The COMPLETE Siya Rajput Crime Thrillers (Books 1 to 4)

by UD Yasha

  Kanda bhaji, the hot deep-fried batter-dipped onion preparation, was the classic evening snack in our house when it was raining. There were only a few better joys in life that compared with enjoying hot kanda bhaji and chai while it rained outside.

  Shadow ran up to me the moment I reached the stairs. I patted him on his head while he licked my face generously. I glanced at the hall and saw that everyone had dragged the dining table chairs to the veranda. Radha had already pulled a chair out for me. I had been upstairs for a while and had not realized it was almost sunset.

  Monsoon had finally arrived in the third week of June. It had been raining non-stop for the past twenty-four hours, sparking a chill in the air.

  ‘Here we go,’ Rahul said, bringing a tray outside. ‘I’ve got delicious hot tea for everyone.’

  ‘And here are the bhajis,’ Shama said, following him outside. ‘Four more batches are being fried, so have as many as you want.’

  Shadow let out a low growl.

  ‘Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten you,’ Rahul said and disappeared into the kitchen for a few seconds. ‘I’ve made boiled eggs for you,’ he said and set them in Shadow’s bowl.

  We sat around a small centre table, overlooking the rain falling on our front yard. Everyone held up their kanda bhajis like we were raising a toast.

  ‘To more happiness together,’ Radha said.

  I looked around. All I saw was unbridled joy. Radha and Rahul were sitting next to each other holding hands. There was not a shred of worry on maa’s face. Shama was looking peaceful. Shadow was enjoying his boiled eggs.

  I crunched into the first bite, closing my eyes to savour the flavour.

  ‘This is too good,’ maa said.

  All of us ate silently, watching the rain fall in the large puddles of water that had formed in our front yard.

  ‘There’s something Rahul and I want to tell you,’ Radha said and all eyes moved towards her. She looked at Rahul and smiled. She moved her gaze back on us and said, ‘We’re thinking of deciding on a wedding date. We want your suggestions.’

  I felt all gooey and warm inside but my attention was drawn towards maa who had tears in her eyes. The next moment she was covering her face.

  ‘I’m so happy,’ maa said, trying to control the tears.

  Just then, my phone started ringing.

  I remembered bringing it downstairs with me so it had to be somewhere in the living room. I wondered who it could be. Rathod? We had last spoken three days ago. Wanting to enjoy the moment, I ignored it and it eventually stopped.

  I turned back around. Radha was in a tight embrace with maa. Both of them had tears in their eyes. I noticed everyone was tearing up, including Rahul. Shadow rubbed his nose against my leg.

  Right then, my phone began ringing again.

  My legs trembled ever so slightly. Why was I feeling this way?

  I got up and ducked inside the house to spot my phone’s illuminated screen in the dark living room. I could see it on the couch. My heart beat faster. I picked it up from the couch.

  An unknown number.

  My heart beat even louder. All sounds around me muted. Everything got several tints darker. I answered the call.

  ‘Is this Siya Rajput?’ a voice said.

  I don’t know this voice.

  It was a simple question. Why was I then sweating? The voice across the line was muffled like it was being masked. I could not even make out whether it belonged to a man or a woman. I felt my skin crawling.

  ‘Hello? Are you there? This is important,’ the voice said again.

  ‘Yes, this is Siya Rajput,’ I said, somehow gathering courage.

  Chills sparked through my body as the next words were uttered.

  ‘I know something about your father’s disappearance,’ the voice said.

  My stomach sank at the mention of my father. I could not feel my legs. My hands were shaking. Or were they? What was happening?

  ‘Who is this?’ I said.

  ‘That’s not important. All you need to know is that I’ll tell you what I know about your father’s disappearance once you help me. I’ll be in touch,’ the voice said and the line went dead.

  Siya Rajput returns in The Bones Are Calling. You can start reading it now by clicking here.

  Author’s Note

  First of all, thanks a lot for reading my book. I sincerely hope you had a great time reading Siya and gang’s latest adventure. I enjoyed the writing process even more this time. Talking about the process, this book was much harder to write than Her Mother’s Grave for two reasons.

  First, a lot of you wrote back to me to tell me that you enjoyed Her Mother’s Grave a lot. I always give writing everything I have but for the first time in my life, I had readers waiting for a book. It’s a great place to be in and I felt I needed to do everything possible to make sure you all also loved the second book in the Siya Rajput series. That took a lot of effort, both physically and mentally. I truly gave it my all. Maybe that’s why the launch date of the book was extended because I kept thinking of ways in which the story could improve. Eventually, I could put all those thoughts aside and focus on what mattered the most to me—telling a story to the best of my ability.

