Instead, it was shinier and smaller, somehow thicker, lower
to the ground and more powerfulThe one glaring, blinding similarity it had to the police van was
the searchlightNo, not one, but two searchlights, one on either side of the windshield, both
beams swinging back and forth scanning the vehicle?s flanksJason reached for the weapon in his
belt?the gun he had borrowed from Bernardine?knowing that his companion already had his
backup automatic out of his pocketThe beam of the left searchlight shot over their bodies as
Bourne whispered, ?Good work, but how did you spot it??
?The moving reflections of the lamps on the side windows,? replied old Fran?ois?I thought for
a moment it was my former colleague returning to finish the job he had contemplatedNamely, my
stomach in the streetMy God, look!?
The van swept past the first two buildings, then suddenly swerved into the curb and stopped in
front of the last structure, nearly two hundred feet from the storefront, the building farthest from the
Jackal?s telephoneThe instant the vehicle came to a halt the rear door opened and four men
jumped out, automatic weapons in their hands, two running to the street side, one racing down the
pavement to the front, the last guard standing menacingly by the open doors, chanel purses his MAC-10 ready to
fireA dull wash of yellow light appeared at the top of the brick steps; the door had been opened
and a man in a black raincoat came outsideHe stood for a moment looking up and down the
boulevard Lefebvre
?Is that him?? whispered Francois
?No, not unless he?s wearing high heels and a wig,? answered Jason, reaching into his jacket
pocket?I?ll know him when I see him?because I see him every day of my life!? Bourne took out
one of the grenades he had also borrowed from BernardineHe checked the release, laying down
his gun and gripping the pockmarked steel oval, tugging at the pin to make certain it was free of
corrosion
?What the hell do you think you?re doing?? asked the old Deuxi?me veteran
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
271
?That man up there is a decoy,? replied Jason, his soft voice suspended in a cold monotone?In
moments another will take his place, run down the steps and get into the van, either in the front seat
or through the rear doors?I hope the latter, but it won?t make much difference
?You?re mad! You?ll be killed! What good is a corpse to that family of yours??
?You?re not thinking, Fran?oisThe guards will run back and climb up through the rear doors
because there?s no room in frontThere?s a lot of difference between chanel jewelry online climbing into a truck and
jumping out of itFor starters, it?s a slower sequenceBy the time the last man gets in and
reaches out to close those wide doors, I?ll have a primed grenade inside that vanAnd I have no
intention of becoming a corpseStay here!?
Before Bernardine could object further, Medusa?s Delta crawled out into the dark boulevard,
dark but for the harsh stationary beams of the searchlights, which were now angled on the flanks,
thus actually enhancing Bourne?s concealmentThe hot white light around the vehicle obscured the
darkness beyond; his only extreme risk was the guard posted by the open doorsHugging the
shadows of the successive storefronts as though he were threading his way through the high grass
of the Mekong Delta toward a floodlit prisoner compound, Jason crept slowly forward with each
wayward glance of the rear guard, his eyes darting continuously up to the man by the door above
the brick steps
Suddenly another figure emerged; it was a woman carrying a small suitcase in one hand, a large
purse in the otherShe spoke to the man in the black raincoat as the guard?s attention was drawn to
both of themBourne scrambled, his elbows and knees silently pounding the hard pavement, until
he reached that point nearest the van where he could gold gucci watches observe the scene on the staircase with
minimum risk of being spottedHe was relieved to see that the two guards in the street
continuously winced and blinked under the beam of the searchlightHis status was as clean as it
could be under the tenuous circumstancesEverything now was timing, precision, and all the
expertise he could summon from times too often unremembered or too vague or too long agoHe
had to remember now; instinct had to propel him through his personal mistsThe end of the
nightmare was at hand
It was happening! Suddenly there was furious activity at the door as a third figure came rushing
out, joining the other twoThe man was shorter than his male colleague, wearing a beret and
carrying a briefcaseHe obviously issued orders that included the rear guard, who ran up to the
pavement as the new arrival hurled his briefcase down over the brick stepsThe guard instantly
clutched his weapon under his left arm and effortlessly caught the leather missile in midairNous partons! Vite!? shouted the second man, gesturing for the other two on the
brick steps to precede him down to the vanThey did so, the man in the raincoat joining the guard
at? the rear doors, the woman accompanying the one who gave the ordersThe Jackal? Was it
Carlos? Was it?
