“Don’t count on it, Jason Bourne—or David whoever...
“Don’t count on it, Jason Bourne—or David whoever you 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
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and concierges black chanel quilted bag celeb 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 régimeHowever, 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 Number One
“My English not good,” announced the uniformed rolex watch replica man, nodding at his visitors, “but is
understandingAlso, for you I have no name, no official positionCall me colonel, yes? It is below
my rank, but all Americans think all Soviets in Komitet are ‘colonel,’ da? Okay?”
“I speak Russian,” replied Alex“If it’s easier for you, use it, and I’ll translate for my
colleague
“Hah!” roared the colonel, laughing“So Krupkin cannot fool you, yes?”
“Yes, he can’t fool me, noHe talks too fast, da? Even in Russian his words come like stray bullets
“In French, also, Colonel
“Speaking of which,” intruded Dimitri, “may we get to the issue at hand, comrade? Our
associate in the Dzerzhinsky said we were to come over immediately The KGB officer walked to the huge ebony console, picked up a remote
control, and turned to the others“I will speak English—is good practice
Everything is on one cartridgeAll material taken by men and women Krupkin select to follow our
people who speak the French
“People who could not be compromised by the Jackal,” bag by louis vuitton clarified Krupkin
“Watch!” insisted the peasant-colonel, pressing a button on the remote control
The screen came alive on the console, the opening shots crude and choppyMost had been taken
with hand-held video cameras from car windowsOne scene after another showed specific men
walking in the Moscow streets or getting into official vehicles, driving or being driven throughout
the city and, in several cases, outside the city over country roadsIn every case the subjects under
surveillance met with other men and women, whereupon the zoom lenses enlarged the facesA
number of shots took place inside buildings, the scenes murky and dark, the result of insufficient
light and awkwardly held concealed cameras
“That one is expensive whore!” laughed the colonel as a man in his late sixties escorted a much
younger woman into an elevator“It is the Solnechy Hotel on the VarshavkoyeI will personally
check the general’s vouchers and find a loyal ally, da?”
The choppy, cross-cutting tape continued as balenciaga magenta giant work Krupkin and the two Americans grew weary of the
seemingly endless and pointless visual recordThen, suddenly, there was an exterior shot of a huge
cathedral, crowds on the pavement, the light indicating early eveningBasil’s Cathedral in Red Square,” said Krupkin“It’s a museum now and a very fine one,
but every now and then a zealot—usually foreign—holds a small serviceNo one interferes, which,
of course, the zealots want us to do
The screen became murky again, the vibrating focus briefly and wildly swaying; the camcorder
had moved inside the cathedral as the agent operating it was jostled by the crowdsThen it became
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steady, held perhaps against a pillarThe focus now was on an elderly man, his hair white in
contrast to the lightweight black raincoat he was wearingHe was walking down a side aisle
pensively glancing at the succession of icons and the higher majestic stained-glass windows
“Rodchenko,” said the peasant—colonel, his voice omega knockoff watch guttu