They called me THE PUPPETEER 3 (The Puppets of Washington Book 7)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Khalid was not a man who caved in easily. He usually manoeuvred his way out of a troublesome situation with aforethought, and he would plan his every move with great care. However, this time it was different. Not only was he going to face horrendous problems from a member of his family, but he also was not the only person to take into consideration in this particular instance. There were many other factors to take into account as well. He knew that any wrong move on his part would cost me my life and James’s company in turn. He could not think of how he was going to ward off such dire consequences. He knew I was in town, and he knew he would have to face me sooner than later. Perhaps he dreaded this encounter more than he did anything else. He had to get me to a safe place – away from danger. Yet, he knew already that I would not hear of such a suggestion.

He was lost in thought when he heard the phone ring on his desk. He went to pick up the receiver and answered hesitantly, “Yes, Marie, what is it?” He listened to the gérante for a moment and then said, “A suitcase, you say? What is she doing with a suitcase...? Oh, never mind. Have her come up then. Thank you.”

“I will do that, Capitaine – right away.”

As Khalid hung up, a hint of a smile parted his lips. In his eyes I had done it again. I had obviously concocted some plan to divert attention. It would be the best cover he could think of; my joining my fiancé would seem all too normal to anyone watching. However, there was no way he would let me stay with him and that for one reason only – to deceive his uncle into thinking that he and I had gone our separate ways.

He waited for a fraction of a second before answering the knock – he was truly afraid to face me.

“Good Morning, I..., please come in.” Khalid swung the door wide, stepping aside for me to walk into the room.

I stood on the threshold, peered into his eyes, but did not say anything. I remained standing there, the suitcase handle in my hand, watching him.

“Please come in,” Khalid repeated.

Abandoning the luggage by the door, I then strode with purpose towards the window seat. Khalid followed me, rolling the suitcase indoors and closing the door. He went to stand behind me for a moment, while I stared out at the traffic on the Place de la Concorde, mute.

“Why the suitcase?” He wanted to turn me around, but dropped his arms at his side when he felt my body tensing at the question.

“I just wanted to take my clothes back,” I said, “I hope you haven’t changed your mind about giving them to me,” and finally turning my face to him.

He hung his head. “No, I haven’t. They’re still yours.”

“Good. Thank you.” I brushed past him and took a few steps to the fireplace. Resting one shoulder against the mantle, I added, “I’ll pack them as soon as you’ve answered one question.”

“Which question is that?” He lifted his gaze to me, a trace of hope in his eyes.

“A very simple one. Why didn’t you tell me who your uncle really was? Did you think for one moment I wouldn’t find out? Did you slot me into the category of a no-brain woman, such as you do with every other woman you meet?” My mouth was running away with me once again, but this time I had no intention of stopping it.

“That’s more than one question...”

“Don’t start. I’m no i***t, Khalid Saif Al-Fadir. And if I am going to save your bloody neck this time...”

“Save my neck?” Khalid erupted. “What do you mean, ‘Save my neck’? Are you so pretentious to think that you could do that?”

The furor that lined every recess of my mind came out of my mouth more vicious than ever. “No pretense here, Khalid, although it would suit you very well – to pretend. Wouldn’t it? You’ve been the pretentious bastard, the deceitful, egotistical fiend all this time. Remember?”

“There’s no need for this, Talya. Please calm down.” Khalid was trying to soothe the blatant rage that was etching the lines of my reddened face.

I vaulted from the fireplace, furious. “No, Khalid, I will not do your bidding anymore. You’ve got all you’re going to get out of me. And don’t misunderstand me – I’m grateful for everything you did to save my skin, but now, it’s my turn. You’re going to tell me why you wouldn’t let me in on your little secret and your dirty business. I’ve had enough of your lies.” I strode back to the window seat. “Come to think of it, when you took me through the desert and chased after Savoi and all the rest of it, you were probably saving your own neck and taking me on that trip for the hell of it...”

“No, please, Talya, don’t ever try to demean my actions or my love for you. If there is one truth among all of the lies – this is it – I love you.”

“And that’s how you show your love? By treating the person you care about with atrocious lies? You Bastard!”

Khalid sat down, abashed. He didn’t want to respond to the string of invectives which I had been slinging at his face.

I looked down at him with a mixture of pity and disgust. I could not fathom how a man like him would stoop so low as to accepting to be at the mercy of a tyrannical uncle for so long. He could have done a number of things besides taking bribes from his family. I could not understand what geared him to lie to me, to take the risks that he took to save my life and even offer me love, luxury and peace when he, himself could not enjoy any of those things with a clear conscience.

He lifted his head to me. “Please, sit down, Talya.” His tone of voice was beseeching but still commanding.

