Nina was allowed to visit the sick, older man that evening.

She took a tray with dinner to him. Food that was obviously prepared by her captor. She didn’t know why, but she was shocked by the fact.

When he brought the meal to her room, she had worried about the old man not getting any rest. Her captor had looked at her with his typical expressionless face and informed her that he was the one who had prepared the meal.

And the food, although simple, was pretty good.

“How are you feeling?” she asked the old man.

“I’m fine,” he answered.

Nina could see that he was still feeling weak. She placed the tray on his lap after he sat up on the bed.

His eyes fell on the food. “Don’t worry. I didn’t prepare the food. Your boss did,” she said with a smile.

He returned the smile. “Why should I worry if you had cooked?” he asked.

“Because I don’t know how,” she confessed.

He didn’t look surprised. “My boss cooks well. He’s cooked for himself and me whenever I was sick,” he said.

He must have seen the look on her face, because he lost the smile on his. “My boss is not a bad man, Mrs. Bhupati,” he said. “He’s just a man fighting for justice in his own way.”

“Justice for what?” she asked softly.

He fell quiet.

“Please, tell me. I already told your boss I’ll help him find the truth. But if I don’t know what happened, and whom he’s trying to avenge, I can’t help him.”

The old man stared at her with a torn look on his face.

“Please,” she pleaded softly. “Trust me. I will not allow anything bad to happen to any of you. Just tell me why I was taken and whom your boss wants to avenge.”

The old man lowered his head and stared at his food. “My boss didn’t want to tell you anything because he was worried that if you escaped before he could carry out his plan, then you would bring your husband’s men to us.  He wasn’t worried about himself. He was worried about me and… the other man.”

Nina knew that the old man probably didn’t recall saying the other man’s name while she was being choked. But she remembered. It was Vikram.

She even wondered what relationship Vikram and her captor had between them. Were they related by blood, or were they friends?

Either way, she knew the old man and the other man must be pretty close to her captor, if they were risking arrest for her kidnap.

“You don’t have to tell me everything. Just tell me why?” she pleaded again.

The old man stared at her, and then his eyes closed as he took a deep breath. “Your husband was responsible for my boss’s sister’s death,” he said. “You husband gave the order to have her killed. He also made it appear like a suicide. My boss’s mother died of a heart attack a day later.”

Nina was stunned. “No,” she said in a whisper. “That’s impossible. Suraj would never do that. I’m pretty sure there’s been a mistake.”

The old man looked at her with pity flashing in his eyes. “My boss has proof, Mrs. Bhupati. Multiple proofs and witnesses who confirmed the fact.”

Nina kept shaking her head. “I don’t believe it. If there was proof, then why wasn’t Suraj arrested or even blamed for it?”

“Your husband is a powerful man, Mrs. Bhupati. He has resources to be able to cover up the murder and not be associated with it in any way.”

Nina’s head spun. She knew Suraj. She trusted him implicitly. His moral code was much higher than hers. There was no way he would knowingly take an innocent life.

“Why would Suraj want to kill someone?” she asked.

“He did that as a warning to my boss. To show him what would happen if someone went against him.”

“Against him, how?” Nina asked, still trying to make sense of everything.

“My boss found—” The old man was about to reveal important information before he realized that his boss probably wouldn’t be happy or maybe that it would endanger his boss.

“Found what?” she asked. “Is your boss an employee of my husband?”

The old man continued to stay silent.

“Please tell me. Does he work in any of the companies my husband owns? I’ll try to resolve whatever happened. My husband isn’t a bad man either. Whatever happened was tragic, but we need to get the truth out before anything happens to either of them.”

“As I said, everything and everyone pointed to your husband, Mrs.Bhupati.”

Nina wanted to argue, but she knew the old man wouldn’t be convinced just because she trusted Suraj. “How do you know your boss?” she asked instead.

He contemplated before asking. “I was his cook and housekeeper.”

“From his childhood?”

“No, for the past seven years.”

“So, his sister and mother passed away seven years ago?”

