"What do we do now? We know now that Denny was a major player in all this and he will disappear if he knew we are on to him." Anu declared.
"He even knows how to hack phones." Abhir looked at Anisha apologetically, "I had him hack Anisha and her mom's phone so I could find a way to meet her."
"I think someone ordered him to kill Neil. He is a techie but to pull something off this big. He definitely needed help and money," Sid commented.
Anisha gathered her thoughts, "Denny didn't want me to come to Dubai for Pihu's wedding. He knew what your plans were with Sid."
Abhir crossed his arms, "He basically didn't want you getting hurt in the crossfire between us." Siddharth and Abhir stared at each other in silence.
"Why can't we go to Mumbai and force him to confess? He might even tell us his partner's name," Anisha looked around for support.
"He is going to get suspicious if either one of us tries to reach out to him. He needs to contact us, he needs to think he is controlling the scenario," Sid advised.
"What if Denny finds out that my plan failed?" Abhir placed his hands on his hips like he had a plan. "What if we give him the crossfire he predicted?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Sid frowned.
"I was supposed to come here and hurt you. What if we turn the tables?"
"You want Siddharth to hurt you?" Anisha shook her head in confusion. "No, I don't get this."
"If he injures me enough to make it to the news. Denny will read about it. He will try and reach out to her to see if she is okay."
"That might work!" Sid exclaimed.
"Wait, how is he supposed to get injured? Why can't we just pretend that he got injured?" Anisha seemed uncomfortable.
"If Denny has a partner, this person is going to be thorough. We need to make it as real as possible," Abhir evaluated. "Shoot me with that gun."
"Hold on wait! Have you both lost your mind?" Anisha tried to stop their silly plan but they just ignored her.
"Hmmm and I can throw the gun in the lake. We can tell the police that it was a robbery gone bad," Sid added.
"Have you shot a gun before?" Abhir asked Sid. He nodded.
Abhir joked, "Try not to break any bones."
"Stop it!" Anisha stomped her feet not finding anything funny.
Abhir groaned in frustration. "Anisha! This is the only way to get to Denny."
Sid and Abhir discussed and repeated a foolproof storyline to tell the cops so they wouldn't catch on to their fabrication. Abhir confirmed that the garden area at the Mirage hotel didn't have any CCTV cameras, so there was no chance of anyone seeing the gun.
"Call the police first, we don't want him to bleed out in the middle of nowhere. We won't have much time after the call goes out," Siddharth passed her his phone.
"You will do fine, I promise. Just stick to the script," Anisha gulped. She didn't want to comply with this hideous plan.
Anu dialed the number and screamed convincingly that someone had shot Abhir. She described the park and area to the operator as instructed. The man on the call confirmed that an ambulance will be there in 10 minutes. Anu yelled at him to hurry. What she said later gave Anisha chills.
"Is he alive? Does he have a pulse?" The operator asked.
Anisha realized how serious this was going to get and how dangerous it was going to be for Abhir. "I...guess. He has a pulse," She shut her eyes anticipating the situation they were going to face in the next few minutes.
Abhir indicated it was time for her to hang up the call and she did. Sid reloaded the gun and Abhir took a few steps back bracing for the shot.
"It's going to sting a lot," Sid warned, aiming the gun.
"Target the muscle on my arm," Abhir forced his eyes shut. "Please try not to kill me."
Sid hesitated as he brought his hand back to his side having second thoughts. Anisha could see he was trying hard to calm his nerves.
"What's taking so much time?" Abhir groaned with his eyes still shut.
"Take the shot!" Anisha demanded.
"Are you sure?" Sid exhaled sharply, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. Anu felt tears build up in her eyes, her stomach dropped.
"Make sure you don't miss," she stammered.
Siddharth pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. The gun went off, Anu instinctively covered her eyes as she heard the sound of the bullet rip through Abhir's body.
The impact of the bullet was so strong, it flung Abhir off his feet. Both Sid and she ran to his side to examine his wound. He was bleeding heavily as expected, Sid pressed the area delicately and commented that he couldn't feel anything broken. Siddharth gave Anisha his jacket to apply pressure on the wound as he started to run towards the lake to get rid of the gun.
Anisha caressed Abhir's face gently, "Is it too late to say that I think this was a stupid idea?" She heard Abhir chuckle weakly, he was going in and out of consciousness.
Anisha could hear the siren of the ambulance in the distance. "A few minutes more Abhir, they will take care of you. Don't worry. I'm here alright?" She whispered as she pressed on his smooth thick hair.
Abhir's breathing was starting to get ragged, it made her nervous. "Hey! Open your eyes," she commanded. His eyes jerked open and she noticed him staring blankly at the night sky.
"It's such a beautiful night, the sky is so pretty." Abhir smirked, " I see fear in your eyes. Is that fear of losing me?"
"You wish," Anisha sniffled as tears rolled down.
"So I managed to take some of Siddharth's space in your heart then?" Abhir smiled weakly.
"A tiny space," she giggled ignoring the flood of tears.
"Good good, is that dick not back yet?"Abhir teased. "I don't know what you see in him."
Anisha looked over her shoulder and caught Siddharth running back to them."Sid is almost here," Anisha reassured him.
"Good... Don't hate me for tonight Anisha. I just wanted to be accepted by my father. I know you won't understand it but..."
