by P. G. Van
A knock on the door made her jump.
Did he have an accomplice?
He walked past her toward the double doors. He opened the door, and to her surprise, smiled at whoever was at the door. The sweet smile reminded her of the guy she knew, but she couldn’t let the smile fool her.
She watched as he opened the double doors to let an elderly woman wearing a hotel uniform roll a cart into the large living area.
“Hello, Mrs. Kumar. Good to see you.” She smiled at Narmada.
“My queen just woke up from her slumber,” he winked at her making her wonder if she was dreaming.
“I hope you are enjoying your stay at our hotel. You have the best suite in the entire building.” The elderly woman picked up the dishes off the cart and gingerly placed them on the table.
“I can put the towel in the laundry for you.” The elderly woman smiled at her.
“Oh… no, it’s okay,” she managed to say holding onto the bundle of jewelry. Her mind raced wondering if she should ask the woman to help.
“I do have my traditional outfit in the bathroom,” she blurted, as the woman was getting ready to leave.
“Oh… I will make sure the team takes extra care with it.” The woman walked toward Narmada.
Narmada looked at Neil as his glare burned her skin. She looked away and followed the woman into the bathroom. She handed the pile of silk to the woman and looked toward the door to make sure he wasn’t around.
“Please help me,” she whispered. “I was kidnapped.”
The elderly woman gasped but did not respond. “Mrs. Kumar…”
“No, I’m not his wife. This towel has jewelry in it, a lot of it. Please help me.”
The woman laughed making Narmada wonder what was so funny.
“Mr. Kumar,” the woman called out, continuing to laugh.
Neil showed up at the door, a grim look on his face.
“You were right, I guess I owe you our special dessert.” The woman smiled walking toward him.
“I told you she’s a born actress.” He winked at the woman.
What the heck?
“You win, Mr. Kumar.” The woman smiled at her confused expression.
“What?” Narmada uttered still in disbelief.
Neil walked over to where she stood shell-shocked and put an arm around her. “You did good, baby, Mrs. Sharma almost believed you.”
She winced when his fingertips dug into her shoulders.
“We’ll be waiting for the sundae.” He smiled following the elderly woman to the door dragging Narmada along.
She waited for him to explode and intimidate her the way he did earlier that evening, but to her surprise, he locked the door and walked to the dining table.
She stood in the living area debating about making a dash for the door. He was looking at his phone, and she realized it was her opportunity to run for help. The towel with the jewelry was on the bathroom counter, but she had no time. A few more minutes later, she tiptoed a few steps and made it to the door. She flung the door open and stepped out of the room.
She looked from one side to the other but did not see any other doors. She saw a sign to the elevator and dashed to it and hit the button desperately.
“Really?” His voice cut through her frenzy. “You think it’s that easy to get away?”
“Let me go,” she demanded.
“Not happening.” He grabbed her by her wrist and turned to walk her back, and that did it.
She lost her cool and reached for a small potted plant that was part of the hallway décor and flung it at him. Unlike the previous time, it hit his back right below his neck.
“Let me go,” she yelled unable to contain her anger.
He turned and moved so swiftly, she had no time to react. He pushed her back into the wall, his palm circling her neck.
She screamed in fear but knew there was no one around to hear or rescue her. His spicy cologne filled her nostrils threatening to suffocate her, and his breath felt hot on her cheek.
“It’ll be very easy to break your neck, don’t make me do it.”
“Do it,” she growled.
The pressure on her throat increased slightly before he let her go. She had enough, and she knew she would be dead by now if he were out to kill her.
“It’ll be like breaking a toothpick,” he retorted.
“Do it or let me go,” she yelled pushing him away from her.
Neil looked visibly angry as he reached for something from behind him, and the next moment, she felt a metallic barrel shoved into her mouth. Most girls would have fainted with fear, but guns were not new to her—she grew up with her grandfather and brothers carrying guns.
Narmada was sick of being threatened, and she gathered her strength and pushed his hand away to pull the barrel out of her mouth. She saw the slight shock in his eyes, and before he could do anything else, she threw her hands around his neck and sucked his lower lip between her teeth. She had no idea as to why she had her lips pasted to his, but she sucked on his lips like it was the only thing she could do and couldn’t stop herself.
He groaned in surprise as she pushed her body into his tightening her hold around his neck. She pulled her body up using his neck like an anchor and wrapped her legs around him. She clung to him, kissing him like she couldn’t stop herself. She was angry, and she wanted to show him he couldn’t intimidate her physically.
His fingertips dug into her bottom as he kissed her back nipping her lips. He pushed her back to the wall and held her legs in place as he sucked the air out of her lungs.
She let one arm drop from his neck to cup his cheek with her palm. She moaned in response to the pressure on her lips, and as if in response, his lips softened.
Moments later, the rage and anger with which they kissed were replaced with something else, something she could decipher in the shift, and the moment was lost.
