You and I - a pranushka tale

chapter forty-one

"They already knew about the raid," Prabhas quietly told her as she circled around what remained in the hide out. There were countless packets of cocaine all over the dark, stained floor; some torn, some spilt and some still in tact as if they were intentionally scattered around. Cash was littered everywhere, as if it was just mere paper to be burnt. There was an orderly fashion in the mess within its withered walls.

As if everything was placed meticulously for the police to find.

Mithrah had almost forgotten about the raid when she was in the cafe only an hour before as she mulled over an iced coffee. Something about that enigmatic man, the stranger, had her almost forget the worry she had gnawing at her mind wondering if Prabhas was going to be okay.

Almost.

It was like every sentence he spoke held her undivided attention, even though Mithrah knew the words would only irritate her. Only when the strange man had left had she saw a text informing her the raid was done. First there was immense relief but then guilt swirled around her like a dark cloud the whole journey to the warehouse.

Mithrah looked around, her eyes tracing the areas already searched by Prabhas and his team but she was met with the same sight. The one that made it as clear as the blue in the summer sky that somehow they knew about the raid. Disappointment flooded within her uncontrollably as her sullen expression deepened. This was not meant to happen.

"How could they have known?" She asked, exasperation seeping in her voice as she looked back at Prabhas.

He was leaning against the wall with what was an alarmingly calm expression whilst all the others in his team were swarming around trying to find something that wasn't there. At her question, he walked to stand in the middle with the beginning of a frown forming between his features.

There was a stark contrast between him and the backdrop of an eruption of mess. The destroyed drugs, the rolls of money, the shredded papers piled around him as he stood in his uniform with just his top button undone. She found comfort in his presence even with such an ominous surrounding.

"I don't know," He told her truthfully with a slight tilt of his head. "But they're definitely hiding something from us. Something more than drugs."

Mithrah glanced at the huge, empty crates, ones that were hidden in the shadows of the room like dark vaults. It was coated in a thin layer of dust but there were odd markings on the floor which gave away that something was removed from inside not too long ago.

Her mind was racing with the possibilities of what could have been kept there. What would they have deemed more important than cocaine to be cleared out of the reach of police? Her thoughts were racing from one burning question to another that for a moment she couldn't focus on one coherent thought. Until her gaze fell on a copy of Vision that lay on one of the tables.

Suddenly, Mithrah turned to look at Prabhas but struggled to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry," She said quietly, as she felt an overwhelming rush of guilt replace the disappointment within her. Tears started to pool in her eyes as she kept her gaze focused on the floor not wanting everyone else to see how she felt.

Shocked, Prabhas closed the distance within them, almost instantly wrapping his arms around her waist as he peered down at her face, not caring about his coworkers with one too many curious glances. "Wait, wait Mithrah. Why are you apologising?" He asked. "Unless you told Michael about the raid-"

"Shut up." She snapped with a glare, her tears almost instantly disappearing as she caught the look of laughter on his face before she looked away again, wringing her hands. "It's my fault. If I had just let you come as soon as we found the address you might have found something useful. Now look. What's the point of an article that helped them get away?"