The Dangerous Trail

Revealed

Shravan continued " I am sure you would not have done what I did . The night you told me about Satya I had felt a strange emotion in me as if I was committing a grave sin by not telling you all this. You were so pure, so truthful, you are beautiful inside out and I was scared if I told you everything you would leave me. I was struggling between coming out clean at the risk of losing you or continuing this beautiful thing that was between us which I was experiencing for the first time and keep everything in wraps. Finally, I had decided to come clean in front of you the same day that you saw Devika hug me and my fate was sealed. During my Rajasthan adventure when I faced death in close quarters the only thought that consumed me was you, and one chance to tell you my story and even if there was one chance that you would still be mine I wanted to grab with my both hands". Saying this Shravan left Suman's hand and walked a little ahead and then turned around to look at Suman and said " If you decide that I am not worthy of you Suman, I don't deny that it will not break me but I will accept your decision and walk away from you. If you decide otherwise it should be only because you feel the same way as I feel for you but don't come to me because you pity me. I can live with your disdain but not with your pity. I want you with me to support and guide me in my journey to redemption and I can promise you that I will keep your happiness above everything else, even my life".

Suman was drowning in a vortex of emotions as after Satya left she had been facing the world alone and had been strong but she needed support, care and love herself and Shravan had been that and much more than that. She thought she must have been lucky to meet Shravan. This man in front of her does not realize that it needs a lot of courage to confess one's weakness in front of someone you love knowing that this might be the end of their story. Suddenly Shravan turned to look at her teary eyes and said, "Suman you believe what I said right, I do not have any proofs". Suman smiled recollecting what once Saheb had told her not so long ago. She then said "I don't have a choice Shravan. I have seen my adorable brother when he had cracked under pressure and chosen drugs to drown instead of fighting adversities. So, Satya my perfect Bhaiyya was flawed. My parents had fallen in love and got married even when their parents did not agree, but when I came late in their age according to society, they chickened out. So, you see they were also flawed. We all are flawed in our own way but that doesn't make us a person altogether not capable of being loved. When you were missing, I had realized, that I had fallen in love with you and I would have never said this if you said that Devika was indeed your girlfriend. I would have left both of you and walked away although it would have hurt me because I had no choice but to love you.". Saying this she turned around to brush her tears when a strong arm pulled her and she went crashing into Shravan's warm chest in a bone crushing hug as he molded her into him so no air could pass between them. Shravan kept murmuring sweet nothings in Suman's ear as he cried into her shoulders drenching her light blue shirt. Suman kept running her hands on Shravan's back as she said "I love you Shravan with all your goodness, with all your vulnerabilities, all your mistakes. I love everything about you".

They stood there for a long time in each other warm embrace but after a while Shravan lifted himself from Suman's shoulder and smiled and just held on to her. Suman asked him "Shall we leave now if you are ok". Hearing this Shravan nodded his head in a no with a mischievous smile playing on this lips as he pulled Suman closer so that their breaths intermingled and then Suman saw the familiar darkening of his eyes as he bent down to place a small kiss on the bridge of her nose and looked temptingly at her lips. Suman felt a little scared now, she had never experienced a kiss before or neither such intimacy. Her fingers automatically curled into Shravan's shoulders and dug into them as she stiffened and closed her eyes expecting his lips to crush hers in the flick of a second. After a few moments when it did not happen, she opened her eyes to see Shravan smiling looking at her. He said "This is about us Suman and its both of us. I must shamelessly admit that I crave making love to you till eternity but its not about just me,its about you too and if you are not comfortable with this its fine. I want us to move at a pace comfortable for both of us". Suman looked away unable to meet his eyes and squirmed a little in Shravan's arms so he unwillingly let her go when she said "Shravan I want to be with you but its just that ..". Shravan quickly held her hand in both his rough palms and said "Its ok Suman. Trust me I can live without touching you and just seeing your smile but I want you to trust me with your feelings and emotions". Suman continued looking at him astonished when Shravan could bear no more and bent down and placed a light peck on her cheeks and saw the now familiar pink...errr no a redder hue coloring her cheeks as he pulled her back into the car.

