Chapter 28
“Rhea,” Sameer said, rushing to his sister. “What has happened?”
Rhea wiped her tears and pressed a manila envelope in his hand.
“It was all about me. He was trying to hurt me and Raashi got caught in the middle. It’s all my fault.”
Sameer stared at her speechless and then glanced at Rishi and Kabier, who looked just as shocked as he did.
Raashi took Rhea’s hand and guided her to the sofa.
“Come on, honey. Explain to us. What exactly is going on?” Raashi asked her gently.
“I met Krish six months ago at a night club in London. A common friend introduced us and I liked him immediately. He was funny and sweet and knew how to party. I was enamored by him. He belonged to an affluent political family from Delhi. We started dating soon and it was so good. Then Kabier got married and I came to India and although I invited him, he couldn’t make it to the wedding.
We kept in touch though and he checked all my pictures on social media.
They showed me dancing and posing with other friends and he started to get jealous.
Every time I posted pictures he would call and fight with me and then make up soon after. I didn’t think too much of it then.”
She paused for a moment, and continued, “When I returned to London, he was different. He behaved difficult about everything. He became possessive. He would question me all the time... where I went, whom I spoke to and whom I met. We fought a lot. It was annoying after a while but I dealt with it because I thought...”
“Go on,” Sameer urged her.
“I…I thought I was in love with him and that I could make it work. When we weren’t fighting, everything was absolutely perfect.
He was perfect. But with time he became more and more obsessive and I couldn’t deal with it any more.
Shauna noticed him following us twice when we were returning home from college.
He denied it when I confronted him. It reached a point where I couldn’t even go for a simple coffee with friends without him showing up there.
I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was hard but Shauna encouraged me to break up with him.
I was heartbroken but I knew he was wrong for me.
He kept messaging me and calling me to work it out with him.
He promised he would change. And even though I wanted to believe him, I knew he was trouble.
I didn’t want him back in my life. It hurt a lot to break up with him and everything there reminded me of him. So, I left everything and came home.”
A tear ran down her cheek.
“I thought leaving London was the right decision for me. I never imagined that…that he would follow me here.” She covered her face with her hands and wept.
Sameer crouched down next to his sister and took hold of her hands.
“I’m so sorry, Rhea. I’m sorry you had to go through this all by yourself.
We should have been there for you and we weren’t.
I’m sorry you didn’t have faith in us to confide all this.
It’s not your fault. I promise never to judge you in the future ever again.
Please never go through something like this by yourself.
We are all here for you. Every one of us. ”
She nodded giving him a teary smile.
Rishi started to say something, but choked, unable to speak. His brother looked as devastated as him. They hadn’t been there to help their sister when she had needed them the most.
Rishi cleared his throat and said, “Why did you say he’s trying to hurt you?”
“Please, see the folder,” Rhea said.
Sameer picked up the folder that had fallen from his hands and spilled its contents on the table.
He gasped out loud. They were all pictures of his sister.
There were so many, some clearer than the others.
Rhea in a restaurant; Rhea driving her car; talking on the cell; Rhea in traditional Indian attire.
It went on and on. There were so many pictures.
God! This guy had been stalking her for a long time.
Sameer sifted through the pictures and found a note at the end – ‘You can run, but you can’t hide.
I will always be there right behind you - K’
“I received this envelope today,” Rhea said, pointing at Sameer’s hand. “That’s when it dawned on me. The hotel incidents and Raashi’s accidents, I was there every time. He’s after me and Raashi just got caught in this miserable situation.”
“I’m calling Veejay right now,” Kabier said and immediately dialed a number on his phone.
Veejay Bellani was a close friend who worked with the crime branch. He had helped them in the past and Sameer was sure he would be able to help them again. He heard Kabier speak to him and understood that he was going to be here with them soon.
He turned back to Rhea. “What do the hotel incidents have to do with anything?”
Rhea started organizing the pictures in some sort of chronological order before speaking, “See this picture, this is the night of the car theft at the hotel.”
The picture showed Rhea driving her car.
“These are taken on the same night.” She pointed to few more of her, entering The Marquis Lobby, sitting in the cafe? of The Marquis, talking to a friend.
“You told me that the car stolen from The Marquis was found a little distance away, unharmed?” Rhea queried.
Sameer nodded.
She continued, “Well, do you remember the make and model of the car that was stolen? I have a feeling it will match mine.”
Rishi immediately started scrolling through his emails, searching for the answer to her question. His eyes widened when he found the email he was looking for. “She’s right, Sameer,” he said. “The stolen car was a white Audi A4, same as hers.”
