by UD Yasha
‘What all is in the bag?’ I said.
‘First aid, scissors, extra rounds for Glocks, two extra Glocks and tranquillizer shots.'
We ran past the trees. I heard a buzzing sound every few seconds. I looked around. Cameras. Maybe we’re in the right place.
‘He’s watching us,’ I said. ‘The cameras have motion detectors.’
‘Let him follow us. There’s little he can do. This place is going to be swarming with cops very soon.’
I stayed silent. That’s exactly what was worrying me. I did not know how Ranjit would react then. Or what he would do to his victims. He might panic and kill everyone he had held captive.
Chapter Forty-Five
We ran for the next three minutes. All those runs with Shadow were coming in handy. Finally, we saw the house. And then we spotted Ranjit’s car.
Relief flooded me. He was inside. He had come here after all.
He had been careful not to park it at the front. But he had not accounted for anyone coming in from the back.
‘Slow down,’ Rathod said. ‘He knows we’re here. Remember, don’t be shy to pull the trigger. I’ve a feeling we might need to. We don’t know yet when the backup will come. But they wouldn’t be far behind. Probably ten minutes. I checked my phone and there are signal jammers all across. So, don’t lose me. Stay together.’
I nodded. Rathod had more experience in these situations than me. I didn’t even remember when I had last fired a gun. It was definitely more than three years ago.
‘Follow me,’ Rathod said, crouching low and moving forward.
I did the same. The house had three stories. All its windows were closed. We were coming in from the side so I could not see the front door. The back door appeared shut. We broke stride for it. There was a window next to the back door. A fisheye camera swooped our pictures. A dog barked. Shadow! Rathod tried to open the door but it was locked. He smashed the window and put his hand inside. He unlocked the door and opened it.
Our hearts stopped on seeing what waited for us inside.
Ranjit Kadam stood inside right in front of us. He flashed us a smile. Radha was on her knees next to him. He was holding a knife at her neck. Her hands were tied behind her back. There was a gag around her mouth. I looked around but I could not see Rahul. That’s when I realized that Ranjit was holding a big rope in his right hand. I looked to his right to see where the rope came from.
Maa. I saw her. Tears streamed down my face. I could not feel it. Even before I could believe I was actually seeing her, the shock was replaced by the terror of the situation. There was a rope around her neck. Next to her were the other women whom we knew to be alive. All of them had ropes around their necks. Ranjit was holding the other end of the rope. If Ranjit released the rope he was holding, all the women would suffocate to death.
‘You may think that death by hanging usually takes time. But there’s a blade around their necks. They’ll all die within seconds if I let go of this rope. The blade will slice through their throats.’
‘What do you want?’ Rathod said.
I could not take my eyes off maa. Tears streamed down my face. I could see her looking at me. Her eyes were still so expressive, even after everything. I still could not believe my mother was alive. My gaze moved to Ranjit. This man was not going to take my mother after I’d come so close to saving her.
‘I want you to leave,’ Ranjit said calmly.
‘You know this area will soon have more cops than all the women you’ve murdered. There’s no chance you’re escaping.’
‘We’ll see. I’ll take some people with me if I die.’
‘Have you thought of what Zakkal would say if he knows you’ve killed his women?’ I said.
Ranjit narrowed his eyes on me but said nothing.
I took a step in his direction. I said, ‘He will hate you. You know how much he admires them.’ I took another step towards him.
‘Why are you walking towards me?’
I continued ‘Are you going to betray your mentor at the last moment?’
‘Stop walking or I’ll kill your sister.’
I obeyed his command.
‘Don’t try to be smart. I’m not joking when I said I’ll release the rope.’
I heard a faint noise outside. Footsteps. The backup had arrived. Ranjit needed to be distracted. I began a countdown in my head.
Thirty seconds to go.
I glared at Ranjit, taking my time. I said slowly, ‘So, you’re going to throw everything away right now, just like that? Are you not going to let Zakkal have his women?’
‘Stop talking,’ Ranjit said. ‘And move behind.’
Fifteen seconds to go.
I decided I would obey his command once again. I looked at maa one last time. I turned around and walked back, slowly, taking my time. I counted the seconds in my mind. I noticed Rathod was nodding his head gently.
‘Turn around, Siya,’ Ranjit said. ‘I want you to see the people you love the most die.’
I saw shadows outside the back door. I was so close. The shadows got smaller. They were closing in.
Five seconds to go.
I turned around just as I saw the first SWAT team member bustle in with his gun. A judder jolted through my body. Ranjit was smiling.
‘Bye bye, everyone,’ Ranjit said, and he let go off the rope.
