Around 1 a.m., Abhimanyu came home. He was wearing a different outfit than the one she remembered he was wearing that day. He had a briefcase in his hand which she didn't see before.

The huge anxiety which was eating her from inside, surfaced immediately when she laid her eyes on him. She sprang on her feet and walked towards him. But before she could reach him, Ritu hurriedly got up and ran towards him. "Dadabhai!... Didiya... what just..." Her panicked voice wavered and eyes welled up again. She hugged him and buried her face in his chest.

Abhimanyu's eyes strayed from her to Shreya and lingered for a moment before he shifted his gaze on Gyan. Gyan was still sitting on the couch with a shadow of unease on his face.

"Gyan, come to my room," Abhimanyu said as he pushed Ritu away gently and patted her head in an assuring way. He glanced at Shreya one more time before heading over to the left wing. After Abhimanyu left, Shreya and Ritu made an eye contact. Ritu wiped her tears off her face, and both of them had same reaction afterwards. Both glanced over to Gyan as he straightened, looked away and let out an audible sigh. "Five minutes."

Shreya blinked, confused at first then realization brought out a flush to her face. She blinked again and glanced at Ritu who motioned her head to the way Abhimanyu went with a knowing look. She could feel her heartbeat rising and heat spread up to her ears. She bit the inside of her cheek and turned to go after him.

She was hurt. And he was the reason. But she couldn't even blame him in the current situation.

When she entered the room, she saw him shrugging off his waistcoat. Their eyes met for a brief period before she broke the eye contact and went over to the bedside table where the bottle of water was kept. She poured water in a glass and turned back. He unbuttoned the first three buttons of his shirt, then did the same to the cuff-buttons. She raised the glass at him and he took it.

When she glanced up and caught him watching her unwaveringly, a cold shiver ran down her spine. His effect on her was still the same, just like the first time they made eye contact.

"Are you not going to ask me anything?" He asked. His voice still calm and monotonous.

She blinked and stalled while he drank the water. As he finished and eyed her again, she shook her head quietly without saying anything. But what she actually wanted to say was, every time she looked at him, she felt lonelier. What had she done to suffer like that?

And yet, she needed him.

A momentary pause later, he said, "I needed some space."

She nodded understandingly while her heart scattered into pieces.

He gave the glass back to her, but when she was about to turn around to put it back on its place, he caught one of her wrists and pulled her closer abruptly. She crashed on his chest and looked up on his face. Sometimes, his eyes could be so cruel. Like right now. They wanted to interrogate her and made her confess all the hurt she was hiding inside her. She wanted to take his glasses off so badly and kiss his eyes nonstop.

His mouth moved breaking her trance. "Are you worried?"

She nodded.

"This will be over soon." He whispered, then slowly closed the almost non-existence distance between them by capturing her pert lips with his own. Without warning, without permission. She closed her eyes and placed her free hand on his chest. He kissed her slowly and she responded eagerly. She felt dizzy before a hand of his wrapped around her waist keeping her from losing her balance. His mouth moved slightly towards the corner of her mouth as he placed a few kisses there, almost feathery touches, before coming back and focused on tasting her lips. As sudden as it started, it ended too soon. He retreated leaving her needy for more. She chased after him just to be stopped by his next words, "Stay home and look after others. I'll bring back Didiya by tomorrow morning."

The words took some time to process inside her brain. That meant, he knew where Didiya was! But before she could question him back, the knock on the door let them know about Gyan's arrival. She split up from him bashfully and turned away to put the glass on the table while Abhimanyu called out, "Come in."

Abhimanyu asked her to leave as soon as Gyan entered the room.

