When He Finds You

by UD Yasha

‘That guy from CID…I’m forgetting his name. He took them away. I thought of stopping them but he threatened to shoot Maa so I couldn’t do anything,’ Rahul said, panting.

  Rathod got him some water. He also handed a glass to me. ‘You need to sit down for a second,’ he said to me.

  I blindly followed his advice and sat on the couch. I massaged my temples. I had feared this day would come—when Zakkal ripped apart our family once again. I knew I had to rise to the occasion. I needed my best version to get back Radha and Maa. I sat silently for a few more seconds. I remembered my dad. He had passed away but I knew he was a brave man. I knew I had to make him proud and not led Radha and Maa down. I glanced at Rahul and pictured him and Radha sitting by a saptapadi, the Holy Fire, to get married.

  I got up with a renewed vigour.

  Just then, Rathod’s phone rang. He answered it right away. He nodded once and said, ‘We’ll be there.’

  He turned to me and said, ‘They have found Neeraj Gujre lying by the road. He’s badly injured but still alive. His car’s still there but there’s no sign of Radha or your mother either.’

  ‘What the hell?’ I said.

  ‘Zakkal would have used Neeraj to get inside the safehouse and take Radha and your mom. Once that was done, Neeraj would have been useless to him. Someone else, or Zakkal himself, would have taken over after that,’ Rathod said. ‘He managed to issue an SOS, so the CID patrol car found him. They’ve taken him to CID’s Emergency Room. Let’s go. We might get a chance to speak to Neeraj. It sounded like he doesn’t have much time left.’

  Apart from feeling drowsy, Rahul was alright. So, we left him at the safehouse and called for an ambulance. Rathod once again drove like his life was on the line. We got to the CID office at ten-thirty. We went straight to the Emergency Room which was in the basement, next to the Forensic Department.

  Dr Sonia ushered us inside.

  ‘What’s the status?’ Rathod asked her.

  'We found him near the University Road. His throat has been slashed. But we could revive him partially. He's very critical. I think you have a few minutes with him. He needs to go in for surgery. His system may collapse if we keep him up any longer,' Dr Sonia said as she guided us into the room where Neeraj Gujre was kept.

  Neeraj was awake. An IV was connected to his wrist and an oxygen mask was strapped to his mouth. There was a thick bloody bandage around his neck. His eyes followed us as we stood next to his bed. I could tell he was terrified. But I didn’t care. The guy had sold us out.

  ‘Two minutes,’ she said, removing Neeraj Gujre’s oxygen mask.

  I felt rage boil inside me. I was sure my anger would have uncoiled on Neeraj’s face had he not been injured already.

  ‘Where did he take them?’ I asked him.

  Neeraj gulped hard. He shook his head.

  ‘Speak, goddammit,’ I said, controlling the urge to hit him.

  'I don't know,' Neeraj said in a soft and low voice. 'I was only asked to kidnap them.' He heaved loudly. 'Zakkal asked me to wait in the area where he eventually attacked me. He took them away.'

  ‘Which direction did they go in?’ Rathod said.

  ‘I don’t know. I was on the ground, bleeding, when he left. He had got his own car.’

  ‘Do you remember which car it was?’

  ‘No, I don’t know. Even the place he had asked me to wait is a blind spot for the cameras,’ Neeraj said, opening his mouth wide open to take in more air.

  Sonia stepped in and put the oxygen mask back on. ‘That’s enough. We won’t be able to bring him back again.’

  We stepped out and walked through the corridor where Dr Sonia had given me the information about Neeraj’s wife’s DNA being found in the wigs.

  ‘I don’t think he knows where Zakkal is,’ Rathod said.

  'I agree. As you said, he was used for a specific reason.'

  I glanced at my phone screen. It was eight minutes to eleven. I felt resigned.

  ‘I should call Devaki Sharma and tell her that I’m surrendering myself to—’

  ‘Don’t even think about that,’ Rathod cut in.

  ‘How do I get them back, Rathod? They’re everything that I have. I can’t lose them. I can’t,’ I said.

  We went back to the ground floor and stepped into the conference room. It was empty.

