TERI MERI KAHAANI

CHAPTER 23 WOH KAUN THI?

The next day, Kavin woke up to the soothing sounds of the paath-bhajan from the temple. It was still pretty early but he saw that Fredricks was also waking up.

"Fredricks, neeche chalte hain. Breakfast karte hain. Phir main soch raha tha ki sab ko bula kar ek meeting kar lete hain. Uske liye jagaah dhundhni padegi".

"Ji Sir, main bus fresh hokar aata hun aur hum chalte hain. Vaise sab se milkar aage ka plan bhi discuss karenge. Pichle paanch dino se toh kuch haath laga hee nahin hai"

"Haan Fredricks. Aage ka sochna padega".

After finishing their morning chores, they went downstairs for the langar-breakfast at the Gurudwara. They were eating breakfast while quietly enjoying the strains of Bhajan and Kirtan from the main hall.

"Kya hua sir. Aapko kuch suspicious dikha kya?", Fredricks asked when Kavin began looking here and there in the langar hall.

"Nahin. Kuch nahin Fredricks. Main toh bus aise hee aas pass dekh raha tha as a precaution. Tum khaana khao apna", Kavin responded, a little bashfully. Fredricks raised his eyebrows, puzzled at his boss's behaviour but continued eating.

Kavin mentally scolded himself.
"Kya duniya mein sirf ek hi ladki ki chocolate brown eyes hain? Tu bhi na...pata nahin kya ho gaya hai tujhe!"

Suddenly, as they were finishing their breakfast Kavin and Fredricks both turned towards each other. They had both noticed something.

"Fredricks... Us taraf mat dekhna par woh dono aadmi mujhe kal bhi suspicious lage the. Unke haath mein yeh kuch packets the. Us time pe maine socha ki religious place hai, prashad vagaera hoga par ab mujhe kuch gadbad lag rahi hai", Kavin whispered so as to not arouse any suspicions among people surrounding them.

"Ji Sir. Lag toh mujhe bhi aisa hee raha hai. Inko follow karte hain after breakfast".

They waited around till those guys finished their breakfast. As they moved out, both of them got up and quietly started shadowing them from a distance. They were moving towards the back of the temple. As they reached the back, they looked around surreptitiously and continued onward.

Sir, yeh toh jungle ki taraf jaa rahe hain".

"Fredricks ek kaam karo. Tum Mandir ki taraf chalo aur Tasha aur Nikhil ko bataao yahaan ki situation. Pankaj aur Kajal ko bhi phone karke inform kar dena. Phir tum, Nikhil aur Kajal mere peeche aana. Main markers chodta jaaunga".

"Nahin sir. Yeh safe nahin hai. Main aise aapko akele kaise jaane doon?"

"Sabhi team members ka yahaan hona bahut zaroori hai. Agar yeh vahi log hain jinhe hum dhoondh rahe hain, toh mujhe backup ki zaroorat hogi jab hum inke destination tak pahunche. Jab tak yeh raste pe chalte rahe aur mein follow karta rahun, tab tak toh theek hai na. Utni der mein back up aa jaayega. Aur Pankaj aur Tasha ko alert rehne ke liye bolna. Kahin inke aur members temple parisar mein na hon aur kuch gadbad na kar dein. Chalo jaao ab jaldi".

