On the Run

Chapter 31 : To The Rescue?

12:15 am, Anjuna Beach, Goa.

"I swear...Manik ko saamne aane de...aise band bajaunga, aise band bajaunga, ki sab dekhte reh jayenge!" I said as I bumped my fists together in frustration.

"Cabir, let's not get impatient already..." Dhruv said calmly, as he patted my back.

But I couldn't remain calm! We'd reached Goa an hour ago and scoured at least ten different hotels at the beach side, but Manik and that girl...Nandini weren't staying in any of them! It had taken us a few extra hours to reach because we had avoided any police check posts, by taking multiple diversions.

So, naturally, we had no time to waste! We needed to find Manik as quickly as possible, before he decided to go on his suicide mission to retrieve the recording on his own! After all, now that Madhyam was getting engaged to Soha, Manik had no leverage left to blackmail the Singhanias with any way...and if I was right about Manik's feelings for...Nandini, there was no way in hell he'd let her in Mukesh Singhanias clutches...

Ugh! Why wasn't he just calling us for help?! Honestly, sometimes his sacrificial and overprotective attitude towards Fab Five got on my nerves! I had tried calling his old number a million times, but it was quite evident that he'd changed his SIM!

A feeling of dread washed over me as I pondered over this...Were we too late? Had Manik already been captured by the Singhanias?

"What do we do now, Cabir?" Mukti asked in a slightly panicked voice.

"Maybe, we should ask some of the street artistes if they were spotted here again..." Alya huffed as she sat down on a plastic chair nearby.

Just as I was about to reply to her suggestion, my phone started ringing loudly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

Everyone, immediately came forward in excitement as they heard the phone...

I took it out of my pocket frantically, and looked at the caller ID.

It was an unknown number. Could it be Manik?

"Kya kar raha hai, Cabir? Utha phone! Jaldi! I'm sure it's Manik!" Mukti screamed.

I was about to pick it up when Dhruv said. "Be careful, Cabir. It could also be someone from the police force who's trying to trace our location!"

I nodded and immediately swiped the receive button, on my phone screen.

"Hello?" I asked in a voice filled with hope.

"Cabir! They have her! They have her! Nyonika and Mukesh Singhania! They have her and it's all my fault! It's all my fault!" A highly distraught voice screamed at me over the phone.

A voice that was unmistakably Manik's!

My first instinct was to jump with joy at finally having received a call from him, but his austere and paranoid voice gave me jitters.

I immediately nodded to the others and confirmed that it indeed was Manik on the phone...

I could see smiles of relief on everyone's face almost instantly!

"Manik...slow down...slow down...tu hai kahaan? Hua kya hai?" I asked, treading carefully.

After all, from Manik's garbled speech, I could tell that something was seriously wrong! If the names Mukesh Singhania and Nyonika were being used in the same sentence, it was definitely bad news...

"Nandini! They have Nandini! Nyonika, she's here! She's made some sort of deal with the Singhanias, and now they've captured Nandini...It's my fault! I should never have let her go into the Singhania mansion alone!" He said in a choked voice, filled with pain, regret and anger.