BAMAKO, Aribert Raphael [read out loud books .TXT] 📗

to me. I won’t be able to come with you right away. And you’re right; I know better than most what this disease can do to a man’s behaviour. This is why I say I can’t go, even in two days’ time.”
“But—”
“No, Talya, no buts about it. I’ll take the next flight down. I’ll join you when I know I can be of some use to you and not be a burden.” He lay back on the pillows, visibly tired. “As far as Mohammed is concerned, as I said, it will be better for him to stay away. I’ll tell you why that is, later. I’ll call him and see what he has to say.”
Talya took her hand away. “I’m trying to understand how you feel and it’s hard. I guess I’ll have to accept your decision. But…”
He looked at Talya and smiled. “You managed to put another but into it, didn’t you?”
She smiled back. “Yes, I did. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I’m being selfish. I want you with me because I’ve got no idea what to expect and no one out there who would be able to guide me out of the maze in the same way you could.”
“You’d have to know, Talya, I’m sure you do already: I need you as much as you need me, especially now.” He shook his head. “I can’t come with you and endanger your life or risk anyone else’s life in the process. I told you, I’ll join you as soon as I can.” He reclined on the pillows once again and closed his eyes. In a moment, he was asleep. The fight was over for another few hours.
Talya left the room quietly and found Justine and Chantal waiting in the corridor, impatient to hear the latest. “Chantal, would you mind coming to my room for a few minutes?”
“Of course not. What has Hassan got to say for himself? Is anything wrong?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” Talya turned to Justine. “You should take a break. You have been awake all night. Maybe the doctor will send a replacement for you?”
“Yes, Madame Kartz, he’s sending someone else at noon. I’ll come back tomorrow morning. Has Maitre said anything? Does he want something to eat?”
“I don’t think so. He’s asleep again.”
“That’s good. I’ll just sit with him then. Oh, and thank you for sending Ashem last night. It was great to have someone to talk to.”
“That’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
When Chantal and Talya were alone in her room, Talya told her Hassan wasn’t well enough to accompany her to Dakar.
“But you knew that already, didn’t you? So, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll have to face the music by myself, I guess. Mind you, it will only be for a few days, and the ambassador will have someone to escort me anyway. Hassan said he’ll come down on the next flight.”
“Do you think he will?”
“I hope so.” Talya threw her arms in the air. “This is ridiculous. I’m a big girl now. I shouldn’t have to depend on a man, I never did, why should I start now?”
“Yes, I know,” Chantal said, “but, you’ve never had to deal with a murderous bunch before, did you?”
“No, that’s true. And, I never in my wildest dream thought I would.”
“There you are then. I think you should be fair to yourself…”
“And Hassan doesn’t even want Mohammed Fade to come with me, although he already said he would take a couple days off—”
“Oh no? And why does he think he can make that decision for Monsieur Fade?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know anything anymore…”
“Did you talk to James Flaubert?”
“No. I couldn’t reach him.”
“Listen, you need to think about this trip. You need to talk to Monsieur Fade, or call James again. But I don’t think you should go by yourself, even with an escort from your embassy.” Chantal lowered her head and looked at her bag on her lap. She looked sad.
She raised her face and peered into Talya’s eyes. “I wish to God Jean-Claude was here and in good shape so he could go with you. It’s not fair. You’ve been thrown into a situation that would be dangerous in any normal circumstances, but to face this sort of thing in Mali … or in Dakar, I mean … and alone…. It’s not fair to be asking you to go and risk your life like that?”
“Don’t go imagining things now. I’m not going to risk my life, believe me. I’m only going to Dakar to meet the president of a company to try to negotiate some kind of a deal with him, that’s all.”
“I admire your optimism, my friend, but I still think you shouldn’t go alone.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine, you’ll see…”
There wasn’t anything more to say. Chantal gave Talya a big hug before she left. Once she was gone, Talya felt very much alone indeed.
52
Mohammed decided it was about time to have a chat with Hassan. He needed to find out if his friend would be able to join him in Dakar, and when. He left his office around eleven o’clock and within a half-an-hour he was at the hotel.
He knocked on the door and to his delight, Hassan answered.
“I’m glad to see you up and about. How are you?”
“I’m better, thanks. But don’t just stand there, come in and have a seat.” Hassan indicated the bed where he returned and slipped under the cover.
