-I am kinda sick but I enjoyed writing this soooo much. One of the most enjoyable chapter for me as the writer! :D 

"Great!" Detective Shaam's sounded mechanic through the slur of statics buzzing in Khalid's ear. "Where are you heading off to?" He asked.

Inspector Khalid turned around to gaze out of the glass door of the tuc shop. Saleem seemed to be busy with the stereo. Khalid exhaled slowly with the guilt of what he was doing. A heaviness of responsibility hung thick in his lungs.

"Bahawalnagar," he replied after a moment's pause. "We are on the highway."

There was silence for a while. Khalid's heart was beating in his throat which suddenly felt very dry. In the distance, Saleem was now looking at him and smiling- a smile of trust and friendship.

"I want you to stay with him at all times, Inspector Khalid. No matter what happens, you are to stay under cover. I want you to realize this that you are my surprise card in this case. You blow up, and this case blows up with you." Detective Shaam's calm voice enunciated each word slowly so it couldn't be any clearer.

Khalid bit his own tongue, a habit that he had from his childhood which was aroused by nervousness. His hands clenched into a tight fist as his nails dug into his skin.

"I want you to inform on him. He must not know that you're on my side. A single man is too less to catch a criminal like him so I need you to not take a risk and guide him safely to a resting place where we can swoop in and arrest him without much fuss."

Khalid, now scared that Saleem who was watching from afar might get suspicious, pulled out a large bag of chips from the stand that was overfilling with them, then headed to the glass door fridge from which he procured two cokes and a big bottle of water.

"I will do as you say, Detective." He spoke.

On the other end, Detective Shaam cut the call and slid his phone back on Pasha's desk who was gawking at him with a faint touch of awe. Shaam stared back at Pasha's amused face. This man was truly a genius. He had orchestrated a plan that would easily bring Saleem right back in his hands.

Shaam chuckled at the look on Pasha's face. "Oh, Pasha. You're adorable."

He stood up and ruffled the chubby man's hair with the aura of a loving father. Pasha pulled his head back vigorously and slapped Shaam's sleek hand away. His eyes depicted disgust for Shaam but he had still not recovered from the maturity and delicacy of Shaam's plan. A plan that Pasha himself never knew of.

As soon as Allahditta had informed on Aqib and ratted everything out to Pasha, he had called Shaam, and rightfully so considering that Shaam is in charge of the case. He had walked so calmly in the office and slid into one of the chairs in front of Pasha, mocking him with a smug grin. He really loved pulling one over him.

Pasha had been extremely irritated with Shaam's lethargic attitude until Shaam had finally explained his plan of using Inspector Khalid who had lived with Saleem throughout his teenage years, something Shaam had found out from Saleem's prisoner file, one that he thought was quite mysterious and incomplete.

He had asked Khalid to come and help Saleem escape so they can arrest him in a lonely faraway place where they could shoot him if required.

Shaam now walked away from the office, thinking that this was probably as good as over.

"Keep your men ready for the raid, Pasha. It's gonna be sudden and I've learned that you're pretty slow at catching up." He said with an air of aloofness. He didn't even take the time to turn his head back so he is facing Pasha who scorned as Shaam walked away.

Khalid was back in the car now as he turned the key and revved the engine of the Toyota Prado TZ 3.0 Diesel 1998 model which immediately answered to his call with a deep hum of his own. He swiftly guided it away from the gas station and onto the highway.

"So, what took you so long?" Saleem asked as he opened the Large bag of chips that Khalid had bought. The wrapper made an irritating gush of noise as Saleem slid his hand inside it to pull out a couple of chips.

Khalid looked uneasy. He tried desperately to hide the sweat on his forehead. He pulled off his beret and threw it on the dashboard before sliding his hands through his moist hair.

"Was just thinking if you want a coke or water. Figured I should buy both."

It felt so normal for Saleem, like it used to back in the day. He finally had a friend. Life had changed with one beautiful decision that he had made.

"So who did you call in the shop?" Saleem asked after a while of silent driving into the sandy deserts. They hadn't turned on the air conditioner as Khalid had figured their bodies won't appreciate the drastic temperature changes in case they had to exit the vehicle due to an alarming situation.

"Just made a few calls to make things easier. They have people looking for you on toll plazas so just called a friend of mine to let us go."

Saleem nodded as they drowned into the rock music of a modern song that irritated more than relaxed. Khalid's fidgety hand reached for the stereo and slapped it off. In the distance, a motel slowly creeped up the road to meet them. Khalid held on to the steering tightly.

He slowed down before pulling over.

"Hey, what happened?" Saleem asked, clearly petrified with the unknowing situation.

Khalid was breathing heavily as he still clenched the steering wheel tightly. With one swift motion, he pushed the gear from neutral to the first and floored the accelerator. Saleem had no idea what was happening but was smart enough to fasten his seatbelt as the car plunged into the sand and revved away from the road. Saleem stared wide eyed at what was happening until he looked back and the road was just a thin line.

Khalid opened the door by pushing his shoulder into it and exited the car. He slid his hand in the right pocket of his pants and pulled out his phone that he smashed down on the rocky floor. The floor lay on its screen that would surely be smashed by now with its back cover lying askew from its body. He pulled out his Glock 19 and loaded the gun before firing three shots into the battery of his phone. The sound of the shots rattled in Saleem's ear as he admired the slight blaze issuing from the barrel at every fire.

Khalid walked back to the car heavy chested and sat on the side of the driving seat with his shoes connected to the rocky ground. He turned around to face Saleem with a grin.

"Let's get you home."

He had successfully misinformed Detective Shaam by telling him that they were headed to Bahawalnagar and not Bahawalpur... two cities that were 173.4 kilometers away from each other. And there was no way they could track his cellphone down after this.

In the Police Station, Shaam sat smugly in his office with no idea of the latest proceedings. Khalid had just double double-crossed with perfection.