She obliged but not without meeting Gyan's eyes briefly. He had a blank expression on. And it looked somewhat familiar.

~~~

Ten minutes later, the brothers left. Before leaving, Abhimanyu informed, Ganesh and Rehan would stay back. If anything happened, they should immediately let them know. Ritu was adamant to go with her brothers, but the men turned a deaf ear to her. Her plea didn't sway any of the two's resolve.

Not even an hour went after they left when Ritu suddenly sprang up on her feet and exclaimed with determination, "I can't sit idly and wait uselessly for them to bring Didiya back! I have to go behind them!"

Shreya flinched at her words. She looked up with perplexity and said, "What are you talking about?"

Ritu spun around. "Yes. I'm going to follow Gyan when he'll be taking the money to them. I can't let him go alone."

Shreya stood up. "He won't be alone. Abhimanyu is not going to send him alone."

"How can you say this? Has he told you anything?"

Shreya shook her head.

"Look, I don't know what Dadabhai's plan is, but clearly, he'll not inform the Police because the kidnappers warned to kill Didiya if he thinks something like that. So, chances are thin that someone will accompany Gyan. So, I follow him secretly, and then inform the Police once reaching the spot," Ritu expressed while crossing her hands over her chest.

"You'll do no such thing. Abhimanyu asked us to wait at home. Plus, Rehan and Ganesh are outside. You can't escape their eyes."

"Who said this?" Ritu asked in a challenging tone.

"What?" She asked, flabbergasted.

"How did you get this idea that I can't escape their eyes? Watch me!" She turned around and took a step forward when Shreya hurriedly grabbed her arm. "Wait! Are you serious right now?"

Ritu scowled. "Do you consider it to be a joking time?"

"But-"

"Are you coming with me or not?"

So, after five minutes, Ritu left the villa unnoticed in a miraculous way while she followed her helplessly. They opened the gate at the backside quietly then took a run without giving it a second thought. But it didn't take long for Rehan and others to find out about the incident as they started chasing them.

"Ma'am, wait! Don't run! Ritu ma'am! Wait!"

They kept calling and chased after them while Ritu and her ran with all their might.

Shortly, they reached below a house and a person was already standing in front of it. She looked terribly anxious as they approached her. Ritu gave her a quick hug before the girl handed her a key and went back inside the house. Ritu gestured her to follow as they went around the house and Shreya eventually discovered, at the other side of the house there was a car parked. Ritu used the key and the car unlocked immediately. They got into the car quickly and the engine came alive shortly. Ritu stepped on the accelerator and the car sped up leaving the running masses behind.

Shreya's heart was beating rapidly. The only safety precautions they had were the knives and pepper spray. This was literally suicide. But she couldn't let Ritu go all by herself. God knew what future held but it certainly wasn't safe. Her apprehensive thoughts took a brief pause when Ritu asked her to put her phone into silence. She obliged and prayed to heavens that they'd return in one piece.

"They saw us! Do you think they're going to be silent about it?" Shreya asked breathlessly.

"I don't expect them to be," Ritu responded. "But they don't know where we're going. That'll buy us some time."

"What if they inform Abhimanyu?"

"Dadabhai don't have time to focus on us. He's too busy to think about Didiya's safety right now. And we're going to help him with that. Don't worry, Shreya."

At her assurance, Shreya's heartbeat ran some extra miles. Someday, these siblings would take her life, and she feared, that someday was tonight.

Ritu said, "If Gyan's phone's location is on, we can track him."

"How would you know if he's carrying the phone with him."

"Let's hope."

After that she followed Ritu's instructions to track Gyan's phone while she drove the car through the almost empty streets of the night. Shreya looked out the window and saw a lone cyclist passing by. The lined-up roadside shops were closed, as usual. The nightly ambience made the risk more thrilling. Their car ran towards the Lake Gardens flyover. The count of vehicles was too few at this time of night.

She glanced at the phone screen and checked the live status of the phone location finder. "It's moving towards Tollygunge," she commented while frowning at the screen.

"Tollygunge?"

"Yeah."

"We're almost nearby."

She nodded at Ritu who pressed on the accelerator and increased the speed of the car. They followed the map and drove in silence for a while until Shreya's phone flashed an incoming call. From Abhimanyu.

"Oh no!" She panicked, "Abhimanyu is calling."

"Cut the call and switch off your phone. We're about to catch up."

Her brain stopped working as she stared at the phone's screen in horror. But Ritu didn't give her much time to think. She snatched the phone from her hand and turned it off. Within a blink of an eye, they crossed the flyover and ran towards the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The car took a right turn following the live location as they almost caught up. Her chest tightened foreseeing the upcoming danger.

"Let's go back, Ritu. I am not feeling good about it."

"Are you kidding me right now? We're so close!"

"What if they are ferocious and have fire arms?"

