Next day
I got ready and left in my car to meet Mihir.
I reached Bajpayee Industries at around 10 a.m.
And went straight to Mihir's office.
I knocked on the door and he said, "Come in."
When he saw me, he said, "Since when do you need permission to enter my office?"
I smiled and said, "It's called basic manners, which you don't know because you don't have them."
He leaned back slightly and said, "Oh, I don't have basic manners and you have them? Then why am I seeing these basic manners today after so many years of friendship?"
"Because you don't know what they are, so you never realised them."
He nodded slowly. "Wow. What a great explanation."
I sighed dramatically. "Oh God... now you can't even understand an explanation. What will happen to you? You've become completely hopeless."
He raised his hand, a little exasperated. "Stop it now... it's getting too much."
"See, I came to talk about serious matters and you made me get into a senseless conversation. You always do that."
He said proudly, like he had won a trophy, "See, you yourself accepted that whatever you said was senseless and still called me hopeless."
I shook my head. "Now enough. Let's talk about what I came for, which is more important."
"Chill, Vedika," he said casually. "I was just joking. Why are you becoming so serious?"
"I am not serious for that reason. I am genuinely serious because I want to tell you about Shreya."
His expression changed instantly.
"Oh... about Shreya. Did you get to know anything about her? What? Where is she? What happened?"
"Wait, wait. Shreya nahi mili hai par uske gayab hone se jude kuch aur chize pata chali hai."
He nodded. "Okay, come sit and tell what you wanted to."
"Very thankful of you that you remembered I've been standing here for so long," I said sarcastically.
"Stop your drama now, sit and tell," he said.
I sat down. "Mihir, I talked to my informant and through him I got the contact of a person named Suraj. He is also an informant, and I told him to find information about Shreya and her company, Zyvora Systems. He didn't get any clue about Shreya, but he found that one more person whose name is Rohit Verma."
"He is also missing from the same day when Shreya went missing, and he was also working in the same company. And just like Shreya, the company management refused to accept him as their employee. Police also said that it could be a coincidence that they both went missing on the same day."
I told him everything and showed whatever proofs I had.
Mihir straightened, shocked. "What!! One more person is also missing just like Shreya? What is happening, yaar?"
"There is proof that both Shreya and Rohit were working in Zyvora Systems, so why can't the police do anything?"
"According to the police, that's not a solid proof to take action. And they are somewhere right, as the people who have seen them are not giving their gavahi, and we don't have any CCTV footage. We have nothing. Meanwhile, the company has all the evidence in their defence. They have proof that the job offer letters were fake and not theirs, and they have CCTV footage where both of them are not seen."
Mihir frowned. "But that's because they must have tampered with the CCTV footage, and they themselves must have given them fake offer letters so they can save themselves later, like they are doing now."
I nodded. "Exactly. They have all proofs ready. That means they pre-planned everything, from hiring them to their disappearance, and that is not a coincidence."
"True. It looks like they have planned everything, because two people can't go missing on the same day, both employees of the same company, and the company refusing to accept both. It doesn't look like any coincidence."
"But Vedika, How we will know that why are they doing this? Why have they kidnapped them? What do they want? What is the need of Shreya and Rohit in that plan? And are there only two people or more, which we don't know?"
"Yeah, I am also thinking that, but we don't know anything. And we don't even know whether they are fine or not, where they are, and why only them. There are so many employees regularly working there, so why not them?"
"And Mihir, did you notice that both of them are software engineers?"
"Yes, I noticed, but how is that connected?"
"I have deeply researched both Shreya and Rohit professionally. I was going through Rohit Verma's LinkedIn profile and cross-checking Shreya's details. They have many similarities. Both of them are not just software engineers, they are very good at it, have good experience, and have received awards as well. They are in the list of best top 20 Software Engineers in India."
"Yes I knew about the Shreya but Rohit is also in top 20 . And now they both are missing. Everything is looking so suspicious."
"And one more thing I have observed like They knew that both Shreya and Rohit would not get easily trapped in their plan, so they didn't kidnap them immediately after hiring them. They first made them work for two to three months and get settled there, so no one would think anything weird or suspicious. And then suddenly they executed their plan.
"Or It can be Like they want to test something before directly kidnapping them." I continued.
"And you know what I got a file from Shreya's home which she had kept so hidden. It has some programming codes written in it. I gave that to a friend who knows programming to find out what those codes are about, to know if they are connected to this or not, or if they can be helpful."
He exhaled slowly. "Right, according to the timeline you told the company waited for the correct time to execute their plan."
"And the file you are talking about, I hope it gives us a clue to know about their plan."
But Vedika, you proved that you are the best journalist. You found so much in just one day.
"I didn't get it alone. Suraj has helped me. But we need more information to find them. We just know that something is fishy in that company. What they show, they are not like that."
He nodded. "True. I also feel that their plan is something big, because why would such a big company do something like this if it's not something big? They know their image can be damaged."
"But they have even controlled that. They have money and power. There is no article about the missing employees, even when this is such breaking news for the media houses, because this is such a big company, but still nothing is there."
He said, "That's also true. Today we can shut anyone's mouth with money and power."
"But now Vedika, what will we do? How will we find where Shreya and Rohit are? Even the police didn't find anything."
"I think the police might also be involved with them. Maybe, I'm not sure, but they have made the case ongoing, yet they are not doing anything."
"They can be. But what we can do now? How we will know What their plan is or why they kidnapped them. We can't know anything from outside the company."
Something clicked in my mind.
I said slowly, "Wait..."
"What did you just say?"
He looked confused. "I said we can't know anything from outside the company."
I paused.
Outside...
Not from outside.
"What happened? What are you thinking?" Mihir asked.
"You said we can't know anything from outside, right?"
"Yes."
"But if we go inside the company?" I said.
He stared at me. "What do you mean? We should go to the company to know their plan? Really? And they will welcome us like, 'Come Vedika and Mihir ji, this is all our plan and here is your best friend'? Like really, Vedika? I did not expect this from you."
I sighed and said, "Mihir... what should I do with you? At least listen to the whole thing first. I was right nothing can be done about you, you are completely hopeless."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not saying we should go directly to Zyvora Systems and ask them about this."
"We have to go inside Zyvora Systems... but not directly. Then we can get to know everything about their plan."
He leaned forward. "Can you explain a little more what is going on in your journalist head? I know you are thinking something."
I smiled slightly. "Now you're talking like my best friend. You're even behaving a little like a journalist."
He smirked. "Haan, woh sab toh aapki hi kripa hai. Aapke saath rehke thoda dimaag toh aana hi tha."
"Now tell me your plan."
"You know journalists do sting operations and missions by going undercover with fake identities to know the truth."
"So I am thinking of doing the same. I will join Zyvora Systems as an employee and try to find out their plan."
He immediately said, "No, no. You can't do that. What if something happens to you like Shreya? This is such a big risk. No, we will do something else."
"Mihir," I said calmly, "I am not saying anything randomly. I have done many dangerous sting operations. I have experience in that. And risk is everywhere. We have to take risks to find the truth."
He said worriedly, "But Vedika, I know you have experience, but how can I see you putting yourself in danger? What if you get caught? What if they kidnap you too or do something? What will I tell your parents? I can't lose another best friend."
"Mihir, we have to do this. Nothing will happen to me. Trust me."
He sighed. "I know you are not going to listen."
I nodded. "Yes."
"Then okay. I am with you in this plan. But you promise me that you will stay connected to me all the time, and if you ever feel in danger, you will call or message me. I will come to help you."
"Of course I will be connected to you. We both are in this plan together."