Chapter 12

    NK came to the backyard to smoke hiding from others.  Placing a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, his fingers then searched the pockets of his green jacket and finally emerged with a lighter. Before he could light the cigarette he felt someone approaching him. He immediately turned back dropping the cigarette and saw the trembling form of Anjali Di.

Seeing her pale and tear stricken face he sensed something was terribly wrong. He quickly reached by her side and placed his both hands on her shoulders.

"Kya hua Di?"

Anjali was about to blurt out everything but stopped herself .  She did not know where all the cameras were installed. She composed herself taking a long breath and looked at NK.

"NK bhai can you come with me to buy some pooja items ?

NK looked at her confused.

"Of course.. we can go tomorrow morning Di."

"No... I want to go now.. Please come with me."

The finality in her tone surprised him. He understood she wants to get out out of this house now for reasons unknown to him.

"Ok no problem Di, we will go now.. I will bring the car."

    When the car left the premises of Shantivan Anjali told NK about the conversation she heard. NK was not shocked as he was already aware of  Arnav's kidnapping.

    He parked the car in a deserted place. He made Anjali relax and handed her a bottle of water. He needed to act fast, that man was extremely dangerous. He got out of the car and dialed Akash's number. 

    After few minutes Anjali came out of the car and sat under the shade of a tree by the roadside. She closed her eyes as the cool breeze caressed her face. Her husband's words were ringing in her ears. 

NK came and sat with her after sometime. 

"Di.."

Anjali looked at NK with a shattered look on her face.

"What will we do now NK bhai? "

"Di .. I just talked to Akash.. He will be reaching tonight. "

"But NK bhai.."

"Di.. please listen to me first..   We need help from police to deal with him. Akash will talk to his commissioner friend and we will figure out something.. But till then you have to act like nothing has happened ."

"I can't NK bhai.... He tried to kill my chote, he lusted after my brothers wife... He betrayed me. How can you expect me to be calm ?" 

NK looked helplessly at Anjali's weeping face.

"Di I understand .. but this is not a time to be emotional..He is a dangerous person, he can harm our family. we cannot take a chance... Please Di.. He should be punished for the mistakes he did...  Here talk to Akash, he is on line...."

    He handed his phone to her and waited for them to finish their conversation. He felt Anjali was better after talking to Akash. They stayed there in silence for some more time. They need to deal with Shyam Manohar Jha for once and for all.

NK parked the car and held Anjali's hand in a comforting manner.  

"Di.. you know what to do right?

Anjali nodded weakly and walked towards the main entrance of Shantivan. She entered her room and saw Shyam was sitting on the bed typing away something in his mobile.

"Where were you Rani Sahiba? " he asked seeing her entering the room.

"I went out to buy some pooja items. you were not here so I took NK with me."

Anjali managed to say keeping her tone as normal as possible. In response he smiled at her and his eyes went back to his mobile screen. Anjali came and sat on the opposite corner of the bed.

"Actually I wanted to discuss something ."

Shyam gestured her to continue without taking eyes from his mobile.

"I was planning to donate the properties chote transferred in my name to a charitable trust. After all.. we don't want that much money to live right? I know you will be more than happy with my decision , still I wanted to ask you." 

She noted his face loosing color but he quickly composed himself.  

" Since chote had no problem with what I do with the property he gave me, I think we should use it for a good cause..  It is not fair to spend my brothers hard earned money when i have my husband to take care of me. I know you also share my opinion..hain na?"

Shyam faked a smile at Anjali and nodded. 

"Bilkul rani sahiba.. but no need to take any decision in a hurry... I am feeling very tired , I will rest for sometime. please call me when the dinner is ready.. we will talk about this later. ok?" Shyam dismissed her in a hurry.

    Anjali nodded and left the room.  Shyam lied down on the bed closing his eyes. Damn ... this was not going as he planned. He need to talk to Dadi to stop Anjali from doing anything stupid.

    Next morning when he came down for the breakfast he was shocked to see Akash. What was he doing here? Didn't he leave Shantivan for good with his wife? When he sat on the chair to have breakfast Hari Prakash informed him that Anjali already left for a sat-sang and she asked him to make sure Shyam had his breakfast. 

    

    He heard Akash telling mamji that he was here to sort out few issues emerged in Delhi office of AR due to Arnav's sudden exit.  He finished his breakfast and left the table in a hurry.

    He should execute his plan with care. But he cannot act stupid and get into trouble like last time. Now he needs money to settle few things. He was not able to withdraw money from Anjali's account which can cause a delay in his plan. He opened his official email inbox and surprised seeing an email from SR enterprises.

.....................................................

    Anjali, NK and Akash were seated before the Vivek  and his friend Jai.  Akash had discussed the scenario with Vivek yesterday.   Jai and Vivek were batch mates. After the training Jai and Vivek  were posted in Delhi and in Kerala respectively. They patiently listened to Anjali and NK's side of story

"So ... Anjali Di..we cannot simply arrest Shyam without any proof. if we did, he can easily come out of jail."  Vivek told Anjali.

"But I heard him talking.." 

"Yes.. but we do not have any solid evidence to support your claim. Let's not forget that we are trying to catch a criminal who is a lawyer. He practices law. And by this time he must have closed all the loop holes which can lead the police to him..  And from the incidents Akash narrated me I  can tell you that he is a very clever person otherwise he could not carry on with this act all these years without making any of you suspicious.."

"Now what are you suggesting Vivek..?"  Akash interrupted him

"We have to wait until we gather enough proof against him. But at the same time we cannot let him stay in Delhi as we are not aware what exactly his plan is.."

He continued looking at a file in his hand.

" We have some information about him. It seems like he is involved in many illegal businesses like drugs, black money etc.. but we don't have enough proof. The man with whom shyam was communicating can be very helpful. we have to catch him first. For that Khushi can help us since she is the only one who can recognize him.  But before that we have to make Shyam leave the city for few days. "

"But How?" NK asked Vivek.

"One of my brother's friend will approach Shyam for a case and will offer him huge amount as fees. Anjali Di's account is frozen as per Akash's instructions.. So he will accept the case for sure considering the money. For making him believe this is a genuine case Mrs and Mr. Jha will be invited to a cooperate party hosted by the same friend . My brother also will be there in the party as a guest. That particular case needs Shyam's presence in Mumbai . So once he leaves we can get hold of his gang. His phone is being tapped by us and two policemen will follow him everywhere."

Seeing no response from any of them he continued..

"Most importantly ,all of you should act normal. Don't discuss anything with each other when you are in Shantivan. Even if he goes away from Delhi , he will be watching everyone through CCTV. We don't know since how long the cameras were there, so maybe we can get some useful  information from the footage's stored. we will take the help of the hotel room service to get the laptop once he check in.... After this we will meet once Shyam leaves for Mumbai. if there is any change in plan I will be sending an SMS"

Once Vivek was done, Akash looked at Anjali and gently held her hand. She looked back at him sensing his concern, she nodded silently. Akash understood her silent message.  His Di was ready do this.

Love,

ST