| I owe you more than I can ever repayTranquility?s yours as long as you
want to stayJacques turned from the railing, his eyes lingering on the fishing boat below, and
sat down opposite Prefontaine?I worry about the people down there, in the boats and on the beach
I used to have three or four boats bringing in the freshest fishNow I?ve only got one coming in for
us and what?s left of the staff all of whom are on half salary
?Then you need my money
?Come on, Judge, what money? I don?t want to appear intrusive, but Washington gave me a
pretty complete rundown on youYou?ve been living off the streets for years
?Ah, yes, Washington,? pronounced Prefontaine, raising his glass to the orange-and-azure sky
?As usual, it is twelve steps behind the crime?twenty steps where its own criminality is
concerned
?What are you talking about??
?Randolph Gates, that?s what I?m talking about?who I?m talking about
?That bastard from Boston? The one who put vintage rolex watch the Jackal on David?s trail??
?The touchingly reformed Randolph Gates, JohnnyReformed in all ways but monetary
restitution, I might addStill, nevertheless, with the mind and the conscience that I knew at
Harvard years agoNot the brightest, not the best, but with the literary and oratorical skills that
camouflaged a brilliance that was never really there
?Now what the hell are you talking about??
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437
?I visited him the other day at his rehabilitation center in Minnesota, or Michigan, I can?t
actually remember which, for I flew first class and the drinks were delivered on request
Regardless, we met and our arrangement was concludedHe?s changing sides, JohnnyHe?s now
going to fight?legally?for the people, not for the conglomerates who buy and sell on paperHe
told me he?s going after the raiders and the merger brokers who make billions in the markets and
cost thousands upon thousands in jobs
?How gucci purses can he do that??
?Because he was thereHe did it all; he knows all the tricks and is willing to commit his
considerable talents to the cause
?Why would he do it??
?Because he?s got Edith back
?Who in God?s name is Edith??
?His wifeActually, I?m still in love with herI was from the time we first met, but in those
days a distinguished judge with a wife and a child, regardless of how repulsive both might be, did
not pursue such longingsRandy the Grand never deserved her; perhaps now he?ll make up for all
the lost years
?That?s very interesting, but what?s it got to do with your arrangement??
?Did I mention that Lord Randolph of Gates made great sums of money during those lost but
productive years??
?Several timesSo??
?Well, in recognition of the services I rendered that undoubtedly contributed to the removal of a
life-threatening situation in which he found himself, said threat emanating from Paris, he saw
clearly the validity of coco chanel earrings compensating meEspecially in light of the knowledge I possessYou
know, after a number of bloodletting courtroom battles, I think he?s going after a judgeshipFar
higher than mine, I think
?So??
?So, if I keep my own counsel, get out of Boston, and for the sake of a loose tongue stay off the
sauce, his bank will forward me fifty thousand dollars a year for the rest of my life
?Jesus Christ!?
?That?s what I said to myself when he agreedI even went to Mass for the first time in thirty-odd
years
?Still, you won?t be able to go home again
?Home?? Prefontaine laughed softly?Was it really? No matter, I may have found another
Through a gentleman named Peter Holland at the Central Intelligence Agency, I was given an
introduction to your friend Sir Henry Sykes over in Montserrat, who in turn introduced me to a
retired London barrister named Jonathan Lemuel, originally a native islanderWe?re both getting
on, but neither of us is ready for a vintage omega watches different sort of ?home We may open a consulting firm,
specialists in American and UK laws where export and import licensing is concernedOf course,
we?ll have to do some boning up, but we?ll manageI expect I?ll be here for yearsJacques rose quickly from the table to replenish his drink, his eyes warily on the former,
disbarred judge
Morris Panov walked slowly, cautiously out of his bedroom and into the sitting room of Villa
Eighteen, where Alex Conklin sat in a wheelchairThe bandages across the psychiatrist?s chest
were visible under the light fabric of his white guayabera; they extended down his exposed left arm
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
438
below the elbow?It took me damn near twenty minutes to lift this useless appendage through the
sleeve!? he complained angrily but without self-pity
?You should have called me,? said Alex, spinning himself around in the chair, away from the
telephone?I can still roll this thing pretty damned seamaster de ville fas |
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