Bourne 7 – The Bourne Deception

16

THE MUSEO TAURINO was located inside the Maestranza corrida, and this was where Bourne told Tracy to take him. They had just enough time to change direction within the crowd before the officers entered the throng in the vestibule. Two of them headed directly for the bullring itself. From their positions on either side of the glass doors, the remaining pair began to scan the crowd for their suspect.

The museum was closed today, the interior door shuttered. Bourne, leaning against the door, used a paper clip Tracy found at the bottom of her handbag to pick the lock, and they slipped inside, closing the door behind them. The stuffed heads of all the great bulls killed in this corrida stared down at them with glass eyes. They passed glass cases containing the splendid costumes worn by the famous matadors going back to the seventeenth century, when Maestranza was built. The entire history of the corrida was on display in these musty rooms.

Bourne was uninterested in any of the flamboyant displays; he was looking for the utility closet. It was in the rear of the museum, beside a littleused room. Inside, he had Tracy dig out cleaning fluid, which he had her apply to the wound down his back. The searing pain took his breath away and, with it, a full sense of consciousness.

He awoke to Tracy‘s grip on his shoulder. She was shaking him, which made his head hurt even more.

— Wake up! she said urgently. -You‘re in worse shape than you let on. I‘ve got to get you out of here.

He nodded; the words were hazy, but the gist hit home. Together they staggered back through the museum to the separate entrance that led out onto the street around the circle from the bullring‘s main entrance. Tracy unlocked the door and poked her head outside. When she nodded, he emerged into the semi-darkness.

She must have used her cell to call for a taxi because the next thing he knew she was maneuvering him into a backseat, leaning forward as she slid in beside him to give an address to the driver.

As they took off, she turned and peered out the rear window. -The police are crawling all over the Maestranza, she said. -Whatever you did has sent them into a frenzy.

But Bourne didn‘t hear her; he was already passed out.

Soraya and Amun Chalthoum arrived in Al Ghardaqah just before noon. Not that many years before, it had been nothing more than a modest fishing village, but a combination of Egyptian initiative and foreign investment had turned it into the leading Red Sea resort. The hub of the town was El Dahar, the oldest of the three sections, home to the traditional villas and bazaar. As was the case with most Egyptian coastal towns, Al Ghardaqah did not venture far inland, but rather clung to the shore of the Red Sea as if for dear life. The Sekalla district was more modern, made ugly by the proliferation of cheap hotels. El Korra Road was prettier, filled with upscale hotels, lush plantings, lavish fountains, and walled private compounds owned by Russian moguls with nothing better to do with their easy money.

They hit the fishermen first, what was left of them, anyway-time and the tourist business had decimated their ranks. They were old men now, skin wrinkled and brown as well-worn leather, their eyes paled by the sun, their work-hardened hands like boards, gnarly with outsize knuckles from decades in seawater. Their sons had abandoned them to work in air-conditioned offices or in jets that flew high above, leaving their homeland far behind. They were the last of their line and so an insular lot, their suspicions heightened by sweet-talking Egyptians taking their launching sites away from them to accommodate more and more Jet Skis and Sea-Doos. Their innate fear of Chalthoum and his al Mokhabarat manifested itself in cold hostility. After all, they must have reasoned, having lost everything, what more did they have to lose?

On the other hand, they were charmed by Soraya. They adored the soft way she spoke to them even while they admired her beautiful face and shapely figure. For her they would answer questions, although they insisted that it would be impossible for anyone outside their close-knit circle to pose as a native fisherman without their knowledge. They knew by sight every boat and ship that plied the local waters, and they assured her that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred in their recent collective memory.

— But there are the dive companies, one grizzled seaman told them. His hands, as they mended his nets, were as big as his head. He spat to one side to show his displeasure. -Who knows who their clients are? And as for their staffs, well, they seem to change from week to week, so no one can keep track of them, let alone note their comings and goings.

Soraya and Chalthoum divided up the list of twenty-five dive firms the fishermen gave them, setting out for different ends of the city, agreeing to meet at a carpet shop in the El Dahar bazaar whose owner was a good friend of Amun‘s.