Bourne knock off chanel desperately wanted to believe that it was?therefore, it was! The sound of the vehicle?s
curbside door slamming shut was followed rapidly by the gunning of the vehicle?s powerful engine;
both were a signalThe three other guards raced from their posts to the rear doors of the vanOne
by one they climbed up inside after the man in the black raincoat, their legs stretched, arms bracing
shoulders, curved hands gripping the two metal frames that with instant muscular strain propelled
them inside as their weapons were thrown in front of themThen a pair of hands reached out for the
interior door handles?
Now! Bourne pulled the pin of the grenade and lurched to his feet, running as he had never run
in his life toward the swinging rear doors of the vanHe dived, twisting his body in flight, landing
on his back as he gripped the left panel and threw the grenade inside, the bomb?s release in his
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
272
handSix seconds and it would detonateJason got to his knees, arms extended, and crashed the
doors shutA fusillade of gunfire eruptedBut it was an unintended miracle?as the Jackal?s van
was bulletproof, it was also impervious to bullets shot from within! There were no penetrations of
the steel, only thuds and the screaming whistles of louis vuitton diaper bags ricoche

I knew a number of those Medusa pricks, and I can?t think of one that I didn?t
want to put a bullet in his head! Now you tell me there was one, and he became your Jason Bourne?
and you?ll break your balls or bust open your heart to see that he stays alive and well and out of the
Jackal?s gun sightsSo let?s cut the crap, AlexDo you want to work with me or not??
Conklin slowly sank back in his chair, a smile gradually emerging on his lips?I told you I had
no sweat with your appointment, sirIt was just intuition, but now I know whyYou were a field
man
?Good, fine,? said the director?We?ll work up a controlled surveillance and hope to Christ your
theory that they want you alive is correct because there?s no way we can cover every window or
every rooftopYou?d better understand the riskAnd since two chunks of bait are better than one in a tank of piranhas, I want to talk to Mo
Panov
?You can?t ask him to be a part of this,? countered Casset?He?s not one of us, AlexWhy
should he??
?Because he is one of us and I?d better ask himIf I didn?t, he?d give me a flu shot chanel j12 filled with
strychnineYou see, he was in Hong Kong, too?for reasons not much different from mineYears
ago I tried to kill my closest friend in Paris because I?d made a terrible mistake believing my friend
had turned when the truth was that he had lost his memoryOnly days later, Morris Panov, one of
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
24
the leading psychiatrists in the country, a doctor who can?t stand the chicken-shit psychobabble so
popular these days, was presented with a ?hypothetical? psychiatric profile that required his
immediate reactionIt described a rogue deep-cover agent, a walking time bomb with a thousand
secrets in his head, who had gone over the edgeOn the basis of Mo?s on-the-spot evaluation of
that hypothetical profile?which he hours later suspected was no more hypothetical than
Campbell?s soup?an innocent amnesiac was nearly blown away in a government ambush on New
York?s Seventy-first StreetWhen what was left of that man survived, Panov demanded to be
assigned as his only head doctorHe?s never forgiven himselfIf any of you were he, quilted chanel purse what would
you do if I didn?t talk to you about what we?re talking about right now??
?Tell you it?s a flu shot and pump you full of strychnine, old boy,? concluded DeSole, nodding
?Where is Panov now?? asked Casset
?At the Brookshire Hotel in Baltimore under the name of Morris, Phillip MorrisHe called off
his appointments today?he has the flu
?Then let?s go to work,? said the DCI, pulling a yellow legal pad in front of him?Incidentally,
Alex, a competent field man doesn?t concern himself with rank and won?t trust a man who can?t
convincingly call him by his first nameAs you well know, my name is Holland and my first name
is PeterFrom here on we?re Alex and Peter, got it??