Justine had put her book down on the table when Mohammed had come in. She rose and walked toward the door, sensing that the men would probably want to talk privately. “I’ll go downstairs for a few minutes and leave you two alone.” Her hand was already on the doorknob.
“You don’t have to go, if you don’t want to. My friend and I…, we’ll just have a chat,” Hassan said.
Justine smiled. “I’ll go anyway. I need to stretch my legs.”
“Okay. Go ahead then.” Hassan shrugged.
Justine closed the door carefully behind her and was gone.
Mohammed and Hassan looked at each other before speaking. Instinctively they felt a confrontation was inevitable. There had been too many things left unsaid.
“I’ve had a long conversation with Talya and…” Mohammed began.
“It’s Talya now is it? No more Madame Kartz?” There was a touch of jealousy in Hassan’s voice.
“Yes, Hassan, she’s asked me to address her by her first name while we were standing here watching you fighting for your life. Never mind that. Why I came to see you this morning is this—”
“Hold it a minute. Did you say that Talya saw me, ‘watched me’ during the past few days?”
“Yes, we both did. Why, do you find that surprising?”
“No, not surprising just revolting. Why didn’t you keep her away?”
“Keep her away? Why, Hassan, she’s devoted to you. She stayed at your bedside for six hours straight. She changed your clothes, your bed, and she tried to make you comfortable as best she could before I came in. After that, I couldn’t drag her out of here until Dr. Ferron told her to go and have some rest. And now you’re telling me that you didn’t want her here? What kind of a friend are you? Not even to accept her attention after being such an ass with her?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. She came in this morning and I’m afraid I did the wrong thing. Actually, I’m glad you came because I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“And what makes you think you did the wrong thing?”
“I told her I couldn’t go with her to Dakar and that I’d follow her on the next flight.”
“Just like that, eh? You just send her to take care of everything while you’re recovering? As I said you’ve no idea how badly you’ve treated her. Did you offer an alternative besides taking the next flight out?”
“No, I didn’t, but she did …”
“And what was that?”
“She said you’d suggested you’d go with her…”
“And?”
“And I said I didn’t want you to…”
“You did what? How could you?” Mohammed was livid. “How could you make a decision like that without consulting me first? You have the phone, right there, by your hand—were you too sick to lift the receiver and call me? I can’t believe this. You’ve overstepped your bounds.”
“Please, before you go any further with your recriminations, I’d like you to hear me out…”
“Yes, by all means, give me an explanation for this one. I really would like to hear it; it must be a good one.” Mohammed was glaring at Hassan with reproach and resentment.
“Just listen for a minute, will you? Do you remember what Talya explained about Rheza being a willing participant in this mess?”
“Of course I do, so isn’t that one more reason for me going there…”
“Will you just listen, please?” Hassan was getting tired but he needed to tell his friend why he did what he did.
“If Rheza was even remotely participating or collaborating with our three offenders, you, as a member of this government, cannot be seen to be associated with her. You should stay away. Your reputation depends on you staying as far away as possible from that scene. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes, I do. Except Rheza is not a willing participant. I know that now.”
“And pray tell me how do you know that?”
“Don’t sneer…. I know that because of what Rasheed said to you and Talya when he met with you a couple of days ago. He said—if I remember correctly what Talya told me—he said, “They’re sending you their best regards.” Isn’t that what he said?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what Rasheed said. And from that you’ve concluded Rheza’s in trouble? Don’t be so naïve. Rheza may have said it herself to taunt you and Talya. Rasheed is smart. He comes here with her car, which she may have loaned to him willingly, saying that Talya should intercede and get her company to bail him out as well as his boss. Talya doesn’t bite. She doesn’t even consider his offer. She rejects him point blank. So what does Rasheed do? The next best thing—he says he saw Savoi and Rheza and they’re okay and ‘they’re sending their best regards’. He knows this will get us going. He expects that even you would jump through hoops for him.”
“Me? How would he know that? And how could he expect me to jump through hoops for him?” Mohammed was puzzled.
“Because, as you did when Talya explained to you that Rheza may have been abducted and held against her will, you would ‘jump through hoops’ to get your niece back or wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would. So, you mean Rasheed was baiting Talya into action?”
“Yes, he was. What’s more, didn’t you say that Hjamal applied for funding to the Malian government at one time? And didn’t you say this same government had rejected the proposal?”
“Yes, I did, but so what?”
“Mohammed, put yourself in Hjamal’s position, and tell me what you see?”
“Well, at the moment I don’t see anything. I can’t think of where