In a trice he strode around the bed and blocked her way. He wanted to do this right, for once. But he had no idea how.
‘I’m ready to grovel for what I did back then, Qiara. But I don’t regret what happened last night, not one bit.’
Her breath hitched but her eyes were cold to his appeal.
‘Too late for grovelling. You left me hanging and as I told you, I will never forgive you for that.’
He grabbed her hand and crushed it in his large palms.
‘It was hard for me not to take what you were offering and run away with you. But there were too many things going on in my life, too many responsibilities.’
She tried not to wince at the blow his words delivered.
‘I’d have just been another one. A burden.’
‘You were never a burden.’
His forefinger streaked a path up her smooth arm, till it reached the butterfly-in-flight tattoo near her collarbone. He traced it gently with the tip of his finger and looked deep into her eyes.
‘The only time I felt free was when I was with you. But at that point, no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t go with you. You would never have understood why.’
‘I never thought you were a coward,’ she challenged. ‘You could have told me to my face.’
Her eyes held a glimmer of tears at the remembered pain and he wished he could wipe away the hurt.
‘I’m not proud of what I did, but it was something which was beyond my…’
‘What’s the point of reliving the past?’ she cut him short. ‘We have both moved on.’
The cell phone in his pocket buzzed urgently startling them. He pulled it out and glanced at it. Zayed.
‘I need to take this call,’ he said.
‘Go ahead,’ she shrugged. ‘I’m going for a shower.’
After an hour on the road, they stopped for a quick rustic breakfast of fresh-off-the-tandoor parathas and alu sabzi. While she had silently devoured her meal, Kabir kept smoking, pacing and making calls. His demeanour had changed completely – and he gave off a very obvious stay-away-from-me vibe.
At one level she was relieved, at another it irked her no end. She wanted to get over the past and at the same time she wasn’t ready to let go. She wanted to make him suffer just the way she had all these years. But try as she might she couldn’t stop thinking of those deep amber eyes as he’d fingered her tattoo and talked about the only time he felt free! Whatever did he mean by that…and why the hell was she giving his words so much importance?
Whatever there was between her and Kabir had ended ages ago and yesterday was an aberration. One induced by fear, fatigue and a fragile hold that the past still held over them. For a few crazy moments she had let go and indulged in her wild fantasies. She should let it rest there.
She pushed away from the table and walked towards the washroom which was spilling over with chattering women who had disgorged from a bus. As she waited for her turn, her phone beeped.
She had missed several calls and messages. Alarm zinged through her as she answered the call. It wasn’t a number she recognized.
‘Hello, who is this?’ she asked tentatively.
‘Madam, it’s Rishi. Where are you? Are you in Jodhpur already?’
Her pulse began to pound as the close shave with the stalker in the train flashed before her. Could she trust Rishi Mathur?
‘Um…Rishi, there has been a slight change of plans. Actually…I got a call from London yesterday and I was told to cancel my trip to Jodhpur.’
Rishi’s voice crackled through.
‘Oh! So where exactly are you now? We need to meet…’
There was a beat of silence.
‘Madam, things are not looking good for you. You are in a lot of danger.’
Despite the uneasiness that was spreading like dense matter through her veins, she tried to sound calm.
‘Danger? What do you mean?’
‘The cops are looking for you. There was an IB officer who was asking all kinds of questions. And there’s something else. It’s urgent and I can’t discuss it on the phone.’
The menacing tone of his voice was spooking her but she tried to stay calm.
‘I think you’re being unnecessarily paranoid. If it’s all that important, I think you’d better tell me now. I don’t have all day to spare.’
She hoped her brusque, no-nonsense manner would help her get her way. The babble of voices around her was making it hard for her to concentrate. She walked out of the long queue of women to get a bit more privacy. A bus honked as it swept out of the driveway.
‘Madam, are you not in Delhi? Who are you with?’
Rishi was definitely pushing all the wrong buttons.
‘If you have anything to tell me, just do it now.’
Her fingers clasped the phone tightly as she waited for him to respond.
‘Ma’am, believe me, I have your best interest at heart. Please, you have to listen to what I have to say.’
The menacing tone had been replaced by a desperate plea and she wondered what his game was. She needed time to think this through. Could it be a trap? Or was she genuinely in trouble with the cops?
‘I have to rush now. I’ll call you soon.’
Her thoughts swivelled to Kabir. Clearly, he knew more than he was letting on. Did he know more about Rishi Mathur and yesterday was he only trying to cross-check her story against Rishi’s?
She put the phone into her backpack. Her fingers brushed against an unfamiliar object and recognition coursed through her. Oh no! She had clean forgotten about Khanna’s tablet!
A few minutes later she walked up to the motorbike where Kabir was impatiently pacing up and down. He turned to her and fixed those amber eyes on her. Right now they were cool and distant. Up until last evening all she had wanted to do was get out of his path as quickly as possible. Frankly, nothing had really changed since then, except of course for a totally, unnecessary, unwanted, estrogen-charged interlude. She had to stick to her decision of cutting all ties with him and making him a confidant was not on the agenda.
