The Betrayal Ch. 05

Neha almost didn't hear the knock at the door through the music. The radio was on in the living room. High riveting notes belted from the speakers as Hari's fingers laced around her throat. Not overbearing. Just a reminder of who was in charge. His other hand was holding her slippery ass, high enough to fuck her against the wall.

Hari's chest was lathered in sweat. He let out each breath like an athlete, releasing each gust of air only after another thrust buried inside of her in coordinated laps. He was conditioning her to be ridden for hours on end. To be cum inside of and fucked again moments later. Neha wasn't wrong. Spring Break was their honeymoon.

The knocks sounded again. This time, Hari heard the dull thuds. His heart was racing. He was glued to the rhythm established between them but he backed away. Neha mewed in protest, her pussy ripe and contracting on nothing.

Hari's glistening chest was heaving. Neha heard the knocking now. She locked eyes with him, alarmed. Her hands fluttered up to her breasts and tangled hair. He reached for two towels from the closet beside him.

"I'll answer the door," Hari told her.

"What, why? Just leave it. Maybe, they will go away," Neha argued. They stood still, waiting. Silence. Neha sighed with relief and gave him a 'told you so look' before the next series of knocking ensued.

"Just get dressed. I'll take care of it," Hari said.

Neha vanished around the corner while he dabbed his wet muscles with a towel. He pulled on his pants and shirt, spraying cologne on to cover the musk. Neha scampered naked past him, lighting some incense and perching it on a stand in the living room before retreating back to her room and shutting the door. Another succession of urgent knocks. This time, Hari was able to intercept them.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by a man in uniform. Pressed tan fabric with a badge hanging over the lip of the breast pocket. He had a thick mustache and a disconcerting gaze. The gaze of someone able to discern details and connect the dots.

Hari had the distinct impression that he was being sized up. That his wet hair and late response to the door were already added to a running list in the stranger's private record of events. There was a pang of cognition. The stirring of fight or flight.

How many times had he been thrown on the ground or against a wall, beaten for stealing? Told he was nothing? He'd changed his named countless times since then but the memories were thick in his blood. Thoughts swirled inside of his head, uninvited prongs of anxiety. Who had sold him out? Dev, Sonia?

"Good day, officer," Hari began. His voice settled into an eerie calm. The kind of calm achieved after years of deceit. When was the last time he had been caught? Over a decade, at least. The thought brought him a silent sense of comfort. He was a professional.

"Inspector," the man corrected. "Inspector Rahul Oberoi." Hari bowed his head in a deep nod.

"Hari Mitra. I teach at the university."

"Yes, recently married to Asha Sena?" The inspector asked. Hari gave another curt nod. Was this when the inspector was going to accuse him of running a con and reach for his handcuffs?

"How can I help you?" Hari asked. He half expected the inspector to say something like: 'You can come quietly.' Instead, he said something else entirely.

"Is Neha home today? I was hoping to speak to her and her mother privately about a sensitive matter."

Again, he resisted the impulse to run. Hari thought about how beautiful Neha had looked, staring up at him against the wall as he fucked her. There was a knot in his chest, an ache that he didn't expect. Was this going to be the last time they had together before he was taken prison? Before she knew who he really was and what he was truly after?

"Yes, she's here. Her mother is working at the moment. What is this about?" Hari's hand was firm on the door. He supposed he still was in position to smack it shut in the inspector's face if the encounter went sideways.

"The death of a student. He was one of yours, actually." The Inspector continued. The words weighed on Hari's mind. So, the inspector wasn't there for him. "May I come in?"

"Yes, of course," Hari said, stepping back.

~

Neha joined the two men at the table. She was more than presentable in an outfit that she often wore on campus. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She scrambled to offer the inspector tea but he waved it away and invited her to sit down.

Hari could tell she was worried that their affair had been discovered. She had not expected to find a police officer in her home. He wondered if she would expose them both in her nervousness. One slip was all it would take. Hari stood up and pulled out a chair for her.

"This is Inspector Oberoi. He's here to talk about a student that you might know." He hoped that was enough information to put her at ease.

"Yes, Ajay Laghari," The inspector said. "He died last night in a motorcycle accident." Neha looked puzzled more than stunned. She turned to Hari and back to the inspector.

