Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Evolution - Brian Freeman Page 0,128
hundred feet below him. He surveyed the area with his binoculars again, but from this new angle, he still saw no evidence of the Medusa team readying their assault. He ducked through the trees to the very edge of the cliff and studied the windswept water, but there were no boats waiting offshore and no Zodiacs dragged onto the rocky beach. Nothing looked amiss in the rainy Scottish night.
Where are they?
He followed the coastline until the main tower of the castle rose above the trees, four stories of old wet stone staring toward the sea. Smoke from the chimneys stung the air. Lights glowed inside a handful of windows. He’d come prepared for a fortress, with a nylon rope and bowline knot hooked to his waist under his shirt for climbing; with a hacksaw blade if he needed to cut through bars; and with smoke grenades if he needed a diversion. But when he looked for a way inside, he realized that they’d left the door open for him.
Literally.
A thick, double-paneled oak door that led into the castle’s round tower hung ajar. When he came closer, he saw cigarette butts littering the wet grass. Obviously, this was where the castle staff took their smoke breaks, and they didn’t bother to lock up the doors each time they came and went.
Gun in hand, Bourne slipped inside the castle.
Too easy!
His instincts screamed that he was walking into a trap. But he was alone.
He found himself in a cramped circular hallway, with a stone floor that ran along the tower’s rounded wall. The air had a musty smell, the product of constant dampness, and the interior was drafty and cold. He led the way with his gun, but no one challenged him. Halfway around the tower, he found a wrought-iron staircase that spiraled upward. He climbed the metal steps, which squealed with his footfalls. The entire frame shook, as loose bolts rattled under his weight.
Two stories up, Bourne found a landing with a small wooden door, barely wide enough for a man to get through. Slowly, he turned the brass knob and pushed the door open an inch. He listened inside and heard nothing, and he opened the door the rest of the way and found himself in a grand library, shaped like a half-moon, with a high ceiling and chambered windows facing toward the sea and the foggy Scottish hills. Bookshelves lined the walls, along with a series of Renaissance-style religious oil paintings. A huge fire crackled, giving heat to the cold castle. Persian rugs lay over the weathered wood floor, and a brass chandelier hung on chains from the high ceiling.
One man was inside. Scott DeRay.
“Hello, Jason,” Scott told him. “Welcome. I’ve been expecting you.”
His friend raised a crystal lowball glass that was half-filled with amber liquid. “Some scotch? It’s Laphroaig. The good stuff.”
“No.”
Bourne felt disoriented, creeping into this medieval castle and finding nothing but an old friend in a business suit, drinking whisky.
“You really could have come in the front door,” Scott added with a twinkle, “but where’s the fun in that? You never could do things the easy way. I hope we won’t have any medical bills for the guards you met along the way.”
“They’re fine,” Bourne replied, distracted.
He checked out the windows. Through the rain-dotted glass, he studied the stone wall along the coastline that led out to the cemetery and the ruins of the chapel. Below the wall, the sea crashed against the rocks. No one was there. Not on the beach or the grounds, not in the forest. The assault he’d expected wasn’t happening. Medusa wasn’t here.
He shook his head. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Medusa?”
“I was sure they’d come after you and Miles.”
“I thought the same thing,” Scott replied. “That’s why I sent Miles away to keep him out of danger.”
“Where did you send him?”
“A hotel he owns near Prestwick. He’s been there since we got back. But I sent a limo to collect him. He should be arriving shortly. The fact is, it looks like we were both wrong, Jason. Believe me, the security in this castle is much more than it appears to be. We have electronics in place around the grounds and surveillance in a perimeter for several miles. No one gets in without our knowing about it. That includes you. I tracked you from the time you arrived. There’s no one out there, Jason. Nobody’s coming.”
“They could still be on their way.”
“Maybe so, but you know as well as I do that Medusa