Gaurav was seated in a chair around the small circular table in the dining room. “What happened?” he asked as he watched Vikram pacing around in anger.
“I was teaching her how to behave while she’s held captive.”
“She could have died as the result of your lesson. That’s not what we planned.”
“Your plan is riskier. You can’t keep her alive at the end of it all. She will tell—”
“Vikram, stop. We’ve gone through this repeatedly.”
“I know! But I just can’t let you risk your life by sparing her life. You are like my brother. How can you just forgive—”
Pain and rage erupted within him at Vikram’s words. “I haven’t forgiven, and neither have I forgotten.” Gaurav had less than a year to cope and plan this. His pain and anger was still raw.
Vikram looked agitated. “Then for their sake and even for my sake, consider an alternate end to her captivity.”
Gaurav took a deep breath, trying to curb the temptation of doing what Vikram suggested. “Just follow the plan, Vikram. Killing her now might be easy and satisfying, but it’s not worth risking my plan.”
Vikram looked torn, but he nodded.
Gaurav looked at him calmly. “I visited a friend six days ago.”
Vikram nodded. “Did he confess?”
“Yes.”
Vikram shook his head in disbelief. “Even though everything pointed to him, I still gave him the benefit of doubt. Shruti treated him like her own brother!”
“I know.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“No. I stayed around to cover my tracks. After you go back today, don’t stay in touch with me. But if you find anything about the chip, only then get in touch with me.”
Vikram nodded.
“Use my apartment,” Gaurav instructed. “But remember not to call me unless you absolutely need to.”
They discussed the next course of action.
GAURAV STARED AT the disappearing car as Vikram drove away from the cabin.
He knew Vikram was concerned about him. Setting the captive free after everything, did mean signing his death warrant. But at this point, Gaurav didn’t care about the risks involved, and neither did he care whether or not he would come out of it alive. Only one thought dominated his life for the past twelve months.
Revenge.
His eyes automatically fell on the floor, below which was the room his captive was kept.
“Sir?” a man’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“How are you doing, Khan?”
The older man nodded gravely in response.
Gaurav indicated to a chair, but the older man remained standing.
“Khan, I would like to remind you that I wasn’t too keen on you being involved with Vikram and me in this plan. You know you can leave whenever you want.”
“No, sir. I have no doubts or regrets. I would like to help you in any way I can.”
Gaurav nodded at the older man who had been with him for more than six years.
“Did she demand anything in these two days?”
“No, sir. She never bothered us in any way. In fact… Vikram, sir… he more or less starved her from the first day. But still, she never complained. Just today, she has requested a bath.”
“I see.”
“I think Vikram, sir, might have hurt her badly just now. Can you… check on her?”
Gaurav frowned. “I’ll do it later,” he said even though he wasn’t ready to face… the captive. In fact, he didn’t want to think of her as a person. The only reason he didn’t want Vikram to kill her was because she had more value and bargaining power if she were alive.
“Thank you, sir.” The old man nodded and left the cabin through the backdoor of the kitchen. Khan was staying in the small detached cabin outside of the medium-sized two-floored forest cabin.
Gaurav didn’t immediately head down the stairs. He stared out of the window for a while. But he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer.
He had to face her eventually.
The captive.
Taking a deep breath, Gaurav got up from the chair and walked down the stairs. He paused right outside the room. Apart from the sounds of birds and insects coming from the outside, it was entirely quiet. He wondered whether he should brace himself for an attack.
Nina Bhupati had surprised the hell out of him.
Until then, he had only thought of her as a pampered and spoilt wife of a rich man who would scream or faint during an attack. And when he had planned to kidnap her, the only thing he took extreme care of was to ensure there was no one to help her. But the fact that she fought back, shocked him. She had even fooled him by pretending to lose consciousness the first time he put the drug-laced cloth over her face.
She was definitely not harmless.
Slowly, he opened the door and stepped in. It was bright inside due to the sunlight streaming in from a large window. Immediately, his eyes fell on the prone figure on the bed.
There was no movement whatsoever. The woman was either sleeping or pretending to be asleep. With a frown marring his forehead, Gaurav moved closer. He stopped short suddenly. His eyes were glued to the angry red bruises on her throat.
His heart began beating rapidly, and sweat broke out on his skin.
The bruises brought in ugly memories.
“Save her!”
“But sir… there’s no pulse.”
“I said SAVE HER!”
The doctor looked at him for a few moments. “Bring the defibrillator,” he softly ordered the staff.
Electric paddles were hurriedly brought in.
“Charging… clear.”
A bolt of electricity passed through the prone body, but there was no change in heartbeat on the monitors.
“Again,” the doctor ordered.
“Charging… clear.”
Each time, Shruti’s body jerked due to the electric shock, but her face remained still.
A few more tries later, they stopped trying.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Gaurav.”
Shruti was long gone by the time he found her and had gotten help. The post-mortem report had said she died of self-strangulation.
Gaurav had been the one who found her hanging by her neck from the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he breathed through his mouth like his doctor had ordered him to.
He took several deep breaths to calm him down. It didn’t work.
His eyes opened and fell on the woman lying on the bed. Instead of pity, rage began to swirl within him. He wanted to stop the soft rise and fall of the chest on the woman. A strong urge to finish what Vikram had started grew in him.
He wanted to hurt her.