The Intern Affair (43 page)

“And who is this Mr.
Charos
?”
Charles
asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Mr.
Charos
was one of the most respected businessmen in
North Africa
until his disappearance some years ago. The French authorities only found him quite by accident in a
Paris
hospital when he was undergoing cancer treatment three months ago. Not much attention was paid to his activities until recently.”
Christian
stopped to take another sip of his drink. “He was then reported to have travelled to meet with our Mr.
Kareef
in
Nouakchott
.”

Charles
frowned. “You mean he has become involved in drug trafficking?”

“We do not know for a fact that he was not
already
a drug lord when he lived in
Casablanca
in the seventies.”

The ambassador turned to
Charles
. “Do you remember, the day you came to my office, and I showed you a police report relating to
Sergio
Mendez
’s activities in
Mauritania
?”

“Yes, how could I forget?
That was the police report that Talya thought provided her with the last piece of evidence she had wanted to seal
Kareef
’s fate.”

“Precisely. Her reaction on that day remained a puzzle to me until I delved into the matter a little deeper. And that’s when I discovered that
Nouakchott
was actually a starting point for one of the drug routes through
West Africa
.”

“And you haven’t had the opportunity to inform Talya of your conclusion, or have you?”

“No I haven’t. I don’t think there was any need for me to tell
Ms.
Gilmore
what she already knew. Remember she’s the one who pointed us in the right direction in the first place.”

“Oh I remember! But now tell us why we are to stay here instead of
Ousmane
’s place.”

Sir Reginald
looked at
Thomas
and
Charles
in turn. “Yes, gentlemen, your presence here is only a safeguard.
Had you stayed at Mr.
Ousmane
’s place we wouldn’t have been able to protect you from any form of assault.”

“What makes you think that we have become a target?”
Thomas
asked their ambassador, coming out of his silence.

“The minute I was informed of Ms
.
Gilmore
’s meeting with
Charos
, I knew that you both and Maitre
Sangare
were in danger. I have no knowledge of what went on during the meeting, but I suspect that
Charos
was warning
Ms.
Gilmore
(and everyone concerned) that if she didn’t stop her meddling, someone else would die. And you being here makes you an easy target, the same as Maitre
Sangare
has become a target since he arrived in
Dakar
this afternoon.”

“I’m glad to hear some good news at least.”
Charles
was obviously relieved to hear that
Alhassan
had been successfully transported to the
Dakar
hospital. “And do we know when he’s scheduled for surgery?”

“Tomorrow morning.
And the doctors have assured me that he will fully recover,”
Sir Reginald
concluded as he rose from his chair, ready to leave.

62

A couple of hours
later, Talya came out of the lift dressed in a navy suit, a lovely white blouse, and one flat shoe.
Her other foot had been given one of these monstrous contraptions, enabling her to walk with a cane.
She felt utterly ridiculous.
When Françine had given up on
Madame’s visage
, as she called it, the house cosmetician was called to the rescue. Probably expecting nothing more than to attend to one of his regular guests, the man was outraged when he saw Talya’s face, or what was left of it amid the damage and Band-Aids. Yet, he took up the challenge gladly at
Marianne
’s bidding.
He covered most of the bruising on her chin, but could only go around the small plasters garnishing her cheeks and eyebrows.

She was holding on Samir’s arm when they entered the Winter Garden.
Some of the habitués recognized her (already) and Samir and smiled when they passed between the tables.

Once Talya was sitting comfortably cater-corner from Samir and she began eating, she thought it was high time to inform him of the lay of the land.

“Samir, I will tell you now what happened last night, before I passed out at the hands of
Charos
’s goons.
But before I do, I need you to tell me why you didn’t say anything when you learned that
Charles
was going back to
Dakar
, or didn’t you know?”
Talya didn’t know if he looked abashed from hearing the news itself or from the fact that she suspected him to withhold information.

“I’m sorry, Talya, I learned of
Charles
and
Thomas
’s sudden decision only yesterday morning.
Ghali
and I agreed that it was better for you not to know.”
Had
Ghali
been standing there, Talya would have throttled him on the spot.
He could be such an idiot at times.
“And looking into your eyes, I feel the resentment toward my actions grow rather than abate, and I need your understanding and forgiveness, before we go any further.”

“Oh I understand all right!
You have withheld information from me, thinking that somehow I couldn’t handle the news, or that my reaction would be such that I would put my life in jeopardy.
Well, let me tell you something, Samir, I am not as
unstable
as
Ghali
seems to think, and I am not going to throw myself under a passing car to redeem myself.”

