AvNeil: Chase Against Time

Chapter Seventeen

IMPORTANT:

Now this is very important. So before moving onto the next chapter, I request you all to please go through this note or whatever you wanna call it. Don't come and tell me later, I didn't warn you. This is your time to decide. Well, put your opinions.

So, I am planning to put up a schedule for the updates of this story. Well, for all my stories. And for that I need to sketch out a plan of action for publishing new chapters for each story. Now definitely with other stories lined up for updates, I need to ensure that each story gets its fair share of updates.

And to get that done, I can't update this one daily. So, yes! I won't be updating this story on a daily basis anymore. But, but, but! You will have a regular update. It's just not going to be daily. If that makes sense.

What I want you all to help me out with? Well, that's simple, give your suggestions as to when I should be updating this story and how frequently. Easy, peasy!

So all the readers; the vote-onlys, the reviewers and of course my shy silent readers, I urge you all to come up and speak as to what suits best as per your opinion.

Though, please keep in mind I am working on two other stories that need my equal attention, if not more. 😅

So that's it. Your update for the day. The next one would come up as and when I get a clear picture to what everyone wants. 😁

***

I would have not been the first one to be killed but I could have been the last one.

Neil couldn't block those words out of his system. It pricked him. Having understood the depth and meaning of those words, he found his shoulders slumping under the weight of failure. As infuriating as it might sound, she was right. Her words struck a chord. Those mere words were enough to pin point his faults. His mistake. He missed an opportunity and there was certainly no excuse for him. His eyes were trained over the road as he drove, while his mind kept reeling back to her words. 'Damn her,' he thought. If only, he could control his thoughts like he could control his car. He parked at the station and hurried inside.

Lately, she had been messing up with his thoughts, unknowingly. However, this time, it was on another level. She stirred emotions within him. The experience was alien to him. She was over taking his thoughts. It scared him. Change is not easily accepted, even though it is said to be the only constant in life. He wasn't any different. A sudden thought interrupted his fears, the challenging murderer. He froze. An image of her unconscious body flashed across his eyes. If that was unbearable for him, for whatever reasons, he certainly didn't wish to imagine her body lifeless. No.

'I care for her more than I should,' he concluded. The thought did not soothe the ache he felt. He was miles away from the reality. Though, he had taken a step. He was a step closer. He would get there. However, he didn't have enough time to evaluate his thoughts. Blowing out a breath, he decided to lock his emotions up and live with the conclusion he made. He cared for her. The case required his concentration and he was determined to not let anything mess his thoughts.

He pushed the thought aside as DD approached him. Stepping into his cabin with DD alongside, he moved around to his desk. Slumping into his chair, he looked up at DD. As if on cue, DD updated him on the case and its progress. After a brief pause, DD looked at Neil before continuing, "We have a particular footage from the crime scene, and you might want to have a look at it."

As soon as the footage was installed, Neil impatiently tapped his fingers and the visuals came alive. The footage was captured on the security camera of the building located across road. The image did not cover the entire screen but they could make out the movements. Neil zoomed in, focusing on the place where Ananya stood. He replayed the footage. He saw the incident playing out exactly the way she had described. Her muscles flexed as she burst into action. A wide array of emotions crossed his features as he saw the scene unfold. If anything, he was more determined to get hold of this psycho killer.

The attack matched her description well, apart from that one thing. The gun was not pointed at her but to her side. By her expressions, she was unaware about it. The thought disturbed him.

He looked at DD, who held the same thought. He spoke, "This was setup to mislead us."

*

On the other hand, Ananya received a manila envelope with label named 'RIGHTS' and a stamp that stated, 'Confidential'. She instantly knew it was from Aman.

She spoke the exact same words like that of Neil's, as she reached the end of the video, "This was setup to mislead us."