I did. “I am sorry for venting my frustration at you with such insults, but you must understand how I feel.”

He got up in a shot. He went to take the suitcase and rolled it to the bedroom. I followed him and saw him take the clothes he had carefully chosen for me out of the wardrobe and pack them in the open case. I didn’t say a word, but tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched him.

When the wardrobe was empty, he zipped the suitcase closed and stood looking at me from the foot of the bed. “I don’t expect you to understand why I did what I did, yet I expected you to ask me for an explanation, before you started berating me with insults that I do not deserve.”

“I said I’m sorry, Khalid.”

“Yes you did, but you demonstrated once again that you do not think of how much you could hurt the person who loves you or cares for you before you speak.”

“You know, that’s exactly what I said to Mark yesterday. I told him I am too selfish to care about anyone else than me...”

Taking a couple of steps, coming round the bed, he stood close to me and took me in his arms. “Stop the tears, Talya.” I had started sobbing against his chest. “You are the one lying now. You are not selfish – not at all. In fact, I would have to say you’re the most unselfish person I know, but your problem is not selfishness, it’s you’re being impulsive. You don’t know how to hold back...”

Pushing him roughly and freeing myself from his embrace, I glared at him. “And you’re a master at the art of ‘holding back’, aren’t you?”

“Talya, please, stop,” Khalid pleaded, trying to take me back into his arms.

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled, holding both hands in front of me as if to shield me from his embrace. “I can’t accept your love or even your affection anymore. If you had only told me about your uncle before we’ve started...”

“But, don’t you see, I could not do that... I could not let you know anything about my uncle at any time because you would not have accepted my help if I did, would you?”

I shook my head. I knew he was right. If Khalid had told me what he suspected or knew about his uncle, I would never have trusted him. Yet, the dark blotch on this whole landscape of painted lies was his contribution in Hassan’s assassination. How could he take him to the beach? Why didn’t Khalid tell me about his uncle’s involvement before that day, or even before that moment? He could have saved his life, if he suspected his uncle was the mastermind behind this whole affair – that’s what I could not understand, accept or even contemplate.

“No, I wouldn’t. You’re right. I wouldn’t have taken one step beside you had I known... but that still does not explain why you led Hassan into that trap. You must have known the danger...”

“NO. No, I didn’t. I knew he was a target, but I also knew – or thought I did – that my uncle wouldn’t have been as stupid as ordering his killing when Osnoir was practically out of the picture by then anyway.”

“Do you mean to tell me that you trusted your uncle not to take reprisals? I don’t believe it. You, of all people, should have known that if your uncle was as stubborn as chasing me halfway round the globe in order to avoid scrutiny into his business, he would be the first person to carry out an act of vengeance such as the one that led to Hassan’s death.”

Khalid shook his head, dismayed. He was running out of explanations, because there were no more to give. He was at fault, and he knew nothing would repair that mistake. Nothing could ever cleanse his soul of that sin. He only hoped that I would have an ounce of mercy left in my heart to help him assuage his guilt.

“All I could say now is that I am terribly sorry for what happened. I made an unforgivable blunder, and you’re absolutely right – I should have known better. However, now, I have decided to remedy the situation by bringing my uncle down – if he is indeed the man CSIS has portrayed him to be. I want him to pay, Talya, as much as you do, perhaps even more so because he led me to believe that all he ever did was for the greater good. And it’s only when he exposed his ruthlessness in blaming Osnoir for everything and leading me to believe that even my father was involved in a drug operation during his lifetime, that I realized I had to pull out when there was still time or reasons to do it.”

“And what are you planning to do now? How do you plan to take him down, I mean?”

“At this point, I am only stalling for time. I need to find out where the weakness in his operation is. I want to open up that festering wound and see what caused the infection. Since money is not the motive, there has to be something else. I’m sure you’ve been told that he’s selling weapons and that he’s been doing so since Desert Storm. Yet, I am remaining cautious in that regard.”

“What do you mean? Even the CIA knows about his arms trading business, why would you be cautious or even doubting that to be a fact?”

“Because, if the CIA knew about my uncle’s operation long before the Ben Slimane affair started, why didn’t they move on him? Is the CIA involved in some ways? Have they prevented the authorities to lift a finger against him for some other reason? Those are the questions I have been asking myself for some time now.”

“If you only trusted Fred or Mark a little more than you did, you would have known by now that it is obvious the US is turning a blind eye to your uncle’s operation. But that’s something you can’t bring yourself to doing, is it?”

“Perhaps you’re right...”

“You know I am.”

“About the trusting part, yes, you’re right, but I couldn’t go to Ottawa when I left Cayenne.”

