Sujoy had stepped in and shut the door after asking the watchman to wait.

"He's lying!" Virat said, looking straight at Sujoy. He looked pissed, almost ready to explode.

"I thought as much. But he's reported a complaint against you."

"What the hell! That guard is probably fed money by someone. Until yesterday he was talking respectfully to me."

"You did talk to him yesterday?" Sujoy inquired, with a slightly raised eyebrow. Kashish looked at Virat, as a wave of calm washed him. Like the calm before a storm.

"Yes, I did. When I came by yesterday, I realized that the guard enters the in-time of all the vehicles and people at the gate. So, I checked his register for the night of Ishaan's murder. Kashish was in by ten thirty three."

Sujoy stared at him. Kashish sensed something off.

"What?" Virat asked, probably sensing trouble too.

"That entry on the register seems to be overwritten. Apparently, the time was ten fifty-three and someone made it look like thirty three."

"Utter rubbish. It was a clear thirty three. I saw it with my own eyes."

Sujoy sighed, glancing at Kashish and then looking at Virat. "This man seems to be cooking up something."

"I am going to make him talk truth," Virat said with a threatening resolve, ready to turn towards the door.

"Virat, wait." Sujoy said, placing  hand on his shoulder. "I trust you. But right now, we can't make the situation worse. He has already threatened to go to the media and tell that a cop abused him. So, you stay away from him. We need to be cautious of our actions."

"I don't belive this. So any Tom Dick Harry would go to the media and we need to be scared of that?"

"Look, Virat you need to calm down. I have been asked to bring you to the police station."

"What the fuck!" Virat cursed, looking ridiculously at Sujoy. "Based on that liar's cooked up story?"

Kashish silently stood by, watching them. This version of Virat was, well, dynamically badass and she'd never want to be at the receiving end of it.

"It's just a questioning, Virat. Mehak is the officer in charge. We'll figure this out, okay?"

"Mehak? Seriously?!" He muttered, looking cornered. 

Kashish was stumped by the situation. This case was getting complicated with every passing hour. The usually-a -gentleman, Virat's anger hinted that the situation going out of hands.

"Bharat is on his way to be with Kashish, I need you to come with me to the police station. Let's fix this watchman case first and find out what we can. In the meanwhile, the IT team is looking into Ishaan, to find more probable suspects."

"Okay," Virat muttered. He finally turned to look at Kashish.

Kashish was way too confused now. Was there a chance that Virat was lying and the watchman wasn't? Or Virat was being painted in black? Why would someone trap Virat into this? Unless the killer was trying to trap her. It was all very confusing.

"Take care," He said softly before walking out with Sujoy. Kashish saw him get into the car with Sujoy and the watchman. She shut the door, her head hurting with the new turn of events.

For some reason, she had formed an unshakeable trust on Virat that was too hard to even shift the slightest. But that worried her more. Was Virat trying to protect her?

* * *

Kashish had tried her best to keep herself busy with organizing her room. But her thoughts wouldn't stop torturing her. Her phone beeped. She immediately reached for it. It was a message from an unknown number.

She opened the message, frowning.

"If you want to see your fiancé alive follow the instructions on the letter at your door."

Kashish gasped, looking around. She opened the pictures below the message. It was a picture of Virat tied up to a chair. He looked sedated, his eyes barely open. He was wearing his uniform, without a badge. The badge he had left behind at her place in a hurry. A hand held his face, trying to make him look at the camera. 

Kashish focused on the bracelet on the hand. It was a man's bracelet, quite similar to the one that was popularly called the Salman Khan bracelet. She had seen it somewhere. She stared at it. Where had she seen it? 

Sujoy!

She had seem the exact same bracelet on Sujoy's hand that morning. It all began to make sense. Sujoy had probably paid or threatened the watchman to act up. She rushed downstairs and found a envelope near the door. It had probably been slipped in, under the door through the gap. She picked it up. 

"To Kashish"

She quickly opened the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper which read —

Reach the below address immediately, if you would like to see your fiancé alive.

House 941, Behind Prakash General Stores, Shastri Nagar.

Don't dare to call the police. I will know if you do. Don't test my patience.

Time is ticking...

Kashish's fingers trembled in fear. She had no clue how to deal with this. Her message beeped making her heart jump up in fright. She opened it to find location coordinates and another photo from the same unknown number. In this one, Virat had bruises on his right cheek. Tears made it to her eyes.

She quickly grabbed her car keys and headed out. She didn't know what was the right thing to do at the moment. But she did know that, she didn't want to put Virat's life at risk. Whoever the killer was, was probably not even interested in Virat. She couldn't let Virat face trouble because of her.

* * *

Virat hadn't seen this coming. He couldn't believe Sujoy had set this trap up in which he had walked in, not able to smell anything fishy. He had worked with the man for two years. He couldn't believe he would betray his trust and trap him.

"Why are you doing this?" Virat asked, wincing as his cheek hurt, after Sujoy had laid merciless punches on his cheek.

Sujoy glanced at him and then focused on his phone, not saying anything.

"Who are you doing this for?" Virat asked, but got no response. He struggled against the handcuffs that held his hands behind the chair. The ropes tying his feet didn't seem to be easy to break through. He'd expect nothing less from the knot of a police officer. 

He was trying trying put the facts together. Why would Sujoy try to set him up for being guilty of helping Kashish? Why was he keen on making Kashish the most probable suspect?