"Of course, they'll have weapons. Remember? We're just going to find out the location." Ritu turned the steering towards left. "And then we'll inform the police."

Shreya chewed on her lip. They didn't exchange anymore words as the car kept on moving forward.

"What will I answer to your brother if something bad happens?" The words escaped her lips while she noticed the pointer stilled for a minute.

Ritu didn't have to answer her because upon going along the Deshpran Sasmal road for a minute or two, they found Abhimanyu's car parked at one side of the road, just before the crossroad. "Dadabhai's car!" Ritu pulled over a few metres ahead of it before they climbed out of the car.

Shreya eyed around the place while Ritu ran towards Abhimanyu's car and looked inside through the closed window glass.

Shreya eyed around the area. The empty street was rarely invaded by a car or two. All the shops were closed, at one side the fifteen storied apartment stood tall. Along the side of the road, three empty autorickshaws were parked.

Ritu came back. "As expected, no one's inside." She gestured towards her phone which was in Shreya's hand. "Where's the location pointing?"

Shreya raised the phone and refreshed. But the pointer wasn't there anymore. She refreshed again. Nothing. "We lost it."

"What? Show me!" Ritu snatched the phone to see it herself. A severe frown crossed her face. "Perhaps, his phone is switched off."

"Now? What do we do we?"

She looked up and eyed around. "It can't be on the right. The golf course is that way. Must be on the left. Let's go."

But Shreya was reluctant. "You said you'll inform the police."

"I will. But let me find the exact place first."

"Ritu, this is serious! If we get caught, we'll have to face dire consequences. Who knows, we might end up like Didiya or worse. Let's get back." Shreya tugged on her arm.

"Forget it!" Ritu snatched her hand away swiftly. "We're this close to locate Didiya. I am not giving up." She turned her head towards the left. "Let's go." Ritu sprinted towards the road to the left. Shreya had no other options than to follow her. All the shops were closed as usual. They stood in front of the biggest shop, a sweets shop before Ritu eyed around the area. The area was mostly a residential area. All the apartments were between four to seven storied.

Shreya commented, "This is impossible."

Ritu wasn't ready to back off yet. She took some steps forward. Shreya pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket and switched it on. The screen displayed the time, 2:54 a.m. She was about to open the call records when she glanced up instinctively towards Ritu. But the bloodcurdling view in front caused a cold shiver running down her spine.

Two men jumped at Ritu out of nowhere and threw punches and kicks simultaneously. But what she didn't expect was Ritu dodged the attacks with ease and launched equally forceful kicks aiming their jaws. One of the men sprinted back for a few feet shirking the kick while the other man bent over as Ritu's leg whooshed over his head and came back.

A small shriek left Shreya's mouth when a pair of hands wrapped around herself, one hand held her torso restricting all her movements, while the other one snaked around her mouth blocking her way to shout. Shreya's eyes grew wide. A man with mask on, snatched the phones from her hands while Shreya's eyes darted Ritu's way. At the same time, Ritu landed punch on a man's nose. The man crouched down slightly covering his face. The other two men lunged at Ritu at the same time. Shreya's hold on the hand wrapping around her increased as she tried to pluck it off, but the man was undoubtedly strong. He moved his other hand and choked her violently trying to block the oxygen supply, which worked shortly. Her vision blurred, throat closed in and her head started spinning.

Meanwhile, Ritu was also attacked. One of them hit her head from the behind with the hilt of some weapon. Ritu's hands went behind her head as she rubbed the back of her head and slowly spun around. She brought the hand in front and saw her fingers covered in red. She staggered back just before a man slapped her roughly making her lose her balance. She fell on the road and did not get up again.

Shreya was about to scream Ritu's name when the man behind her covered her mouth and dragged her with him towards one of the apartments to the right. She struggled and tried to look behind to look at Ritu. But could not. He dragged her forcefully with him and started climbing down the stairs. When she haphazardly threw her hands, the man grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked on them. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She reached behind and caught the man's hand reflexively.

"Leave me!" She cried out just to be slapped once again. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she got forcefully dragged to an underground floor. She didn't get much time to update herself of her surrounding until she was pushed inside a room and fell face down. Soon after, she heard another thud beside her. She turned her head and sat up hastily. They have thrown Ritu's unconscious body beside her. She scooted towards Ritu and jerked her body.

"Ritu? Ritu?" The continuous flow of tears made her vision blurred. She wiped her eyes rapidly before tending to Ritu once again.

Meanwhile, they had closed the door already. The room was darkly lit. A red bulb was the only source of light which had made the room's ambience more horrifying. Shreya cried uncontrollably and shook Ritu's body again. "Ritu? Wake up!"

"Why are you here?"