“Please don’t give orders to me,” said the...
“Please don’t give orders to me,” said the attorney from one of Wall Street’s most prestigious firms“You’re really not in a position to do that, wop “Hey, farabutto! You don’t talk to me like that!” “I’ll talk to you any way I likeOn the outside, and to your credit in negotiations, you’re a very masculine, very macho fellow The lawyer calmly uncrossed and crossed his legs“But the inside’s quite different, isn’t it? You’ve got a soft heart, or should I say hard loins, for pretty young men “Silenzio!” The Italian shot forward on the couch “I have no wish to exploit the informationOn the other hand, I don’t believe Gay Rights are very high on the Cosa Nostra’s agenda, do you?” “You son of a bitch!” “You know, when I was a young army lawyer in Saigon, I defended a career lieutenant who was caught in flagrante delicto with a rolex submariner 50th anniversary Vietnamese boy, a male prostitute obviouslyThrough legal maneuvers, using ambiguous phrases in the military code regarding civilians, I saved him from a dishonorable discharge, but it was obvious that he had to resign from the serviceUnfortunately, he never went on to a productive life; he shot himself two hours after the verdictYou see, he’d become a pariah, a disgrace before his peers and he couldn’t handle the burden “Get on with your business,” said the capo supremo named Louis, his voice low and flat and filled with hatredFirst, I left an envelope on yourIt contains payment for Armbruster’s tragic confrontation in Georgetown and Teagarten’s equally tragic assassination in Brussels “According to the yid head doctor,” interrupted the mafioso, “you got two more they know aboutAn ambassador in London and that admiral on the Joint chanel cc necklace ChiefsYou wanna add another bonus?” “Possibly later, not nowThey both know very little and nothing about the financial operations Burton thinks that we’re essentially an ultraconservative veterans’ lobbying effort that grew out of the Vietnam disgrace—legally borderline for him, but then he has strong patriotic feelings Atkinson’s a rich dilettante; he does what he’s told, but he doesn’t know why or by whomHe’d do anything to hold on to the Court of Saint James’s and has; his only connection was with TeagartenConklin hit pay dirt with Swayne and Armbruster, Teagarten and, of course, DeSole, but the other two are window dressing, quite respectable window dressingI wonder how it happened Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM 212 “When I find out, and I will find out, I’ll let you know, gratis “Oh?” The attorney raised his prada milano eyebrows“How?” “We’ll get to itWhat’s your other business?” “Two items, both vital, and the first I’ll give you—gratisGet rid of your current boyfriendHe goes to places he shouldn’t and throws money around like a cheap hoodlumWe’re told he boasts about his connections in high placesWe don’t know what else he talks about or what he knows or what he’s pieced together, but he concerns usI’d think he’d concern you, too “Il prostitute!” roared Louis, slamming his clenched fist down on the arm of the couch“Il pinguino! He’s dead “I accept your thanksThe other item is far more important, certainly to usSwayne’s house in ManassasA book was removed, an office diary, which Swayne’s lawyer in Manassas—our lawyer in Manassas—could not findIt was on a bookshelf, its binding identical with all the other books in that row, the entire row on the shelfA chanel earrings person would have to know exactly which one to take “So what do you want from me?” “The gardener was your manHe was put in place to do his job, and he was given the only number we knew was totally secure, namely, DeSole’s “So?” “To do his job, to mount the suicide authentically, he had to study Swayne’s every moveYou yourself explained that to me ad nauseam when you demanded your outrageous feeIt’s not hard to picture your man peering through the window at Swayne in his study, the place where Swayne supposedly would take his lifeGradually your man realizes that the general keeps taking a specific book from off his shelf, writes in it, and returns it to the same spotThat has to intrigue him; that particular book has to be valuableWhy wouldn’t he take it? I would, you wouldSo where is it?” The mafioso got slowly, menacingly to his black chanel quilted bag feet