  ‘Bhalerao, Shukla and Mathew are going through the CCTV footage of the area where Neeraj was asked to wait by Zakkal,’ Rathod said.

  I put my head on the conference table desk. Various papers from the case had been spread out on the table. There was a picture of a woman on top of all the papers. I didn't remember seeing it before so I picked it up instinctively. It was of Aarti Lunkad, the woman whose remains we had identified—Zakkal's most recent murder.

  ‘Hey, Rathod, where did we get this picture from? We didn’t have it before, right?’ I said.

  ‘Aarti’s parents had come some time ago. I think they forgot it in the morgue. Poor folks were shocked. Srestha Vishwa brought it up when she noticed they had left it behind.’

  I stared at the picture. Something about it drew me to observe it closely. It seemed familiar. And then hit me why.

  ‘Rathod, I think I know who Zakkal’s lover is,’ I said.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  The time was ten forty and we had exactly one hour and forty minutes left to stop Zakkal from killing again.

  ‘What?’ Rathod said. ‘Who is it?’’

  ‘Tanya Thomas,’ I said.

  ‘She’s.. she’s Anita Thomas’ sister?’ Rathod said, surprised. ‘Anita Thomas, the woman who wrote to Zakkal and died from cancer. How could her sister—’

  ‘We need to go to her house. I’ll tell you on the way,’ I said and started for the door.

  I wasn’t sure who else was spying on us for Zakkal so I waited before we were out of the CID building. We made a dash for Shukla’s car because it was pouring down hard again.

  Once we got inside the car, I showed Aarti Lunkad's picture to Rathod. 'See the pendant that Aarti is wearing. I remember Tanya Thomas wearing the same pendant when we visited her. Zakkal is known to take trophies from his victims and gift them to the woman he's with.'

  ‘Oh yes, I remember all the jewellery he had gifted his wife—all stuff picked up from his victims,’ Rathod said.

  ‘What Tanya Thomas had around her neck earlier today was once owned by Aarti Lunkad,’ I said and paused. ‘We’ve found the lover. Now, it’s time to get that son of a bitch too. Now what he wrote in the letter makes sense. He had written that he has realized that love is a much more powerful emotion than lust. It was a strange thing to say. But it now makes sense. I first thought his male pen pals who wanted to kill were helping him out. But they only lusted after him. I think Zakkal realized that a woman who loves him is far more valuable.’

  ‘The woman gives him things he doesn’t have. Those men were just trying to be his replicas,’ Rathod said and paused. ‘Do you think we should call for backup?’

  'I doubt Zakkal's actually living with her,' I said, before thinking a backup was a good idea. 'How much time will it take to arrange for one? Because we're already halfway through.'

  ‘Ten minutes to call for it and another ten more for it to arrive.’

  ‘We’ll reach in the next five minutes so they’re probably going to get there late. But you never know if we might need it. Please call for it.’

  Rathod made the call as we entered Kothrud, the area in which Tanya Thomas lived. In the next two minutes, we had pulled into her lane and were staring at her house. We bolted up the shallow patio step and Rathod rang the bell.

  As the door opened, Rathod’s right hand hovered over his gun holster.

  ‘It’s you again,’ Tanya said on seeing us.

  She was still wearing the pendant. It was silver in colour and had a small red ruby dangling in the middle.

  She said, ‘Is everything okay? It’s quite late.’

  'Can you let us in, please? We have some
more questions regarding your sister,' I said.

  Tanya looked behind her and then opened the door for us. We didn’t sit down. I moved in closer to Tanya while Rathod stood at the door.

  ‘Why don’t you tell us where you got that pendant from?’ I said, pointing at her neck.

  Tanya narrowed her eyes. Her expression changed for a beat. 'I don't remember,' she said, shaking her head.

  ‘Stop lying to us,’ I said.

  ‘Why are you in my house so late at night to ask me stupid questions like this?’

  ‘We know, Tanya. We know,’ I said. ‘We know it was you who wrote those letters to him, and not your sister. We know that you’re in love with Zakkal.’

  Silence.

  ‘I could’ve gotten this pendent from anywhere,’ Tanya said. ‘Are you cracked in your mind?’