Rathod ducked and pulled me down with him. Bullets sprayed from behind us. My heart sank. My eyes were transfixed on maa. Just as Ranjit had released the rope in his hand, the rope holding the five women went loose. My heart stopped beating. The SWAT team had sliced the rope by firing bullets at it.
At the same time, Rathod held his gun higher and took a shot at Ranjit. The first bullet missed him. Rathod fired again. This one hit his hand, and the knife in it flew away. The SWAT team ran inside. Before I knew it, the entire space was filled with them. Half of them went to the second floor. I heard more barking. A member of the SWAT team unlocked the chains that bound Radha while another two cuffed and chained Ranjit. They took him away.
I got up and ran to maa. She was still on the ground. I joined her there and hugged her tightly. Tears flowed down my cheeks. Radha hugged us together. I had never believed in miracles. But holding maa so close was nothing short of one.
I wanted to say so many things but no words came out. I don’t know how long we stayed that way. We saw Rahul coming down the stairs with Shadow and two more paramedics. They joined us on the floor. The moment was pure bliss. Paramedics soon came in and put maa and the four other women on stretchers. We walked with maa’s stretcher.
Rathod was waiting for us at the door. We saw maa get into an ambulance. Radha and Rahul sat next to her.
‘Well done,’ he said.
I would have said ‘you too, partner,’ as it had been our tradition to say that at the end of each case we had helped each other on. But my mind had stopped being able to form words.
I handed Shadow’s leash to Rathod. He accepted it. His face turned serious. ‘News just came in. Zakkal escaped. A helicopter came to pick him up on the hospital rooftop.’
I heaved a loud breath out but said nothing for at that moment only love remained.
Chapter Forty-Six
Four weeks later
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We still could not believe maa was with us again. She had stayed in the hospital for a week while the doctors performed tests on her and ensured her health got back to an optimum level. We were told it would take time for her to get back to full health; both physical and mental. Over the coming weeks, maa returned home. I took three months off from work. My family would always be my priority. My savings from my days of practising law were strong enough to carry us through.
Maa was delighted to meet Shama and Rahul. She had not realized that her children were old enough to find partners of their own. We told maa about dad in the hospital. She deserved to know soon but we also had to make sure the shock did not worsen her health. She was obviously taken aback when we
told her. But her return after such a long time triggered a fresh hope…anything was possible.
I did not renew my law license. It did not even cross my mind amid everything that was happening. Once maa got home, we settled into a cosy routine. We loved every minute of it. Our lives had a new found meaning. We got up at seven in the morning. I made tea and Rahul his delicious giant omelette. Maa's physiotherapist came to our home before noon. She had therapy sessions twice a week in the evenings. Rahul would be back from work around five in the evening. Radha's boss was kind enough to let her work from home for two months. She only needed to go to her office for a couple of hours two days a week. Shama was always with me, looking after maa like she was her own mother. All of us would sit in the evenings and talk for hours. At times, Karan joined us on a video call. We had a lot to tell maa. Our maushi, who had looked after us once maa and dad went missing, would come to our home for dinner.
I last heard from Kapil the day Ranjit Kadam was arrested. I wanted to thank him for everything and also tell him why I had been gone for three years. But I kept putting it off. I would do it eventually, I kept telling myself.
The CID filed a charge sheet against Ranjit Kadam. They found out he had killed more than seventy women over a period of twenty years. That was the known count. It was suspected the real number was in three digits. They also found out that Ranjit had helped plan Zakkal's escape. The killings of Supriya Kelkar and Tarla Raheja were mere statements to draw attention. Zakkal chose the time outside with inmates as he knew he would have many eyeballs on him then. He could have taken a medicine to induce a heart attack before as well, but no one would have been there to attend to him in his cell. The time in the open with inmates was a ploy to make sure he got urgent medical attention. Ranjit said their only objective was to get Zakkal moved to Sasoon Hospital from where his escape plan was easier. The CID had no clue or new leads to where Zakkal had gone. The search was still on.
One day when Rahul and I were alone, he told me, ‘I’ll propose to Radha next month. Let everything calm down. This a huge moment, especially for all of you. I feel even maa will be healthier then.’
I smiled at him and changed the topic because Radha entered the room with maa and Shama. Shadow followed them, wagging his tail. He was already playing a big role in helping maa recover, just like he had done with me.
‘I’m blessed to have all of you back,’ maa said, stroking Radha and me. She turned to Shama and Rahul. ‘Even you two are like my children. I’m really fortunate that I’m getting to spend this time with you. I never thought such a time would come again. Thank you.’
Tears trickled down my eyes. I blinked them away. Maa being with us still felt unreal. We sat, planning the next month. Maa was the most upbeat I had seen since she had got back.
She said, ‘We could all go someplace near Pune for a small holiday. Maybe Mahabaleshwar or even Lonavala. We can get away for a weekend from everything and have time to ourselves.’
