Maaneet FF Binding Ties (3) Link to new thread - Page 25

CHAPTER 21

Today, the martial arts class had been scheduled early in the morning before he could get in to work, as it was the only time he had had on his schedule. However, the women on the police force had been more than accommodating.

From the time he had gotten there, he'd been trying to corner the slippery eel named Parinda Godbole. However, every time he got within a few feet of her, she remembered a really urgent task and gave him the slip. The self-defense class was just over and he was moving towards his car when he saw her talking to her senior, Inspector Sangram Gujjar. He smiled in satisfaction as he moved towards the duo.

"Hello Inspector. Hello Godbole."

"Hello Mr. Khurana."

"Chalo, let's go. Sorry for making you wait." Maan grabbed Pari's arm.

"Excuse me?" She gave him a wary look.

"You said you wanted me to drop you somewhere right? Where was it again? Never mind. You can tell me on the way. Come on than, let's make a move. Inspector Gujjar, I hope you don't mind if we take your leave. I am rather in a hurry."

"But I don't want to..."

"Waise how is Brij Handa these days? He interrupted her.

"Sir I am leaving with Mr. Khurana, right now." She glared at Maan.

"Please carry on Mr. Khurana. Gobole, I will talk to you later."With that Inspector Gujjar walked away.

"You son of a ..."

He pinched her nose tight.

"Ahh let go of me, you...you..."

Maan grinned at her nasally voice

"Only if you promise not to use your potty mouth for torturing my ears. Tch, tch, tch. If you'd been my sister, I would have washed that mouth with soap every morning."

She yanked her nose out of his grasp, and stood there looking at him furiously.

"Lucky for you, that you are not my brother. If you were, I would have poisoned you every day, until you were dead and then danced on your grave."

"If you were my sister, I might have tied you off to Brij Handa, long ago, to get rid of you.

"Why you assh.. oh..really? You would?" He tried not to smile, while he watched her anger turned to a confused look.

"I can still help you...that is, if you are willing to help me."

"Help you? How? Also, how can you help me?"

"First of all, by not telling Brij about the meaning of the chemical confession you were spouting last night. However, since he is my employee and we are together in the same place for long hours, you never know, when I may slip up and let him know the actual meaning.

She looked at him through narrowed eyes for a minute and then a wide grin split her face. She raised a victorious fist into the air and screamed,

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally meri bhi prem kahani ko anjam mil hi jayega. When are you going to tell him?"

Maan gritted his teeth at this unexpected reaction from what he'd thought was going to be his one source of information.

"Tch. What? You thought you were going to blackmail me by holding that confession card over my head? Waise what were you so desperate about, that you needed to blackmail me?"

"I was not blackmailing you. I was just...you know..."

"Using underhanded techniques? Twisting my arm? Hijacking my confession? What? What? What?"

"No. I just needed some information."

"About what?"

"About Geet Handa."

"Why should I tell you anything about her? Waise bhi what was that yesterday Miri said?"

"Why in the world would you carry Geet?"

Maan looked at her with startled eyes, as his mind raced back to the scene from the day before, after Miri's innocent revelation.

Mohinder Handa, Brij and Pari had been looking back and forth from Maan to Geet and back again, as if there was an invisible tennis ball shuttling between them.

Geet had grabbed Miri in her arms and whispered something in her ears, which had made the little girl squeal in delight and then pout in disappointment, while also drawing away everybody's attention from Maan and Geet.

"Sach Sheru, tum mujhe gaadi se yaha tak godi mein utha kar lekar aaye the. Par that's not fair. Main toh soyi hui thi, toh yeh wala cancel. Next time pehli bar hoga thik hai?"

(Really Sheru? You carried me in your arms from the car? But that's not fair. I was sleeping, so this one is cancelled. Next time will be my first time, ok?)

He'd grinned at her, given her a thumbs up and beat a hasty retreat from there, before any more questions were asked, that raised the already guilty quotient of his restless mind.

Now as Pari looked at him with suspicious eyes, he searched around for a suitable answer. He decided he'd answer her truthfully up to a certain point. He told her the whole incident starting with Geet cutting her leg on the glass, to Dev's emotional breakdown.

Tears filled up Pari's eyes as she thought of the intelligent and vivacious boy, who was hiding such a big, guilt laden, wound in his heart.

"Poor Birbal. Nanhi si jaan aur itna sara dard. Par ab Geet hain uske saath, woh sab thik kar degi. Sirf woh hi hain jo uski madat kar sakti hain."

(Poor Bribal, such a tiny soul and in so much pain. However, now Geet is with him; she will fix everything. She is the only one who can help him.)

"That is exactly why I want to know about her. Why can she help him, when none of the dozens of professionals I hired, couldn't? What was wrong, or is still wrong with Geet Handa? Her uninjured leg could not support her weight yesterday and Dev refused to let her sit in the wheel chair, so I carried her to the car. But why? How? Maan ran frustrated hands through his hair.

Pari felt a twinge of sympathy for the man before her. It would not have been easy for him seeing his brother in such a state. She drew in a deep breath.

"Did you ask her?"

He nodded.

"What did she say?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"She gave me story about an accident that put her in the wheel chair for a short period of time. But I don't believe it. There is more than she is letting on and I need to know what. I need some kind of reassurance that she is the right choice for my brother. I can see that she is, but I just need to understand something, anything that makes her so."

