Finally managed to compose something that I'm decently satisfied with. Sorry for the delay.
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Chapter 39:
"Sir, Kabir asked me to give you this."
Pathak handed over the cream and gold colored envelope to the man, who promptly took it and caressed it fondly with his fingers. Opening the envelope, the man pulled out an elegantly designed card, which had an intricate gold border of swirls and arches. In the center of the card, a burgundy colored ink announced the marriage of Rachna Divya Garg to Kabir Prakash Tripathi on December 25th.
A lone tear trickled down the man's face, when he saw his son's name.
"Sir, I don't think that they will rest before they track you down. Why don't you just meet with them onc..."
The man stuck his hand out to interrupt the lawyer.
"No Pathak. Just do as I say. It's not the right time for me to come out yet. They need to figure out some more things on their own first."
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"Are you sure about this Karan? I mean, what if we have this completely wrong?"
Rachna sat on the floor of the living room with her legs crossed, leaning her back against the couch. Karan sat on the floor a few feet in front of her and twirled a pen around in one hand as he held out a sheet of paper to Rachna with the other.
"Bhabhi, it has to be a code. I've tried to look at it a million different ways but this is the only thing that makes sense. Look, we write words with letters but sometimes people convert each letter to a number if they want to send a secret message. Similarly, we can convert numbers to letters. So RED 2103 spells out 1854 BKC. It seems like an address to me, perhaps some place on BKC Road. I think we should go check it out."
"But Karan, how do we know that this isn't just some kind of spam message? I mean, why would someone repeatedly send the same message from an unknown number, that too on Kabir's phone? It all just seems too weird to me."
"It could be spam, as you put it, but it could also be a clue for something. What if this is papa's way of contacting us and telling us where he is?"
Rachna looked on at Karan and sighed, reluctant to agree with his words.
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Rachna shifted uncomfortably in her seat, as she sat in the parked car with Karan. They stood in front of what appeared to be an abandoned workshop or garage of some sort.
"Karan, this place seems way too spooky. It's just a rundown building. Come on, I'm sure that this isn't where we are supposed to be. Let's go home; Kabir must be waiting for us anyways."
"Nahi bhabhi, I have a feeling that this is where we are supposed to be. Let's just check it out quickly, now that we're already here."
Despite Rachna's objections, Karan opened his car door and stepped out into the chilly air of the dark night. Unwillingly, Rachna followed him as he walked towards the dark building. Using the flashlight on his phone, Karan examined the rusty lock that hung on the door. One small yank and the lock came loose easily, allowing them to enter into the dusty building. Rachna coughed from the musty smell that made the air thick and difficult to breathe. Making his way through the pile of junk that littered the area in front of him, Karan spotted a light emanating from the far side of the room, an observation that he whispered to Rachna.
"Bhabhi, there's someone here. See the glow of the light over there in the back."
Rachna tried to grab Karan's hand to pull him back, but he trudged forward, taking care to make as little noise as possible. Upon coming closer to the back of the room, Karan made out the outline of a small figure sitting in front of a fire, which appeared to be the sole source of the light in the room.
Suddenly, the loud ringing of a cellphone filled the room. As Rachna fumbled with her pocket to silence the ringing, the shadowy figure became alert and tried to make an escape from a back door. Karan ran behind the figure and grabbed hold of the person's collar. Rachna ran outside, a few meters behind Karan, and found a cowering figure sitting at Karan's feet, pleading with him.
"Bhaiyya ji please, let me go. I haven't done anything. I was just forced to take the blame for the accident. Please, bhaiyya ji, let me go."
"Stop it. Get up Raju."
Karan bent down to grab the frail man by his shoulders and helped him stand up. Rachna slowly walked and stood next to Karan, unable to take her questioning eyes off of the stranger.
"Karan, who is this?"
"Bhabhi, this is Raju. His father worked as a gardener at our house. Raju sometimes used to play with me when we were little kids."
Before Rachna could say anything more, Raju began his pleading again.
"Bhaiyya ji, I swear on my father, I didn't do anything. I only took the blame for the accident because madam ji promised me that she would pay for my mother's treatment."
Karan shook Raju's shoulders firmly.
"Raju, stop! Get a hold of yourself. What are you talking about? What accident?"
"I don't know what accident bhaiyya ji, but madam ji offered to pay for my mother's treatment if I took the blame and served the punishment for some accident case that she was worried about. She said that I wouldn't have to go to jail or anything, just do some community service. I had no choice but to take the money because I really needed it for my mother's operation. I did exactly what she told me to do, but a few weeks ago, the police came looking for me and I got scared. I've just been hiding here since then, but bhaiyya ji, I really didn't do anything. Believe me."
"I believe you Raju. Come with me."
Karan led Raju back through the building and out to the parking lot, where the car was. Giving him some water, Karan helped Raju sit in the back seat of the car. Rachna became confused at Karan's actions.
"Karan? What are you doing? I don't understand what's going on?"
Closing the back door, Karan leaned against the car with his arms folded across his chest.
"I'll explain everything once we get home bhabhi. Please, sit in the car."
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Karan handed Raju, who looked severely malnourished, a plate of food and encouraged him to eat.
"Raju, you eat. I'll just be back. Rachna bhabhi, you go check on bhai; I need a few minutes. I'll see you in a bit."
Rachna dazedly walked into the bedroom, where Kabir was resting with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and smiled when heard Rachna enter the room and close the door behind her.
"Rachna, what took you so long at the grocery store?"
The worried expression on Rachna's face made Kabir concerned.
"Rachna? What happened? Is everything okay? You didn't even take my call earlier."
"Kabir, we didn't go to the grocery store..."
Rachna's soft voice filled the room as she explained everything to Kabir about how she had seen the messages on his phone, how Karan had cracked the code, and how the two of them had found Raju.
"Raju? He's here right now?"
Rachna nodded as Kabir threw the duvet off of his legs and began to get out of bed. Rachna supported Kabir and they walked out into the living room together, where Raju sat, the plate in front of him completely cleared by now. Rachna helped Kabir sit down on the couch in the living room, just as Karan emerged from his bedroom with his laptop.
"Good, you're all here. Now Raju, don't be scared and tell bhai everything that you told me."
"Rachna already told me Karan. But, I don't understand. What's going on?"
"This is the fake Karan Tripathi that we've been looking for bhai; the one who did bhabhi's parents' accident. Actually, let me correct myself. He didn't do the accident, but he did pose as the culprit and has been serving the punishment, on Gayatri's insistence of course."
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❤️ Nivi
Edited by nividances - 10 years ago
Anupamaa
