“He’d never harm you—” “Of course not, I know...
“He’d never harm you—”
“Of course not, I know that
“Then provide him with that link to David WebbIt has to be there, Marie
“Oh, God, I love him so!” cried the wife, rushing to her feet and racing after her husband—yet
not her husband
“Was that the right advice, Mo?” asked ConklinI just don’t think he should be alone with his nightmares, none of us
shouldThat’s not psychiatry, it’s just common sense
“Sometimes you sound like a real doctor, you know that?”
The Algerian section of Paris lies between the tenth and eleventh arrondissements, barely three
blocks, where the low buildings are Parisian but the sounds and the smells are ArabicThe insignia
of the high church small but emblazoned in gold on its doors, a long black limousine entered this
ethnic enclaveIt stopped in front of a wood-framed, three-story house, where an old priest got out
and walked to the doorHe selected a name on the mail plate and pressed the button that rang a bell
on the second floor
“Oui?” said the metallic voice on the primitive intercom
“I am a messenger from the American embassy,” answered the visitor in religious garb, his
French partially ungrammatical as was all too frequent with Americans“I can’t leave my vehicle,
but we have an urgent message for you
“I’ll be right down,” said the French Algerian driver recruited by Charles Casset in Washington
Three minutes later the man emerged from the building and gucci watches for women walked out on the short narrow
pavement“What are you dressed like that for?” he asked the messenger who stood by the large
automobile, covering the insignia on the rear door
“I’m the Catholic chaplain, my sonOur military chargé d’affaires would like a word with you
“I’ll do many things for you people,” laughed the driver as he bent down to look inside the
limousine, “but being drafted into your army isn’t one of themYes, sir, what can I do for you?”
“Where did you take our people?” asked the shadowed figure in the backseat, his features in
darkness
“What people?” said the Algerian, sudden concern in his voice
“The two you picked up at the airport several hours agoThe cripple and his friend
“If you’re from the embassy and they want you to know, they’ll call and tell you, won’t they?”
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“You’ll tell me!” A third, powerfully built man in a chauffeur’s uniform appeared from behind
the trunk of the carHe walked rapidly forward, raising his arm and crashing a thick ugly blackjack
down on the Algerian’s skullHe shoved his victim inside; the old man in the guise of a chaplain
climbed in behind him, pulling the door shut as the chauffeur ran around the hood to the front seat
The limousine raced away down the street
An hour later on the deserted rue Houdon, a block from Place Pigalle, the Algerian’s bruised and
bleeding corpse was disgorged from the large prada handbags sale automobileInside, the figure in shadows addressed
his aged, personally ordained priest
“Get your car and remain outside the cripple’s hotelStay awake, for you’ll be relieved in the
morning and can rest all dayReport any movements and go where he goes
“Never, monseigneur
Dimitri Krupkin was not a tall man but he appeared taller than he was, nor was he particularly
heavy yet he seemed to possess a much fuller figure than he carriedHe had a pleasant if somewhat
fleshy face and a generous head held erect; his full eyebrows and well-groomed pepper-and-salt
hair and chin beard combined attractively with alert blue eyes and a seemingly perpetual smile,
defining a man who enjoyed his life and his work, an intellect behind bothAt the moment he was
seated in a booth, facing the rear wall, in the all but empty country restaurant in Epernon staring
across the table at Alex Conklin, who sat beside the unidentified Bourne and had just explained that
he no longer drank alcohol
“The world is coming to an end!” exclaimed the Russian in heavily accented English“You see
what happens to a good man in the self-indulgent West? Shame on your parentsThey should have
stayed with us
“I don’t think you want to compare the rates of alcoholism in our two countries
“Not for a wager of money,” said Krupkin, grinning“Speaking of money, my dear old enemy,
how and where am I to be paid according to our agreement louis vuitton shoulder bag last night on the telephone?”
“How and where do you want to be paid?” asked Jason
“Ah ha, you are my benefactor, sir?”
“I’ll be paying you, yes
“Hold it!” whispered Conklin, his attention drawn to the restaurant’s entranceHe leaned toward
the open side of the booth, his hand on his forehead, then quickly moved back as a couple were
shown to a table in the corner to the left of the door
“What is it?” asked Bourne
“Who came in, Aleksei?”
“That’s just it, I think I should know him but I don’t
“Where is he seated? In a booth?”
“No, a tableIn the corner beyond the bar
Krupkin moved to the edge of his seat, took out his billfold and removed from its recess a small
mirror the size and thickness of a credit cardCupping it in both hands, he cautiously angled the
glass in front of him“You must be addicted to the society pages of the Paris tabloids,” said the
Russian, chuckling as he replaced the mirror and returned the billfold to his jacket pocket“He’s
with the Italian embassy; that’s his wifePaolo and Davinia something-or-other, with pretensions to
nobility, I believeStrictly corpo diplomatico on the protocol levelThey dress up a party quite
nicely and they’re obviously stinking rich
“I don’t travel in those circles, but I’ve seen him somewhere before
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318
“Of course you haveHe looks like every middle-aged Italian screen star or any one of balenciaga magenta giant work those
vineyard owners who extol the virtues of the Chianti Classico on television commercials
“Maybe you’re right Krupkin turned to Bourne“I shall write out the name of a bank and the number of an
account in Geneva The Soviet reached into his pocket for a pen as he pulled a paper napkin in
front of himHe was not able to use either, for a man in his early thirties, dressed in a tight-fitting
suit, walked rapidly up to the table
“What is it, Sergei?” asked Krupkin
“Not you, sir,” replied the Soviet aide“Him,” he added, nodding at Bourne
“What is it?” repeated Jason
“You have been followedAt first we were not sure, for it is an old man with a urinary problem
He rapidly left the car twice to relieve himself, but once settled he used the car telephone and
squinted through the windscreen to read the name of the restaurantThat was barely minutes ago
“How do you know he was following me?”
“Because he arrived shortly after you did, and we were here a half hour before that securing the
area
“Securing the area!” erupted Conklin, looking at Krupkin“I thought this conference was strictly
between us
“Dear Aleksei, benevolent Aleksei, who would save me from myselfCan you really believe I’d
meet with you without considering my own protectionNot you personally, old friend, but your
aggressors in WashingtonCan you imagine? A deputy director of the CIA negotiates with me over
a man he pretends to think I do not cartier santos 100 xl men watch kno