“I knew it. He tried to steal my car. But to my luck there was another white, Audi A4 that night at The Marquis and he stole that instead, thinking it was mine. Why do you think the car was found unharmed? Imagine, he was right there standing close by when I had handed my car tag to the valet and I didn’t see him. ”
Sameer understood what his sister was getting at.
She pointed to other pictures, those of her wearing traditional Indian attire. “Look at these. This was the day someone gate-crashed that wedding I attended at the Sehgal Plaza. Looking at these, it’s obvious he was the one who was clicking pictures at the wedding. He was there for me.”
Sameer watched as she showed them some more pictures and explained where she was those days, including the days when she was with Raashi, the day he had proposed to Raashi and the day of the movie plan.
“That day outside AquaNox, Raashi and I were standing together on the pavement. She was waiting for you to bring your car around and I was waiting for Shauna to get the car. We were chatting. She saw your car and suddenly stepped down. But it could have been me. That guy on the bike was Krish, I am certain of it. And that car accident? Raashi was seated behind me. I was driving. He tried to crash his car into me, but he got the back door instead.”
Everyone was silent for a few minutes as they digested everything Rhea had told them. Fury blasted through Sameer. He could kill that guy with his bare hands.
“My God,” Raashi whispered.
“Show me a picture of this guy. I want to see who this loser is,” Sameer said angrily.
Rhea scrolled through her phone and handed it to him. Sameer took his time looking at the pictures and then handed the phone to Kabier and Rishi to take a look.
There was a knock on the door and Veejay Bellani walked in. The guys all shook hands with him.
He turned to Sameer. “Congratulations. I heard about your news.” Veejay inclined his head towards Raashi and gave her a quick smile as well. “I am happy for you both. But first things first, where’s your sister?”
Raashi had met Veejay briefly when he had helped them rescue Keya from a kidnapping earlier that year. She saw him take in the photographs on the table and Rhea’s red-rimmed eyes.
He sat down on the couch next to Rhea. “You must be Rhea. Can you fill me in on what’s happening?”
Raashi went up to Sameer and linked her hand in his, silently offering her support. She could see the pain and concern in his eyes. She listened to Rhea explain everything to Veejay who asked her several questions in return.
Finally, Veejay said, “OK, as I understand the situation, this ex-boyfriend of yours is obsessed with you and since you are not interested anymore, he has decided to hurt you. Looks like he wants your attention and is willing to go to any lengths to get it.”
“I don’t understand one thing,” Kabier said. “I assume you are not in any sort of contact with this guy, Krish, right?”
Rhea nodded. Kabier continued. “So how did he know where you were every single time?”
Rhea shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Let me try something,” Veejay said. “Rhea, can you give me a rough date of when all these pictures were taken? Whatever you can remember is fine.”
Rhea scrolled through her phone and started writing on a piece of paper. Sameer saw Rishi going through his emails. He gave Rhea the dates of the two hotel incidents. Rhea finished writing and handed the paper to Veejay.
“Well, I have it,” Veejay said, comparing the paper to his phone.
“See, I just logged in to my social media account and searched for Rhea Sehgal. When I open her page, I can see that she has done a check-in on her social media app, on those exact dates, at every single place mentioned in this paper and more. On some apps there are even pictures with locations tagged. And I am not even connected with her on any of these apps. See for yourself.”
He showed them his phone as he scrolled slowly through the page.
Kabier started reading loudly.
“Rhea Sehgal checked into T-Cafe? with Shauna Sehgal and Raashi Deewan; Rhea Sehgal checked into AquaNox with four others; Rhea Sehgal is at the Sehgal Plaza; Rhea Sehgal is at The Marquis with three others; Rhea Sehgal is attending a wedding...it goes on and on,” he said, shaking his head irritably.
“Exactly,” Veejay agreed. “These days it’s so easy to track a person if they are putting it up on social media every time they are out. Honestly Rhea, you made it simple for this guy to stalk you. He has just been following your updates on social media.”
Sameer was taken aback. “God, Rhea! Your security settings are total crap. Anyone can see exactly where you have been or where you are, whenever you post an update. I have always hated this excessive fixation you girls have with your social media accounts. Honestly, I don’t know what to say to you right now,” Sameer scolded.
Rhea gave him an apologetic look, finally understanding the harmful nature of her social media obsession.
“Unbelievable,” Raashi said. “It’s that simple these days, is it?” she asked Veejay.
“Oh! You should have a chat with the cyber-crime division. They deal with innumerable cases just because people have an unhealthy obsession with posting their lives online for anyone to see,” Veejay replied.
“Anyway, what’s done is done. We need to find a way to catch this guy once and for all and ensure that he doesn’t harm you anymore.
I have a plan,” Veejay said, rubbing his hands together.