The Bourne Objective

by Eric Van Lustbader

  There was a brief pause. Marks found that his hand was sweating so badly, the phone almost slipped from his grip. “Jason, please. This is important.”

  “Aren’t you going to ask me why I was with the man who knifed Diego Hererra?”

  “You can tell me, if you want. But frankly, I don’t care. I know you must’ve had a good reason.”

  “Good man. Willard is training you well.”

  “You’re right, of course, Willard’s a perfect shit. He’ll do anything to resurrect Treadstone.”

  “Why?”

  Marks hesitated. He’d never liked hitching his star to Willard’s dream, but at the time he felt he’d had no choice. And of course, Willard had played him perfectly, working on his desire to get revenge against Danziger and his puppet master, Bud Halliday. When Willard had promised him that he’d find a way to take Halliday down, and Danziger with him, he was in. But Willard had made a mistake when he’d asked Marks to betray Bourne. Willard, having no loyalty except to the idea of Treadstone, couldn’t conceive of the idea of personal loyalty, let alone have an inkling of its power.

  He took a deep breath and said, “Willard wants to get you and Arkadin together so he can determine once and for all which of Treadstone’s training protocols is superior. If Arkadin kills you, then he’ll go back to the original protocols, make some minor adjustments, and start training recruits.”

  “And if I kill Arkadin?”

  “Then, Jason, he says he’ll have to study you to find out how your amnesia has changed you, so he can alter the Treadstone training program accordingly.”

  “A monkey in a cage.”

  “I’m afraid so, yes.”

  “And you’re meant to take me back to Washington?”

  “No. It’s not that simple. But if you’ll meet me, I’ll explain everything.”

  “Maybe, Peter. If I think I can trust you.”

  “Jason, you can. You absolutely can.” Marks believed this fervently, with every fiber of his being. “When can we—?”

  “Not now. Right now, what I need from you is everything you know about Coven—specifically his methodology, tendencies, and what, if it comes to it, he’s capable of.”

  Bourne listened to Peter Marks, filing away everything he said. Then he told him he’d be in touch and disconnected. For a time, he concentrated on the traffic piling up, allowing his subconscious to work on the problem at hand—that is, how to neutralize Coven without jeopardizing Chrissie and Scarlett.

  Then he saw a sign for George Street and immediately recalled his afternoon in Oxford. And yet his thoughts were not of Chrissie and Professor Giles. As if it were yesterday, he recalled his visit to the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents at the Old Boys’ School in Oxford’s George Street. He’d gone in the guise of David Webb, visiting professor of linguistics, but inside, the Bourne identity had asserted itself. He knew, but he didn’t know how he knew, that in this moment in time he’d still had in his possession the laptop he had stolen from Jalal Essai. He had taken time out from his classes at Oxford to enter the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents. What had he done there, what was he researching? He couldn’t remember. But he did know that whatever he’d discovered there had led him to keep the laptop. What had he done with it? It was on the cusp of his memory, like the burning edge of the sun in eclipse. He almost had it, almost.

  And then the turnoff Coven had described was coming up on the right, and he had to step away from the cusp, let it go, because it was time to confront Coven.

  16

  WE’LL HAVE TO walk from here.” Barbara climbed out of the jeep. Despite the lingering heat, she had changed into jeans, cowboy boots, and a plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

  Moira followed her. They had driven for perhaps a mile, due west of the hacienda but still well within the boundaries of the immense estancia. In the distance rose dusty blue hills, and the sweet, almost fermented scent of the blue agave thickened the air. The sun wallowed just above the horizon. The ground, storing the heat of the day, was baking. To the west, the sky was white and glaring.

  “Ai, Narsico said this would all blow over, but I knew different.”

  “Why is that?” Moira said.

  “That’s the way things always happen.”

  “What things?” Moira pressed.

  “You get fucked by the smallest things.”

  “Murder is a small thing?”

  Barbara lifted her chin in a gesture of contempt. “You think I give a rat’s ass about someone I don’t even know?”

