by M. V. Kasi
Later that evening, Shilpa was dropping Dhruv off at his place.
Dhruv had multiple cars that he had rented for the duration, but he gave her the excuse of having trouble not being identified by his car.
“Is your shoulder still bothering you?” he asked when he saw her rub at the spot the bullet had hit her.
“I’m fine,” she murmured.
Even though the bullet hadn’t penetrated the vest, during the multiple viewing of the footages, Dhruv could see it had hit her full-on. Shiv and Naren had told him that the impact hurt very badly, and that sometimes it could even shatter a bone.
“You know, until recently, I didn’t know that bullets hurt even with the vest on. Thanks to you, I can now change the scene where my character is riddled with bullets on his vest and still manages to move about easily.”
Shilpa smiled. “Are you sure that’s the only unbelievable part?” she asked with a hint of teasing in her tone.
Dhruv laughed. “I’m sure you will point out many flaws over the next few weeks.”
Their moment was interrupted when Shilpa received a call. He saw a visible change in Shilpa’s body language when she was back to her alert, no-nonsense mode. “Dasani,” she answered.
“Shilpa? This is Keshav. Keshav Thakur.”
Dhruv watched as Shilpa’s expression turned to fury as soon as she heard the name.
Over the past week, after the warehouse bust, Shilpa and her team had been receiving several threatening calls, not just from the criminals but also from many high-ranking politicians. Dhruv was quite impressed by the way Shilpa was able to manage them.
But now, he was intrigued that this particular name seemed to shake her and cause a reaction. Who was Keshav Thakur?
Chapter 13
Shilpa pushed away her fury and took a few moments before switching the audio from the SUV speakers to the Bluetooth on her headset. “Yes?” she asked coolly. “How can I help you, Mr. Thakur?”
She knew bloody well why he had called. Even though Keshav Thakur operated from abroad, his men were also present in the recent bust, confirming her suspicions that he ultimately moved on to more lucrative things than what he felt were harmless operations.
“I want to meet you, Shilpa.”
That made her laugh. “Really? You think I’m that stupid?” she asked.
“I know we have a bad history between us. But you have to trust me. We were friends once.”
Rage exploded within her as she heard him say those words, but she composed herself. “The keyword being once.”
There was silence. “My men are following your SUV. I know you have a civilian with you. If you don’t come, I’ll order them to shoot on the passenger side of the vehicle.”
Shilpa felt her body tense. “We are in the middle of the city limits. You think an open gun-fire will allow you or your men to get away that easily?” she asked.
“Maybe not easily. But after you shut down all of my businesses and threatened even my most recent one, I have nothing to lose.”
Before Shilpa was transferred to this city, she had spent the previous three years systematically eliminating most of Keshav Thakur’s so-called harmless, illegal, to downright harmful ‘family’ operations, forcing him to wind them down and flee abroad.
Shilpa knew he held a grudge, so she paused to think about what he just threatened. She realized that she had no choice but to play along without risking Dhruv’s safety. “Where do you want to meet?” she asked.
“There’s a construction site right outside the city.” He gave her the address. “Meet me there. If I see a police car anywhere in the vicinity, your SUV is going to be sprayed with bullets on the passenger side.”
“Fine. I’ll meet you there.”
Shilpa was quiet as she continued to drive. It was evening time, and there was still a couple more hours before the sun would set. Unlike other days, Shilpa had decided to go home early to spend time with Ma. Now, it just seemed like bad luck.
She sent out the code for a backup. But she made it clear that they have to be careful and not make it obvious that they were coming.
“Dhruv. We have to go someplace first. I’m meeting someone there.” Shilpa knew Keshav Thakur wouldn’t hurt her. At least not fatally. But she didn’t want to take any risk with Dhruv.
Dhruv must have sensed the tension in her because he didn’t protest or ask her any questions.
Soon, Shilpa stopped at a half-constructed building. It was either late enough that there were no workers at that time or Keshav Thakur arranged it to be vacant.
She felt stupid for thinking that despite receiving several threatening calls, she alone could protect Dhruv if anything unexpected happened. Hopefully, her stupidity won’t cost her anything that evening.
She unbuckled her seat belt and turned towards Dhruv. “Take this,” she said handing him her gun. “I’ll be back soon.”
“I prefer if you have it with you,” he said. “And I also prefer to accompany you inside. I know that whoever it is, he is threatening you by using me as the bait.”
Shilpa wasn’t surprised by Dhruv’s keen sense of deduction. But she couldn’t allow his sense of chivalry to prevail or afford to risk his life.
“Let me make something very clear to you, Mr. Jagannath,” she said, not wanting to give any explanations at this point.
“Uh-oh. You reverted back to my last name. This must be serious. Am I in trouble, Officer Dasani?” he asked with a deliberately innocent and a charming smile.
She ignored his smile which caused a damn flutter in her stomach despite the tensed situation. She continued with her rant. “You may be used to the world fawning over you because of your stardom and money. And you may also be used to ordering people around who work for you. But when it comes to my work and me, I am the one in control here. You follow my orders. Is that clear, Mr. Jagannath?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Crystal,” he replied.
