The Intern Affair (66 page)

“You’re an absolute gold mine of information,” Talya said. The woman had given them all they needed. Talya knew the Hotel de France like the back of her hand. “Now let’s have breakfast . . . or lunch . . . and time together, my friend.” She gave
Yvonne
a great big hug under the appreciative gaze of her companions.

110

Once they had eaten
all of the croissants, and drank all the coffee,
Christian
asked to be excused, saying that he needed to call
Jerry
and advise him of their change of plans.

“Now that
Christian
is gone, tell us how you’re coping,
Yvonne
?  Do you need your daughter to come down and stay with you for a while?” Talya was concerned at the thought of
Yvonne
staying alone in her house all the while her husband was in the field.

“Oh no, Talya, I don’t want her around. I haven’t told her anything.  Besides, when
Francis
is away I’m enjoying my time alone. No cooking, no cleaning, no washing; you know what I mean?”

“I do, my friend, although I’ve never had a husband long enough to perform these daily chores or being burdened by his company.” Talya looked straight at Samir. 

He smiled and shook his head. “That was a teasing remark meant for my ears, Madame. Talya hasn’t had time to grasp the meaning behind her promised station in her future life.” Samir glanced in Talya’s direction from across the table. “And I will make light of these rules when the time comes.”

“I hope not to sound impertinent, Talya, but is
Alhassan
aware of your future plans?”

“I haven’t seen
Alhassan
nor spo
ken
to him since a week after I left
Dakar
. Besides, I don’t know what the future holds.  I won’t make any plans until this nightmare is over. I can’t.”

“I understand.  I’m sorry to have intruded.  I just wanted—”

“Don’t worry,” Talya cut in, “You haven’t intruded. For now, I only want to keep
Alhassan
safe and to get rid of a rat. After that we’ll see.” 

A couple of minutes later
Christian
came back to join them; his face was blank. He lowered his eyes not to meet Talya’s anxious gaze.

“Madame
Gilbert
, Talya, please excuse us for a moment but Samir and I have some business to discuss and we will return instantly.”

Samir was already on his feet and walking away before Talya had time to ask what was going on.  They went to the corner of the terrace, talking in hush tones.
Christian
had his hands in his trousers’ pockets looking down at the floor and Samir had his arms crossed over his chest.

“Let them be, Talya,”
Yvonne
said, patting her arm and distracting Talya from staring at her companions.

“But I want to know what’s going on. There is something wrong, something has happened to someone and they don’t want me to hear it.”

“We haven’t been together for several weeks now, but there is one thing I’ve learned from you; you’ve always told me to think before I act.  So now I’m telling you, think of what could be wrong and then act on it.”

Talya turned to
Yvonne
at her side, and smiled at her. She was right. “You know, you’ve always managed to point me in the right direction.  And that will never change between us.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,
Yvonne
, nothing.”

“Oh, I’ve heard
that
before, and that usually meant that I had to run for cover, or that in a few days I would find some stranger knock
ing
at my door telling me that something happened to you.”

“I wasn’t that bad, was I?”

“Oh yes, you were. How many times didn’t you send me away telling me not to worry, and the next thing I knew, I had to come back running to inspect the damages?”

“I guess I thought I could handle it all by myself, and I didn’t want to involve you into something we would all regret later.”

“And that’s the trouble with you. You’ve never appreciated the fact that I wanted to be involved from the word go, and that I wanted to stay at your side. But no! You’ve always wanted to protect people from harm. Let them be hurt.”
Yvonne
was outwardly annoyed with Talya. “Everyone needs to feel pain and sorrow to appreciate joy and happiness. Let it be, Talya.”

“So what do you want me to say? Maybe, I should tell you that I want to kill the traitor myself—I don’t want Samir to get hurt going after a killer. Or would you like to know that after I leave
Conakry
I won’t be able to go home for weeks to come—traffickers will see to it?  Or maybe you should hear that I want to go on with my life but can’t, not until someone is dead—everyone involved is a target now. And all of that is because of me and my stupid determination to make these criminals pay for what they did. So how can
I let it be
, when this is all my fault?”  Talya was irked because
Yvonne
made her say what she had kept in the back of her mind for some days now.

“Okay, okay, Talya, that’s enough! You’ve said enough for now.”
Yvonne
’s frown receded into a broad grin. “I’m glad of one thing though; you haven’t changed.” 

Talya said, “I love you, my friend. And where ever I am, I will always think of you,” and gave her a big hug.

“You better, or I’ll send you a message reminding you that I’m still here for you.”

At these words, Talya saw the two men come back to the table. Samir looked sombre and pre-occupied. 

Christian
smiled mildly when he said, “Talya, we have to go.  I shall explain later.”

“What’s going on? I need to know before I take another step with you two,” Talya protested, although she could see in Samir’s eyes that resistance at this point would be useless. “I’m sorry,
Yvonne
, but it seems that we have to part once again.”

They got up and Talya embraced her tightly. “I’ll call you soon—as soon as I can,” she added, kissing her friend on the cheek.”

