Date Night
Chapter 2
Abhijeet had put on his best suit for the evening. He had reached Akira's house well before time and they had shared a very chatty and an entertaining journey till they reached the restaurant.
While Akira was busy admiring the restaurant's ambience, Abhijeet scanned the crowd and then he saw her. Smiling slightly to himself, he began to walk towards his right, Akira tailing close behind.
"Hi Tarika" Vaibhav's voice came from right behind her.
"Oh hey! I was looking for you. I hope I am not late" said Tarika.
"Oh no you aren't. I came just a few minutes ago" said Vaibhav.
Tarika looked around the restaurant in awe. "This place is just beautiful. Good choice"
"Heh thanks" said Vaibhav. "Shall we sit down? Our table is book right there around the corner"
Seconds later they had made themselves comfortable sitting around a wooden table.
"Wow, tonight feels just great. Away from the usual surroundings" said Tarika.
"Told you" Vaibhav said smiling. "We should do this often you know get away from routine"
"Sure thing. I am in definitely" said Tarika.
"Shall we order?" Vaibhav asked.
"Oh yes. What would you like to have?" Tarika questioned, scanning the menu card.
"Italian is good here. Pasta?" Vaibhav asked.
"Yeah, mix sauce and something with baby corns in it would do if it is fine with you?" Tarika said.
"Yeah, fine with me. Let's ask the waiter what options do we have with this combination" said Vaibhav.
They placed the order and then Vaibhav said, "You look different tonight"
"Different huh? How?" Tarika asked.
"I don't know I can't quite put my finger on but you look relaxed and happy" said Vaibhav.
"I am -" "Hey Tarika! Hi!" A different but familiar voice floated towards her.
Tarika turned around in her seat to find Abhijeet walking toward her followed by a pretty girl.
"Abhijeet sir, hello this is a surprise" Vaibhav said with a broad smile.
Tarika's frown widened as Abhijeet drew closer and she stood up as he reached their table.
"Abhijeet? What are you doing here?" Tarika asked him, her face screwing up in anger.
"I came here for dinner ofcourse!" Abhijeet said and then turned to Vaibhav, "Nice to see you!" he said.
"How are you sir? I read your interview in the paper last week. I have been telling all my friends how lucky I am to have had the chance to work with you" said Vaibhav.
"Oh, thanks Vaibhav. But don't flatter me too much" said Abhijeet and both of them laughed.
"Your colleagues?" the girl accompanying Abhijeet spoke for the first time.
Tarika observed that she was of average height and very slim. She was kinda good looking.
"Ah yes, I forgot to introduce you- uh this is Vaibhav and Dr Tarika, they work in our forensic department and this is Akira, my friend"
Tarika mumbled a feeble "Hi" to Akira and then turned to Abhijeet. "Mind if I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure" said Abhijeet
"Alone" Tarika said through gritted teeth.
Once they were out of earshot of both their respective partners, Tarika said, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I told you, I am here for dinner" said Abhijeet coolly
"I can't believe this Abhijeet! You are stalking me! This is outrageous!" Tarika snarled under her breath so people sitting nearby would not hear them.
"Excuse me, I wasn't stalking you! How can you make such insane accusations!" Abhijeet snapped.
"This is not insane! You knew I was going to come here. I asked you about this restaurant in the bureau!" Tarika muttered in an undertone.
"You asked me how the restaurant was. You never told me you and Vaibhav were going to come here!" Abhijeet said in similar tone.
"Oh god you are such an ass Abhijeet! Don't you dare lie to me. I was not born yesterday!" Tarika snapped at him.
"Oh shut up! It was merely a coincidence. And why on earth would I stalk you?" Abhijeet asked her.
"Oh you are just jealous that I found a date too!" Tarika said furiously.
"Oh Please! I am not jealous. I have a very beautiful date. Just look at that girl-"
"Oh, I am straight thank you."
"That's not what I meant!"
"I don't care what you meant. All I care is that you followed me out here just to ruin my dinner date!" Tarika said in raised voice.
"No I didn't follow you. Don't you accuse me of-"
"You know what? I know you are never going to accept this so I am going to go and enjoy my dinner. But I am not done with this" she said and walked back towards their table.
"Fine! I am not done with this either!" Abhijeet called after her loudly.
