Disguised Intentions

by Manasi Joshi

  Ishani inhaled sharply again. The puzzle was solved. One man. One name. Sudhir Basu. Ishani realised they were inside the Basu house. Priya was holed up inside here when they all searched for her outside!

  Ishani opened her eyes. Priya was staring at her expectantly.

  Their eyes met. “Is it our boss, Priya? Is it Sudhir Basu? Are we locked in a room in his house?”

  Priya closed her eyes and opened them and tried to nod to say a yes.

  Ishani slumped on the floor. She held her hands on her head. Why? What wrong had she done? Had she not been a good employee? Or a good human being for that matter? Had she not proved to be a benefit to the company? Why would he sabotage his own company’s reputation by making her resign? She couldn’t believe he had murdered Sahil, it just seemed impossible.

  She knew her questions could be answered by only one man. She stood up and braced herself to meet him.

  After a few minutes, she heard the door being unlocked from outside.

  A shadow entered. A balding man with kind eyes, tall and in his late fifties; Ishani’s stomach curled. She was right. Her worst fears had come true. She gulped and decided she was going to be strong about this.

  “Hello, Sir. Pray tell me how do you?” snapped Ishani.

  Sudhir Basu stood in front of her. He wore a surprised expression.

  “You guessed it then, huh bitch?” he snapped back. “Welcome to hell.”

  Ishani shivered. The man in front of her seemed so different from the one she was used to seeing. Gone was the kind expression from the face. Gone was the soft voice she was used to hearing. There was no smile. The clothes he wore were ill fitting and there was nothing sophisticated about him.

  “Why did you do this Sir? I always looked up to you. I always considered you my mentor. All those years you supported me, was it fake?” asked a hurt Ishani.

  The man began laughing. The same terrible, menacing laugh which sent shivers down Ishani’s spine.

  “You are a fool Ishani; nothing else but a fool. You are a foolish threat to me. I don’t want to waste my time explaining. Right now you record the video, sign the resignation and I set you and Priya free.” replied Mr Basu.

  Ishani was now seething in anger. “You think I am going to record any video or sign any letter? You wish! I will not. Especially not after knowing who you are. I will expose your real face to the entire world, Sudhir Basu.” said Ishani, adrenaline gushing through her veins.

  Sudhir Basu laughed again. “I thought of this. You think I am unprepared? I know you are evil Ishani; you will not comply with what I say. You are disobedient. I have come prepared.”

  “I am evil?” asked Ishani with utter disbelief. This man, a murder, was calling her evil. Sudhir Basu was not making sense to her at all. He was talking sheer nonsense. Even as she thought, he kept muttering things under his breath to himself. Kabir’s words echoed in her mind. “My father is strange Ishani.”

  Then suddenly, out of the blue, he fished a gun and pointed it at Ishani.

  “You either make the video, or I kill you both.” He said.

  CHAPTER 22: WORST NIGHTMARE TURNS REAL.

  Ishani debated what to do. She was obviously not going to resign or make a video. The world deserved to know the truth about the C.T.I owner and her determination to expose him was strengthening by the minute. She needed to buy time until the others found her. She couldn’t let this madman harm Priya.

  He was still pointing a gun at her.

  “Reema got me here, didn’t she? You were taking her help weren’t you? Where is she now? What did you do with her?” she asked, hoping it would distract him.

  “Reema Pande, that woman! Oh yes she helped me. Some help she was. I sent her packing though. I told her to leave the town before anyone else could find her. She brought you here and she left.” He said.

  “Okay. “replied Ishani, thinking what else she could say to distract him. She was relieved at least he hadn’t committed another murder. Fortunately for her, Sudhir Basu kept talking.

  “You see Ishani, people say, life is a game, and winning or losing doesn’t matter. They all lie. It does. Only the winner gets the control. Only the winner is whom people remember. Nobody remembers the loser even if is talented. Winning is all that matters. If life is a game, I win it; each and every time.” Sudhir Basu said, uttering each and every word slowly.

  Ishani gulped. She didn’t know what to say. This man was deranged mentally. He needed help. He was talking sense in one moment and not in the other.

  “Are you going to obey me or not?” Mr Basu asked.

