The Intern Affair (21 page)

“Under any other circumstances it would, indeed, yet none of their agents were even aware of the drug trafficking occurring in these parts until Ms.
Gilmore
unveiled the possible extent of the operation to our government.”

“I see. Well…, all I could say,
Sir,
is that you’ll be putting
Ms.
Gilmore
in unnecessary danger, which could only result in further damage to her well-being.”

“This madness cannot go on, Doctor, and that’s one of the reasons we want to involve
Ms.
Gilmore
at this juncture.”

“And who do you suspect is responsible for these attacks? You or
Ottawa
should at least have some idea
.”

“We only suspect that Mr.
Mustafa Kareef
is behind this and that he must have some sort of connection or ability to reach on the outside of his prison cell, and has somehow ordered the assassination of all the remaining witnesses. This is a far more involved affair than we ever imagined.”

“
Sir Reginald
, Captain
Mandalay
here. We will advise Mr.
Durant
ourselves, and we will take all appropriate measures to have M
s.
Gilmore
back in
Senegal
as soon as she is able to travel.
However, I have one question for you. If you say that Mr.
Kareef
has presumably ordered this attack from inside the prison walls, what is to prevent him from doing the same to M
s.
Gilmore
?”

“The only answer I have for you, Captain, is that we will do everything in our power to protect her while she’s here. She will have to be accompanied at all times.”

“Then, if you’ll permit me, I will be the one who will remain at her side; I have duties and responsibilities to my employer but I know that he will see that M
s.
Gilmore
’s return to
Senegal
is imperative.”

“It is. In fact, it is of prime importance
,
as I explained to
Dr. Defray
. You will have to take into account also that the Development Funds Organization will not even consider their participating in the reconstruction of Sabodala if we can’t remove this hurdle from the track beforehand.”

“I understand,
Sir Reginald
. Do you know if Ms
.
Gilmore
has your phone number?”

“I don’t think she does, but Mr.
Durant
has it. And as soon as he has been informed of the situation, please ask him to give me a call at the office in a few hours.”

“I’ll do that. I’ll bid you good night for now and we will be in touch soon.”

“Dr
.
Defray
, are you still on the line?”

“Yes, sir. I’ve heard everything you’ve said and I’ll call Mr.
Durant
as soon as we’ve hung up.”

“Good!
Then I’ll leave you to it. And please present Ms
.
Gilmore
with my sympathy. I know this is going to be rough on her.”

“More than you know,
Sir Reginald
, more than you know.”

Talya had not heard what the result of the attack had been, but from looking at
Ghali
’s face, she could only guess the worst.
He had watched her all the while he was listening and talking.
Now, as he replaced the receiver, he came to sit beside her and took her in his arms.

“
Ghali
, please tell me… tell me what—”

“Hush, Talya, not now … I can’t, I’ve got to phone
Charles
.”

“No! You’re not phoning anyone until I know the rest,” Talya burst out vehemently. “I’m not one of your patients, I want to know—”

Samir, who had walked in on the scene, took her hand, pulled Talya up from the sofa and said, “Do you have a warm coat, because you and I are going to the beach.”

“I just want to know…. I don’t want to go anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”

“My Lady, if I have to carry you, you’re going to come with me.
So, do you have a coat or not?”

“Sure I do … but—” Talya was still protesting although she knew she was losing ground.

“Talya, do as Samir says,”
Ghali
said. “It will calm you down and it’ll give me a chance to phone
Charles
.” He then went to the hall closet and pulled out a long
woollen
afghan Talya hadn’t worn in months.
He handed the coat to Samir who draped it over her shoulders.
They walked out, Samir holding on to her hand
,
and
Ghali
closed the door on them.

She was in a daze.
Much like a robot, Talya walked beside Samir all the way to the beach.

24

“
Charles
?”

“Yes. Is that
Ghali
?
How are you, my boy? You should be out with Talya tonight; it’s a beautiful night,”
Charles
said cheerfully when he heard the familiar voice.

“I’m fine, thanks.
But we have a
hell
of a problem.”

“And what’s that?” Instantly
Charles
’s voice was alert and intent.

“Talya has received a call from
Sir Reginald
a few minutes ago—”

“
Sir Reginald
called Talya?”

“He didn’t have your number on hand so he called her.”

“Why?”

“…the news is not at all what you’re going to want to hear—”

“
Ghali
! Spit it out. Come on.”

“Well… Here it goes:
Alhassan
and two other people have been attacked last night in
Bamako
and one of them is dead.”
The line went dead for a fraction of a second.

“Who…, who died in the attack?”

“
Mrs.
Dumarais
.
And
Alhassan
and a
Mr. Dillon
are in hospital with knife wounds; apparently they’re not sure if they’re going to make it.”

“Good God!
Why on earth did that man call her?
He knows how unstable she is at the moment.
He’s an absolute idiot.”

