BALI 100 KM (Book 1) ✔

Chapter 52

The voice in the room sounded familiar. Who could it be? Bandu racked his brains to tag it with a face. On hearing his name, he was surprised, and his apprehensions were turning into reality.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Bandu asked, wanting to confirm the truth.

"I am..." the conversation stopped mid-sentence as footsteps sounded outside the door, and with a clique, the door opened, and footsteps were more pronounced. The door banged again.

"Remove his blindfold." again a man's booming voice ordered.

They were coming for him, and then a hand untied his blindfold. He opened his eyes and shut them again as the sudden light felt harsh. He blinked his eyes open. In his sight were four men with half their faces covered. He was in a dim-lit room. He tried to take in the surroundings.

"You know why you are here?" the man standing ahead of all of them asked. It was that booming voice. He seemed to be their leader.

"No, not really," Bandu replied, trying not to sound nervous. It was his chance of negotiation, and he needed to buy time.

"First, I will ask you questions, and then you will answer those. If I don't get a favorable reply, then you will lose your chance. Both to speak and to live. The choice is yours, so think before you speak," he said slowly, "That goes for you too, madam." he said, steering his gaze to Bandu's left.

Bandu followed the leaders' line of vision. In a corner sat a thin frame of a woman on a chair with his fate. He was shocked as he recognized Miss Sakhi. (But how can that be. They were supposed to release her as soon as they had him in their custody. Something terribly had gone wrong, or else she would not be here.)

"That's Miss Sakhi." the words slipped out of Bandu's mouth.

"Yes indeed. So you know her, eh?" the leader sneered.

"You were supposed to release her as soon as you got hold of me. You have gone back on your word," Bandu protested.

"We decided not to keep 'our word," the leader said, sounding amused, "Now it's question and answer time," he added with a laugh and sat down on a chair opposite him.

"Rana hid some documents in your shop when he took shelter there one night. The police arrested him before he could hand us the documents. We had men search your tiny shop but could not find it. That meant only one thing someone found those papers before us and hid them somewhere else. That person can only be you. So tell me, where have you hidden the documents,"

"First of all, there were no such papers' in my shop. The police had searched it twice and found nothing. And as you say it was taken by someone, then that someone is not me. Because I don't know what is the importance of those papers' to deem it valuable. And even if I had found it, I would have handed it over to the police at once. Don't you think that there could have been a third party to all this, who is maybe double-crossing you? You have to search for the traitor in your own house,"

"You are not as dumb as I thought you to be. You are very sharp and a good actor, acting out your lies in a convincing manner. But I can see through your façade, Bandu, and I know you are lying."

"No...I am not lying. Believe me..., my life depends on this. Why would I lie?" Bandu pleaded.

"You cleverly hid the pen drive and then innocently handed it over to the police after claiming not knowing what it was. You kept a tab on the case, always visiting the police station and being friendly with the Comm. and constables," he paused and got up and began to pace the room, 

"You wanted to know when the case would close. So then you could sell the papers' to a potential buyer," he said and stopped pacing and moved a couple of steps towards Bandu.

"If it is money you want, I will give you the price for the documents. Tell me, how much do you want for it?" He now sounded severely angry.

To that, Bandu shook his head in resignation. He lost the argument.

"You madam, I am asking you again for the last time. Tell me the location of the village of Ghatti and the other details in the missing papers," He said, turning his attention to Miss Sakhi.

Bandu, too, turned to look at her with pain in his eyes. She hadn't fully recovered, both mentally and physically. His meeting with her in the hospital last time had left her severely agitated.  Bandu had agreed to the kidnapper's conditions only to save her. But he was disappointed when he saw her there. When addressed, she lifted her head determined. She did not show any sign of fear.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It is my father's research. I was beginning to look at it, wanting to finish it as per his last wish. The missing papers contained maps and the locations in numbers, and memorizing them is impossible. I had just started my work on it when Rana stole it. How can I tell you things I do not remember?"

"You too are a clever liar. You say you don't know, but you were involved in the research for months on," he said.

"WHAT!! How...do you know that?" she asked shell-shocked.