The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai #1)(73)

“I’m sure.”

“As you wish, but I’m not returning any payments.”

He let that pass—no don ever returned money. He asked instead, “Will your shooters squeal?”

“Not my men, guns-for-hire we picked up. One is dead; the other is in their hands.”

“And?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve taken measures.”

He lay back. Uhnna’s “measures” would damage the Item Number’s prospects, hit her where it hurt. She’d be more eager than ever when Bilal approached her. Sipping his whiskey, he smiled. His dad wouldn’t call him a foolish fattu if he saw him now.





CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO


TARA

Tara splashed her face with water, but her tears wouldn’t stop.

Walking into the shower, she wet her hair. Take a bath, Noyontara, her mother had advised Tara each time Tara’s father left home, having kicked and punched the two of them. It doesn’t just clean your body. It cleanses your soul, makes you ready for good things to come.

No time for that now. Tara wrapped her drenched hair in a towel and went to Arnav’s room.

He made space for her among the files and papers strewn on his bed, and rose to lock the door. She dialed Zoya’s number, switching on the speaker. Zoya picked up at the first ring.

“Did you tell Arnav?”

“Yes, he’s right here. I’ve put you on speaker.”

“Is it all right if I ask you a few questions?” Arnav said.

“Sure.” Zoya’s voice was husky with tears.

“When they called you, did they make any demands?”

“No. They said they’ll call Tara.”

“They know she’s Pia’s mother, then.”

“Yes. They said, Tell Tara we’ll call her.”

“Can you describe the men?”

“They were well built. Tall. Wore jeans and T-shirts. They seemed to be from South India. One of them said, Pokam, Manu, pokam.”

“You’re sure about the exact words?”

“Yes, they were not locals. One wore ash on his forehead.”

Tara had seen men with ash on their foreheads. Shetty and his men. Shetty knew about Pia.

“If they call again,” Arnav said to Zoya, “tell them they need to return Pia. Keep them talking.”

Call done, Arnav rose to unlatch the door. Tara stopped him.

“Shetty. The men sound like his thugs.”

“I’ll follow that up.”

“What can I do now?”

“You need to record the calls you receive. I’ll explain how. Put all unknown numbers on speakerphone so I can listen in. Teach Zoya to record any calls, too.”

After her return to Mumbai, Tara had striven to keep away from Arnav. Even when she was in his bed, she’d kept her heart apart, with room only for one. Pia. Or so she thought.

Arnav’s words returned to her: You won’t be alone anymore. Did she want that, though?

She’d been her own provider, even before her father sold her for a few bottles of drink. Tears leaked and she wiped at them.

She startled when Arnav held her, lightly. “Stop this. We need to be strong for her.”

“Without Pia . . .” Tara sobbed, and though she didn’t wish to give in, she found herself hugging him. She couldn’t breathe past the weight on her chest. Her tears were not only for Pia, but for Arnav, who’d been abandoned again and again. For herself, who couldn’t hold on to what she treasured most.

“Does Pia know about me?” Arnav spoke into her hair, his voice trembling above her.

Tara moved out of his arms. He looked as if he’d left home and wasn’t sure of a welcome upon his return. Could a policeman and a bar girl make a home together? Impossible. No one would accept it.

“Unwed mothers carry a stigma, especially in smaller cities, so I said I was a widow. We’ve stuck with that story.”

“You told her I’m . . . ?”

It wasn’t easy, but he deserved the truth.

“I never imagined we’d meet. Or that you’d want her.”

In the distance a train whistled as it hurtled toward a faraway destination. The dojo shared the neighborhood with a local station.

“Did she ever ask about her father?”

“After she started going to school. She knows you were . . . are a policeman. She’s seen pictures of you.”

“She’ll know who I am?”

That look of hope in his eyes he tried hard to hide. Tara ached to hold him, but knew better. She contented herself with a nod.

“We men are strange beasts. Love us and we run from you. Leave us, and you’re never far from our thoughts.”

Tara had never known a man who stayed. It didn’t matter if he was loved or not.

“Promise me you won’t do anything foolish.” He kissed her head, and the faint smell of his aftershave calmed her.

“Yes.” Maybe she could count on him, after all.

Tara practiced recording the way Arnav had shown her, while he made a flurry of calls. The brutal part was not being able to help Pia. Would they molest her? Tara pushed away her terror. She stared at the phone for a long while, willing it to ring. When it didn’t, she returned to her refuge, the shower, and let the water pummel her. Arnav had massaged her feet the other night. It had felt good to be taken care of.