A/N I'm back with a new story! Duo aren't in CID here. It is set in AU.
Fictional place. Not India.
Bounty hunters are those who catch criminals with bounties on their head and hand them over to the law. It is legal in most countries and is legal in this story too.
Also, though there are mentions of alcohol consumption in the story, the author by no means support it. Drinking and smoking are injurious to health. If they are mentioned in the story, it is only a requirement of the plot.
Thank you!
It had been seven years working with Zikri that Daya decided he have had enough. Zikri was an assassin, a bloody psychopath. Over the years he had built a team of highly capable individuals in assassination. Now, Daya didn't mind assassinating. He had been in the field for too long to give it a thought now. Instead, he enjoyed it. Crushing the selfish morals of those hungry for wealth bastards, it was fun to watch them plead for their lives before him. It was fun because their previously excessively prideful eyes would water in fear.
But Zikri's objectives had changed over the years, they were against his principles now. Daya didn't mind taking away everything from those rotting bastards, however, he did mind harming the innocent. Out of all the avaricious minds Daya had ever known, Zikri's was the worst. And so, after seven years of loyal service, Daya had left his organisation for good. Obviously, it wasn't an easy escape. Turning your back on your predator only gets you killed. But Daya had pre-planned everything. He knew Zikri so well, that his resignation was a success, even if it had left him with a filthy, long scar across his chest.
The first thing Daya did after leaving Zikri was changing his house. Knowing when and where Zikri's men could be, he chose a very safe location. Some, many kilometres away from his previous residence. From his current savings, he could rest for a month at least. And so, the very next day of his shifting, Daya found himself at a cheap local bar, drinking shots.
Minding his own business, he was watching the crowd dance when someone smacked into his back violently. He stood up immediately, alert and ready for a fight, only to find a stranger fallen on floor, who had nothing to do with his previous life. He could barely see the man's face from the dark of the bar, but could tell the man was sober.
His confusion grew when he saw the man's outfit. He was wearing a faux leather jacket over a basic white tee and a pair of denim. He looked decent. Daya wondered why even the man was in that cheap bar.
He furrowed his brows when the man looked up at him. "I'm sorry, oh, I'm so sorry. Pata nahi kaise..kisika dhakka lag gaya issliye.. I'm sorry." Daya relaxed his posture noticing the genuineness in the man's apology and forwarded a hand to help him up.
The stranger gave him a small, embarrassed smile, but instead of taking Daya's hand, he stood by himself. "Maine jaan boojke nahi kiya." He said, rubbing his neck nervously.
Daya nodded then, sitting down again on the barstool. Surprisingly, the stranger flopped on the stool beside him. From his wariness of strangers, he narrowed his eyes at the man beside him in alert. However, the man's demeanor didn't look like he was some kind of a rogue, relaxing Daya to an extent. But now he could see the stranger's face and the thought of having seen the same face somewhere before, struck him. The man caught his eye and smiled warmly, before turning to the bartender and saying, "The regular, please."
As the bartender walked off with a nod, the stranger again looked at him and asked. "Agar aap chahe toh aapka bill bhi mai bhar du? As an apology?"
Daya smiled, shaking his head. "Zarurat nahi hai, lekin shukriya."
The stranger smiled in acceptance. "Yahan par pehle kabhi dekha nahi aapko."
Daya shrugged, nonchalantly. "Mai yahan par pehli baar hi toh aaya hun." The stranger uttered an 'oh' as he took his drink from the bartender. Daya's curiosity however got the best of him and he asked, "Kya hum pehle kabhi mile hai?"
The stranger looked at him in amusement. "Hum mile hai?" He gave Daya an examining look and then shook his head, stifling a chuckle. "Mujhe nahi lagta."
"Oh." Daya said, confused at the man's reaction. "Mera vehem hoga. Voh bas aapka chehra thoda jana pehchana sa lagta hai."
The stranger shrugged, smiling at him. Daya didn't want to, but he posed another query. "Ache ghar ke lagte ho. Yahanpe kaise aana hua?"
The man shrugged. "Ab aapke fayde ki chiz jahan milti ho, vahipe jaana chahiye na?"
Daya knitted his brows in confusion making the man laugh. "Mai Abhijeet." He said, forwarding his hand.
Daya shook hands with him, hesitantly. "Daya."
Abhijeet nodded. "Good. Nice to meet you."
"Vaise", Abhijeet looked at him from head to toe, "Tum karte kya ho?"
