by P. G. Van
“I am driving,” I announced in the elevator.
Nick laughed and said, “That won’t be necessary,” and when I looked at him surprisingly, he added, “Mitch lives just a block away from us. We can walk to his place.”
I looked at him in surprise but did not say anything as nothing was registering in my mind. A million thoughts were running through my mind as I reimagined the incident over and over again as Nick led me towards the backyard of the family residence. He led me past the single family home where Raj and his family lived and walked down a path behind a six-foot hedge that was a few feet from the high compound wall.
“Where are we going? I had no idea there was a pathway here?” I asked as I picked up my pace to keep up with Nick.
Nick chuckled and said, “Shortcut, baby.” We approached a metal gate as tall as the concrete wall that surrounded the estate.
I looked past the gate and saw a long pathway with high walls on either side as Nick punched in the codes to open the heavy gate.
Nick took me by my hand again and led me down what seemed like a hidden pathway completely enclosed with a metal frame connecting the concrete walls on the top.
“Where does this take us, Nick?” I asked Nick as I looked around at the caged walkway paved with bushes.
“We are almost there,” he said pointing at another gate that looked similar to the one we walked through to enter the secured winding walkway. Another series of codes, and we stepped into what seemed like a common backyard with a high fence running around the four attached homes.
Nick pointed at the door immediately in front of us and said, “This is where Rahul lives,” and added as we walked towards the second door, “and this is where Mitch lives.”
The door opened as we approached, and Mitch stepped out wearing a snug t-shirt and shorts. It was the first time I saw him in his regular clothes and the suits did not show the strength of his combat build.
“Hi Ms. Nick. How are you?” Mitch asked smiling as he stepped onto the deck.
Mitch had bandages around his knuckles on both hands, and tears of gratefulness gathered in my eyes as I looked at him. I took a few steps towards Mitch and put my arms around him saying, “Thank you so much for being with Nick today, and I am so sorry you got hurt.”
Mitch gently patted my shoulder and said, “I just did my job, Ms. Nick.”
I looked at Mitch and said looking at his hands, “I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Nick has you to watch out for him.”
“You are most welcome, Ms. Nick,” Mitch said smiling at me and added looking at Nick, “I am sure we will hear from the police department as to what they were up to. I still can’t believe they fell for the trap. Excellent idea, Nick.”
I looked at Mitch not following what he said, and I saw Mitch’s smile fade. I saw Nick from the very corner of my eye and he was shaking his head at Mitch.
“Mitch, what are you talking about?” I asked glaring at Nick with my voice fired up.
Mitch stood frozen with a blank expression on his face and when he spoke his voice was barely audible, “Fudge, sorry Nick.”
I took a deep breath to calm the simmering emotion that was fueled by fear and anger. I looked at Nick and asked, “Trap? Idea?”
“Sameera, it was just…” Nicks started to say, and I cut him off and said in a calm but firm voice, “Please do not patronize me.”
I looked at Mitch before I turned around and said, “Thanks Mitch,” and marched back towards the gate. To my relief, Nick had left the gate slightly ajar, and I went in through that gate. I picked up my walking pace when I heard Nick follow me at a safe distance.
Tears of fear pooled in my eyes as I felt the kicking pain in my gut at the thought that Nick may have known about this attack and walked right into it. I walked down what seemed like an endless walkway with my nostrils and ears fuming at the realization that Nick knew about the attack. I stopped at the end of the walkway looking at the locked gate.
The fear of what might have happened to him hit me, and I trembled at the thought of Nick being hurt or something worse happening descended upon me. I stood frozen gripping on the metal rods on the gate as endless streams ran down my cheeks. Nick caught up in a few seconds taking a deep breath and said, "Sameera.”
"Nick, I am very angry, please don’t talk to me,” I said with my back to him in a surprisingly strong tone.
"You have to let me explain,” Nick said softly.
I took a deep breath to hide the shudders running through my body and said suppressing the sobs that were building up, "Please unlock the door.”
"Sweetheart,” Nick pleaded, and I immediately turned around with fire spitting from my eyes and angry tears flowing uncontrollably and said, "Do not sweetheart me, Nikhil Bhatia. What were you thinking about playing with danger? Did you forget you have a family waiting for you? What if something happened to you?” I burst into uncontrollable sobs and took a few steps back to lean against the metal gate for support.
Nick looked at me as I stared at him through thick salt water and slowly took a few steps towards me. I put my hand out to push him away, but I was no match to his strength as he easily pushed my hands aside and pulled me to him wrapping his arms around me.
I buried my face in his chest and demanded, "How dare you put yourself in harm’s way?”
Nick planted a kiss on my head and said, "I am sorry, my love.”
"Nick, why?” I asked my voice elevated as I fought through the sobs that were surfacing.
"Oh my tigress, you have no idea how much joy I am getting from all the concern flowing down your cheeks. You really love me huh?” he mocked pulling away to look at me.
