The Intern Affair (34 page)

If the gravity of the situation had not been made clear until then, it was now obvious to each of the people in the room.

“As for the reconstruction of the
Sabodala
Village
, we will go ahead as planned and that is to say that you, Doug, will get the help you need in the person of
John
Valdin, who will be joining us tomorrow morning.
The equipment you have ordered should be delivered today.
So, you need to have the village plans digitized in ten days time, and be sure to know that I will not stand for any delays what so ever when it comes to that project. The Development Funds Organization who will be donating the necessary capital for the reconstruction and the manpower to erect the village, will only ‘put their money where their mouth is’ if and when we’re ready for them. Therefore, I’ll leave it in your capable hands.
I’ll deal with
Sir Reginald
myself regarding the agreements and the political ramifications inherent to the project.

“
Thomas
, you’re next on the list. Without
Mr. Dillon
in attendance, we’ll be facing more difficulties than ever before, when it comes to the granting of the Kankoon permit. Talya assured me however, before she left, that as soon as she is in
Bamako
she would make contact with the Minister of Mines and Mr. Kane to address the situation first hand.
You’re to be ready to come with the rest of us in two weeks time.
Francis
Gilbert
and his wife,
Yvonne
, who has been Talya’s right hand in the first few weeks of her stay in Bamako, knows where Talya has gone and can point you in the right direction when you will need to liaise with any of the government departments. Last but not least, the application hearing will be scheduled in about a month’s time.
Which means you’ll be asked to attend, if Talya isn’t back by then.

“Now we’ve come full circle I think, but for the Sabodala mining project. I will handle the project personally
,
with you, Doug”—he threw a meaningful frown in their Baby Face’s direction—“and
with the assistance of Darcy Engineering in
Toronto
. Mr.
Ousmane
will work with us, and hopefully we will have a producing plant on the Sabodala land within two years.

“I suppose you have questions, so I’ll open the floor to all of you now.”

The silence in the room was ominous.
There was a mixture of sadness and elation in the air.
No one dared raise a hand first, until
Terrance
did.

“Do you know if Talya has enough money on her credit cards to travel for any length of time or should we put some funds in each of them?”

“She didn’t mention anything, when she left yesterday, but I suggest you put five thousand in each anyway. And please don’t ask for an expense claim before she comes back.” That brought a round of titter among the people at the table.

Jim
raised a hand. “What if
Ousmane
decides to take a flight and comes for a visit, or anyone for that matter, comes through these doors?
What happens then?”

“Nothing. And even if the police were to come to the door, you don’t know anything more than what I have told you, do you?”

“No I don’t, not really, but do you think it may come to that?”

“You mean that the police officers come through our doors asking questions?
Yes I do, but only in the case that Talya is injured or dies.”

“Are you saying that she’s running for her life then?”
Thomas
asked from his favourite corner.

“Yes, that’s about the size of it.
But I can’t and won’t tell you any more than that.”

Cecilia
looked up from her pad. “Is
Dr. Defray
gone with her?”

“No,
Cecilia
. Talya wouldn’t accept anyone to go with her. Two of her friends have died because of what’s happened, so, she wouldn’t take anyone else into her confidence or on her journey.”

Thomas
shook his head. He looked annoyed. “But you,
Charles
, you were there when all hell broke loose, so you have some knowledge of what’s going on and to me that means you’re in danger as well.”

“Yes, I was there when ‘all hell broke loose’ as you’ve said, but I don’t know anymore than what I’ve told everyone when I returned. I will add that Talya has not revealed to anyone the reason why she’s in danger today. I can only make educated guesses.”

Jim
, the lawyer, had to ask, “Can it be something illegal into which she’s been forcibly involved?”

“Yes. I believe it is something illegal that she’s
dealing
with.
However, let me assure you she has not been, nor will she ever be ‘
involved
’ forcibly or otherwise into anything illegal.
On the contrary she’s made light of something that I can’t describe at present.”
Charles
’s voice was dismissive. “Let’s just keep in mind that
she’s in danger right now
and that none of us will be able to help her if we continue questioning her intentions or her movements.
Believe me when I say that the best thing we can do for her is to do our jobs and bring the projects to a successful conclusion.”

Doug raised a hand. “Will she know what we’re doing?”

A smirk came across
Charles
’s lips. “Not only will she know, but you can expect a phone call from her if she doesn’t see the teams on site and on time.”

There was laughter all around once again.

“Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think it’s time we go back to work.”

45

They arrived at Charles
de Gaulle’s airport late afternoon, two days later. Talya and Samir fetched their luggage from the carrousel quickly and within minutes, they caught a taxi in front of the arrival’s lounge.
When Talya heard Samir say to the driver, “Hotel de Crillon, please,” her heart missed a beat.

“Samir, I thought—”

“Hush, Talya. As I said you’ll know what it means soon enough.”

“But
I thought we were only—”

Samir shot her an admonishing gaze. “Talya, please be quiet.”

She did, and that for the rest of the trip. She thought of the Hotel de Crillon. She had spent a few nights there on her way from
Australia
to
Vancouver
.

