Killer in the Shadows! (8 page)

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll get to the bottom of it,” Abhay said in a quiet voice. He gently traced his thumb along her chin and tilted her face to gaze into her eyes.

Being held in Abhay’s arms was definitely not calming. This was dangerous territory. Desire laced his husky voice. His lips were a mere whisper away, his breath hot on her
skin. Naina’s breasts pressed against the hard wall of his chest. Heat skittered up her spine, and the rough texture of his stubble on her cheek sent a hot need through her.

“Tell me not to do this,” he whispered as his lips grazed her hair.

“Abhay, I–” Naina’s unspoken argument died when his warm mouth met hers, sending a rush of pleasure and passion through her. His mouth devoured hers, his lips daring and forceful as he claimed the tender recesses of her mouth with his plunging tongue. Naina’s body reacted to his need by moulding to his hard masculinity, and a low moan escaped her when his lips moved to the delicate skin beneath her jaw.

Abhay’s hands lingered at her waist as he touched his forehead to hers and exhaled loudly. His words came out on a ragged breath. Instead of releasing her, Abhay continued to stroke her back as he had before, slowly allowing the tension to ease from both their heated bodies. When he finally looked at her, she saw a mixture of the passion they’d ignited along with a strong sense of regret, but he still didn’t let her go.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” Naina said. “Because you are working on my case; not because it wasn’t good.”

Abhay wondered what she was saying.
Kya bol rahi hai! Case gaya bhaad mein
. He definitely didn’t want to stop.

Beneath her thin t-shirt, her nipples stood erect against the soft cotton, and her breasts ached for Abhay’s touch, a realization that shocked her. But she gave Abhay a hard, assessing look, then dropped her hands to his side. “I think we should stop.”

Abhay wanted to push her on the couch and go his way. But he also stopped. He knew this heat which had been generated would come out soon and it would be more enjoyable when both parties would be ready.

He covered her small hand with his own. “Trust me, Naina,” he said and left.

If only she could trust him.

The next morning, Abhay slipped into his police uniform, his favourite red scarf and holstering his gun, he headed to his jeep.

At the police station, he began his investigation of Ashish. It wasn’t because the guy had been involved with Naina personally, but because it was the logical place to start the investigation. He had asked Shukla to prepare a file on the guy. Abhay studied the data. He kept going through the papers till something caught his eye. Ashish was one of Mumbai’s leading architects and had great knowledge and information about his company’s land investments. A small subsidiary of the company had accused Ashish of embezzling funds.
Mr Ashish toh khiladi bhaiya hain
, he thought.

The case had gotten some local media attention, but had ceased just as suddenly. He skimmed through the next few editions of the paper and discovered a small section explaining that the company had reached a settlement and the charges had been dropped.

Abhay ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair, placing his booted feet on his desk while he considered the possibilities in the
tik tik tik
noise of the typewriter.

Did Naina know about Ashish’s past? Perhaps Naina had accidently discovered something about his business and Ashish might be worried about her disclosing the information. If his career was at stake, he had a viable motive. It was a theory worth investigating.

Shukla came in grinning.

“You look happy, Shuklaji,” commented Abhay. “Your beard’s gone all stiff.

Shukla checked his beards with his hands. “Sirji, I have some great news for you which will close this Naina case.
Aur bhi toh case solve karne hain, sirji. Aakhir ek aadmi ki bhains chori ho gayi hai
.”

Abhay laughed at his comment. “
Kya baat kartey ho Shuklaji
. I was in such a serious mood and you just changed everything. Tell me what news you have.”

Shukla continued moving his fingers in his beard. “Sirji, I visited the Blossoms florist shop as per your instructions. The owner told me that the sunflowers were already wilting and he was about to throw them out but the customer insisted on buying them. Paid for them in cash too.”

“And who was the customer?” Abhay asked impatiently.

Shukla tapped his forehead in thought. “Umm… sirji, that guy told me that it was a girl. She had long black hair and dark eyes. And yes, she was wearing a brown jacket with a peculiar brooch on it. The shopkeeper remembered that it was in the shape of some bird, like a peacock.”

“How does this news solve the case, Shuklaji?” snapped Abhay.

“Sirji, I am telling you Naina is insane, and is doing all these things herself.”

Naina woke up and looked outside her window. Every day in Allahabad had been an eventful one. She wondered what was in store for her today.

She dressed carefully – brushed her hair, put on some makeup – but no matter what she did, when she looked in the mirror, all she saw was a ghost. Naina got to office, poured herself some tea and waved to Ria who was busy on the phone. Before sitting down, she took off her jacket to hang on the chair and noticed that it was already occupied by her brown jacket. She was surprised to see her brown jacket there. She didn’t remember leaving it at work. She threw her jacket across the table and started her work. She was engrossed in her papers when the phone rang.

“Naina, it’s Uncle Chauhan. I wanted to make sure you got home all right.”

Naina’s fingers tightened around the handset as the memories of the crushed flowers came back to her. “Yes, I’m all right, why wouldn’t I be?”

Uncle Chauhan hesitated. “Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed a little tense at the party. Now that you’re in town, I intend to make sure you’re taken care of.”

Naina fiddled with her pen and smiled. “I’m fine, uncle. It’s really sweet of you to ask.”

“Listen, I’d like to have dinner later in the week. How about Friday?”

