The Intern Affair (42 page)

“And did she? Make any contact, I mean.” Knowing Talya, she would go and meet the lion in his den if that suited her purpose and
Charles
was always afraid she would do something like that.

“Yes, she did, and that only a few hours ago.”

“Is she all right?”
Charles
was visibly anxious to hear the reply.

“We don’t know yet.”

Good God
,
Charles
thought,
what has she done now?

“And why wouldn’t you know, Sir?”
Thomas
asked apprehensively, replacing his glass of whiskey on the table as his hands were starting to shake a little.
He began to wonder if coming down had been the right decision.

“Because, we haven’t heard of her release yet—”

Charles
glowered at the ambassador. “You mean she’s been abducted? And you were not able to stop this—”

“Calm down,
Charles
. We will have news soon enough. And I am sure this is only a diversion tactic on the part of the drug lords.”

“I think you better explain what you’ve just said.” The intensity in
Charles
’s word
s
had not abated. “We are in total ignorance of what’s been going on and, although this lack of knowledge may save both our lives if it came to that, right now I think it’s time to open the books and take a look at the balance sheet.”

“Hum, yes….”
Sir Reginald
looked at
Charles
with sympathy. He understood how the man felt. “As I said, we’ve put a discreet tail on both Captain
Mandalay
and
Ms.
Gilmore
since they arrived in
Paris
. On the first night, she went for a walk along the Champs Elysée and had dinner in one of the restaurants. She then returned to the hotel without making contact with anyone.
According to the report, she appeared very relaxed and unconcerned.”

“Yes, I was aware of that little escapade when Samir phoned me, but where was he during that time?
Didn’t he try to catch up with her?”

Sir Reginald
looked at
Christian.
“Why don’t you answer these questions,
Christian
?
You’re the one who got the report first hand.”

Christian
nodded, put his juice on the coffee table and turned to
Charles
. “No, he didn’t follow her, Mr.
Durant
. He stayed at the hotel for a while and then went for a walk across the
Seine
from the Place de la Concorde. He didn’t stop anywhere in particular nor did he speak to anyone until he returned to the hotel where
Ms.
Gilmore
apparently had been expecting him.”

A picture was developing in
Charles
’s mind.
Talya must have told Samir to step aside and to let her be; the same as she had done in the office many times when she had been faced with any sort of difficulties, but that need of hers for solitude was getting unnerving.

Christian
went on, “The next day Captain
Mandalay
went to the airport in the morning, presumably to check on his aircraft’s maintenance schedule. There he made one phone call.
We checked on the call afterwards and discovered that he had called
Dr. Defray
. The call was of some length, and we believe that
Dr. Defray
told Captain
Mandalay
of your decision to come down earlier than what you had originally planned.”

The ambassador drank a little of his gin and tonic.

Thomas
and
Charles
wanted to hear the rest.

60

When Talya opened
her eyes, the light streaming from the window hurt. In reality, many parts of her body were screaming for attention.
She turned her head to see a young lady sitting in the chair by the dresser. She looked young and lovely as a woman painted on a canvass. Her blond hair was streaming down her back and covering her shoulders. Her navy blue dress and white apron etched her figure and accented the ivory colour of her face.
She was reading.

“Miss…,” Talya said in a muffled voice.
Boy, did that hurt.
The young lady practically jumped out of her seat and came to her as if she wanted to make sure Talya was actually awake.

“What time is it?”
Talya asked, trying not to move her lips too much.

“It is seven o’clock, Madame. Françine will come in as soon as I tell her it’s okay.”

Françine!
At once it all came back to Talya;
Mr.
Charos
, the conversation, the proposal and…, and then nothing.

“I want to see Captain—” Talya wanted to pronounce his last name but that word seemed impossible to say.
However, the young maid understood and she was out like a shot.

“Monsieur le
C
apitaine, Madame is awake and she is asking for you!”

Samir came in timidly as if he wasn’t allowed to step into a woman’s room. In reality, he wouldn’t have been if she hadn’t asked after him. Talya tried to lift herself, putting her weight on her hands.
She heard herself scream. She looked at the subject of such a pain and saw a heavy and quite inflexible bandage around it.
Good God, what happened to me?

“Princess, please don’t try moving. Jeanine will help you to sit up if you like.”

Samir seemed reluctant to touch her.
Why?

“Samir, come and help me, please.”
Talya extended the one able arm to him.

“I don’t know if I can … or if I should, I—”

“Samir, I am begging you to help me. What is the matter? Why won’t you come close to me?”
In an instant he sat beside her and held her in his arms.”

The relief his embrace brought to her whole being was most welcome.
Why had he been so hesitant?

“My Princess, I didn’t believe that I could ever hold you again. I am the cause of your suffering and taking you in my arms is a reward I do not deserve.”

“Don’t be such a fool! You know I don’t suffer fools gladly.” Talya’s mouth was starting to accept the necessary movements of her lips. Samir released his embrace a little to look into her eyes.

“You don’t know what happened to you, do you?”

