As late afternoon turned to evening in Warsaw the first couple continued their debrief, sitting side by side on the sofa in the presidential suite, high over the city.
'Well from the beginning of the war back in '97, French and Russian mercenaries worked together', Joe began as he set out the cups.
'The civil war stemmed from a political vacuum but control of the vast natural resources of the country was always key to winning. Diamonds were, like, ten a penny. Villagers, fishermen, guys hunting in the woods would pick them up like pebbles in a field they were that plentiful. During the civil war soldiers from the McKenzie side cracked down brutally on that and he dictated that all diamonds came under his authority', he said as he poured the hot beverage.
'He sent soldiers out to the countryside, to these villages, and brutalized native folks so they could control the diamond industry. He armed gangs who roamed the area and they were half crazed on drugs already. They committed unspeakable atrocities on normal, everyday folks who did nothing but try to provide for their families', he said aloud.
'As you well know women were used to force their men into compliance. If a man had even a tiny diamond and he didn't turn in, or was even just suspected of it, then his wife or daughter or mother was attacked, raped', he sighed, 'and so much more'.
He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering some of the briefings and hearings he'd sat through on the Foreign Relations Committee back then. It was horrendous, the stuff truly of nightmares.
He thought about all of the folks who had been innocently blamed for stealing precious gems, just used as an excuse for soldiers and later mercenaries to ... He stopped his mind from going down that route right now. He needed to focus.
'Anyway', he continued with a deep, sad sigh, 'the women you met were a legacy from that time. Kids who were conceived through unspeakable events. Women who watched their husbands and sons and fathers and brothers beaten, dragged away, never to be seen again, attacked themselves for trying to protect their families. They know the reality of this war in Ukraine and they are not willing to stay silent. They understand that Russins in their area right now cannot be anything good. French guys armed with anything is triggering enough for them but in cahoots with Russains and possibly military at that must be truly terrifying. No wonder they took their chance to speak to you. They must have thought the opportunity was an absolute gift', he said as his mind began to sift through all that his wife had revealed from her visit.
Jill watched as he reached for a cracker already prepared just the way he liked it. Watched as he took a bite, the crunching filling the silence of the suite. He ate two, three, four crackers and washed them down with a mug of tea.
She let him eat and think.
Reaching for her phone she texted Shawn, and waited quietly, anxiously for a reply.
As he ate, Joe shifted gears. He fast forwarded to the more recent past. Wondered what exactly could be the connection between Jill asking questions in South Africa and the attempt on him. He was sure that the attempt was to try to keep her quiet, the General had told Glen as much. So that meant that Jill was getting close to something they really, really wanted her to keep away from.
In other words she was making progress.
He frowned, something he hadn't asked previously popping back into his mind. He looked at his wife. 'Honey, how did you manage to get to Warsaw on Thursday? You had engagements Thursday and Friday, you and I weren't scheduled to meet until we went to Dublin', he said.
She put her phone down, no update from Shawn.
'Umm, something happened with the wind farm, that bit was canceled and then Gideon's plans changed too. He and I were planning to meet over the weekend but he actually met me in Johannesburg and then went back to the US', she explained.
