AvNeil: Chase Against Time

Chapter Twenty One

"I'd like to see you try," his lips curved into a smile but his eyes held hers pointedly.

The air in the room had thickened. While everyone was on alert, Ananya had stepped forward to make things right, and less complicated. She had handed over the helping hand to explain. Explain, what? She had no clue. All she knew was that she couldn't mess things up when she was so close to tighten her claws around the murderer.

She let out an exasperated sigh. The room now felt cold. "What do you want to know?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Still planning to hide information?"

"I am just," she started only to be interrupted in between.

"I need to know everything. Every. Single. Thing. I hope, I am clear," his voice held indifference.

She simply nodded at him. Looking around, she wish there was escape from him at that moment.

Her eyes caught the sight of her team; Aman was on his toes, shaking his head as he signaled her to back off. On the other hand, Ali had his fingers curled at the back of the chair in an attempt to suppress his anger while his features masked with calm. Behind Ali stood Zeenat. Her eyes focused on Neil as she tried to work a plan at the back of her mind. 

*15 minutes earlier*

She walked into Aman's den and saw him indulged into work; so much that he didn't even realize her presence. His fingers tapping vigorously onto the keyboard while the codings appeared on the huge screen system. The connecting workstation loaded with equipments and gadgets. Among all the technical stuff scattered over, her eyes gleamed at the bowl of truffle balls.

Walking towards Aman, she aimed for a handful of truffle balls but not before smacking his head gently. In an instant, Aman cried, "Di!"

It was difficult to decide if he was more upset for being smacked or for his truffles. She rolled her eyes at him, such a cry baby!

She popped one chocolate into her mouth while dropped the rest into the bowl again. And his smile returned. That was her brother; her baby brother. Her Aman.

"Where are these two?" She asked getting back to business.

"The two of them should be here any moment," he informed.

She glanced at the digital watch at the workstation as it read, 9:58 p.m. "They only have two minutes with them. I hope they know that," she spoke to no one in particular as she went ahead to take her seat.

"We are very well aware of it, Ananya," she heard a female voice from the other end of the room. "And we are before time," she turned around to see Zeenat walking through the door with Ali in tow.

"Glad that you are," Ananya threw it right back at Zeenat with a smile cracking up her lips.

This was her team. Aman was the best with gadgets and all the technical stuff, while Zeenat and her were mostly out on the fields. Ali was the recent addition. He owned a chain of luxury hotels across the globe which was also the undiscovered fact about him. He  was only known for his clubs at Goa.

While Aman was Ananya's brother, Zeenat and Ali were her best friends. The best people to work with. 

Everyone was settled as Zeenat popped the first question, "So the party is on?" She referred to the text Ananya had earlier forwarded them.

With a curt nod, Ananya confirmed their suspicion about the Alert. "There's more to it."

"Shoot," Zeenat leaned back onto her chair, ready to take whatever was coming their way. Ananya smiled at her. This was way they were best friends.