The Hunt for Truth

by Sury Patru Viswam

  “Hi, here you are,” Arya said, getting down from her Crown Vic after killing the engine.

  “Arya, is it you?” Sania asked, feeling surprised to see Arya show up at this time of the night.

  Before Arya could reply, Sania hastily asked, “Is everything alright? Any news about Sam?”

  “Oh no, everything is alright,” Arya said, realizing her showing up at this late hour gave a wrong impression — false hope to Sania.

  “Alright? You mean…,” Sania asked with hope.

  “I am sorry….” Arya was crossed with herself for digging a bigger hole. “I meant to say that no new worrying news about Sam.”

  Sania slowly nodded her head, but Arya could clearly see the disappointment all over Sania’s face.

  “I should have called; showing up unannounced is clearly a bad idea.” Arya raised her shoulders, which she tends to do when she felt awkward.

  “Don’t be silly, Arya.” Sania waved dismissively and leaned closer to embrace her.

  “Ouch!” Sania gasped, as Arya’s service gun poked slightly at Sania’s belly.

  “So sorry,” Arya hurriedly said, withdrawing. “So sorry, I forgot about this…,” she said, pointing at her Glock 22 clipped to her waist.

  “It’s alright. It was just a poke; I overreacted.” Sania gave a welcoming smile.

  They both stood still, staring at each other for a moment. A slight breeze was blowing from north to south, and along with it came old memories from up north. It almost felt unreal to Arya.

  “You know, I looked for you.”

  “Where? Did you wait too long?”

  “No, no,” Arya said, shaking her head. “Not now. I meant after that night. What happened? Where did you go?”

  “It is a long story,” Sania said, holding her gaze firmly at Arya.

  As Arya started with her next question, Sania gestured with her hands for Arya to pause. “I know you have a hundred questions, but let us not do that here.” Sania pointed at the road. “Also, I really got to pee.”

  “Uh-oh,” Arya reacted apologetically.

  “Don’t be…. It is not your fault, this little one,” Sania paused to point at her belly, “makes me pee all the time. The baby makes me pee like I swigged a lot of beers — like how we did in college.”

  They both burst out laughing, remembering their wild nights in college.

  Laughing heartily, they began to walk towards the front door. The pace was slow, given Sania’s house stood raised a few feet above the ground level.

  As they gingerly walked towards Sania’s front door, a man observed the whole exchange from the confines of his silver Honda. As they disappeared through the doors, the man pulled a Marlboro Red from his cigarette case and brought it to life.

  “It’s going to be a long night,” he muttered to himself, blowing smoke through his mouth.

  11

  “Now I can talk,” Sania smilingly said, coming back from the bathroom.

  “Is it your first?” Arya asked affectionately.

  Sania nodded. “Our first.”

  Arya smiled, meeting Sania’s eyes.

  “I was reluctant to get pregnant so fast after we got married, but Sam wanted a baby.” Sania paused for a moment before continuing with a wistful tone, “He loves kids. He wanted to be a father from the moment we got married.” Sania’s voice cracked, reminiscing her past with Sam.

  Arya reached over to comfort Sania by placing her hands over Sania’s.

  “You know he loved the baby.” Sania gently caressed her belly. “We even picked a name.” Her eyes started to well up with tears.

  Arya nodded, holding her emotions in check, listening to her emotional friend.

  “Sara.” There was no stopping the tears then; it rolled down Sania’s face. “We named her Sara.” The dam was broken, the tears started to flow, and Sania began to cry profusely, shuddering.

  Arya rushed to her friend’s side, leaned over, and gave her a loving hug.

  “I will give you my word; I will find Sam,” Arya said with conviction, hugging her long-lost best friend. At that moment, Arya knew she has a new mission in life – to find Samir Tariq.

  The moment lasted a minute, but it seemed to Arya like an hour. Finally, when they parted with their embrace, Sania asked, “Do you have any?”

  “Any?” Arya asked, quizzingly.