Pari drew in a deep breath as she made a hasty decision. It was an impulse that made her say what she did next, but her instincts had always guided her right and so this time too she followed blindly and blurted out,

"Two years ago, she was shot in the leg by her father. I will not say anymore so don't ask."

With that statement hanging in the air, she walked away, leaving an aghast Maan behind.

Maan had no idea how he got to his office. He was blind and deaf to the greetings, his employees called out to him. Pari's words were ringing in his ears time and again. They painted a gut wrenching picture of a bullet, piercing the soft skin of the woman he'd held in his arms just yesterday. The thought of somebody shooting at her, ripped his guts out. Along with the shock came confusion. Her father was Mohinder Handa. He remembered the loving interaction between the two yesterday. Even though he'd seen the protective streak in her father, Maan had judged him to be a gentle sort of person. He had come across as a kind hearted man. Why then would he shoot her?

Parinada Godbole's one statement had flipped his world upside down.

He got on the phone and called the detective agency that he had previously used on several occasions. He knew he had promised Dadi when she had first employed Geet, not to have her background investigated. However, after hearing what he had today, there was no way he was going to let this go uninvestigated. He needed answers and he needed them now. He got off the phone after providing as many details about Geet and demanding that the agency get him results at the earliest.

Just then the intercom buzzed and he lifted the phone absently. It was his secretary.

"Sir Mr. Patil is on the line."

"Not now Tasha. No phone calls"

"Yes sir."

The intercom buzzed again.

"What. I told you no phone calls." He barked into the phone.

"Sorry sir, but Mr. Patil insists that the finally has a lead on the owner of the land, Khurana Constructions has been trying to acquire in the Konkan area for the resort. Shall I ask him to call you back?"

Maan had been trying to acquire the land for quite some time and even though he did not like that slimy bas***d Patil, this was a huge opportunity to let go off just because he didn't like the broker.

"No. Put him through."

"Namaskar. Khurana saheb. Main aapka sevak Patil bol raha hoon. Property ki malkin ka pata lag gaya hain."

(Namaskar. Mr. Khurana. I am your servant Patil. I have found the owner of the property.)

"Property disputed toh nahi hain na?"

(Is the property disputed?)

"Arey na sir, saari property meri bhatiji ke naam par hain. Mere pujya swargavasiya bade bhai ne sari property uske naam kar di thi, unke swarga vaas se pehle."

(No sir. The property is in my niece's name. My respected, late elder brother had transferred all the property in her name before his demise)

"Agar woh tumhari bhatiji hain, toh tumhe aaj tak kyu pata nahi tha uske bare mein?"

(If she is your niece, how come you don't know anything about her?)

"Kya bole saheb. Badi kamini aurat thi humari bhabi. Bohot saal pehle woh kisi doosre mard ke saath bhag gayi thi, mere bade bhai ko chodke. Tab meri bhatiji uske paet me thi."

(What can I say sir? My sister-in-law was a bi*ch. Many years ago, she eloped with another man, leaving my big brother behind. She was pregnant with my niece then.)

"What nonsense. Yeh kya bake jaa rahe ho tum. Mujhe nahi sunni hain yeh sab bakwas. Karodon ki property ki dealing hain, isiliye main tumse personally deal kar raha hoon. Aisi bakwas suanaoge toh deal abhi ki abhi cancel kar doonga."

(What nonsense are you spouting? I don't want to hear this bull shit. I am dealing with you on a personal basis, because we are dealing with crores of rupees. If you continue talking such crap I will cancel the deal right here and right now.)

Arey nahi saheb. Maaf kar dijiye. Aap ne pucha toh dil ki baat nikal gayi. Bade saalo se tamanna thi apni bhatiji se milne ki. Aaj jake pata chala hain uska.

(Oh no sir. Please forgive me. Since you asked, I spoke what was in my heart. I have been wanting to meet my niece for many years now and I have just found her.)

"Kuch decision lene se pehle, main tumahri bhatiji se baat karna chahoonga."

(I will want to talk to your niece, before making any decision.)

"Ji sir zaroor. Main bhi badi besabri se baat karna chahta hoon usse.

(Yes of course sir. I myself am waiting very eagerly to talk to her.)

"Accha sir phir ijazat dijiye. Namaskar."

(Alright then sir, I'll take your leave. Namaskar)

Maan kept the phone receiver down in its cradle and frowned. Was is it his imagination, or had there been a sinister tone to Patil's voice when spoke about his niece.

Whatever it was, he was not going to be dealing with Patil for too long, especially if all that prime property was in the niece's name.

He leaned back against the huge chair and closed his eyes. And just like that the thought of Geet Handa slammed back into his mind. He wanted to drive up to the Handa household to check on her. He wasn't sure what he wanted to check though. Was it yesterday's injury, or was it the gunshot wound that bothered him. He was also unsure how he would react if he came face to face with Mohinder Handa. His hands slowly clenched into tight fists at the thought of her father. He wanted to go and ask Brij Handa the details of his sister's injury, but he resisted. He wanted to be a little more in control of himself before he found out anything else about her. He did not think he could bear to hear any more in that moment.

So he shoved all thoughts of her aside and forced himself to work.