Her memory of it was one of splendour, refinement and comfort. Erected in the mid-seventeenth hundreds, it is one of the many palaces adorning the streets of
Paris
today. The Renaissance architecture of its façade only hides the majestic
Louis
the XV’s beauty of the inside of every room, suites, and restaurants and of its many salons. The Hotel de Crillon named after the Duc de Crillon, stands proud at the end of the Jardins des Tuilleries on the Place de la Concorde, facing the Obelisque, which Napoleon Bonaparte brought back from his travels throughout
Egypt
, and the river
Seine
beyond.
It is a hotel out of the past. In the Hotel de Crillon, the luxury of the Palais de Versailles has been restored to life after the French Revolution.

When they went through the revolving door, the porter addressed Samir, a sign of recognition crossing his face.
“Monsieur Le Capitaine, vous êtes de retour! C’est un plaisir de vous revoir.”

Samir smiled, acknowledging the porter’s welcoming comments. “It is a pleasure to be back, Jean. Will you please have our luggage carried to my apartment, while I go and advise
Marianne
of my return?”

Talya was past the surprised and astonished stages; she was way behind, somewhere lost in her little
Vancouver
apartment. It was not a matter of being told to stay quiet it was a matter of her not b
eing
able to speak. She let the porter take her suitcase.
She followed Samir to the desk, which stretched discreetly along the one wall to the left of the hallway, leading to it from the entrance.

Marianne
was a middle-aged woman of happy disposition. Her reserved demeanour however, couldn’t hide the outward cheerfulness of her manners.

“
Marianne
, this is Madame
Gilmore
,” Samir said, nodding in Talya’s direction. “Talya, this is
Marianne
LeRoux
.
She will take care of us while we are here.”

Marianne
came round the desk, the smile not leaving her lips for one moment. She wore a black pleated dress with a white-laced collar. It did wonders to slim her figure. Talya liked the woman already.
She reminded her of
Yvonne Gilbert
.

“Madame
Gilmore
, this is indeed an honour for us to meet you.”
Marianne
’s black eyes, behind the gold-rimmed glasses, shone with mischief.
Her face, although on the podgy side, was exquisitely made up, which only enhanced its delicate features. She extende
d her hand for Talya to shake.
She did.

Talya was still mute. That frozen idiotic smile remained on her face, until she put her mouth into motion. “Please accept my apologies for my bad manners, Madame
LeRoux
, but Captain
Mandalay
kept our destination a secret and I’m still ‘toute chose’ at the surprise he gave me.”

“No matter, dear lady; the important thing now is to make your stay as comfortable as you may dream it to be.”

That will not be a problem!

“Capitaine, let me give you your keys and your mail,”
Marianne
said as she walked back to her chair behind the front desk. “I’ll have the second bedroom in your apartment ready for Madame
Gilmore
in a half-an-hour. If you’d like you can wait in the Winter Garden or on the Patio; I’ll have Jean come and get you when your apartment is ready.”

“Thank you,
Marianne
. You can tell Jean to find us in the Winter Garden.”

“My pleasure, Capitaine, and, Madame
Gilmore
, once again welcome to the Hotel de Crillon.”

“Thank you, Madame
LeRoux
.”

As they sat down at one of the tables in the Winter Garden, Talya couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.
She was bursting with curiosity.
“Samir, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Sitting to her right at the table, Samir took her hand and said, “Talya, I only wanted to surprise you.”

“And that you did, my friend. When the words ‘your apartment’ were pronounced, I thought… I thought… Oh I don’t know
what
I thought, but I can assure you it was a revelation.”

“One in a million. I’ll keep on surprising you this way for a long time, only if you allow your humble servant to do so.”

“But how, Samir?
How is it possible that you…? No, I won’t pry. I’ll just enjoy it. As long as I don’t wake up tomorrow morning in a shack somewhere in the bas-fonds de Paris, it will be fine.”

“There is no
way I would let that happen
, and don’t worry, this is not a dream.
This is my home and it has been since my father passed away.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? I was under the impression that you lived in
Bamako
. Anyway, that’s where your aircrafts are hangared. But
Alhassan
never said anything about
this
….” She lifted her head to the glass ceiling, and turned it in the direction of the massive Golden and Baccarat Crystal Elephant on a pedestal in the middle of the room.

“
Alhassan
doesn’t know anything about me. I’m not one given to tell about my wealth or power.
But you know
;
there is one person who has discerned the truth.”

“Yes? Who’s that?”

“
Charles
.
I’m sure he has guessed of my position when we first met in
Dakar
, on the fateful night.”

“How could he? He hardly said two words to you.”

“Talya, it doesn’t take two words to know a man. You know that. You can read of their lives in people’s eyes.”

“Why didn’t I?
Why couldn’t I?”

“Because, I wouldn’t let you.
I couldn’t be sure that you wouldn’t reject me since wealth and possessions are of no use to you. You seem indifferent to them. You only care to have enough comfort to sleep at night and enough money to eat. Am I not right?”