by P. G. Van
“I only have a few questions for him,” Abhay assured.
“I will wait here. He is in the second cell to your right. All other cells are empty.” The jailer sounded nervous.
“Thank you.” Abhay stepped into the dimly-lit area. He took a few steps toward the cell, anticipation building inside him. He dreaded the conversation, worried he might hear the worst news, but he refused to give up.
Abhay stood staring at the metal bars into the darkness of the cell.
“Who are you?” a gruff voice inquired.
“I am here to ask you a few questions.”
“Are you a lawyer?” the voice challenged.
“No”
“Are you here to get me out?”
“No.”
“Go away. I have nothing for you.”
Abhay expected this behavior, and he came prepared. “I can secure the future of your child if you answer my questions.”
There was complete silence, and Abhay knew why. To Abhay’s surprise, the goon laughed, and he could tell he was moving closer to the bars.
The dim light showed a big man with distinct blue eyes that had the look of a killer. He gripped the metal bars with his fingers and continued to laugh. “Who are you trying to fool?”
“I’m sorry to break the news to you that your wife survived the accident.”
“Not possible,” the goon yelled.
“I know you were the one who wanted her killed because she testified against you in spite of the fact that she was pregnant.” Abhay continued to anger him.
“That whore doesn’t deserve to live,” the goon snarled.
“You don’t get to decide that, and if you answer the questions I have for you, I will arrange for you to meet your son.”
“I don’t care, that child is not mine. That whore must have slept with someone else.”
Abhay opened the file he held in his hands and pulled out a small photograph of a child and a woman. “I don’t know about you, but I can tell this child is yours just by looking at him. I also have DNA reports if you don’t believe me.”
The man looked at him in silence as Abhay flipped the picture for him to see. Abhay watched as the man’s eyes narrowed. He saw anger first, and then something flickered in his crystal blue eyes.
Abhay saw the opportunity and grabbed it. “The resemblance is uncanny, the blue eyes and that cleft in the chin are pretty significant.”
The man had softened outwardly like he suddenly found a purpose in life as his eyes took in the image of his wife and child.
Abhay put away the picture and pulled out another one. A picture of his little brother, Rana, when he was four years old. One of the last pictures taken in London.
Abhay looked at the picture fondly. He remembered when the picture was taken. It was the first time Rana was going for a ride on the London Eye, and he looked super happy.
He turned the picture slowly for the man to see and looked keenly for a response. What he did not expect to see was a reaction.
“That bastard,” the goon yelled trying to grab the picture from Abhay’s hand. “I will kill him. I will kill him with my own hands.”
Happiness knew no bounds when Abhay heard the words from the goon’s mouth. It only meant Rana was still alive.
“I would like to find him, too. Where is he?” Abhay contained his excitement and asked him in a calm tone.
“Who are you?” The man seemed suspicious.
“One of the many people looking for him.” He took a shot in the dark.
The man looked at Abhay in silence, and after a long stare, he spoke with confidence. “You are a relative, aren’t you? Are you his brother… yes, you have to be his brother?”
When Abhay did not respond, the man laughed like he was enjoying every second of his life. “That bastard has a family… but he was my dog… my well-trained dog who had no loyalty…”
The man’s voice trailed off when he felt a hand circle his neck from between the metal bars.
“Where is my brother?” Abhay tightened his hold on the man’s neck.
The man fought tooth and nail to free Abhay’s grip, but it was no match to his strength that was powered by rage. Abhay pulled his hand closer to him while holding onto the man’s neck smashing his face into the metal bars. The man let out a loud cry, but nothing was going to stop Abhay from making the goon speak.
“Tell me where my brother is,” Abhay demanded, his teeth clenched as he kept the man’s bleeding face pinned to the metal bars.
“Mr. Singham, please stop.” The jailer came running in with two guards running behind him. It took all three men to pull Abhay away from the man, and it wasn’t because they had the strength, but because of their pleas to let the goon go.
“Open up the cell, Mr. Mishra. I will save the government all the money they will spend to feed a pig like him.”
The goon laughed, wiping the blood off his face. “This is the safest place for me as long as I want to stay. When I get out, your dear brother will be my first target.”
“Mr. Mishra, I just need five minutes.”
“Sir, please. It is against the rules to let you in here. I cannot open the cell.”
Abhay gave the goon one last look and started to walk away.
“Mr. Singham, I will let you know when I kill him,” the goon called out making Abhay stop short in his tracks.
“I don’t care about that whore and that whore’s son. My goal is to find that little bastard dog that got me into this situation.”
Abhay slowly turned to look at him. “What did you say?”
The goon stepped away from the metal gate of his cell. “I will kill the little bastard dog and then let you know where he is.”
“Mr. Mishra, how long has this pig been in jail?” Abhay demanded without averting his eyes from the good.
“It’s been ten years in this jail, and he was in a district jail for two years before that, sir,” the man informed shakily.
