BAMAKO - Aribert Raphael (red queen ebook TXT) 📗

do the job. He dexterously scaled the captains and served a large piece on each plate. Talya took care of the bowl of potatoes—that was easy enough.
“By the way, Talya, do you know how to cook?” Hassan asked when she had a mouthful of potatoes. His timing was always off a beat or two.
She swallowed. “Me? I don’t know what you understand by cooking. Because if you expect me to stand at the kitchen counter and in front of a stove for hours in order to serve you a meal, then I definitely do not know how to cook.” Both men burst out in loud laughter—she continued eating her fish and potatoes.
“That’s telling him. Don’t let him fool you, Talya. Hassan loves to be spoiled. I agree with you. If you don’t start, you don’t have to do it at all.”
“That’s good. I’ll have to remember that, when James asks me to do something. If I don’t start it I won’t have to do it at all—very good indeed.”
They all chuckled.
91
As they arrived at the rear of the hangars, they saw two police cars stationed by the gate. Mohammed parked his vehicle into the private airport ahead of them, away from the hangars. Hassan drove into a space closer to the gate.
“Just follow me,” he said to Talya, as he closed the car door behind her. “Don’t open your mouth, I beg of you. If these officers recognized you, they wouldn’t hesitate to take you to the station if they felt like it.”
At that moment, to say that Talya felt quite uncomfortable, and out of her depth, would have been an understatement. She walked silently beside Hassan. He held her hand tightly. They went to stand beside Mohammed who had waved to them as they were approaching.
Two police officers emerged from the arrival’s lounge as Samir’s plane was rolling down the runway. They shot a quick glance in the three companion’s direction but said nothing. As the aircraft came to a standstill in front of the hangar, Talya felt apprehensive, and extremely sad.
She saw Samir open the cabin’s door, and with Johan’s help, lower the stairwell. As they returned into the aircraft, another answer flashed before her eyes. Why didn’t I see this before?
The first person Talya saw come down the steps was Rheza. She had difficulty stepping down, and when she reached the ground, she began walking with a limp. She hid her eyes with the tip of the scarf that surrounded her head. Talya couldn’t help but noticing her wrists. They were bruised and scarred. Rheza began to cry when she saw Talya. Mohammed went to her, embraced her, and supported her to walk to stand near Hassan and Talya. Rheza took a couple of steps toward her now. She put her scarf against her bruised face, hiding behind it in shame.
“Thank you, Madame Kartz, for letting my children have their mother back,” she said with tearful eyes. Talya didn’t have the right words to say. There were so many. Then putting his arm around her shoulders, Mohammed led Rheza away.
The second person who alighted from the plane was Johan. He showed signs of fatigue and seemed harassed.
He came toward them and said, “You don’t know how good it is to see the both of you…” He was shaking his head, smiling. “We almost didn’t make it.”
“I’m glad to see you in one piece, my friend. But, you’ll have to save all that for later,” Talya said.
“You don’t know half of it…” he started saying, but Talya patted his hand and looked toward the plane’s stairwell once again.
Savoi was coming down the stairs. The sight of his face irked her. He looked as if he was relishing the moment of glory and all the attention he was getting. The officers took him by the arms and dragged him, protesting wildly, to one of their awaiting vehicles.
Rasheed and Savoi make a good pair.
Samir came out last. He marched resolutely toward Talya, darting a glance at Hassan, took her hand and kissed it.
“Talya. Please forgive us for this ordeal. Monsieur Savoi and Madame McLean owe their lives to you for seeing the writing before your eyes. You are to be revered by us for all the time Allah would allow us to live on this earth.”
Talya didn’t know what to say. She opened her arms and hugged him. He returned the embrace and whispered, “Have no fear,” and then, as he released her and held her hands at arm’s length, he smiled. She was confused. The feeling reverberated throughout her whole being. It was incredibly strong. Her heart skipped a beat. What is that all about?
Talya shot a fleeting look in Hassan’s direction. She was glad he hadn’t noticed anything. He had turned toward Johan, talking in his ear. She turned to him. “Please, take me back to the hotel, now!” She was besieged with emotions.
Samir went to file his flight report while Johan went to talk to the officers for a few minutes and then they both came to join Talya and Hassan in their car. At last, they were on their way back to the Meridien, which they had left only a few hours before. Time had stood still for them all. A page in their lives had been turned.