The ring from the elevator door opening brought them back to reality. The elderly woman who had brought them dinner stood in the elevator with a tray. She looked at their tangled bodies and the potted plant on the floor, and her cheeks turned red.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Here’s the dessert of the day.” She placed the tray on a side table and was gone in a jiffy.
Her heart drummed a parade in her chest as she slowly lowered herself. He still held her to the wall and looked down at her.
“Neil… why did you kidnap me?”
“I knew it was a mistake to let you wake up. I should have kept you drugged,” he growled turning away from her.
“Neil, talk to me. Please.”
“You are wanted, Narmada.” He was tasked to bring her in return for something he had been chasing the past seven years.”
“Who? Who wants me?”
“My client.”
“Why? What does he want from me?” she asked.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. My job is to get you to him, and that’s it.”
“Is that it? Don’t I mean anything to you? Am I just your job?”
“Why would you mean anything to me, Narmada?” he retorted.
“Neil, we were friends, good friends, and you just disappeared, and now you show up to kidnap me?”
“No, we weren’t. friends,” he growled.
Narmada figured he had turned into something he wasn’t when she knew him six years ago and would have killed her by now if he wanted to get rid of her. He, or someone, needed her alive.
*****
“Who has the guts to kidnap my daughter?” Narmada’s father demanded of his staff. It had been the worst few days of his life. The Singhams and Prajapatis killed his son, Revanth, and his only living child was kidnapped.
“Sir, we thought it was the transporter. He had the ID card from that company,” one of his men chimed in.
“You fool, who checked the ID?” he demanded.
“Sir, the person seemed legit. The arrival and the description of the person matched,” the assistant persi
sted.
“Stop staring at me and send people out to search,” Narmada’s father’s voice blared in the large living area.
“Yes, sir,” his staff spoke in unison.
“I want search parties sent in every direction. I do not want any media visibility. Find the man who has the guts to kidnap my daughter and bring me his head.”
Sagar Senani watched as his people scrambled out of the mansion. He turned to look at his father who sat on the sofa staring at the pictures of his grandsons, Hemanth and Revanth.
“Are you happy now? I let you influence my sons, and they are both dead, my daughter is missing, and I don’t know if I will ever see her again.”
The elderly man growled fighting back tears—he was not supposed to see his grandchildren die. He didn’t know how, but he needed to get back at the Singhams, specifically their women.
CHAPTER 3
“Abhay, where have you been all day?” Dev was waiting for his older brother in the living room of the guest house they were staying at while they looked for their younger brother.
“I was in a rural area looking for the woman.” Abhay sounded disappointed.
“Are we any closer to finding her? Do you think she can help us find him?”
“Yes.” Abhay and Dev had spent the past few weeks chasing the only clue they had in hopes of finding their little brother. They were nowhere close to giving up the search.
“Abhay, maybe we should both work together.”
“No, Dev, we need to divide and conquer,” Abhay said.
“Where are you headed next?” Dev asked.
“Still on the hunt for the woman. She has covered her tracks well.” Abhay impatiently raked his fingers through his hair.
“I have nothing on the goon. I get the feeling people know him, but nobody remembers what happened to him. It was like he disappeared into thin air.”
“Stay on his trail, Dev. We need to find the woman more as a backup.”
“Yeah, I will. I wish we had a connection in the underworld rather than in the police department.”
“We’ll find him.” Abhay blankly stared at his reflection on the shiny silver dish in front of him wondering when they would meet their brother. He knew it was a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ they would meet his brother. If his brother managed to survive a massacre that took the lives of hundreds, he had to be out there living like a warrior… a Singham.
*****
Narmada stared blankly at the beautiful skyline of the city, a million thoughts running through her mind. She was angry with the situation, and it frustrated her that she couldn’t do anything to get out of it. She was so close to her freedom and could not believe she was kidnapped minutes before she would have left her home and family forever. She was planning to go back to New York, stay with a friend from high school while she looked for an apartment and started school. She needed a life away from her family, especially after they tried to force her into marriage and after what happened to her brothers.
She took a deep breath trying to push her thoughts away and started to wonder if the situation she was in was better than the one she was in with her family. Neil kidnapped her for reasons unknown to her, but it felt like she had a better chance at getting away with him than with her family. She turned away from the window to smile at Neil. It didn’t take her long to realize he was her only ticket to freedom.
One more incident like the one in the hallway, she knew he would tie her up and drug her again. She decided she was going to stop fighting him and beg, plead, or even seduce her way to a life she would live on her terms.
“Hey, where have you been?” she chirped.
“Are you ready to go?” His voice held no emotion.
“I’ve been sitting around doing nothing since you disappeared,” she pouted.
He looked at her for a long moment without responding like he suspected something. “Move.”
