The Bourne Identity (15 page)

"Steppdeckstrasse," he said to himself, concentrating on the image in his mind. He could see a doorway, the paint a faded red, as dark as the red silk dress worn by the woman beside him. "A boardinghouse ... in the Steppdeckstrasse."

"What?" Marie St. Jacques was startled. The words he uttered alarmed her; she had obviously related them to herself and was terrified.

"Nothing." He took his eyes off the dress and looked out the window. "There's Number 37," he said, pointing to the fifth house in the row. "Stop the car."

He got out first, ordering her to slide across the seat and follow. He tested his legs and took the keys from her.

"You can walk," she said. "If you can walk, you can
drive
."

"I probably can."

"Then let me go! I've done everything you've wanted."

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"And then some," he added.

"I won't say anything, can't you
understand
that? You're the last person on earth I ever want to see again ... or have anything to
do
with. I don't want to be a witness, or get involved with the police, or statements, or
anything!
I don't want to be a part of what you're a part of! I'm frightened to death ... that's your protection, don't you see? Let me go,
please
."

"I can't."

"You don't believe me."

"That's not relevant. I need you."

"For what?"

"For something very stupid. I don't have a driver's license. You can't rent a car without a driver's license and I've got to rent a car."

"You've got
this
car."

"It's good for maybe another hour. Someone's going to walk out of the Carillon du Lac and want it. The description will be radioed to every police car in Zurich."

She looked at him, dead fear in the glaze of her eyes. "I don't want to go up there with you. I heard what that man said in the restaurant. If I hear any more you'll kill me."

"What you heard makes no more sense to me than it does to you. Perhaps less. Come on." He took her by the arm, and put his free hand on the railing so he could climb the steps with a minimum of pain. She stared at him, bewilderment and fear converged in her look. The name M. Chernak was under the second mail slot, a bell beneath the letters. He did not ring it, but pressed the adjacent four buttons. Within seconds a cacophony of voices sprang out of the small, dotted speakers, asking in Schweizerdeutsch who was there. But someone did not answer; he merely pressed a buzzer which released the lock. Jason opened the door, pushing Marie St. Jacques in front of him. He moved her against the wall and waited. From above came the sounds of doors opening, footsteps walking toward the staircase.

"Wer ist da?"

"Johann?"

"Wo bist du denn?"

Silence. Followed by words of irritation. Footsteps were heard again; doors closed. M. Chernak was on the second floor, Flat 2C. Bourne took the girl's arm, limped with her to the staircase, and started the climb. She was right, of course. It would be far better if he were alone, but there was nothing he could do about that; he did need her.

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He had studied road maps during the weeks in Port Noir. Lucerne was no more than an hour away, Bern two and a half or three. He could head for either one, dropping her off in some deserted spot along the way, and then disappear. It was simply a matter of timing; he had the resources to buy a hundred connections. He needed only a conduit out of Zurich and she was it. But before he left Zurich he had to know; he had to talk to a man named ...
M. Chernak
. The name was to the right of the doorbell. He sidestepped away from the door, pulling the woman with him.

"Do you speak German?" Jason asked.

"No."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not."

Bourne thought, glancing up and down the short hallway. Then: "Ring the bell. If the door opens just stand there. If someone answers from inside, say you have a message--an urgent message--from a friend at the Drei Alpenhauser."

"Suppose he--or she--says to slide it under the door?"

Jason looked at her. "Very good."

"I just don't want any more violence. I don't want to
know
anything or
see
anything. I just want to--"

"I know," he interrupted. "Go back to Caesar's taxes and the Punic wars. If he--or she--says something like that, explain in a couple of words that the message is verbal and, can only be delivered to the man who was described to you."

"If he asks for that description?" said Marie St. Jacques icily, analysis momentarily pre-empting fear.

"You've got a good mind, Doctor," he said.

"I'm precise. I'm frightened; I told you that. What do I do?"

"Say to hell with them, someone else can deliver it. Then start to walk away."

She moved to the door and rang the bell. There was an odd sound from within. A scratching, growing louder, constant. Then it stopped and a deep voice was heard through the wood.

"Ja?"

"I'm afraid I don't speak German."

"
Englisch
. What is it? Who are you?"

"I have an urgent message from a friend at the Drei Alpenhauser."

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"Shove it under the door."

"I can't do that. It isn't written down. I have to deliver it personally to the man who was described to me."

"Well, that shouldn't be difficult," said the voice. The lock clicked and the door opened. Bourne stepped away from the wall, into the doorframe.

"You're
insane!"
cried a man with two stumps for legs, propped up in a wheelchair. "Get
out!
Get away from here!"

"I'm tired of hearing that," said Jason, pulling the girl inside and closing the door.

It took no pressure to convince Marie St. Jacques to remain in a small, windowless bedroom while they talked; she did so willingly. The legless Chernak was close to panic, his ravaged face chalk white, his unkempt gray hair matted about his neck and forehead

"What do you
want
from me?" he asked. "You swore the last transaction was our final one! I can do no more, I cannot take the risk. Messengers have been here. No matter how cautious, how many times removed from your sources, they have
been here!
If one leaves an address in the wrong surroundings, I'm a dead man!"

"You've done pretty well for the risks you've taken," said Bourne, standing in front of the wheelchair, his mind racing, wondering if there was a word or a phrase that could trigger a flow of information. Then he remembered the envelope.
If there was any discrepancy, it had nothing to do with me
. A fat man at the Drei Alpenhauser.

"Minor compared to the magnitude of those risks" Chernak shook his head; his upper chest heaved; the stumps that fell over the chair moved obscenely back and forth. "I was content before you came into my life, mein Herr, for I
was
minor. An old soldier who made his way to Zurich--blown up, a cripple, worthless except for certain facts stored away that former comrades paid meagerly to keep suppressed. It was a decent life, not much, but enough. Then
you
found me. ..."

