Chapter 229

“You are in luck,” chuckled Nadiya. “He is one of my phone contacts. I will call him right now and give you the phone. He speaks English quite well. I do not believe he will be backing up his relative’s boast.”

Nadiya spoke briefly into her phone and then handed it to Lisa. The conversation was short and very much to Lisa’s liking. As she handed the phone back to Nadiya, she spoke to her group.

“Mayor Plusko assured me that his ‘second cousin, through marriage’ was not speaking for the city, or the Mayor’s office. He apologized for Binak’s behavior and asked that we not allow it to cloud our opinions of his city and its appreciation of our efforts.”

“My God, Lisa!” managed Kate once Lisa finished speaking. “You tore that guy apart. He had it coming, though, if he had sick children waiting days for the hospital to open. That was pretty lousy, to say the least.”

“Thanks for setting him straight,” added Jordan. “When Gwen asked about the people waiting by the wa