“I probably learned it from him Robert Ludlum ??...
“I probably learned it from him
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“We all learned things from that extraordinary mind, the finest in our profession, yet so selfeffacing,
so so ‘why not try it,’ yes?”
“Yes, why not try it
“I must tell you, though,” said Bernardine, laughing“He once chose a name, admittedly from a
tombstone, that drove the S?reté fou—crazy! It was the alias of an ax murderer the authorities had
been hunting for months!”
“That is funny,” agreed Bourne, chucklingHe told me later that he found it in Rambouillet—in a cemetery on the outskirts of
Rambouillet
Rambouillet! The cemetery where Alex had tried to kill him thirteen years agoAll traces of a
smile left Jason’s lips as he stared at Alex’s friend from the Deuxième Bureau“You know who I
am, don’t you?” he asked softly
“Yes,” answered Bernardine“It was not so difficult to piece together, not with the rumors and
the gossip out of the Far EastAfter fendi replica spy bag all, it was here in Paris where you made your mark on Europe,
Mr
“Does anyone else know?”
“Mon Dieu, non! Nor will theyI must explain, I owe my life to Alexander Conklin, our modest
saint of les opérations noires—the black assignments in your language
“That’s not necessary, I speak French fluently or didn’t Alex tell you that?”
“Oh, my God, you doubt me,” said the Deuxième man, his gray eyebrows arched“Take into
account, young man—younger man—that I am in my seventieth year, and if I have lapses of
language and try to correct them, it is because I mean to be kind, not subrepticeAlex is several years younger than I am, but I wonder how he’s handling it
“There was an English poet—a Welsh poet, to be exact—who wrote, ‘Do not go gently into that
good night Do you remember it?”
“YesHis name was Dylan Thomas and he died in his mid-thirtiesHe was saying fight like a
son of a bitch Bernardine again reached into a pocket and pulled out a chanel cambon purse card“Here is my
office—merely consultant status, you understand—and on the back I’ve written down my home
phone; it is a special telephone, actually uniqueCall me; whatever you need will be provided
Remember, I am the only friend you have in ParisNo one else knows you are here
“May I ask you a question?”
“Mais certainement
“How can you do the things you’re doing for me when for all intents and purposes you’ve been
put out to pasture?”
“Ah,” exclaimed the consultant to the Deuxième Bureau“The younger man grows older! Like
Alex, I carry my credentials in my headHow is it otherwise?”
“You could be taken out, neutralized—have an accident
“Stupide, young man! What is in both our heads we say is written down, locked away, to be
revealed should such unnatural acts occurOf course, it’s all nonsense, for what do we really
know that could not be denied, labeled as the ramblings of old men, but they do not know thatIt is the most potent louis vuitton gm bag weapon in our professionSecond, of course, is
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embarrassment, but that is usually reserved for the Soviet KGB and your Federal Bureau of
Investigation, both of which fear embarrassment more than their nations’ enemies
“You and Conklin come from the same street, don’t you?”
“But of courseTo the best of my knowledge, neither of us has a wife or a family, only sporadic
lovers to fill our beds, and loud, annoying nephews and nieces to fill our flats on certain holidays;
no really close friends except now and then an enemy we respect, who, for all we know and in spite
of our truce, might shoot us or poison us with a drinkWe must live alone, you see, for we are the
professionals—we have nothing to do with the normal world; we merely use it as a couverture—as
we slink around in dark alleys, paying or compromising people for secrets that mean nothing where
summit conferences are fake chanel bag concerned
“Then why do you do it? Why not walk away if it’s so useless?”
“It’s in the blood rushing through our veinsBeat the enemy in the deadly
game—he takes you or you take him, and it is better that you take himSo why does Jason Bourne go after the Jackal here in Paris? Why
doesn’t he walk away and say EnoughComplete protection is yours for the askingCan you get me out of here and into the city? I’ll find a hotel and be in touch with
you
“Before you are in touch with me, reach Alex
“What?”
“Alex wants you to call him
“Where’s a phone?”
“Not nowTwo o’clock, Washington time; you have well over an hourHe won’t be back before
then
“Did he say what it was?”
“I think he’s trying to find out
The room at the Pont-Royal on the rue Montalembert was small and in a secluded corner of the
hotel, reached by taking the slow, noisy brass elevator to the top floor and walking down two
narrow intersecting hallways, all of which was satisfactory to dolce and gabbana handbag Bour