his legs touching the floor. He pressed his feet against the wood, thankful
that he could sit up…. He had to put the pieces together, to reconstruct
what had happened, where he was going.
He’d been on his way to Paes. To find a secluded telephone on which to
reach Adrian Sealfont. To warn him that Kressel was the enemy, Kressel was
Nimrod. And he’d made up his mind that Herron7s
THE m&TLOCK PAPER 341
diaries would be Paes ransom. Then the chase had begun, only it wasn!’t a
chase. The car behind him, commanded by Julian Dkmols, had played a furious
game of terror. It had toyed with him as a lethal mountam cat nught play
with a wounded gDat. Finally it had attacked-steel against steel-and driven
him to darkness.
Matlock knew he had to escape. But ftom where and to whona?
The door of the windowless room opened. Dunois entered, followed by
Williams.
“Good morning,7 said the attorney. “I see yoteve managed to sit up. That’s
good. It augurs well for your very abused body.”
“What time is it? Where am I?’
‘Ifs nearly four thirty. You are In a room at Lumumba Hall. You see? I
withhold nothing from you. … Now, you must reciprocate. You must withhold
nothing from me
,*,Lbten to mel” Matlock kept his voice steady. *1
have no fight with you, with any of youl rve got … 7
“Oh, I disagree,” Dunois smiled. “Look at my face. les only through
enormous good fortune that I wasnI blinded by you. You tried to crush the
lenses of my glasses into my eyes. Can you imagine how my work would suffer
if I were blind?”
“Goddamn itl You filled me with acidl”
“And you provoked itl You were actively engaged in pursuits inimicable to
our brothersl Pursuits you had no right to engage in … But this is
concentric debate. It will get us nowhere … We do appreciate what yoeve
brought us. Beyond our most optimistic ambitions.*
“Yoxeve got the notebook. . .
“And the Corsican document. The Italian invitation
342 Robert Ludlum
we knew existed. The notebook was only a rumor. A nunor which was fast being
ascribed to fiction until tonight-this morning. You should feel proud.
Yoieve accomplished what scores of your more experienced betters failed to
accomplish. You found the treasum The real treasure.”
I’ve got to have it backl”
‘Fat chancel” said Williams, leaning against the wall, watching.
“If I don!t get it back, a girl will diel Do whatever you goddamn well
please with me, but let me use it to get her back. Christl Please, pleasel”
“You feel deeply, donI you? I see tears in your eyes. . . .”
“Oh, Jesusl Yoere an educated manI You cant do thisl … ListenI Take
whatever information you want out of itl Then give it to me and let me gol
… I swear to you III come back. Give her a chance. just give her a
chancer
Dunois walked slowly to the chair by the wall, the chair in which Adam
Williams sat when Matlock awoke. He pulled it forward, closer to the bed,
and sat down, crossing his knees gracefully. “You feel helpless, don’t you?
Perhaps … even without hope.”
“I’ve been through a great deall”
“I’m sure you have. And you appeal to my reason
. as an educated nwn. You realize that it is within my scope to help you
and therefore I am superior to -you. You would not make such an appeal if
it were not so.”
“Oh, Christl Cut that outl”
“Now you know what it’s like. You are helpless. Without hope. You wonder if
your appeal will be lost on a deaf ear. . . . Do you really, for one
second, think that I care for the life of Miss Ballantyne? Do
TM MATLOCK PAPM 343
you honestly believe she has any priority for me? Any more than the lives of
our children, our loved ones mean anything to youl”
Matlock knew he had to answer Dunois. The black would offer nothing if he
evaded him. It was another game-and he had to play, if only briefly.
“I don’t deserve this and you know it I loathe the people who won’t do
anything for them. You know me-you’ve made that clear. So you must know
thae
“Ahb, but I doWt know itl You’re the one who made the choice, the decision
to work for the superior monl The Washington monl For decades, two centu-
ries, my people have appealed to the superior Washington nwnl ‘Help us:
they cry. Todt leave us without hopel’ they scream. But nobody listens.
