・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・

Kabir jumped off the chair, his ears ringing from the sudden electric hum that sounded from the earphones he had strapped over his head. Then there was silence and even the fitbit app screen on his laptop was blank; there was no signal. He had been hearing everything and was quite happy with the clarity of the sound, and although Sanjay sounded drunk, his voice was clear and he hoped it would give Sanskaar some ammunition. He was also stunned at what he had heard about Sanskaar; it seemed unbelievable that the Sanskaar he now knew had once been desperate enough to try to kill himself.

He glanced around to see if his startled reaction had woken up Sanskaar, and was relieved to note that Sanskaar was still sleeping, though Rache glared at Kabir. He gave the dog a wan smile to show how sorry he was for startling it, though he felt silly to be apologising to a dog. He then sat back, contemplating on what could have happened and what he had to do next, without breaking any rules or laws. He was already feeling a little guilty about lying to his parents, or rather stretching the truth a little too thin.

The sensible thing would have been to simply take the recording and the data and give it to Sanskaar, but then Kabir was uneasy; he needed to ascertain as to why the device stopped working. He checked the apps again, Sanjay's was still off the grid while Sahil's showed a slight spike. He thought about it; it might be too late if he waited for Sanskaar to wake up, appraise him and then decide what had to be done. So he decided to take a chance and called Sahil, who answered in a couple of rings  and Kabir spoke his hastily prepared speech, "Hello, I am Dr Kabir speaking, we met yesterday. I am sorry to be disturbing you at this late hour, but then I got a notification of a blood pressure spike in your father's readings and then everything went blank. It got me worried so I wanted to check that everything is fine."

Sahil's relief was evident in his reply, "It is great that you called. My father had an upsetting conversation and he thre...well...okay...the device fell down and is now not working. But you are right about the blood pressure, I took a reading, it is high and he is also looking quite sick. Is there anything I can do?"

Kabir made up his mind in that instant, it could be risky but then he would have to retrieve the devices as soon as possible and so he replied, "Okay, your father would have the regular prescription tablets, give him one and ask him to go to sleep. And since it is important that we be able to monitor his vitals, could you make him wear yours? I might have a spare one, which I will now come over and give it to you. No, it is no trouble, as a doctor it is my duty to check him up and hopefully it is nothing serious, and if it is, I can always request my Dad to come over."

Once the call was completed, Kabir picked out the fitbit devices, identical to the ones he had given the Senguptas, but without the microphone fitted in, it was the perfect opportunity to switch them. As he was about to leave, the app screen showed a change in the readings, Sahil must have given his device to his father. He quickly put on the earphones, catching the only last couple of words of Sanjay Sengupta, "Dr Abhay Gupta..."

・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・

Abhay Gupta stared at his hands; hands that he was proud of, for they had always been always steady, all through his medical training and practice. It made no difference how difficult the case was, how stressful the surgery, he was known to be steadfast even under the gravest pressure. But today, as he got off the phone with Sanjay Sengupta, the venom in Sanjay's voice seemed to find an outlet in his hands, the fingers moved in a trembling frenzy. Caught up in the echoes of Sanjay's fury, he never noticed when the mobile had slipped to the floor,  nor did he realise when his wife had joined him.

Gauri was worried when she saw her husband tensed up and it took her some anxious minutes to get her him to talk to her, though she soon regretted it. She knew he was more panicked than worried, there was no other reason as to why he started telling  her everything, in a rambling and incoherent recounting; from Sanjay Sengupta paying him for his silence to Prashanthi and his involvement with her.

She heard him out, her rigid posture and twisting fingers speaking her anger and frustration as he recounted how Prashanthi was now demanding a substantial sum of money to walk out of his life. She could make out the unspoken plea, she knew Abhay quite well, he might not love her but then he valued respectability and she was his means to that; a publicised love affair, with his assistant, would dent his reputation and he did not want that. And while she was disappointed that he had helped protect someone who was wrong and upset at the turn of events, and  though a part of her felt that her husband deserved the mental turmoil he was going through, she realised that at that moment she too wanted their lives to be free of Prashanthi; she would deal with her husband on a later date.

"I will help you out—"

She held out her palms, the surprise on Abhay's face was startling and she almost laughed, she knew he would start out to apologise, profusely and in visible relief, words which would now sound hollow against the knowledge she had gained. If she heard him speak, she could lose her resolve to help him out.

"— and do not interrupt me. I will help you out. I have scrimped and saved from the money you have given to me over the years and I also have a couple of fixed deposits which my parents gifted to me. I can give you around ten lakhs, that amount along with whatever you can manage to raise, should be enough to pay her out. All I want in return is your promise that you will not meet her outside your clinic hours, so you have to call her and tell her that you will pay her on Tuesday and she is to walk out of your life the minute she takes the money. That is the only condition on which I give you the money I have saved."

