My Little Firecracker

Chapter 4

I spaced out on whatever he was saying, all I could do was stare at his face.

His sharp eyes looking at everyone in a calculative look, the tentative emotion surging through his orbs sends shiver through my spine. The way his lips move with a hint of smirk, arrogant smirk as if he is telling someone “look where I’ve reached and look where you are now” with a condescending look.

The way his left hand is holding the podium, his long fingers stretched and holding it firmly. His right hand waving around as he explains something, that I could hardly concentrate on.

What is happening to me?

I gulped and stood up.

I looked to my left and saw the same inspector who came to the office standing in the corner and staring at me.

Creepy much?

Giving him a weak smile, I rushed towards the washroom.

As I entered, I held on to the counter looking at the mirror.

Why am I so flushed?

Is it because seeing him reminds me of that awful day?

“You find him handsome, that’s why you’re flushed” answered my inner self.

“b***h” I muttered to myself.

Okay, I’m officially going crazy.

Calming myself down, I splashed some water on my face and wiped it.

Feeling a little better, I walked out.

I looked at the amount of security that was outside the door near the stage, it is crazy. Does he have a target on his back?

Why am I intrigued?

Everything about that guy doesn’t make any sense.

I walked inside the hall and saw Q&A session going on between that billionaire and press.

“Sir, as you said you have been in this industry for a while now but why make your status known to people now?” Danny asked introducing himself.

“That’s how it works in our society. People who are famous gets more importance. It doesn’t matter how hard working or intelligent you are it doesn’t count. Until and unless you show people your skills, you won’t get the respect you deserve” Okay, What the hell was that? Why is he answering all the questions in a twisted way as if he’s smugly saying ‘You don’t know what I’m talking about now but you will soon get to know’. Weirdo.

Danny nodded and sat down.

Others started asking their questions and received twisted answers as well. Getting confused by his answers they sat down.

Should I do this? Should I ask him?

I stood up.

“Sir, so since you are a billionaire I’m sure your company is funding a lot of charity works like NGO and stuff, right?”

As soon as I stood up, he looked at me and within seconds his eyes flashed in recognition.

“Yes” came his husky voice. Damn it.

“So I just wanted to know how invested are you in finding the children who are kidnapped and abused, what sorts of help does your company offers to agencies who look into these matters?”

His face hardens, like ice.

Did I hit a nerve? Good.

I smiled in satisfaction.

He looked at me for few seconds, as if he is memorizing every spot on my face.

Next second, his grim face turned into smile. A full blown smile.

My smile fell.

What the hell?

“Ma’am, such an amazing question. Looks like you are a responsible citizen. Good! Good! So about your question, we know what is going on right now but let me tell you it’s not today’s problem. It’s been going on for a long time. My company supports all the agencies that works for the welfare of the society. And last but now the least, do you know the quote that people say ‘When you want to clean the dirt, you have to get yourself dirty too”, it explains everything”

Explains everything, my ass!

All it did is confuse me more.

I had a grim look on my face, to which he smirked and walked out of the stage declaring that press conference is over.

“Why would you ask him about that? Totally unrelated topic.” Danny asked with a frown on his face. What crawled up his ass and died?

Rolling my eyes at him, I rushed out.

I have ton of work to do.

I saw the inspector standing near the cars for protection of the billionaire, as soon as he saw me his face crunched up in a frown.

What’s wrong with him?

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I sat in my office the rest of the day working on the lead that I found that day. Trying to analyse all the pictures that I got.

Sighing, I leaned back on my chair remembering what all happened today. Everything about him is mysterious.

His smile, ufff!!

Totally breath-taking. s**t! s**t!

What am I doing? Slapping myself, I tried to clear my mind but something stuck out like a sour thumb.

His answer.

What does he mean, it’s not today’s problem? Does he mean these illegal activities are going on for a long time? But only since last few years, these kidnapping and missing cases increased a lot. Maybe I should check all the other cases since the last decade related to this matter.

I texted Val and Arsh to meet me in my office.

In few minutes, they were in. I explained to them about it and they thought it’s a good option and we might find something out of ordinary that would help our case.

“Yikes, all-nighter than?” Arsh said wincing.

“Dude, stop acting like you had a hot date” Val said rolling her eyes.

“I could have had” Arsh mumbled pouting. I chuckled shaking my head at them. I wouldn’t change them for the world.

By the time it was 9pm, everyone was exhausted. So we thought of taking a break and order dinner.

Nisha joined us once her broadcasting was done. She was excited to stay all night and help us. We all gave her a weird look. Only she can be excited to work all night.

“All right bitches, are you ready for the next 8-9 hours of vigorous working?” Val exclaimed.

“You do know you are just reminding us about our pathetic life, that we don’t have anything to do other than work, right?” I said munching on my fries. McDonald’s is love.

“Speak for yourself, I have a happening life going on” Arsh said showing his tinder app.

We all stifled a laugh.

“Tell us Arsh, how many times have you been rejected by girls?” Val asked smirking.

“You know what, you guys are meanies!!” He huffed avoiding the question with a blush and walked out of the employee’s lounge.

We burst out laughing.

“I thought he liked Tina?” Nisha asked in confusion.

“I think he is trying to sow his wild oats on every field he finds and go with the one that yields the best” Val said innocently. Making me cough up the coke that I was sipping.

“VAL” I exclaimed.

She just giggled.

“Is he planning on becoming a farmer?” Nisha asked all confused.