‘There have been a couple of developments,’ he said, ‘and we need to be on our way.’
A sliver of anxiety cut through her. ‘What developments?’
‘The gunman was shot dead last night in the hospital. Apparently, whoever had ordered Khanna’s assassination was worried he might blurt out the truth to the cops.’
Her eyes grew wide. ‘Oh!’
He continued, ‘The other thing is Rishi Mathur has gone underground.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He was under police surveillance but he seems to have shaken off the cops.’
‘Oh wow, and you want me to believe you didn’t know about it?
‘What the hell are you suggesting?’
‘Rishi just called me and it seems like you are hiding something from me.’
‘Really?’ His eyes were hooded. ‘What did he say?’
She filled him in on their conversation and with every word she uttered, his jaws tightened and eyes darkened ominously before he snapped, ‘Give me your phone, please!’
She handed it to him without argument. He pulled out his own phone and dialled a number.
‘Zayed, Rishi has tried to make contact with Qiara.’
His voice was low and authoritative.
‘He’s using a landline number.’
He read out the number from Qiara’s phone.
‘It’s a local number. You will need to track it down. We’re heading to Jaipur. Will call you from there.’
‘What’s the plan?’ Qiara asked the moment he cut the line.
‘You will find out soon enough.’
She didn’t budge from her spot, while he strapped on his helmet and waited for her to put on the helmet he thrust at her. ‘You want a written invitation or what?’
She didn’t move as she debated with herself about her next move.
Kabir glowered at her. ‘You’re not telling me som
ething. Come on, spill it.’
Deciding it would be silly to hold back vital information from him, she fished in her backpack and thrust the tablet at him.
‘This is Ranveer Khanna’s tablet. I picked it up from his office before I fled.’
‘And you didn’t tell me about it?’
‘I meant to…but what with everything going on, I clean forgot.’
He flicked open the tablet but the screen remained dark. He let out a frustrated breath.
‘Great! The battery is probably dead. Come on, let’s get to Jaipur and see if we can revive this and get some leads.’
‘So, what’s the plan?’
For a moment he just stared at her.
She stood her ground, arms crossed across her chest.
‘Why do I have the feeling that you never had any intention of taking me to Jodhpur?’
His amber eyes turned a shade darker and he echoed her words.
‘What with everything going on, I clean forgot.’
A rush of anger flooded through her.
‘Fine, so we are even. We can part ways, you get on to Jaipur and try and nail Rishi. I’ll find my way to Jodhpur.’
‘Do you even realize what you’re saying? Rishi probably has tracked you down at this very moment. And if he’s connected to the people who have kidnapped Reshma…’
‘Tracked me down?’ she cut him short.
‘I bet your mobile phone has been switched on all along.’
‘Oh my God!’
She pulled out her phone and pulled out the SIM.
‘It’s too late for that,’ he said calmly. ‘Besides, you don’t think I’m stupid enough to take you right into the danger zone, do you?’
Her eyes were flashing fire.
‘Don’t give me that bullshit. You could have been upfront about it.’
‘Use your head, Qiara, not your heart! I know you want to get to Reshma, I want her to be safe too. Let the police do their job…’
‘As if!’ she exhaled angrily. She took a deep breath, counting to ten, willing her temper to subside. ‘You know exactly what will happen when the cops get involved. It would be a massive waste of time…I’m not the criminal here.’
Kabir waved the tablet at her.
‘First things first; let’s get this device working. Come on, let’s move.’
Even if Kabir wasn’t upfront with her, she had no doubt about one fact – he was one of the ‘good guys’, whereas Rishi was an unknown entity. The knot of tension in her stomach was beginning to tighten.
Kabir stabbed at the ignition.
‘Qiara, one more thing…I won’t let you out of my sight.’
‘I seriously think you should give your bodyguard act a rest,’ she fumed.
‘And you can keep arguing about it till the cows come home.’
She so wanted to stamp her feet and throw a hissy fit, which given Kabir’s current mood would be totally pointless. She took a deep breath and clambered up behind him.
He revved up and rode out leaving behind a cloud of dust. She needed to put some distance between her and this maddening man and she had one hour to work out a plan before they reached Jaipur.
Eight
Hawamahal Bazaar, Jaipur
The bazaar was buzzing with early morning shoppers, tradespeople and tourists. Qiara’s eyes absorbed the splash of colours all around her – the faded pink facades of the buildings, the bright hues of tie-and-dye saris and scarves, the oranges, reds and yellows of spices heaped up in dry-goods shopfronts, the fluttering saffron flags atop a temple. It was almost as if the city was hell-bent on compensating for its grey skies with an explosion of colour on its streets.
Kabir pulled up in front of a line of shops spread under an ancient-looking building with lattice-work awning. Most of these were currency exchange outlets and displayed blackboards with the buy and sell prices of US dollars, British pounds, Japanese yen and other currencies. Tucked among them was an internet café – and she followed in Kabir’s heels as he strode inside.
Several desktop computers were crammed into cubicles with just enough elbow room for one person. At this time of the day, most of them were empty.
