Chapter 21
"Rudra! Wake up!" she shook him. He had managed to roll them off before the debris from the blast hurt them. He was still hurt, there were bruises on his arm, but no other visible injury. He couldn't be dead, she told herself. She knew she had to call Aman for help, but the phone wasn't around. It stopped raining, but still it was too dark to search for it. She had to do something herself to help them. She kept her head on his chest and felt his faint heartbeat. He was alive, but why wasn't he waking up? She was so angry with him she beat him with all her strength, "You promised that everything will be fine. Why are you not waking up? Jallad! You always manage to make me cry whether I'm on your side or not. It doesn't matter does it, I always get hurt. Wake up?" she fell over him as her courage faltered. "Hey bholenath. Please save him. He always found a way to make sure I was alright. Now you have to do this for me, make sure he is alright. Don't let him die, please."
She felt someone touch her head, "Paro? I'm ok" he stuttered. She was so happy to hear his voice, she felt so lost without him. "Paro, we have to get up", he said softly and propped himself on his arm. "Are you all right?" he asked, still holding her by the shoulder. She nodded as the awkwardness of their proximity crept up slowly. He asked if she called Aman, she shook her head. The fire from the blast hadn't died down yet. He wanted to go look for his phone and call for help, she held him back. "I won't go too close to the fire, I just need to look for something" he said but was unable to convince her. He had to retrieve his phone and call Aman. "If I still had my Rudraksh, I bet your Bholenath would keep me safe", he tried to boost her confidence. It worked, she took it off her wrist and put it on him. With a prayer on her lips, she watched him go close to the fire.
He had to hurry, the fire was burning up everything. His phone was broken, but he wasn't too worried. There was a GPS tracker on it which would have gone off at the time of the blast. Aman would trace them to the last known position. But they needed to get away from here soon, Tejawat would have known by of their visit to Birpur and the blast would lead his men here soon. He looked around for a place to hide till help arrives. There was nothing around for miles. He remembered that they crossed a deserted house a few miles back. Most people avoided it as they thought it was haunted, but that was their best option at the moment. He hoped that Tejawat's men stayed away from it too. He walked back to Paro and took her hand, "Lets go, we need to get away from here. We don't know who all heard the blast." She intertwined her fingers through his and held his arm, with one last look at the fire, they both walked away.
It took sometime for Paro to realise where he was leading her, she stopped in her tracks. "This building is haunted. We can't stay there", she warned him. He replied that he didn't care, he was tired and they needed a place to hide. He pushed the door lightly and it creeked open. She was still scared. "Wait here! I'll go make sure that there isn't any witch waiting for us inside" he tried to calm her down. She nodded and held her Rudraksh, "Hey Bholenath, keep him safe". She heard a crash and rushed inside. He was on the floor, "Careful, there is glass all over." He snapped a lighter on and on the faint light, she noticed that he had tripped over a lamp. She helped him up but she was still shaking. "The witch didn't push me down. I fell" he tried to assail her fear. She believed him, she was feeling cold, hence the shivering. He realized that his thick jacket which she was wearing, would have been soaked in the rain. His thin kurta dried during their long walk, he hadn't paid attention to her state. He found so old newspapers and lit a small fire. She was grateful for the warmth and they both settled down in front of it.
"I'm sorry" he looked up at her words. She continued, "If I hadn't been so stubborn to go to Birpur, we wouldn't be stranded in the desert like this." He smiled and told her, there is no where else he'll rather be. He asked if she found the answers she was looking for. "He wanted to make sure that BSD was still the enemy. He wanted to make sure that the people still trusted his words. He wanted to make sure that I was the fool whom you hoodwinked. He wanted to make sure that mamisa doesn't forgive me." Her voice sounded so empty like she was dejected. Tejawat cannot get away with this for too long, Rudra assured her. He is hiding because too many people know what he is upto. "Paro, she knew. Your mamisa knew you were innocent. She wanted to reach out to you" he told her gently. She shook her head the letter was to mislead them. It was to make sure that Rudra comes to the house where a bomb was waiting for him. It was a trap to kill him or her maybe even both of them.
Rudra moved closer to her and held her hands. He recounted all that he had heard at the dhabha. Paro listened with rapt attention, she didn't realise how devious Tejawat was. He was waiting for a reaction that never came. They sat in the deafening silence till she flung something into the fire. "No, don't do that. We have to keep the fire small, so that nobody knows we are here" he gently caressed her hands, which were still cold. He found an old moth eaten blanket, he shook the dust off. It will have to do. He asked her to take off the jacket. She was hesitant at his request as the shirt inside didn't have any sleeves. He averted his eyes from her form and held the blanket up to her. She understood his intention, took of the soaking garment and let him wrap her up.
Rudra went back to his spot. "Do you think he will turn against Thakurain maasa too? If she stands up to him?" she asked wondering about the fate of the other mother figure in her life. He didn't know what to say, he wished his mother would be safe. No matter what she did, he couldn't ignore the first thirteen years of his life which she filled with sweetness and sunshine. "Paro, she may be on his side knowingly. She was the one who helped plan the wedding. Its possible that she would have known of the fake groom and true purpose of the baraat" he told her objectively. She didn't want to believe him but in light of everything that happened, it made sense. The Thakurain had to be a fool not to notice what was happening right under her nose for so long. Or she was part of the evil plan and never cared about the girls of their village. "But she was so nice to me, how could she be so cruel?" Paro frowned. It mayn't be her choice he said. A lot of people are weak and don't stand up to their spouse when they are wrong. His own kakisa gets away with a lot of blunders simply because her husband lets her get away with it. Weakness was no excuse for letting someone toy with innocent lives Paro thought to herself.
