CHAPTER 3
“Abhay, where have you been all day?” Dev was waiting for his older brother in the living room of the guest house they were staying at while they looked for their younger brother.
“I was in a rural area looking for the woman.” Abhay sounded disappointed.
“Are we any closer to finding her? Do you think she can help us find him?”
“Yes.” Abhay and Dev had spent the past few weeks chasing the only clue they had in hopes of finding their little brother. They were nowhere close to giving up the search.
“Abhay, maybe we should both work together.”
“No, Dev, we need to divide and conquer,” Abhay said.
“Where are you headed next?” Dev asked.
“Still on the hunt for the woman. She has covered her tracks well.” Abhay impatiently raked his fingers through his hair.
“I have nothing on the goon. I get the feeling people know him, but nobody remembers what happened to him. It was like he disappeared into thin air.”
“Stay on his trail, Dev. We need to find the woman more as a backup.”
“Yeah, I will. I wish we had a connection in the underworld rather than in the police department.”
“We’ll find him.” Abhay blankly stared at his reflection on the shiny silver dish in front of him wondering when they would meet their brother. He knew it was a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ they would meet his brother. If his brother managed to survive a massacre that took the lives of hundreds, he had to be out there living like a warrior… a Singham.
*****
Narmada stared blankly at the beautiful skyline of the city, a million thoughts running through her mind. She was angry with the situation, and it frustrated her that she couldn’t do anything to get out of it. She was so close to her freedom and could not believe she was kidnapped minutes before she would have left her home and family forever. She was planning to go back to New York, stay with a friend from high school while she looked for an apartment and started school. She needed a life away from her family, especially after they tried to force her into marriage and after what happened to her brothers.
She took a deep breath trying to push her thoughts away and started to wonder if the situation she was in was better than the one she was in with her family. Neil kidnapped her for reasons unknown to her, but it felt like she had a better chance at getting away with him than with her family. She turned away from the window to smile at Neil. It didn’t take her long to realize he was her only ticket to freedom.
One more incident like the one in the hallway, she knew he would tie her up and drug her again. She decided she was going to stop fighting him and beg, plead, or even seduce her way to a life she would live on her terms.
“Hey, where have you been?” she chirped.
“Are you ready to go?” His voice held no emotion.
“I’ve been sitting around doing nothing since you disappeared,” she pouted.
He looked at her for a long moment without responding like he suspected something. “Move.”
She gathered the cloth bag with her outfit and the jewelry and walked toward him, her expression so cheerful no one would ever know she was held captive against her will.
“What is that?” He pointed at the fabric bag.
“Oh, I asked housekeeping for a bag for my stuff, and they found me this laundry bag.”
“And you are going to carry around your things like that?”
“Yeah, it’s always good to have an extra set of clothes.” She flashed him a fake smile.
“An extra set of torn clothes?”
“Oh, I can replace the blouse with another one or pair the skirt with another t-shirt.” Her voice was extremely calm, but she knew it was annoying him.
“Whatever!”
“Where are we headed, Neil?”
“You don’t need to know,” he declared gruffly.
“Fine, don’t tell me.” She walked past him toward the door lugging her cloth bag. She felt the heat from his glare on her back but did not dare turn around.
He followed her to the elevator without another word.
“Where is your bag?” she asked.
His response was to shake his head.
“How do you travel without a bag?” She was genuinely surprised.
“You don’t need to worry about my bag.”
“Oh, you have everything you need … where are we headed?” She wasn’t going to give up trying to get as much information as she could from him—any information.
“Stop the fake enthusiasm.”
“I’m trying to be very nice so… you be nice, too.” She snubbed him stepping into the elevator.
They rode the elevator in silence, and when the elevator opened to a lavish hallway, she gasped under her breath. She had been to luxurious hotels all over the world with her family, but she never expected to be held in such a hotel while being kidnapped.
“It’s nice of you to bring me here, I know you didn’t have to…” Her voice trailed off when she caught a sarcastic smile on his face. “What?”
“Don’t you think you would stand out like a sore thumb if I took you to a dump of a hotel?”
“Thanks, and oh, how long have I been missing?”
