Chapter 19
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Chapter 19As soon as Khalid reached his room; he unpacked his laptop, plugged it in and waited until he could get on the Internet. For the past several weeks, he had learned and had grown to enjoy the technology. He could search for anything and get an instant response, and he could get in touch with anyone readily enough. The programs’ feature even allowed him to write his emails in Arabic. Once on-line, he took no time to contact his Uncle Abdullah in Riyadh. He had no idea of the time difference, and he was not even sure his uncle would respond after Khalid’s deliberate silence for the past months, but he had to try.
Following the usual introductory sentences, he wrote:
I am in Australia until tomorrow night. The authorities are seeking to arrest Samuel Meshullam (a.k.a. Isaac Whittlestein) in the next few days. There is an order of extradition for him to be returned to Canada as soon as he is captured.
From what I can gather at this point, Muhammad Sadir’s involvement in this affair has been put into question. Since he is your friend and he has interceded in the locating of Ben Slimane, the question that has to be asked is whether he was himself a Mossad agent. How far did your friendship go? Be prepared to be questioned some time soon.
Your devoted nephew, Khalid Saif Al-Fadir.
He left the computer open, just in case his uncle would respond immediately, and went to open his suitcase. He wanted to get out of the suit and tie and into more appropriate clothes. He had not gone outside yet, but somehow felt oppressed. Distractedly, he took the envelope that Constable Strickland had given him at the issue of their interview. He opened it and looked at the tickets. To his surprise, he was booked on a flight to Singapore and then on a connecting flight to Paris. His heart sank. He sat down. He had expected to fly back to San Francisco, from where he had planned to make a detour via Vancouver. Again, he felt trapped. He could not figure out how or when he was going to see Talya. He was not aware that she was making great progress now toward a full recovery. He thought of Aziz’s call. He had let him and Talya down.
He shook his head, dismayed. He rummaged through his suitcase and found the clothes he was looking for. He got up from the bed, and as he was about to go into the bathroom to have a shower, he heard the jingle alerting him that ‘he got mail’ from the computer.
He dropped his clothes on the bed, sat down in front of the screen, open his uncle’s email and read:
Khalid,
Although very happy to hear from you at long last, the news your message brought me is indeed troublesome. Muhammad’s reputation was never a cause for me to worry. Admittedly, he was well informed when we first contacted him regarding the whereabouts of Mr. Slimane, which was surprising at the time. However, as a CIA agent for some years, I had no qualms regarding the information he provided. Are you suggesting he is then a double agent? If he is, you are right in assuming that I will be questioned regarding my association with him. All I can tell you, at this point, is that I have never known him to be involved with the weapons’ trade that was uncovered last year.
Not wanting to sound remiss in my concern, I must ask you if you have been able to see Ms Kartz lately. How is she progressing? If you do see her, please give her my regards and my best wishes for her recovery. What she suffered is my fault.
Your uncle, Abdullah Saif Al-Fadir.
Khalid read the last sentence again. Uncle Abdullah should not feel responsible for Talya being shot, he thought. At the time, his uncle was himself entangled in a web of deceit that even saw him being declared persona non grata in Switzerland and subsequently dismissed from his OPEC secretarial position. Apparently, Mossad, together with the CIA, had used him as well as countless others in pursuit of their ultimate goal—defeat the Palestinians at Gaza.
Khalid replied:
Dear Uncle,
I have not been able to visit Talya yet. Dr Hendrix has called on me to go to her, but the events that followed his telephone call interfered with my intention to fly to Vancouver and saw me land in Sydney this morning. I was intending to go back to Paris via Canada, but the authorities are preventing me to do so at this time. I will be in Singapore tomorrow and from there I am to take a direct flight to Paris.
As soon as I reach my apartment, I will contact you again and perhaps then, we could discuss the possible involvement of Muhammad Sadir at length.
Khalid.
- Writer
