"I'd like to see you try," his lips curved into a smile but his eyes held hers pointedly.

The air in the room had thickened. While everyone was on alert, Ananya had stepped forward to make things right, and less complicated. She had handed over the helping hand to explain. Explain, what? She had no clue. All she knew was that she couldn't mess things up when she was so close to tighten her claws around the murderer.

She let out an exasperated sigh. The room now felt cold. "What do you want to know?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Still planning to hide information?"

"I am just," she started only to be interrupted in between.

"I need to know everything. Every. Single. Thing. I hope, I am clear," his voice held indifference.

She simply nodded at him. Looking around, she wish there was escape from him at that moment.

Her eyes caught the sight of her team; Aman was on his toes, shaking his head as he signaled her to back off. On the other hand, Ali had his fingers curled at the back of the chair in an attempt to suppress his anger while his features masked with calm. Behind Ali stood Zeenat. Her eyes focused on Neil as she tried to work a plan at the back of her mind. 

*15 minutes earlier*

She walked into Aman's den and saw him indulged into work; so much that he didn't even realize her presence. His fingers tapping vigorously onto the keyboard while the codings appeared on the huge screen system. The connecting workstation loaded with equipments and gadgets. Among all the technical stuff scattered over, her eyes gleamed at the bowl of truffle balls.

Walking towards Aman, she aimed for a handful of truffle balls but not before smacking his head gently. In an instant, Aman cried, "Di!"

It was difficult to decide if he was more upset for being smacked or for his truffles. She rolled her eyes at him, such a cry baby!

She popped one chocolate into her mouth while dropped the rest into the bowl again. And his smile returned. That was her brother; her baby brother. Her Aman.

"Where are these two?" She asked getting back to business.

"The two of them should be here any moment," he informed.

She glanced at the digital watch at the workstation as it read, 9:58 p.m. "They only have two minutes with them. I hope they know that," she spoke to no one in particular as she went ahead to take her seat.

"We are very well aware of it, Ananya," she heard a female voice from the other end of the room. "And we are before time," she turned around to see Zeenat walking through the door with Ali in tow.

"Glad that you are," Ananya threw it right back at Zeenat with a smile cracking up her lips.

This was her team. Aman was the best with gadgets and all the technical stuff, while Zeenat and her were mostly out on the fields. Ali was the recent addition. He owned a chain of luxury hotels across the globe which was also the undiscovered fact about him. He  was only known for his clubs at Goa.

While Aman was Ananya's brother, Zeenat and Ali were her best friends. The best people to work with. 

Everyone was settled as Zeenat popped the first question, "So the party is on?" She referred to the text Ananya had earlier forwarded them.

With a curt nod, Ananya confirmed their suspicion about the Alert. "There's more to it."

"Shoot," Zeenat leaned back onto her chair, ready to take whatever was coming their way. Ananya smiled at her. This was way they were best friends.

She looked at Ali and Aman, who were equally prepared to listen.

"The murderer is playing sick games," Ananya spoke while she replayed the incidents in her mind.

"Nothing new," Zeenat remarked. Her indifference towards the murderer and his antics clearly visible.

"But what's the matter this time?" Ali spoke for the first time since entering.

"Long story." She mumbled.

"We have all night," Zeenat informed, "might as well get some popcorns and snacks to survive the night though," she nudged Aman, who simply ignored her.

Ananya rose from her seat while her fingers ran across her temples. She looked across the table at Aman as she commanded, "Play the footage." The screen lit up with the images and soon their eyes were glued. It was the recording of her attack.

"It aimed the gun to your sides," Zeenat scrunched her nose in confusion. "Had it been anyone else, I would have claimed it to be a poorly aimed shot. But this one," she pointed at the screen, "we all know the records." Her eyes rolled. Definitely, the murderer nailed all his shots, if they checked the previous records, the murders in the city were unfortunately clean point-blanks.

A sudden thought creeped into Ali's head, "So was this a trap for us?" He asked thoughtfully.

"I thought so, initially," Ananya slumped onto her chair. "That's the reason why I had to announce a 'Red Alert' situation," she further added.

Zeenat sprung back, "You mean to say, there's more," she asked, horrified.

"I think so," Ananya mumbled in response. "Look closely Zee, the murderer had a perfect chance to shoot me dead, to strike me off from his list and move on to the next. But he chose not to," whispering the last bit, she tried explaining her theory.

"Think of it, the murderer had not let a single clue or trace of evidence back at the crime sites. Not before this," she referred to the recent attack on her. "And suddenly, it attacks me. A failed attempt to murder and it leaves behind a perfectly shot recording of the attack," she provoked them to think.

"We can't just claim it to be a trap for us to think it as one," Ali stated.

"Ali," Zeenat threw him a stern look in order to have his mouth shut. She was still laying out her suspicion. They needed to first know her thoughts, then wear their thinking hats and pour in their thoughts and finally draw conclusions. That's how they worked always. And he needed to learn this.

"And we are not," Aman countered. "She is just trying to be cautious." He stated in Ananya's defence. Though she loved to see her brother defending her, she was capable enough to fight her own battles. However, this wasn't one of the battles.

"Ali, even though if it's not, we need to be careful. There's a lot at stake," she reminded him. "If it is going out to attack someone else, we do have everyone on alert." She diverted her attention to Zeenat, "I hope that we are ensuring everyone's security, Zee. No goof ups there," her voice stern.

"Don't worry, I am monitoring all of it. Your security included," she replied with a wink. Both her statement and the wink had amused Ananya.

Brushing off the look at Ananya's face, Zeenat added, "I need to know more. What's running in your head?"

Ananya laid out her suspicions apart from finding no evidence on earlier crime sites, the security systems of the restro-bar and the nearby premises were not hampered which was unlikely. She also enlisted a couple of more doubts. They discussed the possibilities and consequences for each.

"Don't worry, we will be on our toes. Working harder this time to ensure that we have our claws at its neck to choke the murderer down," Zeenat assured.

*Currently*

They were about to wrap this meeting after one final discussion had Neil not interrupted. She looked up at him, "What all did you hear?"

"Doesn't matter," was his response, ice cold.

Sending prayers to the Almighty, she prepared herself for a round of interrogation with the Cop.

*

Personally, I am not even remotely satisfied with this chapter. But then again, I wanted to give you all an insight to these new characters, just a tad bit, teeny tiny one. Agreed, these are not completely giving out their traits or their characterizations but we will sort that out later.

Next chapter, Neil interrogates Ananya. What still lies as a mystery is whether Ananya will spill her gut out or she will keep her cards undisclosed? Also, if Neil can trust her with her words anymore?

Do let me know what you think.

Nexr chapter on 22nd June. Till then keep thinking.