The Intern Affair (62 page)

“Okay then, I’ll have to go along with this I guess … but believe me, gentlemen;
Christian
will be facing severe reprimands if Talya gets injured—”

“I heard that, Sir,”
Christian
was saying, coming back into the living room. “And what kind of reprimand do you think we would be
all
facing if we sat here and did nothing or did something like calling Mr.
Brightman
, which would get us in deeper trouble than what we’re in already?”

“All right,
Christian,
you have said enough,”
Sir Reginald
retorted
, apparently irritated. “Have dinner with us and be on that plane tonight or I’ll drive you myself to
Bamako
, do you hear?” He was grinning now.

Everyone smiled.

No wonder the man is where he is today
,
Charles
thought.
He’ll slap you with one hand and pat you on the back with the other!

102

They were sitting
at the terrace restaurant, watching the shimmering lights of the small lampoons trimming the thatch roof overhead, reflecting in the dark waters of the
Niger
.  Samir had ta
ken
two small suites on the top floor of this red sandstone building, which resembled the Mopti mosque, apart from the turrets or minarets that were absent from the hotel structure.  The hotel had been constructed on a flat and elevated embankment of the river.  It was fronted by a vast grass expanse, which green was only disrupted by a few white and pink hibiscuses, climbing elegantly alongside the base of the walls.  The effect was strikingly simple.  

Talya had luxuriated into the soapy waters of a real old bathtub for almost an hour in the bathroom of her suite, which was not sumptuous but refreshingly clean.  The local redwood furniture, the white linen, the cotton bedspread and white tiled floor imparted a sense of coolness that was needed during the heat of the afternoons in
Bamako
.  She had slept soundly for six hours after eating a light lunch of fruit and biscuits that Samir had bought at the market while he had been shopping for a change of clothes for them.

“Princess, I can’t describe what I feel right now. You are so beautiful,” Samir said, peering into her eyes. 

Talya had chosen a royal blue ensemble from the four garments, bou-bou gowns and abayah that he had bought at the market. The mirror in the wardrobe had told her that, yes, she looked beautiful. 

“Don’t! You’ll make me blush, and you’re not so bad looking yourself, if I may say so.”  That was true. Samir was wearing a beige thawb over which he had donned one of his woven mishlah with thin threads of burgundy and gold running vertically through the length of the garment.

“So you don’t want me to compliment you anymore, is that it?”

“Oh no, Samir, you can shower me with compliments, flowers, perfumes, for the rest of my life if you like, but don’t expect me to accept it all without a reaction. I can’t help if I start blushing; that’s something I won’t be able to control. After all I’m only a
lady in distress,
remember?” 

Samir laughed quietly not to attract attention from the other patrons eating on the terrace. 

They had eaten a plate of rice simmered in a delicious meat sauce with a few vegetables, and they were sipping the last of an Arab coffee. It was not as smooth as the coffee Samir had prepared during their journey across the desert, but it was palatable nonetheless.

The quietness of the evening, which was only disturbed by the rustling of the water running over the rocks below them, was soothing and comforting.  As Samir had said, this was not as
grand
as the Grand Hotel, but it was just what they needed to hide for the next few days.

In a moment, Samir came out of his musing silence. “I know that you don’t want to tell me the name of the traitor just now, but, if we are going to have any chance at locating him quickly before he locates us, perhaps you could tell me how you plan to snare the rat?  Maybe my knowledge of this town can help you.”

“Tomorrow morning, we are going to visit a very dear friend of mine.  You know her by name only—
Yvonne Gilbert
.  She is an extremely astute woman.  Her husband,
Francis
, is the first person to have made mention of the nitro cache. He’s currently working in the field up in Kankoon near the Cliffs of Tambaoura.  We have flown over them this morning when we crossed the border into
Mali
.
Tristan
expects to be granted a concession up there.  In saying this, I’m sure I’m not telling you anything that you don’t know already. It was all part of the statement
Charles
read in
Dakar
. Applying for the exploration permit over that land is what brought me to
Mali
in the first place. 
Yvonne
and I worked together for the first few weeks I spent
t
here, and she is the one who opened several doors for me, and made me see what conclusion should be drawn from the meetings I had with several people at that time. One of these people was
Mansur Dillon
.  She also made me see the merits in engaging
Alhassan
as
Tristan
’s legal advisor.  In short, I want her to lead me to the traitor.  I know who he is and she knows
where
we will find him.”

“If she is as good as you say she is, Talya, this fact is not known only to you, but it should be known to the traitor as well.  Then, going to her house may be dangerous since she may be watched, especially when her husband is absent.”

“You may be right, but I haven’t seen her or spo
ken
to her since the day before I left for
Senegal
. She must be aware of what happened to me in
Dakar
, although I’m quite sure she is not aware of what’s going on now.”

“I still think we shouldn’t go knocking at her door.  I think
I
should phone her and ask her to meet us here for breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“She won’t get out of her house, Samir, unless
I
speak to her.  She won’t trust anyone—”

“And in that lies a resemblance with you.” Samir was smiling while twirling a spoon around his fingers and staring at the object as if mesmerized.

