Fives faces - Part nine

Shantanu came.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey." Tripti said.

"How are you ?" he asked.

"Good. And you ?" she asked.

"I'm doing well. At least career wise. I feel settled." he said 

"Good to know that." she said

"You know, I realised that you weren't completely wrong. I had agreed that I'll support you in your career before marriage but then I did the complete opposite of that. I'm sorry. But I'm glad that you are happy." he said

"Looks like reconciliation is on the way." Amit said. 

Tripti heard that but ignored it.

"It is fine. I realised that I need someone by my side, not just my career. You are not there and now my parents also don't talk to me after our divorce. It is like I have everything but still life is incomplete. She said.

Shantanu was shocked. There was an awkward silence for some time.

"Let's talk while having dinner. Come" he said

"Don't have dinner. What if something is mixed in it ?" Amit said on the phone.

Tripti ignored him and walked towards the dining area. She messaged him "Nothing will happen, don't worry. We have to take risks sometimes."

Saanya started arranging plates.

"She is Saanya. She helps me with cooking and cleaning. And Saanya, she is Tripti, my…friend from India." he said

"Hello, ma'am." Saanya said.

"Hello" Tripti said 

Amit was recording the conversation.

"Ask about Saanya." Amit said.

Saanya went into the kitchen.

"It is hard to find a house helper abroad. You are lucky." Tripti said

"Not hard, it is almost impossible. But thanks to my boss. He found her. She needed work. So, my boss gave her work at his house and at my house. He is such a good person, always ready to help everyone. Remember I told you I'm going because my friend has given me a job. This house, job, house helper everything is just because of him." he said

"Truly, what a great man. It is hard to find such people nowadays. What's his name ?" she said

"Arunesh Prabhu. The guy from my college in Mumbai. We were best friends. He has helped everyone." he said and then started thinking of something.

"What happened ?" she asked.

"Umm… I wanted to discuss something with you but will tell you after dinner." he said.

"Fine. You have never told me stories about your college. Tell me something about that." she asked.

"Nothing much. Just like any usual college. I had some great friends and had the best moments with them." he said. 

"Great." she said

They finished their dinner.

"Let's go upstairs. Let me show you my home." he said

"Be careful of this idiot." said Amit

Tripti tried suppressing her laugh. 

They went upstairs. He showed her home and then took her to his room.

"This is my room." he said.

"It is beautiful." she said.

"Yes. But incomplete. It is incomplete without you." he said

"What is wrong with this guy ?" Amit said.

"My life also seems incomplete without you. I thought you must have found someone till now. When I found Saanya in your home I thought she was your girlfriend." she said.

Amit started laughing now. "What  a unique way to bring back the topic ?" Amit said while laughing. Tripti suppressed her smile.

"No. I know she looks nice but she is just a maid, believe me. Actually, she came here with her husband but he lost his job and now is working as a labourer. She is working to help him with the expenses. She works at a restaurant, at Arunesh's house and at my house. She couldn't get a good job as she is not very educated." he said

"Wow! The murderer is also a story teller. She always has these poor little girl stories ready with her." Amit said 

"Also, if I was good with women I wouldn't have had an arranged marriage. For me you were the only one and you'll always be the one for me." he said.

"What nonsense ?" Amit said.

"Same with me. That's the reason why I'm here. I want us to give each other a second chance. I think we should start again. Let's meet as friends this time and see where it takes us." she said

"Perfect." he said

Amit was irritated now.

"By the way, you were going to discuss something with me. What was that ?" she asked

"Oh yeah. There is something weird that I want to share with you." he said

"What ?" she asked

"Everyone from my friends group has been dying in the last 5 years. Some from accident and some because of murder. Isn't that weird ?" he asked

"Oh. Sure it is. Who has been killed and how ?" she asked

"First my friend from Mumbai died in an accident. Then another friend was killed in Kolkata. And then one more was killed in London a few days ago." he said.

"That's very unusual. There must be some reason behind this. What could be the reason, Shantanu ?" she asked. 

"I don't know. I have never been involved in anything wrong. Believe me." he said.

"Then maybe they did something wrong. Do you know something about it ?" she asked.

"No, I don't know." he said

"Then don't worry. There must be some motive behind killing people only from a particular group. So, if you don't know what it is then you aren't a part of the hit list. Don't worry." she said

But he still looked worried.

"What if Arunesh gets killed ?" he asked.

"Well, we can't do anything about it. But how come you were in the same group and you don't know what they have done ? Why don't you ask Arunesh ?" she asked

"We discussed that. But we don't know what is wrong. Also, this stupid police. They haven't catched the murderer in both the cases." he said.

