not the likely place to kill."
"I dont think the killer was professional." Rawte said, "he was not using silencer, for once, and was not too good with disguises."
"helped with our case though." Sakshi chimed in, smiling cheekily, to which Chotu- Shree rolled their eyes.
"What about some spy? maybe someone heard the call?" Sameer asked.
"The room was sound proof. there was no bug or anything which indicates the phone was taped." Shree assured.
"Maybe there was some witness, who wanted to give informtation." Rawte said, "maybe someone from his side heard it?"
"Would not there be another body then?" Mukherjee spoke for the first time, leaning back on her chair's back rest too much, a pen dancing on her fingertips. she shot a look, "where was the call came from?"
"JP Nagar, PCO booth." Shree answered, without missing a beat, "the booth manager cant remember the face, though."
she frowned slightly, "maybe the informer was in the fair. he bolted after the shot and amidst the chaos."
"How anyone can know about the phonecall?" Sameer inquired, frowning, "If the phone was not taped. . . "
"What about cameras?" Came Rawte's answer.
"CCTV." Mukherjee said at the same time, both of their eyes meeting.
"CCTV was working. I will look upto the employers on duty." Shree got up, looking at everyone.
"I am going to see the case she was working on. Sakshi?" Sameer asked her, already getting up. she nodded, glancing at Rawte once again, before exiting the room with him. Chotu went to check on the autopsy. Rawte looked at Mukherjee, he could see the wheels in her mind working, the pen moving faster between her fingers. suddenly she stopped, placing with pen with loud thud and turning fully to him, eyes boring holes into him. he cursed silently to get caught staring.
"We should pay the booth manager a visit." she said with confidence.
"Local police went, and they got nothing." he replied, was not really annoyed but just to keep up appearence.
"Well, maybe ETF will help him to remember." she got up, already walking. he glared behind her, hating how one moment she is going all 'team' and 'we' and next moment marching ahead like she is in this alone. sensing she is not going to stop and wait around, he got up as well, banging the door close with more force than necessary.
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"I told you, Local PS went and they got nothing." rawte huffed, removing his eyes, "this was a mistake."
He and Mukherjee arrived here some 10 minutes ago. he went ahead, asked the manager, and got nothing, even after using his famous glares and ID card of ETF. to add fuel in fire, she was the one to suggest coming here, but she so much didnt even go with him to the Booth, took out phone and typing something. she was still doing so, and he was about to tell her something very rude, when she snapped the phone shut, looking at him.
"Did you ask him?" she was ridiculous.
"What do you think I did all these time?" he answered hotly, full on Rawte glare mode.
"Obviously it was not enough." she looked away toward the booth, her voice low. he suppressed his urge to growl, but decided to use her sarcasm instead.
"Why dont you try then? surely I was not enough."
she shot him a look, looked at the booth again, and then decided something. he was about to ask what she was going to do, when she took his right hand, thrashed her phone into it, then her sunglasses which was till now hanging in the front by shirt, then she opened her hair from the clip and thrashed it as well. shaking her head once or twice, she ran through her fingers to it. its like not only her features softened with the open hair, suddenly she transformed to something else right in front of him. for some moments he had forgotten his irritation, and only found it when she looked at him once again.
"Going to fashion show, are we?" Maybe he was genetically modified for mocking tone. to be honest he was effected by her transformation. it was worse when she gave a smile, (his mind called it flirty smile, some other part called it Kill smile for stupid reasons), turned on her heels and walked toward the booth, hips swaying.
it took her all of 3 minutes and several seconds to come back. a part of him knew she had come back with something, the faith in her (or her change?) was strong there, but sceptic part was not sure how can she come back in such a short time. as she banged the SUV door shut and turned to him, he raised eyebrow, already expecting.
"Male. 50. with a cane. Nervous. Clean clothes and boots." she clipped back hair and took the sunglass and phone from the dashboard of SUV. he was surprised, but then, he was not. but something caught his attention.
"Clean clothes and boots?" that was something unusual. she looked ahead.
"Military, Arjun. Wounded in war front probably."
before he can ask how she guesses that, his phone rang. he put the phone on speaker, it was Sameer.
"We got someone, maybe he was the one who called the attorney. Manish Nene. Ex- military. supposed to meet the MP on the day he was murdered."
"Is he cripple?" he asked, just to make sure, but he knew Sameer will say yes even before he did, with a added surprise, "how do you know?"
he looked more awed than irritated when the woman beside him sing sang in a low voice, "I told you so."
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"MP Mishra was killed in a car crash 2 months ago. two of his bodyguards were seriously injured but they survived. after crash police inspected the car and found there was some malfunction to it. the company who was in charge of caretaking of MPs car in that party was immediately changed."
"The case was dismissed as nomal accident. but someone - filed a case to reopen the case and thus Attorney Arushi came to this case. everyone tried to hard to find the man who filed case, and there were some points which strongly suggested it was not simple car-malfunction- accident. but the case was on standstill, and she needed something solid to let it continue."