She looked at him puzzled. “Of course I know; I must have been beaten, that’s what happened.” Samir continued peering into her eyes as if searching for some other answers. “Don’t even think it, because no, no one touched me. I’m a woman, or have you forgotten?”
She saw him smile. “If I had been raped, that’s the first thing I would have felt the moment I opened my eyes. So take that ugliness out of your mind, and be grateful that it wasn’t
Kareef
who was doing the beating this time.”

“So you know who did this to you?” Talya saw a flicker of vengeance in his eyes. She knew then how dangerous Samir could be.

“No, not really, because they gave me an injection when I was about to leave
Charos
’s place—”

“What did you say his name was?” A sign of recognition crossed his face.

“
Charos
. Does that name mean anything to you?”

“Yes, it does.
He used to be known as one of the most ruthless businessman in
North Africa
.
He disappeared a few years ago without a trace.”

“Did you have any dealings with him?”

“No, not me, Talya, I was too young and still in
England
when I heard my father talk about a man named
Charos
.”

Samir looked at Talya as if he saw her for the first time, and held her tenderly once again. “Princess…, you are too precious.”

If you only knew, my dearest friend, how much I love to hear you say that
. She closed her eyes for a while and enjoyed the safety of his embrace silently.

Suddenly, her body was recalling her to urgent attention. “Okay, Samir, now I think you should call Françine so that she can make me presentable to go and have breakfast with you, I am absolutely famished.”

“You can’t get out of this bed so soon.” Samir was quite surprised by her unexpected eagerness.

“Oh no? Just watch me….” She pulled herself out of bed while Samir stood, watching her.
He knew that her ankle was not going to accept her weight—she didn’t. She had felt the bandage around it but didn’t want to pay attention to it. As soon as her foot hit the floor, the ligaments stretched into a shriek coming out of her mouth.

Samir had been ready for it. He held her up. “Princess, you have the will of a mule, and I love you for it, but for now you will stay in that bed”—Talya grinned at the comparison— “until I can get the doctor to fit you with something on which you can walk.”
She sat on the edge of the bed again and looked up at him.
They both laughed.

61

The phone
on the side table rang, fiercely disturbing the momentary silence reigning in the room.
Christian
jumped out of his seat and rushed to answer it.
“Yes, this is he.” He listened for a moment. “I will inform his Excellency. Thank you.”

Three pairs of eyes were riveted on him as he replaced the receiver in its cradle.

“Sir,
Ms.
Gilmore
has been found in a side
street adjacent to the hotel.
Captain
Mandalay
carried her back to his apartment and a Dr
.
Francart is with her now.”

Sir Reginald
nodded and smiled. “Good news at last! But do we know how she is? Has she been injured?”

Christian
shook his head. “We don’t know as yet,
Sir,
but our agent advised us that she was unconscious when Captain
Mandalay
brought her back.”

Thomas
raised his head and turned to the CSIS agent. “When you say ‘unconscious’
,
is that factual, or only a presumption on the part of your agent?”

“I believe that report to be factual, Mr.
Gerald
. Our agents are quite familiar with this sort of thing and they would have said if
Ms.
Gilmore
’s condition was any different than what they have observed.”
Saying this,
Christian
regained his seat and drank some of his juice.
He was a well-mannered fellow. His blond hair and blue eyes served as the perfect cover for his purpose in life.
He was a bodyguard assigned to
Sir Reginald
, and a killer of choice. He was cold and calculating.
He wouldn’t blink an eye at shooting or gouging anyone with full intent to kill if ordered to do so. His company had always been a comfort to the ambassador when they travelled through troublesome parts of the
Dark Continent
.

“If you don’t mind,
Sir,
I will call Samir right now.”
Charles
rose from his seat to reach the phone.

“No,
Charles
….”
Sir Reginald
’s voice was not leaving
Charles
in
any doubt—the man was used to be obeyed. “I would prefer that you didn’t, and that at least until you hear the rest of the report.”

Thomas
didn’t make a move, watched the two men and kept his own counsel.

“Well go on then,”
Charles
said somewhat rudely, sitting down again. He was impatient to reach the point in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s report.

Neither
Sir Reginald
nor
Christian
paid any heed to
Charles
’s heated tone.

Christian
went on, “Captain
Mandalay
went back to the hotel in time to have lunch with
Ms.
Gilmore
at the Patio in the hotel. In the afternoon, they went to the Jardins des Tuilleries and had a leisurely stroll. Nothing happened then. It’s only after they returned to the hotel that the troubles started. Captain
Mandalay
went out to visit some friends or family members; we believe the purpose of that visit to be only to complete arrangements for their journey.

“In the meantime,
Ms.
Gilmore
was seen talking to two men in the reception hall of the hotel. Subsequent to a short conversation, she left the hotel with the two men and went to the rue Victor Hugo.
There she met with Mr.
Charos
and never came out. We believe that
Ms.
Gilmore
went to visit
Charos
of her own volition.
She was not forced into the car that took them to their destination, nor did she appear distressed when she entered the premises.”