She waited, she had been hurt and dismayed when she had learnt of the affair; it had shattered her belief of a happy and secure marriage and she was desperate to know if she still mattered, Abhay's promise could give her hope.  Gauri hoped that her husband would stay true to at least this promise, he had not hesitated to break their wedding vows. He gave a brief nod, unable to find words to thank her, and though a part of him wished he had never been on duty the night Sahil Sengupta had been brought in, he was mostly relieved. 

It was this relief, rather than remorse, that had made him give his word, though he was not sure if he could stick to the promises he had made.

・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・

Sahil was relieved with Kabir's presence and did not pay any attention to what Kabir did with the devices, who was equally relieved at being able to switch the devices, without Sahil hovering around him. He was sure that Sanjay Sengupta had broken his fitbit in a temper outburst, but did not want to take any chances at being discovered, convinced that the risk of being caught far outweighed any further discovery they could make. However, he could not stop being the doctor he was and despite the desperation which urged him to leave once the switch had been made, he stayed long enough to check that Sanjay had stabilised and that Sahil was assured of his father's health before he left.

Kabir reached Sanskaar's room only to find him wide awake and in an irritable mood, most of it directed towards him. He let out a sigh and braced himself for an admonishment, wondering how many more chastisements he would earn once his parents found out all the lies he had told, starting from the flimsy excuse for tagging along with his dad to meet Sanjay Sengupta to the latest one involving a fictitious night of studying with an imaginary friend, all of them to enable him to help out Sanskaar and stay over at his place, when needed.

And his latest escapade, of leaving Sanskaar with a hastily scribbled note while he went over to the Sengupta's alone, seemed to have put Sanskaar in the parental mode. So Kabir behaved as he would with his parents, he gave his trademark apologetic grin, which had worked well with his parents and for added effect, held his ears to show his genuine contriteness as he launched into an hasty explanation as to why he disappeared the way he did. 

Sanskaar sighed; his ire was new and unusual, he should not get anxious if Kabir disappeared for a while, even if he were convinced that what Kabir had done was both brave and foolish. But he was pleased to see Kabir was safe and his mood lightened enough to share Kabir's excitement at what had been recorded. Both of them sat listening to the recordings, in complete silence. One that continued even after the recordings had played out, despite the selective ones they had heard, and the fact that no names had been taken, Sanskaar realised that they what they had was better than they had hoped but less than what had been expected; a call would have to be taken by all of them. 

Insisting that Kabir leave for his home and return the next day, Sanskaar sat up through out the night, formulating what he hoped was a executable plan.

・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・

Sunday, once again, found all of them gathering in Sanskaar's house as he replayed the recording, a much cleaner and edited version from the raw one that Sanskaar had heard over the night. It was a short recording, lasting less than five minutes but had to stop when they heard Sanjay say, "...if only Sanskaar had succeeded when he tried to commit suicide..."

Swara  and Ragini were the only ones present who had not known. While Swara appeared too stunned to react, Ragini let out a startled gasp. Sanskaar, who had anticipated her reaction, paused the recording and grasped her wrist, "Not a word, you will neither apologise again nor will you blame yourself again. I have to apologise for being cowardly enough to try to commit suicide. It was never your fault. And even you staying away for eight years, that was also not completely on you. All of us were equally responsible and yet for the past few days you have been the only one to apologise. I spent so many days being angry, I should have simply called you and shouted at you, as I friend I could and should have done that. Instead I spent time sulking. Laksh should have told you, but he used my actions as an excuse to take out his anger, he should have apologised too. Siddhardh did have to deal with his mother and Niki's death, but he should have invited you for the wedding instead of leaving it to Anu Maa. Let us not get into what Anu Maa should have done. And finally, Meghna, she is such a bossy person, she should have taken the phone and given you a piece of her mind, it would have removed all the stupid misconceptions. None of did right by each other and we have not even bothered to say sorry even once. And now, you are never going to say it again, am I clear?"

Ragini looked at the three of them, each had marked expressions of guilt and regret; she nodded, the reluctance visible on her face as she thought over what Sanskaar said and realised that she had to admit that Sanskaar was right, she was wrong in what she had said and done, but they were not right either. 

Only when Sanskaar was sure that she had accepted did he resume the recording. And once the snippets played out, there was silence as the implications sank in and they realised that they had to make a decision. They could ignore the conversation for though it a lot of hints, it was short of a confession and then proceed with their original plan which would have to be reworked.

Or they could take a gamble on this conversation.

