"Please." Joanne sobs through the cloth that is covering her mouth and looks at Karishma with her teary eyes. She has just learned about the whole truth and although she has a hard time admitting, she can feel how much Karishma is hurting from what Brian has done to her girlfriend. She understands this revenge but it doesn't mean she can sit still and watch her husband getting beat up. "Karishma, please."
"Alright." A man announces from one corner of the storage that slowly turns into a sauna. He takes off his glasses and uses the sleeve to wipe some sweat that starts to form on his forehead. He has been sitting on the floor with a laptop on his lap; hacking and cracking as he always does. "I sent an email from his account to reschedule his counselling session. I wiped anything with Haseena's name from that weird drug case using Brian Park's password. Also, we're ghosts. I wiped CCTVs and everything."
"Good job." Cheeta takes his attention away from Brian and hands it over to his tech buddy that he has put as his carry-on all the way from India.
The man in glasses puts the laptop vertical on the floor before springing up on his feet. "Can we go to Vegas for real now?"
Cheeta swings the bat in his hands right into the laptop on the floor. He swings so hard that the Dodgers scout might want to write his name down on their prospects. The banging sound that comes with the shattered pieces flying everywhere shakes Joanne to the core. That laptop could have been her husband. She shakes even more when she sees how Cheeta turns towards her and then to her husband. Cheeta uses the bat to poke Brian. "My little sister has always been a cheerful girl, you know, with stars in her eyes. When I see her. If the stars in her eyes are missing; even one, I'll knock on your door and those pieces on the floor will be the example of what will happen to your brain. Do you copy, Detective?"
"Yes." Brian whispers.
"Do. You. Understand? Detective." Cheeta doesn't even yell but every word that has come out of his mouth is emphasized.
"Yes." Brian responds louder.
"Alright." Cheeta smiles at Brian and taps the bat on his head lightly; just to scare him and his wife. "Karishma, you give us a ride to our car?"
"Sure." Karishma still has her arms crossing on her chest with her eyes on Brian who is looking at nothing else but his wife. Joanne is his world. He doesn't mind if he dies but this is almost like he is dying with his heart still beating. "Let's go, then."
This time when Karishma turns around, she doesn't look back. She opens the roll-up door and looks left and right to check for anything unusual. It takes a bit before Cheeta and his buddy to step out. The man in the glasses holds a paper box of shattered pieces of the laptop in his arms and carries a backpack on his back while Cheeta pulls the roll-up door closed.
"Are you sure they are good?" Cheeta asks Karishma without leaving his favorite bat behind.
"He has gotten worse." Karishma gives the tall guy the answer that is not directly related to his question but with the nod he gives, it is enough. "I also paid the guy to check later. I paid him enough for him to not call the ambulance or anything."
"You should go with us, Karishma." The glasses man says as they start to walk through the narrow hallway. "It's Vegas, baby."
"What is she going to tell my sister, dummy?" Cheeta slaps his head lightly but loudly. He turns to Karishma and puts his hand on her shoulder. She easily has become Haseena's date that he likes the most. He is not a complicated man. He is willing to pour his love on anyone who loves his sister so genuinely. "You take good care of my little sister, alright?"
"Definitely."
……
"Hey."
Haseena greets as soon as Karishma walks into the dining area of her house. Karishma's steps are immediately paused by the scene before her eyes. On the dining table, there are two dishes of fancy steak and two glasses of red wine along with the bottle. Candles are lit and flowers are decorated in the middle of the table. Karishma finally brings herself to look away from the table to the girl who greeted her. Haseena is in nothing fancy. She doesn't even put her shoes on to go with her ripped jeans and blouse.
