The Intern Affair (31 page)

He was already dressed in his uniform.
By the looks of it, he must have had the slacks and jacket pressed, and the shirt washed over night.
He looked handsome as the first day Talya saw him standing at the apartment door in
Dakar
. She smiled and felt like an ugly duckling coming out of the lake.

He took a couple of steps into the room and took her in his arms. “You look beautiful, My Lady. Were you dressed in rags with dirt pasted on your skin, to me, you would still look beautiful.”

Talya smiled and pulled herself out of his embrace. “Will you do me the favour of going downstairs and wait for me at the Morning Terrace?”

“Of course, Talya, but before I do, I want to tell you what I have arranged last night.”

“What?” His unexpected initiative surprised Talya.
What on earth could he have managed to arrange overnight?
This being Sunday, she had no idea what to expect.

“I have called Air Location in
Paris
, and
Michel
and
Marcel
will take us back to
Dakar
when we arrive on Wednesday morning.”

Michel
and
Marcel
had
taken
Talya from
Bamako
to
Dakar
the morning she had decided to meet Mr.
Ousmane
—the lion in his den—when
Kareef
had seen fit to
remove
Mr.
Karim
and his niece,
Helen
, and hold them for ransom. Talya remembered how
Michel
and
Marcel
had put their career on the line to help her. She would never forget them.

“That’s wonderful, but how did you manage all of that on a Sunday morning?”

“With some difficulty, I must admit. They had left me with their home numbers before leaving
Dakar
; they knew I flew to
Paris
from time to time and they were going to offer me their hospitality if one day I wanted to visit them. So, once I had
Michel
on the phone, the rest was simple.”

“You haven’t told
Charles
yet, have you?”

“Oh yes, I have. I wouldn’t do anything like that without his approval; you should know that.”

“You mean you woke him up?”

“Yes I did. He was pleased that I did in fact, as I knew he would
. You see,
Talya, to send us back before my aircraft is ready, and before the team is ready to fly down, was presenting a problem.
We could have
taken
a commercial line, but that wouldn’t have been prudent.
Kareef
’s men are expecting us to come off any plane in the next few days, because they know that the news of
Mr. Dillon
’s death would bring us back quickly, so there was only one solution; to fly under the radar, so to speak.”

Talya looked down at the carpet beneath her bare feet.
She wanted to be on the dance floor again. Yet, midnight had
taken
her dream away, and the morning had left her with only the memory and the preparation for going into battle.

Samir saw the dismay in her eyes as she lifted her face to him. He pulled her close to him once again. “You get dressed in the blue suit you bought yesterday and join me downstairs as soon as you can.”

She nodded in response, lowering her gaze once more.

He released her and walked out. She went back to the bathroom, dried her hair and got dressed—in the blue suit.

Talya felt as if they had reached a crossroad. She packed her clothes in the shopping bags, not knowing why. They had planned to stay for another night and take the first flight back to Vancouver in the morning—but something told her she had to do it.

As Talya was coming out of the elevator into the lobby, she heard her name being called from over her shoulder. She turned around only to face the pageboy. He had a note in his hand and wanted to hand it to her. Immediately Talya sensed danger was near.

She pushed his hand away gently. “You must be mis
taken
, young man, I’m not Ms
.
Gilmore
.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry, ma’am, the clerk told me to give this to you.” He was red in the face for having made a mistake presumably.

“Never mind; take this.” Talya handed him a ten-dollar bill that she had retrieved from her purse. “And take the note back. I don’t want to see it.”

“As you say, ma’am, and again I’m sorry.” The young man took the tip and walked away.

Without waiting a second longer, Talya rushed into the Morning Terrace. She didn’t wait for the waitress to lead her to Samir’s table. She was already at his side when the young lady caught up with her.

When he saw the trouble that must have been written across Talya’s face, Samir got up, led Talya out of the restaurant, again without a word of explanation to the dumfounded waitress.

They took the lift to the sixth floor and went to Samir’s suite.

“Okay, Talya, what happened?” he demanded, worriedly staring at her.

“They’re here, Samir.” She was shaking.

“Who are
they?
”

Talya told him what had occurred in the lobby. “And I don’t know who
they
are, but no friend of mine would have gone through this elaborate deceit to contact me. As it is, the mere fact that I turned around when my name was called must have told
him
who I was.”

“You’re right. Let’s get to the ferry right now.”

“Why not the seaplanes, they’re right across the bay?”

“Talya, think, please. As you say the seaplanes are right there—in plain view.”

“I guess I’m not awake yet, sorry.”

Within a half-an-hour, they were in a cab, driving through the city to catch the first ferry back to
Vancouver
.

Samir turned his face to her. “Who, besides
Ghali
and
Charles
, could have known we were in
Victoria
?”

