The Dangerous Trail

Bait

Note for my wonderful readers:

Thank you for all for being with my journey of Suvan. Hope you are all safe and healthy. Happy reading. This is a shorter chapter but will write larger ones during the upcoming holidays.

Suman tried calling Sash but then realized they were out of station and were in workshops so obviously are not able to take calls. She decided to call the office but then a thought struck her that Saheb was in danger, if there was some mole in office who has leaked any information. If that is the case, then she clearly did not know whom to trust. The fact that intrigued her the most was why did Saheb keep stressing on Shravan. It seemed to her whoever Saheb was with wanted Shravan in return for Saheb and that was an extremely scary proposition. She could not inform Shravan , she was unable to reach her trusted seniors and she had Saheb's life in danger so Suman decided on the next available option to put herself up as the bait. She no way could endanger Shravan's life by letting him come here and knowing him he would gladly give himself up for Saheb. The only way she could find out what was going on and have a chance to buy time was to put herself up which might buy time for Saheb or she might be able to convince them that she would lead them to Shravan letting Saheb escape and also thereby giving time to Sash and Shravan to catch up with the gang. She took some time to decide the pros and cons and then scribbled a number on paper for Mushtaq and let him know what had happened and what she was planning to do. Mushtaq could not let her do this, he had seen what she meant for his Shravan bhaiya who had given him a new lease of life. He started pleading with Suman that he will go instead of her or if not then he will accompany her, but he could not let her go alone. He sat on his knees on the dusty roads and pleaded with his hands folded to stop Suman from going. Suman really felt bad for Mushtaq as she pulled him up on his feet and said "Mushtaq, at this point I can only trust you. I cannot trust anyone else in the office because I don't know who the leak is. Keep trying the number I gave you and after confirming its Sash, let him know that my life is in danger and ask him to come immediately. Once he is hear talk to him face to face, not over phone. Mushtaq, I will manage myself and once Shravan is here let him know what happened. I am sure he will come looking for me and I will hold on till then". Suman's voice had a quiver at the end, and she hoped Mushtaq did not notice it and then she turned towards Mushtaq and said "You are the only one I have who would be able to rescue me whatever I am going in for so be here and be strong and do what I said". She then looked back and left leaving a teary Mushtaq behind.

Time was ticking as Suman rode her bike cutting across the busy lanes off the highway as Saheb had instructed and soon she had reached her destination. She could feel her heart thudding loudly as she held on to her nerves, parked the bike and inspected the location carefully and clicked some pictures and sent them to Sash which could give him location pointers. She looked across the empty roads on both sides and stood in a corner and waited as unwittingly her fingers grazed the beautiful ring on her finger making her eyes mist. Suman knew what she was up for and she knew the consequences of it and she also knew probably she might not see her Shravan again and the thought made her restless and for once she thought she would go back but then she remembered how desperately Saheb had asked for Shravan. She smiled at her fate and said to herself "A hundred times I can give up my life for you Shravan even I have to be born a hundred times to do this " as Shravan's smiling face came up in her memory misting her eyes again. Suman had been waiting for quite some time and she was almost on the verge of giving up when she saw an open jeep in a distant with men who were covered till below their eyes nearing her. In a few seconds they reached her and immediately jumped off to surround her and before she knew her mobile phone was snatched, and she blindfolded. She then heard the guys speaking in a mix of Hindi and Telegu to someone on the phone "Boss, you said there will be a man, but this is ladies, what do I do". The phone's volume was quite loud so Suman could hear someone laughing on the other end and saying "oh!! She must be the one, his special lady, get her and he will come". A shiver went up Suman's spine, they were looking for Shravan and now she could only pray Shravan should not come here and somehow Sash should reach ahead of him and find her out. Her only hope was the pictures that she tried to send would reach Sash given the bad network in the area.

They had driven quite some distance and Suman was aware of her phone been thrown away and her hands tied behind. She had tried to struggle against the ropes, but they had cut into her skin and she could make out that her skin was already getting bruised. She had given up her unsuccessful attempt and had tried to concentrate on where they were driving to. She could smell mohua trees and probably eucalyptus too which told her they were driving in the forest area and since the road was a little bumpy they might have turned off from the highway and was driving in some narrow roads and it was approximately almost an hour they had driven so they maybe on the state borders or driving towards the north of the state. She would think they were not towards the hilly side as she could not feel the vehicle try to pull hard with all the people sitting in the vehicle. After some time, they had stopped, and Suman was roughly pulled out and dragged into another vehicle and she panicked. If there were any CCTVs on the way which she had serious doubts, there were but if any of them would have picked up the vehicle they would reach a dead end if they changed the vehicle. She tried to buy time and shouted out "Where are you taking me? Where is Saheb? You have me now, please release him and let him go. I won't go anywhere till you get Saheb". She felt a sting and she could feel the side of her lips bleed a little as a tight slap landed on her cheek. Suman realized her strategy wont work and it was better to save her energy to have clarity of thought when they reached the destination as at this point it would be impossible for her to plan an escape strategy. She also concluded that Saheb was indeed in captivity with some bad people and she sincerely hoped that he was alive and in not so bad condition. The new vehicle Suman presumed was also a jeep given the dusty air that was blowing against her hair and the rails that seem to dig into her back. It was those rugged vehicles probably that they use in the mines and then it struck her that indeed the people who had kidnapped her had Maoist links and probably from those hinterlands they had sourced these vehicles. Now it also dawned on her probably that is the reason they wanted Shravan as he was dismantling their network. They must have found out but did not let it on Saheb and this was their ploy by trapping Saheb to get Shravan.

They had driven for maybe another 30mins before Suman could feel that they had taken a sharp turn and had entered a dense forest area as she could hear the vehicle crushing the dried leaves and jerked badly probably due to extremely bad roads. Suman's tied hands were dangling outside now, and she kept lightly rubbing her wrists where the ropes had left a bruise fiddling with the ropes as she tried to think ways of leaving her trail for people to find out. She was rubbing her fingers when they brushed something metallic, yes it was her ring that her Shravan had given her making her forever his. She had decided she would not part with it for life but now the ring had a more important mission to accomplish as her last trail that she could leave for the person who had become her breathe and one who she had chosen to give up her life for. A tear rolled down her cheeks as she let her fingers linger on the ring for a while taking in the feel of it. She felt as if she had touched Shravan in his most sensitive spot between his knuckles. She smiled a small one remembering their night together before she finally gave a strong tug at the ring and letting it fall on the road hoping that it will reach the person for whom she had let it fall. Although she knew the dangers of Shravan coming to look for her but a part of her heart knew that he will not sit, he will come looking for her and if someone can find her it will be him because he would exactly know what she would do and how she would react to such a situation. The only thing she prayed was he should not come alone. The ring fell with a small clang on a hard-small rock and then disappeared among the dried orange brownish leaves that scattered the forest bed waiting for its rightful owner as the vehicle sped away to oblivion .