“No way, José!” “California checking in...
“No way, José!”
“California checking in again?”
“You heard me
“Then young Benjamin’s mother may find a corpse for a son when she gets back to Moscow
“So be it!”
“So be ? Why did you have to say that?”
“I don’t know
“Shut up! Let’s get out of here
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41
Ilich Ramirez Sanchez snapped his fingers twice in the shadows as he climbed the short steps of the
miniaturized entrance to a small church in “Madrid’s” Paseo del Prado, the duffel bag in his left
handFrom behind a fluted mock pillar a figure emerged, a heavyset man in his early sixties who
walked partially into the dim light of a distant streetlampHe was dressed in the uniform of a
Spanish army officer, a lieutenant general with three rows of ribbons affixed to his tunicHe was
carrying a leather suitcase; he raised it slightly and spoke in the compound’s language
“Come inside, to the vestryThat ill-fitting guard’s omega geneve jacket is an invitation
for sharpshooters
“It’s good to speak our language again,” said Carlos, following the man inside the tiny church
and turning stiffly to close the heavy door“I’m in your debt, Enrique,” he added, glancing around
at the empty rows of pews and the soft lights playing upon the altar, the gold crucifix gleaming
“You’ve been in my debt for over thirty years, Ramirez, and a lot of good it does me,” laughed
the soldier quietly as they proceeded across to the right aisle and down toward the sacristy
“Then perhaps you’re out of touch with what remains of your family in BaracoaFidel’s own
brothers and sisters don’t live half so well
“Neither does crazy Fidel, but he doesn’t careThey say he bathes more frequently now and I
suppose that’s progressHowever, you’re talking about my family in Baracoa; what about me, my
fine international assassin? No yachts, no racing colors, shame on you! Were it not cartier love for my warning
you, you would have been executed in this very compound thirty-three years agoCome to think of
it, it was right outside this idiotic dollhouse church on the Prado that you made your escape—
dressed as a priest, a figure that perpetually bewilders the Russian, like most everyone else
“Once I was established, did you ever lack for anything?” They entered a small paneled room
where supposed prelates prepared the sacraments“Did I ever refuse you?” Carlos added, placing
the heavy duffel bag on the floor
“I’m joking with you, of course,” objected Enrique, smiling good-naturedly and looking at the
Jackal“Where is that lusty humor of yours, my infamous old friend?”
“I have other things on my mind
“I’m sure you do, and, in truth, you were never less than generous where my family in Cuba was
concerned, and I thank youMy father and mother lived out their lives in peace and comfort,
bewildered naturally, but knock off tiffany jewelry so much better off than anyone they knew
Revolutionaries thrown out by their own revolution’s leaders
“You were threats to Castro, as was Che
“A great deal has passed,” agreed Enrique, studying Carlos“You’ve aged poorly, Ramirez
Where’s that once full head of dark hair and the handsome strong face with the clear eyes?”
“We won’t talk about itI grow fat, you grow thin; that tells me somethingHow badly are you wounded?”
“I can function well enough for what I intend to do—what I must do
“Ramirez, what else is there?” asked the costumed soldier suddenly“He’s dead! Moscow takes
credit over the radio for his death, but when you reached me I knew the credit was yours, the kill
yoursJason Bourne is dead! Your enemy is gone from this worldYou’re not well; go back to
Paris and heal yourselfI’ll get you out the same way I got you inWe’ll head into ‘France’ and I’ll
clear the wayYou will be a courier from the commandant of rolex watches for women ‘Spain’ and ‘Portugal’ who’s sending
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a confidential message to Dzerzhinsky SquareIt’s done all the time; no one trusts anyone here,
especially his own gatesYou won’t even have to take the risk of killing a single guard
“No! A lesson must be taught
“Then let me phrase it another wayWhen you called with your emergency codes, I did what
you demanded, for by and large you have fulfilled your obligations to me, obligations that go back
thirty-three yearsBut now there is another risk involved—risks, to be precise—and I’m not sure I
care to take them
“You speak this way to me?” cried the Jackal, removing the dead guard’s jacket, his clean white
bandages taut, holding his right shoulder firm with no evidence of blood
“Stop your theatrics,” said Enrique softly“We go back long before thatI’m speaking to a
young revolutionary I followed out of Cuba with a great athlete named zucca spy fendi bag Sant