Abhay’s lips curved up with pride as he took a step closer to the goon. “He is not a dog, you bastard… he is a Singham!” Abhay’s voice resonated as he continued. “He is a Singham who put you in jail when he was a boy… do you think you stand a chance with a Singham man?”
Abhay left the area, pride coursing through his veins. He was right about being hopeful.
“Mr. Mishra, I need every detail I can get on his case, and I want to talk to the police officer who arrested this pig,” Abhay ordered.
Abhay stepped into the waiting area where Dev was pacing talking on the phone. “Increase the security. Do not let anyone into the mansion.” He turned to find Abhay standing behind him. “I have to go. Keep them safe.”
“What’s happening, Dev?” Abhay knew something was wrong.
“The Senani men attempted an attack today… Anika and Sabitha were on their way to the hospital…” he growled.
“We expected this, they were mourning all along and now… just up the security. They probably know we are away.”
“Yes. What did the goon tell you?” Dev was eager.
“Dev, our little brother is out there and is thriving, we just need to find him,” Abhay declared, a small smile of hope playing on his lips.
CHAPTER 9
The room was pitch dark when Narmada opened her eyes upon hearing a noise. It took her a moment to remember where she was, and she remembered going to sleep after coming back from the village fair. She wasn’t sure how long she had slept because she was wide awake.
She reached for the light to the side and turned it on. The light blinded her for a second, and she heard the weird creaking sound again. She looked in the direction of the sound and almost gasped.
Neil sat in a rocking chair, his face turned away from her and was fast asleep. She dimmed the light and got off the bed gingerly and tiptoed closer to him.
She stopped a foot away from him taking in his chiseled profile. His features looked softer when he slept. His jaw was relaxed, his eyes were shut with hi
s thick lashes lining his eyelids, and his lips, they looked soft. She took in a slow, hissed breath and inadvertently brought her fingers to her lips. Her body demanded to know the feel of those soft lips on hers.
She turned away from him not wanting to disturb him but stopped when she heard him mumble. She smiled turning to look at him when she realized she had woken up to his voice.
Narmada had no reason to step closer to him, but she did, and as if he sensed her presence, he mumbled again, “Narmada.”
She gasped, and her heart skipped multiple beats when she heard her name play on his lips. Tears, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend, welled in her eyes, but her lips would not stop curving up. Happiness and sadness enveloped her at the same time when she realized she still had feelings for him.
Feelings so strong, they told her to fight for him and take away his pain. She felt the knot in the pit of her stomach when he told her about how he was treated as a child. She didn’t care that he killed or why he killed, she wanted him back in her life. She reached out slowly and let her hand go to his face to cup her palm on his cheek ever so gently.
The moment did not last long for her as she watched in horror as his eyes flashed open, and the next thing she knew, she was on his lap, her back to his chest and a knife on her throat.
“Neil,” she screamed into his ears.
“Fuck! What the hell were you doing?” he growled into her ear putting the knife away.
“I… I couldn’t sleep, and I…” her voice was still shaky from the experience. She thought she had a moment of peace with him only to be scared out of her skin.
“Never do whatever you were trying to do. It’s a good thing I didn’t reach for my gun… what were you doing anyway?”
“I… I couldn’t sleep, and I was trying to check on your wound,” she managed to say.
“You just have to say my name to wake me up. Don’t ever touch me like that… my body is trained for different things, and my instincts can get you injured,” he warned.
“Okay.”
“If you are done treating me like a couch, you can get off now?” he barked.
She took a deep breath and tried to stand up only to fall back on him when her knees gave away.
“Narmada, are you okay?” He held her to him with one arm while the rocking chair shook from the impact.
She managed to gain some composure by then. “No, you scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I won’t do that again.” He slid his arm under her legs, and before she realized what he was doing, he stood up holding her in his arms. He carried her to the bed like she weighed nothing.
“Put me down,” she demanded.
“Fine.” He hauled her onto the mattress laughing.
Narmada yelped, holding her head as soon as her body hit the mattress.
“Oh shit… did you hit your head? I’m sorry.” He was by her side pushing her hands away to inspect her head.
She fought with strength without taking her hands off, and when he finally managed to get her hands away, he pushed her hair around looking for a wound.
He pulled back when he heard her laugh. “Got ya, that’s what you get for scaring me.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “Not funny, go back to bed.”
She took his hand in hers before he could move away. “Neil, don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I am going back to my corner to sleep.” He tried to take his hand away from her, but she didn’t let go.
“This is a big bed. You can pick your corner and sleep here,” she managed in a steady tone.
He pulled his hand away from hers and turned off the light. “Good night.”
She didn’t respond but just watched his silhouette move away from her. He settled into the rocking chair, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. She knew he had some feelings for her, too, and she wasn’t sure what those feelings meant for him.
“Neil…”
When he didn’t respond, she waited a few seconds before she spoke. “Neil, I know you’re awake.”