I looked up at him with anger in my eyes and started slapping his chest with my palms as he continued to laugh with deep dark eyes boring into mine. Nick tightened his hold around me forcing me to flatten my palms on his chest and crushed me to him. I landed on his chest with my cheek and stood in his arms as my body trembled with fear and pain deep inside my chest.
Nick rocked me in his arms for a few minutes before he reached lower to run his lips along my hairline and said in a gruff voice, "I had to do what I did so no strands of danger came anywhere close to you.”
"Not acceptable, Nick,” I said drumming his chest with my fists.
"It was a measured risk that I had to take for you and our family,” he said chuckling at the drumming on his chest and added in a low voice, “I may come off as a bit sadistic here, but I am elated to see all those tears knowing they are tears of love for me.”
A weak smile surfaced to my lips listening to his silly comment. I looked into his eyes and asked, "So you knew they would attack you and you still went and took Mitch with you for protection?”
"Yes, and rumor has it that Mitch is looking for protection because he shot his mouth off and made my beautiful wife cry herself into dehydration,” Nick said chuckling.
I laughed and said, "Not funny. I am still pissed off at you, and I am scared to my core,” and added, "I should have guessed that you were up to something when you left that early on a Saturday morning.”
"Yes, especially after what we did last night. It was tough to get out of bed,” Nick teased nuzzling my ear.
"Who were those people and how did you know they were at your office?” I asked, as I knew nothing about what the plan was and whom Nick and Mitch were trying to catch.
"I am really hungry baby; can we go back in and talk while I eat?” Nick asked softly.
Nick and I strolled hand-in-hand back into the family residence.
"Weren't you supposed to go out this morning?” Nick asked following me into the elevator and added laughing, "I was really hoping you would be away when I got home. I was planning on using some of your makeup to hide the bruises.”
"Stop with the silliness, Nick,” I scowled and added, "Mom and I were supposed to go out, but I had a bad feeling about going out so I told her we should go another day.”
"It would have been
so much easier if you were away and if Mitch had not shot his mouth off while celebrating a successful mission,” Nick said clenching his teeth.
Chapter Eighteen
“I love this sandwich, baby,” Nick said as I sat down at the dining table of the large common dining area of the family residence. He smiled and added looking at Rahul who was the chef of the house and said, “Rahul, this sandwich is better than yours, dude.”
Rahul and Raj were both reserved, not reacting to Nick’s comments and spoke sparingly, but Nick managed to get a reaction out of him with his comment.
“Ignore him Rahul,” I said as Rahul headed out of the dining area.
“I am glad you like the sandwich, but I am getting impatient by the minute,” I said with irritation building up and added, “Who were those people and what did they want and how in the world did you know they would come for you today?”
“Easy, easy,” Nick said in an attempt to calm me down and asked softly, “Do you remember earlier this week when Mitch had taken a different exit on a hunch that someone may have been following us?”
I nodded remembering the ride back home from work and Nick added, “Mitch’s instincts were right, and we were being followed.”
“What, why?” I said covering my mouth with my palm.
“The why part, the PD is working on it as we speak, but we noticed that car followed only us. I mean when you and I were in the car,” Nick said and paused to take a bite of his sandwich.
I thought my ribcage would crash with the pressure from my lungs and the pounding effect of my heart at what I had heard. Fear started to engulf my body again and when Nick noticed that my hands were trembling, he took my palm in his and said, “Sameera, I am going to stop if this is going to scare you.”
“No, please continue. I need to hear it,” I said steadying myself.
“When Mitch took an exit, it seemed like we lost them but Mitch spotted the same car a few blocks from home when we were back. At that point, we didn’t really have much to report to the PD so we just had Raj and Mitch drive around in the neighborhood to see if we could get a good look at these guys. They were camping outside, just a few blocks away but with a clear view of the main entrance of the house,” Nick continued in a calm voice.
“That is so freaky,” I said still in shock.
“I sent Raj to get the Porsche as Mitch seemed to think that he had seen the car follow us only when we were in the Range Rover. Mitch was partially right because when I took you to work in the Porsche, there was no car in the morning but later that day, I spotted the car following me when I pulled out of my garage for a meeting,” Nick said in an annoying tone. He added in the same tone, “and that was the day you were working late and wanted to take the train back home.”
“You could have told me this instead of lecturing me, and I would have been more careful,” I objected to the mockery in his voice.
“Anyway, those dudes actually followed us home even when we were in the Porsche. That same day Mitch had taken dad to a site, and no one followed dad’s car so it was confirmed that they were definitely following us,” Nick declared.
“Is that why you couldn’t sleep the night before?” I asked with confidence.
Nick took a deep breath and said, “You know there are a very few things that would actually keep me up at night and yes, I was more worried when I looked at the tapes from the camera at the main entrance. I realized that this car has been driving around in front of the house a few days before Mitch had spotted it.”
“Oh, no. They knew where we lived?” I said my voice trembling.
“Yes, and I freaked out too, but I have to tell you, the shower action definitely helped and I was able to think clearly after that,” Nick said smiling and running his finger along my lower lip. I blushed and felt my cheeks heat up drying out any lingering moisture from my sobbing earlier.