?I?ve got it?PeterYou must have been one son of a bitch in the SEALs
?Insofar as I?m here?geographically, not in this chair?it can be assumed I was competent
?A field man,? mumbled Conklin in approval
?Also, since we?ve dropped the diplomatic drivel expected of someone in this job, you should
understand that I was a hardnosed son of a bitchI want pro input here, Alex, not emotional output
Is omega olympic watch that clear??
?I don?t operate any other way, PeterA commitment may be based on emotions and there?s
nothing wrong with that, but the execution of a strategy is ice-coldI was never in the SEALs,
you hard-nosed son of a bitch, but I?m also geographically here, limp and all, and that presumes
I?m also competent
Holland grinned; it was a smile of youth belied by streaked gray hair, the grin of a professional
momentarily freed of executive concerns so as to return to the world he knew best?We may even
get along,? said the DCIAnd then, as if to drop the last vestige of his directorial image, he placed
his pipe on the table, reached into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, popped one up to his mouth
and snapped his lighter as he began to write on the legal pad?To hell with the Bureau,? he
continued?We?ll use only our men and we?ll check every one out under a fast microscope
Charles Casset, the lean, bright heir apparent of the CIA?s directorship, sat back in his chair and
sighed?Why do I have the idea that I?m going to have to ride herd on both you omega automatic seamaster watch gentlemen??
?Because you?re an analyst at heart, Charlie,? answered Holland
The object of controlled surveillance is to expose those who shadow others so as to establish
their identities or take them into custody, whichever suits the strategyThe aim in the present case
was to trap the agents of the Jackal who had lured Conklin and Panov to the amusement park in
BaltimoreWorking through the night and most of the following day, the men of the Central
Intelligence Agency formed a detail of eight experienced field personnel, defined and redefined the
specific routes that Conklin and Panov were to take both individually and together for the next
twenty-four hours?these routes covered by the armed professionals in swift progressive relays?
and finally to design an irresistible rendezvous, unique in terms of time and locationThe early
morning hours at the Smithsonian InstitutionIt was the Dionaea muscipula, the Venus flytrap
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
25
Conklin stood in the narrow, dimly lit lobby of his apartment house and looked at his watch,
squinting to read the cartier pasha watch dial

The shortest, the most important, the most heartbreaking of livesThe life that would forever
define meThe life that had finally tied me to one star, to one planet, to one small family of
strangers
A little more time? would that be so wrong?
No,Mel whisperedust take a little more time
You never know how much time you'll have,I whispered backI knew exactly how much time I hadI couldn't take any more timeI had to do the right thing, be my true self, with what time I had left
With a sigh that seemed to come all the way from the soles of my feet and the palms of my
hands, I got up
Aaron and Brandt tiffany toggle necklace wouldn't wait foreverAnd now I had a few more questions that I needed
answeredThis time, the questions were for Doc
The caves were full of sad, cast-down eyesIt was easy enough to slip unobtrusively past them
allNo one cared what I was doing right now, except maybe Jeb, Brandt, and Aaron, and they
weren't here
I didn't have an open, rainy field, but at least I had the long south tunnelIt was too dark to run
flat out the way I wanted, but I kept up a steady jogIt felt good as my muscles warmed
I expected I would find Doc already there, but I'd wait if I had toPoor
Doc, that was usually the case gucci watches for women now
Doc had been sleeping alone in his hospital since the night we'd saved Jamie's lifeSharon had
taken her things from their room and moved them to her mother's, and Doc wouldn't sleep in
the empty roomSharon would rather kill her own happiness, and Doc's, too, than forgive
him for helping me heal Jamie
Sharon and Maggie were barely a presence in the caves anymoreThey looked past everyone
now, the way they used to look past only meI wondered if that would change when I was
gone, or if they were both so rigid in their grudge that it would be too late for them to change
What an extraordinarily buy chanel bags stupid way to waste time
For the first time ever, the south tunnel felt shortBefore I thought I'd gone halfway, I could
see Doc's light glowing dimly from the rough arch ahead
I slowed myself to a walk before I interrupted himI didn't want to scare him, to make him
think there was an emergency
He was still startled when I appeared, a little breathless, in the stone doorway
He jumped up from behind his deskThe book he was reading fell out of his hands
?Wanda? Is something wrong??
