Chapter 4
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Chapter 4If Talya was leaving for other shores, I had to think of what her destination could be. Maybe her traveling companions knew more than I did on the subject. I decided to go down to the breakfast restaurant and try getting a table close to them – if they were there. They were. I sat down and I was glad to see that not many other agents were about. I would have to listen closely to what was said.
“Hi, Terry. Have a seat or go and get some breakfast,” James said. “I think there are some crumbs left for you.”
Terry was then the VP Exploration at Carmine and had been James’s constant companion since they had arrived in Dakar.
“Good morning,” Terry replied. “And yes, I think I’ll go and help myself to some eggs and bacon this morning. I am hungry.”
James was reading a two-day-old Herald Tribune and only nodded when his friend left him to get his tray of breakfast items.
“Good morning, Mr. Flaubert.” Mark’s jovial attitude had not abandoned him apparently. He joined James at his table and sat down.
“Mark. Good morning, my boy. How are you?”
“Fine, except that I have no idea what I should do now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Khalid and Talya... That’s what I mean. Agent Gironde told me that Talya didn’t want any visitors this morning and that Khalid was ready to check out. Do you know what’s going on?”
Mark Gilford, a young man, was by all outward appearances, with his curly blond hair and blue eyes, a mild-mannered fellow – one would even say benign – but when he exercised his trade, he was the deadly assassin he needed to be. Mark was an intelligence agent who had been assigned to the safety of Khalid and Talya by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) several weeks ago. I had to watch him like the proverbial hawk. He was the dangerous one.
James took his reading glasses off and looked at Mark fixedly. “Yes, I do. You, my boy, have to realize that what happened two days ago has left an indelible mark on Khalid and Talya’s lives. Khalid is blaming himself for bringing Hassan to the firing line, and Talya can’t cope with the loss of yet another friend.”
“Are they going to go their separate ways then?”
“I don’t know, but I think you will see both of them coming through that door” – James nodded in the direction of the restaurant’s entrance – “very soon now.”
“What’s this? Did I hear the love birds are making up?” Terry asked, coming back with his tray filled to the rim. Nothing would abate that man’s appetite.
“Yeah,” James said. “I’ve sent Khalid to make his apologies and since I haven’t seen him for the past hour-and-a-half, I’d suggest they’re ‘making up’ as you say, Terry.” The three men chuckled heartily.
James poured himself another cup of coffee; put his glasses back atop his nose and returned to reading the paper.
Debonair but somewhat visibly concerned, Louis strode through the restaurant to join the men at the table. “Well, hello everyone. How are we this morning?”
Louis Daniel was another of Carmine’s directors – an attorney – and co-founder of the company together with James. He had travelled to Dakar to join his partner when the latter had been shot in the shoulder; Osnoir had been on a killing rampage for weeks now.
“Fine, just fine,” the three men responded almost in unison.
“Well? How did it go this morning, did you get Hassan on the flight?” James asked from over his shoulder while keeping on reading the paper.
“I sure did. He’s on his way home with his father. Besides the police wanting to conduct an autopsy, it’s been a never ending series of hassles at the customs’ office, but it’s done.”
“Good. By the way, have you seen Talya or Khalid on your way down?”
“No,” Louis replied, “not a sight or sound from either of them, but I saw Khalid’s plane being pulled out of the hangar this morning...”
“What?” James blurted, tearing his glasses off and staring at Louis, expectant of an explanation. Mark and Terry turned their gazes to him, too, uncomprehending.
“Well, I didn’t know what to make of it either, but I wanted to hear the latest from you guys before getting worried...”
“You stay here and have breakfast,” Mark said in a rush, “I’ll go up and see what’s happening with them,” getting to his feet. In a moment, he was gone.
James was looking after him, his face betraying signs of troublesome thoughts. “You see, Louis, I’ve sent Khalid to Talya’s room this morning. The man was ready to pick-up and leave after the way Talya treated him since Hassan’s murder. I told him to pull himself together and give it another shot. But now I think, and based on what you’ve just said, they’re leaving for parts unknown.”
“But why? We were going back to Paris together...”
“I guess that’s what everyone thought. But I think Khalid and Talya don’t want to go to Paris now – not until Osnoir is caught,” Terry added with a semblance of re-assurance in his voice.
Louis shook his head in dismay. “You mean they want to deflect Osnoir’s attention on them again? When will it ever end?”
James looked down at his cup of coffee. “When Osnoir is dead and buried.”
A concerned silence fell around the table. Terry ate his bacon and eggs, grunting between bites. James folded the paper, crossed his arms over his chest with a cringe; his wound still bothered him. Louis, for his part, after waving to the server to bring him a cup of coffee, stared into space – they were waiting...
I, for one, had heard enough and could not wait. I knew Talya was on her way to find an answer – or several of them – regarding my operation in West Africa. I thought of the place she could be going. I knew Rasheed had told her about the drug coming from South America. Could she be thinking of going there? But how would she know? I had no time to wait. I left my half-eaten breakfast on the table and rushed out of the restaurant, but not before I heard James mention a name that was of great interest to me: ‘Sinosetu’.
“...But..., that’s the name of our property in Guyana. Do you mean she’s gone to Cayenne?” Terry queried.
“Exactly. And they’ll probably contact us from there. That’s really what the note says.”
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