“And you’re a madman! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean... “And you’re a madman! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that—”
“Why not?” broke in Bourne gently“I’m not lecturing on the rise of the Manchu and the Ching
dynastyConsidering the accepted state of my mind and memory, the allusion to mental health isn’t
inappropriate Jason paused, then spoke as he leaned slowly forward“But let me tell you
something, AlexThe memories may not all be there, but the part of my mind that you and
Treadstone formed is all thereI proved it in Hong Kong, in Beijing and Macao, and I’ll prove it
againThere’s nothing left for me if I don’tNow, get me the informationYou
mentioned several people who have to be here in WashingtonPentagon supplies or provisions—”
“Procurements,” corrected Conklin“It’s a lot more expansive and
prada fringe expensive; he’s a general
named SwayneThen there’s Armbruster, he’s head of the Federal Trade Commission, and Burton
over at—”
“Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” completed Bourne“Admiral ‘Joltin’ Jack Burton, commander
of the Sixth FleetFormerly the scourge of the South China Sea, now the largest of the large
brass
“I repeat,” said Jason“Tell your boys to go to workPeter Holland will get you all the help you
needFind me everything there is on each of them
“What?”
“I can get us the books on our three Philadelphians because they’re part of the immediate
Mayflower project—that’s the JackalI can’t touch our five—so far, five—inheritors of Medusa
“For Christ’s sake, why not? You have toWe can’t waste time!”
“Time wouldn’t mean much if both of us were deadIt
bag by louis vuitton wouldn’t help Marie or the children
either
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Why I’m lateWhy I didn’t want to call you from VirginiaWhy I reached Charlie Casset to
pick me up at that real estate proprietary in Vienna, and why, until he got there, I wasn’t sure I’d
ever get here alive
“Spell it out, field manI’ve said nothing to anyone about going after former Medusa personnel—
that was between you and me, nobody elseWhen I spoke to you this afternoon you were playing it closeToo close, I thought,
considering where you were and the equipment you were using
“The rooms and the equipment proved secureCasset told me later that the Agency doesn’t want
any traceable records of anything that takes place over there, and that’s the best guarantee
real black and white chanel purse you can
ask forNo bugs, no phone intercepts, nothingBelieve me, I breathed a lot easier when I heard
that
“Then what’s the problem? Why are you stopping
“Because I have to figure out another admiral before I move any further into Medusa territory
Atkinson, our impeccable WASP ambassador to the Court of StJames’s in London, was very
clearIn his panic, he pulled the masks off Burton and Teagarten in Brussels
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
56
“So?”
“He said Teagarten could handle the Agency if anything about the old Saigon surfaced—
because he was very tight with the top max at Langley
“And?”
“ ‘Top max’ is the Washington euphemism for maximum-classified security, and where Langley
is concerned that’s the director of Central
gucci tote bags IntelligenceThat’s also Peter Holland
“You told me this morning he’d have no problem wasting any member of Medusa
“Anyone can say anythingBut would he?”
Across the Atlantic, in the old Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, an old man in a dark
threadbare suit trudged up the concrete path toward the entrance of the sixteenth-century cathedral
known as the Church of the Blessed SacramentThe bells in the tower above tolled the first
Angelus and the man stopped in the morning sunlight, blessing himself and whispering to the sky
“Angelus domini nuntiavit Mariae With his right hand he blew a kiss to the bas-relief crucifix
atop the stone archway and proceeded up the steps and through the huge doors of the cathedral,
aware that two robed priests eyed him with
tiffany necklace distast