?No, Doc,? I reassured him
?Does someone need me??
?Just me I gave him a weak smile
He walked around his desk to meet me, louis vuitton travel bags his eyes wide with curiosityHe paused half a step
away and raised one eyebrow
His long face was gentle, the opposite of alarmingIt was hard to remember how he'd looked
like a monster to me before
?You are a man of your word,? I began
He nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but I held one hand up
?No one will ever test that more than I will test it now,? I warned him
He waited, eyes confused and wary
I took a deep breath, felt it expand my lungs
?I know how to do what you've been ending so many lives to discoverI know how to take the
souls from your bodies without harm to eitherOf course I know chloe dior tha

He lay down on the mat, folding his arms tightly across his chest
Again, I saw that arguing was the wrong approach to take with JamieWell, this one I could
rectify as soon as he was asleepJamie slept so deeply it was almost a comaMelanie could carry
him anywhere once he was out
?You can use my pillow,? he told me, patting the one next to the side where he lay?You don't
need to scrunch up at the bottom there
I sighed but crawled to the top of the bed
?That's right,? he said approvingly?Now, could you throw me Jared's??
I hesitated, about to reach for the pillow under my head; he jumped up, leaned over me, mulberry leather and
snatched the other pillow
We lay in silence for a while, listening to the low whistle of the doctor's breathing
?Doc has a nice snore, doesn't he?? Jamie whispered
?It won't keep you up,? I agreed
I waited for him to say something more, but he was quiet
?Was there something you wanted?? I asked
He didn't answer right away, but I could feel him struggling, so I waited
?If I asked you something, would you tell me the truth??
It was my turn to hesitate?I don't know everything,? I hedged
?You would know thisWhen we were walking? me and Jeb? he was telling me some
thingsThings he thought, but I don't know if he's black fendi spy bag right
Melanie was suddenly verythere in my head
Jamie's whisper was hard to hear, quieter than my breathing?Uncle Jeb thinks that Melanie
might still be aliveInside there with you, I mean
I said nothing to either of them
?I didn't know that could happenDoes that happen?? His voice broke, and I could hear that he
was fighting tearsHe was not a boy to cry, and here I'd grieved him this deeply twice in one
dayA pain pierced through the general region of my chest
?Does it, Wanda??
Tell himPlease tell him that I love him
?Why won't you answer me?? Jamie was really crying now but trying to muffle the sound
I crawled off the cambon chanel bed, squeezing into the hard space between the mattress and the mat, and
threw my arm over his shaking chestI leaned my head against his hair and felt his tears, warm
on my neck
?Is Melanie still alive, Wanda? Please??
He was probably a toolThe old man could have sent him just for this; Jeb was smart enough to
see how easily Jamie broke through my defensesIt was possible that Jeb was seeking
confirmation for his theory, and he wasn't against using the boy to get itWhat would Jeb do
when he was certain of the dangerous truth? How would he use the information? I didn't think
he meant me harm, but could I trust my replica fendi spy bag own judgment? Humans were deceitful, treacherous
creaturesI couldn't anticipate their darker agendas when such things were unthinkable to my
species
Jamie's body shook beside me
He's suffering,Melanie criedShe battered ineffectually at my control
But I couldn't blame this on Melanie if it turned out to be a huge mistakeI knew who was
speaking now
?She promised she would come back, didn't she?? I murmured?Would Melanie break a
promise to you??
