— That‘s extremely generous of you, Moira said.
— It‘s nothing. He waved away her words. -I‘m afraid I don‘t have any fresh clothes for you.
Moira laughed. -I can take care of that easily enough.
— Well, then. Lamontierre gave Bamber a brief hug, and left them alone.
— He‘s a good man, Moira said.
— Yes, he is, Bamber acknowledged.
By unspoken mutual consent, they returned to the living room, where they collapsed, exhausted, on the sofas.
— What happens now? Bamber said.
— You help me find out exactly what Noah Perlis is using Bardem for.
— Really? His entire body stiffened. -And how do you propose I do that?
— How about hacking into his computer?
— How easy for both of us that would be! He shifted his position, perching himself on the edge of the cushion. -Unfortunately, it‘s impossible. Noah uses a laptop. I know this because he has me send the updated versions of Bardem directly to it.
— Ugh! Though Wi-Fi networks were notoriously porous, Black River‘s was not. It had established its own worldwide network that was, as far as she knew, impenetrable. Of course, in theory no network was 100 percent secure, but it might take a platoon of hackers years to get through. Unless…
— Wait a minute, she said, suddenly excited. -If you had a laptop loaded with the Black River Wi-Fi encryption, would that help?
Bamber shrugged. -Probably, but how on earth are you going to get your hands on one?
— I used to work for Black River, she said. -I cloned the hard drive from my laptop before I sent it back. She considered the remaining obstacle to this possible solution. -The only problem is every time a Black River agent leaves the company the encryption is updated.
— Doesn‘t matter. If they‘re using the same root algorithm, which I‘m sure they are, I should be able to crack it. He shook his head. -Not that it matters. His voice had soured. -We can‘t go back to our respective apartments, remember? Noah‘s people are sure to be waiting for us in both places.
Moira stood, looked around for her coat. -Nevertheless, she said, — I‘ve got to try.
22
ON THE ONE-HOUR FLIGHT from Seville to Madrid, Bourne realized that Tracy was no longer wearing her wedding band. When he asked her about it, she plucked it out of her handbag.
— I usually wear it when I‘m traveling to discourage unwanted conversations, she said, — but there‘s no reason to wear it now.
From Madrid they were booked on an Egyptair flight to Cairo. Once there, they were set to be taken to a military airfield just outside the Cairo International Airport, where a charter flight was waiting to fly them to Khartoum. She had already had her visas, and Don Hererra was kind enough to expedite Bourne‘s-still under the name of Adam Stone, of course. He‘d also provided Bourne with a satellite phone, because his cell would have only spotty coverage in Africa.
As Tracy put the ring away, she brought her briefcase onto her lap. -I‘m sorry about that call to Professor Zuiga.
— Why? It wasn‘t your fault.
She sighed. -I‘m afraid it was. With a sheepish look, she opened the briefcase. -I‘m afraid I have a rather awful confession to make. She took out the sheets Bourne had already seen: the X-rays of the Goya and the letter from the professor.
As she handed them over, she said, — You see, I‘d already met him. Those are the X-rays he took, that‘s his letter authenticating the Goya. He was really very excited by the find-so much so, in fact, that he actually wept when I took it away from him.
Bourne turned his laser gaze on her. -Why didn‘t you tell me this in the first place?
— I thought you were a rival. I was under strict orders to avoid a bidding war at all costs. So you can see why I didn‘t want to reveal anything that would drive up the price.
— And later?
She sighed again, taking the sheets back and stowing them carefully away.
— Later, it was already too late. I didn‘t want to admit that I‘d lied to you, especially after you‘d saved us both at the corrida.
— That was my fault, he said. -I should never have involved you in my dealings.
— It makes no difference now. As it turns out, I am involved.
That was hard to argue with. Still, he didn‘t like her traveling with him to Khartoum, to the heart of Nikolai Yevsen‘s arms empire, into what must certainly be the center of the web he‘d been thrust into by the bullet that almost killed him. Khartoum was where Yevsen‘s headquarters lay, at 779 El Gamhuria Avenue. According to Tracy, that was where Noah Perlis was going to accept the Goya. From what Don Hererra said it was also likely that Boris Karpov was there; last month, he‘d told Bourne he‘d just come back from Timbuktu, in Mali, and now Bourne had seen the photos, had heard the tape of Boris bartering a deal with Bud Halliday. Bourne still hadn‘t figured out how he would handle a situation where a trusted friend was the man who was trying to kill him. The question of the Torturer still nagged at him. Why would Boris hire someone else when he could go after Bourne himself?
— But speaking of lying, Tracy said now, — why did you lie to me about why you really wanted to see Don Hererra?
— Would you have taken me to see him if I‘d told you the truth?
— Probably not. She smiled. -So now that we‘ve admitted our mistakes, why don‘t we start fresh?
— If you wish.
She gave him a pensive look. -Would you rather not?
He laughed. -All I meant was that lying comes easily to both of us.
It took a moment but color rose to her cheeks. -My line of work-and clearly yours-is infested with unscrupulous people, con men, swindlers, even violent criminals. Hardly surprising since, these days especially, artwork commands such astronomical prices. I‘ve had to learn methods of protection against these dangers, one of which is becoming a convincing liar.
— I couldn‘t have said it better myself, Bourne said.
They broke off the conversation as a flight attendant approached to ask them what they‘d like to drink.
When she‘d brought what they‘d ordered, Bourne said, — I have to wonder why you‘re working for Noah Perlis.
She shrugged and sipped at her champagne. -He‘s a paying client like any other.
— I wonder whether that‘s the truth or a lie?
— It‘s the truth. At this stage, I have nothing to gain by lying to you.
— Noah Perlis is a very dangerous individual who works for an ethically unsound company.
— Perhaps, but his money is as good as the next person‘s. What Noah does is none of my business.
— It is if it brings you into the line of fire.
Tracy‘s frown deepened. -But why should it? This is a straightforward job, pure and simple. I think you‘re reacting to shadows that aren‘t there.