  The second reason it was harder to write was the subject itself. Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a dark topic to explore. I had to venture deep into my own thoughts and dark side to be able to write some scenes. When the idea first came to me, I thought I would introduce MSBP somewhere in the middle of the book. But as it happens so often, the characters and the story took their own course.

  Like in Her Mother’s Grave, all the places mentioned in the book are real. I hope you enjoyed this three hundred odd page journey to my home city of Pune. The next book in the series will be out sooner than the time it took me to release Little Girl Gone.

  My day is made when I hear back from my readers. You can write to me at udyasha.author@gmail.com.

  Have a great day ahead, stay safe and I will see you again soon.

  August 2019

  UD Yasha

  The Bones Are Calling (The Siya Rajput Crime Thrillers Book 3)

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  References (Where Are They Now)

  Acknowledgements (Where Are They Now)

  References (Finding Her)

  Acknowledgements (Finding Her)

  Chapter One

  I threw a hand up against my face.

  But that did not seem to help. The light was blinding and it kept getting brighter.

  A loud and distant banging noise.

  I did not know what was causing it,
or where it was coming from.

  The world around me started spinning. My mouth tasted of lemons. I did not know what was happening, except that I needed to get out of there.

  That made me wonder.

  Where am I?

  I lurched forward, pushing away from the ground that seemed to crumble under my feet, like I was standing on extremely soft sand. I was sure it was not a beach because the sand was pulling me in.

  I wanted to shout and ask for help. But I was afraid to open my mouth. What if no sound comes out? I moved with all the energy I had, managing to stumble away from the heavy sand. But where was I even going? Into the blinding light? That made me even more uncomfortable.

  Kids and even people talk about being afraid of the dark. But it's never darkness, it's about stepping into the big and vast unknown.

  ‘Is anyone there?’ I screamed, relieved for a beat that I could speak.

  But no one responded.

  My voice seemed to bounce around and eventually vanished into the air around me. That’s when I realized how cold it was. A chill ran through my body. I wrapped my arms around myself. Still running, I was hoping I was getting away. The light got dimmer and dimmer.

  I turned around and saw that the light was behind me.

  ‘Siya? Are you there?’ a voice said.

  My body kept moving, but my mind froze. I had not heard that voice in over sixteen years. I should not be hearing it now either. It can’t be true.

  'I'm here, Siya. I'm here for you,' the voice said again as if to tell me I was not hallucinating.

  How could this be happening?

  The voice belonged to my father, who had disappeared traceless just three months after my mother had been abducted by a serial killer. I was fourteen years old then. I kept running. I wondered if I was trying to get away from the voice as much as possible. Dad, how can it be you?

  Suddenly, the ground beneath me stopped shifting. The bright light was far behind. I was on some kind of a dark road, lit by flickering street lamps. The air smelled like it had rained and there were puddles of water by the roadside. The road, itself, seemed familiar. I looked around. Yes, this was the place where I had grown up. Our old house was to my left. I should have remembered all the good times we had as a family, but I could only think about the house as the place where maa had been taken. The bloody walls, the terror in dad's eyes when he had realized what had happened, and the way he had held me and my siblings close. It all came crashing back.

  Drops of rain fell on my face. I was reminded of the day dad had not come back home. We did not know then that he was missing. I was with my sister, Radha, in our bedroom at our maushi’s house. My brother, Kunal, was standing with an ear to the door, trying to listen to the conversation happening outside.

  ‘I think the police are here,’ he had said.

  Radha clenched my hand harder. She was only twelve then, but she knew because of maa’s investigation that any police involvement was a bad sign.

  I was shaken out of the memories because dad spoke again.

  ‘Siya, I have missed, my girl,’ his voice said, echoing in the rainy air.

  How can he be here? No one has heard from him or seen him in such a long time.

  I looked around. The rain was now coming down hard, making everything blurry. I stopped running when the voice came back. It was louder this time. Was I getting closer to dad?

  ‘You never came looking for me,’ dad said.

  My heart sank. The pit of my stomach churned. The memories of the night on which dad had vanished came back to me. I had stayed up all night, wondering what was happening to our family. Only three months before that day, we were all so happy. Maa, dad, Kunal, Radha and I. A family. We did everything together. Until my fourteenth birthday when maa was ill, and the rest of us went out to celebrate. All because I wanted to go to the waterpark.

  I hated myself for it for weeks. I kept wondering how maa would have never been taken and dad would not have vanished, had it not been for my birthday celebration. If I had not insisted on celebrating it.