“So stay put in this vehicle and do not get out until the backup arrives. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Not waiting for his answer and leaving the gun inside the vehicle, Shilpa got out of the SUV and went inside the building.
Like the outside, there was no construction activity on the inside either, and Shilpa couldn’t see anyone.
“Shilpa,” a familiar man’s voice called from a close distance.
As soon as she turned and before she could register, a mist was sprayed on her face. Shilpa tried to hold her breath, but whatever was in that spray was potent enough to make her drowsy quickly.
Shit.
Chapter 14
Shilpa slowly opened her eyes, and the first person she saw was Keshav Thakur.
Immediately, she remembered what had happened, but she didn’t know how long she was unconscious.
“You were out for less than fifteen minutes,” Keshav stated.
“What did you—” She tried to get up, but broke off when she realized her hands were tied together and were leashed to a beam from above. There was enough give to the rope that she could place her arms down, but not enough that she could attack Keshav.
“For safety,” he said.
Yours or mine? Shilpa wanted to ask the bastard. “Why did you ask me to come? What did you want to say that you couldn’t tell me on the phone?”
Keshav Thakur didn’t answer her. He just stared at her in a creepy manner like he had done in the past. At that time she thought he was harmless. If she only knew what the bloody harmless bastard would cost her.
“My wife was killed six months ago,” he said, finally breaking the silence.
Shilpa remained quiet.
“The rival Mafia killed her while she was shopping. She was gunned down on the street like a dog.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Why would anyone do that to someone like her? She was always helpful to others. She was also the sweetest and the most helpless, innocent human. She loved me and worshiped me like I was a god and catered to my every need before
I had even asked.”
Even though Shilpa felt bad for the woman who was killed, she didn’t want to hear Keshav’s sob story. “What do you want from me, Keshav?” she asked, hoping he’d get to the point.
“I’m not going to hold a grudge against you for ruining me or my operations. But I need your help in finding my wife’s killers, so I can make them meet with the same fate as she did. In return, I’ll help you with whatever information you need to catch the kingpin for the entire South Zone.”
Shilpa’s rage began to emerge when she heard him use the similar words as he had done before. “Why would I help you? The last time we met in person, you told Pranit and me you wanted to escape from that life. You said you would give us the information to bring down your father and his partners. You lied. And that lie cost Pranit his life.”
Guilt passed over Keshav’s face. “I know. I tried to reach out to you after Pranit’s death to tell you many times that I was helpless at that time. There is no exit from the life of Mafia. I tried many times. But my father got the information that I was in touch with the police. He passed the orders to execute whoever was involved.”
Shilpa refused to be moved. “I put your father along with his minions behind bars three years ago. Then why are you still not out of that life?”
“I can’t just exit. I’m responsible for so many people’s livelihood—”
“Bullshit!” Shilpa shouted. “You are just a bloody apologist coward. You know they will kill you if you oppose or try to tell your underlings to give up all the illegal activities sustaining their luxurious lives. If you wanted to get rid of everything at any cost, then you would bloody walk into a police station and ask for help.” She twisted the knife further. “If you had the guts, it wouldn’t have cost your wife’s life either.”
Keshav flinched, and his face crumpled. “She asked me to give everything up. She wanted us to go away somewhere far. But I… I began thriving with so much power that—”
“What power?” she snapped. “When you fear the police and the government and hide your activities like bloody cowards, how the hell is that powerful?”
He shook his head. “Please. I know my mistake. Let me make this right. I’ll cooperate with the police and give them everything. Just help me find my wife’s killers.”
Shilpa didn’t care about the bastard’s need to avenge his wife’s death. But she needed the information he had. “Tell me everything,” she said grimly.
Keshav shook his head. “Not like this. I need your help, but not as a police officer. I need your expertise while working alongside me.”
Shilpa frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I loved my wife,” he continued. “But I always remembered you. You are different from any woman I have ever known in my world.”
“That’s because you are bloody Mafia criminal, and I’m a law-abiding police officer.”
He smiled. “You could be right. You are not needy or helpless, there’s power coursing in your veins—”
“Cut the bullshit and tell me what you are planning on doing with me,” she asked in a grim tone.
“I want you. And I know you have a soft corner for me, too. So I want you to come with me.”
If the circumstances had been different, Shilpa would have laughed in the bastard’s face. Nearly six years ago, when she and Pranit were working with Keshav, it was part of her duty to be friendly and even flirt with the bastard a little, so he would cooperate with them more.
Shilpa recalled how Pranit used to tease her about the blatant flirting she sometimes employed with Keshav. Both she and Pranit had thought that Keshav was a harmless coward who could be easily manipulated. They had been only partly right. Keshav was a coward and could be easily manipulated, but unfortunately, the Mafia were the ones who finally manipulated the coward.
“Please, Shilpa. Cooperate with me. Help me get out of this life and together we can build a new life.”
Before she could blast him for the dumb request, a mist from the spray earlier covered her face. And just like before, she couldn’t fight the drug and slipped into unconsciousness.