Soraya went down to the sea, visiting eight of the dive companies, one by one, crossing them off her list as she went. With each she boarded their boats, interviewed the skippers and crew, looked at the customer logbooks for the past three weeks. Sometimes, she had to wait for the boats to return. Other times, the owner was kind enough to ferry her out to the dive sites. After four hours of frustrating work asking the same questions and getting the same answers, she was faced with the reality: This was an impossible task. It was like looking for a needle in an endless line of haystacks. Even if the terrorists had used this method to enter Egypt, there was no assurance that the dive operators would know. And how in the world would they have explained a crate large enough to house the Kowsar 3? Once again, she was plagued with doubts about Amun‘s story, with a dread that he had been involved in the downing of the airliner.

What am I doing here? she thought. What if Amun and al Mokhabarat are the real culprits?

Despairing, she decided to can the entire enterprise after she was through interviewing the personnel at the ninth dive shop. She was ferried out to its boat by a grizzled Egyptian who constantly spat over the side. It was exceptionally hot, the sun beating down on her head; the only breath of wind came from the movement of the boat through the listless air. Even through her sunglasses, everything appeared washed out in the glare. The brine of the sea filled her nostrils, heady and mineral. The repetition had sapped her of keen interest, otherwise she would have marked the young man with the tousled dirty-blond hair edging away from her as she was introduced by the dive shop owner. She began her interviews, asking the same questions: Have you noticed any out-of-place faces in the last three weeks? Any group of seeming Egyptians who came from another boat and who went ashore the same day? Any unusually large packages? No, no, and no, what else did she expect?

She didn‘t see the young man with the tousled hair gather up equipment as he backed away, and it was only when he jumped overboard that she awoke from her bored lethargy. Running down the length of the boat, she stripped off her handbag, kicked off her shoes, and dived into the sea after him. He had pulled on a mask and an air tank before going over the side, and she saw him below her. Even though he lacked fins, he was diving deep where he must have suspected that she-not being similarly equipped-would not follow.

He was wrong about both her ability and her resolve. Her father had thrown her into a pool on her first birthday, much to her mother‘s horror, and had taught her endurance, stamina, and speed, all of which had served her well throughout high school and college, when she‘d won every award imaginable. She could have made the Olympic team, but by that time the intelligence system had engaged her and she had more important things on her agenda.

Now she powered down, slicing her way through the water, but as she neared him, he turned, startled that she had drawn so close, so quickly, and raised his spear gun. He was cocking the mechanism that drew back the barbed bolt when she struck him. He tenaciously maintained his grip on the weapon, successfully readying it to fire even as she twisted his body backward. He brought the butt of the spear gun down against her temple and as her hands came off him, he lowered the barb until it was aimed at her chest.

She scissored her legs in a powerful kick just before he pulled the trigger, and the bolt shot by her. Then she made a grab for him. Now she was uninterested in the weapon or in his hands and feet. Her sole imperative was to pull off his mask, to even the playing field between them, because her lungs were beginning to burn and she knew she couldn‘t stay under for much longer.

Her pounding heart beat off the seconds, one, two, three, as they struggled, until at last she managed to rip off his mask. Water flooded against his face and, though he twisted to the left and right, she pulled the mouthpiece out and inserted it into her mouth, taking a couple of breaths before she kicked upward, holding him in an armlock. She spat out the mouthpiece as they bobbed to the surface.

The captain had raised the anchor while they‘d been underwater, and now the boat maneuvered close enough for hands to reach down and pull them both aboard.

— Get my handbag, Soraya said breathlessly as she sat on the young man‘s back, pinning him to the deck. She took deep, even breaths, smoothed her hair back from her face, and felt the water already warmed by the sun trickling over her shoulders.

— Is this the one you‘re looking for? the owner asked anxiously as he handed over the bag. -He‘s been here for three days, no more.

Shaking her hands to dry them, Soraya rummaged for her phone. She opened it, slowed her breathing even more, and punched in Chalthoum‘s number. When he answered, she told him where she was.

— Good work. I‘ll meet you on the dock in ten minutes, he said.