  'It's not just the pendant,' I lied, trying to be as convincing as Tanya had been when we had met her earlier. 'When we were in here in the evening, we discreetly took a couple of things from the house that usually has DNA of people who either live in it or frequent it. From the samples we found, there was a match for Zakkal.' I needed one more final blowout punch. 'We also analysed the handwriting in the letters you wrote to him and ran it against yours. Your employer was kind enough to give us access to some of the forms you had filled. Guess what we found? The handwriting in the letters is yours.'

  The innocent girl-next-door look on Tanya’s face vanished as she glared at me. She said, ‘Are you upset that he’s chosen me and not you?’

  What the fuck?

  ‘He loves me, Siya. Kishore loves me,’ Tanya said.

  I noticed how she called Zakkal by his first name.

  Tanya continued. ‘I know how that can trouble you. Believe me when I say that I have been there. For the first few weeks of us being together, I was afraid that he was going to leave me for you. But then, over time, I realized where his heart truly lies,’ Tanya said in a flat tone.

  ‘Do you seriously believe that?’ I said, realizing that I had chosen the wrong words as Tanya could have construed them as me challenging her on the fact that Zakkal loved me.

  ‘He is a maverick, I admit it. But, he’s also an excellent lover. His ways can be a bit strange at times. It’s hard to understand. But everyone has flaws.’

  ‘Everyone has flaws but they don’t go around killing and abducting women,’ I said, my voice shaking with anger.

  I glanced at the wall clock in the living room. It was ten minutes past eleven. We only had seventy minutes with no idea of where Zakkal was. I could not spend another minute trying to reason out with a delirious woman.

  ‘That’s true love, Siya. You don’t see it and that’s why he doesn’t love you back.’

  ‘I’m not in love with him, for crying out loud. I do not love him. I want to rip him apart the next time I see him,’ I shouted.

  ‘And all those flaws of his are a thing of the past.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Rathod said.

  ‘He doesn’t kill the way he used to anymore.’

  ‘If you believe that, then let me tell you that you are mistaken. In the past two years, he’s at least killed six women. He’s abducted many more.’

  ‘Kishore told me you’d say that,’ Tanya said.

  ‘Because it’s the fucking truth,’ I said, losing my mind.

  ‘I know he’s a killer, Siya. But I still love him. For Kishore, killing is like an addiction. He has recovered from it but there are days when he lapses and goes back to his old ways. You need to support people with addictions, and not abandon them when they relapse. The more I’m talking to you, the more I’m realizing why Kishore doesn’t like you.’

  Rathod jumped in. He said, ‘Where is he right now?’

  ‘I can’t tell you that,’ Tanya said. ‘But I can give you a hint.’

  ‘Did Zakkal ask you to say that as well? I said.

  Tanya smiled. ‘At least you’re smart,’ she said. ‘The hint is that you already know where he is.’

  I know where he is?

  ‘Do you think this is a game?’ Rathod said. ‘Someone is going to die in one hour if we don’t find Zakkal.’

  Tanya shot Rathod a look as if he had just told her the earth is flat. 'Can you please stop it with all these ridiculous notions you have? He's not going to kill anyone.'

  ‘Do you really believe that? Can I show you something that would change your mind?’ Rathod said.

  I guessed he was referring to the videos that Zakkal had recorded for us. In any case, we didn't have those videos on us and it would take a while before we got them. I also doubted that the videos or the letters would change Tanya's mind. I put that thought on the back burner of my mind. So far, Tanya had made it clear that she wasn't going to tell us where Zakkal was. To find out, we were going to have to play her game and guess. The ticking clock in my head didn't make it easy to think straight. I tried to calm myself down.

  The hint is that you already know where he is.

  Did Zakkal want me to get in touch with Devaki Sharma and tell her that I was surrendering? Did he want me to acknowledge defeat in front of the entire world? Zakkal had a huge ego but surely wasn’t the case. Plus, Tanya had said I already knew where he was. Those were her exact words. I was sure that Zakkal had trained her for a moment like this. In that case, Zakkal had chosen those words. The hint is that you already know where he is.