Val and I shared a look and burst out laughing. God! take care of this girl.

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“Guys, 11 years ago there is this case about a family, look at this” Arsh showed us.

We read the whole article.

“The whole family died because of drug overdose?” Val asked all confused.

“The couple had a 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl, were all four of them drug users?” Nisha questioned cringing her eyebrows.

“Guys, how is this linked to child kidnapping?” I asked them.

“Amy, there was a rumor that the couple bought drugs from the drug cartel that we are investigating” Arsh said pointing out the cartel name.

“But guys, a 13 year old and a 15 year old using drugs! Don’t you think something is fishy?” Val questioned. I nodded my head at her.

“It’s not unheard of, I mean they might have gotten curious and tried it out or their parents might have forced them to use. We could come up with several stories about this, can’t be sure what really happened!” I said shrugging.

“I think we should look into this matter, we could contact the article author and get more information. Even if we get one name of that cartel, it would be easy to get more perspective on this matter” Arsh said seriously.

We all agreed.

It could potentially lead us in the right direction.

“Arsh, you and Val talk with the author and get some information about the cartel and I’ll take on from there. Till than I have to look into that billionaire too” I said getting irritated.

“Amy I could help you with that” Nisha said blushing.

“Why, because he is handsome” I asked raising my eyebrows.

“No, no I mean I think he might have some interesting background. And moreover I’m the one who would broadcast it so it would help me” She said blushing like a tomato.

I chuckled.

“Sure honey” Everyone smirked at her.

She’s a sucker for a handsome face.

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“Hey sweetheart” An annoying voice entered my office.

I raised my head from the file that I was studying.

“Don’t you ever knock?” I asked rolling my eyes.

“Aww, don’t be such a soar wuss darling. I know you love to look at my handsome face all the time” He said smirking and sat on the chair in front of my table.

I put on a fake smile.

“I do, so that I can punch it real good and turn you’re ugly face into more bearable one” I said smiling sweetly at him making his smirk fall.

Narrowing his eyes at me, he picked up the paper that was on my table.

“Hey, stop touching my stuff” I huffed.

He rolled his eyes but as soon as he read what was on the paper his expression changed.

“What is this?” He asked getting agitated.

I stood up and pulled the paper out of his grasp and saw that it was the article that yesterday we were discussing about.

“It’s just an article from a decade ago, we found it in our archive. What about it?” I asked giving him a daring look.

He gulped and shook his head.

“No, nothing. Are you investigating that case?”

“And now why would I talk to you about my case” I asked him raising my eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes getting irritated.

He stood up and walked near the door.

“Why the hell did you even come in here?” I asked getting confused.

“I wanted to talk to you about our project but that can wait” he said grimly and walked out of the office.

I swear he is the most infuriating and weird guy out there.

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It was 9 pm by the time I was done with my work.

I saw Harshad’s office light still on, so thought of giving him a report of what’s been going on.

I knocked on his door.

Hearing his ‘come in’ I entered.

“Hey, you busy” I asked him. Though he is my boss, he’s cool with us calling him by his name. Maybe he is little more cool with Tina but it’s none of my business so I don’t give a crap.

“No, I was just proof reading next week’s article. Being editor-in-chief is not an easy job, trust me” He chuckled. I could see how tired he is.

“Hey! when it will be a hit, it’s all going to be worth it” I said smiling trying to rise his spirits up.

“True, so what brings you here? “He asked raising his eyebrows.

“I wanted to tell you about our progress, we might need your help as we proceed” I said taking the article out.

“Sure, what is it?” He asked collecting the papers that I thrust his way.

He reads them, taking his time.

“This article is like decade old, why would you want to investigate it? “He asked getting confused.

“We think it’s related to the case we are looking into and the author who published this article went out of grid after this article. We are trying to track her down but it seems like she stopped working right after publishing this article” I explained.

“So you think people involved in these illegal activities are behind this” He asked.

“Yes, Harshad I think these kidnapping, human trafficking and many other things are going on from a long time. And someone very powerful is behind this” I said raising my concerns.

“It looks like it, Amy I think it’s going to get more dangerous as you dig further deep into this matter. Are you sure you don’t want that inspector’s help?” He asked getting worried.

“No Harshad, don’t worry I’ll keep myself and my group safe but what I am worried about is, if someone very powerful involved in this and they get to know about our research, you might get pressurised to stop this” I asked clarifying my concerns.

He nodded understanding my words.

“Don’t worry Amy, nothing other than your safety will stop me from stopping this project. Just make sure you and your group is safe at all-time okay” He said smiling to which I nodded.

Wishing him goodnight, I came out of his office.

Locking my office door, I made my way towards the parking lot. I reached my car, Volkswagen Polo. I know it’s a costly one for a 23-year-old girl but it was my birthday gift from dad. I think everyone at home put in money to get me this car but they deny it every time I ask.

Getting in, I started it and got out of parking lot.

On my way, I listen to Adele songs playlist. Don’t ask me why but her voice is so soothing.

Once I was outside the gate, I peeped out to see if watchman is there but seeing no one, I sighed and switched off the engine to open the gate.

As I got out of my car, I saw a black car riding up to gate flashing its head light. I had to squint my eyes to see who was inside. Once the car was beside mine, It’s engine got off and backdoor of the car opened. A black shining shoes came into my view. In a second, there stood a 6 feet 3 inches’ tall handsome man who has been haunting my dreams for so long.

I swear my heart skipped a beat when my eyes met his.