“What do you want, Narmada?”
“After that night, the night we kissed… did you leave because the kiss was sloppy?” She but her lip to stop herself from laughing at her own words.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Narmada?”
She was smiling and was glad he couldn’t see her face. “You were the first guy I kissed, and I wondered if you left because you didn’t like it.”
“Shut up and sleep.”
“Neil, don’t do this to me. I need to know if I am a bad kisser, so I can get some practice in before I see Raj.” She could not believe the words that fell from her mouth, but she was having the time of her life.
A thrill ran through her veins when she heard his breath hiss. She knew she had an effect on him but wasn’t sure what he felt for her. She sensed his frustration by the way he got up from the chair.
“Please don’t leave me and go.”
He stopped and looked in her direction for a long moment. “Shut up and sleep.”
“Okay,” she grumbled.
Neil turned back, and she couldn’t help but keep talking. “What is the time?”
“Narmada.” He was pissed, and she knew it.
“I’m just trying to figure out if I should sleep or wake up.”
He threw his hands up in frustration. “It’s three in the morning, can you stop your questions?”
“Yes… I’ll go back to sleep. I know we have to drive to a city tomorrow because you have to take me dancing,” she purred.
“What?”
“You promised, remember?”
She heard him curse under his breath before slumping his body back on the rocking chair. She lay on the bed staring at the rocking chair, a million thoughts floating through her mind, the strongest thought was whether what she felt for him was real.
******
Narmada was going nuts with the silence between them since that morning. He woke her up to give her the phone because the idiot, Raj, wanted to talk to her. She stared into Neil’s eyes as she sweet talked to Raj about her plans for shopping and then partying.
They left the hut in the car he had driven her in from the hotel two days ago. An hour into the drive, he hadn’t uttered a single word, and she couldn’t handle it anymore.
“I don’t care for the name of the city, but how much longer before we get there?” She lowered the backrest and set her feet up on the dashboard after adjusting her anklets—the only jewelry she refused to part with as they were a family heirloom.
She caught him look at her exposed skin when her loose linen pants rode up to her knees. She lowered her backrest further, flattening it completely and stretched out her legs.
Neil had his sunglasses on, but she was at an angle where she could see the corner of his eye from the gap between the lens and his face.
“I’m going to take a nap, wake me up when we get closer,” she purred and pretended to sleep, her eyes ever so tiny slits as they watched him.
She watched him for over thirty minutes, but he didn’t take his eyes off the road. She didn’t know what she wanted him to do. She was mad he wasn’t checking her out, but a part of her said she would be pissed if he was gawking at her legs.
The car moved at a steady speed, and after another half an hour, the car slowed, and Neil reached for the dashboard, and the back of his hand brushed over her calf.
She moaned inadvertently in response, and that was the first time he turned to look at her for a brief moment. The car moved inch by inch and finally came to a halt.
“What’s the toll?” Neil snarled making her wonder if that’s how he talked to everyone, everyone except her. She remembered how he barely talked to anyone else in college.
“You look one more time, and I will dig your eyes out,” he barked, and she couldn’t figure out what aggravated him.
He cursed under his breath as he rolled the window up. He reached for the dash to put
his wallet back, and this time his hand stopped for a second. She watched, holding her breath, as he ran the tip of his finger on her anklet before tugging on the hem of her pants, to pull the fabric lower.
“Bunch of vultures,” he spat making the engine roar.
She lay on the passenger seat without moving a muscle, her eyes riveted on his profile. The clench in his jaw and the anger that showed up when someone had checked her out, gave her a new high.
Narmada could not understand her thoughts. Her practical mind said she should not get attached to him as there was no future with him, and her heart, it told her it didn’t matter who he was or what he did or why he did it, if he cared for her, he would take care of her forever.
“Neil,” she called out, her voice groggy.
He grunted in response.
“Are we there yet?” She set her seat back up and drew her knees into her chest.
“Two more hours.”
“I want to shop first. Stop at the best mall around here,” she ordered.
“It’s not a good idea.”
“I don’t care, Raj said I could go shopping and then dancing. I’m your responsibility,” she pouted.
He gently shook his head but did not say anything.
“I’m sick of wearing these oversized clothes. I look pathetic.” She tugged on the t-shirt she had on.
“No, you don’t.” His words surprised her.
“Nice try, you are still taking me shopping,” she teased.
“Not making excuses.”
“Wait, did you just give me a compliment?” She laughed.
“I just stated my opinion.”
“Good, I will need a lot of your opinion when I pick out my clothes and shoes later.”
“What the heck did I get into,” he grumbled.
“Not the usual kind of task, eh… Hunter?” she rasped.
“You don’t get to call me Hunter.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t get to.” His voice was firm.
“What are you going to do… Hunter?” she teased looking at his furious face.
“It’s not funny,” he growled gripping the wheel.
“I’m not laughing. I like the name… Hunter.” She gently ran her fist into his arm.