  “No.” Ishani replied firmly. “I will die, but I will not do what you are saying. It is totally wrong.” Ishani had made up her mind. She was prepared to die. She would prefer dying than lying to the world. She just hoped the others would show up soon and rescue Priya.

  “Then you leave me with no choice.” Mr Basu said.

  Ishani closed her eyes, expecting him to fire a bullet at her. He didn’t. He continued to speak.

  “You think I will let you die so easily?” he sneered. “I know you are a self-sacrificing, attention grabbing bitch. You think you are doing the right thing by being so good. Trust me, you are being plain stupid.”

  “I am doing what my heart says is right, Mr Basu. I will never do anything which my conscience doesn’t allow. “Ishani solemnly said

  “It doesn’t work like this Ishani. We live in a competive world. If you sacrifice something, someone else will come and grab it. You got to be smart.” Mr Basu snarled at her. “ I gave you a choice to be smart and resign, didn’t I? You keep acting idiotic. Now honestly, you have left me with no choice.” He hissed.

  Just as Ishani was wondering what he was going to do, he pulled out a matchstick from his pocket and threw it near Priya’s chair. The wooden chair slowly started to catch fire. It wasn’t a huge amount of fire, but it was enough to trigger Ishani’s Pyrophobia.

  “No!” screamed Ishani.

  “This is for making my son stand against me Ishani. You deserve it you evil woman. Now let me see if you can save your friend. Such a coward you are! Your dreams have now returned to haunt you in real. This is my gift to you. A mental torture is far worse than a physical one. ” He laughed.

  Ishani’s head hurt as she saw the flames. The surroundings around her seemed to disappear. Dead bodies all around her, people screaming, children crying, the bomb blast scene was starting to replay in her mind.

  She went down to her knees, holding her head in her hands. “Arrghh! No!” she screamed. This was too much torture. She started to feel suffocated. She had difficulty in breathing. She tried to inhale deeply but couldn’t. She saw a dead arm lying in front of her. Burnt faces were pushing themselves at her. Cries of pain, cries of children and women, she heard them all. “Go away from me, leave me alone!” she yelled. She felt her head was going to burst with pain. This was an agony beyond imagination. Her worst nightmare had really come true.

  Suddenly her parents’ faces loomed in front of her. “I must save them. Where are my parents?” she thought. She lay writhing on the floor, unable to breathe properly.

  Her head hurt. She was starting to feel dizzy, but her will power kept her going. A sudden sound brought her back to slowly back reality. She looked around, Mr Basu, was gone. Priya was wriggling in her chair, trying to help herself. The fire continued to burn the chair.

  “Pri!” shouted Ishani on top of her lungs. No, Pri can’t be harmed. I must save her she thought.

  Ishani trembled. Don’t panic. Don’t panic, think of something. You can save her. It’s just a small fire. You can do it. She told herself. She stood up. Her legs were still shaky and knees wobbly. She gulped. She looked around looking for something which could settle the fire. She found nothing. Ishani started coughing due to the smoke. She knew Priya must be feeling worse since she was gagged.

  She was frantically searching for something till she dropped the idea. She rushed to Priya’s chair. She tore
a sleeve from Priya’s T-Shirt, using her pocket knife. Priya looked at her with inquisitively as she did so. She went to the other side and did the same. She guessed she had enough cloth now. She then with trembling hands near the fire and made several attempts to put it out.

  Finally, the fire was extinguished. It wasn’t really a huge amount of fire. Ishani quickly undid Priya’s rope and removed her mouth gag. Priya started coughing. Ishani’s head hurt again. Slowly, she lost consciousness. She thought she was dying. Ishani closed her eyes. Maybe this was her end. Maybe she was supposed to die trying to save her best friend. Priya was alive. Ishani remembered her parents. Their smiling faces loomed in front of her. Maybe it was time to be reunited with them.

  “You will be punished for this! How dare you? I trusted you and partnered with you but you betrayed us all! How dare you harm Ishani?” Ishani heard these words somewhere in the background. She split open her eyes slightly. To her surprise, she was alive. She opened her eyes further. She could see Ayaan and Mr Basu fighting. Ishani slowly moved her limbs. Ishani wanted to get up and help Ayaan but she felt too paralysed to move.