“Sure,” Naina said and hung up. She turned back to her file but felt someone’s presence in the room. Abhay was standing in the doorway. He was looking devastatingly handsome today, Naina thought. “Hi,” she said, fumbling with her pen and dropped it. Naina couldn’t read his expression, but the smile she’d seen last night when he’d asked her to trust him was absent from his eyes.

Abhay paused by her chair. An odd expression crossed Abhay’s face. “Whose brooch is that?” he asked, his voice clinical, as he pointed to her brooch.

Naina swallowed. Abhay’s cold, formal tone surprised her. Where was the man who’d been so sensitive last night? The man who’d kissed her and awakened her needs. She reminded herself that she had no reason to be afraid of Abhay. He was here to help her. “It’s mine.”

Abhay’s unreadable expression turned into a puzzled frown. His long fingers stroked the colourful peacock brooch on the jacket.

Naina got up to explain. “This brooch belonged to my grandmother. She used to be mad about the vibrant colours of peacock.” She looked at the brooch and then at Abhay. “What’s wrong, Abhay?”

When he spoke, his voice was harsh. “Constable Shukla checked with the florist. He said the person who ordered those flowers was a woman in a brown jacket with a peacock brooch just like this one!”

“You think I sent the flowers to myself?” Naina finally asked in a dull voice.

Abhay wound his scarf tighter and buried his hands deeply into his pocket. He chewed his bottom lip and said nothing. The disappointment in her eyes almost softened his resolve, but he now knew better. Even if it meant discovering she was a liar.

“You’re just like everybody else. Once you’ve heard about my past, you decided I was crazy.” Naina’s dark eyes blazed with fury. “Yesterday you asked me to trust you, and today you accuse me of sending myself a box of dead flowers.”

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I intend to find out who’s behind all these things, Ms Sinha.”

“Good, because I want them to stop.”

“So do I.”

“Good.”

“Fine.”

A strained moment stretched between them. Finally, Abhay lowered his voice and said, “I checked in on your boyfriend–”

“Ex-boyfriend,” Naina clarified.

“Okay. Did you know he had been charged for embezzlement?”

“Those were dropped. Besides, that happened in Mumbai. I don’t see how that can possibly be related to what’s going on here,” Naina said tightly.

“Did you and Ashish ever discuss business?”

Naina’s tone was sarcastic. “Not confidential matters if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Bear with me for a minute, Naina,” Abhay said, reining in his temper. “If Ashish was involved in something illegal, and…if you inadvertently were privy to some information, Ashish would have a motive to come after you.”

Naina mulled over the possibility. “I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t remember anything. The only thing Ashish told me about was a few investments, but I don’t remember the details. Anything else?” she felt frustrated by his questions.

Abhay gritted his teeth. Yes, he wanted to kiss her and taste the fire in her body. But that was impossible. He didn’t even know if she was telling him the truth.

“Look, Naina–” A knock at the door made him stop. A good thing, he thought, before he made a fool out of himself.

Ria stuck her head in. “A gentleman’s here to see you, Ms Sinha.”

“Send him in,” she said.

Naina was surprised to see Girish Chauhan.

Gentleman? Ghantaa!
Abhay thought.

Girish flashed Naina a leering smile. And she returned it with a warm one of her own.

“What I see I like,” said Girish his eyes moving from her to the bookshelf.

“Thanks,” Naina said, unsure whether his compliment was for her or the furniture.

“Mr Abhay Pandey, I have heard that you are taking too much interest in Naina’s case,” Girish said sarcastically.

“
Meri toh yeh duty hai
, but what are you doing here? Don’t you have an election to win?” Abhay looked at him and smiled.

Girish stood face to face with Abhay and said “Abhayji, if inspectors like you spend most of their time behind a girl’s skirt, criminals
ka kya hoga?

“
Desh ke neta bhi usee skirt mein ghusenge to desh ka kya hoga
, you think about that,” said Abhay, tucking his scarf inside his collar as he walked out of Naina’s office.

Naina quickly asked, “How come you are here?”

Girish leaned against the wall, trying to act casual. “I was in the area and dropped by. I wanted to take you out for lunch.”

Naina folded her hands across the top of her desk. “I really have a lot of work to do.”

Girish grinned and sauntered toward her. “Well, you have to eat too and it might as well be with me.”

Naina smiled. “Shouldn’t you be someplace doing social work and impressing people?”

Girish’s rich laughter filled the room. “I don’t think it’ll hurt my image to be seen with a beautiful woman.”

“I see,” Naina smiled in spite of his remark. “So you wanted to talk business?”

“No, I want to relax and enjoy myself, and get to know you better. After all, you’re special for my dad. That makes you someone special for me too.”

The thought of refusing Girish’s invitation struck Naina as a good idea as she could smell alcohol on him. But she’d promised herself she would associate with the people from her past. Perhaps Girish had heard his dad talk about her parents, and she could learn something that would trigger a memory. She agreed and picked up her bag.

Downstairs, a sleek black Mercedes gleamed in the afternoon sun.

“Very impressive,” she said as she sank into the plush leather seats.

“Father bought it for me as a present.” He pressed a button and a tray opened with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He poured it into two glasses and offered one to Naina.

The driver quickly manoeuvred the car onto the road, and a few minutes later and two glasses down, they were settled at a table in at the restaurant of the Royal Cliff. This was the best amongst the two five star hotels in Allahabad.