Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Evolution - Brian Freeman Page 0,49
this is a man who’s almost certainly in it for the money, not ideology. He wants to keep his hands clean. If he thinks he’s going to be exposed, if he thinks his comfortable life is at risk, he’ll crack.”
“Will he believe me?” Abbey asked. “Will he buy the story we made up?”
“That’s up to you. You need to sell it.”
“What if he knows I’m working with you?”
“Unlikely. There’s no way he’s high up enough for that kind of information.”
She glanced through the crowds in the park and recognized Carson Gattor heading toward her. “I see him. He’s coming.”
“You’ll be fine. Just do it like we practiced. I’ll be watching and listening the whole time. If anything goes sideways, I’ll be there in seconds.”
Abbey stood up from the bench and gave the lawyer a little wave. Carson nodded from near the fountain as he spotted her. He affected a calm, rich, self-confident walk, as if the world couldn’t touch him, and she wondered if she’d really be able to shake him with her lies. She felt nervous again about what she was doing. Then she reminded herself that this man had used her. He’d set her up to do Medusa’s dirty work and put her in a position to be killed. She wanted to make him shiver with fear all the way down to his Ferragamo shoes.
“Hello, Carson.”
“Abbey,” he said, giving her a quick, awkward embrace. He’d never done that before. It made her think that, underneath his cool exterior, he was nervous, too, wondering why she’d called him and what she wanted.
They both sat down. Carson draped an arm around the back of the bench and crossed his legs and smoothed the cuff of his pants. He was medium height and skinny enough that his clothes looked loose. He had a long, narrow head, which looked even longer because his black hair was greased straight back, leaving him with a high forehead. His five o’clock shadow was dark and pronounced. He was forty years old, which was a tough age for a New York lawyer. He hadn’t made enough money to retire, but to keep up with colleagues and friends, he had to spend his cash as if it were never going to run out.
“He’s already spooked,” Bourne said in her ear. “That’s good.”
Abbey suppressed a smile, because she’d been thinking the same thing.
“I appreciate your meeting me on short notice,” she told Carson.
“Of course. You made it sound important.”
“It is. I need your help.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well, first of all, I want to thank you for all of the information you’ve given me,” Abbey told him. “It’s been dead-on. You can’t believe the attention I’ve gotten for my recent articles. I’m grateful. It’s been a career maker.”
“Good for you, Abbey, but all I did was point the way. You did the rest.”
“A lot of doors are open to me now. A lot of people are coming out of the shadows with story ideas.”
“I’m pleased to hear it. If I can be useful, you know I will be. Is that what you need? More information?”
“No, that’s not it. I don’t need your help on a story.” She lowered her voice and took Carson by the wrist. “Actually, I need your help as a lawyer.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“It’s not for me. It’s for someone else.” She pretended to study the people in the park, and she let anxiety creep onto her face. “Did you tell anyone you were meeting me? Do people know where you are?”
“No. No one. Abbey, you can always count on my discretion.”
“Okay. Here’s the thing. I assume you have contacts inside the Justice Department, right? And the FBI?”
“Some, yes. What is this about?”
She bit her lip, as if struggling to get the words out. “Have you ever heard of an organization called Medusa?”
Carson was good, but not good enough. The muscles in his face made the smallest twitch, and then he recovered. His pale lips squeezed into a frown. “No, I don’t think so. What is it?”
“Apparently, it’s some kind of anarchist group trying to stir up violence and social unrest. Like the riot here after the assassination. I’m told they were involved in that. We’re not talking about a handful of nutjobs passing around manifestos from their parents’ basement. This is a well-funded, well-organized extremist faction with deep technology resources and tentacles throughout the government.”
Carson made a show of skepticism. “It’s hard to believe an organization like that could operate in secret. Wouldn’t everyone know about