“Why not? At least you would have demonstrated to our government that you were going to make a clean breast of things and that you wanted to help...”

“Yes, I, but I would not have been able to sway my uncle into believing that I wanted to leave you and join his ranks...”

“Is that what you’re doing now; building another house of cards...? I can’t believe it. When will you learn that the truth is the best policy, especially when you’re under suspicion from three governments?”

He peered into my eyes. He knew I was right, but he also knew his uncle wasn’t about to play ball. “He is not a devious man but if I were to prove anything against him, I had to play the game in the same way that he did in order to catch him red-handed. I know what you’re saying, believe me I know. But in this instance, I could be dealing with the devil himself, which has the apparent support of the US – as you’ve just described – and I couldn’t go against him without playing his game. Can you understand that?”

“Oh, I understand it alright, you’re going to pretend that we’re finished and that you’ll kill me yourself if that’s what it takes to get back into your uncle’s grace.” I could not believe my own words, but I was incensed and these apparent truths had to be heard. Khalid had to hear how I felt.

Suddenly taking my hand and while hearing no rebuke from me, Khalid said, “Let’s go back to the living room. I would like to go over a few things with you.”

As we sat down in front of the fireplace, Khalid turned to me. “Before I explain to you what I have in mind, I’d like to ask you to set aside our differences for a moment and listen to me with an open mind.” I looked at him fixedly and expectantly. “Yes, I agree, I have made a terrible mistake in the end, but at first, when James and Aziz called me to come to Vancouver, I did so for only one reason; I was falling in love with you and I wanted to protect you from whatever danger would be looming ahead of you. I had no intention to mar our relationship with my problems or family entanglements. As I told you, had I said one word about it all, you would have rejected me outright, which would have been similar to applying my signature on your death warrant. When you and James explained your findings at the Meridien after uncovering the drugs at the mine site, I knew you would be in danger. The likes of Rasheed were nothing compared to what I knew could evolve from dealing with drug lords. And when we learned of our friends’ attack in Bamako, it increased my resolve to take you out of the mire. Yet, and again, at that time, I didn’t even imagine that my uncle was involved. Nevertheless, when Osnoir abducted you, I began to worry. That’s when and why I called on Salamir’s assistance. We both knew Osnoir for what he was, for his connections with our father, and therefore his possible connection with my uncle. Still, I would not risk enlighten you of these suspicions at the time, because you would have turned away from me the minute I opened my mouth, and I could not risk losing you. So, together with Salamir, we took you to the desert and helped you uncover Osnoir’s operation. All went well, until Hassan requested to take him to the beach. That’s when I should have said no, but I could not pronounce the word. I could not deny him the desire he had to sit on the sand at your side, knowing it would have been perhaps the last time he did.”

I had remained silent to this point. Listening to his explanation, I had to accept that going to the beach had not been Khalid’s idea but Hassan’s. I wept quietly.

Khalid took my hand and went on, “You must remember that I kept asking you not to blame yourself for what was happening, not to put yourself in front of the last bullet needlessly, but you continued doing so, and that until Mark was trapped at the beach house. I then realized that I needed to leave you. I needed to distance myself from you, so that the bullet could be aimed at me. I wanted my uncle to show his hand, because, by that time, all evidence pointed to him being behind the whole operation. And he did.” Khalid couldn’t help but smile then. I stared at him uncomprehending.

“You see me smiling, don’t you?” I nodded. “Well, that’s because I am pleased at the recollection of having ensnared him at last. When I found Bourdon in Cayenne, and he told me he was from Mauritania, I began to see my uncle’s plan evolve and explode into smithereens before my eyes. There was little doubt of it anymore – Uncle Abdullah was probably behind it all – that’s the conclusion I had to reach, unfortunately.” He looked into my eyes. “Do you understand now why I did not say anything from the beginning? Please forgive me, Talya, that’s all I ask.”

I lowered my gaze to the floor beneath my feet. “When you say that your uncle was ‘probably behind it all’ what did you mean? Aren’t you sure?”

“How can I be sure, Talya? After what you said about the CIA’s cover-up, I am thinking perhaps there are a few things we don’t know. There are two items that I still can’t accept; first my uncle would never send weapons to Israel, and second, the CIA does not need him to provide armaments to our allies.”

I turned my head to him. “I have my doubts about them as well, Khalid. Your uncle could be the perfect patsy...”

I got up from my seat, went to the bedroom and began unpacking the suitcase, crying my eyes out. Khalid stood watching me from the doorway, until I said, “Is that enough of a forgiving gesture for you? These clothes belong here – not in Vancouver.”

Khalid came to me, took me in his arms, and said simply, “I love you, Talya.”