It was getting dark outside and the cold was settling in. Rudra rubbed his hands to keep himself warm. She noticed and felt a little guilty for keeping the blanket to herself when he was cold too. Whether he blamed her or not, she was responsible for them to be stuck in such a cold and desolate spot. She walked over to him and offered the blanket. "Keep it, I'll be fine. You one the other hand will fall sick", he refused to take it from her. She quietly put the one side of the blanket over his shoulder willing to compromise and share it with him. He didn't expect this gesture from her. It wouldn't have been easy for her to put his comfort over her unease at their closeness. He smiled and thanked her. There sat waiting, huddled in a moth eaten blanket, in front of a small fire, in a haunted house. Waiting for Aman to come.
Meanwhile, Aman reached the farm along with Sumer who decided to tag along. He made enquiries on this property Tejawat's family owned it. But he had written it off to the people of Birpur. He looked around there was a some haystacks here and there, some bamboo sticks and a lot of sacks. To an ordinary passerby there was nothing suspicious about the place. It seemed like no one lived there at the present. He examined the sacks closer, some of them had holes. Small ones, probably made by bullets. This place could have been used by his men to train new recruits, he guessed. It was out of town nobody will here their guns and even if caught the Tejawat would not be implicated. His men were very loyal, they would never mention his name. Even if they are tortured to death, their silence could not broken. They knew their beloved Thakursa would take care of their families. They would sacrifice their lives for his honor. He asked Sumer if this was the same as the last time he had been here. Sumer confirmed that except for the lack of Bheema and the others everything was the same. He then showed him where his bhabhisa and Paro helped him beat them all up and escape.
There was something off about this, he looked at the diary again. This place wasn't mentioned neither was the godown they raided the previous night. Rudra had assumed, this must be a new one hence not mentioned in the diary. They weren't sure of how many of his new contacts Tejawat had developed since he was exposed. That logic didn't fit here as the kidnapping was months ago and it looked like it has been abandoned since.
Sumer was bored, he thought his cousin's job was more exciting than this. If it just walking around the same place for hours and looking at the same thing over and over again. Any fool could do this and Rudra acts as if its the most important job in the world. And this officer was so quiet at least with Rudra he could rattle him up easily and have a little fun. Aman didn't like the partner he was stuck with either. But his senior was insisted, he wanted to know if the man could be counted on to be a useful informant or will he just be a magnet for trouble. But Sumer didn't understand his place. He thought himself to be their equal and wanted to know more than he needed. His questions regarding what Rudra was currently doing instead of being here was the most annoying. Aman had a hard enough time focusing with Paro and Rudra away at Birpur. He knew it was dangerous and wanted them out of that village soon. He had a strong feeling the letter was a trap. He hoped Rudra will be able to protect the woman he considered his sister.
Sumer kicked a something in his boredom, the stone hit something with a metallic twang. Aman didn't like it, he received an apologetic look from the other man. They looked to see where the sound came from. It was a rusted old board with the writing hardly visible. "Sanganer 302029, its just the address" Sumer readout aloud. The number was familiar thought Aman. He looked in the diary, it was mentioned several times. It was such a simple code and they never thought of it. They came up with a lot of complex combinations which never worked.
"So, that number is important right. How much money will I get for telling you" Sumer enquired. Aman sat down on some hay to talk to the other man. "This is dangerous you know. Tejawat is not a common criminal. He is terrorist who will kill anyone who stands in his way. You won't even have a gun to protect yourself. Do you really want to earn money this way?" Aman asked. Sumer knew all this, the risk involved. But he also knew that if he and his mother had not gotten involved, Tejawat would never had known that Rudra had a family and where they lived. In their blind hatred they had invited trouble to their doorstep. Rudra was right the other day, whatever grievance they had against him and Tausa, outsiders should be kept out, especially ones like Tejawat. The money was for him to go after his own dreams out of his mother's control. He didn't want a life like his father or brother. He wanted to be in charge of his own life.
Aman understood his motivation for this decision and sincerely hoped he will stay on their side when things got tough. He had reason to believe that their old informant, that dancing woman was no longer on their side. He wasn't sure what changed but she was no longer trusted by Rudra. Maybe Tejawat made her a better deal. Would Sumer turn against them too, in such a situation? Would his senior be able to face a betrayal by a family member? He kept these doubts to himself, Rudra had decided to take a chance if his cousin proves to be street smart. He had to support his decision.
Aman got off the pile of hay, it was too hard. He observed at it carefully. There were boxes under it. Both men pushed off the hay from other piles and found more boxes. "These look like the boxes in that godown you told us about" Aman clarified. They opened it, it was empty. Sumer asked him what was in the boxes in the godown. "Gun parts. Guns are always smuggled after dismantling them. So that there is a higher chance of getting away it. The parts are sent over from different places and assembled later" Aman explained. So this could be the place where they assemble it, Sumer made a guess. Aman nodded and took out his camera to collect the evidence. His phone rang, "Aman here. What? How is that possible? How can his GPS signal just go off? Where is the last known location? Send some men over. We need to look for him, he might be in trouble." He was worried, if Rudra is in danger what will happen to Paro. Sumer saw his bleak expression and asked if Rudra was alright. Aman didn't know anything as of now. He had to go look. Sumer tool the camera from him and said, "Go find him. I'll take the pictures you need."
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