“The next day was my sweetheart’s birthday, and I had a party to host. I had to get your new car delivered and had to make sure these guys that were following us didn’t make a move while I was busy planning the birthday party, so I had Raj dress up like me and had Mitch drive him around the Bay Area so they stayed away from the house,” Nick said smiling sheepishly.
“What did you think they were going to do? Kidnap you?” I asked terrified.
“I seriously doubt it, but after this morning’s episode, I am still not sure what their grand plan was,” Nick said as if he was thinking out loud and added, “and it was the day after your birthday that I confirmed that they were after me specifically. I confirmed that when Mitch took you to work, and I went to meet Srini. I cannot tell you how relieved I was that they weren’t coming after you.”
“Nick, that is so freaky and why would anyone come after me in the first place?” I asked with surprise.
“Well, you did have the Bhatia battalion in India searching for you up until a few months ago, so you never know,” Nick teased.
“But Nick, why were they following you?” I asked and realized I had asked the question so many times.
“We don’t really know that yet, but Mitch seems to think that there are groups that gather information about people and then sell the information to organized crime gangs. They use the information to pull off a kidnapping stunt for a ransom,” Nick said softly.
“So, do you think they tried to kidnap you this morning?” I asked visibly shaking.
“Sweetheart, I am not giving you anymore details,” Nick declared as he got up to take his plate to the sink. I sat frozen at the table unable to process the details as fear won the battles of emotions and tears started to trickle down my cheeks again.
“Sameera, you need to stop with the downpour,” Nick said taking me into his arms and added, “You can’t let anyone in the house know what happened. Let’s go upstairs.”
“Nick, why is this happening to us?” I asked my voice barely audible as we stepped into the elevator.
Nick took me into his arms immediately and said, “I do not want to take this as a sign of something bad and get worked up. Life is not interesting without some fun and games.”
“This is not fun and games, Nick. What if those guys had guns?” I said fuming at him.
“I know. That’s not what I meant, and by the way, the only reason I went in as bait today was because when we ran the plates of the car through the PD system, the owner of the car did not have a record and everything was clean,” Nick clarified.
“So the cops knew and you did not ask for help?” I asked in surprise.
“You can’t really have people arrested because they just happened to be in your neighborhood,” Nick teased and added, “Last night was the first time I noticed the guys that followed us get out of the car. They started to walk towards me coolly when I had gone to meet Srini.”
“What did they want?” I asked as we walked back into the private wing.
Nick settled down on the couch inviting me to join him and said as I sat down, “Mitch reminded me that I had a date with my wife and ushered me home. We made the plan for this morning on our way back home.”
“Something doesn’t add up Nick. They follow you for days and all they wanted to do was mug you this morning?” I said as my brain went into the problem-solving mode.
“I know, it does seem a bit odd,” Nick agreed and added, “and these guys did not speak a single word of English.”
“Who are these people and what did they want from you?” I said looking at Nick.
“The PD is working on it, baby. We need to trust the system to take care of this for us,” Nick said coolly.
*****
“Yes, this is Nick Bhatia,” Nick said in a sleepy voice into the phone as he sat up in bed later that day. Nick and I were so sleep deprived and after the episode at his office parking lot, we both needed a nap to recharge. I turned around to see that he was listening intently to what was being said by the person on the other end of the conversation.
“Got it. Thank you,” Nick said and e
nded the call.
“Who was that Nick?” I asked stretching in bed.
“That was from the Sheriff’s office, and they were able to identify the guys,” Nick said quietly and added, “They are apparently carjackers that steal expensive cars and ship them illegally to African countries.”
“What?” I asked, as the reasoning did not make sense to me.
“Apparently, these guys come from other countries, randomly pick the cars they like and look for an opportune moment to surprise the owners and drive away with their cars. They get them shipped in containers and sell them for triple the price, and Range Rovers are on the top of their list of high-demand cars in African countries.”
“Especially your cool looking Range Rover Nick,” I teased finding relief from the explanation.
“My Range Rover, huh?” Nick mocked and got out of the bed.
“Nick, but why did they follow us when we were in your Porsche,” I asked as he disappeared into the closet.
“Their next high-demand car,” Nick called out from the bathroom.
I got out of bed following him into the bathroom and said, “You are like a carjacker’s dream come true with all the expensive cars floating around,” I said teasing him.
“You are definitely more relaxed now,” Nick observed.
“Yes, but something somewhere still doesn’t entirely add up, but I am relieved that this is over,” I said putting my hands around him.
*****
The man looked at his teenage son with love and tenderness in his eyes. He took off the chain that was around his neck putting it around his son's neck and said softly, "Take care of this chain with your life, and it will protect you" and added, "your mother and your sister are your responsibility, and I am confident that you will take good care of them.”
The teenage boy looked at his father with courage in his eyes and said, "I will take care of everything, Father.”
"That's the fire of a Vaasi - Bhatia man,” the man said with pride in his eyes.
He turned to look at his beautiful wife and said, "Be safe, my dear.”
