The Dangerous Trail

Clue

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It had been 6 days now the local police, NCB were searching for Saheb and Suman but with no success. They were already talking to other states to take help of local police to expand the search beyond the state boundaries. There were already posts on social media announcing reward for anyone who could provide some information about them. NCB continued interrogating the suspects of the drug trail in their custody extensively. In addition to that Shravan, Aneesh , Mushtaq and his boys were also looking into small pockets where larger teams might not have looked into. They were able to investigate the no man's land where neither state's jurisdiction worked. Shravan had now fallen into this routine life where he barely ate and slept and most of his time went in the search. He would start almost at sunrise and continue till dusk and continue the same the next day. Each day he returned late covered in grim and sweat , washed himself up, hardly ate anything and then started to go through all information to plan the next search strategy. Everyday he would curse the sun for going down so soon giving him too little time to search. Ratna masi had arrived and her arrival had changed few things. In spite of her being worried about Suman, she had taken upon her to care for Shravan. She would prepare simple meals which Shravan could eat quickly and get back to work. Shravan had practically shifted to Suman's quarters and it had made his life a little easy as Ratna masi took care of him while he worked towards his way to find Suman.

It was almost post-midnight when Ratna masi could hear some sniffing sound. She tossed and turned thinking she might be hallucinating and fell into a light slumber but soon she heard the sound again and this time she was sure it was coming from the next room, Suman's room. She quickly picked up her shawl and wrapping it around quietly tip-toed to her room. Shravan slept in the study, so she was not sure who was in Suman's room at this hour. She saw that the door was open, and a soft glow of the bedside lamp was visible. As she moved to the room, she stood rooted looking at Shravan's state. His eyes looked hollow and his face dark as he clung to Suman's orange towel and bathrobe trying to smell her. His eyelids were still wet from the tears he had shed but now he sat there unmoving. Ratna Masi' could not stop herself from reaching out to Shravan, the man who was lost in love , it probably felt to him that a part of his breath was missing. She sat next to him and softly kept her hand on Shravan's shoulders, but Shravan did not respond. He just kept sitting there as Ratna masi held him by his shoulders. Minutes passed by and Ratna masi now felt she should probably leave as Shravan might need some space and as she tried getting up , she was held by two strong arms going around her waist and Shravan broke down with a gut wrenching cry on her lap and let his pain out. Ratna Masi sat there saying nothing and just running her fingers through Shravan's thick silky hair and crying along with him as his tears and hiccups broke her heart. Ratna Masi a pious lady glanced towards the small mandir in the living room where a small diya was burning and said in her mind "I have prayed to you my entire life and never asked anything, all hurt and pain you gave I took it without any hesitation but today these two souls are dying loving each other and you are watching. If my Suman does not come back alive to her Shravan soon, I promise you the same hands that offered you flowers will burn everything that represents you". Giving a last angry look she looked back at Shravan who still had his face buried in her lap. He suddenly looked up asking "Masi , you don't resent me right? If I would have been there Suman would not have gone to the kidnappers. I am responsible for what is happening to her today". Ratna Masi smiled at him and said "Shravan beta, it's a matter of fate. If you would have been in Suman's place you would have done the same thing. Focus on bringing her back and not on what could have happened. What is done is history and cannot be undone". Shravan replied with a quivering voice "I don't know masi, I have been searching for her for the last 6 days and I keep thinking that what if we never find her, what will happen, how will I live. No, I will not give up till I find her. I will lose myself to find her but will never give up". Ratna Masi smiled at him and blessing him said "That's the spirit, do all you can, and I am sure Suman is also trying her best to reach you". It was almost early morning when she could feel Shravan was finally asleep and she slowly moved away covering him with Suman's quilt as he curled up on Suman's bed sleeping like a child. Ratna Masi's eyes again teared up looking at Shravan, the person she had started feeling like her own son. She ran to her resort, her mandir and broke down at the feet of Almighty begging to return Suman soon before two lives are lost.

It was a new day and Shravan had started with renewed vigor the search. They had checked every small shop, cycle repair stands if they had seen a vehicle carrying a blindfolded girl. Some of them had mentioned they had seen giving indicators of the road they had taken but after the main road had taken a bend nobody could remember seeing them. Shravan and Aneesh were scanning the routes in detail and searching for some clue that could have been left. As the afternoon sun blazed a frustrated Aneesh asked Shravan "Shravan I am not sure what you are looking for, but I think we are wasting our time here". Shravan smiled a little at him and said "If I am thinking the way Mushtaq described Suman was taken away, her hands tied to the back and blindfolded, she must have tried to think what clue she can leave for us given that her mobile was also thrown away, she must have reached to the last resort available, her ring to show us the way". Aneesh looked impressed with Shravan's way of thinking and smiled back at him "No problem buddy, let's keep searching after all you know the best how Suman might have thought". Shravan kept scanning the bends, dips in the roads and the turns as the sun slowly shifted towards the horizon signalling the end of the search for the day. That's when in the dipping sun rays Shravan could spot something shinning and he rushed towards it and there lay a small ring encrusted in small diamonds slightly muddied at the base of a small rock. With trembling hands Shravan picked up the ring and held it against his heart and cried looking up at the sky inwardly thanking God for the first signal of Suman. Aneesh and the others surrounded Shravan and they felt for the first time they were in for a good cause as they looked at a broken Shravan crying for his love. Aneesh came forward and held Shravan in an embrace as he ran his palms over his back assuring him that they will together soon find his Suman. Shravan turned to all of them giving a watery smile and mouthed a "thank you" before he whispered to the trees around "Here I come Suman, hold on for some more time love, I am coming soon , just be there , have faith I will get you home safe".

Subbu and Sash were informed, and they were happy that some headway had been made. As suspected the bend which they had figured out led to an area which fell in the border between two states had very thick forests full impenetrable even during the day without local help. It would need a whole lot of co-ordination but Subbu and Sash were determined to reach their officers at any cost. Alarm bells had gone off in the head office as well and they had promised full support to find their officers and if required they would reach out to the central ministry for help. Shravan in the first time in last 6 days had a smile on his face as he engulfed Ratna Masi in a warm hug and showing her the ring that he had found and explained to her how he had proposed to her and she had accepted the proposal. Ratna Masi's happiness knew no bounds as she realized that contrary to her expectations both had taken already a concrete step towards taking their relationship ahead. She smiled looking at her deity after a week and felt probably things will get back to normal soon and this is just a test that the Almighty is making us go through.