She got angry. She did not reveal that she was the officer in that case. 

"Being police is no joke, sometimes it is not as easy to catch a criminal as it seems" she said.

"Don't get angry. Please don't lose your calm." Amit said

"I'm sorry. I was not talking about you. You are a brilliant officer, I know." he said

"I think I should go now." she said

"Why so soon and where will you go ?"he said

"I am staying at a hotel. I'll go there. Will meet you soon again." she said

"Why will you stay at a hotel when my home is here ? Check out from there and stay here." he said

"Oh no. Tell him it is not possible. Give him some excuse and come out somehow." Amit said

"No, Shantanu. We are not married now. Let's be friends first." he said

"But a friend can stay at a friend's house right ?" he suggested.

"Yeah. But not the ones who were married. Let's give it some time. We don't want to end up like before, right ? she said

"Fine. " he said half-heartedly.

Tripti went out of the room. Amit heard two foot steps. He heard them again and slowly it vanished. 

Then again some footsteps were heard.

"What's going on ?" Amit said.

"Let me accompany you to the car." Shantanu said coming out of the room.

"What's his problem?" Amit said

He came out of the house with her. She sat in the cab and went to the hotel. Amit was still there in his car outside Shantanu's house. 

"I'll stay here and keep a watch. I'll follow Saanya when she comes out." Amit told Tripti.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. We will go together tomorrow. It is not safe to go at night." she said 

"Relax. I'll manage." he said.

"Fine but stay connected to me and let me know what is going on" she said

"Sure. " he said.

"But for a minute I'll have to cut the call. I need to send Amy the voice recording. We have captured Saanya's voice. I'll tell Amy to make Shehnaaz listen to that voice and tell us if there is any similarity." he said

"Oh. That's…great." she said

Tripti reached the hotel. She was waiting for Amit's call. But he didn't call. She called him but he didn't pick up. She was worried now. She waited for his call. 

When Amit finished his call with Amy, he saw Saanya coming out of the house. He forgot to call Tripti and started following her. Amit started walking behind her. She took the metro. Amit was constantly following her. His phone was silent and that's why he didn't know that Tripti was calling. Saanya came out of the metro and started walking again. Soon, she reached a residential area. Amit was following her. Suddenly she realised that there was someone behind her. She turned back but there was no one. Amit was hiding behind a tree. She started walking again. After some time she felt that someone was following her again. She looked back and again there was no one. She looked at surroundings and she saw one of Amit's shoe lace. She turned around and started walking in a hurry. She looked at her phone and increased her speed. Amit was also walking fast now. Just then Amit tripped and fell down. Saanya took advantage of this opportunity and ran. She took some turns and finally sneaked into her house. Amit looked at his leg. There was a string tied on the two trees of both the sides of roads due to which he tripped. Saanya did not fall which meant she already knew about it. So, someone already knew that he was following Saanya. Amit stood up and ran but he could not find her. There were many houses in that area. He decided to roam around for some time in that area so that he can find any evidence. 

"Thank you" Saanya said looking at a guy standing in front of her in her house.

He looked angry. 

"Let me finish his case today." he said and started walking angrily towards the door. Saanya stopped him.

"Don't you remember the condition ? We can't hurt Amit. If we do that we will be caught." she said.

"I don't trust anyone." he said

"But I do. Please." she said

"Fine" he said and sat down. 

Amit got tired and finally returned to the hotel. 

"Where were you ? And why didn't you call me ?" Tripti asked him angrily as soon as he entered the suite.

"Relax. I'm sorry I forgot. I was chasing Saanya." he said

"How can you be so careless ?" she asked

"Relax. I'm not careless. Stop behaving like my boss." he said

Amit was irritated because he could not catch Saanya even though he was so close. He couldn't figure out who was helping her and how they got to know about him. There was no reason for Tripti to do that. Maybe Shantanu was somehow involved, he thought. 

"You can tell me to use bluetooth and microphone but if I tell you to do something then I'm trying to be your boss. Nice" she said angrily.