“I’m sorry—”

Talya held out her hand. She wasn’t done with her little spiel. “Listen to me. I was in shock when I heard what had happened to our friends. Yes, I would have drowned into the ocean that night, but you are the one who pulled me out and you are the one who told me that nothing would stop if I were to disappear.
And now I am
telling you
that it will not be with vengeance in my heart that I will pursue these people, but with sheer determination to have
them
pay for the deaths and afflictions they have dawned on us all.”

Samir was gazing at her with kindness and remorse. “Please forgive me.” He lowered his eyes again. “I’ve overstepped my bounds and—”

Talya shook her head. “You know I couldn’t hold anything against you for any length of time. What’s more, we have to set all feelings aside for a while and plan our moves together, not you going off in one direction while I wait for something to happen.
I can’t handle that.”

“Then, I think it is time to tell you what I have planned,” Samir agreed with purpose.
“But not here and not until you’ve returned to your room and have some rest. I’ll just say this; the reason I have kept these arrangements from you until now is because what you didn’t know you couldn’t tell.
I knew from the start that we would have to keep out of sight and out of contact.”

“If you knew that, why did you come here, where everyone knows you and where
they
were sure to find us?”

“Because, if you and I had stayed in hiding somewhere no one knew who we were, they wouldn’t have hesitated in killing us both the minute they located us.”

“Maybe, and maybe not.” Samir looked at her in puzzlement again. “But let me tell you about my little discussion with our M
r.
Charos
. It might take the question mark off your face.”

Samir smiled.

Talya ate the last piece of croissant off her plate before she began.
“I didn’t like the man, yet there is something about him that tells me that he used to be just and fair. I don’t know how to describe it.
In any case here it goes….” It took her a little time to recite her strange encounter, and when she finished, Samir looked at her with a peculiar glimmer in his eyes.

“I can’t let you do this, Talya.
We can’t go now. If we do, not only will we put
Alhassan
and
Charles
at risk, but you and I will be killed the minute we take a cab or a car in the direction of the airport.”

“Somehow, I don’t think so.
I know I have been wrong many times about many things but I don’t think
Charos
wants me dead—”

“And pray, My Lady, do tell this humble servant why not?
Or perhaps last night wasn’t a strong enough warning for you?”

“Think about it, Samir.
Charos
had me in the palm of his hand.
He knew that you wouldn’t be able to find me in time to prevent the killing—no one could have done that.
What does he do instead? After proffering some empty menaces, he deposits me in front of your window so that you could find me within a reasonable amount of time.
It would have been such an easy solution for me to disappear yesterday.”

“So what you’re telling me is that
Charos
has an ulterior motive.
And what would that be?”

“He wants me to find the man responsible for making a mess of his operation.”

“But from what you’ve explained that man was
Kareef
—” Samir didn’t understand.

“No,
it was not and it still isn’t
Kareef
.
For one thing, if
Kareef
had been the only cause of his discomfort,
Charos
wouldn’t have bothered with me.
I had done my job as far as he was concerned.” Talya drank some more of her coffee, which was getting cold.
“
Charos
says that I came back too early, when in fact it suits his plans to a T.
He actually forced my hand in pursuing me in
Victoria
. That little joke at the Empress was destined to push me into action.”

“I see. But why would he want
you
to go and clean up the mess.
He could easily send one of his men down there.”

“Again, Samir, look at the picture from his point of view.
If I clean up and uncover who’s behind all this, he’s automatically out of harm’s reach.
No one would be able to pin anything on him.
However, if he were to send anyone in my stead, the trail would lead straight back to him.
And although he has nothing to lose, he doesn’t want to spend the last days of his life in a prison hospital.”
 

“You mean he’s asking you to wage war against whoever is disturbing his network.”

“Exactly.
There is someone in
West Africa
who’s playing a dirty game and who’s trying to take over his territory.
Charos
doesn’t like that sort of interference.
You said it yourself, he’s known for his ruthlessness.
And that’s what drove him to put me in a position where he knows I’m not going to back off.”

“And why wouldn’t you?”

“Because of
Tristan
, and the Development Funds Organization, Samir.
Charos
knows how much is at stake, he knows that my conscience and my will to attain our goals will prevail.
So he’s saying: go ahead,
Ms. Gilmore
, it’s all yours for the taking.”

“And what if we fail?
What if the ‘game player’ expects us to do just that and waits in the shadows for the first opportunity to kill us or someone else before we have time to stop him?”

“We have no choice.
We have to obey God’s will.”

“Inshallah, Talya, Inshallah.”

Truth be told, Talya’s ankle and wrist needed much more than another day before going back to the
Sahel
.

63

It was then
that the phone rang again.
Christian
was on his feet instantly and grabbed the receiver.
Again, his words could be counted on the fingers of one hand
.
When he hung up, he said, “
Ms.
Gilmore
has suffered some injuries during her abduction, but apparently will recover after some
rest.”