Now, you expect me to listen to you?”
“Yes, I dol Because Fin not your enemy. I may not be everything you want me
to be, but Im not your enemy. If you turn me-and men like me-into objects
of hatred, you~re finished. You’re outnumbered, dodt forget that, Dunois.
We won’t storm the barricades every time you yell ‘foul,’ but we hear you.
We’re willing to help; we want to help.”
Dunois looked coldly at Matlock. “Prove it”
Matlock returned the black’s stare. “Use me as your bait, your hostage.
Kill me if you have to. But get the girl out”
“We can do that-the hostaging, the killing-without your consent. Brave but
hardly proof.”
Matlock refused to allow Dunois to disengage the stare between them. He
spoke softly. “I’ll give you a statement. Written, verbal-on tape; freely,
without force or coercion. I’ll spell it all out. How I was used, what I
did. Everything. You’ll have your Washington men as well as Nimrod.”
344 Robert Ludlum
Dunois folded his arms and matched Matlock’s quiet voice. ‘You realize you
would put an end to your professional life; this life you love so much. No
university administration worthy of its name would consider you for a
position. You~d never be trusted again. By any factions. You’d become a
pariah.”
“You asked for proof. It!s all I can offer you.”
Dunois sat immobile in the chair. Williams had straightened up from his
slouching position against the wall. No one spoke for several moments.
Finally Dunois smiled gently. His eyes, surrounded by the gauze, were
compassionate.
“Yoere a good man. Inept, perhaps, but perseverjug. You shall have the help
you need. We won1 leave you without hope. Do you agree, Adami”
“Agreed.”
Dunois got out of the chair and approached Matlock.
-Yo,eve heard the old clichk that politics make strange bedfellows.
Conversely, practical objectives often make for strange political
alliances. History bears this out… We want this Ninuod as much as you do.
As well as the Mafiosi he tries to make peace with. it is they and their
kind who prey upon the children. An example must be made. An example which
will instill terror in other Nimrods, other Mafiosi…. You shall have
help, but this is the condition we demand.”
“What do you mean?’
‘rhe disposition of Nimrod and the others will be left to us. We doet trust
your judges and your juries. Your courts are corrupt, your legalistics no
more than financial manipulations. . . . The barrio addict is thrown into
jail. The rich gangsters appeal. … No, the disposition must be left to
us.-
THE MATLOCK PAPER 345
“I don1 care about that You can do whatever you like.”
‘Your not caring is insufficient. We demand more than that. We must have
our guarantee.”
“How can I give a guarantee?”
“By your silence. By not acknowledging our presence. We will take the
Corsican paper and somehow we will find the conference and be admitted. We
will extract what we want from the diaries-that’s being done now,
incidentally. . . . But your silence is the paramount issue. We will help
you now–on a bestefforts basis, of course-but you must never mention our
involvement. Irrespective of what may happen, you must not, directly or
indirectly, allude to our participation. Should you do so, we will take
your life and the life of the girl. Is this understood?’
“it is.”
“Then we are in agreement?”
We are.”
“Thank you,” said Dunois, smiling.
33
As Julian Dunois outlined their alternatives and began to formulate
strategy, it became clearer to Matlock why the blacks had sought him out
with such concentration-and why Dunois was willing to offer help. He,
Matlock, had the basic information they needed. Who were his contacts? Both
inside and without the university? Who and where were the government men?
How were communications expedited?
In other words-whom should Julian Dunois avoid in his march to Nimrod?
“I must say, you were extraordinarily unprepared for contingencies,” Dunois
said. ‘Tery slipshod.”
“That occurred to me, too. But I think I was only partially to blame.”
“I dare say you werel” Dunois laughed, joined by Williams. The three men
remained in the windowless room. A card table had been brought in along
with several yellow pads. Dunois had begun writing down every bit of
information Matlock supplied. He double-checked the spelling of names, the