Kabir sought out a young man, wearing a bright green T-shirt with the words ‘Being Human’ emblazoned on it in black. A gold stud glinted in one ear. He rummaged through a drawer before pulling out a charger from a tangle of wires. He plugged one end into Khanna’s tablet and the other into the electrical wall socket. Within moments, the screen flickered to life.
‘Thank you,’ said Kabir. ‘We need to go through the device and we would also like to use the Internet.’
‘ID chahiye. Please fill up this form,’ he said handing Kabir a piece of paper.
‘Pull up a chair,’ Kabir instructed Qiara, after he had dealt with the formalities and the man had made himself scarce.
Kabir tapped away at the tablet, browsing through the contents.
Qiara wanted to ask him if he was looking for something specific but found the words drying up in her throat. Should she tell him that one of the pictures was of her father? How would he react to that? Would he be suspicious of her motives? She stared at the images, watching each one with morbid fascination, waiting for the one she’d seen to turn up. As soon as it showed up on the screen, she held her breath, mentally willing Kabir to scroll to the next picture.
Kabir turned to her. ‘Your father?’
She felt the room swivel for a brief second. That sinking feeling returned again. Kabir knew much more than he was letting on.
‘How do you know that’s my father? You have met him?’
He stared at her for what seemed like an interminably long time before answering quietly.
‘He came to our place on the day we had...we were supposed to elope. He warned my mother that if I ran away with you, he would ruin our lives.’
It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room.
‘And you tell me this now…?’
The amber flecks in his eyes deepened to dark gold. He took a deep, calming breath.
‘Did you know anything about your father’s involvement with Ranveer Khanna?’
Struggling to wrap her head around what he’d just told her, she mumbled, ‘I had no clue. The last time I saw him was when Mamma passed away – more than five years ago.’
Turning the tablet towards her, he stabbed a finger at the third man sporting steel-framed spectacles in the picture.
‘Well, it seems like we will have to find your father and this man here. Obviously, they were Ranveer Khanna’s friends or business associates.’
Kabir’s phone pinged.
‘Zayed, we are in Jaipur. Any luck locating Rishi Mathur yet?’
Qiara watched him as his mouth tightened at the response he got.
‘I might have a lead for you. I’m emailing you a picture. My hunch is the guy – the one wearing glasses – may be Khanna’s business associate or a school or college mate. The sooner we can ID him the better.’
Kabir answered a few more questions Zayed had for him before he disconnected and turned to hail ‘Being Human’. ‘Hey, dude.’
Kabir focused on the job at hand while Qiara took a steadying breath. She tugged at the scarf and pulled it away. Rubbing her palms on the back of her neck, she wondered what exactly her father had told Kabir’s mother. Clearly, he didn’t want to talk about it, but she simply couldn’t brush the whole episode aside. For all these years, she blamed him for leaving her in the lurch. Now it seemed like her father had manipulated him. Kabir was as much a victim as she had been. No wonder he had done his best to forget all about her.
Her head pounded with the possibilities of what may have been, of how things could have taken a different turn if it weren’t for her father’s unwanted intervention in their lives. Her heart went into free fall, despairing at their rotten luck. Struggling to break the train of her thoughts, her eyes swept towards Kabir who was totally focused on the here and now while she was cast adr
ift by events of the past. What a prize fool she was!
‘Qiara,’ Kabir hissed at her. ‘Take a look at this.’
She looked over his shoulder to see a news clip playing on the computer. A grainy picture of a woman fleeing from the Army Polo Club came up. Alarm bells clanged in her head and she dug her fingers into Kabir’s shoulders to steady herself: the CCTV camera had caught her dashing out of the club.
The reporter was saying: ‘This woman was the last person to have met Ranveer Khanna at the Army Polo Club. SuperNews has learnt that her name is Qiara Rana and she has recently arrived from London. We have also learnt that she was in touch with one Rishi Mathur, who has been helping her with her travels in India. Our sources in the police have told us that both Mathur and Rana are absconding.’
‘Good God!’ Qiara exclaimed. ‘Now, I am a murder suspect?’
Kabir closed the browser and turned to Qiara.
‘It seems like the story has been leaked for a reason.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Whoever is behind Khanna’s murder is trying to muddy the waters by pointing fingers at you.’
‘Was that why Rishi was calling me? Why don’t I call him and…’
‘Zayed, my colleague, is on the job…’
‘But if they are pointing fingers at Rishi, he seems to be as much a victim as I am.’
‘We don’t know that for sure.’
‘So, what now? We just twiddle our thumbs till your colleague finds him?’
Kabir raised an imperious eyebrow at her tone but he remained cool as a cucumber.
‘Not exactly. You will find out by and by. For now, let’s get out of here.’
He walked away to the counter to make the payment. Qiara’s breath hissed out in frustration as she followed him.
‘What’s that supposed to mean? Kabir, how come you didn’t bother to tell me my father may be involved in the case? What else are you hiding from me?’
He glowered at her as he took out his wallet and pulled out the cash.
‘I didn’t know about your father’s involvement till I saw the photo. And, guess what, if I went all official on you, you would be with some heavy-handed cops right now being interrogated to an inch of your life. Get it?’
No Safe Zone Page 8