Wabasta | Complete ✔

Chapter 17

He did not waste a single second after finishing the call will Shagufta. It took him less than half an hour to reach their place. When he entered the apartment after Zaitoon opened the door for him, he saw the worry on both their faces.

Shagufta saw him and got up at once.

"Aman, uska phone abhi tak switched off hai. Mujhe samajh nahi aa raha main kya karoon. Woh toh usually mujhse pooch ke bhi nahi jaati, aaj toh bata kar gayi phir bhi... main -" she fumbled through the words.

"Aunty, aunty aap baith jaiye. Mujhe please poori baat batay."

She took a deep breath and replied, "Firdaus subha kuch 8 -8.30 baje nikli thi. Mujhse permission lekar gayi thi."

"Kahan gayi thi?"

"Woh toh nahi bataya lekin kahan ke kuch urgent kaam hai. Haan lekin yeh zaroor bataya ke woh medicines ya kisi bhi tarah ke koi drugs lene nahi jaa rahi. Woh aisi baate nahi karti Aman. Aaj usne poore confidence ke saath mujhe reassure kiya, aur yeh bhi kahan ke woh ek ghante ke andar wapis aa jayegi. Isi liye maine bhi zyada sawaal jawab nahi kiya.

Phir takreeban 9 baje ke kareeb mujhe uska phone aya. When I picked up the call I could only hear her scream and a lot of muffled noises in the background. Aisa lag raha tha woh madad ke liye chilla rahi thi. Isse pehle ke main usey kuch poochti phone disconnect hogaya. Aur tabse lekar abtak switched off hai."

Lines of worry had started appearing on his forehead too.

"Aap ko koi idea hai woh kahan ho sakti hai? Zubin? Zubin ko call kiya?"

"Zubin ko sabse pehle phone kiya lekin uska phone bhi switched off aa raha hai."

This new piece of information had sent him into deeper concern.

By now Shagufta's worry had turned into tears. Aman kneeled down on the floor infront of her and tried to console her.

"Aunty aap please kuch ulta seedha mat sochein. Mil jayegi Firdaus. Aapko pata hai woh drugs kahan se khareedti thi?"

Shagufta stopped crying at looked uo at him.

"Koi illegal pharmacy thi, jahan drugs bechte the. Maine usey ek bar jaate huye dekha tha. Lekin usne toh..." she stopped midway, beginning to doubt whether she really did lie to her face.

"Aunty abhi iss waqt yeh sab batein sochne ka wat nahi hai. Hamein kahin se toh talaash shuru karni paregi. Aap mujhe address bataye mein wahan jaakar dekhta hoon."

"Main bhi chalti hoon tumhare saath." She was beginning to stand up but Aman stopped her.

"Nahi aap aisi jagah par mat jaye. Main akele hi jaata hoon. Agar kuch pata chale toh main aapko phone kar ke bata doonga. Aap mujhe bas address text kardein."

Without waiting for her reply he stood up and walked out the door in the matter of seconds. He had to find her at any cost.

When he reached the place Shagufta had told him about, his heart sank when he saw the shutter of the shop closed and locked. He asked around some vendors on the streets whether they saw a girl matching Firdaus's description but to no avail. Disheartened and scared, he called up Adil and explained the whole situation to him.

"Tumhara koi dost hai na police mein? Can they track her number?"

"Haan bhai lekin uske liye you need to file an FIR first, and you can't do that before 24 hours since she went missing."

Aman winced. He could not think of any other way at that moment.

Adil tried to reassure him. "Bhai aap pareshan mat hoiye. Main phir bhi usse baat karke dekhta hoon kya kiya jaa sakta hai."