The Intern Affair (41 page)

He went back to the sofa in front of the fireplace and sat on the floor.
He stayed there for a couple of hours watching the embers crackl
e
, and send their sparks into the flue in a myriad of little stars as the charred wood fell into the grate. He took his knife out of its sheath and caressed the blade. He had no choice now but to excoriate the man responsible for taking Talya away tonight, once he would find him. He felt a pang of guilt at the thought that he had passed his prayer time that evening. He knew however, that
God
would be watching and hearing his call for understanding. At that moment, as if a hand had pulled him up from the floor, Samir was on his feet and going to the window facing rue Boissy d’Anglas.
It was nearly midnight.
He looked out the window distractedly. He saw passers-by and cars rapidly drive down the street. Then suddenly his gaze rested on a figure huddled in the corner of a porte-cochere. His blood went cold. When he opened the window to take a better look at the crouched silhouette, he noticed a hand showing from under the cover, and a wisp of white hair fluttering over the black shawl, which partly masked what he
believed,
was a woman’s face.

Within seconds, he was going down the stairs and reaching the ground floor in the hallway
leading to the main entrance.
George, the night porter, stood agape when he saw Samir’s face while noticing that one of the most esteemed hotel guests was carrying a knife.

“Please come with me,” Samir said, already outside and crossing the street toward the woman squatting in the doorway. George hurried behind him but halted aghast when he saw what Samir showed him.

“Get a doctor, George! I’ll carry her upstairs.”

As George was running back to the hotel to alert the house physician, Samir quickly replaced the knife in its sheath and lifted the figure in his arms as he did once before on the ship, but this time Talya was really hurt.

When he reached the apartment, Samir laid Talya on her bed, and carefully unwrapped the blanket from around her. She was naked. Samir took only a second to remove the dirty cloak and shawl from under her body, and to cover the woman he adored with the eiderdown. He went to the bedroom window and stood stoically waiting for the doctor to arrive. Tears of anguish pearled at the rim of his eyes. He wanted to pierce his heart to stop the pain from flowing through his veins. He needed to cleanse his soul from the fury he felt.

Moment’s later
Samir went to answer the knock on the door. Doctor Francart, whom Samir knew well—a little man always agitated in his manner—entered the apartment and acknowledged Samir’s presence, only with a nod. He made his way to Talya’s room without asking what the matter could be.
Marianne
had told him.

She had come in at the same time and was now looking up at her long-time friend. She took him in her arms unexpectedly and gave him a hug. “Madame will be fine, you will see, Capitaine. The doctor will take care of her, do not worry yourself, she will be just fine.” She looked up at Samir’s withdrawn face. He was truly embarrassed. He was not given to familiarity with many women. He had been taught that women were to be revered and kept at a respectful distance for they didn’t
belong
to him. Yet, he had known
Marianne
since he was a boy travelling with his father, and she had always shown respect for both men. “Come, we shall sit in front of the fire and wait for the doctor to tell us how we could care for her. Come and sit with me.”

Samir relented and went to sit by her.
“
Marianne
, I don’t—”

“Hush, Capitaine.
I have ordered your favourite tea and it will be here soon, and Jeanine will come and stay with Madame for the rest of the night.”

“She’s been badly hurt—”

“I know, Capitaine. George told me. He said that he only saw her face for a second…. He was horrified….” She shuddered. “But now she will be fine, you’ll see.”

They waited in silence. A few minutes later, there was another knock at the door.
Samir made a move to go and answer it, but
Marianne
was quick on her feet when it
came to care for her patrons.
Jeanine entered, carrying a tray with a teapot, two cups and saucers and a plate of biscuits.

“Set it on the desk, Jeanine, will you?
And then you can sit and wait for the doctor to come out.”

“Oui, Madame.” The maid deposited the tray on the escritoire. After which, she sat in a chair beside the desk, remained there with her hands folded in her lap; unobtrusively waiting for
Dr.
Francart to come out of the bedroom.

“What’s taking him so long?” Samir was impatient.
Marianne
was pouring the tea and then carried a cup to him. He was still sitting in front of the fire, his elbows on his knees, wringing his hands.

“Not to worry, Capitaine, he’s probably attending to her and seeing that she would rest comfortably for the night…”

“
Marianne
, I can’t stand this … I need to be with her—”

“Capitaine, please sit down…,”
Marianne
ordered, seeing that Samir was rising from his seat. “
Dr.
Francart won’t be much longer I’m sure.”
Samir did as bidden and sat down again.

They drank their tea and listened to the crackling fire.

Marianne
got up a couple of times and put another log into the hearth.

At last, the bedroom door opened. Samir sprung to his feet as
Dr.
Francart crossed the living room and came to stand before him. The doctor’s face showed his concern.

“Capitaine, I won’t mince words. This woman has been brutalized. She has a sprained ankle, a fractured wrist, and several gashes and bruises on her face. Although, I think she has been sedated before any injuries were inflicted,”—he hesitated—“she has also been abused.”

Upon hearing the words, Samir sat down. He couldn’t express the horrific hurt he felt.

