Memory Intrigues – Chapter 27

Our Team logo done by Ruchita

This is the 27th chapter of Memory Intrigues , a mystery series in the “Game of Blogs” for the team “ Dynamic Word Weavers” as a part of #CelebrateBlogging campaign by Blogadda.

You can read the previous chapter here , or check out all the chapters on our FB page here

The story so far

After a while Cyrus comes out of the house.  Jenny looks at him carefully.  This is the first time she is seeing him so closely, in person.  Can she take the risk of approaching him and talking to him?  She might be running a risk in doing so.  Her instincts, however, tell her that Cyrus is not like Ahuja.  Ahuja is a dangerous man with criminal tendencies.  Cyrus looks like a normal young person and is in all probability seriously misguided.  She approaches him.  

 “Cyrus Daruwala?” she asks.

***************

8:00 am:

Cyrus looks up in surprise. He is rushing out to get some breakfast for Roohi, Ahuja and himself.

For a moment he wonders who she is and retorts, suspicion and fear evident on his face, “Who are you? What do you want? And how do you know my name?”

“Cyrus…..” she begins, pushing her hair behind her ears. Cyrus notices the tattoo on her right hand and it all comes back in a flash.

“Hey, aren’t you the missing Jennifer Joseph who was all over the news recently?” he asks, looking amazed.

“Listen, I want to talk to you about something very important; let us just walk out for a bit and discuss this”.

Cyrus warily walks along with Jennifer, curious to know what she’s doing here. “Cyrus, I know about you from your blog. I happened to see it last week and being a professional photographer, I don’t  forget a face very easily” explains Jennifer.

“…..” Cyrus listens in silence, not knowing what to say.

“Listen carefully Cyrus, there is something important I have to tell you. I have been in this profession for a long time now. My job involves dealing with a wide spectrum of people such as politicians, people in the field of entertainment, lawyers, criminals and many others. Believe me, Cyrus, I know the real faces of many of the people” explains Jennifer.

“But Ms.Joseph, why are telling me all this? We have just come on a weekend outing with my niece” says Cyrus looking around furtively to make sure no one is watching them.

“It’s no use trying to spin me that yarn, Cyrus. I know the truth, so spare yourself the trouble of lying to me.” She tells him that she knows all about the Dutta family and that she also knows about Roohi’s abduction. “Believe me, Cyrus, you are playing with fire. Ahuja is a dangerous man. He is a swindler and a charmer, who makes a living by seducing rich women and subsequently black mailing them. That is how he manages to own a flat and a guest house in posh localities in Bombay.   Do you think a struggling artist can afford all this?”

“Cyrus, I am sure you are a brilliant student, I have seen the list of awards you have won and the various social initiatives you have undertaken, on your blog. Ahuja is not someone that a person like you should be involved with.  Let us work together to get Roohi out of this mess” pleads Jennifer.

“I am sorry Ms. Joseph, how can I trust you? Ahuja has been ever so sweet with Roohi; in fact he cares for Roohi a lot more than her own parents do.”

“Cyrus, I have proof for all this. I once happened to work on a series of ‘Mystery Unfolds’ for a television channel which also involved this pimp amongst many others. Unfortunately, the program did not go on air due to political pressures. Please trust me and let us get Roohi and you out of this mess” persuades Jen.

Cyrus is now totally confused. He is uncertain about whom to trust – Jennifer, whom he met just a few minutes ago or Ahuja who has promised him good money. On one hand, he can’t help but co-relate what he has just heard with some marked changes he has noticed in Ahuja’s attitude before and after Roohi’s abduction. He also remembers Ahuja hurriedly hiding away some pictures when he had visited him at home for the interview for the blog. On the other hand, he finds it hard to trust Jennifer who works for the media and might want to make some money by divulging this incident to the world.

“Trust me Cyrus, Ahuja will not hesitate to kill Roohi and implicate you in the matter; he is quite capable of going to any extent” explains Jennifer.

Cyrus now slowly pretends to trust Jennifer; he wants to hear what she is trying to say. He thinks of getting the entire plan out of Jennifer and then helping Ahuja to move Roohi out of this place.

“No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back. You aren’t like Ahuja.” She tries to persuade Cyrus to change his mind.

Jennifer explains to Cyrus that ACP Sameer Thorat is a very close friend and he can surely help Cyrus get out of this entire trouble. A totally confused Cyrus listens intently to Jennifer, his mind vacillating between trusting Ahuja and trusting Jennifer.

“Ahuja will not hesitate to kill Roohi because she can identify you both and she will inform her parents about this once she is released.” Jennifer tries to win the Cyrus’ confidence.

His mind now slowly starts leaning towards trusting Jennifer and he murmurs softly, “But, how will I earn the money Ahuja promised me? How will we get the password now?”

“Cyrus, don’t worry about the memory card!! Trust me and let us get Roohi out of this”

“But Ms.Joseph, how do you know about the card?” asks Cyrus taken aback.

Jennifer explains to him that it was she who sent the card to Shekhar and it is a blank card. It does not have any data and no politician would pay for a blank card.

Confused, Cyrus agrees to listen to Jennifer’s plan, as she explains some details

“Listen Cyrus, now that we trust each other, our first duty is to get Roohi and you out of this mess” and she shares her plan with him.

Cyrus listens carefully to all the details. He picks up some breakfast for Roohi, Ahuja and himself, and walks back to the guest house.

Jennifer is not sure whether Cyrus has actually understood her or whether he is just pretending. She feels that it is better to give him a chance before she calls in the police. She believes it to be better for Roohi and that she is safe as long as the police are not involved in this.

The next chapter is here!!

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Me and my team ” Dynamic Word Weavers” Sulaiman Sait, Purba Chakraborthy,Kiran Acharya,Ruchita Shah,Rajesh K, Ganga Bharani, Satchitananda, Aditi Kasuhiva are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

P.S : This post is a part of a fiction series and does not bear any resemblance with any one dead or alive.