“No one else actually
knew
, but if they found me it must have been because the apartment had been watched.
If they saw
Ghali
and you leave
yesterday morning, who ever is after me needed only to tail either of you . . . and it didn’t take much for them to find the hotel where we were staying.
But I am quite sure that they didn’t see me before the wee
ken
d.”

“What makes you think that they didn’t see you before now, if your apartment was under surveillance?”
Samir asked.

“Perhaps they did, but I think they wouldn’t have asked the pageboy to spot me if they knew who I was. Yet they may have followed you here and identify me when we were together either out shopping or going to the restaurant last night. The fact that they called me in the lobby
,
before I could join you, may simply mean that they wanted to catch me alone—away from you.”

Samir gazed straight ahead of him. “Then what you’re saying is that they only started to watch the apartment Saturday morning.
And since they didn’t see you coming out—I bet you were out before daylight—they honed their radar on us?”

“That’s right. And you led them to me and away from
Vancouver
, which is good.”

“Why is that
good
?” Samir raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.

“
Because
Charles
would have been the next target if you hadn’t stayed with me. By staying with me, you demonstrated that you had found me.
And that saved them the trouble of going to
Charles
,
and ask
ed
him a few questions.”

“But they must suppose that
Charles
is aware of the connections or that
Ghali
is as well.”

“Yes, but
Ghali
wasn’t in
Africa
.
He couldn’t testify; he was not involved, and what ever he has heard from me would be considered as hearsay and not admissible in court. As for
Charles
, his position alone would prevent anyone from touching him. He only came on the scene at the tail end of the events. I’m sure they’re not going to take such a risk as killing
Charles
, unless I can’t lead them away from here . . . and that, Samir, is what we’re going to do.”

38

They boarded quickly
and settled in front of breakfast at the upper deck restaurant.
Talya was almost sure they had escaped notice when they left the hotel, but she was not certain that someone wouldn’t be waiting for them at
Tsawwassen
Bay
.

She had spotted a telephone in the corridor and said to Samir, “I’m going to phone
Ghali
as soon as I have eaten, and tell him what happened and what he should do to help us now.”

“Hold on, Talya.
Before you go phoning anyone, let me hear what you have in mind
.
T
hen we’ll decide.”

When she
finished describing what she was planning
, Samir didn’t appear ready to make any comments. He sipped on his juice and ate the last of his toasts. “I have no knowledge of the regulations in your country, but it seems to me that your plan is bending the law.”

“No, I don’t think so.
In any case, we’ll see what
Ghali
has to say about it.
And I better go and call him now.”

As Talya rose, Samir grabbed her arm from across the table. “Wait! You know that if it doesn’t work you’re not only going to destroy
Ghali
’s reputation but you might find yourself in jail.”

“I don’t think it would go that far . . . but it’s the only way for us to reach the airport undetected.”

“And what about
Charles
; are you going to leave him out of this?
We can’t, Talya.”

“I’ll phone
Charles
when we reach the airport, and in the meantime I’ll ask
Ghali
to call him.
Charles
will know what to do.”

“Okay. That said, you’re going to stay here and I’m going to call
Ghali
myself, because the boy won’t move fast enough with you on the other end of the line. He’ll argue every step of the way. With me telling him what to do, he won’t dare opposing me with any arguments.”

“But what about—”

“Don’t. You have explained what we should be asking of him and he’ll do it only if he knows that
you
can’t be accused later to have seduced him in a deceitful or unlawful act.”

“You mean, by telling him yourself, you are shielding me from the authorities taking action against me later?”

“Exactly, and isn’t that what I have been
ordered
to do—to shield you from danger?”

“I guess
.
” Talya lowered her eyes. She didn’t like the idea of having someone else take responsibility for her actions. Relinquishing her responsibilities got far too many people in trouble already.

“Look at me.” She did with anxiety in her gaze.
“Do you think I would stand by and let you do anything that would endanger your well being now?
No, I wouldn’t.
And what’s more, once we are back in
Paris
, I will be able to take the reins.”

“And then what? Will you know where to start looking for the evidence that would put
Kareef
and
his people
away for good?”

“No I wouldn’t, but you will, and you will be the navigator, but you will not take control. I won’t let you.”

“Well, now that we know where we stand, you best go and call
Ghali
.” Talya was a little miffed at being
taken
-over, as it were. “Otherwise he won’t have time to put the plan into motion before we arrive.”

He got up from the table
saying,
“I’ll remain your servant always, My Lady
,
”
a
nd made his way to the telephone.

39

Ghali
was getting dressed
when he heard the phone ring. He answered in the usual manner. “
Dr. Defray
here. . .”

“
Ghali
; Samir, and before you say one word, I would like you to listen to what I have to say very carefully. This morning, at the Empress, a person whom we believe to be one of
Kareef
’s collaborators spotted Talya. We are presently on the ferry arriving in Tsawwassen in two hours’ time.
Kareef
’s men will not hesitate to kill our friend the minute she steps off the ship.
So here is what
I propose
you do….”