Crush - KarEena

Chapter 29

Haseena came up on one elbow. For the past half hour, Karishma had been standing at the bedroom window, looking out. Motionless, she stood with one arm propped just above her head on the window jamb, the other hanging loosely at her side. In that hand, she held her pistol. Her weight was shifted to her left foot, favouring her right side. Her shorts rode low on her hips. The bandage over her incision showed up very white in the dark room.

"Is something wrong?" Haseena whispered

Karishma looked at Haseena over her shoulder, "No. Sorry I disturbed you"

"Did you hear-"

"No, nothing," She walked back to the bed and set her pistol on the table, "Other than the periodic check-ins by the undercovers, it's been quiet"

"No word about Roy?"

"No word. I wish the son of a bitch would show himself and get it over with. This waiting is driving me nuts," Karishma lay down beside her and stacked her hands behind her head.

"What time is it?" Haseena asked

"Still an hour before sunrise. Were you able to sleep?"

"I dozed"

"That was about it for me, too"

For the sake of the microphone that hung loosely on Karishma's chest, she was lying, just as Haseena was. They had lain side by side all night, silent and tense, each fully aware that the other was awake but, for their individual reasons, not daring to acknowledge it.

"You should get some sleep, Haseena"

"I learned to live on very little in my first year of internship. It scares me now to think of how many patients I treated while virtually asleep on my feet"

"Did you always know you wanted to be a doctor?"

"No. Actually, it wasn't until my second year in college that I decided to go pre-med"

"Why then?"

"It sounds cliched"

"You wanted to help your fellow man?"

"I told you it sounded cliched"

"Only if you're a beauty pageant contestant"

Haseena laughed softly.

"I don't think it's a cliched explanation at all," Karishma continued, "That's the reason I wanted to be a cop"

"I would have thought you wanted to follow in your big brother's footsteps"

"That too"

"It was a good career choice, Karishma"

"You think?"

"I can't see you sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day. Eight minutes a day. I should have known you were lying when you tried to pass yourself off as a computer software salesman"

"Sorry about that"

"You had a job to do"

"I still do"

Which brought them around to the subject of Roy again. She rolled onto her side to face Karishma, "What do you think he'll do?"

"Honestly?"

"Please"

"I don't have the slightest idea"

"What about Detective Sharma?"

"Santu doesn't know either. I've been studying Roy for years, but the only thing I know with any certainty is that when he strikes, we won't see it coming. It'll be like the sting from one of his scorpions. We won't see it coming"