CHAPTER 5
A few hours into the drive, he pulled off from the main road onto a smaller, narrower lane lined with large trees. The shaded lane felt familiar—it reminded her of her ancestral village she had spent her summers at as a child. She rolled the window down and stuck her face out to feel the cool breeze in her hair. She took in the sweet, clean air drawing the calm from the greenery.
The car drove off the tree-lined lane onto a winding private path toward a small shack surrounded by thick shrubbery.
“What is this place?” she asked with genuine curiosity.
Neil didn’t answer but instead reached for the dash in front of her and pulled out what looked like a remote. He pressed a green button on the remote, and she watched in amazement when the mud wall of the shack separated like a garage door. It was a garage door, and he drove the car right into the middle of the empty structure.
“What is this place?” she repeated looking around as he waited for the garage door to close.
“Don’t panic,” he warned, and before she could ask for clarification, she heard a loud sound and then they were moving again. The movement was weird as they were lowered into what seemed like a basement while seated in the car.
“What the…” She watched in awe at the opening above her. He drove the car a few feet forward, and she got out of the car continuing to stare at the way the opening closed like there was nothing beneath the fake concrete floor.
She heard the click of a switch, and the lights came on making her squint. A narrow hallway lined with small lights came into her sight making her gasp. She was surprised the air didn’t feel muggy for an underground bunker. Was it a bunker or something else?
He smiled at her expression. “This is nowhere close to the hotel you were in last night, but you’ll need to adjust.”
“Whose place is this?”
“Does it matter?”
“This is fascinating. I’ve only heard of such underground passageways but never seen one.” She looked around the tunnel unable to believe her eyes.
“You have?” He seemed surprised.
“Yes, my grandpa told me our ancestral home has an underground escape tunnel, but I can’t find it, and he can’t remember how to get to it,” she grumbled.
“Why do you want an escape tunnel?” He smirked turning around to look at her as he walked ahead.
“It’s part of my research.”
“Research?” He stopped just outside a cage-like metal gate.
“I’m researching on my family and the region’s history for my thesis,” she said almost hesitantly expecting him to make a snarky remark like almost every person did when she talked about her research.
“Research from a historical perspective?” he asked surprising her.
She nodded still surprised with how genuinely interested he sounded.
“Very interesting. I thought you were going to pursue business.”
Narmada’s father had talked to her about taking over his construction business since her brothers were walking away from the family business and deeply involving themselves in the family feuds in their ancestral region. She still could not forget her father’s disappointment when she told him she wanted to switch her major to history from business administration.
“It didn’t interest me much.” Her voice was soft as she stepped into another hallway and stood waiting for him to lock the metal gate.
“I’m glad you dropped it. We need all the historians we can get.”
Her heart fluttered with pride, and she smiled at him. “The past is what causes the present…”
“And so, the future,” he finished for her making her want to give him a tight hug, but she held back. She couldn’t remember the specific characteristics that made them good friends when she was in her first year of college, but she knew the guy she had met years ago was still around, and she was sure he would help her get her freedom.
Neil led her down a longer hallway and then finally to an area with a wider opening. He turned to look at her as he punched in a code and scanned his fingerprint. “We are going to spend the day here and head out tomorrow.”
“Neil…”
“Yeah?”
She looked at him for a long moment before asking the question burning in her head. “What was the past that got us to be here… in this moment?”
His jaw clenched, but he did not respond immediately. “You don’t want to know.”
He turned away from her to push open a massive metal door making it open with a loud clang.
“What if I want to know? I want to know what happened to the guy I knew back in college.” She couldn’t help her curiosity.
“There is nothing to know.”
“Yes, there is… you kidnapped me for a specific reason. It’s not the money, and from what I can guess, you’ve never kidnapped anyone before.”
Neil pushed open what looked like a more civilized wooden door. “The bathroom is to the right, and you will find a set of clothes for you on the right side of the closet.”
Hope sank to the bottom of the ocean as she watched his broad shoulders move away from her.
“Neil,” she called out to him not knowing why she did.
He stopped and turned his face, his chiseled profile on display. She held her breath not knowing what to say.
He turned around and stood looking at her for a few moments. “Narmada.”
“Where are you going?”
“Out.”
She walked closer to him. “Don’t leave me alone here. I’m scared.”
“You’re safe here. I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“Please don’t leave me.” She wound her arms around him flattening her cheek to her chest.
He stiffened but did not move. She held onto him unable to stop herself from wanting to feel his warmth.
“Narmada, you are safe here. Let me go.”
Narmada was not ready to give up and tightened her hold on him.
“Narmada, let go.” His voice held a raw threat, but she held onto him.
“I won’t, I’m scared to be here all by myself.” She faked fear and sniffled to heighten the effect, but he seemed unfazed by her emotional showcase.
“Cut the crap,” he snapped wiggling out of her hold in a flash.
She watched frozen and lost in thought as he walked away from her without another word. It took her a few minutes to gather herself.