The four friends looked at each other, and as one they nodded. It was time, they decided, that SNLRS paid a visit to the Senguptas. It was time for payback.

・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・

Sanjay Sengupta was both surprised and curious when he heard about his visitors and yet, took great pleasure in making them wait; he was not going to rush in and offer them an effusive welcome. He had no reason to welcome any of them and he was also a little flustered with the interview that he had attended the previous day. A visit from them, following on the heels of that interview did not bode well but since a morbid curiosity seemed to take over him, he sauntered into the sitting area where they had been made to wait for over thirty minutes.

He was a bit disappointed to note the while the visitors had not been upset at being kept waiting, rather they seemed oblivious to the intended insult, Sahil, who had followed him, appeared to be flustered and nervous. A nervousness which was apparently justified once they heard the recording, for even Sanjay, who was known for a public poker face, paled a bit as his slurred baritone echoed in the confines of his living room.

The silence stretched as none seemed willing to start the conversation. Finally Sanskaar grinned and said, "Looks like we have got a captive audience, one that has been rendered speechless."

Sanjay did not raise to the bait; he preferred to let silence speak on his behalf as he mulled over the possibilities. He knew that the conversations bits could be damaging and even if he found out how they had managed to sneak in a recording device and got around to destroying that person, he would only gain a sadistic personal satisfaction, which at the cost of his son, would not be worth much. He looked at each of them in turn, sitting or standing in different postures, their body language was guarded, as though they were holding themselves back from launching a physical assault, yet their eyes, which blazed with anger did not find an outlet in their voices. It did not matter what they thought of him, he had been a businessman long enough, a brilliant one at that, and he followed his gut instinct, to wait and see what they had to offer. If he were lucky, it would be a mere monetary payoff, though he was not going to bet on it.

And he was right, though he would have wished otherwise.

Ragini spoke, "Okay, since you have opted for silence, I will be the spokesperson. We have decided to print a Op-Ed article in my newspaper and an maybe an article in my magazine, in appreciation of the one you printed of SNLRS. I tentatively plan to name it, 'Like father, like son?' and will write an honest rendition of what happened that night, a bit dramatic, no direct references but any reader with even an iota of sense would be able to pin you down. And to those who might not get the inference, maybe I could include a subtle mention of the Op-ed you ran last week? Actually it sounds good, but could be vindictive, I have to think about that. I have almost drafted out the piece, though we have not decided whether you should be allowed to read the draft or wait for it to be printed."

Sanjay swore, the article would be damaging; that was the power of a newspaper, that was what he had relied on when he had run the piece the previous week. However, he was not one to go down without a fight but even as he opened his mouth to say, he was interrupted.

"And that is the civilised way of dealing with things, I would have preferred to beat that sleaze ball to pulp, but then it would not bring back my sister, though it would give me a lot of pleasure. And please do not entertain any thoughts about hiring muscle to deal with us, we would simply leak the tapes on television."

Sanjay, who had been mildly speculating on that idea glowered at Siddarth, it had been a tempting idea which was now rendered futile, and he growled, "I am not a low life ruffian to go around hiring people to beat you up. However, be warned that I will not back out from filing a libel suit..."

Laksh spoke up, "You could file a criminal case of libel against us, but then the damage would already be done, right? And since we know that there are other things, factual in part, though circumstantial, I am sure you would not like any attention to be drawn towards what exactly happened with the hospital burning down. So we could come to the reasonable conclusion that threatening us with a libel suit would not deter us."

"And you should know that I have a lot of wealth too and nothing else to live for. I can spend all my money and all my life fighting out the legal case, and in the end even you if win the libel case, you would have lost the battle."

Snajay glared at Sanskaar, "But I could have the satisfaction of having you ruined along with your friends. That could be quite a solace."

Sanskaar held Sanjay's gaze as he watched the intermittent display of warring emotions and then answered, "Well, while that is true what you do not seem to realise is the public defamation and humiliation your son, and by extension you, would face. Is it really worth it all?"

And they knew they had won the first battle, when Sanjay, defeat visible in his sagging shoulders, asked, "What do you want?"

"Simple, Mr Sengupta, the price has to be paid; it is either your son, for whom you have lied and killed to protect. Or you hand over your publications, all of them, the ones that you have so proudly built, to SNLRS. I do not care which one you surrender to us, the choice is entirely yours. But you will have to give up one of them."

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Swara paced the floor of Sanskaar's living room, mumbling and grumbling; she was not pleased to be left behind and made no attempts to hide her disappointment. It also irked her that neither Meghna nor Kabir seemed perturbed that they were not included in the confrontation with Sanjay Sengupta.

