| So clear the line and reroute itI?ll stay here until I get a clean signal, okay, brother??
The agent again turned away from the door and again breathed, now in reliefHe could leave
without a confrontation; he had all he neededOne Hundred Thirty-eighth Street, section twelve,
machine sixteen, and they knew the firm that installed the equipmentThe Reco-Metropolitan
Company, Sheridan Square, New YorkThe lily-whites could handle it from thereHe walked back
to the questionable staircase and lifted the collar of his army-surplus shirt?In case I get run over
by a truck, here?s the inputAre you reading me??
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
293
?Loud and clear, Emperor Jones
?It?s machine sixteen in what they call section twelve
?Got it! You?ve earned your paycheck
?You might at least say, ?Outstanding, old chap ?
?Hey, you?re the guy who went to college over there, not me
?Some of us are overachieversHold it! I?ve got company!?
Below on the see by chloe bag bottom of the staircase a small compact black man appeared, his dark eyes
bulging, staring up at the agent, a gun in his handThe CIA man spun behind the edge of the wall
as four successive gunshots shattered the corridorLunging across the open space, his revolver
ripped from its holster, the agent fired twice, but once was enoughHis assailant fell to the floor of
the soiled lobby
?I caught a ricochet in my leg!? cried the agent?But he?s down?deep dead or not I can?t tell
Sweep up the vehicle and get us both outStay put!?
It was shortly past eight o?clock the next morning when Alex Conklin limped into Peter
Holland?s officeThe guards at the CIA gates were impressed with his immediate access to the
director
?Anything?? asked the DCI, looking up from the papers on his desk
?Nothing,? answered the retired field officer angrily, heading for the couch against the wall
rather than a chair?Not a goddamned thingJesus, what a fucked-up day and it hasn?t even chanel j 12 begun!
Casset and Valentino are down in the cellars sending out queries all over the Paris sewers but so far
nothingChrist, look at the scenario and find me a thread! Swayne, Armbruster, DeSole?our
mute son of a bitch, the moleThen for God?s sake, Teagarten with Bourne?s calling card, when we
know damned well it?s a trap for Jason set by the JackalBut there?s no logic anywhere that ties
Carlos to Teagarten and by extension to MedusaNothing makes sense, PeterWe?ve lost the
spine?everything?s gone off the wire!?
?Calm down,? said Holland gently
?How the hell can I? Bourne?s disappeared-I mean really disappeared, if he isn?t deadAnd
there?s no trace of Marie, no word from her, and then we learn that Bernardine was killed in a
shoot-out only hours ago on the Rivoli?Christ, shot in broad daylight! And that means Jason was
there?he had to be there!?
?But since none of the dead or wounded fits his description, we can assume he got away, can?t
we??
?We chanel wallet can hope, yes
?You asked for a thread,? mused the DCI?I?m not sure I can actually provide one, but I can
give you something like it
?New York?? Conklin sat forward on the couch?The answering machine? That DeFazio hood in
Brooklyn Heights??
?We?ll get to New York, to all of that?themRight now let?s concentrate on that thread of
yours, that spine you mentioned
?I?m not the slowest kid on the block, but where is it??
Holland leaned back in his chair, gazing first at the papers on his desk and then up at Alex
?Seventy-two hours ago, when you decided to come clean with me about everything, you said that
the idea behind Bourne?s strategy was to persuade the Jackal and this latter-day Medusa to join
forces, with Bourne as the common target, one feeding the otherWasn?t that basically the premise?
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
294
Both sides wanted him killedCarlos had two reasons?revenge and the fact that he believes
Bourne could identify him; louis vuitton jewelry the Medusans because Bourne had pieced together so much about
them??
?That was the premise, yes,? agreed Conklin, nodding?It?s why I dug around and made those
phone calls, never expecting to find what I didJesus, a global cartel born twenty years ago in
Saigon, peopled by some of the biggest fish in and out of the government and the militaryIt was
the kind of pay dirt I didn?t want and wasn?t looking forI thought I might dig up maybe ten or
twelve hotshot millionaires with post-Saigon bank accounts that couldn?t bear scrutiny, but not this,
not this Medusa
?To put it as simply as possible,? continued Holland, frowning, his eyes again straying down to
the papers in front of him, then up at Alex?Once the connection was made between Medusa and
Carlos, word would be passed to the Jackal that there was a man Medusa wanted eliminated, and
cost was no objectSo far, yes??
?The key here was the caliber and the status of those reaching Carlos,? explained chanel white bag Con |