You Are Missing In My Heart!

Thanks a lot Preetii.. Loved the list of Surprises and shocks!!

 

Thanks much for reading and for the wonderful feedback, Thyagarajan!

 

Thank you all for your patience and for the concern and love! And, sorry for being a constant irregular - My job is such demanding! Posting the next part -

Episode 32:

“Mr.Abhinay. Can you tell us what all happened the day this accident happened?” asked the Inspector after formal inquiries about Abhinay’s health.

Abhinay looked at the Inspector still trying to digest what Mithun told him a few minutes before the Inspector arrived. ‘Nethra is missing.. for four days now’ the thought again sent a shiver through his entire frame and his face strained in inexplicable pain.

“Mr. Abhinay!”

“Haan.. Yes..”, he continued in a mechanical tone as one part of him continued to torture him by imagining all the worst possible things that could have happened to her. He paused as he tried to remember exactly what happened when the accident happened.

“I was driving past krishnagiri and Nethra was asleep by that time. The highway was not very busy and I was driving at an average of 100 KMPH. This truck suddenly came from a side road and I noticed it only when it was close and it was too late by then”, he said in a pained voice. He remembered, in that split second when he noticed the vehicle, taking a sharp left turn in an effort to bear the full impact on the driving side.

“Did the truck slow down or try to avoid the accident?”

“Nope.. It didn’t look like that.. It came rushing towards my car”

“Did anything suspicious happen before the accident? Like someone following you?”

“No.. I don’t remember anything like that”

“When did you last see Nethra? Did you see her after the accident?”

“I.. I don’t remember what happened after we were hit. I remember trying to check on her but nothing else”

“So, you have not seen her after the accident happened?”

“Yes..” Abhinay said thoughtful. He was trying hard to remember something important but it kept slipping from his memory.

“Was your trip to Chennai pre-planned? I mean who other than your family might have known about your trip?”

“Actually, it was an unplanned trip. Only my Mom knew about it. Even my Brother-in-law would have known about it only later”

“May I ask the purpose of the trip?”

“Hmm.. that’s personal”

“Do you have anyone in mind that would have planned this against you?

“No.. I could not think of anyone.. I am not sure whether this is against me”

“We are inquiring that angle too, but you are a growing entrepreneur; we cant rule out that angle..”

“Is there anything else that you want to tell us? That might help in the case?”

“Nope..” he said uncertain.

“I don’t want to keep you talking for long, but call me if you remember something, ok?”

“Sure.. but Sir, did you find the truck?” Abhinay asked. Obviously, finding the truck driver would throw some light on what happened to her, he thought.

The Inspector threw a questioning glance at Mithun, his eyes asked, 'didn't you tell him?' and turning to Abhinay he said, “the truck was there at the accident spot Mr.Abhinay”

“And..?” Abhinay asked. He had a feeling that the issue is getting worse.

“And, the driver and his helper are found dead a few feet away from the truck. They were shot”

Abhinay felt an iron grip tighten around his heart. A shapeless vacuum that he could not swallow blocked his food pipe. His face exhibited pure unadulterated fear.

The inspector cleared his throat and continued, “So, as you can see, the case is a little complicated. It looks almost clear that the accident is a planned one, but the ones who have committed the crime were also killed. Who killed them? And, who kidnapped the woman? We are trying to find the one-end of the thread from where we can start”

Abhi just nodded.

“So, let us know if you remember anything, even if it seem insignificant to you. It might help us” saying so, the Inspector got up, shook hands with Mithun and said, “You take care Mr.Abhinay” before leaving the room.

As the Inspector left, Abhinay asked MIthun, “Mithun, Did you talk to Arjun? What is he saying? Will this be related to the break-in attempted at her house?”

“I am not able to contact Arjun” Mithun said trying to mask the doubt in his tone.

“What?!”

“Yes, he didn’t pick up a couple of times and when he did, he just said, he is also trying to find Nethra and that he will contact us if he has any information”

“Oh! ….. And, you are not happy with his response” It was not a question.

“Of course! The Arjun who rushed from Chennai to Bangalore just because someone broke into Nethra’s house, is not here to enquire you and is reluctant to talk to us.. sounds weird” Mithun said and Abhinay just nodded, again feeling that he is missing something important.

“But Arjun would never hurt Nethra..” Abhinay added, more to himself and Mithun simply stared at his friend, fully aware of the emotional agony he has to handle along with his physical pain.


The private hospital in Goa stood inconspicuously at the late hours of the night while most other part of the town was in full vigor.

The doctor walked into the ICU to the farthest bed. The duty nurse slept at the corner of the room. He read the ECG Monitor with a disappointed face. There was no improvement. He checked the medication in the chart near his bed and made a few changes.

The man in the bed was oblivious to all this, his eyes closed. His head was shaved and most of it was covered in a bandage.

The doctor walked out as silently as he came in and dialed a number, “He is still in Coma”

(Contd.)