to show up and be my hero?”
“No. I was following you.”
“Why?” Abbey demanded.
“Because you have information I need.”
“I don’t know anything.”
“Yes, you do. You heard what the man on the pier said. He’s part of an organization that’s been feeding you stories. They played you, Abbey Laurent. You were their pawn. That’s why you got the interview with Sofia Ortiz. That’s why you knew about the data hack. That’s why they told you about me.”
“Medusa,” Abbey murmured.
Bourne felt a rush of adrenaline. He grabbed Abbey’s wrist and twisted. Too hard. “What do you know about Medusa?”
“You’re hurting me,” she complained.
“Tell me about Medusa!”
“I don’t know anything about them! The first time I heard the name was today. Michel said that whatever Medusa is, it has government officials scared to death. And oh, by the way, Mr. Cain, they think you’re part of it.”
Jason let go of her wrist, and she massaged it with her other hand.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Regardless of what Michel told you, I’m not part of Medusa. They set me up. They framed me for the murder in New York and put me in the crosshairs of every intelligence agent on the planet.”
“You mean like Nash Rollins?” she asked. “He came to my apartment last night.”
“I know.”
“He said you were a killer and that I should be afraid of you.”
“Well, you should probably believe him.”
“He said you were damaged. He called you a man with no past. What does that mean?”
“It’s not important,” Bourne replied.
“The man on the pier said the same thing. He said you didn’t have a past.”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“I’m a reporter. Asking questions is what I do. Besides, I’m still not sure you aren’t going to kill me, so what difference does it make?”
“The less you know about me, the better.”
Abbey opened her mouth to say something more, but she stopped. She brought her knees up on the pier and wrapped her arms around them. “What do you think I know? Why did you want to meet with me in the first place?”
“I want to know who your source is,” Jason said. “You have a source in New York. Someone gave you information about the data hack. I think whoever it is can point the way to Medusa. That’s where I need to start. That’s my only lead right now. I need to leverage your source to get inside the organization.”
“In order to do what?” Abbey asked.
“Destroy them. Expose the conspiracy.”
She studied his face in the darkness and then shook her head. “I’m sorry, who the hell are you? Who do you work for?”
“Right now, nobody. I’m on my own.”
“Why do they call you Cain?”
“It’s an identity from the past,” Bourne said.
“Do you have a real name?”
“I did, but that was a long time ago. I’m not that person anymore. I’ve had to accept that.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t.”
She gave an annoyed little sigh at his unwillingness to talk. Then she said, “Did you really save me in New York?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And you saved me again today. I guess I should say thank you.”
Bourne shrugged. “I saved you because I needed information. That’s all it is.”
You’re an asset. Nothing more.
“Why didn’t you show up on the boardwalk?” Abbey asked.
“Because it was a trap.”
“Well, how did you know I wasn’t part of Medusa, too? Why were you so sure it wasn’t me who set you up?”
He turned and stared at her. “I wasn’t sure at all.”
“Then what’s changed? Why do you trust me now?”
“I don’t trust you. I think you’re a pawn, not part of Medusa, but that doesn’t mean I trust you. Generally speaking, I don’t trust anyone.”
“I guess we’re even. Generally speaking, I don’t trust killers.”
“Smart choice,” Bourne said.
“So what happens now?”
“Now you tell me your source in New York. Who told you about the data hack? Who was feeding you information?”
“Journalists don’t reveal their sources,” Abbey said.
“Unless a source burns you, which this one did. Do you think the attempt on your life in New York was random? It wasn’t. It was Medusa. You’d outlived your usefulness to them, and they were using the riot as cover to eliminate you.”
He could see in her eyes that she hadn’t considered that possibility. “You really think they were targeting me?”
“They still are. The man on the pier proved that.”
She chewed on her fingernail. “Jesus.”
“Who’s your source?” Bourne asked again.
“He couldn’t be involved. He’s legit.”
“If he’s not involved, then he’s a pawn like you. But one way or another,