The same time when the Chief Minister was killed in Bangalore,
"Adi, I can't find any electronic surveillance around here," Tya muttered. Tya was given a task by Aditya to make sure to keep an eye on any unusual incidents which occur in the range of two kilometres. Now, Tya couldn't find any CCTV cameras in the surroundings.
Aditya smiled as he said, "it's because we have entered the National Highway (freeway). There are no buildings here, let alone cameras."
Aditya had promised Taarini that he would accompany her on a journey. Taarini wanted to bring the children, who were under her care, back to the city. She missed them a lot. Aditya also felt that this trip was timely as he could relax his heart and mind. After what happened at the school, it was good to take a break.
It was only Aditya and Taarini in the Hummer. Munna and Raghav and a few others were following behind in other cars. Aditya was the one driving as Taarini sat in the front passenger seat and gazed at the agricultural fields as they passed.
Taarini looked exceptionally charming today as she wore a navy lace casual shirt with a spread collar and curved hem with scalloped edges. It was matched with a pair of dark blue jeans. Taarini's wavy hair was loose and lazily lied on her shoulders. Her usual cold and aloof countenance was replaced with a peaceful and gentle smile on her face. Taarini's eyes glittered like stars in the night sky. Her eyes swept a glance at Aditya, who promptly turned his attention to the road. The smile on Taarini's lips curved a little bit.
Personally, Aditya felt that Taarini possessed the most beautiful lips he had ever seen. Her upper lips and lower lip are compatible with fullness in the middle. Her face, when matched with these lips, add extra elegance to her. Usually, Taarini's cold and icy demeanour made people unable to appreciate those full lips. But Aditya had this rare opportunity, and he was grateful for it. Her side portrait was indeed a mesmerising sight for Aditya. It was as if, today, Taarini had brought out her whole charm, which she had been hiding all this while.
"Adi, you like her, don't you?" Tya asked.
"Yes, why are you asking?" Aditya asked as he drove the car. Hummers were not famous for their speeds, so it did not excite Aditya even a little as he comfortably cruised at around 160kmph (around 100mph). Everything was under his control even if he spared a large part of his attention on Taarini's gorgeous profile.
"Then, why can't you do similar things with her like how you did with Maahi and Hamsa? I know that those are the only times that you truly relax," Tya innocently asked.
Aditya almost lost control of the car when he heard these words. He apologetically smiled at Taarini as he berated Tya, "Tya, it is not as simple as you think. Concentrate on using other's mobiles within the range to utilise as surveillance. See if any of them are connected to the web, they could serve as extra eyes for us. Also, there is surveillance in the toll gate and on the National Highway to catch speeding drivers. Check them out."
Aditya remembered Raghav's words just before they started on the journey. He confronted Aditya before Taarini came, "I am not like others who keep words on their mouth but do not speak them. So, let me make this clear to you. Little miss has sacrificed a lot for you, more than you know. I know that you are some big shot family's heir, so little miss did not lose anything in the end. But, you know that she was prepared to lose a lot for the sake of you, even to the extent of offending Raipath family. I have never seen little miss do such things for others."
"Anyone can see that little miss cares a lot about you. So, heed my warning. If I discover that you have hurt Little miss in any way, I will kill you. I don't care if you are big-shot or strong or can accurately shoot. As long as there is a breath in me, I will hunt you down. I had already warned you before, and I am warning you again for the last time. I know that you haven't disappointed my expectations until now and hope that day never comes." Raghav did not wait for Aditya's answer and walked away.
Aditya did not get offended about those threatening words as he could perceive the underlying motivation of Raghav. The reason was the care and affection that Raghav had developed for Taarini whom he had watched grow up since she was a little kid. Though he addressed her as 'little miss', Aditya could feel a fatherly love in Raghav. Aditya also knew that Taarini had to change her plans because of him, more than once.
If Taarini had kept to her course, she would have become a full-fledged businesswoman. But because of several other factors which also included Aditya, she had to modify those plans. Even if she did not reveal, Aditya knew that Taarini was using her connections to get news about his parents.
Aditya thought about how he had met her. She had taken down more than ten bulky people with just a staff. When she was back-stabbed by one of her underlings, he had saved her. Aditya could not help but laugh when he thought about how he threw gravel stones. He had come a long way from throwing stones. He was carrying a handgun in his pocket as if it was completely normal.
Suddenly, Aditya heard a peal of soft laughter. He turned to see Taarini lightly laughing as she looked at her phone. Aditya was slightly intrigued, "what is it?"
Taarini looked at Aditya strangely with her lips pursed as if she was suppressing a laugh. She handed the phone to him. Aditya's mouth opened in shock as he saw the video which was playing on the phone. It was a video where a little girl who was about seven years old, hugging and beating a person dressed as a tiger. The person was no one else but him. Aditya was reminded of the last night's disaster.
