Titaliya

Chapter 32

His phone started to ring as soon as he entered the city. It was his sister again. The resort had poor reception, and the notifications for missed calls popped up on his screen as he drove. He could check his phone after getting back home. There were other, more important things on his mind than a few missed calls.

He pulled up to the apartment complex. Puppy Auntie was outside in the corridor when he went up, speaking to one of the other housewives.

"Hello, Arnav beta. Where's Veda?"

"She's on a vacation with her friends, auntie," Arnav answered.

Puppy aunty paused, playing with the end of her dupatta. "I should tell you, beta. Sharmila thinks there's a man following Veda. What do you young people call it nowadays?"

She clapped her hands together, "A stalker! Sharmila thinks the man's been stalking Veda."

It seemed that the woman with Puppy aunty was Sharmila. She nodded fervently.

"I live on the second floor, and I saw this red car that would follow your girlfriend's car a few times. I saw the man in the car, and I realized today that I saw him other places as well. He was talking to our watchman, and he was here the day before you got attacked. Sometimes he follows her on a bike too. I think he's dangerous."

"He is," Arnav commented. "Thank you for telling me. I'll take care of it."

He already knew Shyam was behind his stabbing. If he was following Veda enough for the neighborhood ladies to notice, he would be reckless enough to do more. He entered his apartment and threw his bag onto the sofa.

Arnav took out his phone to call Aman. He would hire a few security people to monitor the apartment building. Before he could dial the number, he saw the ten missed calls from his sister. Ten was a high number, even for Anjali.

It was late at night, but it seemed there was an emergency.

"Yes, Di. Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Chote, you're alright, right? I kept calling you and Shyamji, but both of your phones didn't have signal. I still can't get in contact with Shyamji. I think I saw him in Bangalore recently. I know that's strange, and he said he would be in Noida, but I was so sure I saw him. I hope he's fine."

Shyam's phone wasn't getting a signal.

It could've been just a coincidence. But he knew it wasn't. The resort wasn't a secured space like their apartment building or her grandmother's house. There was too much open space, too many possibilities for her to be hurt or taken away. He had managed to get to her campsite without the management asking for his identification.

He called Aman, who answered the call after a few minutes with sleep in his voice.

"Aman, I need you to send a few men to watch over Khushi at the resort she's in," Arnav said. "I think Shyam's following her."

"I'll have some people sent, sir," Aman said with a yawn. "I'll let you know of any developments."

He considered calling Khushi. She wouldn't pick up even if he did, and it was late. And calling her would only result in her becoming more frightened. It could still be a coincidence that Shyam's phone wasn't reachable. He could have just been avoiding Anjali's calls.

It was better to be on the safe side. Aman would take care of everything. But he should still know what was going on from someone near Khushi. He couldn't know whether Asha would still speak to him after what Khushi had revealed, but it was worth a try.

He called her after hesitating for a few minutes. The phone rang, and finally, Asha lifted the call.

"Why are you calling me?"