“Does it matter?” It sounded like a chuckle.
“Is my family looking for me?” she asked hesitantly.
“Why wouldn’t they look for you?” he retorted.
“Neil, I don’t want to go back,” her voice was a whisper.
“Is that why you were planning to attend a wedding that wasn’t going to happen?” he asked casually.
She was surprised he knew.
“Your family is searching all over the city… the wrong city.”
“I do not want them to take me back… don’t let my family take me back.” It was a plea.
Neil turned to look at her but did not say anything.
“Please,” she smiled and caught a glimpse of something in his eyes, and it was gone before she could read into it.
She followed him out to the lobby. She wasn’t sure where he was taking her, but she knew she had a few days of time based on what she heard on the phone. She hoped to convince him to let her go. If only she knew what he was getting in return for kidnapping her and who was paying him.
She looked around as cars pulled into the valet line and looked ahead for her potential ride, completely ignoring the midnight blue sports car right in front of her. Her almond eyes followed Neil as he walked over to the driver’s side. “Were you expecting a limo?”
A limo, she was expecting a dead, beat-up old car to be her ride, something more generic that wouldn’t stand out.
“Seriously?” She laughed unable to believe she had a decent ride. “Never expected something like this to be a getaway vehicle.”
“It’s got to fit the profile. Can’t drive anything other than this if I was staying in the presidential suite of the hotel with my wife on our honeymoon,” he teased, and something deep inside her twitched. She was surprised she reacted to his words, especially the ‘wife’ part.
“Aren’t you worried people will recognize me?” she asked as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot.
“What do you do, Narmada?”
“I’m working on my masters in history…” Her voice trailed off when she caught a sly smile on his face. “What?”
“I know what you do, and I would be worried about people recognizing you if you were a celebrity.”
“Well… people know me in my city. What city is this?” She looked out of the window trying to look for a local language on the signs.
“Does it matter what city we are in?”
“Yes. I need to know.”
“Why? So you could send a message to your people,” Neil mocked.
“Neil, I told you I do not want to go back to my family or wherever you are taking me.” Her voice was soft making her sound sad.
Neil clenched his teeth but did not say anything.
“What is the ransom for kidnapping me?” She asked shaking away the knot in her stomach.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Neil, please… I’ll try my best to give you whatever you want. Let me go.”
“I can’t let you go, and what I want, you cannot give me,” he declared gruffly.
“Why are you doing this, Neil? The last time I saw you, you were going to become a security company owner. What happened?”
Neil did not respond, and she stared at his long, strong profile and finally looked away unable to bear his silence.
She looked out of the window unable to digest the situation she was in. She blinked away the moisture that gathered in her eyes and took a deep breath. “It would have been better if you had let those people kill me six years ago. Why save my life and put me in misery now?”
A shudder passed through him at the memory of his first kill. His first kill as an amateur bodyguard was to save her life. He started working for the Senanis under the pretext of a temporary bodyguard for Narmada when, in fact, he was there on a mission—a mission driven by revenge and duty.
“I feel like a fool for thinking you would help me.” She sniffled.
“Narmada, I’m not the same guy you knew back then. The Neil you knew is dead. People don’t know me with that name anymore.”
“I don’t care what your name is, you were the guy who saved me from being butchered by the goons.” Her voice reverberated.
“I… I was doing my job.”
“Then why did you pretend to be my friend, why did you go out with me, why did you… why did you kiss me if you were doing your job and disappeared the next day, without a trace?” Her words flew endlessly as she fought back angry tears.
Neil had hoped she would have forgotten all about him when he agreed to the job of kidnapping her. He knew it was a bad move when he realized she remembered the moment that threatened to consume him and distract him six years ago. That one moment, he made a promise to himself to keep her safe forever. That one moment had the potential to derail his plan for revenge if he had not broken the promise and left.
“I have no fucking idea what you are talking about.” He denied any memory of the kiss.
“Liar… you can keep lying to yourself and continue doing a stellar job of delivering your package,” she snarled looking away from him.