She gathered the cloth bag with her outfit and the jewelry and walked toward him, her expression so cheerful no one would ever know she was held captive against her will.
“What is that?” He pointed at the fabric bag.
“Oh, I asked housekeeping for a bag for my stuff, and they found me this laundry bag.”
“And you are going to carry around your things like that?”
“Yeah, it’s always good to have an extra set of clothes.” She flashed him a fake smile.
“An extra set of torn clothes?”
“Oh, I can replace the blouse with another one or pair the skirt with another t-shirt.” Her voice was extremely calm, but she knew it was annoying him.
“Whatever!”
“Where are we headed, Neil?”
“You don’t need to know,” he declared gruffly.
“Fine, don’t tell me.” She walked past him toward the door lugging her cloth bag. She felt the heat from his glare on her back but did not dare turn around.
He followed her to the elevator without another word.
“Where is your bag?” she asked.
His response was to shake his head.
“How do you travel without a bag?” She was genuinely surprised.
“You don’t need to worry about my bag.”
“Oh, you have everything you need … where are we headed?” She wasn’t going to give up trying to get as much information as she could from him—any information.
“Stop the fake enthusiasm.”
“I’m trying to be very nice so… you be nice, too.” She snubbed him stepping into the elevator.
They rode the elevator in silence, and when the elevator opened to a lavish hallway, she gasped under her breath. She had been to luxurious hotels all over the world with her family, but she never expected to be held in such a hotel while being kidnapped.
“It’s nice of you to bring me here, I know you didn’t have to…” Her voice trailed off when she caught a sarcastic smile on his face. “What?”
“Don’t you think you would stand out like a sore thumb if I took you to a dump of a hotel?”
“Thanks, and oh, how long have I been missing?”
“Does it matter?” It sounded like a chuckle.
“Is my family looking for me?” she asked hesitantly.
“Why wouldn’t they look for you?” he retorted.
“Neil, I don’t want to go back,” her voice was a whisper.
“Is that why you were planning to attend a wedding that wasn’t going to happen?” he asked casually.
She was surprised he knew.
“Your family is searching all over the city… the wrong city.”
“I do not want them to take me back… don’t let my family take me back.” It was a plea.
Neil turned to look at her but did not say anything.
“Please,” she smiled and caught a glimpse of something in his eyes, and it was gone before she could read into it.
She followed him out to the lobby. She wasn’t sure where he was taking her, but she knew she had a few days of time based on what she heard on the phone. She hoped to convince him to let her go. If only she knew what he was getting in return for kidnapping her and who was paying him.
She looked around as cars pulled into the valet line and looked ahead for her potential ride, completely ignoring the midnight blue sports car right in front of her. Her almond eyes followed Neil as he walked over to the driver’s side. “Were you expecting a limo?”
A limo, she was expecting a dead, beat-up old car to be her ride, something more generic that wouldn’t stand out.
“Seriously?” She laughed unable to believe she had a decent ride. “Never expected something like this to be a getaway vehicle.”
“It’s got to fit the profile. Can’t drive anything other than this if I was staying in the presidential suite of the hotel with my wife on our honeymoon,” he teased, and something deep inside her twitched. She was surprised she reacted to his words, especially the ‘wife’ part.
“Aren’t you worried people will
recognize me?” she asked as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot.
“What do you do, Narmada?”
“I’m working on my masters in history…” Her voice trailed off when she caught a sly smile on his face. “What?”
“I know what you do, and I would be worried about people recognizing you if you were a celebrity.”
“Well… people know me in my city. What city is this?” She looked out of the window trying to look for a local language on the signs.
“Does it matter what city we are in?”
“Yes. I need to know.”
“Why? So you could send a message to your people,” Neil mocked.
“Neil, I told you I do not want to go back to my family or wherever you are taking me.” Her voice was soft making her sound sad.
Neil clenched his teeth but did not say anything.
“What is the ransom for kidnapping me?” She asked shaking away the knot in her stomach.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Neil, please… I’ll try my best to give you whatever you want. Let me go.”
“I can’t let you go, and what I want, you cannot give me,” he declared gruffly.
“Why are you doing this, Neil? The last time I saw you, you were going to become a security company owner. What happened?”
Neil did not respond, and she stared at his long, strong profile and finally looked away unable to bear his silence.
She looked out of the window unable to digest the situation she was in. She blinked away the moisture that gathered in her eyes and took a deep breath. “It would have been better if you had let those people kill me six years ago. Why save my life and put me in misery now?”
A shudder passed through him at the memory of his first kill. His first kill as an amateur bodyguard was to save her life. He started working for the Senanis under the pretext of a temporary bodyguard for Narmada when, in fact, he was there on a mission—a mission driven by revenge and duty.
“I feel like a fool for thinking you would help me.” She sniffled.
“Narmada, I’m not the same guy you knew back then. The Neil you knew is dead. People don’t know me with that name anymore.”