In Sunshine or In Shadow ✔ [Completed]

Chapter 7.2 - Strike One

It was a long drive back to her apartment but Riddhima could barely remember a minute of it. She was running on autopilot now. No one was around and it was dead quiet while she walked up to her place and unlocked the door to slip inside.

Her home was exactly as it was before except Viraj's few things were now gone. It was quiet and calm. Now she was alone. Exactly how she was used to being. Most nights were spent coming home to her apartment being just like this, she would sit on her couch and do some paperwork, eat some Chinese take-out and maybe watch a movie or something on TV. That was how she used to do things, back when she knew who she was and what she was doing.

Now Riddhima took a seat on her couch. She didn't turn on the television or grab a book. She just sat down quietly, wrapping her arms around her, her cast clutched close.

She felt chilled but not the kind of cold that a warm blanket could fix. No, this came from the sadness that weighted her down.

A noise made her jump, her mind immediately expecting danger. But that rational side of her brain reminded her that it was just the soft sound of her air conditioner kicking in. Still her heart continued to race.

Now she rubbed her arms and jittered around nervously, almost like an addict caught in withdrawal. She felt restless but wasn't sure why. Her eyes darted around her room, the familiar furniture that she knew well. But like when she was in her office, she felt like a stranger here.

The silence was pressing on her, crushing her chest until she couldn't breathe anymore. There had to be some way to make this go away, some way to make herself feel safe.

Only one thing came to mind.

Riddhima stood up and grabbed her car keys before leaving her apartment once more.

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"Do you think he did it?"

Angre's question hung in the air for a long time. It was something they all were considering, even more so now with the added information that Hathaway's coworkers had provided. They wanted it to be over now; they wanted to finally have an affirmative answer to finally put this case to rest. None of them wanted to go to Riddhima and tell her that they still didn't have him.

"He hated Riddhima," Sara offered up, "I mean he really, really hated her. She almost ruined his career."

"Which got better when he was there the night she was attacked," Angre pointed out, "you want to talk about motive? Not only does he get to have some personal revenge but also saves his job."

Kabir nodded his head but his face was as impassive as ever. "He was at the fundraiser, disappeared during the time frame. He didn't show up again until long after the scene was secure, plenty of time to clean up and come back."

Sara turned towards the only member of the group who hadn't spoken yet. "Vansh, what do you think?"

Vansh had been silent while the rest of the team had been theorizing. He was sitting in a chair by Angre's desk looking at the freeze framed photo of Riddhima leaving out of the side exit, the time stamp clearly visible.

"Vansh?" Angre asked, "Do you think Hathaway did it."

He looked up then with a blank expression on his face. "I think Hathaway has motive and the drive to do something like this…and if it were somebody other than Riddhima then I would say yes."

That surprised all of them. "You're saying that you don't think it's him?"

Vansh shook his head.

Sara couldn't take that answer without some sort of explanation. "Why not? Why not Hathaway? You were there, you heard what his coworkers said."