"Is everything alright?" Akira asked as Tarika walked back to her chain looking daggers followed by an equally angry looking Abhijeet.
"Yes, everything is perfectly fine" said Abhijeet smiling at Akira. "Well, lets not starve ourselves anymore. Enjoy your dinner Vaibhav" he said and led Akira away.
"Are you sure everthing is fine?" Akira repeated. "You two seemed to be having a heated discussion"
"Oh it was just something about the case which we are currently working on" said Abhijeet.
"Okay, cool" said Akira. "I hope you don't mind if we order wine? Technically you are off duty, aren't you?" she asked as they took their reserved seats in the restaurant.
"Fine with me. Absolutely." said Abhijeet.
"Sparkling?" Akira prompted.
"Yes" said Abhijeet as Akira scanned the bar menu. "You know I never thought it would be so easy to talk to you. I was quite apprehensive to meet you actually"
Akira laughed. "Me too. I thought you would a boring, old CID officers. You know a little serious type"
Before Abhijeet could reply, his cellphone rang. He saw Purvi's name flashing on the screen.
"Do you mind if I take this call? It's a bit urgent" Abhijeet said.
"Oh, go ahead. It's fine really" Akira said.
"Thanks" said Abhijeet and pressed the answer button. "Yes Purvi"
"Sorry sir. I didn't want to disturb you but Daya sir wasn't answering so I had to call you" Purvi said in a hurried voice.
"No problem at all. Tell me. You got somehing from Mohan's son?" Abhijeet asked.
"No sir he didn't even know that the payment was being made by SV
Industries. He began to withdraw those funds two years ago when he lost his job due to recession. He got another job but it wasn't paying him well so Mohan told him to withdraw from his bank account." said Purvi in a defeated tone.
"Hmm. Is Daya back yet? Or have you heard anything from him?" Abhijeet asked.
"No sir not yet. But I got a call from Pankaj. He too couldn't gather much from Mohan's collegaues or friends. So that's another dead end. I really hope Daya sir finds something else we will never be able to progress on this case" said Purvi.
"Yeah you are right. I really hope Daya finds some leads. Anyway, if Daya calls with anything or if you get any new update on this one then let me know, okay?" said Abhijeet.
"Yes sir, I will" said Purvi.
Exactly a minute after Purvi had disconnected the call, Abhijeet's cellphone began to ring again. This time, it was Daya.
"Yes Daya?" Abhijeet asking his heart thudding loudly.
"It was Raghu, Abhijeet. He killed Mohan" said Daya.
"Raghu the contact killer? But as far as I am aware, he is hard to get unless you pay him huge amount of money." said Abhijeet.
"Exactly. Once I get hold of Raghu, we will know" said Daya in a menancing voice.
"How did you know it was Raghu?" asked Abhijeet.
"One of our informers happened to be in the area when the shooting happened. He called me just to make me aware about it. I have told him to tail Raghu. Pankaj and Freddy have gone with him He is postive, he will have Raghu in some time." said Daya.
"Great, so once we get hold of Raghu, we will know who the hell is behind all this. Unless ofcourse the person has decided to approach Raghu in clandestine manner." said Abhijeet.
"Well, let's hope for the best. It has been an hour now since our informant called me. Still haven't got any news from him. Anyway I will get back to you if he calls" suid Daya.
"Sure" said Abhijeet.
"Sorry" he added to Akira as he disconnected the phone the second time.
"Work call again?" asked Akira sipping her wine.
"Can't help it. My job requires me to be on duty at all times" said Abhijeet shrugging.
"Hmmm.. married to work, that's what you call it" said Akira.
"Yeah" said Abhijeet. "Like I said. Can't help it"
"So what happens when your job divorces you?" Akira asked.
Abhijeet frowned a little. "I don't think that's ever gonna happen. I love my work"
"Ofcourse I have no doubts about that. But at some point in your life you will have to retire. Then what will you do? You don't have family so how will you pass all the spare time?"
"Why do I feel like I am being questioned by a woman looking for prospective grooms?" Abhijeet asked smiling softly.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I am just curious" said Akira laughing.
"Well, I might take up some hobby and besides, its never too late to start a family" he said.
"I see - TRING!"
This time Abhijeet picked up the phone without asking for Akira's permission.
"Yes what is it?" he spoke.
