The Bourne Enigma

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by Robert Ludlum


  She followed the trio as they broke at last from the bubbling crowd, went down the block, and into a restaurant. For a moment, she stood gazing through one of the enormous windows, as the three removed their coats, handed them to a young woman, and were led by the maître d’ to a choice table. Their small movements were like that of a family—intimate, secure with each other. Her pride in Liis swelled once again, making her eyes enlarge with tears, and glow brighter than the blighted streetlights overhead. Her fingertips traced an unknown pattern on the icy glass.

  Abruptly, she turned, stepped decisively away, placing herself within the safety of the holiday throng. The rhythmic sound of a Salvation Army bell ringer floated to her from farther down Broadway, packed so tightly with pedestrians she couldn’t see across to the east sidewalk. Boys shouted to one another, and a brief snowball fight erupted before an errant missile struck an old man in the back, and they ran away, laughing.

  It’s life and life only, she thought. But it had nothing to do with her. She took out her mobile, blew on her fingertip to warm it, then pressed a speed-dial key. With the phone against her ear, she listened so intently her sense of the frenetic activity around her vanished. She might have been in a vacuum. Her body trembled.

  A moment later, she was talking with the Somali Yibir. His name was Keyre. Every scar on her body resonated to the sound of his voice, set up a yearning like a tide irresistibly bearing her back into the past.

  Moments later, she was a speck in the crowd. After that, she was gone.

  Acknowledgments

  Once again, thank you to all the people who helped with the research for this novel. Most of you have asked to remain anonymous, but you know who you are. Without your invaluable assistance The Bourne Engima would not see light in its current form. Having said that, any and all alterations (for dramatic effect) and (inadvertent) errors are mine alone.

  Biggest thank-you of all to my wife, Victoria Schochet Lustbader, my first and best editor. You make my writing so much easier.

  About the Author

  ROBERT LUDLUM was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 225 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. He is the author of The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Chancellor Manuscript, and the Jason Bourne series—The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum—among others. Mr. Ludlum passed away in March 2001. To learn more, you can visit Robert-Ludlum.com.

  ERIC VAN LUSTBADER is the author of numerous bestselling novels including First Daughter, Beloved Enemy, The Ninja, and the international bestsellers featuring Jason Bourne: The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Betrayal, The Bourne Sanction, The Bourne Deception, The Bourne Objective, The Bourne Dominion, The Bourne Imperative, The Bourne Retribution, and The Bourne Ascendancy. For more information, you can visit EricVanLustbader.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

  The JASON BOURNE NOVELS

  The Bourne Identity

  The Bourne Supremacy

  The Bourne Ultimatum

  The Bourne Legacy (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Betrayal (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Sanction (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Deception (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Objective (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Dominion (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Imperative (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Retribution (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  The Bourne Ascendancy (by Eric Van Lustbader)

  THE COVERT-ONE NOVELS

  The Hades Factor (by Gayle Lynds)

  The Cassandra Compact (by Philip Shelby)

  The Paris Option (by Gayle Lynds)

  The Altman Code (by Gayle Lynds)

  The Lazarus Vendetta (by Patrick Larkin)

  The Moscow Vector (by Patrick Larkin)

  The Arctic Event (by James Cobb)

  The Ares Decision (by Kyle Mills)

  The Janus Reprisal (by Jamie Freveletti)

  The Utopia Experiment (by Kyle Mills)

  The Geneva Strategy (by Jamie Freveletti)

  The Patriot Attack (by Kyle Mills)

  THE PAUL JANSON NOVELS

  The Janson Directive

  The Janson Command (by Paul Garrison)

  The Janson Option (by Paul Garrison)

  The Janson Equation (by Douglas Corleone)

  ALSO BY ROBERT LUDLUM

  The Scarlatti Inheritance

  The Matlock Paper

  Trevayne

  The Cry of the Halidon

  The Rhinemann Exchange

  The Road to Gandolfo

  The Gemini Contenders

  The Chancellor Manuscript

  The Holcroft Covenant

  The Matarese Circle

  The Parsifal Mosaic

  The Aquitaine Progression

  The Icarus Agenda

  The Osterman Weekend

  The Road to Omaha

  The Scorpio Illusion

  The Apocalypse Watch

  The Matarese Countdown

  The Prometheus Deception

  The Sigma Protocol

  The Tristan Betrayal

  The Ambler Warning

  The Bancroft Strategy

  ALSO BY ERIC VAN LUSTBADER

  NICHOLAS LINNEAR NOVELS

  Second Skin

  Floating City

  The Kaisho

  White Ninja

  The Miko

  The Ninja

  CHINA MAROC NOVELS

  Shan

  Jian

  JACK MCCLURE / ALLI CARSON NOVELS

  Beloved Enemy

  Father Night

  Blood Trust

  Last Snow

  First Daughter

  OTHER NOVELS

  The Testament

  Art Kills

  Pale Saint

  Dark Homecoming

  Black Blade

  Angel Eyes

  French Kiss

  Zero

  Black Heart

  Sirens

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  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Epigraph

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE 1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  PART TWO 21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  PART THREE 38

  39

  40

  41

  42

  43

  44

  45

  46

  47

  48

  49

  50

  51

  52

  53

  54

  55

  56

  57

  58

  59

  60

  61

  62

  FORTY DAYS LATER

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  The JASON BOURNE NOVELS

  Newsletters

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, chara
cters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Myn Pyn, LLC

  Jacket design by Brigid Pearson

  Jacket photo by Roy Bishop/Arcangel

  Jacket copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the authors’ intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the authors’ rights.

  Grand Central Publishing

  Hachette Book Group

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  First Edition: June 2016

  Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

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  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016939869

  ISBNs:

  978-1-4555-9794-9 (hardcover)

  978-1-4555-9812-0 (large print edition)

  978-1-4555-7088-1 (international edition)

  978-1-4555-9796-3 (ebook)

  E3-2016-053016-DA-NF

 

 

 


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