I Am Guilty

5. Abduction

The preparations for the engagement were in last stage.
Everything from flowers to food was exquisite and the decorations were pleasing to the eyes.
Samrat had taken a step back from the office work to make sure that the engagement would go smoothly for the only child Shukla family had. It was a small wait for Veena to appear at the venue and the ceremony was about to kick start.

While Sahil Khanna was waiting for his fiancé to show up, he was engrossed in doing the traditional rituals that his conservative family wanted him to do.
It was Richa who was to accompany Veena from the boutique where she was supposed to get her makeup hair and dress done. The ladies were to come straight to the venue from there boutique.
Samrat looked at the watch. Veena was expected any moment. As if on cue, the priest asked for the would be bride to come up and perform a few rituals and offerings.

Sahil's parents looked at Veena's father.

"What is taking her so long? She was supposed to be here half an hour ago."
Veena's father snapped at no one in particular.

Samrat placed a hand on his shoulder in assurance.
"Don't worry, Uncle. I will see where they are. It must be the heavy traffic."

Samrat walked away and tried to call Veena. To his surprise, the phone appeared to be unreachable. He then tried to call Richa who was incharge of bringing Veena to the venue. Richa too was unreachable.
He groaned in annoyance and looked for the contact number of the boutique where the ladies were supposed to be. He was relieved to know that the ladies left around an hour ago. He was sure that they would enter any moment. He passed on the same message and everyone decided to wait for them.

Five minutes turned to fifty, but there was no trace of Richa and Veena.

The silence in the banquet hall was slowly filling with murmurs. Guest were getting impatient and the families were getting worried. Samrat and Naren were pacing in and out. Their families were on the verge of loosing cool.
Naren had tried to reach his wife only to find her phone unreachable.

"I think I should go and see where they are stuck." Naren was filled with fear for safety of his wife.

"There are so many roads to this place. Where exactly would you find them." Samrat counter asked.

Naren raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. He was at dead end.

"Did you call the driver?" Naren asked out of nowhere.

"No. It did not click my mind." Samrat replied, looking for the driver's number.
But before he could dial the number, a disheveled Richa stumbled at the entrance of the banquet hall.

"Naren?" She called with ragged breath and Naren had his breath hitched.

Naren rushed to her and held her protectively to stop her from falling down
"Richa! What happened?"

He checked her for injuries. She was just exhausted as if she had run a marathon. There was no visible injury.

Richa wrapped her arms around his torso and broke down, making Naren worried than ever before.

"Richa, what's wrong? What happened. Where is Veena?" He asked as the family and guests slowly surrounded them.
All Richa could do was cry out bitterly in her husband's embrace.

"Bhabhi, Bhai is asking you something. Where is Veena, what took you so long?" Samrat asked losing his patience.

Naren pulled her away and shook her vigorously when she refused to let him go and could not stop crying.
"Stop crying and tell me what happened. Where the hell is Veena?"

Richa looked at her husband with fear and tear filled eyes.
"Naren.... Veena... They took her."

"Who took her? Took her where?" Samrat felt his heart sinking.