The Intern Affair (60 page)

Talya and Samir were alone in the Landrover. Their companions rode in the second car.
Talya was sure
Charles
was already asleep in the back seat.
Christian
had said he would be driving to leave
Jerry
the time to sleep before flying off at sunrise.

“Why don’t you let me drive, Samir?
We’ve got another three hours of flying this morning before we get to
Bamako
; you need these two hours of shut eye before we reach the hostel.”

“No, Talya.
I won’t let you do that.
Do you remember the time I came back to
Dakar
?
I had stayed awake for almost thirty-six hours then.
This time won’t be any different and you’re the one whose body and mind need the rest.
I don’t want to have to carry you out of the aircraft as I did when we arrived in
Nouakchott
.”

“But, Samir—”

“No ‘buts’, Princess, just lie back and let your body rest for awhile.
When we get to Kedougou, we’ll need to move fast. The sun will rise to reveal what happened at the camp soon enough.
We have to be out of the place as quickly as we can and we won’t have a minute to spare.”

Reluctantly, Talya snuggled as best as she could in the seat—Landrovers seats are not made for sleepy passengers—and within minutes, she was fast asleep.

97

Jerry
was asleep
already in the back seat and so was
Charles
at his side.
Thomas
was relaxing in the passenger seat beside
Christian
who had ta
ken
the wheel.

While reclining in his seat to make himself comfortable,
Thomas
said, “I couldn’t have believed what happened tonight even if I had been told of it by the Pope himself.”

Christian
looked straight ahead. “I had an inkling of what Talya was capable of from the reports we got from Paris, but what I saw her do tonight leads me to believe that she won’t stop until she’s satisfied she’s reached her goal.”

“And that goal is to eradicate
Charos
’s operation—”

“Yes, and something else—”

“Do you mean there is more?”

“Oh yes,
Thomas
, I do.
I don’t know what her plans are, but I know the ultimate goal is not only aimed at
Charos
’s destruction but at something else, and I’d like to find out what it is and help her.
She deserves to be helped.
Do you realize that what we’ve done tonight will probably be known as one of the largest drug bust in
North Africa
?”

“But how could we find out what this
ultimate
goal of hers is?
She’s not going to come at breakfast one morning and say, ‘Oh, by the way I forgot to tell you, but today I plan to destroy this man’, is she?”

Christian
smiled, visualizing Talya doing exactly that. “No,
Thomas
, but I think she would tell us if she had the opportunity.”

“Can we provide the opportunity?”

“We may be able to, but only when she’s back in
Dakar
.”

“And when will that be, do you think?”

“Well, I’d say that she should be back in about ten days … if she doesn’t go back to
Paris
first.”

“What do you mean go back to
Paris
first?
She’s been subpoenaed to
Kareef
’s trial—”

“With what we’ve got behind the back seat”—
Christian
shook his head—“and after she concludes the job in
Bamako
, she won’t be needed at the trial.
Sir Reginald
will see to it that she won’t have to face
Kareef
ever again.”

“What about the projects?” As he was uttering the words,
Thomas
instantly recalled what Talya had said to
Charles
the evening before when they arrived at the hut,
“I want to enable you and
Thomas
to put the projects on tracks.”

Christian
wasn’t making any comments nor replying to the question.
He only smiled from the corner of his mouth, shooting a quick glance at his pensive companion.

“Sorry,
Christian,
I think I have answered that question for myself. I just remembered what Talya told
Charles
and me, last night in the hut.
She said she wants
us
to put the projects on tracks.
So I guess that’s what we’ll do.”

“But one thing you and
Charles
need to be sure of is that the lady will be watching your every move.
One way or another she’ll be at your side.”

“What do you mean by ‘one way or the other’?”

“Think,
Thomas
. Think about what’s going on and about what’s likely to happen in the next few days.
I can’t tell you anymore than that.
You can reach your own conclusions.
All I can say is that we—that is
Sir Reginald
and I—will be watching over her.”

“What about Samir?
He’s doing a great job of it as far as I can see—”

“And he will continue to do so.
He’s the physical and the emotional companionship that she needs.
We will provide the political protection…
.
Anyway, I can’t talk about that, not to you or to any one.
Let’s just say that all of us will do our part.”

Thomas
was lost in reflection again but in minutes, he, too, was asleep.
Christian
was thinking of what he had read in Talya’s dossier and what his agency had told him before he had been assigned to this case.

98

As they reached
Kedougou, the town was still plunged in darkness.
The door of the hostel was locked, but that didn’t stop
Jerry
from opening it and letting everyone in quietly.
They went upstairs, packed their bags quickly and silently.
Ten minutes later, they were on the road again, this time in the direction of the airstrip.
They reached it as the sun rose above the horizon.

