Three hours now.
Three hours since anyone had seen Meera.
Her absence had begun to feel physical. Filling corridors. Settling into corners. Pressing against every wall of Anand Mahal.
His phone rang again. He answered before the first ring ended.
“Hello.”
His voice remained controlled. The same voice that negotiated contracts and dismantled opposition across boardrooms. Nothing like the voice in his head screaming her name.
Rajveer’s contact had nothing new.
Taxi drivers across Jaipur had been questioned. No one remembered a woman in yellow. Hospitals reported no admission that matched her.
At the word hospitals, his jaw locked harder.
“Expand the radius. Check beyond the old city.”
Another turn. Another call.
Four hours now.
The sky moved from gold to amber. Lamps came alive across the Haveli, one after another, their light stretching shadows across stone.
No one left the courtyard.
Devendra stood near the archway, issuing instructions into his phone. Fewer now. Slower.
Gauri sat near the temple, beads moving through her fingers without pause.
Naina stayed on the steps, drawn into herself in a way he had never seen.
Sarita moved between them, keeping them together through sheer will.
Abhinav kept pacing. The count changed. Ten steps became eight. Eight became six. His turns grew sharper. Faster.
His phone never left his grip. If it rang, he answered instantly. If it stayed silent too long, he checked it anyway.
Again.
Again.
Again.
His grip tightened each time.
Five hours now.
The language shifted. From answers to absence disguised as progress.
“We’re still searching.”
“All units deployed.”
“We’ll inform you immediately.”
Abhinav’s expression did not change. Not when the airport confirmed she had not been seen. Not when railway security found nothing. Not when every checkpoint outside Jaipur returned empty.