He rotated his wrists, he was feeling tired with the sedation be had been given. His head hurt.

"Don't sleep yet, Virat. More action is too come." Sujoy spoke, sitting on the chair across the table.

Virat blinked, the dimly lit room seemed more dimmer. 

"So what's the scene with Kashish huh? Sleeping together before marriage huh? Test Drive?"  He sneered.

Virat scowled at him trying to launch himself forward but his restrains held him back. 

"Damn, all protective already. Well, sadly your love story will come to an end before it starts." He chuckled glancing at his phone. Virat wondered what he was upto. He just hoped Kashish was safe.

* * *

Kashish had parked her car near Prakash General Stores, in Shastri Nagar. The lane seemed to thin too drive the car into. Following the map on her mobile phone she took the right, passing the general store. She looked around. It looked like a residential area, an isolated one. She gulped the forming fear in her throat and walked ahead, looking around. A bike with a man on was headed in the opposite direction, towards her. She saw the house number 931 on the left. She looked ahead, at the under construction building. 

The bike abruptly stopped near her. She fisted her fingers in fear and stepped back. The man took off the helmet and she took a sigh of relief seeing it was Naman. 

"Hey!" He greeted looking surprised.

"Hi!" Kashish managed to speak.

"What you doing here? Looking for me?" He smiled, flirtatiously.

Kashish managed a small smile. "No, actually, I had some work."

"Right," He muttered. "Do you want a drop somewhere around?"

"No. I drove here. My car's just around the corner."

His fingers drummed on his helmet. "Oh, cool. Anyways, I will see you around. And don't get lost in these narrow streets." He smiled.

Kashish nodded. She glanced at the quiet lane ahead. There was not a person to be seen. She glanced at Naman. Maybe she could use some company. 

"Naman!" She said, placing a hand on his as he wore the helmet. 

"Yeah?" He smiled at her.

"Can I ask for your help? I am in some serious trouble."

Naman's smile disappeared and he looked grimly at her removing his helmet again. "All okay?"

"Actually, my fiancé... he's a ... kidnapped by  someone. I received a message a while back to come to this place..." She fished out the folded letter from her hand purse.

Naman took the letter from her hand and gravely read it. "Shit!"

"Yeah!" She mumbled.

"Are you nuts? You're actually following this.."

"They've sent me his pictures from this morning too. I don't have any other option."

"Fuck, this is crazy. Do you have any weapon for defense?"

Kashish blinked. She hadn't even thought of that.

"Okay, let's do this. Let me accompany you. Okay. We'll buy knives from the general store first. But..this house 941... doesn't exist. " He glanced behind. "I mean... I have stayed around here since I was a kid..  I don't ..." His gaze abruptly looked at the under construction site. "It's that one  I think." He said and quickly wore his helmet. 

"Walk ahead slowly, I will bring the knives and follow you. Don't go inside until I come back okay?" He said. "Pretend you asked me for directions."

Kashish nodded and muttered a "Thank you". The bike rode off and with slow cautious steps she began walking towards the underconstruction building that was at a good distance away. 

She passed the crossing, looking warily at house numbers. The building under construction was at a dead end. She slowed her steps as best as she could looking around. Did Naman back out? She sighed moving around with slow steps. She was almost outside the building. She analyzed the houses around. They all seemed to be unoccupied or the dwellers were sleeping blissfully in silence. The locality was too silent for a regular morning. She stood at the footpath deciding to go in by herself. There was no use waiting for Naman, he had probably chickened out of helping her. 

"Kashish!"  A whisper startled her and she sharply turned around.

She let out a sigh of relief, as she spotted Naman making his way towards her.

"Here, keep this in your bag," He said handing her a knife. "It's the best I could get."

"Thanks!" She whispered.

"You go in, I am going to walk in a minute later. Just in case you're in danger, I am going to call the cops and then enter. Okay?"

"But we, can't..."

"We won't have any other option. So, that it is. Okay?"

"Fine.," Kashish agreed. Her mind was too numb with fear to think at the moment. 

She turned around and Naman stopped by the gate.

She slipped in through the ajar gate. It was dark inside  it looked like a garage of sorts. She walked in stealthily, looking around. Not a sound was heard except her light footsteps. She saw a staircase that led down. Golden light came from downstairs. Gulping she looked up and then down. The stairs that led up were comparatively dark. The garage seemed to be more likely the place they'd hold up a man in. She just hoped that Virat was safe.

Following her instinct, she stealthily climbed down the stairs, trying her best to be alert. She didn't have to be worried. If anything happened, Naman would be there to rescue her. She slipped her hand into her open purse, holding the knife.

With echoing steps she reached down, her breathing got deeper. The light went off suddenly, and all she was black. All she heard was her own ragged breaths. She was terrified with the sudden darkness.

In the matter of a few seconds, the light went on and she saw an empty room. An old wooden table lying in the middle. The room was like a garage. Two bulbs hung on either side. It seemed empty. She took a deep breath.

Suddenly, something grasped her hand which was in her purse and another went around her mouth. She tried to yell and struggled against the hold on her mouth. The hand of the person behind her was more powerful. Her purse dropped in the struggle. She couldn't breathe. She dropped the knife and used both her hands to get off the hand off her mouth. 

A strong arm curved around her waist. She squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

"Damn, you smell sweet!" A coarse voice spoke. 

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Would love to know your thoughts on it. What do you think is happening? 

Next chapter should be the finale, might take another few days.