The Bourne Deception - By Robert Ludlum & Eric van Lustbader Page 0,74
maintaining his washboard abs and hillock biceps.
He greeted them with a quizzical smile. He had thick blond hair that fell over his forehead, making him seem boyish. His wide-apart, clear eyes took them in with a cool precision that seemed oddly neutral to Moira.
?Ladies,? he said, ?what can I do for you? Marty said it was urgent.? He meant the attendant.
?It is urgent,? Hart said. ?Is there somewhere private we can talk?? Bamber?s expression sobered. ?Are you cops??
?What if we are??
He shrugged. ?I?d be more curious than I am now.?
Hart flashed her credentials, which sent his eyebrows up.
?Do you suspect me of passing secrets to the enemy??
?Which enemy?? Moira said.
He laughed. ?I like you,? he said. ?What?s your name??
?Moira Trevor.?
?Uh-oh.? At once, Bamber?s expression grew dark. ?I was warned about you.?
?Warned?? Moira said. ?By whom?? But she thought she already knew.
?A man named Noah Petersen.?
Moira recalled Noah taking Jay Weston?s cell phone from her at the scene of the killing. It was a sure bet that?s how he found Bamber.
?He said??
?His real name?s Perlis,? Moira interrupted. ?Noah Perlis. You shouldn?t trust anything he told you.?
He nodded and walked them to an unused office. They went in and he closed the door. When they were all seated, Hart said, ?I?m afraid we have some bad news. Steve Stevenson is dead.?
Bamber looked stricken. ?What??
Hart continued: ?Did Mr. Peter?Perlis tell you that??
Bamber shook his head. He put the smaller towel around his shoulders as if he?d suddenly grown cold. Moira couldn?t blame him.
?My God.? He shook his head in disbelief, then he looked at them in a kind of pleading way. ?It must be a mistake of some kind, one of those idiotic bureaucratic snafus Steve was always complaining about.?
?I?m afraid not,? Hart said.
?Noah?one of Mr. Perlis?s people?killed your friend, making it look like an accident,? Moira said in a rush of emotion. Ignoring Hart?s warning glare, she continued: ?Mr. Perlis is a dangerous man working for a dangerous organization.?
?I?? Bamber ran a hand distractedly through his hair. ?Shit, I don?t know what to believe.? He looked from one of them to the other. ?Can I see Steve?s body??
Hart nodded. ?That can be arranged, as soon as we?re through here.?
?Ah.? Bamber gave her a rueful smile. ?Like a reward, is that it?? Hart said nothing.
He nodded in capitulation. ?Okay, how can I help you??
?I don?t know if you can,? Hart said with a significant glance at Moira. ?Because if you could, Mr. Perlis wouldn?t have left you alive.?
For the first time Bamber looked truly alarmed. ?What the hell is this?? he said with understandable indignation. ?Steve and I have been close friends since college, that?s it.?
Ever since Bamber had appeared Moira had been wondering about this aging jock?s decades-long friendship with Steve Stevenson, a man who didn?t know a softball from a football and, furthermore, didn?t care. Now something Bamber just said caused a number of small anomalies to click into place.
?I think there?s another reason Noah felt confident in leaving you with a warning, Mr. Bamber,? she said, ?am I right??
Bamber frowned. ?I don?t know what you?re talking about.?
?What would frighten you so much that Noah could be assured that you wouldn?t talk??
He stood up abruptly. ?I?ve had just about enough of this badgering.?
?Sit back down, Mr. Bamber,? Hart said.
?You and Undersecretary Stevenson were more than roommates at college,? Moira pressed on. ?Just as you were more than good friends. Isn?t that right??
Bamber sat down as if all the strength had gone out of his legs. ?I want protection from Noah and his people.?
?You have it,? Hart said.
He looked at her steadily. ?I?m not kidding.?
Pulling out her cell, she punched in a number. ?Tommy,? she said into the phone, ?I need a security detail in double-quick time.? She gave her assistant the address of the health club. ?And Tommy, not a word of this to anyone outside the detail, is that clear? Good.?
She tucked away her phone, said to Bamber, ?Neither am I.?
?Good.? He sighed in relief. Then, turning to Moira, he smiled bleakly. ?You?re not wrong about Steve and me, and Noah knew neither of us could survive if the true nature of our relationship was made public.?
Moira felt the breath rush out of her. ?You called him Noah. Do you mean to tell us you know him??
?In a way, I work for him. That?s the other, more important, reason he couldn?t touch me. You see, I