Falling Destiny

Episode 35 : “A Lead into the Dark”

(Rohit’s POV)

The hospital corridor smelled of antiseptic and quiet fear. Neha sat beside Disha’s room, her hands trembling from the storm that had just passed. A premature baby girl had entered the world — fragile, but alive. And somewhere between blood donations and emergency calls, I felt my world split in two.

That’s when my phone rang.

Veer.

I stepped aside and answered, keeping my voice low.

"Rohit. Come now," Veer said sharply. "We got a lead. The guy who tried to pull the trigger on Denver bhai… we found him."

My chest tightened.

I glanced at the room where Neha and Disha lay behind the glass. My first instinct was to stay. But then again — I knew the world we lived in. You don’t delay when it comes to revenge. You don’t hesitate when blood has already been spilled.

“I’ll be there,” I said and hung up.

I didn’t tell Veer about Disha or the baby. Not because I didn’t trust him — but because this world, the world of guns and blood debts, wasn’t meant to touch them. I wouldn’t drag Neha or Disha into this — ever.

I gave Neha a vague excuse about emergency work and left quietly.

---

By the time I reached Denver bhai’s mansion, Veer was already waiting in the side courtyard — his expression grim, his eyes cold as steel.

He handed me a small photograph. It was grainy, taken from a security cam — a young guy, barely 26, rough around the edges, wearing a hoodie and sneakers. Just another street guy trying to make quick cash.

“This is him,” Veer said. “The one who pulled the trigger that day. Missed by an inch. But Denver bhai could’ve died.”

I clenched my jaw. “Who is he?”

“Name’s Rinku. Goes by ‘Katta’ in the gullies. Works for scraps — courier, petty theft, sometimes dirty jobs for small gangs. But he’s not the planner. He’s just the pawn. We think Aarnav might have hired him through someone else. He probably doesn’t even know who he was trying to kill.”

Denver bhai walked in at that moment, hands behind his back, calm but deadly.

“This guy is our first thread,” he said. “We pull it, we find the web. Maybe even Aarnav.”

Veer laid out the plan.

The Setup:

Rinku is known to hang around the Kalina bus depot, betting on illegal bike races.

He always stops at a roadside paan tapri every Friday night around 9.

Veer had planted one of our men as the vendor for the last two weeks to observe him.

The Plan:

I’d go undercover as a drunk local guy, cause a scene near the tapri to distract him.

Veer would flank him from the alley while two others closed in from the rear.

No guns. The goal was to catch him alive. Make him talk. Make him lead us to the one who paid him.

“Tonight,” Veer said, his voice low and deadly. “We end the chase.”

Denver bhai nodded once. “No mercy. But no mistakes. We do this clean.”

I looked at Veer. “You sure he doesn’t know he missed Denver bhai?”

“He doesn’t,” Veer said. “He thinks it was just a warning shot. He was paid to scare someone.”

But it wasn’t just fear.

It was betrayal. Someone from inside gave away Denver bhai’s route that day. Someone helped Aarnav reach us.

This boy… he was the first breadcrumb. And we were about to follow the trail.

---

As we loaded the car, I messaged Neha once.

"Will update you once I’m done. Take care of Disha and the little one."

She didn’t reply.

But right now, I had to bury that part of me — the part that smiled around babies and told fairytales.

Tonight, I had to become someone else.

Because this is the world I grew up in.

And no matter how much I want to keep Neha and Disha away from it — I’ll have to fight in it to protect them.

---

Twenty-five minutes later, we were positioned in silence outside the jagged northern edge of the mill. My heart pounded—not from fear, but from the fire that burned every time Denver bhai’s name was disrespected.

Bhaskar nudged me.

“He’s inside. Heard movement.”

“On my mark,” I whispered. “Three… two… one—go.”

We breached.

Chaos erupted. The rusted door slammed open from Veer’s end at the same time. Rinku tried to bolt through a side gap but Shyam tackled him. He fought like an animal, spitting and clawing. I pinned his wrist to stop him from grabbing a hidden knife.

“You think you’re smart?” Veer growled, dragging him up by the collar. “Who hired you?”

Rinku laughed, bleeding from the lip. “I don’t know his name. He wore a coat, said he’d pay double if I fired the shot right after the crowd cleared.”

“Describe him!” Veer barked.

“He had a scar… right eyebrow. Limp in his right leg. Sounded like a college guy trying to act tough.”

Veer and I locked eyes.

That was a lead.

He was connected to Aarnav. We could feel it.

We dragged Rinku into the van, bound and blindfolded.

Veer looked at me as he lit a cigarette.

“We’re getting close. Too close. Be careful, Rohit.”

I didn’t say it aloud… but I knew what he meant.

If Aarnav was behind the attack, this wasn’t over.

It was just the beginning.