  “Kids, any kids?”

  “Nah, Nah….” Arya shook her head vehemently like she was being accused.

  “I didn’t even ask if you were married; how selfish of me,” Sania said disapprovingly of herself.

  “You did,” Arya said, pointing Sania to the conversation they had in the coffee shop.

  “So sorry! I somehow forgot the whole exchange,” Sania apologized.

  “Don’t be silly.” Arya waved her hand dismissively.

  “Okay. Let me ask you again; are you married?” Sania smiled.

  “Me? Noooo….” Arya shook her head again, quite vehemently.

  “What is it with you? You are acting like I asked something unimaginable,” Sania frowned.

  “No. Nothing like that; it is just,” Arya paused to search for the right word, “it is just so far-fetched now.”

  “What? What happened with Carl?” Sania asked, referring to Arya’s boyfriend at NYU.

  “Carl! That is a name I almost forgot. We split right after.”

  “Really? I thought you guys were perfect,” Sania quipped.

  “Not funny; you seriously thought he was my prince charming!” Arya stared at Sania, making a face.

  “Jokes apart; what happened?” Sania hugged a throw pillow.

  “He cheated; that is what happened.”

  “What? He cheated?” Sania raised her brows in surprise.

  “That guy is a douchebag. Not one, he cheated with two people. He cheated the person who he cheated me with.”

  “What!” Sania began to laugh.

  “You are laughing, great.” Arya acted like she was offended for a moment. It didn’t last long, and they both began to laugh.

  Sania couldn’t live in her past when her present was clouded.

  “Did you talk to your supervisor?” Sania asked, bringing the conversation back to Sam.

  Arya nodded, holding her gaze at Sania.

  “And?” Sania asked eagerly.

  Arya lowered the glass of water from her mouth and said, “It is going to be me.”

  “What? That is awesome.” Sania genuinely felt excited knowing that her best friend, Arya, was now assigned to the case.

  “You know, this is probably the first good news I have got in the last few days.” Sania started to well up.

  “Sania….” Arya reached out to Sania affectionately and rubbed her shoulders.

  “This must be the hormones. I am not usually this much of a crybaby,” Sania half-laughed, making fun of herself.

  “I am not sure if I agree with that; you were always a kind of a crybaby,” Arya cracked.

  Arya’s joke landed the way she had intended, and both of them started to crack up.

  After the laughter died off, Sania asked, “Who was assigned before? What did they find?”

  “No one,” Arya told the truth.

  “What? How could they do that? It has been close to forty-eight hours, and how is that even possible?”

  “Under normal circumstances, you are correct – they would have had someone assigned. But after what happened yesterday – the 9/11 attacks – everything is different.”

  “Sorry if I sound ignorant or selfish, but isn’t 9/11 more of an NYPD situation? Are you guys affected?” Sania slowly asked.

  “True. NYPD and mainly the Feds are running the show, but it is going to be so much more. Law enforcement across the country, in all forms, are affected. We all got to unite and share our information to get those fanatics,” Arya said in a raised tone, visibly upset and angry.

  Arya’s furious reaction was the norm that day across every law enforcement agency. Everyone fel
t united with a common purpose, to hunt and kill the terrorists who cowardly attacked and killed thousands of their fellow citizens. The inter-agency politics and territory squabbles seemed to feel very trivial then.

  Sania felt the temperature of the room raise, following the real and emotional outburst from Arya. “I couldn’t believe it. It is so sad,” Sania said in a lowered voice, reflecting the enormity of the events that have gripped the country from yesterday.

  “I know that fu….” Arya blurted out a few expletives and then paused for a moment to form her thoughts. “You know what beats me? Those terrorists had families – parents, wives, kids. How did they all not know?” Arya asked rhetorically.

  Sania remained silent, allowing Arya to vent.

  After a moment, Arya realized that she hijacked the discussion on a different path. “Sorry, I went off on a tangent away from Sam’s case.”