"You won't believe this Abhijeet! We managed to get our hands on Raghu. We have the sketch of the person who paid Raghu to kill Mohan" Daya said in an urgent voice.
"Any idea who he is?" asked Abhijeet.
"No, we just ran his sketch through the criminal database but we haven't got any matches. But -"
"Hello? Hello? Damn it!" Abhijeet swore angrily. His cellphone's screen was blank. The phone was dead.
"Excuse me" he said to Akira and without waiting for her reply, he walked over to where Tarika was sitting.
"Tarika, dial Daya's number quickly! I want to talk to him. It's about the case" he said.
Without any further ado, Tarika handed him her cellphone.
"Daya... my phone's dead. What were you telling me?" Abhijeet said as soon as Daya picked up the phone
"Are you and Tarika together?" Daya asked in a surprised voice.
"Um not really. Its a long story. Later" said Abhijeet hastily.
"Oh yeah right so I was saying that we have the sketch of the person who told Raghu to shoot Mohan. The face... I think I have seen it somewhere but I can't remember for sure that's the problem." said Daya.
"Can you send it on Tarika's phone?" Abhijeet asked him.
"Yes, give me a sec." Daya said. "Dude... I know I've seen this man somewhere. I just... there, check of you've got it."
"Yes, I have" said Abhijeet as he heard the email received tone. "I will call you back if I remember anything."
As soon as he disconnected the call, Tarika asked, "what's wrong?"
"Any problem sir?" Vaibhav inquired.
"No, its just the case we were working on. Hey do you mind if I..." Abhijeet said looking at Tarika.
"Oh no sir" said Vaibhav.
"What?" Tarika questioned as she followed Abhijeet away from the table.
"Daya has this sketch. This person gave money to contract killer Raghu to kill Mohan. Daya thinks the face in sketch is familiar but he is not able how remember exactly. You think you know this person?" Abhijeet asked her as he opened the email attachment.
Tarika stared at the sketch for a moment and then shrugged. "Nope. I don't think so"
"Me neither" said Abhijeet frowning slightly.
"So now what? Did he run this through criminal database?" asked Tarika.
"Yep. Negative. No matches" said Abhijeet still staring at the picture.
A minute later, he handed her cellphone back. "My cellphone battery is dead. If Daya calls -"
"Yeah, no problem" said Tarika and both of them walked back to their respective tables.
"It is over now?" Akira asked. She looked slightly irritated.
"Yes, I - look I am really sorry." Abhijeet apologised.
"That's fine. It's just that you haven't even eaten. And I am halfway done with starters." said Akira.
"Oh, that's okay. I will eat" said Abhijeet. A minute passed in silence and then Abhijeet stood up suddenly as he had a brainwave.
"What?" Akira said in alarm, her soup spoon suspended in mid - air.
"I - I'll be back." he said and almost ran over to Tarika.
"Really, that's the most amazing thing about him but-"
"what if we remove his moustache and beard
?" Abhijeet said sounding excited and out of breath.
"Wha-"
"That man in the sketch!" said Abhijeet before Tarika could finish her sentence. "What if we remove his moustach and beard? How will he look like? You have that application right?"
"Yes, wait one minute" said Tarika and then seconds later - "Oh my god! Abhijeet you are right! Just look at this!" she said and thrust her cellphone in Abhijeet's hand.
"That's the CEO of UV Industries!" Abhijeet almost shouted. "I have to tell Daya... no hell I think I will get back to bureau."
"I'll come with you" said Tarika.
"What? No, it's -"
"Oh come on Abhijeet. I have worked on this case too! And this was one hell of a twist. Who knows you Dr Salunkhe might need me."
"Okay, okay but..." Abhijeet glanced at Vaibhav who was staring at them.
"If you want shall we continue this later?" Vaibhav asked Tarika. He looked expectant.
"Oh yes! Thank you so much Vaibhav. I will give you a call later" said Tarika.
"Wha - oh right" said Vaibhav quite taken aback by Tarika's response.
"Um.. Abhijeet, I just got a call. I need to go. I can't stay right now." came Akira's voice from behind them.
"Oh, yes. We will meet again. Later and sorry" Abhijeet said to her.
"Well, bye Abhijeet" Akira said and walked away without another glance at him.
"Let's go. We don't have time to waste" said Abhijeet and together they marched off towards the car park.
