Prithvi... [Vol 3]

Chapter 64

Kundan Singh cast a sideways glance at the taciturn man at the wheel and queasily wondered yet again about the ferocity of the fight that had left the goon with a half-chewed ear.

Initially, he had been appalled to learn that Vikrant was going to send just three men for carrying out the venture. But the first sight of the giant-sized hoodlums had allayed some of his fears.

Apart from the morose one driving the car, there was a man with a deep slash running diagonally across his face who was continually fiddling with a knife, as though itching to sink the jagged blade into some flesh. But it was the third male who had erased the last of his misgivings. A hoodlum of gargantuan proportions with a shiny bald head and a pockmarked face, he had a perpetually vacant look that was unnatural and spine-chilling.

Vikrant had given a short history of the men. The macabre details had turned Kundan Singh's stomach but they had also increased his confidence. These three would be more than sufficient to subdue the girl's struggles. Even Prithvi wouldn't stand a chance against them.

A few days preparation would have made this whole operation a breeze. They could have sent men to monitor the girl's activities during the day and nabbed her at a pre-decided time and place where there wouldn't be too many witnesses. But Vikrant had behaved like a man possessed ever since he had heard about the girl. He hadn't been willing to wait for a minute more than necessary.

It was left to Kundan Singh to devise some method to find out the girl's current whereabouts, wait until she was relatively alone and helpless and then kidnap her. Drawing on a wealth of past experiences, he had figured out some potential approaches to complete the assignment. They were still a long way from Shamli and there was enough time to decide the best line of attack.

It was true that Indrajit could have helped immensely to plan the abduction, and hopefully, murder. But Kundan Singh also knew it was a huge enough miracle that his own life had been spared. And then again, though he had been serving Indrajit for so many years, he was yet to discern a particular pattern of thinking or behaviour in his master's nature.

Quite evidently, Indrajit had acquired some tiny strain of his mother's illness, Kundan Singh thought contemptuously.

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At a short distance from the imposing doors that led to the auditorium, a thickset man with greying hair was standing with three girls in silence, mentally processing a multitude of thoughts as he reflected over the unpleasant story he had just heard.

Nandini was finding it more and more difficult to retain the outward guise of composure with every passing minute. Her feet were fidgeting to run back upstairs and confirm that everything was the way she had left it, and her kohl-lined eyes kept flickering towards the staircase with a mystifying compulsion.

She wanted Dhiren punished very soundly, but at the moment, she was finding it difficult to think about anything or anyone beyond Prithvi. It was worrying enough that he had looked so fatigued, but it was the atypical calm with which he had behaved that was disturbing her so much. And to top it all, her instincts were shrieking that the horrific incident with Dhiren was only the beginning. Something worse…..infinitely worse….was going to happen before the end of the day.