AvNeil: Chase Against Time

Chapter Nineteen

Ananya was plopped against the couch. Her legs resting on the coffee table, crossed at the ankle. Her laptop sat on her thighs while she was watching another episode of Sherlock. It was a hectic day. The load of work, both at the NGO and the case had been stressful. Binge watching episodes helped her unwind and be more productive.

She scowled as she heard the doorbell. Sparing a glance at the clock, she noted the time. 9:15 PM.

Looking back and forth between her laptop and the door; she had to unwillingly press for 'pause' on the video. Setting the laptop on the table, she strode towards the door. Whoever she had expected was not him. Her eyes narrowed at the guy who stood at her doorstep as she flung the door wide open. Officer Neil Khanna!

"Can we talk?" She was glad that he at least spared her with pleasantries.

She stepped aside while her palm still closed over the door handle. She asked, "Does it matter, Officer? You are going to talk any which ways." Her eyes rolled at him. She didn't understand why did he even bother to ask her questions when her opinion didn't count. The room felt cold as he walked past her, comfortably walking around in her apartment.

"What would it take for you to drop that act of yours?" He asked as he settled himself on her couch, right where she was seated moments before. Dropping his phone next to her laptop, he shifted his eyes at her.

"Excuse me," her brows furrowed at him. She plopped herself on the arm chair next to the couch.

"What would it take for you to stop referring me as an 'Officer'? You do know that I have a name; quite a good one, and that is Neil. Why can't you just call me by my name? Neil," he pointed out, "see how simple that is?" He spoke with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"But you are an 'Officer'. I don't see a reason to unnecessarily create fuss over it," her shoulders rolled into a shrug. After a beat, she asked further, "Now, if you are done with your 'talk', I think you can leave," she air quoted the term 'talk' because it was of no importance to her. She could care less about how she referred him. At the end of the day he was a cop. An Officer.

"Never mind," he dismissed her small speech as if she never spoke. His eyes drifted to the laptop and he found the stilled image. His mouth curved into a lopsided grin as his eyes lifted to meet hers, "Sherlock, huh?"

He received a shrug in response. "Why Sherlock?" He questioned further to which her eyes bulged out at him.

"You can't be serious, Sherlock is the best. And I don't really like any stupid cop drama, which in my opinion, is anything but realistic," she stated.

"Anyways, do you really have anything important to talk or is it just these questions that you are going to keep popping at me. Because if that's the case, I would request you to leave. I have an early morning tomorrow at the office. A really important meeting, I can't miss out at," she explained.

He sighed, "Okay, here we go," he took out a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his vest. Unfolding the paper neatly, he set it on the table in front of her.

Her eyes dropped at the sheet of paper sprawled across the table top. Scanning the paper, she quickly picked words before looking back at him. She waited for him to speak.

"You've never mentioned before that you were working with these people over some project for RIGHTS," his eyes calculatingly held hers.

"Finally, you did some work," her voice reflected disinterest as she leaned back into the chair. There was no point in denying. Earlier that day, she had received a call from Monty, the informer. He had suggested that he could ensure the information did not reach the police officials. But she had gotten to know Neil well enough to realize that he wouldn't sit back just like that. He would keep digging till he found something. And from somewhere nor the other he might even end up to it. Hence, she didn't want to risk. Instead she had ensured he only received the information that she wanted him to. So, here he could only ask her what she could answer.

"Oh, come on, Ananya, you could have told me about this way back. We could have utilized the lost time in a much better way," he raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Now, you need to speak up," he zeroed his eyes at her.

She sighed, "There are fifteen people involved in this project, five of us closely working on it."

"Fifteen?" He asked, his eyes widened at the figure. "This can't be serious," He muttered. "What project is it?" He tapped his foot impatiently as he shot the question.

"Can't tell you that. Policy guidelines," folding her arms across her chest, she spoke nonchalantly.

"To hell with the policy guidelines," he snapped. She was being unreasonable and he couldn't take that, "It's about your life and you need to start talking."

"Look, we have been working on the project and we have signed a Non-disclosure agreement," casually rolled off a shoulder into a shrug. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his annoyance clearly visible to her. "We are still working on it. And," she paused searching for an indication on his face; any indication that stated he was dropping the topic. "It's a big project, something that would help a lot of lives. The project is in collaboration with one of the leading industrialist." She tried to keep the information as general as she could.

He nodded in affirmation, engrossed deeply in his thoughts. "Could it be someone from the team? Someone who is not wanting to have this project finalized? Anyone, you suspect?" he asked thoughtfully while a bunch of questions sprang in his mind.

"I don't think so. The project team works hard for this project and are not willing to let go off of this opportunity," she shook her head deliberately. This was going in a wrong direction.

"Can I have the list of members on your team? All fifteen," he questioned.

Her eyes drifted to the clock as she realized that she was running short of time. "I will email the list to you, if that's fine," she offered.

"Alright, then," She let out a sigh of relief, as he shot up from his seat.

9:45 PM. Thankfully, I still have 15 minutes before the meeting, she made metal note.

Soon he was out of her apartment and she peeped through her window to ensure that he had left. She didn't want him littering around while she was about to sneak out. He drove out of her driveway and his car turned at the end of the corner. Without wasting much time, she took off.