"I'm touched," broke in Jason. "Let's talk about the envelope--the envelope you passed to our mutual friend at Drei Alpenhauser. Who gave it to you?"

"A messenger. Who else?"

"Where did it come from?"

"How would
I
know? It arrived in a box, just like the others. I unpacked it and sent it on. It was
you
who wished it so. You said you could not come here any longer."

"But you opened it." A statement.

"Never!"

"Suppose I told you there was money missing."

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"Then it was not paid; it was not in the envelope!" The legless man's voice rose. "However, I don't believe you. If that were so, you would not have accepted the assignment. But you did accept that assignment. So why are you here now?"

Because I have to know. Because I'm going out of my mind. I see things and I hear things I do not
understand. I'm a skilled, resourceful ... vegetable! Help me!

Bourne moved away from the chair; he walked aimlessly toward a bookcase where there were several upright photographs recessed against the wall. They explained the man behind him. Groups of German soldiers, some with shepherd dogs, posing outside of barracks and by fences ... and in front of a high-wire gate with part of a name showing. DACH--

Dachau.

The man behind him. He was moving! Jason turned; the legless Chernak had his hand in the canvas bag strapped to his chair; his eyes were on fire, his ravaged face contorted. The hand came out swiftly, in it a short-barreled revolver, and before Bourne could reach his own, Chernak fired. The shots came rapidly, the icelike pain filling his left shoulder, then head--oh
God!
He dove to his right, spinning on the rug, shoving a heavy floor lamp toward the cripple, spinning again until he was at the far side of the wheelchair. He crouched and lunged, crashing his right shoulder into Chernak's back, sending the legless man out of the chair as he reached into his pocket for the gun.

"They'll pay for your corpse!" screamed the deformed man, writhing on the floor, trying to steady his slumped body long enough to level his weapon. "You won't put me in a coffin! I'll see you there! Carlos will pay! By Christ, he'll pay!"

Jason sprang to the left and fired. Chernak's head snapped back, his throat erupting in blood. He was dead.

A cry came from the door of the bedroom. It grew in depth, low and hollow, an elongated wail, fear and revulsion weaved into the chord. A woman's cry ... of course it was a woman! His hostage, his conduit out of Zurich! Oh,
Jesus
, he could not focus his eyes! His temple was in agony!

He found his vision, refusing to acknowledge the pain. He saw a bathroom, the door open, towels and a sink and a ... mirrored cabinet. He ran in, pulled the mirror back with such force that it jumped its hinges, crashing to the floor, shattered.
Shelves
. Rolls of gauze and tape and ... they were all he could grab. He had to get out ...
gunshots
; gunshots were alarms. He had to get out, take his hostage, and get away!

The bedroom, the
bedroom
. Where
was
it?

The cry, the wail ... follow the cry! He reached the door and kicked it open. The woman ... his hostage--what the hell was her
name?
--was pressed against the wall, tears streaming down her face, her lips parted. He rushed in and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her out.

"My
God
, you killed him!" she cried. "An old man with no--"

"Shut up!" He pushed her toward the door, opened it, and shoved her into the hallway. He could see blurred figures in open spaces, by railings, inside rooms. They began running, disappearing; he heard doors slam, people shout. He took the woman's arm with his left hand; the grip caused shooting pains in his shoulder. He propelled her to the staircase and forced her to descend with him, using her for support, his right hand holding the gun.

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They reached the lobby and the heavy door. "Open it!" he ordered; she did. They passed the row of mailboxes to the outside entrance. He released her briefly, opening the door himself, peering out into the street, listening for sirens. There were none. "Come on!" he said, pulling her out to the stone steps and down to the pavement. He reached into his pocket, wincing, and took out the car keys. "Get in!"

Inside the car he unraveled the gauze, bunching it against the side of his head, blotting the trickle of blood. From deep inside his consciousness, there was a strange feeling of relief. The wound was a graze; the fact that it had been his head had sent him into panic, but the bullet had not entered his skull. It had
not
entered; there would be no return to the agonies of Port Noir.

"Goddamn it, start the car! Get
out
of here!"

"Where? You didn't say where." The woman was not screaming; instead she was calm. Unreasonably calm. Looking at him ... was she looking at him?

He was feeling dizzy again, losing focus again. "Steppdeckstrasse. ..." He heard the word as he spoke it, not sure the voice was his. But he could picture the doorway. Faded dark red paint, cracked glass ... rusted iron. "Steppdeckstrasse," he repeated.

What was wrong? Why wasn't the motor going? Why didn't the car move forward? Didn't she hear him?

His eyes were closed; he opened them. The gun. It was on his lap; he had set it down to press the bandage ... she was hitting it,
hitting
it! The weapon crashed to the floor; he reached down and she pushed him, sending his head against the window. Her door opened and she leaped out into the street and began running. She was running away! His hostage, his conduit was racing up the Lowenstrasse!

He could not stay in the car; he dared not try to drive it. It was a steel trap, marking him. He put the gun in his pocket with the roll of tape and grabbed the gauze, clutching it in his left hand, ready to press it against his temple at the first recurrence of blood. He got out and limped as fast as he could down the pavement.

Somewhere there was a corner, somewhere a taxi.
Steppdeckstrasse
. Marie St. Jacques kept running in the middle of the wide, deserted avenue, in and out of the spills of the streetlamps, waving her arms at the automobiles in the Lowenstrasse. They sped by her. She turned in the wash of headlights behind her, holding up her hands, pleading for attention; the cars accelerated and passed her by. This was Zurich, and the Lowenstrasse at night was too wide, too dark, too near the deserted park and the river Sihl.