58 Chapter 58

The silence of the night was only broken by the gusts of wind from the ocean. Rohan couldn't sleep. He wanted to be with Sneha. He wanted advice from his father. He found himself exposed to the ugliness of the world; that protective cover, that cocoon of happiness and love was taking a beating. But dealing with this alone was his choice. Finally, when he couldn't take the stress any longer he called Sneha. It was almost one o' clock in the morning. He didn't want to disturb her but didn't know that Sneha was already awake. She had quickly grabbed the phone from the table as soon as she heard it ringing. She knew it was Rohan!

"How are you? What happened, Rohan? Why aren't you answering my calls?" There were a thousand questions racing through her mind; she was so excited and nervous. She couldn't speak loudly for the fear that the others would wake up, so she decided to go to the bathroom and close the door behind her. She started crying.

"Please don't cry, Sneha. I'm sorry I had to leave you for an urgent task so hurriedly. I think I have to stay here longer than I had anticipated. Don't worry about me. I am fine," he said with a smile. Just hearing her creating so much fuss about him made him feel good. All his worries melted away for a while.

They talked for a long time about every nonsensical thing in the world. They laughed and giggled and teased each other until they were too tired to stay awake.

All of a sudden Sneha was startled by a muffled thump in her bedroom. She wanted to see what was going on, but decided to talk a while longer with Rohan. Five minutes later they finished their call and went to bed.

Sneha came into the bedroom with a huge smile on her face. She switched on the bedside lamp to take a look at Rohan's picture on the table beside her, when she noticed that the feathers of the pillow were scattered and there was hole in the comforter. She was surprised at first and thought that there might be a rodent around. She went to clear up the mess, cursing the invisible rodent, but was astonished to see a gun cartridge. She ran out of the bedroom and pounded on her in-laws' bedroom door. Both Ramona and Sumit came out of their bedroom to see what had happened. Upon hearing what Sneha had seen they went to her room. Sumit was particularly disturbed and ran outside to the front yard and the backyard to see if there were any signs of activity, but there was no one. Someone was clever enough to execute the whole plan with great skill. Immediately he called his friends in the police to take control of the situation.

They decided to tell Rohan in the morning. He could do nothing for now. They were glad that Sneha was safe. However, it was a real cause for anxiety.

Next day there was police all over the place. Sumit had called Raj, who was so disturbed that he was shouting at Sumit for not being able to take care of Sneha. First it was Mala and now his daughter! He was yelling at the police officers to catch the criminal today! Sneha, although feeling very concerned, was trying to calm her father.

The Superintendent of Police issued orders to give the entire family round-the-clock protection for the next fifteen days. Such instances were rare in the town with families as affluent and well known as that of Sumit. Sniffer dogs were used, and they were able to trace the path to the wall where the break in took place. The dogs would circle the house and return to the same place every time. Whoever did this knew how to handle everything very intelligently.