Lut Gaye || لٹ گۓ

TWENTY EIGHT | In Your Arms (Part Two)

"lut gaye ham toh pheli mulaqat mein."

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NOTHING irritated Shahnawaz Awan more than tardiness.

Settled on a leather chair in the warm and opulent conference room of the CM house, donning his uniform and a frown on his face, accompanied by the top brass of the police, he was waiting for the head of the province―who had called an urgent meeting today―to show up.

Since one hour and seventeen minutes.

After a few peeved breaths and the addition of five more minutes, the sound of gritty footfalls shuffling against the tiles echoed around and finally, a tall, bespectacled figure of a man decked in a fancy suit and tie entered the room, prompting the uniformed officers to instantly rise from their seats with courteous salutes.

"Hello officers," the provisional chief greeted the law enforcers. "I guess I'm a bit late."

The Inspector General was quick to deliver a smile-wrapped jibe. "Only an hour, Sir."

"Always keeping count, Shahnawaz."

The minister spared him an amusing glance before dropping down on the designated chair and sweeping his gaze across the men seated on either side of the wide, stretching table.

"Since I have already wasted some of the time you gentlemen took out from your busy schedule today, I'll cut right to the chase," the minister addressed the attendees, specifically the Sindh police chief.

"I want you to launch a crackdown against the most dangerous ring of narcotics activities in Karachi. Form a task force and conduct a targeted operation against the notorious drug cartel in liyari within a week."

Shahnawaz's brows mounted at the unceremonious demand.

"You're asking us to strike the biggest den of arms-cum-smugglers on a whim? Last time an attack like that was carried out, we lost fourteen policemen and gained nothing!"

"So? This is what they sign up for! They're aware the cost of this job is their life." The sheer level of apathy in the minister's tone was cold enough to freeze the entire room. Then, as if to break the frost, he added, "It's a very noble sacrifice."

A gust of anger blazed through his sternum and he ground his jaw, hard, sickened by the ruling elites who comfortably sat in their warm chambers and dismissed the safety of the security personnel in the name of noble sacrifice.

"With due respect,"―Shahnawaz had none for this scoundrel―"My men's lives aren't any less valuable than yours or mine."

"No need to bring emotions to the table, IG."

"I'm only trying to be rational here," Shahnawaz retorted as calmly as possible.

"Shahnawaz sir is right," the head of the special investigation unit, Yahya, sat on the left side trilled in favor, continuing;

"That area is a hornet's nest, we have to be extremely careful while tackling it. It's for that reason we sent an officer undercover so we could find out about the headman of the cartel and their modus operandi. In fact, it was Shahnawaz sir's son who carried out the mission."

"Ah, his son. Zain Awan."

Recalling the name in a low, murky voice, the Chief Minister swiveled in his chair and pinned his gaze to Shahnawaz with a pernicious smile. "He received a medal from me last year for defending the terrorist attack on the Chinese consulate, didn't he?"