aab e hayat ( English version)

chapter no 26

Petrus Ibaka's injury in an accident no longer seemed like a coincidence. There was someone who, after harming Petrus Ibaka, was now incapacitating him completely. The first thought that came to Salar while standing there was the safety of Imama and his children.

From a phone booth, he tried once again to reach his home number and Imama's number in Congo. The result was the same; his mind was going blank. He also tried to contact Imama via email and social messaging on his phone, but there was no response to any email or message. Salar began calling everyone in his office staff one by one, like a madman, using the numbers he had at the time. 

Not a single number was reachable. Finally, he called Sikandar Usman in Pakistan, and when he heard his voice on the phone, he couldn't believe he was finally managing to talk to someone. Sikandar Usman could also tell from his voice that he was distressed. Salar briefly informed him, without going into details, that he had lost his travel documents and was therefore unable to catch a flight back immediately and was also unable to contact Imama.

 He asked Sikandar to call Imama from Pakistan, and if he couldn't reach him, then to contact the Pakistani Embassy in Kinshasa through his acquaintances at the Foreign Office and immediately instruct them to collect all documents from the locker at the embassy.

Sikandar Usman was deeply concerned. "What has happened that you need to do all this? Salar, is everything okay?"

"Dad! Just do what I'm telling you right now. I'll explain the details later," he said, irritated.

"I'll call you back in a little while to check. Don't call me, nor leave any messages on my phone," he insisted.

Salar's father, Sikandar Usman, was understandably alarmed by these instructions.

Salar had ended the call. He couldn't tell his father that his situation was deteriorating rapidly. Sitting on a bench a few feet away with the phone in hand, he had involuntarily berated himself. He shouldn't have left his family in Congo, and under these circumstances... the meeting could have gone to hell... what was the point of showing such diligence... Now, it was evening, and from morning until now, he had not received any calls or text messages on his phone. 

This was impossible unless his phone was being monitored or its signals were being controlled. The phone signals were showing optimal conditions, but Salar was convinced that his phone and its communications were being controlled, and he couldn't understand why. If they wanted to harm him, they could have done so without all these maneuvers, just like they had attacked Petrus. And if they wanted to remove him from the bank, they could have done it themselves; so why all this? There was a shiver in his spine. He suddenly realized that they wanted to make him feel that he was being monitored. 

He could be harmed, and he was being informed of what kind of harm, and this was not something the World Bank could do, not just the World Bank. The CIA was checking on him. He didn't know if the small beads of sweat were because his body was cooling down or heating up, but Salar had taken a bath in cold water for a while. His mind was empty at that moment. His angels would never have imagined that he could be involved in a situation where the CIA was on his trail.

 Now, he realized that the project was not just a World Bank desire but an American one, and they would go to any lengths to see it through. He sat there like a statue for hours. He was supposed to stay in Washington for three days and return on the third day, but now, with his travel documents missing, he was sure he couldn't return immediately. At least not until he showed some flexibility on these demands.

After a long time, he called Sikandar Usman again, who informed him that Imama and the children were not at home. The house was locked, and there was no staff or guard to provide any information about them. The embassy officials had contacted the Congolese Ministry of Interior about this, but whatever information about his family was available could not be immediately obtained. It would take some time.