  Ayaan hit Mr Basu’s head with a hammer lying around. Sudhir Basu lay unconscious on the ground and Ayaan was standing over him, holding the hammer.

  “Ayaan!” exclaimed Ishani. She slowly sat up. “Ayaan, how come you are here?” she croaked in a weak voice.

  Ayaan ignored Ishani. He picked up Sudhir Basu and placed him on a chair; he took the ropes lying around the room and began tying him around the chair.

  Ishani stood up sluggishly. Her legs felt wobbly, but she was feeling much better.She looked at Priya who was sitting meekly in a corner. She slowly walked to Priya.

  Priya’s eyes beamed as she looked at Ishani. Ishani sat beside her and hugged her. Priya looked very weak to Ishani. He must have been starving her, thought Ishani.

  Priya spoke. “Ishani! You found me! I thought I was going to die!” said Priya hugging Ishani tightly.

  “Silly girl, how will I let anything happen to you?” replied Ishani. There were tears streaming from Ishani’s eyes. Tears of relief, tears of grief, they just flowed.

  “You did it Ishani! You saved me! You overcame your fear of the fire and saved me! I am so proud of you today. Your parents must be proud of you too, they must be happy in the heaven. You overcame your worst issue to save me. I was so worried something would happen to you. You were so so strong today, my heart swells with pride.” Priya said, tears streaming down her face too.

  Ayaan walked over to both of them. “All good, girls?” he smiled.

  Ishani went up to him and hugged him. “Thank you Ayaan.” She said softly. He smiled back at her, embracing her tightly, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I am glad you are okay. I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if anything happened to you.”

  Just then the door barged open. Natasha, Raghav and Kabir walked in with Inspector Pawar and other policemen.

  “Aah, Indian police; Late as usual.” Ayaan taunted, looking at Inspector Pawar.

  “What exactly happened here?” asked the inspector.

  Ishani didn’t answer. She looked at Kabir. He was staring at his unconscious father all tied up in the chair.

  His face went red. He started pacing up and down. Then he went down to his knees and shrieked out loud.

  Everyone turned towards him.

  Ishani walked towards him. She knelt down beside him and took his hand in hers.

  He looked at Ishani. “I can’t believe my father is behind all of this! Why would he do it? Why? Priya was in my house the whole time and I had absolutely no clue whatsoever! He kidnapped her and kept her hostage in this very house! Why did he do this to you Ishani? You were his favourite employee. I still don’t understand. He committed a murder! A murder Ishani! I can’t believe he did it. It’s impossible. All this while, we all were going mad about looking for Priya and she was here! If only I knew! “ Kabir said, in anguish.

  Ishani felt a pang of emotion for him. “I understand Kabir. Why he did it, only he can answer. Trust me; I still can’t believe he is behind it. It’s too difficult to digest. There are many unanswered questions Kabir.”

  Ayaan spoke. “I have something to share. Mr Basu is suffering from borderline paranoid Schizophrenia. After I returned from the U.S I was searching for a good psychiatrist so that could make my life stress free. In the U.S I learnt that psychiatrists can help me cope up with my work stress. I found a good one here too. One day, some time back, I saw Mr Sudhir Basu visiting. I dismissed it and thought as a CEO he too must be under pressure and would need to speak his heart out. It’s a very common thing in the U.S so I didn’t think about it much.

  After I spoke with Ishani yesterday, I kept wondering who could be behind this. I recalled that she was speaking to Mr Basu when I was at her house. Today morning suddenly, I had hunch that I should go check his files and speak with the doctor about him. I knew it is a confidential thing between a patient and a doctor but I decided to investigate anyway.”

  The room went silent as everyone was taking in this piece of information. “What happened then?” asked Priya. Raghav was protectively putting a hand around her shoulder.

  “I used my influence to get the doctor to speak. He told me Sudhir Basu is suffering from a condition called paranoid schizophrenia. It’s not very severe so it was very difficult for other people to understand. He does get hallucinations in between and is suspicious about a lot of people. He doesn’t take his medication regularly despite the doctors warning him. He has been suffering from it for 20 years or more. Nobody knows about it; not even his family and he prefers to keep it that way.