"That was for your safety. I am not interested in listening to your stupid conversation with your stupid husband. he said

"Not husband, ex-husband. Why do you hate him so much ? Whatever issue I had with him was my problem, you shouldn't have any problem with him. And I was also worried about your safety." she said

"I don't hate him. It is just that he is not saying anything and also may be because of him I couldn't catch Saanya." he said

"What ? How is he responsible for that ?"she asked

"Somebody had tied a string on the road to make me fall and that means someone already knew that I was following her. Now, who it could be other than you or him ? You can't do it so it is definitely him." he said

"Don't say anything in your frustration. In Mumbai we had not told anyone still they kidnapped me. The criminals are ahead of us. I told you they are powerful people. But still you wanted to come here. Now, don't blame others if the criminals outsmart you. And sorry for being worried about you. If you think I'm being bossy then I'll go back to India."  she said.

Amit felt guilty.

"No, I'm..I'm sorry. It is just that I was this close to the criminal and lost her. I know you were worried. I don't know why I'm so irritated today." he said

"Relax. I think you are hungry. Let's go and have some dinner. Also, I'm never going to reconcile with Shantanu. This is just a drama." she said

"First of all, why is food your solution for every problem ? And secondly, why did you tell me that this is a drama ? I already know that." he said

"Because food gives us energy. We can't work without it. And I think one of the reason of your irritation was my drama so.." she said

"Why that would be the reason ?" he asked

"I don't know. You ask that to yourself. I said what I felt." she said.

"No, you are wrong." he said

"Fine. Let's go. I already had dinner, you should eat something too."

"Fine." he said while still thinking about what Tripti said.

They went for dinner.

"You know Shantanu had told her maid to cook all my favourite dishes for dinner." she said

"That's great." Amit said pretending as if he is not irritated.

Tripti enjoyed his antics.

Just then Amit got a call from Amy.

He talked to him. 

"What happened ?" Tripti asked after Amit cut the call.

"Saanya is Shabana. Amy sent the voice note to Shehnaaz and she said that it is Shabana's voice." he said

"Oh" she said

"I'm an idiot. I should have been careful. I was this close to the criminal and lost her." he said

"Relax. This happens with every officer." she said

"So, Shantanu doesn't know anything about the murders right ?" he asked

"Wrong. He is lying. He definitely knows something. I know him very well. When he was saying that he knew nothing I could feel that he was lying." she said.

"Oh. So, he is on the hit list. But he won't accept anything. Let's go and meet Arunesh Prabhu tomorrow then" he said

"But what will we tell him ?" she asked

"You don't come as Shantanu will be in his office. I'll go there as a journalist who wants to write an article about him." he said

"As if he won't ask for your ID ?" she asked 

Amit gave her a fake ID.

Tripti was shocked.

"How do you manage all these in a different country ?" she asked 

"I told you I have sources." he said

"Are you some undercover agent or some detective ?" she asked.

He laughed. "No, but I'll be soon. If I solve this case my promotion is confirmed next year." he said

"This case is very important to you. Isn't it ?" she asked

"Yes it is. Not just for promotion but also for my satisfaction." he said.

Tripti smiled.

"But there is one thing that I'm not able to understand." he said

"What's that ?" she asked

"If they know what we are doing then why don't they kill us ?" he asked. 

"Maybe their mission is just to kill those who did something wrong to them. Only Shantanu's friends. In Mumbai also they didn't harm me. They just kidnapped me to scare us." she said

"Maybe you are right. They just want us to stay away from the case. But that's not possible." he said.

Tripti laughed. "You are so stubborn." she said.

Next morning Amit went to meet Arunesh. He was connected to Tripti on call with the help of a bluetooth. He reached his office. He saw that the security guard was locking the main door. Amit went to meet him.

"Hello, sir. Why are you locking the door ? Today is a working day right ?" he asked

"No, today no work will be done as the owner of the company died. We all are going to his home." the guard said

"What ? Do you mean Mr. Arunesh Prabhu ?" he asked.

"Yes. He is the owner of the company and he died today morning." The guard said.

"How ?" he asked.

"Don't know. He didn't wake up this morning. Family tried waking him up but he didn't. Then they called the doctor and he declared him dead. His body has gone for post mortem. We will get to know the exact cause only after the reports come." The guard said

Amit was shocked. Tripti was listening to everything. She knew Amit would blame himself for whatever happened. 

"Relax. It is not your mistake." she said

Amit was shocked and devastated. A victim has died because he let go of criminals. Also, another one was at the risk of getting killed. He had to save him.

"Tripti go and meet Shantanu. Even if he denies, stay with him and take care of him. Please make sure nothing happens to him and also take care of yourself. Stay careful of Saanya if she comes to his house or comes near you. Let me know if you find anything about her. I'll go and try to find the murderers." he said

"As you say" she said

Will Tripti be able to save Shantanu's life ? Will Amit catch murderers ? How will Amit find them ? Stay tuned to know more…