Rehan answered the call,

“Hello?”

“Yes Rehan, do you know where I am?”

“No, I need your address.”

“Okay don’t panic, just come to the railway track. There’s a well-known hand pump by the railway track. You’ll see a crowd there. Just get to that spot, I’ll be there.”

“Oh, okay, no problem, I’ll be there.”

“Okay.”

Both disconnected the calls. Rehan then asked the villager,

“Yeah, so you were telling me about the hideout of criminals.”

“There is none.”

Rehan stopped and then after thinking for a moment said,

“Okay, can you tell me something about Mujhtaba missing case?”

“Oh, so you’re one of those?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you are among those who are being used as baits.”

“Baits?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what this is. They send desperate and jobless people who are in need of money to this village, so the criminal comes to hunt the investigator, and the moment he attacks, the job of the police is to catch the criminal. But they fail every time. The criminal flees away and the investigator dies.”

“That’s not entirely new information for me, I’ve been told about this before. But how do you know about this stuff?”

“It’s not something new, seeing a person like you here. This happens very often. The police is playing with lives here, don’t you understand.”

“I don’t care. I just want to get to Mujhtaba, that’s it.”

“Mujhtaba might not be alive.”

“What?”

“Long time back, Mujhtaba and his bully Abram were in the same car. And do you know what happened?”

“What happened?” Rehan asked curiously.

“The car crashed. It fell off a cliff. Nobody knows what happened exactly but one of them died.”

“One of the two died? How can you say that?”

“I wasn’t there but there were other people and they all stated that they saw someone coming out of the crashed car and running away into the mist.”

“So, nobody saw who it was?”

“What can I say, it was late night.”

Rehan gave a thought and then answered,

“Regardless of all that… I was told that Mujhtaba really disliked this guy Abram. Even you just said that he was Mujhtaba’s bully.”

“That doesn’t make any difference. They can be in the same car. There’s so much politics in this city, you have no idea.”

Rehan was left speechless for a while. He anyways offered his hand for a handshake and said,

“Well, thanks for all the information. It was really helpful.”

The villager shook hands with him and said,

“No problem. But I would advise you to leave immediately. Because if you won’t you’ll die.”

“Sure, thank you.”

********

One hour later, Rehan finally reached at the hand pump located near the railway track. He stood over the railway track and looked around hoping to see SHO Lashari. His eyes finally saw the person he was looking for. The two met and shook hands. Rehan said,

“Sir, I have some information.”

“Yes, you already told me that the cameraman died.”

“No, I’ve just discovered that Mujhtaba and Abram were in the same car some time back. And maybe they both died as the car fell off from…”

“From?” he asked as Rehan stopped speaking.

“I don’t know exactly but it was a high point or something.”

“You are saying that they both have died?”

“No, one among the two has died. Some villager told me.”

“Who was this guy?”

“I don’t know but he seemed to be a well-informed person.”

“Oh, well that’s tragic… But the question is how come he was so sure. Nobody has really seen Mujhtaba for quite a long time now then how he can be so sure? Did he saw him with his own eyes?”

“No, he didn’t,” Rehan answered.

“Did he mention that?”

“Yes, he wasn’t even there probably.”

“I see, but the news could be true. We just need to ask somebody about it.”

“I agree.”

“So, anyways what happened to your partner?”

“Yes… It was really frightening. He was lying on the bed, where I used to sleep. And his tongue was out of his mouth. His face turned blue and his body was cold.”

“Oh God, poor guy,” he said.

“I am really upset about it. I don’t know how I’ll tell my team and his family about it.”

“Don’t worry about your team, they are already expecting anyone among the two of you to die. You have to think about his family.”

“Well, I won’t be answerable to them, it’s the team of Crimes at Corners who has to.”

“Yes, you’re right, but what you need to do now is leave the village.”

“Leave the village? No.”

“Rehan you have to, if you won’t leave, you’ll die. Those criminals are already looking out for you.”

“I’m not the only one. They know that you are here as well.”

“I have a weapon to defend myself, I will also leave eventually. But you need to get out from here right now.”

“No,” Rehan replied moving backwards. “I’m not leaving.”

“Rehan, you’re not understanding, you should be thankful that you’re still alive. You have no option but to leave. Don’t worry, you’ll find another job.”

“No, sir… It’s not about my job.”

Rehan paused for a moment and took a deep breath. He continued,

“Really, it’s not about the job. It’s about justice.”

“Are you going to do justice?”

“I have to, a man has been mistreated here. I don’t know if he’s still alive or not. His soul needs justice.”

The SHO looked at him for a moment as if he was admiring him for his thoughts.

********

Kevin Rollins while he was walking on the street received a phone call from an unknown number. He answered the call,

“Yes, who is it?”

“Mr Kevin Rollins?”

“Who is it?”

“Don’t worry about who I am, you need to worry about your friend Rehan. Tell him to stop whatever he is doing.”

