Chapter 16

25th December 2019

RENITA'S POV:

I am not feeling well since the previous night. I threw up this morning all the breakfast that Neha had forced me to take. She leaves me alone and comfortable in her room and stays mostly in Preeti's room nowadays. She had visited me multiple times bringing medications, porridges, and warm water. I had refused. She even forced me to go to the hospital but right now I don't even care about what shit is happening to me. All I can think about is Cathy.

We met last year only and since the day one we met, we had an unbreakable bond built between us that many of the students asked us whether we knew each other before. The way she spoke, behaved, smiled... every single detail was imprinted in my mind. That dimple when she smiles though!

I sat up on the bed and looked at the only picture of us left with me stuck to the wall in front of me. She stood smiling with her charming dimples and eyes closed. Wrapped up in her hands were me hugging her back with my backside facing the camera. I looked down at the teddy bear clutched tightly in my hands which Cathy had asked me not to buy.

A foreign uneasiness swam across my stomach and it started nauseating again but I had nothing to throw up in my stomach now. I never really fall sick. Its Cathy who skips meals often and visits hospitals like a regular patient. I remember the day when I asked her to take leave and stay in the hostel but she came to college anyway since she didn't have sufficient attendance.

When we were on the way to the dissection hall she stopped walking as one of her hands moved to her head and she closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly she vomited but I was there in time to cup my hands and get hold of her contents.

She was unable to do anything by herself and I helped her eating, bathing, and every possible activity. I never considered her a burden. I was always there for her and she was always there for me. How is she now?

I tossed the teddy bear away which I will rip into pieces in aggression if I had them even two more minutes in my hand. I wiped my wet eyes and got out of the bed. I was done waiting for the police to do something. Its time to step out and go for my girl myself. Haven't I made her a silent promise?

*

25th December 2019

Noel's POV:

I have been roaming around since noon at the backside of the hostel from where he had broken into Cathy's room. It leads to an abandoned service road which after a few meters joins the highway that can lead to many places in the Coimbatore city.

Since on the day of the burglary, there had been a heavy downpour the tire marks were all washed out. Everyone I enquired told the same thing.

"This service road isn't used much bro! And I don't remember any vehicle coming from that road too. Since it's been raining heavily for the past two-three days we are often shutting down the shops. The police had already inquired about the car to us. How many more of you will come?"

I went wandering around in the road thinking of a way to find something that would lead me to her but standing here any longer didn't seem to work. These small service roads didn't have CCTV cameras either.

A little far away there is tollgate which may receive vehicles from many roads like these so checking its CCTVs won't be of much help. So I decided to go to the fun mall to check if I get any clue there.

It took almost fifteen minutes to reach there by my car. I parked the car outside the mall, got down, and sighed seeing the crowd swarming in and out of the mall. I didn't know where to start.

I started off with the watchmen of the mall, the auto drivers in the nearby stand, and few random people who stood there showing her picture which was her latest WhatsApp profile picture.

No one seemed to have any idea about her. I contemplated what to do next before quickly pulling out my phone and calling Renita whose number I got from the receptionist, thank god I did!

Just two rings went before she attended the call and not making me wait for long, "Hello?"

"Renita this is Noel. I want to know the list of all the shops Cathy and you visited within the mall before she went missing"

There was an annoying pause before she answered skeptically, "Let me check the bill and tell you"

"Okay, quick please", I said pushing through the crowd at the entrance and rushing into the vast hall of the mall. She took three-four minutes before she resumed the call and listed five shops within the mall.

"But why are you asking?", she asked.

"I will tell you later Renita, thankyou", I immediately disconnected the call not waiting for her reply before inserting the phone into my back pocket. Then I walked to the board which displayed the names of the shops with its level numbers. I gazed at the shop names as I quickly made a mental note of its level numbers and locations.

Then I hurried to all the shops she had listed on different floors one after the other to check if they had seen anyone suspicious. Every shop was either a toys' shops or gifts' shop. They haven't even purchased any clothes or cosmetics.