  “What became of the police investigation?” she asked as they walked through the arid scrubland.

  “The usual.” Barbara squinted into the sun. “An inspector from Tequila asked some questions, but there was no identification on the man, and no one claimed the body. He spent several weeks interviewing us and everyone on our staff. He made a complete nuisance of himself. He kept saying that there was a reason the victim was found on our estancia. We became prime suspects, but he and his kind are so inept that finally he was forced to give up spewing innuendos and speculation. Then, complete silence. So far as I knew, the case was closed.”

  “That’s the Mexican perspective,” Moira said. “For us, the murder has taken on larger implications.”

  The concern Moira had heard before crept back into Barbara’s voice. “Like what?”

  “For one thing, we know that the victim worked for your late brother in his compound outside Mexico City, so a link has been established between you and the victim.”

  “He worked for Gustavo? I had no idea. I had nothing to do with Gustavo’s business dealings.”

  “Really? The fact that you’ve been sleeping with his supplier makes that difficult to believe.”

  “And for another?”

  Moira deliberately kept silent. It appeared that they were approaching the crime scene, or at least the spot where the body had been dumped, because Barbara slowed and began to look around.

  “This is it.” Barbara pointed to a spot a few feet ahead of them. “That’s where the body was found.”

  In this arid climate, footprints from several weeks ago were still visible, but they were inextricably overlaid with the boot prints of the police. Moira picked her way slowly around the periphery, scrutinizing the ground.

  “The earth hasn’t been dug up, or even disturbed very much. It doesn’t look like the crime scene was scoured.”

  “It wasn’t. They dragged us out here while they were here,” Barbara said.

  Moira began her investigation in earnest. Snapping on a pair of latex gloves, she pawed through the dirt, dust, and scrub. By whatever mysterious means, Jalal Essai had obtained copies of the forensic photos of the victim, which showed him lying on his left side. His wrists were tied behind his back and his legs were bent at an angle, his head bent forward. From this, it could be deduced that he had been kneeling at the moment of his demise. Essai had tried to get the autopsy report, as well, but it had been lost by either the coroner’s office or the police, both of which seemed incompetent.

  “Another thing,” she said, wanting to continue to heighten Barbara’s tension, “we know the victim left the compound less than thirty minutes before the raid during which your brother was killed.” She raised her gaze to peer into Barbara’s eyes. “Which means that he had advance warning of the raid.”

  “Why are you looking at me?” Barbara said. “I told you I had nothing to do with Gustavo’s business.”

  “Are you going to keep saying that until I believe you?”

  Barbara folded her arms over her chest. “Damn you to hell, I had nothing to do with this man’s death.”

  Moira was looking for a spent shell casing. The one curious thing about the photos was that it was clear the victim had been shot with a small-caliber handgun. One shot to the base of the skull. The lack of powder or flash burns on either the victim’s skin or his clothes indicated that the killer hadn’t shot at particularly close range, which
you would certainly want to do if you meant to kill a man with one shot from a small-caliber weapon.

  Forty minutes of sifting topsoil through her fingers produced nothing. By this time she had made one complete circuit of the crime scene at a calculated distance from where the body was found. Of course, it was possible that the victim had been killed elsewhere and dumped here, but she didn’t think so. If, as she suspected, the killer’s motivation was not only to silence the victim but also to implicate the Skydels, he would want the killing to occur on their property.

  At a wider radius from the kill spot, more scrub grew, and Moira, once again down on her knees, began to excavate around the base of these gray-green plants. The sun was lowering, passing through a stray band of striated cloud. The landscape turned blue-gray in the false twilight. Moira sat back on her hams, waiting for more light. When the sun began to emerge, the crime scene was pierced with brilliant shards of red-gold, scattering across the ground at an acute angle. Their shadows stretched out behind them, attenuated giants.

  Out of the corner of her eye Moira saw a bright flash, instantaneous, like the wink of a diamond facet, and then it was gone. She turned her head and quickly picked her way to the spot where she had seen the flash. Now there was nothing. Still, she drove her fingers into the ground, pushing them forward, turning over the dusty earth.

