Page 147 of The Love Position

‘Thank you.’

Isaac sat, knowing that the reason for his visit might remain undiscussed for most of the time he was there. He had to remain calm and hope that Rajesh Sharma eventually opened up about what happened one night, fifteen years ago.

The woman brought tea and kalakand, milk cakes that Isaac had a particular fondness for, then left, closing the door behind her.

Rajesh lit another cigarette, the tips of his fingers trembling slightly.

Isaac noted the overflowing ashtray in an otherwise spotless room and wondered just how much the man had smoked in anticipation of this meeting.

Sucking hard on the cigarette, Rajesh held his breath, then exhaled the smoke towards the slowly beating ceiling fan.

‘Do you have a wife? A family, Mr Hayward?’

Isaac cleared his throat. ‘I hope to. I have…’

Was Sophia still his girlfriend? He remembered the thrill of calling her his wife.

‘I’m very much in love with a woman and hope to marry her.’

‘And you would do anything for her?’

‘Yes. She’s the reason I’m here.’

Rajesh’s eyes flicked to Isaac as if surprised by this information. ‘I thought… I thought…’

‘Swami Vishnu assaulted her last week.’

The cigarette dropped from the older man’s fingers and he fumbled to pick it up.

‘Swami Vishnu was my guru for twelve years,’ Isaac continued. ‘But he’s done many terrible things, and shamed the organisation Swami Devanandara founded.’

Rajesh dragged on his cigarette, his movements tight as if he was a puppet with failing limbs, trying to hold himself together.

‘I’m not here to find someone to blame,’ Isaac said. ‘I’m trying to find a way to remove him from his position. All that matters is making sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else.’

The cigarette now hung from Rajesh’s fingers as if he’d completely forgotten about it. Then his eyes drifted to a photo of him and three women who Isaac presumed were his wife and two daughters.

Isaac held his breath as he waited to see what the older man would do.

A solitary tear ran down Rajesh’s leathery cheek, and he stubbed the cigarette out.

‘I will tell you what me and Sunil did,’ he said quietly. ‘And ask for forgiveness.’

Isaac sat by the Ganges as it flowed, deep and wide in front of him. He’d had no expectation of finding the two men who’d been with Vishnu Devanandara when he’d supposedly signed his organisation over to Swami Vishnu.

However, he’d not only found them, but they’d agreed to tell the truth about what happened that night in return for no charges being brought against them.

Isaac didn’t begrudge them for making the decision they did. Swami Vishnu had offered them more money than they could ever have expected to make in a lifetime. Money that had done so much for their families.

The past couldn’t be undone, but the future could be moulded into something better.

Arriving in India, Isaac had been surprised by how much the police had already done to gather evidence against Jeremy Brunting. No wonder he’d decided to move permanently to the ashram on Tranquillity Island.

After Sophia’s assault, Swami Saraswati could speak publicly about what had happened, and any support Jeremy had maintained at the Rishikesh ashram had melted away like snow in the spring.

Now that Isaac had helped find another piece of the puzzle, he had nothing more to offer. He was free to go back to Foxbrooke and try to win Sophia back.

His phone rang, and he stared at the screen.

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