Suman asked Shravan if he wanted her to call Subbu and ask him for help in Saira's case,but Shravan wanted to wait for two days before going to Sash rather than Subbu. Both drove along the now visible beautiful coastline towards Karwar. Although Shravan had been a few times here but for Suman , this was first and she was loving the smell of sea breeze as she felt closer to her home in Chennai. Karwar is a seaside coastal town of Karnataka situated at the point where the Kali river meets the Arabian sea. This place was known for being a natural port and the Naval base but of late it had gradually grown to be a tourist hub owing to tourists looking for an alternative to Goa. Suvan enjoyed every bit of nature as the forests of the Arbail ghat were still lush green. The air was cooler. The smooth well-laid roads returned, albeit they were now the typical winding roads you find in the western ghats. It was a pleasure being able to glide over the curves one after the other, through an evergreen thicket.

When Suvan reached Karwar it was pretty late in the night but they had already informed the hotel so when they reached the small place the rooms were already fresh and ready. They were not hungry but awfully tired, so they hit the bed right away before they start on the eventful exploration of the village for their target. Suman woke up early next morning when she received a call from Sash and she face palmed thinking she had completely forgotten to speak to Sash given that she had heard he had a family emergency. This newfound relationship was taking away all her focus but then she smiled thinking the way Shravan had been with her through the whole journey and she felt her cheeks warming up. Sash on hearing her voice said "So, Suman how are you and how is Shravan?". Suman was a little surprised at his question and said "We are good but what happened, you were supposed to come". Sash laughed and said "You want me to swap with Shravan, I can do that you know. But the question is do you really want me to do that, I can start now and reach by evening." Suman was now completely jolted out of her sleep "Did he know about me & Shravan". Sash continued when he heard no response "Well, well, I got my answer Suman. Why do you forget that I am your mentor and guide so I know you inside out? I had noticed how you reacted when Shravan was missing, and I knew there is something going on so I thought it would be good if you have some time together." Suman was now smiling like a fool completely looking like a strawberry and that's what Shravan thought when he saw her walking outside speaking to someone on the phone. Shravan was curious to find out who was on the other end when he walked towards her room along the garden and seeing him Suman mouthed that it was Sash. As a parting warning Sash said "Don't forget lovebirds you have some work to do to so pull up your socks and get going and keep some romance left for later. You will receive in sometime the details of today's briefing".

Shravan joined Suman for breakfast in the patio outside her room where they had served hot tatte idlis with sambar and coconut chutney. Suman was unable to eat much as she kept blushing while explaining Shravan why Sash had called, and Shravan loved teasing her more till she leapt forward across the cane table and hit him on his shoulder. The phone beeped as Sash's message came through updating Suvan specifics of their operation.

Sash briefed the team with updates on the Operation Sangam as of today:

Main Target-->SR Reddy

Target A -->XYZ imports has a proven link with M&M hospitality . Runs a front as Tours and Travels to Middle East, Turkey,etc. Based on the invoicing done to clients its proven that there is over invoicing being done for Hawala payback. Details to be updated in case register.

Target B-->Truck Driver has proven links to Karwar and were childhood friend of Target C & Target E.

Target B moves the consignment to Andhra and Odisha Maoist region -->Suspected

Drugs procured(Rajasthan across borders)-->Kishwar Singh booked on charges of murder. Link to border supplies and middleman for suspected supply route in Maoist belt .

Target unknown moves consignment to cities current distribution channel pizza joint.Pizza joint owned by an ex- employee of M&M hospitality

Money collected from drug sale sent through Hawala to Dubai-->Difficult to prove

Money sent to terrorists from NGO A (Dubai) to NGO M(Mumbai) to NGO X(Andhra)-->link to be established.

New target-->M&M hospitality. Board members seem dummy. Funding from same funding agency as NGO A

Social media closed groups traced and the postal codes traced. They refer to kind of contraband and the quality of the contraband.

For further details please refer to the case register details.