Rhea nodded. Kabier continued. “So how did he know where you were every single time?”
Rhea shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Let me try something,” Veejay said. “Rhea, can you give me a rough date of when all these pictures were taken? Whatever you can remember is fine.”
Rhea scrolled through her phone and started writing on a piece of paper. Sameer saw Rishi going through his emails. He gave Rhea the dates of the two hotel incidents. Rhea finished writing and handed the paper to Veejay.
“Well, I have it,” Veejay said, comparing the paper to his phone. “See, I just logged in to my social media account and searched for Rhea Sehgal. When I open her page, I can see that she has done a check-in on her social media app, on those exact dates, at every single place mentioned in this paper and more. On some apps there are even pictures with locations tagged. And I am not even connected with her on any of these apps. See for yourself.”
He showed them his phone as he scrolled slowly through the page.
Kabier started reading loudly.
“Rhea Sehgal checked into T-Cafe´ with Shauna Sehgal and Raashi Deewan; Rhea Sehgal checked into AquaNox with four others; Rhea Sehgal is at the Sehgal Plaza; Rhea Sehgal is at The Marquis with three others; Rhea Sehgal is attending a wedding...it goes on and on,” he said, shaking his head irritably.
“Exactly,” Veejay agreed. “These days it’s so easy to track a person if they are putting it up on social media every time theyare out. Honestly Rhea, you made it simple for this guy to stalk you. He has just been following your updates on social media.”
Sameer was taken aback. “God, Rhea! Your security settings are total crap. Anyone can see exactly where you have been or where you are, whenever you post an update. I have always hated this excessive fixation you girls have with your social media accounts. Honestly, I don’t know what to say to you right now,” Sameer scolded.
Rhea gave him an apologetic look, finally understanding the harmful nature of her social media obsession.
“Unbelievable,” Raashi said. “It’s that simple these days, is it?” she asked Veejay.
“Oh! You should have a chat with the cyber-crime division. They deal with innumerable cases just because people have an unhealthy obsession with posting their lives online for anyone to see,” Veejay replied. “Anyway, what’s done is done. We need to find a way to catch this guy once and for all and ensure that he doesn’t harm you anymore. I have a plan,” Veejay said, rubbing his hands together.
29
“This is absolutely the worst plan ever,” Sameer grumbled. He was sitting on a corner table inside AquaNox, with Raashi, watching his sister on a date with Rithwik Bali.
Raashi squeezed his hand “Come on. It’s a great plan. Veejay was right. If this Krish guy is obsessed with Rhea then he will come here tonight. We had to lure him in and the only way to do that was for her to update her social media page with a post that she was ‘On a date tonight’ with a check-in at AquaNox.”
Veejay’s plan had made complete sense to Sameer until they had to decide who would be Rhea’s date for the night. All three of them, Kabier, Rishi and he had volunteered but Veejay had shot them all down, saying they were family and most likely Rhea’s ex knew what they looked like. Rhea had suggested a few friends of hers but somehow enlisting the help of a twenty something year old didn’t sit well with any of them.
And then, Raashi had suggested Rithwik’s name. Sameer had vehemently protested but had been out voted by the rest. Kabier trusted Rithwik as he was also Keya’s close friend and forsome reason Rishi also considered Rithwik to be a good choice. Sameer had to give in, although he was not too happy about it.
Hence, here they were enacting their plan at AquaNox waiting for Rhea’s ex-boyfriend to arrive, if he did indeed show up. Veejay had his team spread all around the restaurant. And he had insisted that it should be business as usual at the restaurant so that everything looked normal. The restaurant was filled with patrons all unaware that there was a plan in motion to possibly entrap to a stalker. Veejay himself was seated at a table close to the exit with one of his team. Kabier and Rishi were in Raashi’s office at the back, going through the live security camera with an expert from Veejay’s team. Sameer had wanted Raashi far away from the setup but it was her restaurant and she had argued that if there was danger then she wanted to be there with them and her staff. There was no way she’d allow her staff to endanger themselves while she sat away and waited for news.
“Why did you have to ask Rithwik to help, though? Rithwik Bali as her date! Why did I let you convince me to agree to this?” Sameer complained as he continued to watch his sister interact with Rithwik.
“Because, he can be trusted to keep this problem to himself and to think and act quickly if the situation demands.”
Sameer gave her a disgusted look and turned back to watch his sister.
“Why is he holding her hand?” Sameer narrowed his eyes as Rithwik held his sister’s hand. “And look, he’s whispering in her ear now and she’s blushing. God! She looks like she’s in awe of him.”
Raashi patted his arm. “Will you relax? They’re just playing a part for anyone who may be watching them.”
When Sameer’s frown deepened, she turned his face towards her. “You have to stop with this unhealthy dislike you have for Rithwik.”
“I don’t dislike him, I hate him,” Sameer said grumpily.
Raashi laughed. “Really? All because he did exactly what I asked him to do? If you recall, I was the one who told him to kiss me. I couldn’t go through with it and he was tortured about it himself. He’s just a good friend. Why can’t you get it?”
“Okay. It will take me a while to forget that dreadful incident. But yes, I promise to get over it, in time,” Sameer replied, sulking.
Satisfied, Raashi switched the conversation to a different topic. An hour later and there was still no sign of the ex-boyfriend. Sameer saw Rhea whisper something to Rithwik and then she left the table and walked towards them. He turned to Veejay who shrugged his shoulders in surprise.
“What is she doing?” Sameer remarked. “This was not part of the plan.”