"I do understand and I don't hate you... Don't talk and waste your energy. You're going to need a lot of it."
Siddharth knelt beside Abhir, "How are you holding up?"
"First class," he snorted.
As soon as that happened, two ambulances showed up with 3 police vehicles trailing them. Their sirens lit up the abandoned park. Abhir was immediately taken to the hospital. Siddharth and Anisha were taken along to check for injuries. They were interrogated separately in different rooms at the hospital and by the time they were released, everyone from Siddharth's family and hers were waiting outside.
"You're bleeding, oh my God!", Mom screamed as she approached them.
Looking down at her blood-stained lehenga, Anisha replied, "I'm fine Ma, it's not mine."
Siddharth's sister Shreya, who Anu had never met before ran into his arms, reprimanding him for visiting that shady part of town. She also noticed Danish at the other end waiting to speak to his brother in law.
"How's Abhir?" Anisha asked her mom.
"He's doing better but he is not going to get discharged any time soon," Anisha sighed as her mother disclosed.
"Can we see him?"
"He's unconscious right now so no visitors for him." Anu's uncle informed her.
"What were you doing in that area Anisha? That was very irresponsible of you. You know how worried we got when the cops called us?" Mahesh uncle snapped.
Anisha flinched, dropping her eyes to the floor, not knowing what to respond.
"Say something!" He raised his voice again. Mishu Aunty tried to calm him down but he wasn't having it.
Siddharth interrupted them, "Uncle, it was my fault. Abhir and Anisha just wanted to go for a drive but I insisted we go there. I didn't realize how bad the area was. I'm really sorry."
"Who are you?" Anisha's mom quizzed.
"It doesn't matter. Let's go back to the hotel, Ma," Anisha butted in not wanting another confrontation.
"Auntie, I'm Siddharth."
"Siddharth! Is this your ex-friend Siddharth? Why the hell is he here?"Suman glared at her daughter and back at him.
"Let's not make a scene here. I think we should go home, please." Anisha said sternly, shifting her gaze to her uncle.
"Suman Akka, let's go back." Mahesh uncle agreed.
Anisha's mother stormed off, her family following her out. Anisha rolled her eyes at Siddharth who wasn't sure what hit him."Your timing is impressive!" She said sarcastically as she passed him.
Was he expecting her mother to greet him with a garland for walking out on her? The whole ride back her mother ranted about Siddharth, how sorrow and bloodshed followed him. Anisha's uncle tried to calm her down mentioning that Sid was from a very respectable Indian family in Dubai.
"What respectful! They teach their children to have fun with innocent girls in India and abandon them. Wasn't he at the reception with the red dress girl?"
"Yes, that was Natasha. She is my boss's daughter," Mahesh uncle shared.
"Sweet of her to come for the wedding," Mishu aunty chimed.
"I didn't see her there," Anisha blurted out loud.
Mahesh uncle clarified, "She was Anu, you must have missed her at the reception."
"No, she wasn't there at the hospital," she looked around the car for confirmation.
"She was there but she disappeared later," Mishu aunty declared.
"When she heard Siddharth was okay, she was very relieved and then I didn't see her", it felt odd that she wouldn't stay to meet Sid.
Anisha took a long warm shower after getting out of her ruined dress.
Every time she'd close her eyes below the flow of water, she could see Abhir's body laying on the grass lifeless. Please no...
She noticed her mom packing her bag for their return the next day, she wasn't saying a word or even looking at Anisha.
"What is it?", Anu whined, irritated by her sulking face.
"You stay away from that boy, he's bad news"
"Siddharth or Abhir?"
"You know who!"
"It's not what you think Ma."
"I don't care. I saw the way he was looking at you at the hospital with all the fake concerns in his eyes. When he said Siddharth, I knew it was him!"
"If it was fake, why is he, a concern for you?"
"He will trap you again, that's why!"
"Ma, it wasn't like that. Trust me when I say, he had to leave for a reason. He is sorry too. I found out a lot in the past few days and it has a lot to do with Neil Aluwalia's murder."
"That politician's son found dead?", her mom paused her packing and gawked at her.
"Yes, I will tell you everything later. We are still figuring things out. I am still figuring things out"
"So you're not going to think about Abhir now? I like him a lot. He is so loyal and everyone in the family loved him", she smiled listening to mom's version of Abhir.
There was so much unknown about the true Abhir, she knew that he was building a persona to fulfill an agenda but how much of that was actually him?
"Abhir and I still might have a chance... I'm not giving up yet", Anisha slid into the warm comforter, recalling his sincere almost death bed apology that night.
Mom switched off the lights and Anu fell into a deep slumber almost immediately.
The sound of police sirens woke her up, Abhir was laying on the grass with an open wound on his arm, blood gushing everywhere.
He suddenly went still, his body felt cold under her touch, he wasn't breathing anymore.
"Anisha?...", Siddharth was calling out her name but she couldn't see him, it was too foggy in the park.
Anisha felt paralyzed in place, terror washed over her when she realized the man calling out to her was not Siddharth but Denny, the IT guy.
"Wake up!", he yelled.
Anisha jumped up in bed in the hotel room.
The kettle her mom was using to make tea was whistling loudly. The siren...
"Bad dream?", Mom set two cups down, watching her carefully.
"The worst", her was heart racing.