Smith heard Beckmann’s low laugh. “It’s the FBI’s. Even I’m not crazy enough to hot-wire a department vehicle.”
“Forget the hospital. Get me to an Army doctor with experience in mustard gas injuries and when he’s done get me home.”
55
SMITH SAT IN FRONT OF his computer screen in the quiet of his kitchen early on a Sunday morning. The sores on his arms had healed within three weeks thanks to his rapid cleansing of the mustard gas, but his eyes were still mending. Bright light bothered him, and he wore sunglasses continuously when outside. He’d received word that Howell was recuperating as well, but at a much slower pace due to a higher level of exposure. Wendel told him that Jordan also was healing well, but wouldn’t return to active duty for at least another three months, and Russell checked in periodically. The decontamination of both the bacteria and the gas had gone well thanks to Ohnara, who had stepped up to assist with cleanup once it became clear that Smith could not.
He logged onto his e-mail and left the laptop whirring while he made a fresh pot of coffee. He heard the sound of his Internet phone ringing and headed back to the computer. It was Russell calling. He turned on the web camera.
“Good morning,” she said. She had been recuperating at an undisclosed location. In the past three weeks she’d gained back some of the weight she’d lost, and her skin was less pale. Smith held up his empty coffee cup.
“Good morning to you. How are you feeling?”
“Very good, and you?”
“Better. My eye doctor seems to think I’ll heal just fine. It’ll be nice to be able to walk around in the sun without getting a migraine. How’s Howell?”
“He checked himself out of the hospital and returned to his house in the mountains. Said he couldn’t take all the interruptions. I guess they woke him up late at night once too often.”
“Beckmann?”
“Back in Europe. And Brand says hello and to tell you that the man on the roof that Beckmann shot was another of Dattar’s crew. A man named Rajiid. And they were finally able to identify the bodies in the building as Bilal, Manderi, Dattar, and Harcourt.”
“Why’d he do it?”
“Harcourt?”
“Yes.”
Russell sighed. “Cromwell’s keeping a lot close to the vest since the news broke of the CIA and NYPD liaison. Seems as though the agency’s lawyers are screaming bloody murder. They claim the sharing program with the NYPD was never approved by them, and they’re afraid that it appears as though the CIA was engaging in domestic spying. The most I could get out of Cromwell is that Dattar had promised Harcourt and Manderi hundreds of millions of dollars and large tracts of land back in his country. Both men were deeply in debt. Apparently there’s also some evidence that Harcourt was intending to pull a double cross and turn Dattar over to the agency before the bacteria was placed. He’d then look like a hero.”
“Like the fireman who starts the fire so he can put it out?”
Russell sighed. “I guess so. And we’ve received intelligence that a group of countries may have been bankrolling Dattar. They call themselves the Janus Consortium. All of the countries deny it vehemently, of course.”
“Of course,” Smith said.
“And the large tracts of land that Dattar was promising actually belonged to the Reddings. Their utility holdings have been returned to them. Have you heard from Nolan?”
“Nothing.”
Russell shook her head. “For a civilian she does a pretty good job of dropping out of sight, doesn’t she?”
“That she does.”
“Well, enjoy your Sunday.”
“You, too.” Russell smiled at him and logged off. Smith went to the coffeepot to refill his cup. The pinging sound of an incoming message brought him back to the table.
The screen contained a picture of a stylized “KD” logo. Beneath it were the words:
“This is an automated message. Please do not reply. You have been sent 23,500 kilodollars mined from various points on the web for your use should you ever need them. Please click the link below to download them to your hard drive.” There was a hyperlink below the notice. Farther down was one word:
SAFE
Author’s Note
My first experience with Robert Ludlum’s novels was through my mother, who came home one day with his book The Matarese Circle and proceeded to read it while making dinner and preparing for work. She was a jazz singer in Chicago at the time and would vocalize in the early evening before heading to the clubs. Not so that day. That day she was silent, reading. She finished it in twenty-four hours and then raved as she passed it to me. From that novel, our mutual love of thrillers was born. My favorite was, and still is, The Bourne Identity. A nearly perfect plot for a thriller.