Neil did not respond not because he didn’t want to, but because he didn’t know what to say. Something deep inside him burned every time she sniffled. He caught a quick glance and saw her resting her head against the window with her eyes shut. He realized it was best to let the conversation die a natural death. The engine roared matching the burn inside him as he drove the super sleek vehicle through the night.
Narmada felt the vibrations from the engine and the heat from his anger, but she was disappointed her tears didn’t melt him. It was one of the many facets she had planned to put on to get him to let her go. She knew she had to play every trick in the book to get him to soften.
She kept her eyes partially shut, her face turned away from him. She caught a glimpse of his expression on the glass of the window every time they passed through a street light and knew he was going to be hard to crack. She was tough and had to be tough growing up with two older brothers. Her resilience was tested growing up, and she had it in her to endure any situation.
*****
The air was different, she could tell from how crisp and clean it felt on her skin. She had stayed up long hours pretending to be sniffling and mumbling in her sleep as he drove in dead silence. She had dozed off at some point and woke up to voices not far away.
The car wasn’t moving, and it was parked to one side of a narrow mud road. It had to be early hours as the sun was barely up, and she looked in the direction of the voices.
Neil was talking to an elderly shopkeeper. He sipped a hot drink while he chatted effortlessly. She could use a hot drink loaded with caffeine. She needed it for the day ahead. She gingerly unlocked the car and landed her feet on the surface of loose soil without getting out of the car.
She looked in Neil’s direction and smiled when their eyes met, but he did not return her smile. She pulled her body off the car seat and walked toward him feeling the soreness in her muscles from sitting all night.
“Good morning.” She looked away from Neil smiling at the elderly man behind the food stall. “Can I please get some Chai?”
The man smiled and stepped away to fix her drink. She slowly turned to look at him when she felt the burn from his stare.
“Why are you looking at me like you want to eat me,” she teased.
He did not respond, his expression did not change nor did he avert his eyes from her face.
“Fine, don’t talk to me. It’s not like we are friends anyway.”
She almost started to panic thinking she would have no way to reason with him to let her go when he did not respond immediately, but he finally spoke.
“Yes, we were never friends.”
“Well then… thank you for saving my life.” She batted her eyelashes.
He nodded and looked away when the elderly man approached with her drink.
“Thank you, sir, my husband tells me you make the best Chai.”
The elderly man almost blushed before walking back to stand behind the stall. She took her drink to the car without another glance his way, but knew her statement surprised him.
Narmada sipped the hot liquid and felt her body regain some energy. She watched him in the side mirror of the car as he conversed with the elderly man. The conversation seemed genuine making her wonder if Neil knew the man well.
She sat in the car continuing to observe him in the mirror wondering what technique she should use next to get away from him. She looked at the greenery around her, fantasizing about running away and hiding in the shrubbery, but she knew better. She would get her freedom if Neil let her go—if not, there seemed to be no way to run and hide from him.
An uncomfortable silence enveloped them as they drove away from the coffee shop. She could not bear the silence another second.
“How much do I owe you for the Chai?” she blurted and a second later wanted to kick herself.
“What?”
She was glad she got a response from him. “You didn’t get your drink for free, did you?”
He clenched his jaw like he couldn’t believe his ears. “You owe me for the hotel and your dinner last night,” he retorted.
“You owe me for damaging my outfit,” she barked.
“I’m not paying for it.”
“I will make you pay for it,” she grumbled making him shake his head, a slight smile playing on his lips.
She was relieved she was able to get him to the state where she could talk to him again.
“You know I will. Remember the time I made Jessi pay for my ice cream because he made me drop it?” She turned to look at him.
A slight curve appeared on the edge of his mouth, but he did not let his smile show.
“You’ve turned into a stuck up.” Her statement made him jerk visibly, but he slowly shook his head. She was trying hard to get him to react, talk, or even lash out, but he had not shown any strong emotion since the time he ripped off her blouse.
Narmada was getting impatient as she knew she didn’t have much time. She had figured out she was being taken to whoever wanted her kidnapped, and they were traveling at night so they weren’t spotted. She looked out the window taking in the rural setting that made the sports car look out of place. She wondered how anyone could stay ‘under the radar’ in a luxury car driving through green fields.