The Dangerous Trail

Discovery

Shravan was going to his native for few days as his mother was not keeping well. He was determined to make a pitch for his and Suman's relationship. Shravan never had any doubts that he wanted Suman forever, but he had been sometimes apprehensive about Suman but the night in Mysore had blown away all of them. They had kissed like there was no tomorrow and he could still feel the tingling sensation as he touched his lips, he could feel the sweetness of Suman's mouth when he swept his tongue on them. He had decided he would soon propose to Suman but knowing her she would love at least both families to participate in their wedding, whenever they decided to. Shravan promised himself that he would try his best to convince his mother , his only family but in the end if she did not budge he would let it go because he knew his mother would realize sooner or later, if not today that he had made the right choice. Shravan smiled thinking of how they had entered a new phase in their relationship and how Suman had changed since that night. He had seen the bold side of Suman only at work but when it came to romance it was, he who had to always take the lead since Suman would always be the demure and shy woman he so fell in love with. Now Suman was bold, passionate and flirty with him and had taken him by surprise. He was falling very hard for this version of Suman. The other day at work when no one was looking Suman had quickly given a peck and walked off leaving Shravan gaping at her. They had gone out for lunch and Suman had snug very close to him while riding back on his bike and slightly kissed the back of his neck making him almost fall of the bike and she had laughed mesmerizing Shravan as usual. Shravan ran his hand through his hair frustrated thinking how he would manage to stay away from her for long as he comes back from his native and then goes off to Andhra-Orissa border. Suman had come to see him off at the airport and it was apparent she did not want to let him go. She was trying to put up a brave face but unable to hide the despair. Finally, Shravan had pulled her into a hug and a peck in front of the airport making Suman blush till her roots and Shravan had laughed at that. They had held each other's hands till it was the last call to board and Shravan had unwillingly withdrawn them. With a promise to call every day and talk into late nights Shravan had left to see his mother and Suman had left to work.

The next couple of days had flown in a jiffy with Shravan connecting with his old acquaintances and taking care of his mother. His mother had tried to dissuade him from Suman but Shravan had not budged and his mother had finally given up on the topic sensing that further push might take her son away from her. Suman on the other hand had buried herself in work as they were going through loads of dossiers and information that was flowing through various channels as NCB had pushed more resources into this case owing to the political attention it was drawing. Sash had decided not to let Suman go with Saheb disguised as customers to reach the pushers because Suman had been exposed in Karwar and asking her to frontend this operation would be a risk for both Saheb and Suman. Suman was now working on the dossiers to build connections and following up on Saira's disappearance. Suman had taken time to warm up to Shravan's informer Mushtaq but she was now comfortable working with him. Mushtaq had provided vital clues on Saira's regular customers and some frequently visiting customers, people who had stopped visiting the brothel suddenly and they were drawing up information to trace Saira's disappearance. They have zeroed in on few drug peddlers who could be linked to her disappearance. Suman had just got off from an hour-long call with Shravan and also had updated him about Saira. He was going to be back in two days, and both were looking forward to seeing each other. Suman smiled thinking of how desperate she was to kiss him and hug him and be within the confines of his arms. His voice was her strength, his touch her salvation and his smile her life. The feelings were so strong that it sent a shiver down her spine, but she knew it was equally same for Shravan.

Suman was working late into the night as she was trying to piece information gathered on the pizza joints and restobars that were known to be points of distribution. The places had been bought and sold multiple times to cover the trail, but the profile of the buyers was quite suspicious as their bank account details did not show the clean money trail for the activity. One of the buyers for XYZ imports was Jacob Thomas and the name struck a chord with Suman. She remembered in the dossier that she had received for Emanuel had Jacob's name mentioned as his relative and partner in the trade. She tried to search information on social media and after soliciting the help of a cyber expert that they were working with, she was able to land on the correct profile. Staring back at her was the picture of the man who was behind Emanuel when he had sat questioning her. She was appalled the way the local police had covered his footsteps. When Suman had formally complained being intimated by Emanuel in police custody in spite of, he being the accused, the police had said that she was concocting stories as there was no evidence of Emanuel being in the police station. They had also produced alibi who would vouch that he was with them and as a result NCB could not push a case of intimidation. She searched more and more through lot of posts and photographs before she made a startling discovery. It was 3:00 am in the morning and she was so terrified by the discovery that she called Saheb to meet her at her quarters immediately so that he can verify whatever link she was looking at was indeed correct. Saheb's days and nights were now spent talking with Sharada but since that morning he was pretty occupied so they had spoken till late night so when Suman called he was groggy, disoriented and could not make out head and tail of what she was talking. He could just make out that whatever she was talking about must be important. Saheb had reached in an hour Suman's place and whatever sleep he had were blown away when Suman mentioned what she had found. It was sensitive and they could not discuss in the wider group, so Suman had asked for a special meeting with Subbu and Sash early in the morning.

Suman grabbed a sandwich and a cup of strong coffee to keep her from falling asleep as she rushed to make it on time for the meeting. Her steps faltered a little when she realized what are the implications and if she was doing this right, but it was better for her to do so she could handle it sensitively. Sash and Subbu were staring at the details and the diagram that Suman had put on the board as Suman explained how all of these outlets had somewhere a connection with M&M hospitality but there were quite a few registrations by that name so she was initially not sure . Mahendra & Mahendra could also be referred to as M&M while Mint & Mellow also could be the same but she had traced one of the shell company that was put up, XYZ imports. One of its initial buyer was Jacob Thomas and his social profile threw up an old picture of Jacob, Emanuel Fernandez and Maria Varghese and it showed her which M&M to look for. Shravan had once showed her the picture of Maria so she recognized her in the picture. M&M stood for Malhotra & Maria Hospitality and it was registered under the name of Devraj Malhotra and Maria Varghese. From the dossiers they had got about Emanuel it was also confirmed that he was in a serious relationship with Maria although initially Suman was not able to find the link but this discovery had fixed the missing piece. Sash and Subbu looked grave now and they were not sure how they would handle the fact that Devraj Malhotra , the estranged husband of Kavita Malhotra and father of Shravan Malhotra was their primary suspect.