The Bourne Retribution by Eric Van Lustbader Read Free Book Online Page A

professional, which in China meant, more than likely, a federal agency.
    This was not a promising start to his mission, and Bourne had to stifle the urge to bring the man in off the street and interrogate him about his identity and that of his employer. In another country he might have done just that. But this was China. Here, a low profile meant no profile at all. Anything that would draw attention to himself was out of the question.
    The Shanghainese stopped at a crosswalk and checked his watch. Abruptly, he hurried off to the southwest. Bourne followed him for another fifteen or twenty minutes. The traffic was almost at a standstill; at this time of the day traveling on foot was the best way to get across town.
    Bourne watched from across the street as the Shanghainese paused in front of a school, went up the steps just as a spate of kids, all dressed identically, came trooping out the doors. One of them, obviously the man’s son, came up to him. He was accompanied by a teacher or an administrator—it was impossible to tell which. Bourne’s tail dismissed his son to play with his friends while he and the official spoke briefly. The official’s serious face grew darker the longer Bourne’s tail spoke. Then he nodded curtly, in obvious dismissal. Bourne’s tail called to his son and, together, the two went down the steps and walked away.
    In preparation for the official returning inside the school, Bourne crossed the street in time to see a gleaming white Mercedes sedan pull up to the curb. As if jabbed with a live electrical wire, the official hurried down the steps.
    From his angle, Bourne could see the smoked glass of the rear window slide down. The official bent down to speak to the car’s inhabitant. Bourne, changing his angle of view, peered into the interior. He recognized the man the school official was talking with, and a shock went through him. It was Colonel Sun.
      
    C olonel Sun was not, at the moment, a happy man.
    “Get in the car,” he snapped at Go Han. “Bent over like that you’re impersonating a street urchin.”
    The middle school teacher opened the door and dutifully slid in beside Colonel Sun.
    “How did Wu Lin lose Bourne?”
    “I don’t know, Colonel.” Go Han hung his head. “Bourne somehow ingratiated himself with a family of tourists. They shielded him as he made his escape.”
    Colonel Sun grunted as he sat back in the plush seat. “That means Bourne knew he was being followed.”
    “He might have simply been taking basic precautions.” Go Han immediately wilted beneath Colonel Sun’s withering gaze.
    “You don’t know this man,” Colonel Sun said. “You have no idea what he’s capable of, the lengths to which he’ll go to kill someone, the depravity of his actions.” He flicked a hand. “Get out! You’re of no further use to me.”
    It was when Colonel Sun reached over to close the door that he caught a glimpse of Bourne out of the corner of his eye. Briefly, he considered whether this was deliberate, but quickly determined that it didn’t matter.
    Ordering the driver to start the car, Colonel Sun had him drive around the block. When the car, nosing slowly in the traffic, reached the place where he had seen Bourne, the foreign agent was no longer there. Naturally, Colonel Sun hadn’t expected him to be, but he also knew Bourne wouldn’t be far away. After their encounter in Rome, Bourne was not about to let Colonel Sun out of his sight. Colonel Sun used the car’s direct line to order his men to cordon off the area.
    “Begin with a six-block square, using my car’s position as the center,” he told his adjutant, “then on my order slowly move in. I want a house-to-house search. Make certain all the men have the same photo of Bourne I have.” Thinking about how Minister Ouyang had promised to reward him, he felt a hot surge of purpose grip him. “No mistakes, hear me?” he barked into the phone before hanging up.
    Over his driver’s objection, Colonel Sun