  I somehow felt I should track Sudhir Basu. I asked my computer expert to let me know his whereabouts and I was just in time to save Ishani.” Ayaan concluded.

  Kabir stood up. Ishani did too. Kabir walked over to Ayaan and shook his hand. “You found out something which I couldn’t. Thank you so much. I owe you for this. Now I know why I felt that my father acted strange at times and kept himself locked in his study for hours.”

  Ayaan nodded and smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. The moment touched ishani’s heart, somehow.

  “Well, we now need to make Mr Basu regain consciousness. Let’s hear what he has to say. We will record whatever he confesses and produce it as evidence in the court.” said Inspector Pawar, sprinkling water on an unconscious and tied up Sudhir Basu.

  CHAPTER 23: DISGUISE DECODED.

  Sudhir Basu regained consciousness after a few minutes. “Son! “He shrieked after he spotted Kabir. His face looked gaunt. He seemed barely aware of anyone else in the room other than Kabir.

  “What are you doing here Kabir?” asked Sudhir Basu.

  “Dad what have you done? Why have you done all this? So many crimes you have committed.” asked a pained Kabir.

  “See? I was right. Ishani is an evil woman. She has influenced you a lot. I haven’t committed any crime.” Said Sudhir Basu.

  “Wasn’t Ishani very dear to you? What are you speaking? Dad please be clear.” Kabir said.

  “There is no such thing as a dear employee son. She was just an employee to me. Sure, I found her good because she obeyed me a lot and looked up to me, but that was it. The first time she told me in my cabin that maybe I should let you join politics, was the time I was sure she is not to be trusted and had started to disobey me. She was a foolish woman trying to sabotage my mind by telling me to let you join politics! How dare she!” replied Sudhir Basu.

  Kabir’s face had fallen. He asked “What other reasons prompted you to do this, Dad?”

  “You took her help for your damned political party work. You think I wouldn’t know? I knew Ishani hid that from me. “ Mr Basu said.

  Kabir’s face had turned ashen by now. “I told her to do so Dad! It wasn’t her fault!” he exclaimed.

  “I know. You are still very naïve son. You trust the wrong people. She was getting famous. People were giving her more attention than she
deserved. She could take over the company at this rate. A mere graphic designer becoming so popular! I wouldn’t have it. I can’t let my company be ruled by silly women. The attention she was getting would have gone into her head. I couldn’t’ let that happen. You should have been the focus of the media. They should be having you in news; instead, Ishani became their focus. I was side-lined too! Imagine that. The C.E.O of C.T.I side-lined for a mere employee; ridiculous! It was then that I decided to teach her a lesson for a lifetime.” said Sudhir Basu, lost in his own thoughts.

  Kabir tightened his fists and relaxed them. “Why would you want sabotage your own reputation Dad? If Ishani resigned, wouldn’t it reflect badly on you?

  Sudhir Basu continued to speak. “You think I hadn’t thought of it? If Ishani resigned, I my company would gain more media attention. I would say to the press how I was fooled by her and how I understood one day that she didn’t do any work herself, but made her trainees do everything and how I made her confess to the media the whole truth and asked her to resign instead of me firing her. This way, I would be in good light and Ishani would be doomed forever.”

  Kabir looked with disgust at his father. He was at a loss of words.

  Inspector Pawar asked “How was Reema Pande involved in all of this?” Sudhir Basu didn’t even look at him. He kept looking at the ceiling.

  “Reema came to me one day, crying, asking me to fire Natasha Bhatia. The woman was in love with Sahil, Natasha’s boyfriend. She wanted Sahil to her own self. Love I tell you, it does strange things to people. Love makes you weak.

  I decided to take advantage of her. I told her I will fire Natasha if she works for me for some time. She kidnapped Priya. I asked her to place notes in Ishani’s house. I asked her to kill the cat. Unfortunately, for her, Sahil started suspecting her. He followed her one day and overheard the conversation between both of us. He confronted us and the woman, Reema, admitted everything to him! How very stupid! I blackmailed Sahil, telling him I would harm his girlfriend if he didn’t keep his mouth shut.” Said Sudhir Basu shaking his head