"Ex Military Nene was on the appointment list the day MP died. his apponitment had to reschedule because the MP had to urgently go somewhere. he was in the building when MP left for his destination. . . oh well, Death." Sakshi stopped, looking over to everyone.
"While you guys were out," Sameer got up as she shifted from the projector screen, looking over Rawte and Mukherjee, "we did some digging. it turned out Nene and Arushi were meeting frequently from these 2 months. most probably he was the one who filed the appeal for reopening the case."
"He is not in his house now. nobody know where is he." Shree spoke up.
"So he is on run." Rawte frowned, "this clears thing up to some extent."
"This will clear up better." Sameer switched open the lights and threw a file on table, "bank statements of MP's cousin, Vijay. recently he withdrew 10 lacs from one of his offshore account. we are hoping its for contract killing."
"What about the killer? any news?" Mukherjee asked, mostly looking toward Chotu, who shook his head.
"Nothing till now. I ordered my boys to keep an eye if anything they hear. so far, nothing."
she nodded, a frown on her temple. Everyone looked at Rawte as he started talking.
"This case turned out more complicated than we assumed. Now the party and family of MP is involved." he took the bank statement file from table, "I have the inform Director about it before further investigation." with the he took off, walking urgently toward the door.
after he left, Shree asked to none particular, "what do you think, are we going to continue work on this case?"
"I dont think so. High profile case, evidence is pointing toward the cousin, who will win the next poll due to sympathy votes." Sakshi shrugged, "Aisha may have to let this case pass."
Sameer stole a glance toward Mukherjee who was looking sideways, hiding a smirk as she picked up a paper and read into it. he opened his mouth, "i think we will be on this case."
"You sure?" Sakshi raised an eyebrow. he nodded.
"I am pretty confident."
"Lets bet then." Chotu said, a mischievous smirk on the corner of mouth, "I am with Rathore sir. Shree?"
he shrugged, "not looks like you are going to win this bet. I am with Sakshi on it." to which the latter smiled proudly.
"Losers will buy lunch."
"Oh sure." Sakshi was adamant. Sameer leaned on his seat, smirking. he was pretty sure he wont have to spend any penny for next day's lunch.
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Rawte waited, as patiently as he could, beside Director Kapoor's chair as she went through all the files, taking her time, brows knotted in concentration. after what seemed like an eternity, she straightened her back, exhaling a breath.
"Let me call Commissioner." she was too professional and protocol-ish on job, Rawte thought in mind as she picked up her phone, going through her assistant. totally opposite of the new addition of their team, his mind chimed in, remembering the way ACP Mukherjee scowled at Sakshi when she addressed her by first name, but later she addressed him by his first name. Nowadays Sameer addresssing her by her first name, didnt look like she mind it much. she is a complicated puzzle, what she does and why, nobody knows but her.
Does Director Kapoor knows her outside work? he glanced at the lady who was busy to talk with Raghu sir over phone. surely they give the vibe, everyone is half sure half uncertain about the nature of their relation. ex friends? ex colleague? they must have been pretty thick back in time, surely Mukherjee tries to look nonchalant about everything, he had noticed the way Director trust her, without any hesitation or question. something was there, part of what is still in here.
"So what now? We have to let it pass because of a murderer soon-to-be MLA is bigger than our police force?" He snapped out of it as Director Kappor's frustrated voice rang through the room. Raghu sir said something, and her expression became determined. she slammed the phone down after pleasantries and got up from her seat, taking all files with her and walking toward the door, him hot on her heels.
everyone, but Mukherjee, stood up at once, startled, as she entered unexpectedly and slammed the files on table. this action, once again, reminded Rawte that of Mukherjee's. surely some similarities there, he won't tick off estranged sisters/ cousins from that list.
"So what? We are off the case because some scumbag is pressing us under his thumb?" Mukherjee gave an icy stare to the Director. He was struck by the similarities yet again, Director had said exactly something like this to Raghu sir.
"Sorry to burst your bubble." she Director matched hers with her own, to which the former rolled eyes. she gave a look to everyone, "bring out everything about this suspect. i dont want any gaps in this case, is that understood?"
"We cant find the - case filer till now." Shree informed.
"Then find him. do whatever it takes. is that understood?" she was determined, and this is the first time she let down the protocol and rules. her eyes matched Mukherjee's and Rawte watched in fascination how the latter looked almost pleased with the news. The Director's eyes were playful for a moment, then she left.
after some silent seconds, Chotu spoke, "Lunch. tomorrow."
"Dont have to rub the salt, we remember." Shree answered, sulking. Sameer let out a laugh as he left, already on work.
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The team was inside the gym for their weekly training session, letting off steam. Chotu was doing some exercise for his biceps, Rawte was with his punching bag. Shree was just lingering in the side, never the one for Gym. Mukherjee, who was into this session for the first time, running on mill. Sameer was teaching some self defense lessons to Sakshi, who nodded but didnt look like she got anything.
