Conflagration

Chapter 11: Revelations

Location: Room in Jhankar Dance Bar

The room they were led to was relatively clean compared to the rest of the bar. A single cot and night stand with a jug of water were the only furniture. The walls were painted light pink and there were no windows or any other means of exit other than the door leading to the room.

Boss smirked "this is my special room, meant only for special people and special occasions."

He winked at Aryan and eyed Kairi/Imlie as if she was a tasty morsel. "This is a special occasion eh Krishna, consider this my gift to you to ensure that you stay loyal to our cause."

Cackling as if he had cracked a fine joke, Boss turned around and closed the door. Aryan heard the sound of the lock falling in place and swore under his breath. Dammit they were locked in now and if his instincts were right then Jaggu's boss would have given orders to only open in the morning. He hoped Jaggu was back safe and sound in Arshad's custody. That brought another thought into his head and he scanned the room with suspicious eyes.

"I..." Imlie trailed off as the ACP stalked across the room upending the jug and shaking it a couple of times. When nothing happened, he dropped it back on the stand and with one heave tossed the mattress on the cot to the side before upending the cot and checking its underside. Confused Imlie watched as he stood up and then ran his hands up and down the walls next. There was an odd clicking noise in the wall directly opposite to the cot when he pressed what appeared to be an indentation in it. A small panel of the wall slid open from the main section, revealing a small hole. The ACP pulled out a black handkerchief and used it to push two fingers inside the opening and pulling out what appeared to be a small camera, the kind she was wearing in her necklace.

Imlie gasped, shocked. What was a camera doing hidden in the wall and how had the ACP known to look for it? With surprise widened eyes she watched him cover the lens with the kerchief while he examined the device. Then he proceeded to pull out the connecting cable and used his teeth to rip out a little bit of the insulation before haphazardly tucking some of the exposed copper wires back into the camera. He slid the camera back into the hole, this time removing the kerchief and putting it back in his pocket.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked curiosity getting the better of her.

Aryan had been purposefully ignoring Imlie, keeping himself busy so that he could cool down before he confronted her. Her innocent question should not have brought back his boiling rage but it did and whatever semblance of calm he had managed disappeared.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" he roared grabbing her and hauling her up against him with her chest pressed against his.

"I thought you would have learnt your lesson the last time, Ms Imlie Mishra when I warned you that I will not ignore criminal offenses and yet here you are in another disguise and smack dab in the middle of my investigation again."

He brought his face closer to her staring directly into her eyes "are you that stupid that you don't know the danger you have walked into? "

Imlie squeezed her eyes shut, fear and pain from his punishingly tight grip on her arms warring in her mind. Something of her discomfort must have shown on her face because the ACP let go of her hands, but dropped his right hand to her waist gathering her closer and she was forced to put her hands on his chest to keep some distance between them.

How had he known it was her under this guise? Was there any point in denying it? What if he did not believe her if she denied, what would he do next? Should she come clean? Frantic thoughts like these chased across her mind, her throat drying up with fear.