92
When Talya found herself alone in the apartment, she felt pained. She desperately needed to put some order to this turmoil. Her mind and body were numb. She picked up the phone and ordered dinner. Hassan had gone to Mohammed’s room to talk to Rheza. After recounting briefly what had occurred at the mine, Samir and Johan decided to have a quick snack in their room and retire early. Except for a couple of hours of stolen sleep after they found Rheza and Savoi, apparently, they had stayed awake for nearly thirty-six hours. They suspected that Abdul Rasheed had probably fled to Mali during the night, before the police could grab him. Talya asked Samir to come and see her in the morning. She had seen it in his face—he wanted to tell her something—and what happened at the airport had left more than a trace in Talya’s heart. She could not explain the emotion, the sensation—whatever it was—she had felt when Samir returned her embrace.
Yet, now she was glad to be alone. She knew that in the hours to come she would have to provide answers. She paced the floor. Where to start? At the beginning? Yes, but the beginning was not when she landed in Dakar, it all began a long time before Talya’s arrival on the scene. The answer to Richard Gillman’s murder lay in the past. She knew that. He was killed on a deserted beach in Dakar. He died from a heart attack, probably induced by an overdose of heroin (or cocaine). Someone needed him silenced. That was the only plausible motive. What had he seen or heard? He had no family, no friends. He was an ‘eccentric’ and a drug addict, if Talya were to believe Ahmed Hjamal’s story.
Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. Without a second thought, she went to open it.
“Samir! What are you doing here? I thought we’d agreed to meet in the morning. You must be exhausted. Come in, come in.” The fatigue deepened the lines of his face.
“Please forgive me for intruding on your solitude, but I needed to tell you what I saw, before morning.” They went to the living room and sat down on the sofa.
“I don’t understand. What’s so urgent? Would you like something to drink? A glass of bissap?”
“No, no thank you. Just hear me out.” Amid the tiredness in his eyes, Talya saw anxiety ... and something else.
“All right then, tell me.”
“When we arrived and before I landed, I circled over the site to take a look at the layout. It is then I saw the three mine adits under the village—”
“Sorry to interrupt you, Samir, but did you just say, you saw mine adits under the village? I didn’t see anything like that when I was there—”
“You wouldn’t have…, but let me explain. The site is actually made of three hills. They run parallel to one another. They’re separated by two creeks. On top of the one hill, there is the village of Sabodala. The second hill has been carved out to make space for what I assumed is Hjamal’s plant. The third hill is only covered with bushes and trees. The mine adits I saw were opened on the side of the hill, and under the village, facing the plant. ”
“But I didn’t see any adits when I passed the plant—”
“That’s because the adits are hardly visible from the road. They’re located several feet above the creek running beside the lane and partly hidden. You would probably think they were some sort of cave or natural recesses in the hillside.”
“But are you telling me Hjamal is tunnelling under the village?” Talya looked incredulous.
“Yes, that’s what I saw. I could not fathom the reason for this.”
“I understand.” Talya looked into Samir’s eyes and saw it again. There was something so powerful about this man—Talya felt engulfed in his gaze. She shook off the feeling reluctantly. “But tell me something, when you were talking to the regional officers at the site, did you mention it to them? I’ve heard there was a team assessing the situation, were they there when you left?”
“No. I didn’t have a chance to talk to anybody alone. I’m sure they’ll find out anyway.”
“What about the Elder, did you tell him, or is he aware of what’s going on?”
“I don’t think he is aware of anything. He is very old and he listens to whatever people tell him. He wouldn’t have the strength to go from one end of the compound to the other, let alone go climbing hills.”
Talya sat silent for a moment and then said, “I can only tell you that I’ve never heard of any mine being dug under a village before, unless it were destined for destruction.”
“That’s what I thought. Of course, the implications for the villagers are horrendous, as you have gathered—this is the reason for my wanting to share my disquiet with you.”
Disquieting, yes it was indeed. “I think, if you are questioned about it,” Talya said, “you should tell the authorities what you saw. But if not, and if I have an opportunity to do so, I’ll find out what’s going on, and then I’ll report to the officers myself.”
“Thank you, Talya.”
“No. I’m the one who thank you, because you’ve given me, unwittingly maybe, another answer to a long list of questions. And you’ve obliged me by revealing what you saw to me first. I appreciate that.”
“Then, if you’ll permit me, I will now leave you and go to sleep with peace in my heart. May Allah be with you always,” Samir said. Then taking Talya’s hands in his, and peering into her eyes, he repeated, “Have no fear.”
When the door closed behind him, Talya was trembling. The power this man had over her feelings was compelling. She was sure that Samir