  And there it was, suddenly, in the palm of her hand, as the granules of dirt fell away. Carefully, she plucked it up between thumb and forefinger and moved it into the sunlight. The flash came again, and she read the markings on the case, her heart beating hard and fast.

  Barbara took a step closer. “What have you found?” Her voice was a little breathless.

  Moira rose to her feet. “Has it ever occurred to you that the victim was deliberately shot on your estancia?”

  “What? Why?”

  “As I said, the victim worked for your brother, Gustavo. However, he was someone else’s creature. This someone tipped the victim to the raid, and the victim escaped. Why was he tipped off, only to be killed within hours of his escape?”

  Barbara, mute, shook her head.

  “When he left Gustavo’s compound he took with him your brother’s laptop, which contained all of Gustavo’s drug contacts.”

  Barbara licked her lips. “The person who controlled him killed him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shot him to death on my estancia.”

  “Yes. To try to implicate you,” Moira said. “What saved you was luck in the form of the incompetence of the local police.”

  “But why would this person want to implicate me in the murder?”

  “I’m speculating here,” Moira said, “but I’d say he wanted to get you out of the picture.”

  Again, Barbara shook her head, mutely.

  “Consider: The person who has Gustavo’s laptop holds your brother’s business in his hands. His plan was to muscle his way in and get rid of anyone who stood in his way.”

  Barbara’s eyes were wide and staring. “I don’t believe you.”

  “That’s where this shell casing comes in.” Moira held up the item in question. “The forensic photos showed that the victim was shot to death with one bullet to the base of the skull. The oddity was that the killer used a small-caliber handgun, even though he wasn’t standing right behind the victim. I figured that he had to be using special ammunition, and I was right.”

  She placed the spent casing in Barbara’s hand. Barbara held it up and looked at the markings in the last of the fading light.

  “I can’t read the writing.”

  “That’s because it’s Russian Cyrillic. The manufacturer is Tula. This casing is from a very special bullet, a hollow-core that’s filled with cyanide. Not surprisingly, it’s illegal, and only available in Russia. It’s not even sold over the Internet.”

  Barbara looked at her. “The killer is Russian.”

  “The man who muscled his way into Gustavo’s business.” She nodded. “That’s right, I know you’re only fronting your brother’s business. I know you and Roberto have a new partner.”

  That did it. Barbara’s face fell. “Goddammit, I told Roberto that Leonid was out to get him, but he just laughed at me.”

  “Leonid?” Moira’s heart gave a thump in her chest. “Is Leonid Arkadin your partner?”

  “Roberto said, ‘What do you know, you’re a woman, women know what they’re told to know, nothing more.’ ”

  Moira grabbed her arm in order to focus her. “Barbara, is Leonid Arkadin your partner?”

  Barbara looked away. She bit her lip.

  “Is it loyalty or fear that’s keeping your mouth shut?”

  Moira could just make out one curve of Barbara’s thin smile. “I’m loyal to no one. In this business it doesn’t pay. That’s another thing my husband doesn’t understand.”

  “Then you’re scared of Arkadin.”

  Barbara’s head swung around, and there was a violent look in her eyes. “The fucker muscled his way in. He strong-armed Roberto, for Christ’s sake, said he had Gustavo’s client list. Roberto said those were his people. Arkadin said that was in the past. He said that Gustavo was dead, he had the list, and the clients were his, as well. He said the best solution was to share the profits equally, that if Roberto didn’t agree he’d contact them without Roberto’s permission or help and supply them from other sources.

  “Roberto tried three times to kill Arkadin. All the attempts failed. Then Arkadin told him, ‘Fuck you, Gustavo’s clients are mine now, go find yourself some other pigeons to feed.’ I thought Roberto was going to have a coronary. I calmed him down.”

  “Your husband must’ve liked that,” Moira said drily.