She had been a trifle surprised at how quickly and quietly the four of them had conversed and come to a decision, without involving any of them and when Sanskaar announced that it was time to visit the Senguptas, she had leapt to her feet in enthusiasm and would have rushed along with them if Kabir had not held her wrist and pulled her back. She had glared at him and tried to twist her way out, which was also when she had a glimpse of how angry Kabir could get, she had always believed him to be incapable of fury. He had tugged on her wrist and as she tumbled into the sofa beside him, he spoke, in a firm voice that would brook no argument to the contrary, "No, Swara, you will wait here, and not tag along. We have done all we could to help them and from here on it is their battle and theirs alone. Please understand, Swara, anything you now say or do would only cause an unnecessary scene."

She would have retorted, a calculated and insulting barb, 'to the effect that if he want to sit back he could,' and then run to her sister to demand that she be allowed to accompany them, 'how could they deny her this chance to see how they dealt with the Senguptas? After all, despite the mess she had created, it had been her interview performance that had rattled Sanjay Sengupta and...'

Two things stopped her; first being that Kabir had not relinquished his hold on the wrist and by the time she had pulled free, Meghna had entered the room and she knew that her sister had left. And so she paced the floor, uncaring that she was throwing a temper tantrum as she marched in a petulant gait. 

Meghna allowed her five minutes and then looked at her daughter, Niharika, who seemed quite taken up by the scrunchy faces that Kabir was making for her, and when Neha held out her arms to him, in a demand to be picked up, she complied by handing her over to Kabir. She smiled as Kabir tickled Neha who burst into a frenzy of baby giggles and decided her daughter was in safe hands or rather, Kabir would not have a miniature whirlwind to deal with. She walked over to Swara and tugging her by the elbow, said, "I want to tell you something, I do not care what you think about me after I finish it. I just want you to accept it, and hopefully, sometime in future, you will understand what I said. Come, we shall sit in the veranda while we talk."

・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・

It was a week where nothing had gone right for him and now, it appeared that things were falling apart, so quickly and so completely that he was not too sure where he could stop the slide. He was trapped and he knew it. He truly loved only his son and for the sake of that son, he would grovel before his father in law. 

For what Sanskaar did not know was that the Mitras held a significant, if not majority, stake in his publishing house, so any decision to sell out would need their approval. And the meeting left Sanjay Sengupta on the verge of having an apoplectic fit; his father in law had not out rightly refused but the message was clear, there was no way the Mitras would allow a transfer of the ownership especially if it was to cover up Sanjay's perfidy, even if it meant that Sahil would pay the price. He had not expected anything different but the dismissal from his ninety-seven year old father in law, who still could make Sanjay feel like an errant eight year old boy, had him seething. 

It was in a rage that he walked out of the Mitra Home, Sahil following him while his wife had been too dazed to be quick about leaving with him. He did not care, she could stay with her father, if he ever allowed her, the old man had not forgiven her even after more than four decades. 

It was in fury that he gripped the steering as the powerful wheels of his black car responded to the pressure on the accelerator. He enjoyed the purr of the dynamic engine as the gears shifted with precision and the soft suspension allowed the anger to simmer. 'Maybe he should have been a little less demanding, maybe he should have presented the transfer as a business merger that would increase their image, maybe he should not have been so curt but then his father in law had always treated him much less than his other two son in laws, he was always the last resort rather than a chosen son...'

It was in outrage that he drove, undmindful of  the  the speed at which he drove, reveling in the smooth way the car rode and gave in to the exhilaration of driving the Audi. He vacillated between anger and  elation, not sparing a glance for his son, if he had , he would have seen that Sahil was petrified. 

Sahil had hardly seated himself in the seat, when his father had taken off and he had fumbled with the seat belt before the terror took over. It was that night all over again, he squeezed his eyes closed and pressed his palms over his ears, trying to shut out the screams. There was a flash of light in the side view mirror, he heard his driver plead, 'Sahil beta, a little slow, you will lose control,' and then there was the crash and the never ending screams. Screams that had haunted him every night and day, cries of despair and pain. He felt the blood pound in his head and he pressed his palms over his ears harder, hoping to shut out the cries and knowing they would never cease. 

And then he gasped as a weight rammed into his chest, leaving him desperate for air; the terror did not abate even then, instead it crashed through his body, the pain twisting through the bones even as the screams in his head reverberated in the car in his voice and echoed with his father's  horror. 

He gave up at that moment and oblivious to the pain that racked through him, he embraced the deadening silence, one that he had craved for, each minute, over the past eight years.

So that was Subterfuge - which partly closes the Sengupta chapter, you would be able to guess what happened, right? Next chapter - Underhandedness - will continue with Sanjay and a part of Maya's life as we get a hint as to what secrets she carries. 

love,
Nyna