Abhijeet was sitting at his desk, staring at his comouter screen when He heard a sound of approaching footsteps. As he turned his swivel chair around, he saw Tarika approaching him, still in her evening dress.
"Hey, you still here?" she asked him.
"Yup, waiting for this stupid computer to shut down. Don't know what's gotten into this one. Takes ages" said Abhijeet.
"Memory problem apparantly" said Tarika. "So the suspense finally ends"
"Yes, it was CEO of UV Industries. He gave orders to Raghu to kill Mohan and the courier boy." said Abhijeet.
"Yeah, Salunkhe sir told me." said Tarika. "The drug was not a success, wasn't it?"
"Yes, UV Industries were claiming that they had successfully developed a drug which stopped the cancer from growing. But actually they were fooling people. The drug slowed the cancer growth. It didn't stop the cancer from spreading. And while Mohan worked in UV Industries as a corporate spy, he found out about this. Before he could tell his former boss about this however, he own secret came to light and he was suspended from his job. They brought a restraining order against him due to which Mohan could not communicate to any of his colleagues or friends" said Abhijeet.
"Mohan knew that his former company was anyway going off the grid and he too was going away for a long time." said Tarika.
"Yes but he had the proofs that the drug made by UV industries was a fake one. So he decided to use this for his own benefit. Mohan blackmailed the CEO of UV Industries and to protect his secret, they agreed to pay him money till he served his jail sentence. They used their associate company to pay him as additional cover. Initially the agreement was that SV industries would pay Mohan till his release from prison. But then Mohan refused to honor their agreement and the CEO threatened to kill him. Mohan knew his life was in danger so he told his father to send the proofs to ACP sir one day before his release from prison. But Raghu on orders of the CEO prevented that and stole the proofs and killed Mohan." said Abhijeet.
"But how did you find those proofs?" asked Tarika.
"We went with search warrant. We found the proofs hidden in his office. Then we did a little CID style questioning and he came clear. Raghu too identified the CEO. He had no option but to confess to his crime." Abhijeet.
"So what happens now?" asked Tarika.
"Raghu and the CEO will face jail sentence. Also there will be an official legal enquiry into the company" said Abhijeet.
"Wow, this was one hell of a case" said Tarika.
"Totally" said Abhijeet. "Um but why are you still working late?"
"Salunkhe sir roped me into doing some more tests for another case. You know the double murder case of the business tycoon and his wife?" said Tarika making a face.
"Oh yeah how can I forget that one? That case is pain in the ass." said Abhijeet as Tarika laughed.
"I came down to hand these files to Purvi." said Tarika.
"She left a few minutes ago" said Abhijeet.
"I'll leave them on her desk. God, I am terribly hungry!" said Tarika.
"Now you mention it, me too! I didn't really have dinner there" Abhijeet agreed. "Glad I didn't though. I don't see what the fuss is all about. I didn't like the food at La cirque"
"Yes! That's exactly what I thought! Vaibhav was going gaga over it. I mean,the decor was fine but that was all. The food was not at all good" said Tarika.
"To add to my woes, Akira just couldn't understand that emergencies can cause a CID officer's cellphone to ring anywhere and any number of times! She was hoping that I would ignore Daya's calls and start admiring the evening or something! People just don't understand the seriousness of situations sometimes." said Abhijeet.
"Oh god, and you know what? Vaibhav thought that the entire time I was there, I kept talking about how you were a stalker and were refusing to accept the fact." said Tarika.
Abhijeet opened his mouth to argue but Tarika said, "Let's not do this right now. I guess both of us are too tired"
"Oh... yes... right... no actually I was going to say that - that people just don't know how to behave on first dates!" said Abhijeet.
"I know right! You know we shouldn't have gone out with these two. They are not our type." said Tarika.
"Exactly. Akira is definitely not my type" agreed Abhijeet. "And I am never going to La Cirque again. Ever. You know this burger barn café in the next block? It has better food than that expensive crap"
"Are you kidding me? Burger Barn Café has the most amazing burgers and coffee in the entire universe!" said Tarika. "Okay, now I am really hungry" said Abhijeet.
"Speaking of which..." Tarika said checking her watch, "If we hurry, we will be able to get something. It's 11.40 pm. The café closes at 12." She looked at him, her eyes beaming, "What do you think? Are you ready for a little night jog?"
"Absoultely! I am in" said Abhijeet.
END