DAKAR: The Savoi Affair (The Puppets of Washington Book 4)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2Once Talya had regained her seat in the Lear’s comfortable cabin, she decided to let Pierre know a little more than he seemed to do about this affair. When they reached cruising altitude once again, Pierre came back to sit opposite her.

“Why did you come and get me?” Talya asked him.

“Because I contacted Hjamal in Dakar and when he learned that Monsieur Rasheed didn’t come to meet you at the strip, he told me to get a vehicle and to bring you to Dakar as originally planned.”

“So, he was in Dakar, was he?”

“Yes, he was. It’s when you told me that Monsieur Hjamal had invited you to come to Dakar and you didn’t know anything about the Kedougou stop-over, that I wondered what was going on.”

“I tell you what, Pierre: if you had not come back, I would have had you arrested for kidnapping at the first opportunity I got. Not only that, but the Canadian ambassador is expecting me in Dakar, he has been advised of our approximate time of arrival.” Pierre was agape. “What’s more, and since you made the decision to alert Monsieur Hjamal and you came back to get me, I should tell you that he is under suspicion of murder. One of my colleagues has been killed under very strange circumstances. He was an employee of Monsieur Hjamal.” Pierre looked down at the table between them.

A moment later, he exhaled and raised his face to Talya. “That explains a lot.” He pointed his right index finger at her. “Thank you for telling me this.” He stood up, grabbed the edge of the table, and bent over. “But, you’ll have to tell me what this is all about in more details.” He then turned on his heels toward the front of the cabin.

With an almost imperceptible smile coming across his lips, Pierre went in and sat at the controls.

Talya breathed an audible sigh of relief. She hadn’t noticed it until then but she was trembling, and perspiration was beading on her forehead. The back of her shirt was wet and sticking to her seat.

Pierre was a French citizen, not employed directly by Minorex. He clearly didn’t want to abet a client—and a good one at that—into any sort of criminal activities. There was nothing worse for an aircraft company than to be involved, even remotely, with what looked like the abduction of a passenger.