Noticing that Samir showed the early signs of shock,
Dr.
Francart added, “But if this is of any comfort to you, I don’t think she has been violated, or at least there is no sign of it. She needs care and attention. She will wake early tomorrow morning and depending on how she feels about you—or any man coming near her—she will call for you.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Samir answered abstractly.

Marianne
led the doctor to the door, and after closing it on him, she came back to sit on a chair across from Samir. “Capitaine, I have no idea how you must feel right now. I’ve only known Madame for a couple of days, but believe me when I say, she is a strong woman and when she wakes up, no matter what Doctor Francart says, I know she’ll want to have you by her side.”

“I’m not worthy,
Marianne
—”

“What are you talking about? You have only to look in her eyes. This woman worships you.
I saw it when we were introduced. I tell you, in a few hours you’ll be able to take care of her.
And I don’t want to hear of you leaving this hotel until I see her in your arms. I saw you last night at the Piano Bar. That woman loves you. Take it from an old romantic like me—”

Samir smiled at hearing her words, they reminded him of what Talya had said ‘if you’re old then I’m decrepit’.
“Thank you,
Marianne
.
I’ll stay awake, waiting for her call and I prom
ise I won’t leave without her. God
won’t allow it.”

“That’s better.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go to my suite and catch some sleep so that I can feel useful again in the morning.”
Marianne
rose from the chair and adjusted the belt around her ample waist. She turned her gaze in the direction of the maid who had been silently observing the scene. “And Jeanine will stay in Madame’s room for the rest of the night, won’t you, my girl?”

“Oui, Madame.”

59

When they alighted
from the plane at
Dakar
airport,
Charles
and
Thomas
saw a black Mercedes waiting
at the bottom of the stairs.
They had expected to see it.
They climbed inside to find
Sir Reginald
comfortably ensconced in the back seat. Once the greetings and
Thomas
’s introduction to the ambassador were over,
Sir Reginald
told the chauffeur to take them to the Meridien.

Charles
looked at his host,
taken
aback at the mention of the hotel’s name. “I thought we were going to stay at Mr.
Ousmane
’s place…”

“No, and I am sorry for this change in our plans,
Charles
, but the events of the last twenty four hours have forced me to reconsider your place of lodging.”

“And what events are those?”
Charles
asked.

“We will not talk until we are in your apartment at the Meridien.” Finality laced the ambassador’s voice.

Charles
reclined in his seat and looked at
Thomas
’s questioning gaze.
He was sitting in the passenger’s seat up fro
nt.
He had turned around when he had heard
Sir Reginald
’s announcement.
They were both worried that the worst had happened to Talya and Samir. They drove in silence for the rest of the way to the Meridien.

Sir Reginald
accompanied the two men to the apartment he had reserved for them. It was similar to the one Talya had occupied during her stay in
Dakar
.
Charles
felt a pang of sadness when he walked into the living room. He recalled instantly all of the hours he had spent there with
Alhassan
and Talya, working on what had turned out to be one of the most outlandish plans of his career, and now one of the riskiest he had ever under
taken
.

Thomas
looked around him and went to the terrace. He had known that such places of luxury existed in
Africa
amid the misery he had encountered in his travels, but he’d never imagined he would have been asked to stay in one of them, and under such problematic circumstances. He was still pensive when he returned to sit in one of the living room chairs.

In a moment, a young man, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and tie, entered the apartment unexpectedly.
He strode toward
Sir Reginald
. “Would you like me to serve some drinks before we start, sir?”

“Yes, that’s an excellent idea,
Christian,
but before you do, let me introduce you. Gentlemen, this is
Christian Sylvester
from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
He will look after you both while you’re here. And
Christian,
this is
Charles Durant
, the President of
Tristan Resources
and
Thomas
Gerald
, their Exploration Manager.”

The men shook hands and
Christian
went to the bar and busied himself preparing their drinks. He had been told ahead of time, what
Thomas
and
Charles
’s favourite beverages were.

“Sir, we need to know what brought this change of plans,”
Charles
asked, his voice betraying fatigue and strain.

“Yes,
Charles
, and believe me I can appreciate your impatience.
First, however, I will need to know, if either of you had any contact with anyone or had anyone approached you unexpectedly in
London
or in
Paris
during either stop-over?”

Thomas
and
Charles
looked at each other uncomprehending.

“I don’t recall,”
Charles
replied, puzzled. “No, nothing untoward happened to either of us.”

Thomas
shook his head, concurring with
Charles
’s response.

“Well then, I will tell you what happened during the past two days,” the ambassador said.

Christian
brought the drinks to the table in front of each of the men and settled himself across from his boss and
Charles
, in the sofa.
Charles
took a sip of his scotch and reclined in his seat.

“When Captain
Mandalay
and
Ms.
Gilmore
were in
Toronto
and after your phone call,
Charles
,”
Sir Reginald
began, “I took the liberty of asking for our government agents in
Paris
, to follow their movements. It was imperative that we re-assured ourselves that they were safe in the one hand, and we wanted to know also if
Ms.
Gilmore
would make any contact with anyone.”