Prithvi... [Vol 3]

Chapter 65

 

It was a crazy story. However, despite his rising tension, Sankatmochan couldn't help but feel glad and relieved at this proof of Prithvi's sincerity towards the girl. His friend may not be in love, but he genuinely cared for Nandini.

 

He looked at Sumer Singh, who had sat down on a chair next to Prithvi. He could tell that the former army man was stunned but he seemed to have come to terms with the details at a faster pace. However, his immediate question was not about Vikrant or Indrajit or any of the others.

 

"If you left from Devgarh in the evening, you should have reached here by midnight at the latest. What took you so long?"

 

"There was a pile-up on the JB express route. So I took a detour."

 

Sumer Singh stared at Prithvi with disquiet. "But that's the main, and fastest, way out of Devgarh as of now. You must have had to -"

 

"Later," Prithvi cut in tiredly. "I tried calling both of you several times yesterday evening. What's wrong with your phones?"

 

Sankatmochan tried to look innocent as Sumer Singh glared at him. "My phone was fine until yesterday afternoon, my lord, but then this ******* borrowed it. He only had it for a few minutes and it stopped working."

 

"I was trying to look at some pictures of Gods from the internet on his phone because some virus had affected my own mobile during the download," Sankatmochan claimed vociferously.

 

Prithvi looked at him with revulsion.

 

Still glowering at Sankatmochan, Sumer Singh said, "I had to take it to the repair shop. They said I could collect the phone by around 10 in the morning."

 

Keen on changing the topic of the phone, Sankatmochan soberly enquired, "Won't Kundan Singh and the others notice that they are being followed by Jiva?"

 

"Jiva has been doing this kind of work for years. If he's still dumb enough to get caught by those morons, he deserves whatever comes his way. And it also won't make any difference to their fate," Prithvi said icily.

 

"Is Vikrant coming too?" Sumer Singh asked.

 

Prithvi shook his head slightly. "No, he's just sent his men. But I'll be seeing him soon," he muttered grimly under his breath.

 

"If only we could have stopped Nandini from leaving the house," Sankatmochan sighed. "But she left for college an hour back. She had come to the temple as usual in the morning and she was really tensed because the drama was rescheduled. It is going to be staged today. The poor girl is going to be terrified when she comes to know about Vikrant's intentions."

 

"She's not going to know anything," Prithvi growled, "I'm not going to tell her and neither are both of you. If Jiva's information is correct, Vikrant's men would have left just an hour ago but I want to make sure she's -," he paused and then said, "When I return, she'll be there with me. I'm going to tell her that you're unwell, and I'll ask her to sit in this house for a couple of hours since Mochi and I need to go out. Mochi, when we reach here, tell her you changed your plans and decided to stay put in the house but that you need her help to take care of baba."