Heart wrenching adoration Part-42

“Chote we can track her! Don’t you remember?”Jiju asked, looking at me suddenly, breaking the hushed silence that fell on our entire group as we watched the C.C.T.V. footage and it hit me like lightening.

Oh! My plan! In all the frenzy and numbness of losing khushi, I had all but forgotten about the plan that I had so assiduously devised in order to ensure khushi’s utmost safety though, I had fervently hoped that we wouldn’t have to resort to that.

I had hoped that my khushi will be safe! Though that wasn’t happening right now!

“Track her?”

“Can you track her?” 

Several startled faces looked at me for explanation and Garima Aunty rushed to me grabbing my arm.

“Can you...can you do that? Can you tell me where my  baby is?”She sobbed, her entire frame quivering.

“Shh Aunty, we can track her!” I said patting her arm gently and then I turned towards room at large. I saw my jiju fish for his i pad in his bag.

“Well, I sort of had an idea. I asked jiju to get me a GPS tracking device so that I could plot it with khushi, you see in case something the like of this happened. Apparently, jiju got it for me and before we came here, I put that small chip in khushi’s juice and made her drink it. So, now we can track her using that!” I quickly explained, practically the snatching i pad from my jiju’s hands and fiddling with the controls of GPS.

“Woah bhai! You should join IB(Intelligence Bureau) or something!” Akash said awestruck and I couldn’t help but grimace.

So much so for being called brainy, I should actually have put some brain of mine in ensuring that khushi wasn’t kidnapped in the first place! 

“Hmm not a bad idea!” I heard the C.B.I. officer say gruffly and despite all the mess that we were in, I couldn’t help but feel a bit smug at his petulant tone! Clearly, he didn’t like to be outsmarted!

We all gazed with stark consternation and utter concentration at the bobbing red blot that was the signal of the G.P.S device.

“They are taking her out of the town!” I said, horrified. This felt so much like de javu! A scene straight from the crime thrillers.

I was so anxious that I nearly felt my breath chock, as all appalling ideas swarmed in my head, intensifying my fear.

What if those mangy dogs had done something to my khushi? What if we were already too late? Even the thought of slightest scratch or pain to khushi was unbearably painful for me.

I could practically feel the world crumbling, my entire body locked down as my hands shook with the intensity of my fear.

“Chote! Are you alright?” Di asked concernedly and I realized that my haplessness and agony hadn’t gone unnoticed.

 I squared my shoulders and looked up in the concerned eyes of all those surrounded me.

“Yes,I’m fine!” I said in a strong voice. I couldn’t afford to lose hope now. My khushi had to be safe, I’ll save her! After snatching away everything from me, giving me agony right from the childhood, God couldn’t simply snatch away my this comfort! He just  can’t be that cruel!

“Let’s go! Khushi will...”I began but was cut off by the C.B.I. officer.

“You guys are staying behind! I know what you did is really commendable Arnav, but you are still a child! Those men are dangerous, they will...”

“I’m coming God damn it! And there is no way in the hell that you can shake me off because I’ll try to search for khushi anyway! So, let’s just not prolong this discussion for too long and get going!” I fumed.

Everyone tried to talk us out of going to find khushi, but neither me nor Akash or Payal budged. We simply couldn’t sit around not knowing!

So, soon we all were crammed up in a flight of cars as we took off with lightening speed towards where the GPS signal guided us.

As we flew by the serene vales of Dehradun, a phone call shook us all deeply. The officer who had been injured back there in Airport as the goons had taken khushi away, came round and told all that had transpired there.

My doubts on lavanya were proved right, giving me just all the more reason to hate her. Apparently, she had gone up to the C.B.I. officer as he waited for khushi outside the girls’ washroom and told him that her brother had somehow gotten stuck in one of the cubicles in the guys’ washroom and the door simply wouldn’t budge.

Since, nobody was in the washroom, his call for help were going unattended. Lavanya claimed that he had called her and asked her to get help for him, so she requested him to help her brother and the C.B.I. officer had fallen for her tactic.

Not so surprisingly, as soon as he had entered the was tackled and overpowered by several men who had then given him a heavy blow on his head so that he fell unconscious.

Then, they kidnapped khushi! I heard the C.B.I officer as he told us about these happenings in stark disbelief.

Lavanya had actually committed a crime, out of her jealousy and anger for khushi! This was beyond cheap!

I felt white hot fury course through me as I heard of Lavanya’s involvement. Sure she was a headstrong girl, but I had never expected this kind of brazenness from her. If I could get my hands on her, I will sure as hell strangle her to death!

“We are nearing! I’ve already called for reinforcement!” The officer informed us, snapping me out of furious abstraction and once again reminding me forcefully and painfully about the danger on khushi’s life.

I felt my breath becoming shallow as we flew towards where the signal of GPS was coming from. My mind was filled with all sort of ghastly images.

So, for the first time in 14 years, since I had lost my parents that fateful night, I closed my eyes and prayed to God for my khushi’s safety!