Putting her cell away, she glanced down at the young man beneath her.

— Get off me, he panted. -I can‘t breathe.

Sitting on his diaphragm wasn‘t helping, she knew, but she could summon up no sympathy.

— Sonny, she said, — you are in a world of hurt.

Bourne awoke into a web of shadows. The soft, intermittent hiss of traffic drew his eyes to a shaded window. Outside, streetlights shone through the darkness. He was lying on his side on what felt like a bed. Moving his head, he looked around the bedroom, which was small and comfortably furnished but didn‘t feel well lived in. Beyond an open doorway a slice of living room was visible. He stirred, sensing he was alone. Where was he? Where was Tracy?

In answer to his second question, he heard the front door open in the living room and recognized Tracy‘s sharp, quick gait as she came across a wooden floor. When she entered the bedroom, he tried to sit up.

— Please don‘t, you‘ll only aggravate your wound, she said. She put down some packages and sat beside him on the bed.

— My back was barely scratched.

She shook her head. -A bit deeper, but I‘m talking about the wound in your chest. It‘s started seeping. She unpacked items she had obviously bought at the local pharmacy: alcohol, antibiotic cream, sterile pads, and the like. -Now hold still.

As she went to work stripping the old bandage and cleaning the wound, she said, — My mother warned me about men like you.

— What about me?

— Always getting into trouble. Her fingers worked quickly, nimbly, surely. -The difference is that you know how to get yourself out of whatever mess blows up around you.

He grimaced at the pain but didn‘t flinch. -I have no choice.

— Oh, I don‘t think that‘s true. She bunched up a wad of soiled sterile pads, then took up another, soaking it in alcohol and applying it to the reddened flesh. -I think you go looking for trouble, I think that‘s who you are, I think you‘d be unhappy-and, worse for you, bored-if you didn‘t.

Bourne laughed softly, but he didn‘t think she was far off the mark.

She examined the newly cleaned wound. -Not so bad, I doubt you‘ll need a fresh round of antibiotics.

— Are you a doctor?

She smiled. -On occasion, when I have to be.

— That answer requires an explanation.

She palpated the flesh around his wound. -What the hell happened to you?

— I got shot, don‘t change the subject.

She nodded. -Okay, as a young woman-a very young woman-I spent two years in West Africa. There was unrest, fighting, horrible atrocities perpetrated. I was assigned to a field hospital where I learned triage, how to dress a wound. One day we were so overloaded with wounded and dying, the doctor put an instrument in my hand and said, ‗There‘s an entry wound but no exit wound. If you don‘t get the bullet out right away your patient will die.‘ Then he went off to work on two other patients at once.

— Did your patient die?

— Yes, but not because of his wound. He‘d been terminal before he‘d been shot.

— That must have helped some.

— No, she said, — it didn‘t. Throwing the last of the used pads into a wastebasket, she applied the antibiotic cream and began the bandaging process. -You must promise not to abuse this again. The next time the bleeding will be worse. She sat back inspecting her work. -Ideally, you should be in hospital, or at least see a doctor.

— This isn‘t an ideal world, he said.

— So I‘ve noticed.

She helped him to sit up. -Where are we? he asked.

— An apartment of mine. We‘re on the other side of town from Maestranza.

He transferred to a chair, sat back gingerly. His chest felt as if it were made of lead. It beat with a dull ache as if from pain remembered from long ago. -Don‘t you have an appointment with Don Fernando Hererra?

— I postponed it. She looked at him inquiringly. -I couldn‘t possibly go without you, Professor Alonzo Pecunia Zuiga. She was speaking of the Goya expert from the Prado he was going to impersonate. Then, abruptly, she smiled. -I like money too much to spend it when I don‘t have to.

She stood, moving him back to the bed. -But now you must rest.

He was going to answer her but his eyelids had already slid down. With the darkness came a deep and peaceful sleep.