  Reading Sania’s face, Arya realized that Sania might be concerned if Sam’s case would be ignored, given the situation. Arya chided herself for putting those thoughts in Sania’s head and said, “Given all I said; still, Sam’s case is going to be a priority.”

  Sania looked up at Arya with suspicion.

  “It is a priority for me; you got to believe me.” Arya firmly looked into Sania’s eyes.

  Sania nodded. “I believe you.”

  As Sania’s gaze met Arya’s, they both nodded to show they understood each other.

  “Can I ask you something? Isn’t the first 24 to 48 hours the most crucial in a missing person case? Sam has been missing for almost 48 hours now, isn’t that a problem?”

  “You are watching too much of Law and Order on TV; that is not always the case,” Arya countered.

  “How so? So that timeline is just fiction?” Sania was now pretty worked up.

  “I won’t completely rule it out. It is often true in the case of missing children, but Sam here being an adult makes it different.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that. So, what is the timeline?”

  “Sania,” Arya met Sania’s eyes, “there is no specific timeline. Each case is different. I just want you to trust me; we will find him.” Arya held Sania’s hands in hers, trying to calm Sania down.

  “Okay, okay. This is all new to me,” Sania stuttered.

  “I know, that is why you got to trust me. We will find Sam.”

  Sania composing herself slightly nodded and said, “It makes me so happy that I have you in this situation.”

  Arya smiled. “Me too.”

  After allowing the calming moment to settle in, Arya said, “Now, I need something from you. I need you to slowly and methodically answer all my questions.”

  Sania briskly said, “Anything. What do you want to know?”

  12

  “When was the last time you spoke to Sam?” Arya asked, flipping her pocket notebook open.

  “Around 5:00 in the evening, when I dropped him at the airport.” Sania eyed Arya taking notes.

  Realizing that Sania’s quizzing eyes were on her, Arya asked, “Are you okay with me taking notes?”

  Sania nodded immediately.

  “Thanks, it helps me remember. You know, with all the tequila I consume, I can’t seem to remember the movie I saw last week,” Arya made a lame attempt at a joke.

  “September 10th? Philly airport?” After the failed joke, Arya brought the conversation back to the case.

  “Yes, Philly airport and September 10th,” Sania confirmed the date she dropped Sam at Philadelphia International Airport.

  “Do you know the flight number?” Arya asked, without looking up.

  “No, I don’t remember. But I know the flight was scheduled to depart at 7:10 in the evening.” Sania went on to confirm that it was a direct flight to Los Angeles.

  “This is useful.” Arya explained that she could now quickly pinpoint the flight Sam took to LA. She felt confident that there would be only one direct flight to LA at that specific time, 7:10 PM.

  “What about the hotel?” Arya continued.

  “I don’t know. Sam’s office would have made the bookings.”

  “You didn’t ask?” Arya looked up, resting her pen between her lips.

  “No,” Sania said with slight hesitation on her face, like there was more to that story.

  “Uh-oh, I know that face. What are you not saying?” Arya eyed Sania.

  “I was least interested in his trip because we had a terrible fight,” Sania confessed.

  Arya eyed Sania to go on.

  “When I got pregnant, Sam promised that he would cut down on his travel. At first, he did,” Sania said.

  “What happened after?” Arya invited Sania to open up.

  “Then it increased quite drastically. In the last few months, Sam traveled constantly.”

  “That caused a rift?” Arya asked questions that would open up Sania further.

  “Yes, yes, it did. We started constantly arguing before each of his trips. Then he stopped. He didn’t travel for almost two weeks, and then this happened.”

  “This flight to Los Angeles?”

  “Yes. Sam mentioned to me about the trip on the day of his flight. When he said it was a crucial trip, and a lot was riding on it, I became enraged. I just lost it and went off at him.” Sania shook her head in disbelief and said, “I can’t believe that I fought with him the day he disappeared. It must be the hormones we never fought before.” Tears started to form around her eyes.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sania. I would have done the same.” Arya tried to console Sania.

