Chapter 12:
Andy was waiting for Pratik near a shady lane. He was feeling miserable. Where had the professor gone? Would he succeed in reaching Khuldhara before them? In that case what could be done? If only I could send a word to Rani. I could warn her about the professor and his scientist friends. At least they could hide somewhere. Once I reach there, I could take care of them and Pratik would take care of sending Senlings. Rani could help him. But how could I send a message? He felt very bad looking up every minute some vehicle crossed the lane.
Andy entered the coffee shop again. It was now 11:00 AM. At least by 12 Pratik must return with fuel. He slowly sipped the coffee. His eyes were fixed on the entrance. He could hear the chat going on in the next table. The person was chatting with the owner.
"Hey dude! What happened to the guy next door? Haven't seen him for 2 days." Asked the one sipping chai tea.
The owner replied something about scientists being crazy not interested in socializing at all. They loved science and science only. For the next couple of minutes, they were talking about the reason for the failure of his marriage. Andy had nothing to do, so he listened. From their conversation the main reason was an early divorce was his wife thought he was crazy and never bothered about money. Another strong reason was one fine day he forgot she had been married brought a lady on date to his house. This infuriated his wife very much. One thing led to another after 3 years of marriage he was divorced. Andy chuckled to himself. What a funny guy the professor must had been? How could one forget about being married? Maybe he did everything on purpose to get rid of his wife. This explanation seemed more likely as Andy remembered his betrayal. The conversation was still going on. Now it was about the fancy car he had.
"What a car? Its Benz! Who needs a Benz when no girl sits next to you?" asked the person with a mouth full of cookies.
At this the shop owner laughed and said "You have a lot of girls to sit next to you. But no Benz. Poor thing". Both men laughed at this. Now another man in the same table intervened.
"Since the day he got Benz, he drives that even for his hair cut across the road." All of them started laughing.
There was a click in Andy's brain. He cursed himself for not thinking of this earlier. He almost jogged to the professor's house and looked at the garage. It was not empty. There stood the new Benz in black. A chill went through Andy. His brain motor was running very fast. Nameless suspicion crept into his mind. His heart was beating fast. Was it possible? He thought of a plan. He went round the house and tried to peep through the glass window. He spotted a gap between the drapes. He focused and looked. Initially only darkness was all he could see. He glued his eyes to the glass. After a while he saw something sac like was set in the far most corner of the lab. To his horror he saw it moving.
Andy stepped aside and analyzed his situation. He was standing at the barn of a lab/house and staring suspiciously through the window. This is a serious situation. He saw something dark in a sac moving. He had to find out and was not in a position to call the police. If he did call, there would be lots of questions he could not answer. He had to do something. He decided quickly. Somehow, he had to enter the lab and see what was moving inside the sac.
He remembered from where Pratik appeared. Andy thought hard. Where was he at that time? It was all a blur but slowly it cleared. He was near the kitchen looking for any door. Then Pratik appeared out of nowhere. No human could materialize from thin air. There must e a door may be a secret entrance. Andy looked at his watch. It was 11:45. He was running short of time. At Khuldhara Rani and others might be worried to death. He had to act. The thought of Rani gave him hope and strength. Fastly, he went back to the kitchen area and started sieving every part of the wall minutely. It was not long before he found a door which was latched from outside. The door and the wall color were similar. It was difficult to see if you were not looking for that.
Andy undid the latch. But it did not budge. Looked it was locked. Andy wanted to scream out of frustration. He was in the verge of a nervous breakdown. He did what he had never done before. He knelt and started praying. Whether it was due to his prayer, or a moment of silent meditation helped him he saw a pot of plant near the door. With a shaking hand he lifted the pot, nothing was there. With disappointment he looked at the plant. It was a plastic one. With a beating heart and trembling fingers, he lifted the plant itself. Hurray! There was the key. Now Andy's entire body was trembling. With much difficulty due to his shaking, he tried the Key. Click! The lock was released. He opened the door and entered the kitchen. There was nothing in it. The Kitchen led to the living room and the living room had access to the lab.
Andy tiptoed into the lab. He was startled to see the place. The place was a mess. Some of the chemical bottles were broken. A strong smell of chemicals was in the air. There was a chair upside down. It was evident there had been a fight in that lab. Andy ran to the corner where he saw the sac. Now there was a muffled noise from the sac. Gathering the courage, he approached the sac. It was tied at the opening. He tried to undo the knot. No! The stress was too much. So, he grabbed a piece of glass from the floor and cut it open. The string snapped. He ran to the farther end of the lab. From the sac slowly stood out a figure with a duct tape on his face. Only the eyes were visible. To his horror he realized it was the professor himself.