Priya's POV:

"I have a plan, Mehra," Arjun said on the other end of the line.

"Great," I replied enthusiastically. "Where should I meet you?"

"I am currently at home. If you don't have a problem, you can come over. We can talk about it here," he replied. I detected a slight emotion in his voice. Was he nervous?

"Sure," I said. "Please send me the address. I'll be there in a half-hour."

"Okay," he murmured huskily.

I hung up and he texted me his address. He lived nearby but in a posh neighbourhood. When I looked up, I saw Kashi's curious dark eyes staring back at me.

"What?" I asked, trying to finish my coke as quickly as possible.

"Are you going to meet him at his place?" Kashi inquired, leaning forward with her hands folded on the table. There was a hint of a smug smile playing across her lips.

"Yeah, so?" I asked after savouring the last sip of my drink.

"Nothing. Drop me off at home and then you can meet your hottie," she said, studying her fingernails.

"Wait, he's not my hottie," I scoffed. I'd come to a point now where I couldn't deny the fact that Arjun was crazy hot.

"I was just joking," Kashi replied, a naughty smile on her face.

"Fuck off!" I scowled playfully.

I dropped Kashi off at her place and promised to take her to meet Nila with my sister the following Sunday. I arrived at Arjun's house. It wasn't a house but rather, a mansion. It had a lovely, well-kept garden and a large parking lot. The house was a massive two-storey structure. I was certain it would have at least six bedrooms. I wasn't sure if the address was correct but I rang the doorbell anyway. I heard a faint 'coming' and the door opened to reveal Arjun, dressed in a red tee and black sweatpants. His hair was damp and swept to the side cleanly, suggesting that he had just taken a shower. He looked ravishing.

Argh! No. Nope. He looked bad. Very bad.

I shook my vile thoughts away and smiled.

"Hey, come in. I was a little busy," he said, a sheepish grin on his face. The interior was exactly what I expected. Expensive. It was clean and modern. The walls were painted in a grey-black colour scheme, with polished marble floors and gleaming wooden cabinets. Anyone who looked at the house could tell it was a bachelor's pad. The air was filled with a manly scent and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

"I had no idea a government job could afford so much," I whispered as I looked around.

"Haha, a government job can't afford this, but my family business can." He shrugged.

"Family business?" I frowned.

"Yeah, we own a few resorts along the southern Indian coast," he explained briefly.

"Coastal areas like?" I pushed.

"Kochi, Goa, Andaman and so on," he said casually.

"Then why didn't you continue with the business? Why a government job?" I spluttered, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"Because I preferred my own identity, I asked my father to hand it over to my brother," he replied, walking to the kitchen to retrieve a cup of coffee.

"You have a brother?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, he is my younger brother. He is four years my junior. What about you, do you have any siblings?" he asked.

"Yes, younger sister. She is currently twenty years old,"

"Wonderful," he remarked.

"How come you chose IPS?" I asked.

"I've always had an interest in crime investigations. I grew up watching a lot of crime thrillers which sparked my interest in the field," he responded while handing me a cup of coffee. I took a seat on the sofa while he sat in the armchair.

"What about you? Why did you choose this line of work?" I said, swirling the liquid in my cup.

"It was my father's dream," I said, taking a sip of coffee. It tasted different from other coffees I'd had. I cast a curious glance at him.

"I also put some tea leaves in my coffee," he said awkwardly. "Is that alright with you?"

"No problem. It's fantastic," I replied truthfully.

"So you're a daddy's girl, aren't you?" he said teasingly. I scowled as my pathetic brain pulled out a double meaning card at me.

"It's nothing like that," I replied, irritated.

"So, what is your father doing?"

"He is a retired pilot. He served in the air force." In response, Arjun mouthed an O.

"You said you had a plan; what is it?" I asked.

"Actually, about that-," he started but was cut off by an awfully loud ringtone.

He excused himself to take the call. While he was gone, I looked at the photo frames on the living room wall. A family photo hung at the centre of the wall caught my attention. Arjun was standing in the far left, hugging a short woman with grey hair and wrinkles. She exuded a maternal aura. It's got to be his mother. Then a man appeared beside her. He'd be my father's age. He had a serious expression on his face but he appeared friendly.

Next to him stood a young man who resembled Arjun but was much younger. It was probably his brother. They were all looking at the camera and smiling. A happy family. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to another frame. It was a picture of a young girl with a cute dimple and glittering eyes. She must have been around four years old at the time the photograph was taken. The photograph was quite old.

"That's my sister," Arjun explained. He was standing next to me. When did he return? I locked my gaze on him. He appeared to be sad.

'How come she isn't in the family photo?' I thought to myself.

"She was seven years old when she died in an accident," Arjun said as if he knew what I was thinking.

"I am sorry," I whispered, my eyes tearing up slightly. I imagined losing my sister to an accident and my heart shattered on the spot.

"Aye, no. It's okay; it was a long time ago," he replied, his grief concealed.

"Let's talk about the plan," I said, and we returned to our previous seats. "So, what's the plan?"

"It's simple but it's still risky," he warned.

"All right. But what is it?" I asked, getting impatient with each passing moment.

"We'll have to catch him red-handed. First, we need to know what his plans are. So we should keep an eye on him and a camera in his office. Someone should install the camera ahead of time and the tracker should be installed only when Karan is going on a major mission," he said. When I nodded, he went on. "When he goes out on the mission, we'll be notified because of the camera. We can install the most recent version of the hidden camera, which includes audio functioning. The main issue is how we are going to install it. We should be able to gain access to his office and that is the danger here."

"We'll figure something out for that as well. Let us first make all of the necessary preparations. Let's schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning," I replied. He gave a nod.

"Moreover, the case is unofficial because we don't have a complaint," he explained. It was an unofficial mission and if anything went wrong, we would be held accountable.

"We'll have to take the risk," I said as I stood up to leave. "Alright, then, I'm leaving."

"I hope my hospitality was good," Arjun said as he walked me to the door.

"Not too bad," I replied, laughing. We said our goodbyes, and I drove back home.

The next morning approached quickly and in anticipation.

"We summoned you here to inform you of an important mission. It's also extremely private and unofficial. Would you like to be a part of this?" Arjun spoke to the people gathered in his office. We were holding a meeting like we'd discussed yesterday. We were all seated around the enormous round glass table. Papers with the most recent information about our prey were strewn about the table. There were only a few people here and they had been chosen by us.

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison.

"Okay, the details are in the papers. Please read it and let us know if you have any questions," Arjun asked.

"But, sir, how are we going to fix the camera in his office?" Swati asked after reading the paper.

"About that, we're still trying to come up with a plan," Arjun replied.

"I think I can fix the camera inside his office," someone said unexpectedly.

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