Daya raised his eyebrow, taking a moment to answer, "Filhal toh kuch nahi. Abhi kaam dhund raha hun."
"Mhmm", Abhijeet gulped down his drink and removed a card from his jean's pocket. He forwarded it to Daya, giving him a big smile. "Mere boss ke liye kaam karoge?"
Daya looked at the card in suspicion. "Kaisa kaam?"
Abhijeet kept the money on the table for his drink and stood up from the stool. "Voh tumhe kal pata chalega."
Daya narrowed his eyes at him. "Aur paise?"
Abhijeet gave him a sweet smile. "Voh bhi kal pata chalega. Agar manzur hai toh iss card pe adress hai. Aajana. Theek shaam paanch baje."
Daya slowly took the card from him and as soon as he read the name over it, he knew where he had seen Abhijeet. He looked up in shock but Abhijeet wasn't there. His head immediately turned at the exit and Abhijeet gave him a two finger salute before leaving the bar.
"Yeh aadmi.." Daya said gazing at the name 'Lil-fingers' on the card. "Bounty hunter?" He smirked. "Tabhi sochu yeh itna jana pehchana sa kyun lag raha hai."
...
Giving it a lot of thought, Daya decided he'll go. He had won against Zikri, if anything were to go wrong, there was nothing that a plan won't save him. Hence, he found himself waiting outside the gates of a seemingly posh building.
The moment his watch struck 5pm, a man opened the gates and he was met by Abhijeet's warm smile. "Tum aagae?" The excitement in his voice made Daya cringe. He had heard of the company, "The Lil Fingers", a child care product manufacturing company. Though, behind the curtains, he'd heard, they were bounty hunters. They didn't bother to read the 'alive' in 'dead or alive'. They'd kill those who were wanted by government and hand them over for a good amount.
Zikri had some serious issues with the owner of the company. One time, he'd shown Daya and others pictures of people working as bounty hunters for the owner of 'Lil Fingers'. That was the reason why Abhijeet's face felt familiar to him back at the bar. However, the face of the owner was still a mystery to them. He doubted though, that bounty hunting was where they stopped. So, a warm smile was something Daya least expected from such a cold-blooded person.
"Come, come," Abhijeet gestured him to come in. He was wearing a black silk suit, fitting his slim frame, over a white shirt and a black bow tie around his neck. He brought Daya to a big hall inside the building. By the looks of it, a formal party was happening. And if Abhijeet's attire didn't make Daya conscious of his own simple outfit, the people clothed in lavish arrays did.
He was observing the place when Abhijeet's voice gained his attention. He turned and saw another man standing beside Abhijeet. As warm as Abhijeet's facial features were, the man beside him looked just as cold. "Daya, yeh hai Arjun. Yeh tumhe sab samjha dega. Tum iske saath hi rehna. Mai zara-", he waved in air giving Daya a small smile and then giving Arjun a hard glare as a warning, he left the place.
Daya watched him retreat when Arjun's voice startled him. "Chalo."
They were walking at a slow pace, Arjun introducing Daya to some of their colleagues present at the party who were sitting in their chairs or ordering a drink. Arjun was cold, but he was polite, Daya made a mental note of it. When most of the necessary introductions were done, Arjun initiated. "Mostly saare colleagues se tumhe milwa diya hai maine, aur tum bhi unse mil chuke ho. I hope tumhe naam bhulne ki bimaari nahi hai." He eyed at Daya.
Daya gave him a mocking smile. "Humara kaam toh naam pe hi nirbhar karta hai, Mr. Arjun. Bhul gae toh nuksaan hi nuksaan hai."
Arjun narrowed his eyes at him. "Tum Abhijeet se kaise mile?"
Daya paused before answering, "Abhijeet kal ek bar mein aya the. Vahi mai bhi tha. Usi dauran humari mulakat hui."
Arjun nodded. Whereas, Abhijeet's mention in the conversation reminded Daya of his absence. He looked around and found Abhijeet across the big hall, huffing in anger as he scolded three men who were standing infront of him with their heads lowered. Daya frowned, wondering what was Abhijeet's part in all this.
"Vaise," he said, still looking at Abhijeet from the corner of his eye, "yahan karna kya hai mujhe? Yeh sare log toh itne.." he trailed off, glancing around.
Arjun gave him a stern look and completed his sentence with, "Sharif dikh rahe hai?"