"Who?"

"You don't know him?" Rahul asked her. Each word was slow. The look in his eyes was calculated.

"Um, I'm not sure," Neha told him in all honesty. The name didn't ring a bell. She only had eyes for Hari, after all.

"Here's a picture of him. It was taken on campus for an event a month ago," the Inspector explained. Neha peered at it. She was skeptical at first, until her face lit up with recognition.

"I do know him," Neha said. "But only in passing," she followed up.

"So, you were not courting or involved?" the inspector asked her. He ignored the flash of anger in Hari's gaze. That he would be so blunt.

"No," Neha told him, her gaze unwavering. "I told you. I barely knew him. He would talk to me sometimes, but we weren't friends or anything." Inspector Oberoi nodded at her reply, distracted by the train of his thoughts. She hoped that her answer was enough to get him to leave. She was worried that he would smell her. That the scent of sex with Hari would fill the house as soon as the incense went out.

"You said he died in an accident," Hari asked. "Why is this a police matter and how would Neha be involved?" For the first time since meeting him, Neha felt like she could see the edges of his smooth demeanor. He didn't like having the inspector in the house either.

"We are still not positive that it was an accident," the inspector answered after another moment of consideration. "One witness described it as a hit and run." His mouth set in a grim line. "Not uncommon. However, in order to rule out whether it was premeditated, we have been examining pictures from the victim's phone."

Inspector Oberoi's experienced gaze fell on Neha. She didn't like the secrets behind his stare as he pulled a phone from his jacket pocket. Her eyes went wide. He shook his head at her assumption, knowing what she was thinking.

"This is a company phone," he said. "The victim's is still in the lab being processed. It's slow-going without the passcode. It takes time. These are some of the photos we have attained so far. Flip through them. There's at least 10 there."

The inspector placed the phone between Hari and Neha. The screen glowed with images. Neha was confused. She flipped through each one. When she reached the final image, she still didn't understand. Hari's jaw was tight afterward.

He knew exactly what he was looking at but couldn't say a word. Not without revealing himself. The pictures were reminiscent of what he would take to plan a con. It was standard procedure to surveil prospects before making a move.

Hari had taken his own photographs of Neha and Asha, but they were saved on an encrypted hard drive and were for an entirely different purpose. These were taken by an amateur. Half of them were blurry. There was nothing professional about them.

"They are all of me," Neha said. "Why would Ajay have this many pictures of me?" One of the pictures was focused on her breasts. Another on the line of her hips. Hari felt the irrational urge to punish Ajay even though he was already dead.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Inspector Oberoi confided. He paused. "We have found hundreds of these."

"Hundreds? But you said-" Neha's voice was faint. How had she not noticed? That someone had been watching her for this long?

"These were the first that we uncovered," the inspector continued. "It's taking so long to process because he was very... Prolific. For lack of a better word."

Hundreds. Neha's mind was reeling. She could tell that Hari wanted to comfort her but had to resist the impulse in front of the inspector. She couldn't help but wonder just how prolific Ajay had been. Hari was thinking along the same lines. Did Ajay have pictures of their affair?

Neha's fingers were frantic on the screen. Scrolling back. There was one photo of her studying in the library. One from behind of her walking down the hall. The one that gave her the chills was one he had taken outside of her house. She scrolled all the way back to the first one. She was holding a balloon and laughing with her friends. Neha squinted at the screen.

"But these are from over a year ago," she stated, biting her lip. She wanted to be certain. "This was from when I just started college. I was helping with a fundraiser." Her words trailed off and her eyes drifted from the screen to the Inspector's.

"That was likely when his obsession with you began," the inspector divulged. "The oldest photos were the first to come through." He paused. "As you can imagine, this is not what we expected to find. Our first priority is to investigate the circumstances surrounding his untimely death."

The inspector reached for the phone and placed it back in his side pocket. Neha noticed that he looked very tired. Tired of his job. Tired of human nature. She couldn't tell which.

"I am inclined to ask you, Professor. Did you notice any unusual behavior from Ajay? Warning signs?" Hari shook his head.

"None. He was on top of his studies. Polite. I wouldn't have guessed." Hari trailed off.

"Did he stalk anyone else?" Neha asked.

