“You told him?”
“I had to. He was concerned enough without the tag of jealousy making it worse. Besides, I hoped that it would goad you to take some drastic action. I was right.”
“Yes, you were right. I was astonished when Pankaj told me that hed met Jeetu. I decided that there was some mistake or that he’d met some guy who happened to have the same name. But I couldn’t wait to find out. I had to leave with Tina immediately. Had there been a more easy way to break the truth to Pankaj, I would’ve done it. But there was no time, and anyway, he knows now…”
“Yes, he does.”
“So now what? You can’t do a thing. I’m officially married to Pankaj and I can keep Tina with me if I want to. She’s my daughter now. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Except kidnap Pankaj’s child and try to keep a daughter away from her Father. Which is nothing short of a crime. And even though she’s too young to understand it right now, Tina won’t thank you for it when she grows up,” Sonia reasoned.
“She’ll understand. I’ll be a good Mother to her. And eventually she’ll forget everything. Her grandparents and I will see to that,” Sheetal said grimly. “Actually, I didn’t plan for it to go this far. I was going to leave immediately after the marriage ceremony. So that would’ve been easier for him. I would have, but for… ” She paused abruptly.
“But for your love for Pankaj? You love Pankaj, don’t you? Despite everything?” Sonia supplied softly.
Sheetal looked almost mortified. “I fought the feeling real hard, but I couldn’t help it. Before I knew it, I was in love with him and I was horrified at myself. In love with Anju’s husband, the man who had treated her so shabbily! If she hadn’t married him, she wouldn’t have been miserable. She wouldn’t have been in that car, racing him, and she wouldn’t be dead now. That was what I had to remember! And that was what I did remember ultimately. And now I’m safe, with Tina. I’ll go far away from here. Even go abroad. No one can stop me!” The iron determination in her voice made Sonia shake her head.
How could she ever make Sheetal change her mind? she wondered. Life wasn’t always that simple. You couldn’t just take somebody’s child - even if it was in the child’s best interest - and move on. Sonia had to make her see sense. She had to make her change her mind.
“Sheetal,” Sonia began carefully. “What if I told you that you needn’t kidnap Tina for custody? That there’s a much more legal answer to it?”
“I wouldn’t believe you,” Sheetal replied instantly, but a mixture of wariness and curiosity flared in her eyes.
“You’ll believe it, if you hear me out. You probably are even aware of it” The detective tread cautiously.
The other woman stared at her with a contemplative look. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely!”
Sheetal folded her hands. “Okay, tell me, how I can gain legal custody of Tina?”
The rain had merged into the sea and the sand, clearing the sky for the glow of the sinking sun. The sea rippled like a magnificent rust-gold satin sari. A boat sailed by, its flag flapping in the strong wind. Pankaj sat in his garden, under a Coconut tree, a rock of loneliness lodged in his heart. Everything had to end. All the good things in life. Sheetal had been good for him. But it had to end. That was his destiny. He closed his eyes, weighed down by a wave of sadness. When he reopened them, Sheetal stood at the gate. No, he was dreaming. He shut his eyes hastily, to close off the image. But when he opened them, she still stood there. In her red T-shirt and jeans.
“Sheetal!” he exclaimed, rising eagerly.
But the strange look on her face made him halt in his tracks. She raised her hand. She held a pistol, pointed straight at him. Blood froze instantly in his veins.
“What… what do you think you’re doing?” he cried.
“I’m avenging the death of my best-friend. You killed Anju, didn’t you? You killed her, you rat!” she shouted with venom in her voice.
“You’re crazy! I didn’t kill Anju. She died in a car accident!”
“A car accident!” Sheetal laughed sarcastically. “That’s not what Rajesh, Anju’s good friend, told the Police. He said he was convinced that you’d killed her”
“Rajesh hated me. He was in love with Anju just as I was. I adored her. You have no idea how much I suffered after she died. Anju meant everything to me. But that’s in the past. I don’t want to talk about her. It’s you who mean everything to me now, Sheetal. You’re precious to me. Where had you been? And where’s Tina?” He took a step towards her.
“Tina’s my daughter now. And I shall never allow her to live with a guy who killed her Mother. She’ll know the truth one day and she’ll hate you, she’ll - Ouch!”
In a flash Pankaj had grabbed the pistol from her hands. He shoved her hard, sending her sprawling to the ground. Cold fury distorted his handsome features as he aimed her own pistol straight at Sheetal. “No, Tina will not hate me, because she’ll never know what happened. You will not tell her, because you’re not to going to live to tell her anything. And if it pleases you to hear it, yes, I did kill Anju”
Sheetal gasped as she crouched at his feet. Fear and horror eclipsed all rational thought.
“I killed her because she was so full of Rajesh, her old boyfriend. She was still in touch with him, even after our