  I wondered if we had not properly checked any of the places that we had visited. Could there have been another chamber near the water tower? After all, we still weren't exactly sure why Zakkal took his victims there. Could there be more to the place? From what I knew, CID's secondary search team scanned every crime scene after the investigating officers had examined it—to make sure nothing was missed. Since we had found one chamber, they would have gone through each and every square metre of that land. I ruled out the water tower.

  You already know where he is.

  My mind went back to my jail visits to Zakkal. I had played those conversations in my mind over and over again for the past two and a half years. If Zakkal had even remotely hinted at any place back then, I would have been able to guess it right away. I ruled out that thought too.

  I realized I would have gotten to know about it only in the past three days. Could he be in Tanya Thomas’ house itself? I was pretty sure he wasn’t but I decided to check nonetheless.

  ‘I’m going to head upstairs and check this house,’ I said to Rathod.

  I climbed the stairs and zipped through the two rooms. One was a study and the other was a bedroom. Both were empty. I returned downstairs.

  ‘For that wrong guess, I’m sad to inform you that you’ve lost points. Seriously, I’m starting to feel bad for myself. How could I ever think that Kishore would fall for you?’ She paused. ‘You’ve lost points. That means you’ve only one correct guess remaining. If you get this wrong, I’m never going to tell you where Zakkal is.’

  It was a lost cause to reason with Tanya.

  You already know where he is.

  I had an idea. For the past three days, Zakkal had not communicated with me directly. It was either through letters or the video message he had shared. Had he mentioned anything in them? My mind raced.

  Then it hit me.

  There was something that he had written in the letters and said in the video.

  Come home to me. I’m waiting for you.

  It had seemed like a metaphor at the time, but maybe he actually meant it. Where was home though? Zakkal’s fascination with my family had started roughly eighteen years ago. We lived in a different house then—it was the house from where Zakkal had taken Maa. It was in a neighbourhood called Shivaji Nagar, which was about ten minutes from the CID office and twenty minutes from our current home that Zakkal had burnt down.

  That cannot be it, right?

  The thought was outrageous. How could Zakkal possibly be living in the house I grew up in? But I knew Zakkal was into grand gestures. We had sold that house
after Zakkal had taken Maa. The house had far too many painful memories attached to it. That also became a reason why Zakkal might have chosen the place. It was a crazy idea, but I had just one guess left.

  My instinct took over and I blurted out. ‘Is he in the house where I used to stay when he took my mother?’

  Tanya chuckled, shaking her head.

  I cursed myself. I had it wrong. I blew my only chance.

  Just when I thought that, Tanya said, ‘You’re right. Now that you’ve got that correct, Zakkal would like to talk to you.’

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Zakkal is in my childhood house, the one from where he had taken Maa—the place where it all started.

  My mind was too numb to think straight.

  ‘Can I take out my phone please?’ Tanya said. ‘I need to make a call.’

  Rathod had his gun out now. ‘One wrong move and you’ll have a bullet in your head.’

  Tanya put her hand in her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone very slowly. She held it in her hand and turned the screen around to show us that she was dialling Zakkal’s number. She pressed his name card and put the call on speaker.

  The phone rang three times before it was answered.

  ‘Hi, Siya, I’ve been waiting to speak to you for so long,’ Zakkal said in a raspy voice.

  ‘Where’s Radha and my mother?’ I said, my tone as urgent as Zakkal’s was relaxed.

  ‘Relax, they’re alright,’ Zakkal said. ‘Are you going to come and see me? You need to come here to free your sister and mother and you need to come alone.’

  ‘You have my word that I will come alone, but don’t you dare touch them,’ I said.

  ‘They’re both very comfortable right now. Also, have you checked the clock? You don’t have much time. Just forty more minutes. It takes twenty minutes to come here from Tanya’s house. I’m guessing that that tall guy Kapil Rathod must be with you. You’re allowed to bring him. But no one else. I repeat no one else. I would know if you called for backup.’ Zakkal paused. ‘Also, please get Tanya with you. Don’t you dare lay a finger on her,’ he said and hung up.