Chapter 8

Hredhaan Grover

We have returned to our office after an hour with so many questions running inside our brains. All this while we just thought that it might be a kidnapping case but we never weighed the depth of the situation.

We knew that there were some loopholes in the case but we thought that it would have been related to the kidnapping but not murdering. Now all of a sudden this change in events made us realise that the case is very serious than we thought all this while.

"Man.. It's so tiring and I think we need to give it a break now. Will continue tomorrow morning with a fresh mind." Mag said with a tired voice, making me realize that indeed he was right. We are so tired to think about the situation and to analyze everything about this case now. We need to rest to make our brain work at a faster pace.

"You are right man. Our bodies and brains are exhausted to function for any longer. See you in the morning then" I said patting his back with a nod that he too gave a nod before exiting the house.

I sighed before showering and changing into comfortable clothes and climbed into the bed with my wife. I slowly took her into my arms without disturbing her sleep and tenderly placed a kiss on the forehead before drifting off into sleep.

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The next morning I was getting ready to work when my mobile started ringing.

"Yes Falan?" I answered the call after taking it from the charger and tucking my shirt into my pants at the same time.

"Hred.. I think you need to come to the office as soon as possible" Falan said with a serious tone that I immediately stopped what I was doing and scrunched my eyebrows in thought.

If he is this serious then it definitely is related to the case. I gave a frustrated sigh because I hate the situations where I don't know anything about it and it makes me even stubborn to know about it soon to get the upper hand on it because I hate not being in the upper hand and playing like a puppet on other's plans.

"Fine. Will be there in twenty" I said and disconnected the call with a serious tone and got finished with getting ready in a minute.

I told Anu that I needed to go to the office and immediately she understood that the situation was serious. So I just kissed her before getting out and started the car.

After twenty minutes I reached the office and stormed inside with a serious face. When I got to my cabin, I just sat there waiting for my teammates to commence because I knew that they saw me on my way to my cabin.

Within two minutes everyone gathered and took a seat in front of me with the serious looks on them. I cannot see Mag anywhere and thought that he might be on his way.

"Where is Mag?" I asked even though I think I know the answer. But I just need confirmation about it.

"On the way. Will reach within five minutes" Said Priya with a tired look. Then itself I had observed her carefully and realized that she didn't sleep the whole night to investigate this case.

"You didn't sleep" It was a statement rather than a question. But still she answered me anyway.

"Yup. You know me. I can't sleep peacefully if I don't complete my task." She said, sighing as if it was all a waste of time. And sure enough she confirmed my suspicion with her next statement.

" But of course everything went in vain." She added with a look of fury in her eyes.

At the same time Mag entered inside by making me stop about asking her the reason.

"Took your own time" I commented by looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry. I just woke up with Falan's call" He said and then took a seat without explaining further and we know that we are not going to get any further answer from him.

It was still a surprise that he at least answered this much about his laziness. Maybe because of the condition of this case I suppose.

"Ok. Onto the case now" I declared, gathering everyone's attention and nodded my head for Falan to continue.

"As per your order we arranged everything and even searched all the footage. But there is no such luck in the footage. So we went to pick up the witness who was willing to help us get the face of the kidnapper. But found out that he was kidnapped at midnight without anyone knowing" He said with a serious look on his face that I somewhat chuckled. Because this kind of face doesn't suit him at all.

But to say frankly I thought that it would happen and it confirmed my suspicion about one thing.

"Good. I knew something like this would happen. And only to confirm about my suspicion I asked you to take this move. Looks like I got succeeded in that one" I said with a smug look on my face that everyone looked at me with confusion except for Mag. He didn't know about the plan but I think he realised the moment I explained it now.

"Rule number one. Always suspect anything and everything. Especially in the cases of this type. Because every wrong person would cover his trails to not get caught by the police. And if anyone saw their doing then they would easily remove the thrones that come in their way. And the same thing happened here" I said looking at all of them with a suggestive look to see if they grasped onto what I was trying to say.

"So you mean to say that someone is removing the thrones behind our back?" Asked my teammate with a look of realisation on his face. This made my face turn into a smirk and nodded my head in agreement.

"Exactly" I said and took out my car keys from the pocket and threw them across Mag to catch. "Go and get the bags of the dresses from the back door" I said and diverted my attention to my teammates who were all busy discussing this new revelation.

"Always the lazy one" Muttered Mag under his breath while getting up and exiting the room. I listened to his comment and internally smirked but acted as if I didn't listen.

"Here" Mag came back after a few minutes with the bags and threw them onto the table carelessly while taking his previous seat.

I opened the bag and pulled the dress which is exactly the same as the ones they wore on the previous night.

"Is this the same...?" Asked Falan with a surprised look on his face.

"Yup. The same one" I confirmed it with a smug look.

"Woah. So you got your hands on these then. That was the reason you didn't react that badly about the witness kidnapping situation" He asked again with the same look.

"That and also I have my suspicions already that kidnappers might try to clean their route by vanishing or erasing the witness before we try to reach them. Because that actually sounded so easy in this type of case which intact is not. And my guess was right" I said with a satisfied tone while scanning the dress that I furrowed my eyebrows in contraction and frustration again.

I showed it to Mag to let him confirm my assumptions and he too nodded in acceptance.

