Meera was still high on the rush she got by dominating Armaan. She was curious as to what Armaan did in her bedroom when she was making breakfast.
She played the footage from the hidden camera in the bedroom. She observed that he was trying to search something but hadn't taken anything from her room.
A thought occurred to her and she checked her laptop. She was shocked to find all her precious data erased. She realized that her system had been hacked. She frantically checked her cloud account and her phone but was shocked to find everything erased from her phone and cloud too. She realized that the USB drive Armaan carried perhaps had a malware on it that enabled Neil to hack her system.
She checked the camera footage from last night as she saw Armaan wake up at 4 am and access her phone.
"That bastard!" she muttered to herself. She was overconfident last night and it costed her dearly.
She thought for a moment about the repercussions of her carelessness.
She made a phone call and said, "I have a job for you. Find someone useful at Healthline hospital."
*****************************************
Alisha reached the hospital at the scheduled time.
She was called in for consultation with her doctor. Her condition was worsening, her doctor prescribed stronger medications. After the consultation she bought medicines from the hospital pharmacy.
As she walked out of the hospital, she didn't realize that she was being followed. As she turned into a deserted alley, a van stopped near her and some men dragged her in. They injected something in her arm and she fainted.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself tied to a chair. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she observed the three men standing in front of her. She began to tremble in fear as she recognized them. She screamed and struggled as tears streamed down her eyes.
"Calm down," Neil said, "We just want to talk. If you co-operate, we won't hurt you."
"I am sorry," Alisha begged, "I only did what she asked. I didn't want to but I had no choice."
"I know," Neil said, "Now I have what Meera had against you, so it would be good for you if you do as I say."
"What?" Alisha asked sounding surprised.
"Would you rather hang for multiple murders or just confess that Meera made you hold my daughters hostage and serve a smaller term?"
"I can't..." Alisha said.
"Too bad," Neil said, "Then you are of no use to me, and Reyansh has a lot of plans for you."
"Sure, I do," Reyansh said, "Trust me, you don't wanna find out."
"No, no...please..it is Meera.." she spoke trembling in fear, "She has total control over me. The police are after me, I wanted to leave town but she wouldn't let me. She has me update my location to her all the time. She threatens to hurt me if I don't do as she says."
"If you agree to help Neil," Armaan said, "I assure you, you will be protected."
"She is too dangerous," Alisha said, "Helping Neil would mean crossing her, she would get me killed if I do."
"Honey," Reyansh said touching her cheek, "We are perfectly capable of killing you as well, and do things far worse, so you might wanna reconsider that."
Alisha realized that she was in immediate threat, and complying with them was the only sensible choice.
"Alright," she said, "I'll help you...but please don't hurt me." She felt her voice was choking.
"Good," Neil said, "You are coming with me right now to the police station and recording your statement."
Neil untied her ropes. Alisha got up and suddenly felt dizzy. She fell down on her knees. There was a severe pain in her chest.
"Hey...what happened?" Neil asked.
"I don't know...I...can..t..breathe..." she said grabbing her neck.
She fell down on the floor, clutching her chest and screaming in pain. She struggled to breathe. Her eyes were red and her whole body was writhing in pain.
"Looks like she has been poisoned," Armaan said rushing towards the breathless girl, "Did you eat or drink anything outside?"
"Just...medicines..." she said groaning as the pain in her chest became more and more severe, "Please...help...me..."
"Start the car," Armaan said to Neil as he picked her up and rushed outside.
Neil rushed outside and started the car and Armaan placed her on the backseat. But he realized Alisha was not moving or breathing. He felt her pulse, he couldn't find any.
He signaled Neil that the girl was dead. Neil felt crushed that he lost his last chance to freedom.
"No! No! No! This can't be happening..." Neil said tearfully, "She was my only hope..."
"This is...I don't know..." Armaan said trying to process the shock, "This was just so...sudden."
"Meera beat us to it!" Neil said, "I don't understand how.."
"Meera knew Alisha and her habits far better than we did Neil," Armaan said, "And she also had her location always."
"I'm stuck forever now," Neil said burying his face in his palms.
"You know if there was one thing, just one thing that would make Meera talk..." Armaan said, "But there isn't, there is absolutely nothing we can use against her that is what making her so fucking powerful. She has no family, no one she cares about that we can threaten to hurt, she is already a famous whore so she has no honour or a reputation to lose, she hardly feels pain so we can't torture anything out of her, she doesn't even care for her life, and that sick sadistic psycho has Pankh!"