“Madame
Gilbert
, Talya and I will be back soon,” Samir said. “I’ll make sure she’s able to keep in touch with you.  She will need to hear your voice in the weeks to come, but for now, this is au-revoir, Madame.  It has been a pleasure.” He bowed once again.
Yvonne
looked at him with renewed curiosity.

“It’s been a pleasure for me as well, Madame,”
Christian
said, shaking hands with her. “And don’t be surprised to receive a little something from
Sir Reginald
, in the next few days.  You’ve been instrumental in our mission, and for that, we will be forever grateful.”

In a moment, the three of them were stepping out of the restaurant, and Talya
saw
Yvonne
look
ing
after them, standing by the table, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief.

111

Alhassan
was reclining
on his pillows. Beads of sweat were pearling on his forehead.
Thomas
and
Jerry
, who had entered the room quietly, had awo
ken
him from intermittent sleep.

“How are you?”
Thomas
asked, sitting beside the man who had been a great advisor and a friend, “I’ll be the one checking up on you for the next few days. Do you need anything?”

Alhassan
looked at
Thomas
fixedly. “Where is
Charles
?” 

“He is away; he won’t be back for awhile. I’m the one who will be pestering you until you get out of here.”

Alhassan
grunte
d, “How did it go at the mine? Did you find anything?”
holding back a slight cough.

“Did we ever; you were right all along.  There was something in the adits besides dust.”

Noticing for the first time, the man who stood by the window,
Alhassan
asked, “Who’s with you?” turning his head on the pillow.

“That’s
Jerry
, he’s been travelling with
Charles
and me when we went to the mine.”

Alhassan
pulled his head up to look round the room, apparently hoping that somehow the woman he longed to see would appear. “Where is Talya?” 

“She’ll be here in a couple of days. She was at the mine with us. She had to take care of a few details in
Bamako
first.”

“No!  No!”
Alhassan
growled, getting agitated. “She can’t go. He’s going to kill her
.
Thomas
please; please, stop her.” He looked into
Thomas
’s eyes, searching for understanding.

“We can’t,
Alhassan
. You know how she is, but Samir is with her and they are going to be okay, you’ll see.”

Approaching the bed,
Jerry
said, “Maitre Sang
are
, if I may, we know this is hard on you but, believe me, Ms
Gilmore
is going to be fine. We’ve seen her in action at the mine. I tell you the woman doesn’t have to fear for her life, our killer is the one who needs to be afraid of her.”

“I don’t know…. I can’t go on like this…. I have to get to her….”
Alhassan
was trying in vain to sit up.

“You need to fight the infection,”
Thomas
said encouragingly. “You need to get on your feet for her. That’s what we all want to see. You’ve got a job to do, and Talya can’t go on with the projects without you. She needs you.”

Alhassan
moaned. “Whatever these doctors are giving me, doesn’t work…. I feel weaker by the minute.  I don’t know
how
to fight this.”

112

“Samir, please
tell me what’s going on.  I need to know,” Talya asked pleading, when the three of them had reached her suite and were sitting in the chairs near the window.

“The news that
Christian
received a half-
an-
hour ago is not easy for either of us to relate. 
Christian
has been told that
Alhassan
is getting worse.  We had been told he had an infection, which I thought was perhaps just a ploy to entice you into either going back to
Dakar
, or finish the job faster, but I was wrong.
Alhassan
has been infected with some virus or some other poison and he’s not responding to the antibiotics or treatments.”

“Do you mean someone got to him?”

“Probably, but we’re not sure.” Samir looked at the floor beneath him. “In any case he’s in intensive care and I propose to fly you back to
Dakar
while
Christian
charters another aircraft and goes on to
Conakry
, where we could join him in a few days.” He had his elbows on his knees.

“Do you expect me to go and cry at
Alhassan
’s bed side?” Talya expostulated, “and get killed or poisoned while
Christian
finishes the job and comes back to
Dakar
to pick-up the pieces?  No, Samir, absolutely not!  This is what
Charos
wants, to see me running back to
Dakar
so that
Alhassan
and I could die together. He would relish the sight of our coffins side by side.  He’s evil. He wants to have a last taste of victory, before he himself goes six feet under.”  Talya was furious. 

If Samir thought for one minute that Talya would step into his aircraft to fly to
Dakar
that night, he had a surprise coming to him. He turned his head to her and smiled.
Christian
did the same. 
Those two make a jolly good pair of devils.

“We didn’t think you would go for that plan, Talya, but we had to give you the chance to hear it.”

“You’re impossible!”
she said, lifting
her hands and waving them in an exasperated gesture, “and as for you,
Christian,
if you don’t get out of this room this minute to give me some privacy, I’ll kick you out,” grinning at their tittering cat, wh
o
was already on his way out.

When he was gone, Talya got up and went to the window. She looked down at the green lawn and at the
Niger
descending slowly, calmly over the rocks in a rippled dance of eternal flow to the ocean. Samir came to stand beside her and whispered, “…
and wandering on as loth to die; like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof that they were born for immortality.
”