The team last night worked its ass off, gathering all evidences against that cousin, enough to put him behind bars for next 19 years. they also found the - case filer, ex- Military Nene, who filed his testimony and confessed he was the one to call attorney, but then the shot went through and he had to flee, knowing somebody was keeping tabs on attorney. ETF also found the killer trying to cross the border of Maharastra and going to Karnataka. The Director took all the evidences, forbidding the team to participate in the arrest, promising them a fine retreat. the team would have very much liked to sleep through the morning after last night, but the promise of retreat lured them out.
"And even if you forget everything in the state of panic, remember to SING." Sameer finished his self defense lecture. Sakshi frowned.
"Sing? as in sing? sing what, item songs?"
Everyone laughed at the comment, shaking head. He composed himself.
"Not that sing, silly. SING, as in an abbreviation."
"From that film where FBI female cop went undercover as beauty pageant contestant?" Shree asked enthusiastically, "never knew you watch those type of films. though i dont remember this Sing thing."
"Action and thriller genre is his favorite." Rawte spoke, finally finishing his boxing as he removed his gloves, "any film, old new, doesnt matter. no wonder he know about this SING."
"but what is Sing?" Sakshi asked, impatient.
"That I have to show you." Sameer looked around, suddenly a mischievous thought crossed his mind as his eyes fall on Mukherjee who was still running, "Riya, do you have a sec?"
she turned her neck, still running. he signaled her to come, which she did, narrowing her eyes, like everybody sure that this was trouble.
"Well its a tip of self defense for Girls." he emphasized on girls, "Show us the move. oh, let me tell you the full meaning." he whispered something to her ears, too low for anyone to hear anything. Sakshi obviously didnt look too happy to include the other woman into it, but she was intrigued as well. Chotu asked silently to Shree whats going on, to which the latter shrugged, having a funny feeling that something will happen next that none of them gonna forget.
"Arjun, ready to volunteer?" Sameer backed off, and everyone followed him. the latter surely remembered the first meeting of her and him, and the ache on neck. he glared at his best friend who grinned back, having hard time to control laughing.
"Sameer Rathore, you are a cruel man." Mukherjee commented as she took a step toward Rawte, who was still glaring at the other man. he then snapped out of it as she raised her eyebrow.
"What?"
"try to attack me from behind." she ordered, the amused expression on her face. as he took the position from behind, she said to sameer, "what if i show something different? you know the last part of tip is little. . . " she paused, not sure what to say. Sameer shook with laughter.
"whatever you say."
Rawte raised his both hands, not sure how to proceed. in the end, he tried to hold both of her shoulders.
"is this what you call attack?" Chotu was now with the team, not want to leave this soon-to-be memorial incident for his bicep training. the former glared.
"As if you attacked many gir. . . " he never finished. her movement was too fast for him, but he was too painfully aware of the jibe she did to his ribs, then the twist of wrist and how she spun him around, pressing the wrist behind, then the kick behind knee after which he was kneeled on floor. his face would have met with floor if she was not still holding in his wrist, but then he felt her kneeled down beside him as well, and as the pressure increased on his wrist his face was inching closer to the floor. when it was some millimeters left between him and the floor, she pressed her other palm on his neck, thus letting gravity do its work and smacking his face on floor with loud thud.
"Super cool." Though the words felt too old for Sameer Rathore, the senior officer, it was the acute description. Sakshi looked half horrified half shocked. Shree's jaw was on floor, and Chotu clapped softly. the trio had heard from Sameer the first meeting of these two officers and the lady's awesome martial art skill. now, they all witnessed it, and they all agreed one thing, it cant be martial art only. its just super ninja skill.
"leave the poor guy alone." the four of them jumped as Director Kapoor's voice boomed from the door. the pressure on Rawte's neck and wrist instantly loosened and he felt her getting up.
"He attacked me." she replied, nonchalant, to which the former rolled her eyes. she walked toward the giant LCD screen and switched it on. the news was showing local police dragging away a reluctant and sulky faced cousin of late MP. the team grinned at it, as Rawte got up from floor with his wounded pride. he looked on as the four of them started talking excitedly, Chotu about the lunch, Shree sulking but happy, Sakshi about her news officer and how happy her boss will be, and Sameer just pointing out the face of cousin. as the four of them laughed aloud, Mukherjee walked away, wiping her neck with a white towel.
"if that makes you feel any better." he heard Director near his ears as he tore his gaze from the ACP who just made him completely powerless and devoid of any skill to protect himself for the second time, "even Chotu cant stand a chance infront of her."
"Black belt?" he asked in curiosity. the Director glanced at the ACP who just vanished behind washroom, scoffed and shook her head, not answering anything.
he vowed not to let her do this to him again for the third. and defeat her next time.