“That’s terrific. You must be wired into Carlos’ head. You kill me, he sweeps the board!” Jason took a step forward, aware of the fact that it was the first movement he had made since entering the room. He saw Villiers’ eyes widen; the gun shook, its oscillating shadow cast against the wall. A single half ounce of pressure and the hammer would plunge forward, bullet finding its mark. For in spite of madness of the moment, the hand that held that weapon had spent a lifetime gripping steel; it would be steady when the instant came. If it came. That was the risk Bourne had to take. Without Villiers, there was nothing, the old man had to understand. Jason suddenly shouted: “Go on! Fire.

Kill me. Take your orders from Carlos! You’re a soldier. You’ve got your orders. Carry them out.” The trembling in Villiers’ hand increased, the knuckles white as the gun rose higher, its barrel now leveled at Bourne’s head. And then Jason heard the whisper from an old man’s throat.

“ ‘Vous êtes un soldat ... arrêtez ... arrêtez.’ “

“What?”

“I am a soldier. Someone said that to me recently, someone very dear to you.” Villiers spoke quietly. “She shamed an old warrior into remembering who he was ... who he had been. ‘On dit que vous êtes un géant. Je le crois.’She had the grace, the kindness to say that to me also. She had been told I was a giant, and she believed it. She was wrong--Almighty God, she was wrong--but I shall try.”

André Villiers lowered the gun; there was dignity in the submission. A soldier’s dignity. A giant’s.

“What would you have me do?”

Jason breathed again. “Force Carlos into coming after me. But not here, not in Paris. Not even in France.”

“Where then?”

Jason held his place. “Can you get me out of the country? I should tell you, I’m wanted. My name and description by now are on every immigration desk and border check in Europe.”

“For the wrong reasons?”

“For the wrong reasons.”

“I believe you. There are ways. The Conseiller Militaire has ways and will do as I ask.”

“With an identity that’s false? Without telling them why?”

“My word is enough. I’ve earned it.”

“Another question. That aide of yours you talked about. Do you trust him--really trust him?”

“With my life. Above all men.”

“With another’s life? One you correctly said was very dear to me?”

“Of course. Why? You’ll travel alone?”

“I have to. She’d never let me go.”

“You’ll have to tell her something.”

“I will. That I’m underground here in Paris, or Brussels, or Amsterdam. Cities where Carlos operates. But she has to get away; our car was found in Montmartre. Carlos’ men are searching every street, every fiat, every hotel. You’re working with me now; your aide will take her into the country--she’ll be safe there. I’ll tell her that.”

“I must ask the question now. What happens if you don’t come back?” Bourne tried to keep the plea out of his voice. “I’ll have time on the plane. I’ll write out everything that’s happened, everything that I ... remember. I’ll send it to you and you make the decisions. With her. She called you a giant. Make the right decisions. Protect her.”

“ ‘Vous êtes un soldat ... arrêtez.’ You have my word. She’ll not be harmed.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

Villiers threw the gun on the bed. It landed between the twisted bare legs of the dead woman; the old soldier coughed abruptly, contemptuously, his posture returning. ‘To practicalities, my young wolfpack,” he said, authority coming back to him awkwardly, but with definition. “What’s this strategy of yours?”

“To begin with, you’re in a state of collapse, beyond shock. You’re an automaton walking around in the dark, following instructions you can’t understand but have to obey.”

“Not very different from reality, wouldn’t you say?” interrupted Villiers. “Before a young man with truth in his eyes forced me to listen to him. But how is this perceived state brought about? And why?”

“All you know--all you remember--is that a man broke into your house during the fire and smashed his gun into your head; you fell unconscious. When you woke up you found your wife dead, strangled, a note by her body. It’s what’s in the note that’s driven you out of your mind.”

“What would that be?” asked the old soldier cautiously.

“The truth,” said Jason. “The truth you can’t ever permit anyone to know. What she was to Carlos, what he was to her. The killer who wrote the note left a telephone number, telling you that you could confirm what he’s written. Once you were satisfied, you could destroy the note and report the murder any way you like. But for telling you the truth--for killing the whore who was so much a part of your son’s death--he wants you to deliver a written message.”

“To Carlos?”

“No. He’ll send a relay.”

“Thank God for that. I’m not sure I could go through with it, knowing it was him.”

“The message will reach him.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll write it out for you; you can give it to the man he sends. It’s got to be exact, both in what it says and what it doesn’t say.” Bourne looked over at the dead woman, at the swelling in her throat.

“Do you have any alcohol?”

“A drink?”

“No. Rubbing alcohol. Perfume will do.”

“I’m sure there’s rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet.”

“Would you mind getting it for me? Also a towel, please.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Put my hands where your hands were. Just in case, although I don’t think anyone will question you. While I’m doing that, call whomever you have to call to get me out. The timing’s important. I have to be on my way before you call Carlos’ relay, long before you call the police. They’d have the airports watched.”

“I can delay until daybreak, I imagine. An old man’s state of shock, as you put it. Not much longer than that. Where will you go?”

“New York. Can you do it? I have a passport identifying me as a man named George Washburn.

Its a good job.”

“Making mine far easier. You’ll have diplomatic status. Pre-clearance on both sides of the Atlantic.”

“As an Englishman? The passport’s British.”

“As a NATO accommodation. Conseiller channels; you are part of an Anglo-American team engaged in military negotiations. We favor your swift return to the United States for further instructions. It’s not unusual, and sufficient to get you rapidly past both immigration points.”

“Good. I’ve checked the schedules. There’s a seven A.M. flight, Air France to Kennedy.”

“You’ll be on it.” The old man paused; he had not finished. He took a step toward Jason. “Why New York? What makes you so certain Carlos will follow you to New York?”

“Two questions with different answers,” said Bourne. “I have to deliver him where he marked me for killing four men and a woman I didn’t know ... one of those men very close to me, very much a part of me, I think.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“I’m not sure I do, either. There’s no time. It’ll all be in what I write down for you on the plane. I have to prove Carlos knew. A building in New York. Where it all took place; they’ve got to understand He knew about it. Trust me.

“I do. The second question, then. Why will he come after you?” Jason looked again at the dead woman on the bed. “Instinct, maybe. I’ve killed the one person on earth he cares about. If she were someone else and Carlos killed her, I’d follow him across the world until I found him.”

“He may be more practical. I think that was your point to me.”

“There’s something else,” replied Jason, taking his eyes away from Angélique Villiers. “He has nothing to lose, everything to gain. No one knows what he looks like, but he knows me by sight.

Still, he doesn’t know my state of mind. He’s cut me off, isolated me, turned me into someone I was never meant to be. Maybe he was too successful; maybe I’m mad, insane. God knows killing her was insane. My threats are irrational. How much more irrational am I? An irrational man, an insane man, is a panicked man. He can be taken out.”