"Not that we can tell." the Inspector replied. After another moment of deliberation, he turned his attention to Hari. "Do you happen to know who his friends were? Where he went after school?"

"No. He was only in one of my classes. Those questions would be better suited for his parents, I would imagine," Hari replied. An uncomfortable silence hovered over the table. Hari cleared his throat.

"Do you have any more questions for us, inspector?" Hari asked. The inspector's gaze lingered on him a little too long before answering.

"No, I suppose not," he answered.

Except, it wasn't what he was thinking. He was wondering why Neha looked guilty even though she claimed that she didn't know the victim. He couldn't place the feeling that something was off in the room. Unexplained. Hari was articulate and reserved, but his subtle attempts to get the Inspector to leave didn't go unnoticed.

Inspector Rahul Oberoi rose from the chair and pushed it back into place under the table. Was that relief that crossed Neha's features? His gut told him he had stumbled into something, but without more to go off of, there was nothing else to do.

"I understand this topic is sensitive," Inspector Oberoi told Neha. "I had to know for sure that you were unaware of his...fixation. We only have so many leads so if you think of anything that could help with the case, please give me a call." He left his information and walked out the door.

Neha leaned back against the wall, her heart still racing. Hari locked the door and let out a long, controlled exhale before facing her. So much for their vacation. Hari approached her, his hands resting on her warm shoulders. The expression on her face was drawn and conflicted.

"Hari, what are we going to do?" She asked him, trembling.

"We don't have to do anything, Neha," he told her gently. His voice was understanding and affectionate. "He wasn't here for us." It was her first brush with the law. He knew what that was like. He could barely tolerate it himself. Even after years of practice.

"But he will find out," Neha said, her voice wavering. "What if Ajay knew about us?"

"We have nothing to worry about," he asserted. "We have been careful," he told her.

Although, it was far from the truth. He couldn't guarantee what Ajay did or didn't know. If he was keeping tabs on Neha, then anything was possible. They were discreet, but the precautions they had taken seemed inadequate now.

Neha leaned into him, her head burying into his chest. He rubbed her shoulders and glanced at the time. Asha would be home soon. He hadn't expected to have to tell her something like this, and she wasn't the only one he'd have to update.

He thought about Dev and Sonia. It was always a risk for them to meet, no matter where it was. Now he would have to see them a second time in one week. How foolish it had been for them to come to the school in the first place. It occurred to him that the timing was suspicious. They'd come to seen him only three days ago, and now someone was dead.

Neha was listless for the rest of the night, shaken by the encounter. Her mother wasn't any easier to comfort. When he told her about Ajay, Asha's panic was undeniable.

How could this have happened? The university was supposed to be safe. One of the finest. How could it be that a student would behave like that and not be discovered? Let alone be killed. Hari tried to quell her concerns, as a good husband should, but he was left with the same sense of unease.

He was usually so observant. So careful. He had to be. How had anyone, let alone a student, gotten past him? He had noticed Ajay looking in Neha's direction a couple of times during class, but it had never occurred to him that he was watching her so closely. He wasn't the only student he had caught looking in Neha's direction. She was young and beautiful, so it came as no surprise. Sometimes, it even brought him immense satisfaction. That she was being admired but could care less for them. Not this time. He felt flawed and disillusioned.

He lay beside Asha that night, still as could be. Listening to her breathing. When he was certain that she was asleep, he climbed out of bed and reached for the set of clothes he had stashed below.

~

He knocked on the door until his knuckles were raw. He could hear shuffling on the other side. Murmuring. Finally, they were awake. The door opened a crack.

"Who the fuck are yo- Hari?" It was Dev in his briefs. He opened the door wide. Glistening metal caught Hari's eye like a reflection. Dev was holding a gun. Hari walked past him into the room.

"Are you crazy? What are you doing here?" Dev asked.

"Do you think I want to be here?' Hari hissed back, glaring back at him. He hadn't been at the rented room before. He took it in quickly. It was a small, cramped affair - stone walls with fading turquoise paint, equally faded Bollywood posters, and half-dry marigold garlands. A small, stained settee against one wall, a small wooden table cluttered with the detritus of their existence, and beyond a kitchenette equally cluttered with steel and earthenware dishes. A curtain separated the bed from the living space. The sheets and blanket a crumpled mess. Sonia, wearing an old t-shirt over cotton underwear, stirred. The place smelled of sex, cigarettes, and alcohol.