That means this brand is a local one and it might take a lot of time for us to trace this.

"Guys I need three of them to go to the local stores and ask about the recent buyers with large amounts." I said and three of them went out on the given task immediately.

"Now let's execute our plan" I stated while rubbing my hands in anticipation.

We dispersed and followed our teammates who went to get the details of the buyers by keeping an eye from the far to locate if anyone is following them or not.

The goal is to not get the data of the buyers but to catch the culprit who kidnapped the witness yesterday and was keeping an eye on us closely by watching our every move. And if I am right then they will definitely follow our teammates to know about it.

"Any suspects?" I asked through the microphone which Mag, Falan and I shared by following other three members.

"Nope"

"Negative"

Both of them said at the same time.

"Same here. Keep an eye on the surrounds" I ordered and looked into the mobile to see if I got any messages when I saw from the corner of my eye that someone was watching from the opposite store while pretending to buy some roadside snack.

"Gotcha" I stated to my mates and slowly started walking towards him from the backside without getting suspected by others.

When I was near to him, I saw that he was not at all buying any snacks but was completely concentrating on the store itself. And in that moment I even noticed that even that seller was not originally a seller but a part of a member.

Well, this kind of looks like a team then.

"I identified two members here. Come soon" I ordered through the microphone before reaching out to the first person and smacking his head from behind with the back of the gun that he immediately fell down by catching his injury with a confused and pained look on his face. So I gave another smack at the front to make him collapse on the ground fully.

This made the other person react quickly and come towards me while holding the knife in his hand.

But I smugly stood in front of him by folding my hands making him confused for a second before attacking me.

But failed miserably because of a smack on his head from behind. That too was made by my besty Falan. My bodyguard and saviour.

The look on his face was priceless to watch that I smirked internally knowing that my plan worked out finally.

Immediately Mag launched into a character of police and started dispersing everyone with his detective tone and his batch while we both carried the two bodies to the car and deposited into the backdoor by handcuffing them together to the door.

I saw that I got one message indicating that we got the list of the buyers and they are returning to the office within half an nour.

Well, looks like this is going somewhere finally.

"Get on. We need to reach the office. We have some work to do" I said showing these suspects with my eye that they nodded their heads and went away to get their vehicle while I started my car to reach the office.

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Advika Laghari

"Dad... You need to come home for lunch daily. You shouldn't always eat that hospital food at this age. It's not good" I said with a stern look of mine that he surrendered his hands like he was trying to make peace with me.

He always does this and makes me shut my mouth instantly.

I mean what more can I say when he surrenders like a good boy like this?

"You always use this kind of card on me to shut my mouth." I stated with a serious look but it looked more like a complaint.

"I am sorry Addu. I know that as a doctor I need to take care of my health. But what can I do when I have more cases? I can't ignore them right?" He asked, looking at me with an apologetic look that I huffed in return.

"I don't know all that dad. Your patients might be important to you but for me you are more important than them. And these days you are not at all taking care of yourself" I said as a matter of fact with a serious tone while chewing my chicken.

"Ok madam. I will make sure to come and eat at home more often. Happy?" He asked, surrendering himself at the end which made me smile in satisfaction.

"Good. It better be or else I will personally drag you to home and you know very well that no one has the guts to stop me from doing that" I said with a smirk while puffing my chest out that he shook his head as if he can't debate on that.

"Ok Mother" He said and took his piece of bite in appreciation.

"So what's going on with the company? Everything is good?" He asked while eating and looking at me normally.

"Yes everything is fine. But I am in some kind of dilemma here about one client" I said while furrowing my eyebrows and thinking about that client again.

"What dilemma?" He asked with his curious eyes that I sighed defeatedly in return.

"Do you remember Hredhaan from my college?" I asked, looking at his face while masking my expressions carefully.

"Hredhaan.... You mean your junior? As in your best friend?" He asked, but more like a confirmation. So I nodded my head in agreement. He then sat straightly and bent forward as if he became curious in an instant that I scoffed at his reaction.

God... this is going to be a long day...

"What about him suddenly?" He asked again with raised eyebrows in curiosity.

"He is the new client that showed interest in our company to invest." I said with a concentrated look on my face because from the past four days I am confused on this one.

Why is he suddenly showing interest in our company as if he doesn't know me. Or is it that he really forgot about me or didn't check about the company?

Many questions, but I can't reject the offer on this sole purpose because of his company which is a reputed one. Also, it can benefit my company in a lot of ways if they are interested to invest.

"Wow. Our Hred? After 8 years you are going to meet him?" Asked dad excitedly like a little boy on his birthday.

"Dad.... Shut that thoughts there itself. He is not my friend now" I said with a serious tone.

Of course he is not my friend and I need to get a grip on my thoughts. I can't be his best friend again.

"Addu... you need a friend to enjoy your life. You can't live like a stone forever" He said with an emotional tone that I stiffened instantly.

"Dad, that's not open for discussion. And you know my decision already. Please don't get that topic now. " I said, getting up and placing the plate in the sink before turning back in his direction.

I can see the pained expression on his face that it triggered so many unwanted emotions in my mind again. So I took a deep breath to stop myself from thinking about them and wore my poker face again.

"I am going to the office. Bye" I said while taking my car keys and handbag in my hand before opening the front door and leaving my dad behind with all my inner turmoil.

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