They removed the tarpaulins of both aircrafts and when
Christian
saw Samir’s family insignia on the nose of the plane, he started laughing.

“Samir! You are a cunning one,”
he said
, as the latter approached him, a smile crossing his lips. “I should have known.” He shook his head.

“I don’t know about being cunning,
Christian,
but I’ll admit I have not told any of you what the crest means.”

“Do I have your permission to tell about it now?”

“If you think it will serve any purpose then yes, please do so.
But if what you are about to reveal does not serve any purpose other than to brag about your discovery, then don’t.”

Talya had listened to this exchange while staring at Samir and
Christian
in turn.
Then she looked at the insignia a little closer
.
Good God! Why didn’t I see this before?

Thomas
and
Charles
looked baffled.
They had no idea what the two men had been talking about, and they were too tired to ask another question.

“
Christian,
if I may intrude on your little discussion,” Talya said, looking at
the CSIS agent
fixedly. “I would like to ask you not to say anything.
Just think of what cover it would offer Samir and I, if we ever needed it?”

“Yes, I guess you’re right.
And I’m sorry, Samir, I should have known better than to have spo
ken
so soon.”

“That’s alright,
Christian,
but I hope this little discovery of yours will not be part of our ‘dossier’ because, as Talya just pointed out, I have kept this little item hidden just for that purpose—we may need it one day—”

“Don’t say anymore, Samir, and let’s just say good-bye for now until we see each other again in
Dakar
.”

“That’s an excellent suggestion,” Samir replied, shaking
Christian
’s hand warmly.

Jerry
, who had watched the scene silently, from the aircraft’s door, came toward Talya and gave her a hug. “You would make one hell of an agent.
If one day
Charles
fires you, just come and knock on our door; we’ll give you a job.”

“Thanks but no thanks,
Jerry
. I couldn’t handle the sleepless nights.”
They both smiled.

Talya then turned, took a few steps toward
Charles
and
Thomas
and put her arms around
Charles
’s neck. “I’ll be back, you can be sure of it.”

“You better, Kiddo, you better…. I need you to come back.” Talya lowered her arms.

Then to
Thomas
, “You better look after him. I wouldn’t forgive you if you let anything happen to him,” and she gave him a big hug.

“We’ll do, Talya, but take care of yourself because to know that you’re safe is the only thing that will see us both through this.”

99

A half-an-hour later
,
Samir and Talya were flying over the Sabodala village. She was crying quietly, strapped in her seat in the cockpit, recalling what had happened during the night.

Samir put his hand on her thigh and she took it away and lifted it gently up to her cheek.

“Princess, stop your crying.
I feel like a man in shackles.
I can’t take you in my arms to console you, and that hurts.”

“I’m sorry.
It’s just that I don’t know how to stop those darn tears.” Talya was regaining her composure slowly. “I’m only ‘
a lady in distress’
… and you know how they are.” She cracked a smile in Samir’s direction.

He looked at her curiously when he saw the smile. “If you are the ‘lady in distress’ am I your Prince Charming?”

“You know the answer to that, you fool!”

“Talya! Wait until we’re on the ground, and you’re going to get a proper spanking from me.”

“Is that what you do with the girls in your harem when they disobey you?” She was all mischief now.

“What’s got into you?
A minute ago, you were sobbing your heart out and now you’re teasing me.
What’s going on?”

“Oh, you know how girls are. They change their minds like they change their shirts. They’re so unstable and so unpredictable.” She was grinning from ear to ear.

“If I wasn’t stuck here in this seat at fifteen thousand feet above ground, you would get that spanking just to snap you out of whatever is ailing you.”

“And I would love every minute of it, My Prince.
You are such a beautiful man.”

“Princess, stop it!
And tell me what this is all about unless you want me to land at the nearest airport.”

“All right, all right, I’ll tell you.
And only because I know that if I don’t you will land the plane before
Bamako
.”

“That’s better! At least you know I always mean what I say. So what is this?”

“I was crying for the same reason I was laughing.”

This time Samir turned his head for a fraction of a second. He looked at her perplexed.

“And the reason is simply that I
think I am
falling in love with you.”

Samir turned his head once again—staring.
He was beyond perplexed he was astonished.

“When we flew over Sabodala a few minutes ago, I was overwhelmed. What I feel for you is totally unknown to me.
I couldn’t explain it to you even if you spanked me until your hand hurt.
Do you know, or do you even comprehend what that means?”

“And you chose this time, to tell me what I have been waiting to hear for weeks?
You are a disgrace to
God
!
You have no respect for your Prince’s feelings.”

“Would you have preferred that I threw myself at your feet in front of everyone when we got to the airport?
Or better, I could have waited until you had a glass of wine in your hand?”