Arkadin pushed his recruits through the desolate landscape of NagornoKarabakh, working them twenty-one hours a day. When they began to doze on their feet, he slammed them with his baton. He never had to hit any of them twice. For three hours they slept wherever they happened to be, sprawled on the ground, all except Arkadin himself for whom sleep had been completely banished months ago. Instead, his mind was filled with scenes from the past, from the end of his days in Nizhny Tagil, when Stas‘s men were closing in on him and it seemed as if his only choice was to kill as many of them as he could before they shot him to death.

He wasn‘t afraid to die, that was clear to him from the outset of his forced incarceration in the basement, venturing out only at night for quick forays for food and fresh water. Above him was a hive of activity as the remaining members of Stas‘s gang feverishly coordinated the ever-intensifying search for him. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, he might have had reason to think that the gang would move on to other matters, but no, they nursed their grudge like a colicky baby, inhaling its poison until to a man they were gripped by an unshakable obsession. They wouldn‘t rest until they dragged his corpse through the streets as an object lesson for anyone else who might think of interfering with their business.

Even the cops, who were, in any event, on the gang‘s payroll, had been co-opted into the citywide dragnet by the random storms of violence visited on Nizhny Tagil night after night. They were used to turning a blind eye, even at times laughed about it, but not now-the attacks had escalated to a level that made them a laughingstock in the eyes of the state police. It was typical of their thinking that rather than clamping down on Stas‘s gang, they took the easy way and capitulated to its demands. So almost everyone was on the lookout for Arkadin, there was no surcease, there could only be a nasty end.

That was when Mikhail Tarkanian, whom Arkadin would eventually call Mischa, arrived in Nizhny Tagil from Moscow. He had been sent by his boss, Dimitri Ilyinovich Maslov, head of Kazanskaya, the most powerful family of the Moscow grupperovka, the Russian mafia, involved in drugs and black-market cars. Through his many eyes and ears Maslov had heard of Arkadin, had heard of the bloodbath he‘d single-handedly caused and its stalemate aftermath. He wanted Arkadin brought to him. -The problem, Maslov told his men, — is that Stas‘s men want to tear him limb from limb. He handed them a file. Inside were a sheaf of grainy black-and-white surveillance shots, a gallery of Stas‘s remaining crew, each with his name carefully written on the reverse. Maslov‘s eyes and ears had been busy, indeed, and it occurred to Tarkanian, even if it didn‘t to the scowling Oserov, that Maslov must want Arkadin very badly to go to so much trouble to extract him from what seemed like an intractable situation.

Maslov could have sent his chief enforcer, Vylacheslav Germanovich Oserov, at the head of a raiding party to take Arkadin by force, but Maslov was a canny dispenser of his power. Far better to make Stas‘s gang part of his empire than to start a blood feud with whoever was left after his own people got through with them.

So instead he sent Tarkanian, his chief political negotiator. He ordered Oserov along to protect Tarkanian, an assignment Oserov openly despised, adamant that if Maslov had listened to him he, Oserov, could easily have taken Arkadin from the hick baboons of Nizhny Tagil, as he called them. -I‘d have this Arkadin back in Moscow within forty-eight hours, guaranteed, he told Tarkanian several times during their tedious journey into the foothills of the Ural Mountains.

By the time they arrived in Nizhny Tagil, Tarkanian was sick to death of Oserov who, as he later told Arkadin, — felt like a woodpecker attached to my head.

In any event, even before Maslov‘s emissaries left Moscow, Tarkanian had formed the outline of the plan to extract Arkadin from his predicament. He was a man with a natural Machiavellian mind. The deals he made for Maslov were legendary in both their bewildering complexity and their unerring effectiveness.

— The mission is misdirection, Tarkanian told Oserov as they approached their destination. -To that end we need to create a straw man for Stas‘s gang to go after.

— What do you mean we? Oserov said with typical surliness.

— I mean you‘re the perfect man to establish the straw man for me.

— Oserov looked at me with that dark look of his, Tarkanian told Arkadin much later, — but he was powerless to do more than yelp like a kicked dog. He knew my importance to Dimitri, and this kept him in line. Barely.

— You‘re right about one thing, we‘re dealing with baboons, he told Oserov, throwing him a bone. -And baboons are motivated by only two things: the carrot and the stick. I‘m going to provide the carrot.

