Love or Retribution?

Chapter - 30

"I think we are too late", Subhashini said, her brows knotted, indicating her concern.

"Late? Late how?", Arun asked confused.

"I think Thomson had already reached out to Subhashini and she is on the way here to meet with him...", she dragged and looked at her watch.

"Or met with him already!!"

"No way, I had left very clear instructions, no calls other than to his lawyer and that too was recorded", Arun objected.

"How naïve is this guy? Are you sure he is the assistant commissioner?", Subhashini threw her question to Nikhil, frustrated.

"Ha ha! Very funny, I have the recording of their conversation right here", Arun replied and took out his mobile to play the recording.

"I have arranged for your bail hearing coming Monday Mr. Thomson.", the lawyer said after explaining the usual law points.

"Thank you, Sir, for all your help, convey my regards to your family especially your daughter", Thomson replied before hanging up.

"See, nothing suspicious, and this is the only call he made, every single police officer who is guarding him is handpicked by me, they will not betray me, there is no way he could have contacted his daughter", Arun said confidently.

Subashini looked at him with pity, turned and looked at Nikhil.

But Nikhil was seen busy typing something into his laptop.

"His lawyers' name is Saravanan, excellent defense attorney, too many accolades, very rarely loses a case, he has two sons, one a doctor, working in Australia, another studying at MIT", Nikhil read everything that displayed on his screen.

Subhashini turned and looked at Arun with "Now do you understand" look.

"What? What about it?", Arun asked still confused.

"Listen to the last part of the recording", Nikhil said.

"Convey my regards to your family especially your daughter", played again on this phone.

But even before he heard it, he realized the gap in his understanding.

"That crooked B******", Arun swore, sitting down, totally dejected.

"What do we do now?", he asked.

"Call and ask if he had had any visitor?", Subhashini said, sitting on the part of the table next to him.

"I want to say, 'No way', but I am not confident anymore", Arun replied as his fingers punched the numbers.
"Do you know how?", Arun asked to someone on the call, while Subhashini and Nikhil listened to him keenly.
"Okay, thank you!". He said before hanging up.

"Thomson met with a woman in her late twenties around 11 am today morning", he said.

"It's almost 3 now", Subhashini said, very much worried.

"What do we do now?", Nikhil asked, mirroring her concern.

"It had been 4 hours since she had met with Thomson, and till now she hadn't tried to reach out to me, which means she has been perfectly manipulated by her father and she trusts him fully", Subhashini said, more worried and started to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?", Arun asked with little panic.

"To eat something, I am hungry", she said without turning back.

"What...? hungry? Now? Are you freaking kidding me? We are at an impasse here and you are thinking about food? When your mother's freedom at stake? I can't believe this... How can you be so lethargic?", Arun screamed out of frustration.