Daya nodded silently. They had reached the bar by then, and so, the both took their seats, adjacently.
Arjun ordered his drink and said to Daya, "Yahan pe tum jinse mile, voh log tumhare kisi kaam nahi aane waale. Upar kuch hi det mein ek meeting hai. Vahan tum jin jin logonse miloge, aaj ke baad generally unhi ke saath tumhara uthna-baithna hoga."
Daya tilted his neck, puzzled. "Per..mera kaam?"
Arjun took a deep breath. "Dekho Daya, tumhe yahan aise hi nahi bulaya gaya hai." His eyes turned unexpectedly cold. "Uss haramzade Zikri keliye kaam karte the na tum? Sab biodata nikala hai tumhara. Tab jaake Abhijeet ko bheja tumhare paas, tumhe yahan laane keliye."
Hearing that, Daya looked at him sternly too. "Yeh mere sawal ka jawab nahi tha."
Arjun scoffed. "Job bahot hi simple hai. Tum Dr. Hemant Agarwal ko toh jante hi hoge, kyun?"
Daya's frowned. "Voh jise organ trafficking ke liye jail hui thi? Kuch mahine pehle hi toh chuta tha voh."
Arjun nodded, "Business woman Mishti Roy ne ek hafte baad apne farmhouse pe ek party rakhi hai." He bobbed his head into Abhijeet's direction. "Abhijeet aur tumhe iss party mein jaana hai. Yeh Dr. Agarwal kisi zamane mein humare sir ke liye kaam karta tha. Humari company ke kuch secrets usne iss Mishti ko bech diye hai. Kisi bhi haal mein unn documents ko hume wapas pana hai. Dheeraj rakho. Upar meeting mein sab kuch detail mein pata chal jaega tumhe.
It didn't help. Though it solved some of Daya's questions, it added more to his confusions. "Ek organ trafficker ka child care products ke company ke saath kya taluq?"
Arjun looked at him, unimpressed. He said in a stony tone, "Yeh child care products toh humne bas kuch saal pehle hi bechna shuru kiye hai. Originally humari pharmaceutical company thi. Teen saal pehle use band karke, iss company ko shuru kiya gaya."
Daya looked at him surprised. "Kisliye?"
Arjun gritted his teeth, having his drink. "Kaun jaane."
Disliking his tone, Daya gave him a look before his eyes started wandering around the hall, once again. He noticed Abhijeet was constantly walking around the tables, checking up on each guest. Sometimes, scolding the minors too.
In curiosity, he turned towards Arjun and said, "Yeh Abhijeet kya yahanpe manager hai?"
Arjun, who was enjoying his drink, kept the glass down and followed Daya's gaze to look at Abhijeet. He snorted. "Haha, keh sakte ho."
Daya was confused by his reaction, but he had already decided that the man Arjun was one of the most confusing guys on the planet. Cold but polite. Attentive but not-bothered.
He erased the thought and said, "By the way, iska matlab toh yahi hua na ki yeh Abhijeet jaisa banda uss jaise bar mein kabhi jaata nahi hoga. Tum logonko pata kaise chala ke mai vahan hun?"
Arjun shrugged. "Gangster ke saath kaam kar chuke ho. Tumhari history nikali humne. Kabhi kabaar laga lete ho yeh bhi pata chala. Kisi na kisi bar mein jaoge yeh toh zahir tha."
"Paise toh tumhare paas utne honge nahi. Savings karne ki jo sochoge." He heard Abhijeet's voice from behind and was surprised to see him. Abhijeet continued with a smile. "Isliye tumhare ilake ke sabhi affordable bars mein humne humare ek-do bartenders rakh diye. Voh kya hai na, cold drink tak hi theek hai. Mai sharab nahi pita." He winked, "Suna hai bahot kadwi hoti hai."
Arjun stifled a laugh whereas remembering 'the regular, please", Daya broke into a laughter. "Khaas taur pe bartenders ko hi bheja tha tumne, kyun?"
Abhijeet chuckled. "Obviously. Vaise.." his tone turned serious, suddenly. "Meeting shuru hone hi vaali hai. Hume upar chalna chahiye."
A/N So, something new. Hope y'all will like the concept. It won't be a very long story. Max to max seven chaps.
Hope y'all will enjoy.
Again, I by no means support smoking or drinking. If it's shown in the story, it is only the necessity of the plot.
Thanks you!
Take care,
Janhvi.