“Calm down,
Charles
. Samir and I were with her when the call came through. She was able to take the first part of the news calmly enough.
Samir took her to the beach a few minutes ago to tell her the rest.
I think she’ll accept to hear it from him.”

“I’m glad you were there, but now what’s the rest of it?
What’s the plan?
I’ll have to call a meeting on Monday morning… She’s not going back is she?”

“Oh yes she is.
Now more than ever, she’s got to follow through.
She will feel responsible and she’s got to resolve all of it, and what’s more, you should not stop her.”

“Why?
And put her in danger again?”

“That’s what I said to
Sir Reginald
, but when I heard his explanation, I would tend to believe, as he does, that she is the key to all of this. We don’t know what she knows or where this knowledge comes from but we’ve got to let her unlock that door, if only for her sake.”

“All right, I guess I’ll have to go along with that. Did
Sir Reginald
say anything else?”

“Only that you should call him in a few hours; apparently, this incident is halting the Development Funds Organization from participating in the reconstruction of some village. Does that make sense?”

“Unfortunately it does, but I’ll talk to him in a while and see what’s to be done.”
Charles
paused.
“Now, I have a question for you.” He hesitated. “I don’t know what your answer will be and for now, it’s just a thought.”

“What is it?
You want me to go with her; is that it?”

“Yes. But please think about it before you answer.
I know you’re keen to be with her, but you have your patients, your clinic and all of that—”

“I don’t have to think about it. I’ll make arrangements immediately and I have a friend who’d be only too pleased to be in locum for me for a few weeks, no problem.
Just let me know.”

“Okay.
I’ll call you at home or at Talya’s in the morning.”

25

Talya’s heart
was churning in pain.
Her mind was a blank sheet smeared with
Alhassan
’s blood.
She could not even begin to imagine what happened.
She and Samir sat down on
their
log.
The evening wind had subsided into a light breeze and the night was even warm.
Talya snuggled into Samir’s chest and cried quietly.
After a minute or two, he lifted her chin to look at her.
The light from the city behind them was bright enough for her to see his eyes, which were terribly sad.
He, too, was suffering.

“If you’re ready for the rest of the news, I will tell you.”

“I guess I’ll have to hear it sometimes.
And I need to hear it soon so I can deal with all this.” Talya’s voice faltered between sobs of pain and anger.
Samir then told her.

She couldn’t speak.
The hurt was so great, that no words came out.
Talya was mute with wrenching sadness.
She bent down, took her shoes off and walked to the sea.
She wanted to feel the water as if it was going to wash off the anguish from inside her soul.
She needed to be
taken
away, to escape, to grieve for the lady whose face had been etched in clay.
She had been beautiful, so beautiful in fact; that anyone would remember her as she had appeared to Talya when she first saw her:
a shell of elegance, a veil of serenity enveloping the woman’s presence
.
Then came the horrors of her abduction, the torture, and her radiance had dissipated to leave only melancholy in her eyes.

Talya felt she was the cause of all of what
Helen
had endured.

She was staring at the dark waters in front of her eyes. She wanted to be transported by the waves into
Alhassan
’s arms and cleanse the wounds on his body. She knelt at the edge of the water.
She felt responsible; she needed to pay for all of this.

Samir came to stand behind her and pulled her up to her feet.
As he did so, in a flash, Talya remembered
Alhassan
pulling her up to ‘and off’ her feet when they were on Yoff’s beach.
They had been so happy…. “Samir, please hold me, I don’t know how, but I will pay for this.
I am the cause of her death.
I am the cause for all of this horror.
I have to pay, Samir—”

“Shhh, My Lady; and you are
not
the cause of all this.
You are the
key
to this mystery.
Your knowledge is buried.
And only you can unlock the door.”

“But, everything that’s happening is
because
of me!
How can I not feel responsible?”

“No, Talya, do not blame yourself. You are not responsible for the harm that has been inflicted onto our friends. You are only responsible for making light of evil that
lies
beneath appearances of goodness.
Yet don’t be
mis
taken
either; evil is here, facing you, challenging you, daring you to provoke him.
And to find peace, you will need to go deeper into what lies hidden from your eyes.”

“Tell me the truth, if I were to die today, would it stop? That’s what
Kareef
wanted. He wanted me dead.
And since he couldn’t lay his hands on me anymore, he chose to eliminate all of those that are close to me so that I would surrender.”

Samir shook his head. “If you were to step into the ocean at this very minute and swim until you died, nothing would stop.
There are too many people involved.
You are only the target of
Kareef
’s anger and vengeance now. However, his masters won’t stop. The drugs of evil will continue passing through the hands of innocents.
Don’t you see you’re the obstacle right now?
You’re the one who has to recall the past. You have knowledge of something that you’ve seen or lived that needs to be remembered.”