Rahul must have noticed maa's happy demeanour as well. His face lit up. I could make out he was excited. He could not wipe the grin off his face. I knew what he was thinking about. He had just found the perfect time to ask Radha to marry him. He glanced at me. I smiled and nodded my head to give him the signal.
Rahul stood up and went down on one knee next to Radha. All eyes turned to them. Radha realized what was happening. She covered her face with her hands.
‘Yes, of course. I will marry you, Rahul,' she said, even before he said anything.
Rahul took Radha’s hand and slipped the ring on. She got up and hugged Rahul. I saw maa’s eyes welling up. In that moment, everyone in the Rajput household was the happiest they had ever been. I wiped the tears away, unable to hold back the glee within me. Maa and Shama hugged me from both sides. The Rajput family was happy again.
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SIYA RAJPUT RETURNS IN ‘FINDING HER’.
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Enjoyed this? You can get the rest of the released books in the Siya Rajput series for Rs. 299 in a digital box set (that is at a 50% discount if you buy them individually as opposed to together) by clicking on this link.
Author’s Note
Writing this book was an extremely special experience for me. In many ways, it made me believe in myself again. I had to become a better version of myself to write it. Siya Rajput will be back soon.
The Woman Who Vanished (previously published as Where Are They Now) also marks a big change in my personal life. It is my first published novel, even though I have written other novels earlier. It is also my first novel in pursuit of becoming a full-time writer. I have always dreamt of telling stories for a living. I have given myself a year to achieve the same. Hopefully, I can make it. Towards that endeavour, I really want to thank you for picking up this book and showing the faith in me. It really means the world to me.
UD Yasha is a pen name. ‘Yasha’ is derived from my mother’s name Yashashri, while UD is taken from my first name Udayan. I wanted to have my mother’s name on the covers of the books I wrote as I owe a lot to her. Ten years back, when I was thirteen, my father had a medical accident (we suspect it was the doctor’s mistake) due to which his brain got less oxygen for a few minutes, leading to brain hypoxia; a fancy term for brain damage. The road to his recovery is long. He’s improving now but needs our attention and care throughout. We are glad to still have him in our lives. We hope to see him walk on his own one day. Given all of this, my mother, whom I call ‘maa’, has been the light that all my family members have looked up to and taken energy from. None of us would have been even half of what we are, if it had not been for her relentless positivity and courage. The pen name is my small way of tipping my hat to her.
It was a pleasure to write Where Are They Now. It is set in the city of Pune, in which I have stayed all my life.
I love to hear from my readers. You can write to me at [email protected] .
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February 2019
UD Yasha
About the Author
Born in Pune, U.D. Yasha graduated from Symbiosis International University with an undergraduate degree in Economics and a minor in International Relations. His love for reading pushed him to write. He lives with his family in Pune, India.
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Indian Pronounciations
I understand some of you may not be familiar with Indian pronunciations. So, I hope this small guide will help you out. It’ll hold you in good stead for the next books in the Siya Rajput Series. Here we go-
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Siya Rajput: See-yeah Raaj-poot
Kishore Zakkal: Kee-shore Zakkal
Pune: Poo-nay
Vivaan Deshpande: We-vaaan Desh-pan-day
Nana Shirole: Naa-naa She-row-le
References
I am no expert in criminal psychology. I got my knowledge from the places listed below and random spurts of reading.
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1. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3169359/How-spot-serial-killer-Criminologists-reveal-five-key-traits-common-notorious-murderers.html
2. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201804/serial-homicide-power-and-control
3. Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker
Acknowledgments
Writing is a solitary activity but it’s never possible to do it by yourself for it takes a full family to write a book. My family has several members, all of whom play an irreplaceable role. I’m thanking those who were directly involved in the making of this story, for if I thank them all for ev
erything they have done, I would have to write a full-length book.
I thank my parents. All the good I am is because of you. Thanks to you two and ajji for bearing with my constant requests to keep the volume of conversations low in the house while I write.
This book would not have been possible without Priti Deshpande. She suggested the title, gave feedback, proofread the book on a very tight schedule and provided me with the confidence to write this story. Not to forget, she also cancelled her dentist's appointment (ouch!) to help me meet my publishing deadline. Thank you for everything, mami.
Thank you to Neeharika Shembekar Gawande for going through each and every word in this novel and making sure it is error free. Not only did she clean up the manuscript, but also pointed out inconsistencies in the plot. This book would not have been possible without Neha maushi as well. I’ll always be extremely grateful for all your assistance.
I want to also thank Dori Barrett, an amazing reader, for going through the book and proof-reading it. Dori, I’m deeply touched by the effort you put in. It has certainly made the book much better.
