The Silk Trap. A Novel in 43 Chapters
Chapter 22: Lost and Found.
“What you seek is seeking you.”- Rumi
The hospital staff did not recognize the ambulance that Michel saw entering the hospital with Lara inside. He had lost track of Lara. He was devastated.
He left the hospital dejected and confused. How did the ambulance enter the hospital and disappear? Surely someone saw it. He stepped out of the hospital gate deep in his quicksand of worry.
Magda was waiting for him.
“Did you find her?” Magda asked, sounding concerned yet curious.
“No. They can’t recognize her as a patient, but they don’t recognize the ambulance even more worryingly. They say the ambulance does not belong to their hospital,” replied Michel, sounding deeply dejected.
“And what did you find up there, Magda? Did you see the police officers ?” Michel asked, trying to scavenge for hope in the pit of his hell.
“I found the car, and I saw the officers. In fact, I spoke to one of them who was in the car.” Magda replied, sounding a bit excited about her adventure.
“Wow! tell me everything”, Michel erupted with renewed hope.
“Let's get back into my car first. It's safer this way,” Magda said as she walked back to the taxi.
Magda rummaged in her messy glove compartment and found a crumpled pack of Marlboro Lights, and lit the cigarette with a lighter that was low on gas.
“It’s my first after a month. I am trying to quit. But today’s being hellish,” she spoke as she blew out her first deep puff of nicotine.
Michel knew the feeling. He used to smoke for 10 years before he finally quit after trying for months. Lara had made him quit...
Gosh, Lara was like a silk thread in the coarse warp and weft of his life…he missed her so much right now. But Michel needed to concentrate and pay attention to Magda instead of getting lost in the fog of his fears.
“When I drove up, I found the police car parked in the reserved parking area of the Jebel Hotel,” Magda began. “Just one of the officers was still inside. The Jebel hotel is on the 3rd floor of the tower, and there are many other shops and offices on the ground floor and the basement of this place.” I was a bit surprised to see the police there. Normally this space is reserved for the hotel staff and VIPs that come and go from this hotel. The Jebel is the most expensive hotel in the city and tends to host all the important meetings that involve top business people and government officials.” Magda had a frown on his face as she spoke.
Until now, Michel had not paid any attention to his new friend Magda. She was the only person he could trust right now in the world.
She was a heavy-set woman in her mid 50’s. She had silver-gray shoulder-length hair that she kept tightly tied in a ponytail. Her smoking had given her voice a deep rasp that sometimes erupted in cough when she spoke fast. She wore a few thick silver bangles around both her wrists and a silver ring studded with a big blue lapis lazuli stone that she kept fiddling with while she gesticulated as she spoke. She looked like a woman who had been in and out of a few trap doors of life.
Magda was pulling hard on her cigarette now, trying to make every puff last as long as eternity. She continued, “ I just wanted to speak to this office to see if we could find a clue to where they could have taken Lara.
“And what did he say?” Michel egged Magda to tell him more.
“I pretended to be looking for a jewelry shop in the area and went to the officer to ask for direction. He was not very helpful and looked tired. He said that I should try looking for something in the hotel. He thought that there was a jewelry shop inside. As I stood there, his phone rang, so he asked me to wait while taking the call. I could hear that he was speaking to his partner, and he was being asked to come up to the hotel.”
Magda was quite serious as she continued, “He ended the call and then told me he had to leave, and then he picked up a plastic bag kept on the dashboard. As he was holding the bag, I noticed something that seemed strange to me. The bag had a bright red and pink wig inside it, like a mohawk wig that I have sometimes seen people wear at parties or football stadiums. And there was a yellow scarf sticking out of the bag too. It definitely looked like a woman’s scarf. I am sure of that.”
“That’s Lara’s scarf! I saw it around her face when these bastards abducted her!” Michel shouted in a euphoric recognition of a link to Lara’s whereabouts.
Michel was livid but alive for the first time since looking for Lara. Fear, when confronted, turns into rage and then cements into resolve.
“And I saw a lot of people wearing these mohawk wigs at the club last night, Magda” Lara could easily have been wearing a wig too. They definitely have her with them. Now, do you believe me, Magda?” Michel asked in an excited expectant tone.
Magda smiled back at Michel, “Yes, I do believe you, Michel.” But then she turned grave in her voice and manner, “These corrupt police officers have Lara with them. I think she is somewhere here. But we have to be very careful. The police in this city are extremely well connected to all the politicians and rich business people. You can’t rely on the police now.”
After a pause, Madga sighed and said, “Michel, You have to find Lara yourself.”