— Why should they want anything to do with you? Oserov said.

— Because the moment you hit town you‘re going to do what you do best: make life a living hell for them.

This answer drew a rare smile from Oserov‘s face.

— And do you know what he said to me then? Tarkanian whispered to Arkadin much later. -He said, ‗The more blood, the better.‘

And he meant it. Forty-three minutes from the moment he entered Nizhny Tagil, Oserov found his first victim, one of Stas‘s oldest, most loyal soldiers. He put a bullet through one ear at close range, then went to work butchering him. The head he left intact, looking out from the chest cavity in a gruesome parody of a cheap horror film.

Needless to say, the rest of Stas‘s men were incensed. Business ground to a halt. Three death squads with three men each were sent out, searching for this new killer. They knew it wasn‘t Arkadin because the killing wasn‘t his typical method.

They weren‘t frightened yet, but that would come. If there was anything Oserov knew how to engender in others, it was fear. Choosing another victim at random among the photos in the dossier Maslov had given them, Oserov stalked the gang member. Finding him on the doorstep of his house, with the door open and his children peeping out, Oserov shot him, shattering the bone in his right thigh. With his victim‘s children screaming and his wife running to the front door from the kitchen, Oserov sprinted across the pavement, leapt up the concrete steps, and put three bullets in the man‘s abdomen in precisely the places where he‘d bleed most heavily.

That was day two. Oserov was just warming up, there was far worse to come.

Pinprick, Humphry Bamber said. -What do you mean, Pinprick?

Veronica Hart shot Moira a nervous look. -I was hoping you could tell us, she said.

Hart‘s cell buzzed and she walked out of earshot to take it. When she returned, she said, — The backup I ordered is waiting outside.

Moira nodded, leaned forward, toward Bamber, forearms resting on her crossed knee. -The word pinprick was paired with the name of your software program.

He looked from her to the DCI. -I don‘t understand.

Moira felt the air go out of her. -I met with Steve just before… before he disappeared. He was terrified of what was going on at the DoD and the Pentagon. He intimated that the fog of war had already started to permeate the atmosphere at both places.

— And, what, you think Bardem has something to do with that fog of war?

— Yes, Moira said firmly. -I do.

Bamber had begun to sweat. -Christ, he said, — if I had any idea the real-world situation Noah was going to use the program for included war-

— Excuse me, Moira said hotly, — but Noah Perlis is a high-ranking member of Black River. How could you not know-or at least suspect?

— Back off, Moira, Hart said.

— I will not back off. This-idiot savant-has given Noah the keys to the castle. Because of Bamber‘s stupidity Noah and the NSA are planning something.

— Something what? Bamber‘s voice was almost pleading. He seemed desperate to know what he was complicit in.

Moira shook her head. -That‘s just it, we don‘t know what, but I‘ll tell you one thing: Unless we find out and stop them I‘m afraid that we‘ll all live to regret it.

Bamber, clearly shaken, rose. -Whatever I can do, however I can help, just tell me.

— Go get dressed, Hart said. -Then we‘d like to take a look at Bardem. My hope is that we‘ll get a better idea from the program itself what Noah and the NSA have in mind.

— It won‘t take me a minute, he said. He ducked out of the office.

For a time, the two women sat in silence. Then Hart said, — Why do I get the feeling that I‘m being outmaneuvered?

— You mean Halliday?

Hart nodded. -The secretary of defense has decided to reach out to the private sector for whatever he has in mind-and make no mistake, no matter how clever Noah Perlis is, he‘s taking his orders from Bud Halliday.

— Taking his money, too, Moira said. -I wonder what Black River‘s bill for this little escapade is going to be.

— Moira, whatever differences we‘ve had in the past, we agree on one thing-that our former employer is without scruples. Black River will do anything if the price is right.

— Halliday has a virtually unlimited source, the US Mint. You and I both saw the flats of hundred-dollar bills Black River transshipped from here to Iraq during the first four years of the war.

Hart nodded. -One hundred million in each flat, and where did the money go? To fight the insurgents? To pay off the army of indigenous informers Black River claimed to get their intel from? No, you and I know, because we saw it, that ninety percent of it went into blind bank accounts in Liechtenstein and the Caymans of dummy corporations owned by Black River.

