Chapter 4 :
Isha squinted her brows as if she was remembering something,''she did say she was working on a big show down upon a celebrity. The day she spoke about this file, the same day.,yes. She told me how the glamor world got infested with lecherous vermins ,they needed to be flushed out...It has something to do with casting couch scandal, some bollywood biggie is in it I guess. She didnt take any name though.
''plz isha didi ! Think hard. There must be something which can give us a clue'', Ananya prodded. Isha slumped back in her seat with a defeated sigh, shaking her head in denial. Suddenly a loud jingle from her purse broke the stupor and made her jump.she quickly fished out her mobile and looked at the screen quizzically. The screen flashed restricted number and isha's eyes widened in sudden realisation where the call was from. She quickly got to her feet and rushed to show kabir. ''yep, that would be our kidnapper'', he confirmed. Seeing isha frozen and staring fearfully at the screen, he snapped.'' hurry up ! Press the damn answer button''. Isha shook her shock away and quickly put it up to her ear. ''Hello?'', she started in a shaken voice. '' isha suri ?'' a digitally altered voice asked. ''yes, this is Isha. Who are you ?'', she replied, shakily. Kabir snapped his fingers loudly to get her attention and as soon as she had her eyes on him, he gestured impatiently to put the phone on speaker mode. Ananya drew a sharp breath as a digital voice announced from the phone, ''I have your sister.'' Isha's heart nearly stopped beating. Fear and emotions tried to choke her voice as she cried into the the phone', ''please, dont do her any harm. Why are you doing this ?''. Ananya pushed kabir aside to stand by her side, she half embraced her from her shoulders and asked her to be firm with her eyes. The voice from the cell replied indifferently,'' she is all right now. She will be returned as soon as I get the money. She wont be harmed if you work according to my wishes.And I am changing my mind, you have 2 days instead of 7.''
''you will have your money'', Isha assured, '' but please let me atleast talk to purba for once. I need to know she is okay''. There was a long pause and Ananya thought he had hung up but then the mechanical voice drawled,'' I will consider that. But if u want to see your sister soon, better start gathering money without wasting time. All you have to do is bring me money at the designated time and place. And dont make the mistake of informing police. I have eyes upon you all the time. One wrong step and woosh, your sister vanish.'' isha shivered at the last sentence and looked at kabir while a soft plonk and monotone beep indicated the call was finished. kabir was standing like a statue all this time,head bent down, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans,deep in thought. Suddenly he woke up,''well,Miss Suri at least u can be sure of your sister's safety. That would be enough for now. Go home and collect the amount as requested. And if you get any more phone call from the kidnapper,which I think you will get soon,contact me immediately. If there is anything more I need to know, I will call you'',He rushed in his words startling Isha with his sudden curt dismissal. But kabir seemed to have no time to spare. Grabbing a delicate wrist firmly, he stormed out of the cafe,with a rattled miss Kashyap, trailing behind and struggling to keep up with his long strides. Poor Ananya ! She didnt have the moment to say bye to Isha let alone comforting her after this harrowing experience. Even before she opened her mouth to protest,she was shoved inside a car and kabir had ignited the engine. Tires screeched and the car zoomed through the traffic in great speed.
[... ...to be continued]
