“I understand what happened,” Bourne said after a time, “and yet I don’t.”
Sara put her arm around his waist, half turned him toward her. “Being what he was, he never had a chance.”
“That’s the part I don’t understand.”
“Then understand that you gave him something precious, something he never could have dreamed would be his. You accepted him, befriended him, helped him to grow up.”
“I helped him to his death.”
“No, Jason, that was his choice. An adult’s choice. Finally, he understood that he needed to put away childish things. He needed to return to his father.”
“He tried to fit in,” Bourne said, “but he didn’t belong anywhere else.”
“That’s right.” She took his hand in hers. “That’s all of it.” She kissed him hard on the lips. “That’s the end.”
The child, his voice plaintive against the centuries-old wall, sang on. Soon enough, other voices joined in.
About the Author
ROBERT LUDLUM was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 225 million copies of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. He is the author of The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Chancellor Manuscript, and the Jason Bourne series—The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum—among others. Mr. Ludlum passed away in March 2001. To learn more, visit www.Robert-Ludlum.com and Facebook.com/RobertLudlumBooks.
ERIC VAN LUSTBADER is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including First Daughter, Blood Trust, The Ninja, and the international bestsellers featuring Jason Bourne: The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Betrayal, The Bourne Sanction, The Bourne Deception, The Bourne Objective, and The Bourne Dominion. For more information, you can visit www.EricVanLustbader.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
The Jason Bourne Novels
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Legacy (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Betrayal (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Sanction (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Deception (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Objective (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Dominion (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Imperative (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Bourne Retribution (by Eric Van Lustbader)
The Covert-One Novels
The Hades Factor (by Gayle Lynds)
The Cassandra Compact (by Philip Shelby)
The Paris Option (by Gayle Lynds)
The Altman Code (by Gayle Lynds)
The Lazarus Vendetta (by Patrick Larkin)
The Moscow Vector (by Patrick Larkin)
The Arctic Event (by James Cobb)
The Ares Decision (by Kyle Mills)
The Janus Reprisal (by Jamie Freveletti)
The Utopia Experiment (by Kyle Mills)
The Paul Janson Novels
The Janson Directive
The Janson Command (by Paul Garrison)
The Janson Option (by Paul Garrison)
Also By Robert Ludlum
The Scarlatti Inheritance
The Matlock Paper
Trevayne
The Cry of the Halidon
The Rhinemann Exchange
The Road to Gandolfo
The Gemini Contenders
The Chancellor Manuscript
The Holcroft Covenant
The Matarese Circle
The Parsifal Mosaic
The Aquitaine Progression
The Icarus Agenda
The Osterman Weekend
The Road to Omaha
The Scorpio Illusion
The Apocalypse Watch
The Matarese Countdown
The Prometheus Deception
The Sigma Protocol
The Tristan Betrayal
The Ambler Warning
The Bancroft Strategy
Also By Eric Van Lustbader
Nicholas Linnear Novels
Second Skin
Floating City
The Kaisho
White Ninja
The Miko
The Ninja
China Maroc Novels
Shan
Jian
Jack McClure Novels
Beloved Enemy
Father Night
Blood Trust
Last Snow
First Daughter
Other Novels
The Testament
Art Kills
Pale Saint
Dark Homecoming
Black Blade
Angel Eyes
French Kiss
Zero
Black Heart
Sirens
PRAISE FOR THE BOURNE NOVELS
“Teeming with the usual intrigue and page-turning action.”
—Star-Telegram (TX) on The Bourne Retribution
“Eric Van Lustbader has once again taken the Bourne saga to another level of greatness, as The Bourne Retribution is filled with non-stop action. Fans of the superspy will find themselves rooting for him right up until the last page is turned.”
—BookReporter.com on The Bourne Retribution
“In true Bourne fashion, The Bourne Imperative is fast-paced and full of action. There are twists and turns that even the grandest of plot detectives could not foresee.”
—Spencer Daily Reporter (IA) on The Bourne Imperative
“Readers familiar with the story of Jason Bourne and Treadstone will be flipping pages as fast as they can…Van Lustbader pulls readers through the story with gusto.”
—Booklist on The Bourne Imperative
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
1
Part One2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Part Two19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Part Three36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Part Four45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
Three Months Later
A Week Later
About the Author
The Jason Bourne Novels
Praise for the Bourne Novels
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Myn Pyn, LLC
Cover art and design by Faceout Studio, Jeff Miller
r /> Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at
[email protected] Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
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New York, NY 10017
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First ebook edition: June 2014
Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-7756-9
E3
Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ascendancy
(Series: Jason Bourne # 12)
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