*****
Almost an hour later, Neil watched over his shoulder as he walked back from the village to his sanctum. He had the hideout built by a trusted guy a year ago as a last resort for hiding. He never expected to use it the way he was using it now. He still could not comprehend why he had agreed to pull off the job as soon as he found out it was Narmada. He had turned down the job until the client told him he could get what he had been hunting for, for years, in return for kidnapping Narmada.
He went to the back of what looked like a thatched hut and opened the cover of what resembled a small water tank. He pressed a button for the water to drain before pulling open a latch. He stepped into the tank lowering himself onto the camouflaged ladder. He climbed all the way down and hit another button. He waited for the latch to close and until the motor to fill the water stopped.
Neil had too much fun laying out the structure for his handyman while the hideout was being built. The handyman knew every inch of the structure and how to operate it, but even with the contractor’s most trusted men, Neil didn’t trust them. He had asked the handyman to bring the contractors from a different city, and he had kept them in such a way they had no idea where they were constructing the structure.
The underground structure was built with many entrances and exits, and he had it all in his head. The structure was underground for the most part except for one side of the house that had a glass wall looking into the dense forest. The wall was hidden by the greenery and the color scheme chosen. It was his home, but he knew deep inside nothing ever felt like home.
Neil was greeted by an eerie silence when he stepped into the living area of the two-bedroom underground apartment. He didn’t know what to expect, but he wasn’t expecting the place to be that quiet, especially with Narmada around. He walked into the bedroom and checked the bathroom when he didn’t see her. He knew there was no way for her to get out of the house, but she wasn’t around.
“Narmada,” he called out in a firm voice and was met with silence.
Neil checked the second bedroom and then the kitchen, and just as he was about to walk down the hallway to the car, he heard her. It was barely a sound, but he heard her and walked toward the soft purring. He smiled when he realized she had managed to find the opening in the wall that had an entry to a balcony within the glass wall, surrounded by tall trees. He slowly slid open the door to find her curled up on the floor sleeping.
Something deep inside his chest twitched, and her soft snore sent a burn through his veins. He did not like the sight in front of him, he could not bear to see her in the fetal position. The Narmada he knew was the one who was trying really hard to break him during the past twelve hours. There were moments he felt her pain, but he knew he couldn’t give in to her emotional blackmail.
Neil took a deep breath before stepping closer to her to bend down and scoop her into his arms. She moaned in her sleep, her arms wrapping around his neck like it was the most natural form of her body. He froze when he felt her warm breath on his neck—it felt way too familiar. He gave his head a quick shake like he didn’t want any of the memories to creep into his head. He hit the button to seal the door in the wall after stepping indoors.
It was six years ago—he was young, she was young—he was on a mission and yet, he let her get close to him. She was the first and last one to ever get so close, close enough that she saw his tainted soul.
He walked to the larger bedroom and gently lowered her onto the bed. He fully expected her to roll off his arms, but instead, she pulled him to her still in sleep. He let go of her to support his upper body, but that didn’t stop him from crashing to her side on the bed. He sat up immediately pulling his hands away and looked at her. None of his movements seem to wake her up. She turned to her side, and within moments, her soft snore played like music to his ears.
He was tired, and his eyes were burning dry, but something about the way she snored was very relaxing. He moved away from her to rest his back on the headboard of the larger bed. He felt the calm sweep over him as he stared at the woman who had haunted his thoughts the moment he met her.
As a nineteen-year-old, he had not met a girl like her. Girls her age were the drama queens, the tantrum throwers, and the ones who needed to be rescued, but her, she was something else. Nothing in the world bothered or scared her. She was smart and witty and made him laugh like he had never laughed in his nineteen years.
He let his head fall back onto the wooden headboard and let sleep encompass him, his eyes riveted on the tear-stained cheek of the woman who threatened to crack through his resolve.
*****
The mansion was beautiful—endless gardens and a lotus pond. The child held the hand of a beautiful woman as she led him to the pond. The air felt cool and pure and was filled with the little boy’s laughter. As they got closer to the fountain, the thin mist fell on the boy’s skin tickling him to hysterical laughter.
The woman fondly smiled at the boy before picking him up into her arms. The little boy reached for the lotus petal leaning away from the woman, only to be pushed away from her by sheer force. A fire blazed in front of him, but the boy did not scream—he stood shocked wondering what he could do to put out the fire, the fire that seemed to have engulfed the woman.
Neil woke up with a jerk, a cold sweat breaking on his forehead. His heart was thumping in his chest, and he lay without moving in the dark processing what he saw in his sleep. It was a dream—a nightmare—one he had not had in years.
Who was the child and the woman, and why did he always see something bad happen to her?
His breath was coming fast, and fear threatened to grip his heart. He lay frozen for a few minutes and slowly the feared thumping in his chest shifted gears, and a low drumming started when he realized he was lying next to Narmada. He took a deep breath and became aware of the soft body that was sprawled over him in the darkness. His first instinct was to get up and leave, but he lay lost in thought, her body molded to his, her warm breath fanning the skin at his collar.
Neil had planned to drive toward their destination through the night, but his heart told him he should give the chase a rest, and he complied. He complied with the demands of his heart, which up until that point was only a blood-pumping organ and had no decision-making power.
The heart also told his mind it was more important for him not to disturb her when she slept so peacefully.