“Then you can appreciate why I should be the one calling her.”

Samir continued playing with the spoon for a while, and Talya kept watching the lights dancing on the water.

“I know who he is,” Samir said quietly.

Talya almost didn’t hear him. “If you do, you understand then what I have to do.”

“I understand how you feel, believe me I do, but I can’t let you do what you are yearning to do at this very minute.”

“And then what? I should let this human trash live the rest of his days sneering at me in victory?”

“I didn’t say that. When you saw me last night raise my blade to the trash I had at my mercy, what did you feel?  You said ‘if I were to kill him, you would lose me forever’, and you added ‘the pain of losing someone you love was so intolerable that the love must be so deep’;
that’s why I won’t let
you
kill him. However, you have to consider that
God
will give you the opportunity to see him dead nonetheless, and before we leave this continent, Inshallah.”

“But that’s what I meant, Samir.  I’m not going to wait in ambush for him and plant my knife into his heart. I have too much to live for now to do something as idiotic as that.  But I need to entrap him, and have
Charos
kill him for me—instead of the reverse.”

Samir shook his head. “In future, Talya, please stop me before I make some foolish remarks or reach some
idiotic
conclusion as I did just now. 
You see, after
our chat in the back streets of Kedougou, I was frightened that you had decided to kill the traitor barehanded—”

“And have blood on my hands? No, Samir!  I’m tired of paying for someone else’s crimes.  I want peace.  Above all, I want peace.” 

Samir had stopped twirling the spoon and was gazing at Talya with that enveloping kindness she had seen in his eyes the first time he came through the door of her apartment in
Dakar
.  She started humming the Unchained Melody’s tune, turning her head to look at the dark water of the
Niger
once again.

“It won’t be long now
,
we shall have peace, Talya….”

103

May I please speak
to Madame G
ilbert
?” Talya
said softly over the line.
Samir and she were sitting in the small lounge room of his suite.

“I don’t believe it.  It can’t be!”
Yvonne
screamed in Talya’s ear, so loud that she had to pull the receiver away for the screeching not to pierce her eardrum. “Talya!  I’d recognize that voice anywhere,” she added in a more sedate tone.

“Yes,
Yvonne
, this is me.  How are you?”

“What a silly question. I was fine until I heard your voice. Now I have to sit down. I’m in shock. Where are you? And don’t tell me you’re in
Bamako
or I’ll be right where you are in twenty minutes.” Talya smiled, remembering how many times
Yvonne
had uttered those words.  Samir was gazing at her, grinning. He
saw the joy Talya felt when speaking
to her friend.

“Yes, I am in
Bamako
, and yes, I want to spend time with you. But no, you can’t come over tonight.”

“And who’s going to stop me? If you think I’m going to spend another moment
between
these four walls when I know you’re only a few minutes away from me, you’ve got another thing coming, girl.”

“
Yvonne
, listen to me please. I’m sure your house is being watched, so I can’t let you come to me now. We have to wait until morning. It will be safer for you to come and meet me on your way to the market or where ever else you go in the morning.”

Both women fell silent.

“…the nightmare hasn’t stopped, Talya, I am only glad you’re alive … not like
Mr. Dillon
and
Helen.
Have you heard about
Alhassan
…? Talya, I….” Her voice trailed off.

“He will be okay,
Yvonne
, but you and I are going to stop this nightmare, I promise you.”

“You say when and how, and I’ll be there.”

“The ‘when’ starts tomorrow morning and the ‘how’ I will tell you when you come and meet me for breakfast at the Djenné.”

“What time?”

“When ever you usually go out of your house.”

“Okay, nine o’clock then. Do I bring my notepad?”

“Oh yes, by all means, and one last thing; bring one of your flowery dress and a pair of sunglasses will you? Oh, and a pair of shoes, too—”

“Anything else? Or do you want a matching purse and a hat to go with it?” There was laughter in her voice and Talya was grinning at the receiver.

“No, nothing else and leave the hat and purse behind—”

“All right. We’ll see you at nine. Oh, do you want the paper as well so you can do the crosswords to occupy your time while I run errands?”

Talya looked at Samir and took a fraction of a second to answer. “No, I haven’t done the crosswords in ages…. I can’t anymore.”

“Okay, I think you’ll have a lot of explaining to do including what you meant by that last remark.” 
Will I ever
.

104

“
Charles
?
This is
Christian.
I’m about to leave for the airport—”

“Oh good! So you did get a seat after all?”
Charles
was happy to hear that
Sir Reginald
managed to get
Christian
on the flight.

“Yes, I did, but that’s not why I’m calling. I’ve just received some disturbing news from the hospital—”

“What’s happening? Did
they
get to
Alhassan
? Is he all right?”
Charles
’s heart was pounding hard, he was afraid to hear what
Christian
had to tell him.  He sat down on the edge of the bed.

“No, I don’t think anyone got to him, but he’s developed some infection and the doctor didn’t seem confident that
Alhassan
was ready to fight an onslaught of fever so soon after the operation. Although it’s been a week, and he has regained some strength, it will be touch and go—”