Armaan kicked a stone in anger.
"But, you know what..." Neil said, "The fact that she acted so rashly in Alisha's case...I think she is agitated and is not thinking straight, I think she will soon make a mistake..."
There was silence for some time. The Armaan made a phone call and said, "I have a job for you. Reach asap."
After some time, some men reached there in a van.
"There is a body in the car, take her to where she lives and put her there, don't let anyone see you." Armaan said.
The men picked up the girl and her belongings and left.
Armaan and Neil joined Reyansh. They were all feeling broken and hopeless. They just sat silently with blank thoughts.
Armaan picked up Neil's laptop and went to another room. He started playing all of Pankhudi's videos. Several men forced themselves upon her. She struggled and fought for as long as she could but finally, she was exhausted and gave up. Meera was there in some of the videos forcing humiliation on her. It was very painful for him but he still watched looking for clues to her location. Tears fell from his eyes continuously as he watched her cry and scream. And then finally he spotted one window in one of the videos. The view from the window looked familiar to him. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate where he had seen that view before.
In the next room where Neil and Reyansh were sitting, the audio bug installed in Meera's car began to transmit.
Neil began to listen and record.
Alex: Hey Meera
Meera: Yes, Alex, what's up?
Alex: It's Pankhudi, she hasn't been keeping well.
Meera: Why what happened?
Alex: She has been running a fever since yesterday and it is not coming down. She is looking very weak now...I am worried.
Meera: What the fuck am I paying you for? Can't you take care of a girl?
Alex: Its just...I ..can I take her to a doctor?
Meera: No, she doesn't leave that room. Get a doctor to see her.
Alex: Can you just send Mithila?
Meera: You dumb asshole, Mithila is compromised and Armaan might have someone watching her.
Alex: Then what do I do?
Meera: What kind of a moronic question is that Alex? Are there no doctors in Kurla?
Alex: No, I mean, won't they get suspicious?
Meera: Not unless you screw it up. Now cut the crap and deal with it. And see to it that she recovers quickly. Don't you know how important she is? She is the only thing that keeps Armaan on a leash, if she dies, you are going to be a dead man too.
Alex: Yeah, I mean, you were the one pulling fingernails...
Meera: You son of a bitch! Talk to me like that again, and I'll have your balls ripped off.
Alex: Sorry. I'll keep you updated.
Neil ran to the room where Armaan was sitting and knocked the door. Armaan opened the door.
"Come quickly! You gotta hear this!" Neil said with a sense of urgency.
Neil played the call recording again as Armaan listened carefully.
"Kurla," Neil said, "That is where they are keeping her. But there are still thousands of houses in Kurla, where exactly do we look?"
"Hey," Reyansh said, "Isn't Kurla the same place where Pankhudi lived?"
Armaan was quiet. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. Some images flashed in his mind. The old woman he bumped into near Pankhudi's apartment, the saree the saw in Meera's closet was the same that the old woman was wearing, the view from the window in Pankhudi's video was familiar because it was similar to the view from Pankhudi's apartment's window. He suddenly realized the old woman he bumped into was Meera herself in disguise.
"Guys," Armaan said taking a deep breath, "I think I know where Pankhudi is."
Neil and Armaan rushed to the car. Armaan drove the car faster than he had ever driven in his life. His heart was beating fast, and his hands trembled as he drove. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. His eyes were red and tearful. He wiped a tear with the back of his hand.
They reached Pankhudi's building and began to run upstairs. Armaan stood in front of Pankhudi's door. Then he closed his eyes for a moment tried to recollect where that old woman was coming from.
"The next door," he said to Neil pointing at the door next to Pankhudi's house. Meera had kept her in the same building where she lived in the next flat because she thought that would be the last place Armaan would look.
Both the men broke open the door. They stormed inside. Alex was surprised by the sudden invasion. Armaan instantly recognized him as one of the men who raped Pankhudi in those videos. He grabbed an electric cord lying nearby and wrapped it around his neck. Alex struggled but Armaan was stronger, and he was really angry. Armaan held the cord tightly till Alex stopped struggling and stopped breathing. He fell to the floor lifeless.