When I was asked to write this novel, I thought about what made Robert Ludlum’s books so fascinating. Pacing, certainly, and plot, yes, but also characters. You really cared if Jason Bourne would discover his true identity, and you worried along with him that what he would discover would be abhorrent to him. I wanted to write about Jon Smith with the same humanity, and I wanted to give him a high-stakes plot that also fit within our current worldview. I also wanted to add some interesting tidbits from the real world, and so while this book is fiction, there are two aspects that are not.
First, the “electric” bacteria Shewanella MR-1 is real and does colonize, conduct through metal, and breathe through tiny wirelike pili. The Navy has been testing it to determine if it has the ability to generate electricity. It does, and from what I could gather, testing appears to continue. I didn’t find any studies regarding weaponizing it as described in the novel, and I hope there never will be.
Second, Nolan’s mining and use of “kilodollars” are actually based on a currency system called “Bitcoins.” I read about Bitcoins in a Forbes article some time ago, and I find the idea of a virtual currency that can be mined from the Internet fascinating.
However, the hotel under attack in the beginning of the novel is fictional and its architecture is a mixture of several hotels in The Hague and in the suburb of Scheveningen. If you’re planning on visiting either location, you can sleep without worry.
I’d like to thank Mr. Kevin Ortiz of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority for his assistance with some of the aspects of the New York subway system. While security considerations made it impossible for him to answer all of my questions, he helped me with facts and figures when he could. Any mistakes are mine.
I’d also like to thank my agent, Barbara Poelle; the Estate of Robert Ludlum, for giving me the opportunity to create a story using Mr. Ludlum’s characters; Henry Morrison, agent for the Estate; and everyone at Grand Central Publishing, for guiding me through the process. Thank you to my editor, Jaime Levine, for her astute insights and suggestions; my second editor, Mitch Hoffman, who picked up the reins so seamlessly; my production editor, Kallie Shimek; and my copy editor, Georgia Maas. As always, thank you to my family for their support and enthusiasm.
And lastly, to the late Mr. Robert Ludlum. It’s been an honor to play a small role in continuing his legacy. This book was a pleasure to write, and I hope that you enjoy reading it.
Jamie Freveletti
May 8, 2012
About the Authors
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, visit www.Robert-Ludlum.com.
JAMIE FREVELETTI is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of Running from the Devil, Running Dark, and The Ninth Day, which was named one of the “Best Thrillers of 2011” by Suspense Magazine and “Best of Chicago” by the Chicago Tribune. A trial attorney with a
diploma in international studies, she is an avid distance runner and holds a black belt in Aikido, a Japanese martial art. She lives in Chicago with her family.
Praise for the Covert-One Novels
“Fast-paced and action-filled, with iconic characters and contemporary themes…Fans of Ludlum…thrillers will find The Ares Decision right on target.”
—Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA) on The Ares Decision
“A tight and tense pageturner.”
—Booklist on The Ares Decision
“Fast-paced, exciting…a winner.”
—Booklist on The Arctic Event
“The cinematic chase through changing landscapes and mounting body count gives the book its rapid pace, while insider politics, tradecraft, and technical wizardry lend an extra kick.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Cassandra Compact
“Packed with all the classic Ludlum elements…the intricately engineered plot thunders forward at breakneck pace. Bottom Line: Perfectly executed.”
—People on The Altman Code
Praise for Jamie Freveletti
“Jamie Freveletti shows once again why she is one of the top thriller writers working today.”
—Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author,
on The Ninth Day
“Exciting…Caldridge’s grit, ingenuity, and courage should win her new fans.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Ninth Day
“Just terrific—full of thrills and tradecraft, pace and peril. An outstanding debut.”
—Lee Child on Running from the Devil
“This is a breathless, hair-raising read, one of the most gripping thrillers I’ve read in a long, long time.”
—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling
author, on Running from the Devil
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 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 Paul Janson Novels
The Janson Directive
The Janson Command (by Paul Garrison)
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 Jamie Freveletti
Running from the Devil
Running Dark
The Ninth Day
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Myn Pyn, LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
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New York, NY 10017
www.HachetteBookGroup.com
First e-book Edition: September 2012
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 Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4555-1813-5
Contents
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
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24
25
26
27
28
29
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31
32
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35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
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55
Author’s Note
About the Authors
Praise for the Covert-One Novels
Also by Robert Ludlum
Copyright
The Janus Reprisal Page 34