  “That is not such a relief,” Sania took a dig at Arya.

  “Ouch! That hurts,” Arya made a face.

  Sania and Arya both half-laughed.

  After a moment, Sania continued, “But we made up before he left.”

  “Oh good,” Arya said with a tone that raised Sania’s curiosity.

  “What?” Sania asked, trying to find the cause for Arya’s awkward tone.

  “Nothing, just trying to find out about Sam’s state of mind when he left that day,” Arya said, looking away from Sania.

  “Are you saying that Sam disappeared intentionally because of the fight?” Sania asked, feeling upset with Arya.

  “No, no,” Arya replied quickly, defusing the tension. “This is just routine psychological questions. Nothing more to read.”

  “Okay, but Sam would never disappear on me intentionally,” Sania said confidently. “He loved me and,” she pointed at her belly and continued, “And more than anything, he loved this little girl very much. Sam couldn’t wait to become a daddy. He would never disappear on us,” Sania said emotionally with tears in her eyes.

  Arya’s experience on the job taught her the number one reason the adults go missing is that they don’t want to be found. Forget the histrionics and fallacy shown on TV; the truth is that adults rarely get kidnapped in this country.

  Arya knew she had to tread carefully with Sania. The training has molded her to act with empathy in these situations. Arya allowed the moment to settle and for Sania to regain her emotional stability. Once Sania got her footing, Arya continued, “Based on what you said, you didn’t talk to Sam after he landed in Los Angeles?”

  Sania shook her head and gently moved her hands across her eyes to wipe drops of tears.

  “Okay, got it; the last you heard from him was in the Philly airport,” Arya jotted down in her pocketbook.

  “No,” Sania flatly said, stopping Arya cold.

  “What do you mean? You just said that you last spoke to him at the airport,” Arya asked, feeling confused.

  “Yes, that was the last time we spoke. But Sam called me later that night and left a voicemail.”

  Arya leaned forward; the new development got her interest piqued. “What did he say?”

  “He said that he was sorry, and he kind of cried.”

  “What? He cried? What exactly did he say?”

  “Do you want to know word by word?” Sania asked, gazing at Arya.


  “Yes, if you remember.” Arya paused and rephrased it. “Whatever you remember,” she added, knowing it would be hard for anyone to remember the exact words.

  “Would it help if I play the message?” Sania asked, pointing to the answering machine in the corner of the room.

  “Definitely,” Arya nodded with a hint of surprise in her face.

  Sania gingerly got up from the couch and moved towards the answering machine. Arya followed her closely.

  “Okay, here it is.” Sania then proceeded to play Sam’s last message.

  “Sania, are you there? If you hear me, please pick up the phone. I am so sorry. Believe me, I feel devastated, leaving for the trip with the fight hanging on in my mind. I am so sorry, that was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t want to fight you; I love you, and you know how much I love Sara. I love you, girls’, a lot. If I had a choice, under any other situation, I wouldn’t have left you. But this trip… I wish I could tell you more about it, but I can’t. You will soon know about it. This is bigger than anything I had imagined for my life. I pray to Allah that you will forgive me. Please forgive me; I love you and Sara a lot.”

  Those were the last words from Sam.

  13

  “Can you play it again?” Arya asked, closing her eyes to keenly listen and register every word spoken in the message.

  As Sania replayed the message, Arya keenly listened, paying close attention to Sam’s tone and his choice of words. Her training has taught her to listen to the hidden meaning behind words.

  The replay of the voicemail ended, but Arya’s eyes remained closed. She kept replaying the message in her head; both the tone and the message’s content seemed to unnerve her.

  “What is it?” Sania’s voice interrupted Arya’s stream of thoughts. Arya opened her eyes, and when her gaze landed on Sania, she quickly glanced away from her.

  “What?” Sania repeated her question.

  “Nothing,” Arya said, avoiding eye contact with Sania.

  Sania knew something was bothering Arya when she noticed her restlessly fidgeting with the bracelet on her right arm.