“Who are you?” Kevin raised his voice.

“If you’re going to keep enquiring that, you will regret.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want you to talk to your friend Rehan, tell him to stop investigating Mujhtaba’s case, or else the two of you will be in great danger.”

“Who told you that Rehan is a friend of mine?”

“I saw you at the village.”

“At the village?”

“Yes, the two of you were seated in that busted cafe.”

Oh my God! Kevin whispered in his heart.

“Oh okay,” Kevin said out loud. “So, what makes you think I’m his friend?”

“Stop playing games Kevin, you are just wasting your time, I’m giving you 12 hours to convince Rehan to go back to where he came from. And if he doesn’t, you won’t be able to even regret, do you know why? “Because you won’t be alive by then,” he screamed.

Kevin remained silent and simply disconnected the call.

The same night, Rehan was sitting on the chair at SHO Lashari’s room. He was going through the texts in his phone. Mr Lashari was also in the same room. They weren’t talking but Rehan wanted to began a conversation, so he asked,

“So, what’s your motive on this case?”

“Look kid, you’ve put quite some effort in this. And I know that you are eager to solve this case. I’ll admit that you have showed some dedication in this. But that’s not enough. We need the real criminal. We want to end these serial killings, and this can only be stopped if real criminals get caught. So, I hope you understand what I’m saying.”

“I understand, but this is not the end. We are still working on this case, aren’t we?”

“I wish, but we can’t. I want you to go back. I can’t let you stay here.”

“Look sir, I respect you a lot but we’ve been over this many times before. You should know and understand by now that I won’t leave.”

“Oh, if only I could make you understand the risk involved kid, tell me something, haven’t you learned anything from what happened yesterday? Haven’t you realised how wives feel when they come to know about their husband’s death?”

Rehan was left speechless for a while.

“My friend Rehan, look if you’re looking for a job, I promise you I’ll find one, but even if you’re concerned about Mujhtaba and not your job, then I give you my word, I won’t stop working on it.”

“Won’t stop working on it? You mean you’ll stay here and you won’t leave until you find the criminal?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” the SHO replied spontaneously.

“And what if you don’t find him?”

“Well, I’ll keep on trying. I’ll try as hard as I can.”

Rehan thought for a while and then eventually said,

“Okay, Mr Lashari, if you’re promising me that you’ll keep working on this case then I’ll leave. I’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Good, now you’ve relieved me.”

Rehan chuckled and said,

“I wasn’t stressing you either.”

“So anyways, tomorrow morning you’re leaving.”

“Okay, my suitcase is here. I’ll leave by bus or let’s see.”

“Perfect.”

********

Next morning, Rehan woke up and opened his eyes. He sat up immediately and rubbed his face. He stood up slowly and looked at Mr Lashari sleeping on his separate bed. He walked towards the door of the room and opened the door. He stepped outside and slowly shut the door.

Let’s see what happens today. He wondered.

After a while, he was walking on the railway track. He was talking to himself while walking,

This is what you wanted, a life of adventure and thrill. Are you happy now?

He stopped talking for a few seconds and then asked,

Am I happy or not? Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m not. I might have been if my camera guy hadn’t died. Wait a minute, why do I keep calling him that? Do I even know his name?

Rehan stopped walking for a while and thought,

Oh my God! I’m a cold blooded person. My partner died and I never even cared to know his name.

A tear fell from his eye. He wondered,

He was a good man and I didn’t value him, I didn’t even care about who he was. What kind of a person I am?

He felt more tears in his eyes and whispered,

No, I won’t go back to Karachi. I’ll stay here and I’ll find out. I’ll find out who did this…

He stopped as he saw some woman standing at some distance. He kept on walking and commented,

Who is this woman? A villager I guess.

He kept on walking towards the same direction and thought while looking down at the track,

No, my job is to find the criminals. I will find the criminals who killed my cameraman and I will also find those who are responsible for Mujhtaba’s death. Finding them is not the only purpose, to make sure justice is served is my objective and I will do it sooner or later.

As he looked up while walking, he looked at the woman who was quite closer now. To his surprise, it was none other than the woman he knew.

It was Maria.

His eyes were left wide open and he said,

Oh my God, Maria.

He walked closer towards her, increasing his speed and saw her pointing her hand as if to stop him. He stopped and asked her,

What are you doing here?

Through her face expressions, it appeared that she was really upset and worried.

Maria was silent but it appeared that she wanted to speak something and wasn’t able to. Rehan heard someone calling him from behind.

“Rehan!”

Rehan turned his head and saw someone familiar. As he paid attention, it was Kevin Rollins. Rehan was extremely shocked. He turned back and looked at Maria for a second.

“What are you guys doing here?”

Quite unexpectedly, Rehan saw two men rushing towards his wife. The two of them captured her and took her towards the car, they jumped from.

Rehan looked at them abducting her and ran after them.

to be continued...