Sirf Urmi (Part 3): FIC

As soon as the car was parked, an emotionally overwrought Urmi leaped out of the car and ran inside the house. The door slammed shut.

"Urmi ji!" shouted Sahil. "Good Lord, what has she done!"

Shaurya screamed and tried to run after his mother. Thankfully Dr. Sharma caught him in time. He cried himself to sleep in her arms. Dr. Sharma told Sahil she would be in the car with the child. If Sahil needed her, he only had to send her an SMS.

"You guys hurry up and get into position. Jaldi karo!" said Sahil urgently.

His men quickly dispersed, got their equipment and arms which were kept hidden and closeby.

Sahil felt a gentle tap on is shoulder. He turned to find Urmi's mother Saroj and sister Anu. Both looked like they had been weeping profusely. Behind them were two other women, which Sahil surmised from their whispers to be Urmi's brother's wife Asha and her mother.

"Amma, Samrat ji ne mera pati ko maar diya" wailed Asha. Her mother tried to console her. Both Saroj and Anu turned and glared at Asha. Neither Asha nor her mother could look them in the eye.

"Officer," said Anu, trying to keep her voice steady. "Where is Urmi didi?"

"She is inside."

"What?" shouted Anu.

Saroj could not speak. The tears she had been holding back came pouring down her cheeks.

"Anu ji," said Sahil, trying to sound calm "what does Asha ji mean Samrat has killed her husband?"

"I will tell you," said Saroj, wiping her face. "The man I am now ashamed to call my husband and his mother have made it their mission to support that monster. Samrat planned to lure Urmi out of hiding by faking the death in the newspaper. These two," Saroj said with contempt, pointing at the now chastised Asha and her mother, "helped create such a situation at home that my poor girl was compelled to leave. When my other children Anu and Gaurav learned of Samrat's plans, they tried to warn Urmi but Samrat and his hired goons took all the phones, cut the land line and locked Anu and me in a room. We escaped through a window. We could not save Gaurav who was being beaten up."

"How did Asha ji and her mother get out?" Sahil asked, speaking to Saroj and Anu about them in the third person glancing in their direction with disgust. Such people were in large part to blame for the way abused women suffered beyond the tortures meted out to them by their husbands.

"I think they just scampered out of the room, like rats leaving my grandmother, my father and my brother alone with Samrat Jiju and his goons," said Anu scornfully.

"And who is inside?" asked Sahil "I mean, how many people."

"There are five or six goons inside, not including Samrat. Plus my four family members" said a surprisingly composed Saroj. Sahil looked at her with admiration. She was obviously fighting her panic to help Sahil save her family.

"Urmi," said Saroj, her voice cracking. "What will happen to Urmi?"

"Ma'am, you might not want to be here for this. It could get ugly."

"I never stood by my daughter when she needed me the most. I am not leaving her now. And Gaurav? He is badly hurt!"

Sahil sent a text message to Dr. Sharma in the car, asking her to have some of her medical staff on site in case Gaurav needed immediate attention. Dr. Sharma assured Sahil everything would be ready at the clinic as well.

He asked one of his officers to take Asha and her mother into the police station. This announcement caused pandemonium until it was explained that it was only for questioning and their safety. Sahil knew those two would cause more damage than good. He agreed to let Saroj and Anu stay.

"I need you both to understand that we have a hostage situation. I need you both to stay very calm. If Samrat feels cornered, he might hurt Urmi if he hasn't already. And I don't know what condition Gaurav is in, but we all need to keep a cool head. Can you do that?"

Anu and Saroj nodded mutely. Their mutual anguish somehow gave each woman the strength to be strong for each other and for their loved ones inside.

"Are we ready team" asked Sahil. "We will first try negotiating. If that doesn't work, we break down the door, understood? But no one shoots or acts without my express orders. LIves are at stake here!"

"Yes sir."

Sahil was by now dressed in his bullet proof vest and wired up as required.