In that play, which focused on environmental conservation and protection, Kavya had got seven to ten-year-old children to play the role of villagers. When asked the reason behind this, she replied that the contrast of the massive size of the wild animals (Aditya, Bhadra and Jatin) and the 'small' humans (children), would convey the message better.
When it was Aditya's turn to 'scare' the villagers, he pounced on a 'villager' to injure him. The kid who was acting as the 'injured' villager cried in pain as per the script. Things went downhill at that moment. All the villagers were supposed to run away in fear. But a 'Village woman', who was a little girl in disguise, came and started beating the 'tiger'(Aditya). The girl seemed to have forgotten that this was an act and shouted, "Bad kitty, leave my brother. I will kick you if you harm him."
At that moment, Aditya did not know what was happening as he tried to scare the girl as well by making roaring sounds. But the girl ignored everything and punched him wherever she could reach shouting words like 'bad kitty' in a cute, angry tone.
Aditya tried to hold her hands and stop her, but as soon as he held her hands, the girl started loudly crying. Aditya released her immediately thinking he had wounded her. But the girl stopped crying and started hitting as if nothing had happened.
The play, which was supposed to be dull, turned into a farce which cracked the audience up. In the end, Aditya started running all over the stage while the girl chased. After some time, the girl also targeted the bear (Bhadra) and peacock (Jatin). The audience saw a rare sight where a little girl chased three grown boys.
"Hehe, who sent this to you?" Aditya asked with a hollow laugh. He was not sure if Taarini knew the real identity of the 'tiger'.
Taarini looked at Aditya with an amused expression as she said, "I have recently joined a chat group, a girl called Kumkum uploaded this video in that group."
"Who else is there in that group?" Aditya hastily asked. He needed to know how much damage had been done by that idiot woman.
"Me, Saira, Maahi, Hamsa and Kumkum. It was Maahi who added me to this group." Taarini replied.
"Oh," Aditya slowly nodded as he returned the phone to Taarini and drove. He could imagine the coming days where he had to prepare himself for being endlessly teased. Maahi would make sure that no one forgot about this incident. Maahi and Kumari was the most potent devil combo anyone would avoid encountering in their life. Taarini shook her head and chuckled as she looked at Aditya's dull face.
"I am surprised that you were able to remain calm enough to act in a play after your first kill," Taarini praised as she looked at Aditya.
Aditya smiled, and as he was about to speak, Tya interrupted, "Adi, the state Chief Minister that we saw in Neela Palace on that day, has been killed."
"When?" Aditya asked as his face turned serious. Taarini also noticed his change but remained silent.
"Five minutes ago."
"How?"
"Even though the CM was killed in a public place, no one managed to record the incident due to temporary malfunctioning of all electronic equipment. But I got the footage of suspicious people from the surrounding places after the incident. Look for yourself." Tya promptly said.
The one thing that Aditya liked about Tya was that he always remained calm. Tya would show any emotion like fear, worry or horror at these types of news. Tya's clear voice helped Aditya to accept this news with a steady heart as well.
Aditya saw a wide range of videos where he saw those people with masks and black clothes. Aditya said a silent prayer for the Chief Minister. He had seen him before as Tya had said. In the morning hours, he had seen the video of the plane crash in Zhongnanhai, Beijing. Aditya could tell that this was the retaliation of that 'Organisation' like Saira had hinted.
Although he knew that this had nothing to do with him, the capability and the insolent killing, shocked him to the core. These incidents alerted him to the danger that this organisation posed to those that opposed them.
"Tya, anything else? Keep me updated. I feel that there are going to be more incidents of this nature. Keep a lookout." Aditya said as his face returned to normal as he smiled at Taarini, who was looking at him with slight concern.
"Well, there is something that I have to tell," Tya said in his adorable tone.
"Go on."
"There are some people who are rapidly approaching us."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know, but they are dressed in similar clothes like those who killed the Chief Minister." Tya casually replied.
"What! Where? I can't see them." Aditya looked at the rearview mirror but did not discover any other car except Raghav and Munna's. Faizal and others had been sent by Aditya to Shenzhen to get some Hardware parts for his plans.
"They are about two kilometres away and rapidly closing in. Their cars are faster than ours." Tya said.
Aditya's eyes shrank when he heard these words. He asked, "Do you think that they are here for us?"
"well, not for us but Taarini. Look at the footage from cameras, which are placed for catching speeding drivers."
Aditya saw the footage and noticed that a visual screen in one of the cars portrayed a Hummer and Taarini's photo. His expression turned grim. It looks like things were going to get ugly today.