  “My husband’s a pussy, as you can see for yourself,” Barbara said. “But he’s devoted to me and he serves his purpose.” She lifted her arms to encompass the whole of the estancia. “Besides, his business would be in the toilet without me.”

  The sun had slid behind the mountains in the west. It was growing dark very quickly now, as if an immense blanket had been thrown across the sky.

  “Let’s get back to the jeep,” Moira said as she took the shell casing from Barbara.

  On the way back to the hacienda, Barbara said, “You know Arkadin, I gather.”

  Moira knew as much as Bourne had told her. “Well enough to know that his next step will be to take over Corellos’s business completely. That’s how Arkadin operates.” It was how he’d appropriated Nikolai Yevsen’s arms distribution in Khartoum. He’d find some way to suborn a La Modelo guard or a FARC inmate or maybe one of Corellos’s many women inside prison, pay them enough to assuage their fear of the drug lord. One day soon, Moira thought, Corellos would wind up dead in his luxurious cell.

  “Arkadin is already pissed at Roberto and me,” Barbara said as she guided the jeep over the unpaved road. “The latest shipment has been delayed. The boat had to pull in for repairs because its engine overheated. If you know anything about Mexico, you know that those repairs weren’t going to happen in a matter of hours, or even overnight. The boat will be ready by tomorrow evening, but I know that’s not going to satisfy him.” Her hands were gripping the wheel so tightly, her knuckles had turned white as bone.

  “I understand, Berengária, honestly I do.”

  “Why do you disrespect me? I’ve been Barbara for years.”

  “I respect your real name. You should embrace it, not reject it.”

  When Berengária did not reply, Moira continued. “Arkadin has his rules, and they’re inflexible. Both you and Roberto will forfeit something for the delay.”

  Berengária stared straight ahead. “I know.”

  “And listen, mami, if this shipment should fail to reach its destination, someone else will be paying you a visit, someone not nearly as kind and understanding as I am. You can be sure that’s how Arkadin wants it and how it’s going to be.”

  Berengária thought for a long time. The sun had already slipped behind the purple mountains. The s
ky seemed scrubbed of clouds. In the east darkness was gathering. They seemed to drive for a long time, as if Berengária was driving in circles, as if she was reluctant to return to the hacienda. At length, she braked and put the jeep in neutral. Then she turned to Moira.

  “What if,” she said with a particular ferocity, “that’s not how I want it to be?”

  Moira experienced the joy of the wheel turning, of Berengária finally being in her sights. She returned her fierceness with a grin. “There I think I can help you.”

  Berengária stared at her with an intensity that to another woman might have been disturbing. But Moira understood what it was she wanted, what their quid pro quo would be. She admired this woman, and pitied her as well. Difficult enough to be a strong woman in a man’s world, but to maintain your strength in the Latino world was a task worthy of an Amazon. And yet, above and beyond her personal feelings was the knowledge that Berengária was her target. What she needed from Berengária she would get. Now she knew how to get it.

  Leaning over very slowly, she took Berengária’s head in her hands and pressed her lips to hers.

  Berengária’s eyes opened wide for just a split instant before they fluttered closed. Her lips softening, then opening, she gave herself over to the kiss.

  Moira felt the moment of her capitulation with both a sense of triumph and compassion. Then she felt Berengária’s hand on the nape of her neck, the pressure of passion unleashed, and she sighed into Berengária’s sweet mouth.

  My name is Lloyd-Philips, Chief Inspector Lloyd-Philips.”

  Peter Marks introduced himself and shook the proffered hand, which was pale, limp, and nicotine-stained. Lloyd-Philips, in a cheap suit, frayed at the cuffs, sported a gingery mustache and thinning hair that might once have been the same color, but now seemed dusted with ash.

  The chief inspector tried to smile, but couldn’t quite make it. Maybe those muscles had atrophied, Marks thought wryly. He showed Lloyd-Philips his bogus credentials, which claimed he worked for a private firm under the auspices of the DoD and, therefore, had the power of the Pentagon behind him.