Unwillingly, Fredricks left Kavin at the pathway and headed back. He had to follow his senior's orders, there was no choice. He turned back once to glance at Kavin heading into the forest after the suspected miscreants.

~~~~~~~~xxxxxx~~~~~~~~~~

He was following the men in the forest; tiptoeing and walking slowly because footsteps were magnified so easily in the forest. He stopped suddenly. Years of CID training had made him quite cognisant of his surroundings and the sixth sense said someone was following him. But as he looked, no one appeared in view.

"Maybe baaki log hon. Aa rahe honge. Maine hee toh bulaaya hai. Abhi bilkul waqt nahin hai. Mujhe un do logon ko follow karna hai", he said, turning back on the path when...

*BOOM*

He fell down and found himself on the floor with a bleeding lip. Pushing himself up, he looked around to find one of the two men smirking down on him.

"Bewakoof! Tujhe kya laga, hume pata nahin hai ki tu kaun hai CID inspector Kavin! Tujhpe hamaari bahut pehle se nazar thi. Humne toh tumhe parso hee sun liya tha apne us dost ke saath baat karte hue. Phir yeh plan banaaya tum dono ko trap karne ke liye. Afsos tum hee aaye. Lekin koi baat nahin, tumhe dhundhte-dhundhte toh aayega hee woh. Eh Daksh, le chal ise. Ise iski jagah dikhaate hain".

Kavin was in a lot of pain. They both had ensured that he fell flat on his face but also in an area where the impact would be huge. It seemed like he had scrubbed his big toe and nose badly. At least one or both were broken most likely. He couldn't even get up. Both of them literally started dragging him on the pathway, making his wounds bleed even more.

However, there was a sudden rustling sound and a figure in a huge jacket and scarf covering the lower part of the face, jumped out at them. He started fighting with them, while Kavin..half, unconcious with all this dragging around, just looked up from where he was face down on the floor.

As he continued fighting with them with exceptional martial arts skills, one of the goons called his men for backup who were just up ahead near a derelict looking cottage-hut in the middle of the jungle.

"Sam, Bahadur, Aslam, Maneet jaldi aao!"

All men came running and finally, they had caught the person. In all this melee, the cap on the head fell away and beautiful long black hair came undone from the back...

"Array, yeh toh ek ladki hai! Daksh aur Arush, ek ladki se maar khaayi tumne?", they all laughed snickering at them.

She answered back in a tight deep voice (almost as if masking her real one)

"Tum jaise logon ki na haddiyan pasliyaan tod dun main. Itne saare ikathe aake mujhe pakadte ho. Sharam nahi aati, eklaute insaan ko aise gherte hue", the lady looked at them with disdain.

"Insaan? Tum toh ek pyaari si ladki ho na", one of them said and snickered again.

She looked at him with disgust and said, "Toh kya ladkiyan aur auratein insaan nahin hoti? Tum jaiso ko sabak sikhaane ke liye toh main akeli hee kaafi hun. Ek baar mujhe chod ke toh dekh!"

"Array aise kaise mohtarma. Aapko toh special treatment milega na", Arush, who seemed to be some sort of a leader for them taunted.

"Suno, lekar chalo in dono ko. Dekhte hain iska kya karna hai ab? Humne toh un dono ke liye jaal bichaaya tha par yeh toh bonus mein ek aur mil gayi! Eh ladki, tu bhi kya in logon ki tarah officer hai?".

She looked at him with disdain again and did not bother to respond.

"Koi baat nahin, tujhse toh nikalwa hee lenge tera sach.. Suno, tum sab us officer ko.......", he stopped mid-sentence.

"Yeh kahaan gaya? Uski toh haalat itni kharaab thi par woh gaayab kahaan hua....?", he asked in anger.

"Tum sab log mar gaye the kya, saara dhyaan yahin laga rakha tha? Dimaag toh tumhaara thikaane pe hai? Usko bhi pakad kar rakhna chaahiye tha na? Ab chalo. Jaldi chalo! Isko band karke aate hain aur usko dhundhne nikalte hain jungle mein, Boss hamaari chatni bana denge warna".

The lady seemed to stiffen up on hearing the word 'Boss' but she kept an inscrutable expression in her eyes. Kavin, who had crawled to the nearby bushes and hid himself, peeped out from behind. He wished he could help her but he was bleeding very badly and on the verge of passing out. It was best that he stay hidden for now.....

Suddenly a huge gust of wind made everyone stop in their tracks. Kavin was almost passing out when he saw one of the men accidentally hit the lady's face and the scarf came off. He caught a fleeting glimpse of her and said in a wavering voice....

"Yeh toh..", and he finally blacked out....

~To be continued~

Vaise aaj post toh banti thi. Toh aap logon ke liye yeh mera update..is din par apni sabse best activity pe engage nahin karungi toh kya karungi na!! Thank you again everyone for your support and encouragement.