A suitable Man

Chapter 26

Mahendra was enraged beyond words to see Smriti handled so roughly in front of him. Sheena gave a wicked smile and said, " Here we meet Shettre, So how does it feel to be away from the love of your life!!!! She was at my mercy all throughout today, I could have done anything to her, but no, she is not of any consequence to me, but you are!!!! , Sheena tightened his grip on Smriti.

Mahendra slowly walked towards them, anger seething in his eyes, but he had to act fast. He didn't respond to anything Sheena was saying, his eyes were just on Smriti. Smriti was struggling with all her might to free herself but Sheena was too strong for her. Mahendra moved his gaze to Sheena and in an icy tone , " Leave my wife, Do no harm to her, whatever you have to do, I am here, LEAVE HER NOW!!!!!!! Mahendra shouted.

Smriti struggled, " No, Mahendra, No, you don't come near this maniac, he will harm you," saying so Smriti kicked Sheena in the shin with all the strength she had. Sheena stumbled as his grip loosened on her a bit, at that moment Mahendra struck him hard on his arms.

Sheena just pushed Smriti away and with even more vigour  charged towards Mahendra. Sheena was taller than Mahendra and stronger. He caught Mahendra by his collar and punched him hard across his jawline. Smriti cried out in anguish. Mahendra was totally shaken up, but he mustered a blow sideways on Sheena's chest. Sheena fell back but again charged to hold Mahendra's head in the crook of his hand. Mahendra struggled to get out of the steely grip, but he was no match for Sheena's strength. With his jaws clenched Sheena muttered, " Who told you to come nosing around in this Sandalwood business, I am the kingpin here and no body crosses me, I will crush your skull with my bare hands, if you want to be alive, leave Kumta, leave these plantations and go back to where you came from, else you will meet the same fate your father and grandfather met with, this is not a warning I am giving you, the area near Sirsi belongs to me, you will not spoil what I spent years to build, do you understand???? . He was slowly crushing Mahendra. Mahendra was kicking, struggling but in vain. Smriti's strength was waning out, but she couldn't see her Mahendra being manhandled so badly. She shouted at Sheena, " Leave him, you rascal, leave Mahendra and she tried to free Mahendra as much as she could. She bit his hand, kicked, but Sheena was unmoved.

He again laughed wickedly, " So you both want to die together, I shall grant you your wish!!!, saying so he hurled Smriti with his other hand and struck her hard, so hard that she fell on the other side. Smriti's head reeled by the strong blow on her head, she staggered and fell down on the other side. Sheena crushed Mahendra's head again and moved towards his neck. Mahendra, with all his strength punched Sheena's thighs. He bore his fingers in to his calf muscles and dug them deep causing Sheena to howl in pain.

Smriti got up and steadied herself, she looked around to see if there was anything she could get hold of to hit Sheena. She stumbled across the bushes to find a rusty pipe. She picked it up,  ran towards Sheena and struck his head with all her strength. But alas, the pipe broke in to two, without even a scratch to Sheena. Sheena turned towards her and caught hold of her by her hair. Smriti was still reeling from his earlier blow but managed to glare at him, " You keep your hands off Mahendra... I will kill you even if you just scratch him". Sheena smirked, " Then you shall die first", with that he got hold of her neck and started strangulating her. Mahendra with both his hands gave a massive blow at the back of Sheena's head.

Sheena fell down due to the blow, but was not unconscious, he got up and again went towards Smriti. The moment Sheena fell down, Mahendra had ran to Smriti to help her from falling down, she had fought so bravely,a lump formed in his throat seeing Smriti. How much had she endured, how much she had faced in the span of twenty four hours. But she hadn't given up, she had wounds on her body, a long mark on her beautiful face , but she held on to Mahendra. She hugged him and said, " I won't let anything happen to you Mahendra, he will not succeed, he has to face me before he can harm you,". Mahendra calmed her in a tighter embrace, " No my love, this is not done, how could they EVEN touch you when I am here still breathing, I will kill them, Prabhakar and his police are close behind, they will come here in no time, till then we need to hold him back".
He couldn't finish his last word, when Sheena struck his head with the rusty pipe lying around. Mahendra clutched his head and fell down, bleeding from the back of his head. Smriti shouted, " NOOOOOOO, STOP!!!!, MAHENDRA....... NOOOOOO!!!!!. She ran towards Mahendra and held his head in her lap, Mahendra seemed to be loosing his consciousness, Smriti was continuously shaking him and pleading him to stay awake, "Mahendra, please my love, please look at me, tears started flowing, but she didn't give up. Mahendra was disoriented, he was fast losing consciousness.
Just then a car screeched to a halt besides them. Sheena was going to strike Mahendra again when he saw the person who alighted from the car.
Even after so many years she had the same effect on him. His anger, his grip all melted seeing her in front of him. The pipe slid from his hand as he stood, once again in her presence, awestruck and weak.
Vasundhara looked at him in utter disgust, when she saw her son collapsing, she immediately called the driver to help her put Mahendra in the car. He needed medical attention as soon as possible. Sheena didn't move an inch, she had arrested him with her eyes. Vasundhara finally spoke, " If at all anything happens to my son, this time I am going to kill you, whatever be the consequences, I will kill you once and for all", saying thus she took out her licensed gun and pointed at him.

