Unfazed

82. Dee and Dev (Harsh)

(This ^ gif, sums up this chapter.)

Walking up to where I was talking to Shambhavi and her team members, Alana tells us in a hushed whisper, "Guys – Viren just went and spoke to my folks and wished Vish and Sneha. He will leave soon, I think – given our little episode."

"I agree", said Shambhavi.

"Ma'am, if I may – this guy is a crafty con-man. He plays the card of deception well", one of her team members chips in.

"Yeah. He knows not to do anything that will create an alarm or cause any suspicion", Shambhavi comments.

"Wait – where are Deeksha and Dev?" I suddenly ask, realizing that my sister is nowhere to be found. All eyes turned to Alana as she jilted nervously, finally telling us, "Umm... They are outside. They are tailing Viren if he leaves."

"Okay. You are sure they are together, right?" I ask.

"Yes.. Actually, I asked Dev to leave Dee here and go after Viren if need be – but then", Alana responds before I interrupt her.

"Wait a minute.. Why would you do that?" I ask, holding back a laugh at how little Alana seemed to understand either Dev or Dee.

"I'm sorry... Don't you want your sister away from harm?" She asks, growing highly defensive.

Shaking my head, I say, "Ally – Let's be real. There is NO way either Dee or Dev would do this alone – even if Dev agrees with your notion. However, both – he and I also know that if he leaves Dee here, he is going to worry about her and she about him – and knowing Dee the way we do, she WILL try stunts of her own without any of us knowing, in such a situation.. If they're together, they'll handle it."

I can bet my money that in that moment, Alana thinks I'm crazy, but I know what I said and wouldn't dream of going back on it. I'm sure she would have had something to say, when Shambhavi spoke up.

"Guys, I had informed my Inspector of this case and he had said that we could let him know. I just called him – though he is off duty at the moment. If we go to the station now, we can get the warrant ready in half an hour and we can catch them based on where Dev and Dee follow him to", she says as all of us listen intently.

"Okay – if that is the case, Ally – please don't fight us on this – but you are the sister of the bride. You stay put and inform Vish and Sneh and everyone as discreetly as you can. Be very careful with the parents though. Okay? We'll tell you as soon as you can come over and find us", I say – terribly afraid that Alana would be like Dee and argue. To my surprise and relief, she nods and says "Okay – but before you go, I need you to talk to Vish – non-negotiable."

I nod and Shambhavi tells us that she and her officers will get the car ready and we shall be on our way. Walking behind Alana deeper into the now dwindling and barely thirty people big party, I am confused when she goes in the opposite direction of where Vishwas and Sneha are. "Alana..?" I ask, uncertainty lacing my voice but when she doesn't reply – I wonder if she chose to ignore it or if she genuinely did not hear me.

On reaching the same place where we had had our little episode with Viren, Alana turned to me and said, "I didn't want you to talk to Vish, Harsh. I wanted to talk to you." Usually, when someone said those last few words to me, I would turn on my heels and run the other way, but something about the earnesty in Alana's voice made me listen.

"Harsh – I don't know what he meant by asking you why he hates you so much. But, before you say anything to me, I just wanted to ask you to be careful. From what we saw, Viren can have quite a temper and like Shambhavi said – he has been playing this game for far longer than we have known about it. Whatever his reasons are, my gut feel says he is making a mountain out of a molehill. So.. Just – be careful okay?" she rants without a pause, which is behaviour I expect from Dee; not Alana.

"Alana – in college, Viren was my senior by a year – but let's just say he hated me and my group of friends for a prank that went wrong and he unintentionally got caught in the crossfire. I thought we were past all that when he offered me a job at his start-up; even after the whole scene of the restaurant and me not being eligible for a license of my own.. But clearly, I was wrong", I confess. I don't know why, but as my friend, I knew I could trust Alana.

"Well – I do want to hear all about it, but the cops are waiting", she says, with a determined look in her eyes. I can't help wonder if I should have ever doubted her in the first place, despite her being the cause of my restaurant's ruin.

She gives me a smile and I walk out of the hall towards the parking lot when my phone flashes with Dev's name as the caller. "Yeah Dev?" I ask, not waiting to greet him.

"Harsh, I don't want you to panic – but I'm following Viren on a bike, because he saw Dee and myself pretending to work on her car as if it wasn't working. He stopped to ask since he doesn't know that we heard your conversation", he says in a hurried tone.

"Dev – Tell me the crux of this. I don't like where this is going", I say, my stomach clenching at the uneasiness washing over me.

"Dee had to go with him or it would blow our entire story. I'm turning my phone's GPS on – I've called Iqbal Bhai – he will start tracking me in 5 minutes. I'm following them on my friend's bike. Just – get Shambhavi and her team to help us as soon as possible.. Now I got to go," he says.

"Dev – Oh my goodness. Listen – If something happens to Dee," I begin but he says, "Harsh – she is your little sister, but I swear I will NEVER let anything happen to her. Between you and me, we WILL make sure she is okay, okay? Plus, she's a strong girl. I really got to go now."

I don't remember the line going dead or me rushing to the car where Shambhavi and her team were waiting. The next thing I remember is explaining the developments to them in the car – unable to ignore the heavy dread I felt, for my sister's safety with a borderline psychopath.

A/N :- 

Hey guys! 

This chapter is longer than my career as a musician, so please be nice and hit vote. Honestly, I'm a little worried about what's going to happen now, in the story - but since I know just as little as you do, I just wanna say a huge Thank You for reading this far. There aren't too many chapters of Unfazed left now, so as much as I want to say I'm emotional, I am also waiting in anticipation to see how this goes. 

xoxo

Smri :)