  For months after the disappearance of my parents, I would stay up all night to look after Radha and Kunal. I did not want to lose anyone else. They were all I had. In the process, I had learnt to normalize the disappearance of my parents. It still hurt, but the only way I could manage the situation was by taking care of my siblings.

  I was shaken out of my thoughts once again.

  ‘Siya, please come for me. I beg you,’ dad said, his voice louder, but weaker.

  I ran faster toward our house. But the closer I got, the further it seemed to go. Where the hell am I? And where are you, dad?

  A piercing ache sliced through my head.

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, I stepped into a corridor. It was damp and smelt like piss. It did not seem to end. All the doors were closed. No way. A baby started crying somewhere. I tried to follow the sound, but it appeared to be coming from all directions.

  A loud scream emanated from behind me.

  ‘Run, Siya, run,’ someone said. It was probably a woman.

  I did not recognize the voice, but I knew I had to listen to it. I tried to bolt away but only managed to stagger forward.

  Just then, a room's door opened, and a hand grabbed me, pulling me inside. At that moment, I knew it was all over. Radha's smile flashed before my eyes. I remembered mom's voice….and then everything went black.

  The flower vase next to my bed cracked on the floor as my hand smashed into it. I jolted up from my bed as if a bolt of lightning had coursed through my spine. My room was dark, still and even quiet, except for my heart thudding against my chest.

  I took a deep breath. The clock on the side table told me it was three-thirty in the morning. I sat up against the bed. Another nightmare. I think this had been the fourteenth one in the past six months. They had started ever since I had got a call from an unknown person, telling me that they had information about dad’s disappearance.

  Shadow, our beloved dog, jumped on me. He must have woken up because of the vase. Pieces of it lay scattered on the floor. Shadow looked confused, but then he saw that I was alright, so he rubbed his nose on my shoulder and went back to sleep next to me. I absently petted his head.

  The nightmare had been different each time. But dad had always said that I had not gone looking for him.

  It was true. My mind had been preoccupied with maa's disappearance. It had been numbed by the time dad had gone missing. I felt miserable. I had tried to look for him. But there was no clue whatsoever regarding his disappearance. He had gone out for work like he did every day. Except one day, he had never returned. No one had seen or heard anything. Back in 2003, there weren't many CCTV cameras either. Dad was a cop, and his last known location was at the police station where he used to work. Some police officers had seen him there at around five in the evening. His phone's last known location was also the police station.

  At that time, dad had been accused of taking maa. All my energy as a teenager had gone into telling people he was innocent and flipping out at police officers who thought he was guilty. I was either sad or angry. I did not have nightmares then, but after the phone call, for the first time in years, I had felt hopeful about seeing dad once again.

  I looked at my left hand. My knuckles were bleeding from the impact against the vase. The scars were long, deep and red. I was too shocked to notice the pain. That would come later, and probably remind me of my nightmare every time I tried to pick something up.

  I pulled open the drawer next to my bed and grabbed some tissue paper to wipe the blood off my hand. I grimaced as the pain seeped in and spread through my body. My mind wandered back to the mystery caller who claimed to know about dad. I had run numerous theories in my mind about who it could have been. None seemed to make sense.

  There had been no further contact from the caller either. I had started to wonder if it was an elaborate prank. Dad’s disappearance was not a secret. People who knew where to find information on s
ixteen-year-old cases would get it easily. But then, while investigating another case six months back, I had found dad’s name in a file that contained records of corrupt cops. That was just a day before I got the call. It surely could not have been a coincidence. Something had happened that must have triggered it. But that also did not explain the radio silence since then.

  I also wondered if the call could have been made by Kishore Zakkal, the psychotic serial killer who was obsessed with me. He was the one who had taken maa. I had caught him almost six years ago, but then he had escaped when we rescued maa. However, this did not feel like Zakkal's work. He would want me to be scared and know it was him. The process of a kill was as vital to him as the act itself. Even though it was against Zakkal's Modus Operandi, there was still an outside chance that he was involved.

  I had asked a new friend, a hacker named Jay Parikh, to dig up any information he could about the caller. In a short span of time, I had started to trust him. Strangely it was because he had no direct connection to me or my family.

  ‘Whoever this is, they have covered their tracks well,’ Jay had told me. ‘I don’t have anything. Can I ask you a question? Who are these people?’

  I did not tell Jay. Neither did I tell Radha, maa or anyone else. Maa was getting better each day, and I did not want to set her recovery back. I had started having nightmares since the day I had gotten the call. I did not wish Radha to go through the same. I had decided I would not tell anyone else until I had more information. Something credible and tangible.