Vasundhara had procured a gun license for self defence as she and Mahalakshmi, being all female owners of the hotel chain needed it. She never knew it would be useful to her that day.
Sheena smirked again, " Sheena has died long back Vasu, He was dead the day you married that Shettre, he lives only for vengeance, only to destroy that man you married, only to become so powerful and so wealthy that you will come to me down on your knees, begging me to accept you, and I will do that Vasu, look at your son, he will meet the same fate as that man you married, I have never hated anyone so much in my life as much I have hated that Shettre" he laughed hysterically.

Vasundhara pointed her gun towards Sheena again, " All my life I have loved only one man, only one man who had the courage to stand up to his principles. Why do you think he is still alive, why do you think he still has the same zest for living!! Even if hundred Sheena die, it will not make for an ounce of what that man is.  you will never know the power of love!!! I had told you earlier, I reiterate it again, I have loved only one man in my life, only one man and his name is Karunakar. Even if he is a cripple or whatever,  my life, my every breath belongs to him"

Sheena just stood there staring at Vasundhara, getting angrier by the minute as she went on declaring her love for the only man he despised. He lunged at her and was trying to snatch away the gun from her hand when Prabhakar arrived with his men.

Prabhakar yelled, " Stop, or I will shoot" Sheena immediately stopped and turned around. He knew getting on the wrong side of law would not be a smart move at the moment. He looked at Vasundhara once and let go of her hand.
In a changed tone he said, " Ohh Inspector Prabhakar Shetty, what a pleasant surprise, I was defending myself from this woman, she has aimed a gun at me, I am the local corporator here in Honavar, you need to protect me"

Prabhakar looked from Sheena to Vasundhara, he couldn't find Mahendra Smriti anywhere. He asked Vasundhara, "Who are you Madam?
Vasundhara held her head high and said, " I am Vasundhara Karunakar Shetty, mother of Mahendra Shetty" Prabhakar's tone changed as he recognised her, but where was Mahendra?. He said, " But where is Mahendra, we had come in search of his wife who was supposedly kidnapped by this man or his hench men."
Vasundhara replied, " Mahendra has been taken to the hospital and Smriti is with him, you please arrest this man, he has almost murdered my son and has harmed my daughter in law"
Sheena stood there as if nothing had happened, " How can you accuse me of all this Inspector, do you have any witness, proofs or anything else to indict me?

Prabhakar knew this man would be a tough nut to crack. He said calmly, " Mr. Sheena Nayak, we have enough proof to prove that you kidnapped Mrs. Smriti Shetty" I can arrest you on those charges"

Sheena also was too smart to admit, " I can register a case against this woman as she also tried to shoot me, I am the corporator here, to remind you and I can turn tables on you Inspector!!!

Government Medical centre, Kumta

Mahendra was rushed to the government hospital, he had lost a lot of blood. Smriti was holding on to him although she herself was bruised all over. The hospital was initially not ready to accept the case as it was a police case and they needed a lot of paperwork before admitting Mahendra. He was going in and out of consciousness, Smriti was panicking as every minute wasted was dangerous for Mahendra's life. Finally she managed to convince the doctors to just look at Mahendra's wound and at least stop its bleeding. The doctors examined and declared that there was blood loss and he would be needing a blood transfusion. Smriti asked the doctors whether her blood group could be matched with Mahendra's blood group. The doctors matched them to find they both had the same blood group. She was immediately taken in for blood transfusion. Smriti was relived as finally Mahendra's treatment had started. The doctors assured her that it was a concussion and he would be conscious in a day or two.
Smriti's wounds were also treated. She kept on thinking about Sheena, he was still roaming Scott free. Once Mahendra would be out of danger, she would call in the police and incriminate Sheena on all the charges possible. She was getting worried that Vasundhara had not yet returned to the hospital.

To be continued....