"What's going on?" She asked, as she rose from the bed. All traces of drowsiness were gone. Always prepared to act on a moment's notice. Dev set the gun on a nearby cabinet.

"Trouble," Hari told her. "An inspector stopped by the house today."

"What are you talking about?" She asked him.

"There was a murder," he told her, testing out the word: murder, as if he were certain. His eyes drifted to Dev and hovered there. Dev's lip twitched up ever so slightly under the scrutiny. Hari's eyes narrowed.

"What are you looking at me for?" Dev growled. His lip tweaked at the corner again. Someone less experienced than Hari might have written it off, but to him it was as obvious.

"What did you do?" Hari demanded. Dev knew something. That much was clear.

"I don't know what you are talking about." His tone was defensive. Hari took a step forward. He was ready to punch him. Sonia walked between them, sensing his intentions. Dev's muscles tensed. His fists were clenched almost as tight as Hari's. His eyes flickered to the gun on the mantle.

"Now come on, boys," Sonia soothed. "Can't we talk this out?"

"He better start," Hari said, refusing to look away from Dev. The glance toward the weapon hadn't escaped his attention. His warning sliced into the air like an anchor through uneven waters. "What did you do, Dev?"

"Nothing that you wouldn't have done," Dev told him. Sonia just stared between them.

"You killed him, didn't you?" The accusation was hot on Hari's tongue.

"Killed who?" Sonia asked.

"The boy," Hari told her. "Ajay."

"Oh, is that what his name was?" Dev said. His tone was casual. The vein in Hari's neck throbbed. His fists were dense with sweat and constrained fury.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Sonia looked back and forth between them.

Hari snapped. "Tell me what happened, Dev!"

"He saw us, okay. That kid was hanging around while we were fucking Sonia. I couldn't just let him tell everyone what he had seen, could I?" Dev argued.

"You could have told us, Dev. What the fuck were you thinking?" Hari gestured wildly. "The only smart thing you did was not use the gun."

"Look, I was only going to scare him. I was just going to follow him home. Corner him. Things got a little out of hand," Dev explained. "He saw me and lost control of his bike."

"Bullshit," Hari's voice was quiet and immobilizing. "You took the first chance you could and ran him down." Dev's expression darkened. "What? You still don't get it, do you? The job is over. We have to back out because of you."

"Oh, right. That's rich. You just want me to take the fall. You've been living with that family for months and come up with nothing. Now, the first chance you get, you're blaming me. I was just protecting us!" Dev announced.

"Come on. Just bring it down. The whole hotel is probably awake by now," Sonia reprimanded them in a hushed tone. She look at the two men. "Dev did what any of us would have done."

"We could have come up with a better plan if he had just told us about it," Hari argued. "Besides, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come to the school in the first place."

"Oh, come on. Don't act like you didn't enjoy yourself," Sonia told him. "Besides, it's just as much your fault as it is his. If you had made more progress, we wouldn't have had to show up, now, would we?" Sonia reasoned.

"That's not all," Hari told her. "The boy was watching Neha. He was following her around like a puppy, taking pictures of her in his spare time with his phone. It's in police custody as we speak. There could be evidence of my affair with Neha."

"I knew he was a creep," Dev said loftily.

"If they discover the affair, it's not the end of the world. We will just disappear and find another job," Sonia told him. Hari's jaw was set. "It's nothing we haven't had to do before."

"But the police -" Hari started.

"Will find nothing," Sonia finished. "I trust that Dev covered his tracks." She glanced his way. "There's no reason to back out, yet. Not when we've come this far."

"You're giving him too much credit," Hari jabbed, glaring at Dev once again.

"That's it. I can't take any more shit from you. I'll sleep in the car," Dev told them.

"Good. Like the rat you are," Hari snapped back. Dev swiped in his direction but Sonia caught his arm.

"Go cool off," she told him. His chest looked like a parachute; he was so puffed up with anger. He stormed out of the room and out the door. Sonia sighed. "Well, that could have gone better." Hari said nothing. "You shouldn't have gotten onto him like that."