Chapter 4
455 Words
Chapter 4Since the trial had been cut short when Talya and Samuel left Washington, D.C. unexpectedly, James Flaubert never had a chance to travel to the East Coast and talk to Talya for weeks. He was sitting in his office when Aziz came in.
James stood up to shake hands with the doctor. “Welcome home, Aziz! How was your flight?”
Dr. Aziz Hendrix, a physician practicing in Vancouver for quite a few years, had remained at Talya’s side and had given her the solace and comfort she had needed in times when the world had seemed to crumble around her. Already in his mid-thirties, his dark hair, tanned face and reserved demeanor couldn’t hide his Islamic origin. He took a seat across James’s desk before replying. “It was okay, as any flight goes, I suppose.”
“You don’t sound too happy to be home. What’s bugging you?”
Aziz shook his head, visibly dismayed. “How can I be happy to be home, James? Talya has been kidnapped and she and Samuel are probably in Australia right now still accused of treason. How can I be happy about that...?”
“I know, Aziz, but they haven’t been kidnapped, as you said; they’ve just gone to Australia at Mossad’s request to clear a few things...”
“No, James! That’s not what Mark told me. He said that Talya and Samuel have probably been taken to Australia because Mossad wants them to find that puppeteer. That’s the only thing that will clear their names of the accusation of treason against the State of Israel.”
“But that’s a two-edge sword, Aziz.”
The latter seemed taken aback by James’s remark. “How do you mean?”
“Look; let’s say they find that puppeteer, Mossad could say they knew all along who the guy was and they just gave him up to save their skin. On the other hand, if they can’t find him, I would bet Mossad is already prepared to have them executed for failing to divulge who’s at the head of their organization.”
“But that’s monstrous, James!” Aziz burst out. “How could they even think that way?”
“They need to justify their mistake. They will never admit that they made a mistake in eliminating one of their own.”
“Is that why the director of Mossad himself helped in letting everyone believe that Talya and Samuel were in no way to blame for what happened?”
“You’ve got it. And, they had to show a good face in making a conciliatory move for the sake of their political relation with Saudi Arabia. They couldn’t very well accuse a Saudi prince of abetting the crimes of one of their members. They needed to divert attention onto this puppeteer to save their asses.”
“Do you think CSIS is seeing things the same way you do?”
“Oh yes. I’ve had a short conversation with Fred last night and he’s preparing to mount an action whereby his agency will find the puppeteer themselves, and in so doing they’ll prove that Mossad was wrong in laying blame against Talya, Samuel and even Slimane—Ishmael Assor I mean.”
- Writer