I did my best to try making the people I met to remember something from that day but all in vain. No one seemed to remember her at all. Usually, wherever she goes she used to seek everyone's attention there. During times when she used to come with the IT club representatives to my office, I had noticed how people around there stare at her ostentatious activities. She didn't do those purposely but it was her basic behavior pattern. But that didn't seem to have happened here.

Did you feel it in your bones that something bad was going to happen to you, Cathy? Weren't you hyperactive like how you always were that day? Why not even the male teen shopkeepers here don't remember you?

Wait! Am I overthinking things? Hundreds and hundreds of people visit this mall every day. How can I expect the shopkeepers to remember one particular customer that too after a week? I shook my head and overcame the thought. Even one of the shopkeepers told me that the policemen had already checked the CCTVs and nothing useful did they get.

Highly disappointed and broken I roamed around the mall aimlessly and exited the mall before walking to my car in the parking lot. As I was about to open my car door, a watchman came running to me with an old thick notebook in his hands.

"Sir, your car has been parked here for about three hours. You have to pay for it", he said showing me the register.

I hardly glanced at his shabby handwriting from his book as I pulled my wallet out, "How much?"

"Fifty per hour sir", he said staring at me as I rummaged into my wallet for money.

I handed him one fifty rupees as he checked it once and stuffed it into his pocket nodding his head. He bowed a little saying a thankyou before walking away writing something in the book. Then he closed it and slid it beneath his arm to the armpit and that's when an idea struck my mind.

"Excuse me?", I shouted running behind him. He turned around halting and looked at me questioningly.

"Do you note the car numbers in that book?", I asked pointing to the register.

He shook his head. "No sir, I write the timings of the cars when it comes in and when it goes out"

"Then how do you know which car you wrote the timing for if you don't note the cars' register numbers?", I asked as he retrieved the note and opened it.

"The token stickers sir. Once the customer parks the car here we stick a token sticker on the backside glass of the car and we note down the token number along with the timings in the book. That's easier than noting down the register numbers", he showed me the token numbers written in the register and then pointed behind me.

I looked back at the backside glass of my car as my gaze followed his fingers to see a bright red circular sticker of almost the size of my palm stuck to it with the number 77 in yellow.

"You won't inform the customer about the sticker?", I asked turning back to him.

He shook his head again, "Its just a sticker sir. You can peel it off easily or it will wear off by itself too. Customers won't generally ask how we recognized the car and all, like how you just did. I just show them the timings in the register, they pay and leave", he said as I asked him to wait for a minute and quickly pulled my phone out to call Renita. She picked up instantly like she was waiting for my call. "Noel?", she spoke even before I could start.

"Renita do you know the exact time when Cathy went missing?", I asked stealing glances at the watchman who stood staring at me puzzled.

She asked me to wait again and took not even a minute to answer, "My mom had called me and I spoke to her for a few minutes. That's when she went missing. The call timing is 7:47 pm to 7:50 pm"

I cut the call immediately again and didn't even mind saying a thankyou. Next time she probably wouldn't attend my phone call at all.

"I want a small help from you sir. I can offer you some money if you want. I want you to tell me the token numbers of the car which all left this parking lot between the timing 7:45 pm to 8:00 pm on 17th December, that's a week back"

He nodded and turned back the pages. "This is nothing confidential sir, you don't have to give me money. I am just telling you the token number, not the registration number"

He stopped leafing through the register and paused in a page, tapping it. His index finger moved down the page scanning it before it stopped, "Sir four cars have moved out at that time. Token numbers are 87, 25, 55 and 12"

I got his pen and noted it in the palm of my hand. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart and sprinted to my car. As I hopped in and slammed the door shut, my eyes fell on the diary that Cathy had made for me. I smiled, maybe I am getting closer to you Cathy.

I twisted the key with a strong new hope as the engine roared back to its life and took off to the tollgate beside Cathy's hostel with no more delay. I only hope that the kidnapper hadn't noticed the sticker.

HAPPY READING!