Chapter 22

There was a stunned silence in the stuffy cabin belonging to Inspector D’Lama. But it proved to be a dormant volcano waiting to explode and it did. Anshuman flew off his chair knocking it down in the process as he scampered towards the inspector. He bent on the table before him and spoke with a constricted voice. “…What on earth do you mean by… Mee..Meera… what the fuck is happening…? My sister… she is alive…? Fuck fuck…FUCK….” He banged his hand on the table and Aman had to use his might to restrain Anshuman from hurting himself.

Inspector D’Lama said nothing but instructed them to follow him. They rode together for about an hour and soon reached Benaulim town, the same place where he had seen Simrat disappear the night he had followed her. ‘Annie Gomes home for women’ Anshuman followed the inspector in a daze. He saw some police constables already present and the harried staff running helter-skelter trying to get things under control. The chaos at the home was palpable by the shocked-looking relatives and the disoriented patients in the loose uniform. Anshuman flowed the Inspector and close on his heels were Rewa and Amandeep as they hurried to the end of the first-floor wards. The last room was open and as they stepped inside the sight that met them resembled the aftermath of a hurricane. There were a couple of monitors and a machine that looked like a ventilator. There were syringes strewn over and the bed was ransacked. Anshuman’s heart was in his throat. Before he could ask anything, a senior doctor walked in and met up with the Inspector who in turn briefly introduced Anshuman as Meera’s brother. 

The doctor walked towards Anshuman and patted his shoulder. “…So finally I get to see a family member… the poor lady lay… here all alone… and I had almost pulled the plug every time she sank…”

“…What …do you mean doctor…? Meera was alive here…? Was she sick…?”

“…Sick…? Imagine… she was comatose for almost a decade… Simrat… God bless that soul… she made sure your sister was well taken care of… the woman gave a decade of her life for your sister and … her son…”

OH God, no wonder…. Realization dawned on Anshuman. “…Manpreet is Meera’s son…” It was more like he was convincing himself.

Rewa walked towards them and spoke. “…What was all this about… we from the SOP had conducted the investigation in December and were told Meera was …. Dead….”

“…She would be if Simrat hadn’t kept her alive… Honestly speaking Meera was as good as dead… she was vegetative…we had kept her alive on Simrat’s insistence… She wanted Meera’s son to see her when he turned ten… only then she had decided to let her go… she felt the boy deserved to know his biological mother…”

Anshuman crumpled to the floor sobbing and Amandeep held his shoulders, making him stand. He knew grief from close quarters and could empathize with the guy. Fortunately, he had Nirvi with him and hoped Anshuman would soon get his solace as well. But now he was inconsolable.  He wailed. “…What kind of a brother am I … I couldn’t save her… I didn’t even know she was… here…”

The doctor spoke softly. “…Son… there was nothing you could have done for her…the tiny flame of her life flickered from time to time… threatening to extinguish but it bounced back again in the frail body… probably waiting for her brother to arrive…”

Rewa the only one thinking rationally spoke up again. “…So who was the one who died ten years ago…?”

“…that was Simrat’s sister Manpreet…she was comatose following a brain tumor and Meera’s best friend…Simrat sacrificed her dying sister to save a pregnant Meera and D’Lama here who was a new entrant to Goa those days, tweaked the post mortem report… We had to save Meera at any cost… unfortunately… after a decade those bastards found her…”

“…But why… why take her…? What will she do…? How can she harm them…?” Anshuman couldn’t understand the swines…

“…I think it’s something to do with Kasim…” Aman said. “…As you said, Kader alias Kasim is Manpreet’s biological father… which means he … had an affair with Meera… then how did Rehmat come into the picture…? It all doesn’t make sense…”

Rewa asked the doctor. “…What happened here…?”

“…Well…” the doctor looked up sheepishly. “…It was yesterday… we had a power failure and the generators were getting depleted so we had ordered rental ones for emergency patients like Meera who were dependent on the machines…. I think… the company involved got access and early morning today… a group of those people left the premises after power was restored…. We don’t have CCTV footage of the time they left or got into the room… I think… they… took her… There is no blood or anything to indicate they harmed her… I think they knew what they were doing…”

Just then Rewa’s phone buzzed. “…Ok… guys we got the location… it is close to the Mormugao port…” She then looked up at Inspector D’Lama.

He thought for few seconds and immediately picked up his radio transmitter. “…naka bandi on all roads leading to Mormugao port… right from IOCL area to MPT Vasco check-post… Alert Vasco police… to check for suspects… there will be medical equipment around…. Yes… a 9-year-old boy and a woman in her early thirties…Yes…”

Rewa connected with her superiors who arranged for the coast guard to be on stand-by and alert. The army unit was already dispatched and was to reach the tracked location in an hour. Anshuman now didn’t think of anything else… to his surprise, he didn’t bother about Meera anymore… he was worried sick about Manpreet… and Simrat… he couldn’t let them perish… not till he was alive…

They all rushed out to make a move towards the suspected venue. It was going to be a herculean task to find where the kidnappers had housed the trio… But Rewa was confident of finding them, tracker or no tracker.

Amandeep patten Anshuman’s shoulder. “…Hang in there buddy… Kasim will not harm his son… Manpreet is safe… this will end very soon… it has to… somehow our battles were linked… let’s finish this chapter once and for all…”

Anshuman only nodded rubbing his face… He looked up to the skies, thanking the Almighty for giving him some information about his sister. He hoped wherever she was now… she wouldn’t be in pain and just know in spirit that her brother was on his way…

©priyagole. No part of the story can be copied or shared anywhere without the consent of the writer.