Madam Sirr 2

Chapter 10

Point of Contact

Gunshots boomed throughout the warehouse as KS raced to catch Romi. After weeks of surveillance, the MPT had finally tracked down the criminal mastermind backing him into a deserted warehouse. KS knew that it was only a matter of minutes before she arrested the criminal and closed the case. He was pinned down and outnumbered. KS gestured to Jhaanvi to approach him from the opposite direction and box him in.

They came out, their guns directly aimed at Romi. He had nowhere left to run, but he wasn't the type to give up. He alternated his gun at both officers, an animal hunger settled in his eyes.

KS knew that Romi would fire, a desperate measure to gain his freedom. She fired a bullet, a little above his head, stopping his actions. Romi ducked down, his gun running away from him. KS kept her gun at him while Jhaanvi picked him up and locked him in handcuffs.

The pair strolled outside with the criminal in custody, a smirk of satisfaction gleaming on their faces.

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Locked within a room, Salima had run out of options on how to manage her time. She walked, jumped and stayed curled up on bed, slowly emptying out the snacks. Haseena knew that she should maintain her fitness but she kept her character of Salima worried that the room might be bugged.

True to her word, the woman returned a day later. Salima sat alert, her eyes cautious and afraid. The woman seemed different, a little hurried in her step than usual. It was the eyes of the DSP that caught the needle hidden in the woman's hand but she knew that she couldn't do anything. Here, she was Salima, an innocent young girl looking for work.

The woman approached her, sitting on the bed keeping her hands well out of the way. She fumbled in her pockets pulling out a card and handing it to Salima. As soon as Salima extended her hand, the woman grabbed it and injected her with the serum. Haseena's instincts kicked in as she struggled to remain awake but she let herself be washed over to maintain her cover.

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Salima woke up with a pounding headache. It hurt her eyes to open. She felt aching in every part of her body. Her mind, swimming groggily. She held her head and opened her eyes only to be surrounded by darkness. She was in a kind of enclosure, it smelled of a mixture of smells, mold and of sweat. She was certain that she was in a shipping container. She heard voices. She was not alone.

It took her a while to get adjusted to the darkness, only a faint bulb hanged in the top. She looked around, nausea welling in her at what she saw. There were around 10 girls all around the ages of 19-25. They were lean and skinny in their frames and had dirt all over their bodies. Their eyes were big and reddened. They were afraid. Some had minor cuts and bruises but they seemed to be holding.

As she looked around, her gaze landing on each and every girl, the emotions rushed to the surface. She wanted to embrace them, hug them and console them. She wanted to unleash her DSP Haseena and kick the door down and take these girls to safety. But she was helpless as these young girls before her. She had to wait, she had to bid her patience. Until the right time. Tears flung to her eyes as she struggled to maintain the fear, the uncertainty in her own eyes. She had to get back to her character. She was not Haseena Malik. She was Salima.

The container moved dragging them all across the crowded space. The corrugated walls pounded and thundered in Salima's ears. The container stopped. The latch opened. The door was open.

Light flooded in as the girls stepped down, huddled together, their eyes searching the light. Salima too got down with difficulty and looked around. There wasn't much to see. They were in a room. Mattresses had been strewn across the floor with blankets. Food item littered the table.