Chapter 9
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Chapter 9That evening they went for dinner at the Ambassadeur Restaurant. The restaurant is one of the most famous dining rooms in Paris. It recalls the splendor of the Versailles of the past and it affords the comforts of the present. They had invited Pierre and John to join them.
Pierre and John had rescued Talya from an attempted abduction on the part of my cohort, Mr. Rasheed. From that time onward, they became friends. Pierre Masson, a Frenchman, was the pilot and John Viblickovitzan, an Ethiopian fellow, was the navigator. They had flown their company’s Lear Jet on several occasions to service the needs of Talya’s colleagues. Tonight she and Khalid wanted to discuss their flight plans with them.
Owning a Lear doesn’t mean that, even if you are a qualified pilot, you can sit at the controls and take off. Khalid needed to put in the hours (to use the aviators’ jargon) to upgrade his license, and so engaging Pierre and John, in the meantime, had been a must. Mark’s presence at the dinner table had been another must, of which I had not been convinced or pleased.
When coffee was served, what was to be a memorable conversation began. I was sitting a couple of tables behind Talya and facing away from them. I had avoided Gilford all afternoon and hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him. Tonight, he hadn’t taken notice of me. At least I hoped he hadn’t.
“What do you mean Osnoir is no longer in Paris, how do you know this?” Talya asked, sounding surprised.
“Because, CSIS advised me this afternoon, that Osnoir had left the hospital after his last chemo treatment but never made it back to his apartment in rue Victor Hugo. Obviously he’s heard of Hassan being shot and he’s on the run.”
“But, that’s ridiculous,” Khalid said with exasperation in his voice. “If he was still at the rue Victor Hugo’s apartment all this time, why didn’t the French police arrest him the minute they got word from Sir Gillian?”
“Because, if you remember, we had made a deal with the authorities; we were letting Osnoir think everything was fine and that he still had the upper hand until you and Talya were safely out of Africa. But when Osnoir ordered Hassan’s killing, the deal went up in flames.” So they thought Osnoir had ordered the hit – interesting! “...The French police could no longer wait. They knew, as we all do, that Talya is next on the list. She is the only one who could testify against Osnoir and see him go to prison. As long as Hassan stayed alive, Osnoir knew that Talya wouldn’t testify against him for fear of reprisals; and when he made the mistake of ordering Hassan’s elimination, the dices were thrown. He had to go in hiding.”
“And do you know where he’s gone?” Pierre asked.
My question exactly. Since I hadn’t dared getting in touch with the old crab, I wasn’t aware of his departure from Paris.
“No, not exactly, however, he has only two choices, in my opinion,” Mark replied. “The man is sick and he can’t hop from hotel to hotel without being noticed. He can go either to his house in Cannes or to his apartment in Milan. And I’d say that he wouldn’t attempt to cross the border when the police all over Europe are looking for him.”
“So you’re saying that he was already in Cannes by the time Khalid and Talya arrived in Paris,” John said.
“Yes, that’s what happened. Now CSIS suggested that Khalid and Talya go to Cayenne while I go to Cannes and play the ‘cat being thrown amongst Mr. Osnoir’s pigeons’.” That meant their cat – Gilford – was on the prowl again.
“And what kind of confusion will you throw amongst the pigeons this time?”
“That is up to me, Talya.”
“Does that mean that your orders to stay with us have been changed? And you’re going to Cannes to help the authorities in the arrest of our friend Mr. Osnoir?”
“Yes, Khalid, that’s what it means. Although you are not getting rid of me that easily, ‘ce n’est qu’un au revoir’ as the French say. I will be joining you as soon as Osnoir is behind bars.”
“But why; if Osnoir is in prison, why would CSIS ask you to stay with us?”
Later I realized that Talya shouldn’t have asked that question.
“There are two reasons, for my being assigned to your case.” I was getting more curious by the minute. What did CSIS have up their sleeves? “The first reason is that you have to stay alive until Osnoir’s trial, and the other is because of your ultimate plan.”
“And what would be my ultimate plan, according to you, my dear Mark?”
“You’ve just outlined it, a few minutes ago. You’ve proposed to stop over in Miami to ‘break the journey to Cayenne’ to quote your words. And what’s in Miami? The head of the cartel of which Osnoir was only a pawn.”
It took Gilford to show Talya’s hand. I swore under my breath. The woman was onto me or my operation and she definitely needed to disappear – accidentally, if possible.
“How long have you known about this, Mark?” Khalid asked.
“Since we were at Sabodala. But make no mistake, Khalid, Talya’s never mentioned her objective to me directly. It was when I read her first statement to the police after the murder of Richard Gillman, that I understood what her ultimate goal was. And yesterday when I learned that you were buying a Lear, Khalid, I knew Talya would be able to go after the big game.”
I could sense that something was soon to happen. I felt a shiver run up my spine. Khalid didn’t sound happy at all. I drank the last of my cognac and left the restaurant before they did. I didn’t need to hear the rest. I needed to get to Miami as soon as possible.
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