DHRUV BARELY HAD to wait for twenty minutes after Shilpa left him in the SUV until Shiv and Viren caught up with him.
“Did you get all of them?” Dhruv asked on his phone.
“Yes,” said Shiv. “There were only six of them, now lying unconscious at the back of the truck.”
“Good. I’m going in to get their boss.”
“DJ… the man is dangerous, and he must be armed, too. You should remain here and let Shiv and Viren deal with him as well.”
Dhruv knew Shiv and Viren were worried about his safety.
“I don’t care. Shilpa is with him.” With that he got out of the vehicle and went towards the building.
As soon as Dhruv went inside the building, his heart jerked in panic when he saw a man trying to untie the binds on Shilpa’s hands. Shilpa was slumped over, but after a few tense seconds, Dhruv realized her chest was moving as she breathed.
“Need help?” Dhruv asked the man.
The man jerked and before even the man could react or pull out his gun, Dhruv attacked him and dragged him aside.
Dhruv landed the first punch in the man’s stomach. The man doubled over and coughed. “This is for threatening Shilpa while using me as bait.” Even though Dhruv couldn’t hear the conversation Shilpa had with the bastard, Dhruv knew he was being used as bait. It only increased his rage and helplessness as Shilpa went into a dangerous situation without her gun.
Dhruv punched the man again. “This is for daring to even touch her.” The man groaned in pain.
“This is Keshav Thakur. He is currently based in the Middle-East where he operates several illegal operations. Some of which are selling pirated movies,” Shiv added helpfully from the side.
Dhruv’s eyes narrowed further. The next punch he landed on the man was on the man’s jaw. The man slumped on the ground with a groan. DJ’s knuckles hurt like hell too, but it was worth it. “This is for the revenue loss you caused the entire movie industry and ultimately our economy.”
“I’m sorry,” the injured man mewled.
“The police backup is on its way. What do you want us to do?” Shiv asked.
“Take that piece of shit outside and tell them what happened. I’ll untie Shilpa and join everyone. Tell them to wait outside for a few more minutes.
Shiv and Viren left with the man while Dhruv went towards Shilpa.
Just as he went to untie her, she groaned. And then, slowly blinked her eyes open.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes.” She groaned once again, and then she suddenly jerked to an alert. “What the hell are you doing here, Dhruv? I ordered you to stay in the damn car.”
Dhruv was exasperated and amused that even in such a situation, Shilpa was trying to protect him at the cost of her life.
“Well, well, well,” Dhruv drawled. “Looks like the great police officer Shilpa Dasani is in quite a lot of trouble.”
“Dhruuuv!” she growled out.
“What?”
“Get out of here!”
He just grinned at her murderous glare. “The man is outside. We have enough time. I can untie you, and we can both leave. But only if you promise to go on a dinner date with me.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Does that mean a yes or a no?”
“No!”
“Well, then…”
“Dhruv, I’m warning you. By not listening to a police officer’s order, you are legally breaking—”
“Yeah. Yeah. Whatever,” he said, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I’m rich and famous. And lots of people love me enough to forgive me easily. But you, Officer Dasani, are being deliberately stubborn. All I’m asking is for you to go out with me for dinner.”
Shilpa gritted her teeth while she remained stubbornly silent.
“Come on, Shilpa. If we don’t get out of here, you’ll get us both
killed.”
“Fine!” she snapped.
“Fine, what?”
“Fine, I’ll go to a dinner with you.”
“Tell me you’ll also kiss me.”
“What!”
He grinned. He knew he shouldn’t push it any further. He untied her and carefully placed her feet on the floor.
She allowed him to rub her skin at her wrists where the blood circulation stopped due to the ties. She grimaced at the continued feeling of a thousand pin-pricks.
“Are you okay?” he murmured against her forehead.
She took in a deep breath and decided to ignore the pain. “Yes. I’m fine. Let’s get out of here quickly before someone comes.”
“It’s okay. Take your time. Backup is already here. They nabbed the guy and his people.”
“What?” She took a step away from him, and he immediately felt the loss of her touch.
He grinned. “Well, you kept turning my dinner offer down for the past two weeks.”
“Why is the backup not in here?”
“I asked them for a favor to stay out for a few more minutes.”
Shilpa’s eyes flared.
He raised both his palms towards her. “Whoa, whoa, calm down. Like I said, it was completely safe before I asked for the favor.”
“YOU ARE SO, so...” Shilpa was so flustered, she couldn’t seem to find the right word.
Dhruv seemed to be more than happy to help her. “So damn irresistible? I know, it’s such a burden.” A smirk covered his face.
“Aargh... you are just so—”
“Charming and handsome?” He must be really enjoying this.
Shilpa pulled herself together and scowled. “I was going to say infuriating. But I should add cocky and arrogant, too.”
This time he grinned.
Even as irritation flared that her team had allowed him to pull a stunt like this, Shilpa couldn’t stop herself from feeling slightly flattered at Dhruv’s persistence.
“Is that a tiny smile I see on your face, Officer Dasani?”