The Bourne Nemesis
Chapter 2: Prelude to an Assassination
Lyons, France
The assassin known as Carlos displayed his identification and thus gained access to the restricted archives of the Interpol headquarters. In a matter of a few hours he had been through Bourne's primary Interpol file as well as excerpts from files from the National Central Bureau's of various countries, including France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Britain, Spain and Morocco. His conclusion upon skimming through all the material on Bourne was this: That Jason Bourne was undeniably a dangerous man, impossible to capture and even more impossible to kill. That wherever he went, there were gunshots, explosions, injuries and corpses. Always corpses. These traits of his soon-to-be-target particularly piqued Carlos's interest. Here was a target worthy of his attention, a man who couldn't simply be killed with a straight bullet to the head or a defective brake-line. This man was a hunter, a predator roaming in the vast jungle of the world. A man like him could not be slain in direct confrontation, he would have to be subtly led into the middle of a web of conspiracy and deceit, poked and prodded by adverse circumstance in order to be entrapped and ensnared completely in the ultimate defeat: death.
After years of reigning in the shadow world of assassination, Carlos had honed the precise skills that would enable him to spin such a web powerful enough to ensnare even the most formidable of opponents. He had studied human behavior; he understood triggers. He knew exactly what strands of circumstance would provoke what reaction in a particular individual, and he knew that such reactions were predictable and repeatable. The same principle would clearly apply to the one-time assassin known as Jason Bourne.
Three days ago, the Jackal had been in London, collaborating with contacts of his in Scotland Yard and MI5. He had soon gained access to all the confidential data that had been amassed by the late journalist, Simon Ross, with regards to Jason Bourne and the Treadstone project in general. He now had a fair idea of Bourne's operational history. From a professional perspective, he approved of Bourne's methods entirely. Invisibility, harsh efficiency and absolute swiftness. The result would be widespread chaos and confusion with suspicion always resting on a unknown third party; the real assassin himself being a hidden factor, a non-existent phantom. Yes, thought Carlos, Ward Abbott and his colleagues had certainly borrowed a lot of leaves from his book.
The information on Nicky Parsons in the Interpol files was scant. Apart from a brief mention of her as being Bourne's accomplice during his activities in Tangier the previous month, there was nothing more of note. However, some of the Treadstone material Carlos had bought from a contact of his in the CIA had provided some more valuable information. Parsons had been Bourne's local contact in Paris; apart from handling logistical operations and monitoring the mental health of the agents. This, coupled with Nicky's subsequent 'defection' from the CIA by aiding Bourne in Tangier, proved to Carlos that there was clearly more depth to Bourne and Parson's relationship than the Agency had previously known. And this was something he was certain he could use to his advantage when the time and the conditions were right.
According to the files, Bourne had returned to Europe and had literally gone on a rampage against the CIA after his girlfriend and accomplice; Marie Helena Kreutz had been murdered in India by an assassin whom he believed was a CIA operative. The pressures violence suddenly re-intruding on his life and the loss of someone close to him had been enough to trigger an extremely violent and agitated response. Carlos was certain that the same trigger, applied after a comparatively short period of time, would be sufficient to elicit an even more violent and uncontrolled reform. In short, if another person close to him were to die, Bourne would be driven half-insane…
Carlos's mind delved on those violent tracks even as he contemplated the information on CIA Deputy Director, Pamela Landy, who, as Mr. Johnson had rightly said, was the most 'highly visible' target. He did not really need to read any file on Landy to know she was an idealist who valued ethics and accountability even in the darkest of clandestine work; the news reports related to the Blackbriar scandal were sufficient. Landy had already made herself a fair number of enemies in the American intelligence community with her no-nonsense attitude and ethical sense; she had almost certainly doubled that number since exposing the Blackbriar program. Noah Vosen was one of those enemies, and Carlos was to be his instrument of vengeance…for a price, naturally. So be it, thought the Jackal. The fact remained that there were enough vultures circling Landy to pick on the slightest hint of misdemeanor or treachery on her part. And misdemeanor and treachery Carlos would provide...to suit his purpose.
The fall of his two closest allies amidst invented circumstances that would surely prove hostile to him, would be enough to drive Bourne into the web that would ensnare him and slowly choke him to death. The predator would become the prey and the prey would perish. It was a reversal Carlos positively took glee in. It was why he did what he did.
The only question that remained was a matter of location. Nicky Parsons he had chosen as the match that would light the spark for the 'fireworks display' he had set up, but he still needed to find her, and ensure that Bourne was with her when he chose to act. For in the plan that he had hastily constructed in the dark corridors of his mind, every piece of the puzzle needed to be in position for the time he would strike!
Paris, it occurred to him suddenly. Jason Bourne and Nicky Parsons had both, years ago, been stationed in Paris. That was where Nicky, a woman unaccustomed to being on the run, would head, owing to her familiarity with the city, if only to get her bearings, to re-anchor herself to reality after the chaos of the past few weeks. And if Carlos could deduce Nicky's location, Bourne easily would as well. And, having no where else to go, he would go to Nicky. Even if Bourne was an amnesiac, the fact that he had been to Paris even after he went rogue proved that the city was still familiar to him, which provided him with an added incentive to go to ground there. Especially since the Agency was not that likely to be looking for him.
Carlos's thoughts paused for a moment as he stole another glance at the photograph of Jason Bourne he had found in one of the files. Though he had heard a great deal about Bourne in the past, he had never actually seen a clear picture of the man before. And the moment he set his eyes on the face of his soon-to-be-target, recognition came crashing home to him and in the crevices of his mind, several pieces fell into place…the hunt for Bourne had ceased to remain solely a professional matter for him, for now that he knew who Jason Bourne was, there was a personal stake involved. Nevertheless, Carlos was a strict and rigorous professional…any personal involvement would be kept at harms length. His pragmatic mind would consider Bourne as merely a high-paying assignment and nothing more…he would complete the assignment and collect his reward; the personal satisfaction would merely be an added bonus.
Nevertheless, regardless of the motive, one fact had firmly implanted itself in his mind. Paris. Tonight, he would be on a flight to Paris. And then…the hunt would begin…