Chapter 21
MEHER
W hat the hell was Nilanjana doing with a terrorist, I wondered. I looked around desperately and saw her walking off into the distance with Navya firmly held in her arms.
Samrat ordered me to pick up Qureshi’s gun and train it on him. And I did grab it, but I felt I’d be of more use if I went after Nilanjana.
Gun in hand, I ran after her, wondering if I really was going to separate the child from her mother at gunpoint.
All I knew was that Samrat’s niece was not safe when her mother was cavorting with terrorists.
I had no idea what Nilanjana was involved in, but it didn’t seem to be a safe environment for a child.
She turned at the sound of my footsteps, and her eyes widened when she saw the gun in my hand.
“Let Navya go,” I said, aiming at a point near Nilanjana’s feet because I didn’t want to hurt the child even by mistake.
Immediately, she held Navya as a shield, and I looked at her in disgust.
“What kind of mother are you?” I asked.
“A desperate one,” she snarled. “Now, get away from us before Navya gets hurt, Meher. Don’t try to stop me from leaving.”
“You’re going nowhere,” called a voice.
We swirled around and found Nilanjana’s way blocked by Diya, Isha, and Shivina.
“How did you guys get here?” I cried in relief. I had never been so glad to see anyone.
“We followed the guys,” said Isha.
“And we’re going to pay for it later because they gave us explicit instructions to stay put in your palace,” said Shivina, as the three of them surrounded Nilanjana and made sure she had no place to run.
“She’s trying to steal my baby just like she stole Samrat from me,” cried Nilanjana. “Help me, my friends.”
“Shut the fuck up, you psycho,” said Diya in disgust. “We saw how you just used your daughter as a shield. I really hope you burn in hell for eternity.”
She marched over to Nilanjana and grabbed Navya out of her arms. After a small fight, Nilanjana gave up when Navya started wailing from fear.
I waited till my friends had taken the child to safety before I walked up to the woman who had destroyed my life, and punched her right in the face just like Shaurya Bhai Sa had taught me. I heard the satisfying sound of her nose breaking, and she shrieked as blood spurted out of her nostrils.
“That is for Samrat and me. And this one is for Navya,” I snarled, as I punched her a second time.
She hit the ground wailing and screeching in fear.
I left there and ran to help Samrat. I found him sitting on Nadeem Qureshi, tying his hands and feet together with ropes that he’d conjured from somewhere, while Dheer, Veer, and Ranvijay stood over him.
Qureshi was groaning loudly and trying to move.
“If you so much as twitch, my friend will knock the shit out of you,” snarled Samrat before he got up and checked the knots.
We had a bit of a wait till Col. Bhagat sent a team to pick both of them up and cart them off to prison, where they’d hopefully stay put for a very long time.
The journey back to the palace was fraught with tension as Dheer, Veer, and Ranvijay were furious with their wives.
“We told the three of you to stay put. Why can you never follow orders?” snarled Dheer as he ordered Diya and Isha to get into his jeep, with Veer glowering at them from the other side.
Isha blew him a raspberry.
“Oh, please! The only reason you lot got to play hero this time is because we saved your bacon the last time, Bhai Sa. Or did you forget?”
“And why should we miss out on the fun?” asked Shivina defiantly as she got into our jeep, and we set off for home.
“This wasn’t fun,” growled Samrat. “As for you, why the hell did you go off on your own?”
I turned to him in surprise when I realised he was talking to me.
“ Excuse you? Who the fuck are you talking to in that tone? It’s like you want me to shoot you in the foot,” I cried angrily.
“You could have been hurt, Meher!”
“She took Navya! What did you expect me to do? Sit at home and twiddle my thumbs while our baby was in danger?”
Samrat’s face softened at my words, and I turned bright red.
Shivina and Ranvijay pretended to look out of the jeep while Samrat took my hand and kissed it. I kept my hand in his for a few seconds before I snatched it away.
“I still don’t get why Qureshi was after me,” I complained as I walked into Samrat’s room when we got back to the palace.
“He’s been using this forest as a hideout whenever he’s in the area, and he was worried he’d be discovered if you started bringing jeeploads of tourists into the forest,” explained Samrat. “He first hired the poacher to kill you, and when that didn’t work, he decided to do it himself.”
“So Sanjay was working with Qureshi?”
“Yes, he was one of the cogs in Qureshi’s wheel.
A big one, at that. He was the one who built all those tunnels on the land around the border.
Apparently, he rents them out to anyone who’s willing to pay for access to them.
But he’s Qureshi’s main guy here, helping him get around and find safe houses.
It was his idea to set up mines in the courtyard of the haveli in Munabao. ”
“Did Col. Bhagat get to him?” I asked worriedly.
“He did. And arresting Sanjay will help us break the militants’ network on this side of the border.”
“I’m glad. What’s going to happen to Navya?” I asked, stroking her hair as she lay fast asleep in Samrat’s arms.
“I’m going to file for full custody,” he informed me. “I hope you’re okay with that.”