“No. They died a few months ago.”

“You knew them well?”

“No, they lived away from him.”

“In a different city?”

“No. They lived close by.”

“I see.”

“Mrs. Bhupati, I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to hate my boss. I know he did some things to you to question his morality. But until he lost his mother and sister, he wasn’t like that. He was a carefree and a happy bachelor whose life consisted of his family, work, and friends. Wherever he went, he was the life of the party.”

The last part shocked Nina. She couldn’t imagine the grim, expressionless face of her captor being carefree and happy, let alone as the life of the party.

“Was he, close to his family?” she asked softly.

“Yes. He was very close to his sister and mother. Even though he insisted they stay with him, his mother didn’t want to be a burden to him. She was quite a woman, his mother. Very hardworking. Even his sister, she was a bright, chirpy student and was on her way to becoming a doctor soon… before her life was cut short so cruelly.”

Nina felt both pity and empathy listening to her captor’s life before it changed irrevocably.

But she hated the guilt that was taking over.

Why was she feeling guilty? She knew in her heart that Suraj could not have been responsible for their deaths. But somehow her heart felt heavy with guilt and sadness.

The old man continued to talk.

“When his sister died, and his mother passed away due to the shock, my boss went to pieces. Before even he could mourn them properly, there was an attack on his life. Until then, he thought his sister and mother’s deaths were not related to your husband. But once the attack happened, he found proof.”

“Proof of what?” she asked.

“Proof that his sister’s death wasn’t a suicide. And that it was done as a retaliation not to reveal information he dug up against your husband”

Nina began to think furiously. “What does your boss do?” she asked.

When the old man didn’t answer, Nina prodded further. She had to know. “You said found something. Is he a reporter? Did he investigate something about the Bhupatis?”

A shocked and worried look passed on the old man’s face. “I’ve said too much.”

“No, you haven’t,” Nina reassured. “And I promise you that I won’t tell your boss about this conversation.  Please tell me whatever you know.”

There was silence. “Even if my boss knows I’ve revealed everything to you, he won’t hurt me.”

“Then what’s stopping you?” Nina asked.

“Although you are a good woman, Mrs. Bhupati, you would support your husband. I can’t risk my boss’s mission or his life by revealing everything.”

“I see.” Nina could sense that the old man wasn’t going offer any more information. “Thank you for trusting me with whatever you have told me so far,” she said, meaning it. “And please… call me Nina.”

“Nina,” he repeated said with a small smile. “Please call me Khan.”

“I will, Khan.” Nina was touched by his trust.

 

 

LATER, WHEN NINA returned to her room, her head spun with all the information and implications.

Her captor was a reporter who had some kind of information about the Bhupatis that could possibly destroy or at least damage their reputation. Nina couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be.

The Bhupatis owned too many businesses and ran several charitable organizations to be able to point at a particular thing. And even if someone had information and wanted to blackmail Suraj about it, Nina would have known about it. Suraj had never hidden anything from her.

Could it be her father-in-law her captor should be after? Nina knew her father-in-law was more than capable of using any means to snuff out any scandal that would touch his political career or family. Did her father-in-law pass the order to threaten a reporter and his family? Was her captor confusing her father-in-law’s threats to be Suraj’s?

But her father-in-law, for all his faults wouldn’t risk his son’s life or reputation. If someone were going after the Bhupatis for any wrong doing, her father-in-law would shield his son.

What if she asked her captor? Lay out all the cards and tell him what she found out?

But she was worried that would put Khan at risk. Khan trusted her. And even though Khan had said his boss wouldn’t harm him, Nina wasn’t too sure.

A strange feeling kept nagging at the back of her mind. It was trying to imply something. Something crucial.

Nina tried to close her eyes and think hard. But it didn’t help.

That night, she couldn’t sleep. Even though her captor hadn’t left, he did not return to his room. She waited for a very long time. She was so used to talking to him, it felt unnatural not to.

Finally, she couldn’t stay awake anymore. She slid into an uneasy sleep.