SALAAR- The devil's promise (Completed)

*3*

KNOCK KNOCK

Amira opened the door to find a formally dressed Salaar waiting at the doorstep.

"Amira?" he asked.

"Yes," said Amira, "and you are..."

"Prabhas," said Salaar, "From Math champs, am here for a formal verification."

"Oh right," smiled Amira, "Please come in sir. Have a seat." "Tea? coffee?" she asked once Salaar sat down.

"Anything's fine," said Salaar. "Can you get me the original copies of these certificates?" he added giving Amira a list.

"Right away," said Amira and went inside. "Appi we have a guest. Get some tea," she said on her way in and Haseena walked out with a tea cup in her hand and was surprised to see Salaar on the sofa.

"I told you to stay away from us," she angrily whispered.

"A lot of people tell me a lot of things," said Salaar taking the cup from her hand and sipping the tea. Meanwhile Amira came out with a file in her hand.

"Sir, some of the certificates are with the school," she said giving Salaar the file, "and as it's sunday, school is closed."

"No worries, Amira," said Salaar verifying the certificates and making notes, "This will do for now. I'll collect the rest from your school on Monday."

"That's great, thank you," said Amira.

"All good, for now," he said after a while and gave the file back to Amira. "I'll see you soon with the confirmation," he said and stood up.

"Bye Haseena ji," he purposefully added to annoy Haseena and left. Amira went in to put the certificates back.

Haseena quickly moved towards the chair and searched under the table to find a bug. "You are not the only smart one," she said and turned it off.

Elsewhere Salaar removed his earpiece and shook his head.

* The next day *

"Heard about Jhonny?" Amira's friend Richa asked her as soon as she entered the classroom.

"Hard to miss," said Amira, "He was hung right across the street."

"Everyone in my street is taking about it," said Richa, "Some say that maybe Jhonny worked for Salaar and betrayed him, that's why he got killed. Some say that maybe Jhonny is secretly a mafia king opposing Salaar."

"Jhonny? Mafia king?" said Amira sarcastically, "No way. A better plausible scenario is that someone made it look like it's done by Salaar just so that the police would stop investigating."

Meanwhile the teacher came in and everyone stood up to greet her unknown of the bug in the corner of the wall.

"Good thinking, Amira," smiled Salaar as he called Vikram.

* During lunch break *

Amira got called into the principal's office to find Vikram waiting for her.

"Hi Amira," greeted Vikram, "am here for a small enquiry regarding Jhonny."

"I thought we already spoke about this, sir," said Amira.

"Did we?" asked Vikram, "or did your sister close the doors on us mid conversation?"

Amira paused for a while to carefully frame her answer.

"Sorry about that, sir," she said, "If there is anything else you would want to know, I am happy to oblidge."

"Jhonny was last seen chasing you," said Vikram.

"He was following me the day he died, yes," said Amira, "But I hid inside a barber shop and escaped him. Haven't seen him after that."

"Apparently none of us did," said Vikram with a polite smile. Amira remained silent but her principal decided to take a stand.

"Officer, the way you are speaking makes it sound like you see Amira as one of the suspects," she said, "and I cannot allow it, given all the evidence clearly points to Salaar."

"Of course, mam. Salaar is the prime suspect," said Vikram, "but I am a person who looks into all possible variables one of which is someone framing Salaar just so that they could get away." "If that's the case, there is a chance that Amira", he added and took a quick side glance, "hopefully accidentally, led Jhonny to his murderer."

Amira was both terrified and offended at the sudden accusation but she was helpless. Even the principal didn't know what to say.

"Just speculations, Amira," Vikram smiled to ease the tension, "As long as you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry." "You planning to go out of town anytime soon?" he asked.

"No," Amira shook her head.

"So I can expect to see you either in school or at home all times?" he asked.

"Most likely," answered Amira.

"Keep this with you," Vikram said giving Amira a phone, "It has my number on speed dail. Call me if you are ever in trouble or see something suspicious and keep me in the loop if you are travelling anywhere."

"Okay," Amira said reluctantly and took the phone.

* Later that day *

Haseena stormed into Vikram's cabin where Salaar was already sitting on the couch in a corner working something in his laptop. Haseena gave him a quick angry glance before approaching Vikram.

"Why did you scare my sister?" she asked angrily.

"She's fine," Salaar replied from the corner still working on his laptop.

"You shut up," shouted Haseena and Salaar was too shocked to think of a comeback and Vikram tried hard to control his smile.

"What did you put in the phone?" asked Haseena, "Voice recorder? Location tracker?"

"As if they could escape your eyes, Haseena ji," said Vikram politely, "The intention is just to make sure Amira has access to my number and nothing else."

"And it's not unfair for officer Vikram to suspect her," Salaar said as he stepped into the conversation, "If you really think about it, she did lead Jhonny to his murderer."

"I see what you are doing here," said Haseena turning to Salaar, "Trying to indirectly show that you can bypass me and reach Amira."

"No, it's pretty direct," countered Salaar.

"Haseena ji, why are you fighting us?" Vikram stepped in to ease the tension, "We all have the same goal here."

"No we don't," stated Haseena. "Your goal is to keep Amira safe. My goal is to keep her safe and happy." "Be honest officer," she added, "Was Amira really not impacted by what you did today?"

Vikram remained silent.

"Thought so," said Haseena and left the room after giving Salaar an angry glare.

"If Amira is scared of a police officer's presence, shouldn't we blame her upbringing?" questioned Salaar.

"What?" said Vikram surprised, "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Of course, I do," said Salaar, "Hanseena made Rocky's daughter a coward."

"If you really mean it, why didn't you say it infront of her?" asked Vikram.

"To avoid unnecessary conflict," said Salaar.

"Of course," said Vikram sarcastically, "You hate conflicts."

"Focus on work, Vikram," said Salaar getting back to his laptop, "You need to catch Salaar."

Let's discuss! Who do you think is in the right? 🤔