Robert Ludlum - The Bourne Supremacy

'Pi ge!' said the banker, ordering two of the guards out of the flat; they bowed and left quickly. 'This man will remain,' he continued, turning back to Webb . 'Apart from the immense loyalty he has for me he doesn't speak or understand a word of English. '

'I see you trust your people. '

'I trust no one. ' The financier gestured at a dilapidated wooden chair across the shabby room, revealing as he did so a gold Rolex on his wrist, diamonds encrusted around its dial matching his bejewelled gold cufflinks. 'Sit down,' he ordered. 'I've gone to great lengths and spent much money to bring about this conference. '

'Your head man – I assume it was your head man,' said Bourne aimlessly, studying every detail of the room as he walked over to the chair, 'told me not to wear an expensive watch down here. I guess you didn't listen to him. '

'I arrived in a soiled, filthy kaftan with sleeves wide enough to conceal it. As I look at your clothes, I'm certain the Chameleon understands. '

'You're Yao Ming. ' Webb sat down.

'It is a name I've used, you surely understand that. The Chameleon goes by many shapes and colours. '

'I didn't kill your wife – or the man who happened to be with her. '

'I know that, Mr Webb.. . '

'You what?' David shot up from the chair, as the guard took a rapid step forward, his gun levelled.

'Sit down,' repeated the banker. 'Don't alarm my devoted friend or we both may regret it, you far more than me. '

'You knew it wasn't me and still you've done this to us!'

'Sit quickly, please. '

'I want an answer? said Webb, sitting down.

'Because you are the true Jason Bourne. That is why you are here, why your wife remains in my custody, and will remain so until you accomplish what I ask of you. '

'I talked to her. '

'I know you did. I permitted it . '

'She didn't sound like herself – even considering the circumstances. She's strong, stronger than I was during those lousy weeks in Switzerland and Paris. Something's wrong with her! Is she drugged?'

'Certainly not . '

'Is she hurt?

'In spirit, perhaps, but not in any other way. However, she

will be hurt and she will die, if you refuse me. Can I be clearer?

'You're dead, taipan. '

'The true Bourne speaks. That's very good. It's what I need. '

'Spell it out . '

'I am being hounded by someone in your name,' began the taipan, his voice hard, his intensity mounting. 'Far more severely – may the spirits forgive me – than the loss of a young wife. From all sides in all areas, the terrorist, this new Jason Bourne, attacks! He kills my people, blows up shipments of valuable merchandise, threatens other taipans with death if they do business with me! His exorbitant fees come from my enemies here in Hong Kong and Macao, and up the Deep Bay water routes north into the provinces themselves!'

'You have a lot of enemies. '

'My interests are extensive. '

'So, I was told, were those of the man I didn't kill in Macao. '

'Oddly enough,' said the banker, breathing hard and gripping the arm of his chair in an effort to control himself, 'he and I were not enemies. In certain areas our interests converged. It's how he met my wife. '

'How convenient. Shared assets, as it were. '

'You are offensive. '

They're not my rules,' replied Bourne, his eyes cold, levelled at the Oriental. 'Get to the point. My wife's alive and I want her back without a mark on her or a voice raised against her. If she's harmed in any way whatsoever, you and your Zhongguo ren won't be any match for what I'll mount against you. '

'You are not in a position to make threats, Mr Webb . '

'Webb isn't,' agreed the once most hunted man in Asia and Europe. 'Bourne is. '

The Oriental looked hard at Jason, nodding twice as his eyes dropped below Webb's gaze. 'Your audacity matches your arrogance. To the point. It's very simple, very clear cut. ' The taipan suddenly clenched his right hand into a fist, then raised it and crashed it down on the fragile arm of the decrepit chair. 'I want proof against my enemies!' he shouted, his angry eyes peering out behind two partially closed walls of swollen flesh. The only way I'll get it is for you to bring me this all too credible impostor who takes your place! I want him facing me, watching me as he feels his life leaving him in agony until he tells me everything I must know. Bring him to me, Jason Bourne!' The banker breathed deeply, then added quietly. 'Then, and only then, will you be reunited with your wife. '

Webb stared at the taipan in silence. 'What makes you think I can do it? he said finally.

'Who better to trap a pretender than the original. '

'Words,' said Webb . 'Meaningless. '

'He's studied you! He's analysed your methods, your techniques. He could not pass himself off as you if he had not. Find him! Trap him with the tactics you yourself created. '

'Just like that?

'You'll have help. Several names and descriptions, men I am convinced are involved with this new killer who uses an old name. '

'Over in Macao?

'Never! It must not be Macao! There's to be no mention, no reference whatsoever to the incident at the Lisboa Hotel. It is closed, finished; you know nothing about it. In no way can my person be associated with what you are doing. You have nothing to do with me! If you surface, you are hunting a man who has assumed your mantle. You are protecting yourself, defending yourself. A perfectly natural thing to do under the circumstances. '

'I thought you wanted proof-'

'It will come when you bring me the impostor? shouted the taipan.

'If not Macao, where then?

'Here in Kowloon. In the Tsim Sha Tsui. Five men were slain in the back room of a cabaret, among them a banker -like myself, a taipan,. my associate from time to time and no less influential – as well as three others whose identities were concealed; apparently it was a government decision. I've never found out who they were. '

'But you know who the fifth man was,' said Bourne.

'He worked for me. He took my place at that meeting. Had I been there myself, your namesake would have killed me. This is where you will start, here in Kowloon, in the Tsim Sha Tsui. I will give you the names of the two known dead and the identities of many men who were the enemies of both, now my enemies. Move quickly. Find the man who kills in your name and bring him to me. And a last warning, Mr. Bourne. Should you try to find out who I am the order will be swift, the execution swifter. Your wife will die. '

'Then so will you. Give me the names. '

'They're on this paper,' said the man who used the name' Yao Ming, reaching into the pocket of his white silk vest . 'They were typed by a public stenographer at The Mandarin. There would be no point in trying to trace a specific typewriter. '

'A waste of time,' said Bourne, taking the sheet of paper. There must be twenty million typewriters in Hong Kong. '

'But not so many taipans of my size and girth, eh?

That I'll remember. '

'I'm sure you will. '

'How do I reach you?'

'You don't. Ever. This meeting never took place. '

Then why did it? Why did everything that's happened take place? Say I manage to find and take this cretin who calls himself Bourne – and it's a damn big if – what do I do with him? Leave him on the steps outside here in the Walled City?'

'It could be a splendid idea. Drugged, no one would pay the slightest attention beyond rifling his pockets. '

'I'd pay a lot of attention. A prize for a prize, taipan. I want an ironclad guarantee. I want my wife back. '

'What would you consider such a guarantee?'

'First her voice on the phone convincing me she's unharmed, and then I want to see her – say, walking up and down a street under her own power with no one near her. '