Jamie slid his arms around my waist and clung to me for a long timeAfter a few minutes, he
whispered, ?Love you, Mel
?She loves you, tooShe's so happy that you're here and tiffany jewellery

?Of course he was
my enemy, MrBourne, and to clarify the picture for you, he still is my enemyDon?t, I beg you,
mistake my indulgences for what they are notA man?s weaknesses may intrude on his faith but
they do not diminish itI may not have the convenience of the Roman confession to expiate my sins
so as to go forth and sin again despite my belief, but I do believeMy grandfathers and
grandmothers were hanged?hanged, sir?for stealing chickens from a Romanov prince?s estate
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
368
Few, if any, of my ancestors were ever given the privilege of the most rudimentary schooling,
forget educationThe Supreme Soviet revolution of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin made possible
the beginning of all thingsThousands upon thousands of mistakes have been made?many
inexcusable, many more brutal?but a beginning was madeI, myself, am both the proof and the
error of it
?I?m not sure I understand old omega watches that
?Because you and your feeble intellectuals have never understood what we have understood
from the startBourne, envisages stages toward a just society, economic and
political, but it does not and never did state what specific form the nuts-and-bolts government will
ultimately beOnly that it could not be as it was
?I?m not a scholar in that department
?One does not have to beIn a hundred years you may be the socialists, and with luck, we?ll be
the capitalists, da??
?Tell me something,? said Jason, hearing, as Krupkin also did, the water faucets in Conklin?s
room being turned off?Could you kill Alex?Aleksei??
?As surely as he could kill me?with deep regrets?if the value of the information called for it
We are professionalsWe understand that, often reluctantly
?I can?t understand either one of you
?Don?t even try, MrBourne, you?re not there yet?you?re getting closer, but you?re not there
?Would you explain that, please??
?You?re chanel jumbo bag at the cusp, Jason?may I call you Jason??
?Please do
?You?re fifty years of age or thereabouts, give or take a year or two, correct??
?CorrectI?ll be fifty-one in a few monthsSo what??
?Aleksei and I are in our sixties?have you any idea what a leap that is??
?How could I??
?Let me tell youYou still visualize yourself as the younger man, the postadolescent man who
sees himself doing the things you did only moments ago in your mind, and in many ways you are
rightThe motor controls are there, the will is there; you are still the master of your bodyThen
suddenly, as strong as the will is and as strong as the body remains, the mind slowly, insidiously
begins to reject the necessity to make an immediate decision?both intellectually and physically
Simply put, we care lessAre we to be condemned or congratulated on having survived??
?I think you just said you couldn?t kill Alex
?Don?t count on it, Jason Bourne?or David whoever you omega automatic geneve are
Conklin came through the door, his limp pronounced, wincing in pain
?Did you strap it wrong again?? asked Jason?Do you want me to??
?Forget it,? broke in Alex irritably?You have to be a contortionist to get the goddamned thing
right all the time
Bourne understood; he forgot about any attempt on his part to adjust the prosthesisKrupkin
again looked at Alex with that strange admixture of sadness and curiosity, then spoke rapidly?The
car is parked up the street in the SverdlovIt?s less obvious over there, I?ll have a lobby steward
fetch it
?Thanks,? said Conklin, gratitude in his glance
The opulent apartment on the busy Sadovaya was one among many in an aged stone building
that, like the Metropole, reflected the grand architectural excesses of the old Russian EmpireThe
flats were primarily used?and bugged?for visiting dignitaries, and the chambermaids, doormen
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
369
and concierges cheap prada handbags were all frequently questioned by the KGB when not directly employed by the
KomitetThe walls were covered with red velour; the sturdy furniture was reminiscent of the
ancien r?gimeHowever, to the right of the gargantuan ornate living-room fireplace was an item
that stood out like a decorator?s nightmare: a large jet-black television console complete with an
assortment of tape decks compatible with the various sizes of video cassettes
The second contradiction to the decor, and undoubtedly an affront to the memory of the elegant
Romanovs, was a heavyset man in a rumpled uniform, open at the neck and stained with vestiges of
recent mealsHis blunt face was full, his grayish hair cut close to his skull, and a missing tooth
surrounded by discolored companions bespoke an aversion to dentistryIt was the face of a peasant,
the narrow, perpetually squinting eyes conveying a peasant?s shrewd intelligenceHe was
Krupkin?s Commissar gucci backpack Number