— Now they don‘t have to steal it, Moira said with a cynical laugh,

— because Halliday is giving it to them.

A moment later they rose and went out of the office as Humphry Bamber emerged from the men‘s locker room. He was dressed in neatly pressed jeans, polished loafers, a blue-and-black-checked shirt, and a gray suede car coat.

— Is there another exit? Moira asked him.

He pointed. -There‘s an employee and delivery entrance behind the administrative offices.

— I‘ll get my car, Moira said.

— Hold on. Hart opened her phone. -It‘s better for me to do it; my people are outside and I need to instruct them to deploy outside the front entrance to make it look as if we‘re taking Bamber out that way. She held out her hand and Moira gave her the keys. -Then I‘ll go get your car and pick you two up around back. Moira?

Moira drew her custom Lady Hawk from its thigh holster while Bamber goggled with his mouth half open.

— What the hell is going on? he said.

— You‘re getting the protection you wanted, Hart said.

As she disappeared down the corridor, Moira motioned to Bamber, allowing him to lead her back toward the admin offices. She used her DoD-issue ID on the few managers who questioned their presence in the health club‘s back office.

When they approached the rear door, she pulled out her phone and dialed Hart‘s private number. Once the DCI answered, she said, — We‘re in position.

— Count to twenty, Hart‘s reply came in her ear, — then bring him out.

Moira snapped shut her phone and put it away. -Ready?

Bamber nodded even though it wasn‘t really a question.

She counted off the rest of the time, then wrenched the door open with her free hand and, with her gun at the ready, moved out, presenting only her profile. Hart had stopped the white Buick directly in front of the entrance. She‘d opened the near-side rear door.

Moira took a look around. They were in a remote section of the parking lot. The blacktop was surrounded by a twelve-foot Cyclone fence topped with razor wire. To the left was a row of huge lidded bins to hold the health club‘s trash and recyclables between garbage pickups. To the right was the turnaround to exit the lot. Beyond rose blocks of anonymous-looking apartment and mixed-use buildings. No other vehicles were in this section of the lot, and a view of the street was blocked off by screening on the outside of the fence.

Glancing back over her shoulder, Moira made eye contact with Bamber.

— Okay, she said, — keep your head low and get into the backseat as quickly as you can.

Crouching down, he scuttled across the short distance from the doorway to the Buick, Moira covering him the whole way. Within the safety of the car, he scrambled across the seat to the far side.

— Get your head down! Hart ordered as she swiveled her torso around the front bucket seat. -And keep it down no matter what.

Then she called to Moira. -Come on, come on! What are you waiting for?

Let‘s get the hell out of Dodge!

Moira went around the back of the Buick and took one last surveillance look at the garbage bins up against the Cyclone fence. Had there been some movement there or was it just a shadow? She took several steps toward the bins, but Veronica Hart stuck her head out the window.

— Dammit, Moira, would you get into the car!

Moira turned back. Ducking her head, she came around the back of the Buick and stopped dead in her tracks. Kneeling down, she peered into the tailpipe. There was something there, something with a tiny red eye, an LED

that now began to blink rapidly…

Jesus, she thought. Oh, God!

Tearing around to the open door, she yelled, — Out! Get out now!

She bent, pulling Bamber across the leather seat, hauling him out of the car. -Ronnie, she called, — get out! Get out of the fucking car!

She saw Hart turn, momentarily bewildered, then move to un-buckle her seat belt. In a moment it became clear that something was wrong because she couldn‘t get free; something was in the way or the locking mechanism was malfunctioning.

— Ronnie, do you have a knife?

Hart had a penknife out and was sawing through the material that held her fast.

— Ronnie! Moira screamed. -For God‘s sake-!

— Get him away! Hart yelled at her, and then, as Moira took a step toward her, — Get the fuck away!

In the next instant the Buick went up like a Roman candle, the shock wave slamming Moira and Bamber to the blacktop, showering them with smoldering patches of plastic and spirals of hot metal that stung like bees flushed from their hive.