MaNan: Breaking Free

39|Last straw

I know the only way I am going to get my peace back is by talking to Manik. But he just wouldn't answer his phone.

Just one more day, I try to assure myself, then he is going to come back.

But I am getting too restless. Waiting for even another hour seems like a huge task right now. I am sure I will completely lose my mind by the time Manik came back on Monday. I need to speak to him right away. I need him to reassure me that he is not up to anything behind my back.

I need to hear his voice, telling me that I wasn't wrong to trust him.

Deciding to give up on trying to sleep, I walk over to my window and look down at his apartment window. We had had many conversations through these very same windows. A light suddenly comes on in Manik's apartment and I see a shadow moving about.

What is happening down there? Has someone broken into Manik's place?

Grabbing my phone, I quickly leave the bungalow and sprint to the staff quarters.
Whoever it is, they are not getting away with it.

The door of Manik's room is ajar, and the light from inside is flooding the corridor outside. Holding my breath and making no noise, I push the door open and peek.

It's Pathak uncle inside, going through Manik's belongings at the speed of light. All his things are littered on the floor.

"Uncle?" I breathe in relief. "I thought we were going to talk to Manik first. Why are you snooping on him?" I accuse.

"Nandu, you don't understand. I need to find out why he is here. What he wants from us!"

"Why? Did you find something?"

He looks at me with a strange expression. "Yes, I did."

"What is it?" Fear grips me instantly and I find myself hoping with everything in me that it's not something bad. "Uncle, what did you find?" I repeat my question when he doesn't respond.

"Manik's father, Vikram Malhotra, was an employee of Singhania group. I knew him very well. We had joined this company around the same time." Pathak uncle's face is creased by worry, making him look much older than he is. "He was a very honest and hardworking man." He says with a sad expression.

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, beta." He says remorsefully. "He died about eleven years ago. One minute, everything was fine. And the next minute, he went missing. His body was found at one of our construction sites a day later. We released a press statement that he had died of an accident." Pathak uncle looks deeply troubled. "But, I know for a fact that Vikram was not supposed to be anywhere near that construction site because I was overseeing that project. Vikram was working on other projects. When he was found there, dead, I was shocked."

"So, it was not an accident?"

Pathak uncle looks around, as if checking for bugs. "No, I don't think it was an accident." He says so softly I have to strain my ears to listen to him.

"And no one ever did anything about it? There was no investigation?" I ask incredulously. A man was killed and nobody had bothered to find out how he had died?

Not just any man. It was Manik's dad who was killed! That's probably why he came here.

The realization jolts me to the core.

"You need to understand, Nandini. Praveen is a very powerful man." Pathak uncle looks terribly nervous. "He made sure there was no investigation. And it wasn't surprising that nobody challenged him. We all just accepted the official statement and forgot about Vikram." He mutters shamefully.