Executive orders - Tom Clancy [437]
It was almost as though Unhurt said the same thing to his wounded friend, and with that he gave Katie Ryan a yank on the arm. She cried out loudly again as he walked across the room, pushing her ahead of him, blocking Hurt's field of view as he did so. It had taken twenty minutes to achieve. Now he had one second to see if it would work.
The drill was the same for O'Day as it had been for Don' Russell. His right hand raced back, whipped inside the jacket, and pulled the pistol out, as he dropped to one knee. The moment Unhurt's body cleared the target, the Smith 1076 loosed two perfect rounds, both of the stainless-steel cases flying in the air, as Hurt became Dead. Unhurt's eyes went wide in surprise, as the children's screams erupted again.
DROP IT, O'Day bellowed at him.
Unhurt's first reaction was to yank again at Katie Ryan's arm, and at the same time the gun started to move up, as though it were a pistol, but the AK was far too heavy to be used that way. O'Day wanted him alive, but there wasn't the time for chances. His right index finger pushed back on the trigger, then pushed again. The body fell straight down, behind it a red shadow on the white walls of Giant Steps.
Inspector Patrick O'Day jumped across the room, kicking one, then the other rifle free of their dead owners' hands. He gave each body a careful look, and for all the years of practice and instruction he'd given and taken, it still came as a surprise that it all had worked. Only then did his heart start beating again, or so it seemed, as a vacuum filled his chest. His body slumped down for a moment. Then he tensed his muscles and knelt beside the body of Katie Ryan, SANDBOX to the Secret Service, and a thing to the people he'd just killed.
You okay, honey? he asked. She didn't answer. She was holding her arm and sobbing, but there was no blood on her. Come on, he said gently, wrapping his arms around a daughter who now would forever be partly his. Next he picked up his Megan and walked to the door.
THERE'S SHOOTING IN the building! a voice said on the desk-mounted speaker. Ryan just froze. The rest of the people in the Sit Room cringed.
Sounded like a pistol. Do they have pistols? another voice asked on the same radio circuit.
Holy shit, look there!
Who's that?
COMING OUT! A voice called. Coming out!
HOLD FIRE! Price called over the loudspeaker. Guns didn't move away from the door, but hands relaxed a fraction.
Jesus! Jeffers said, standing and racing to join him in the doorway.
Both subjects dead, Mrs. Daggett, too, O'Day said. All clear, Norm. All clear.
Let me-
No! Katie Ryan screamed.
He had to get out of the way. Pat looked down to see the blood-soaked clothing of three agents of his rival agency. There were at least ten rounds by Don Russell's body, and an empty magazine. Beyond were four dead criminals. Two, he saw, walking to the perimeter, head shots. He stopped by his pickup. His knees were a little weak now, and he set the kids down, sitting himself on the bumper. A female agent came up. Pat took the Smith from his belt and handed it over without really looking.
You hurt? It was Andrea Price.
He shook his head; it took him a moment to speak again. I might start shaking in a minute. The agent looked at his two little girls. A state trooper scooped Katie Ryan up, but Megan refused to leave his side. That was when he hugged his daughter to his chest, and the tears began for both of them.
SANDBOX is safe! he heard Price say. SANDBOX is safe and unhurt!
Price looked around. Backup Service agents hadn't arrived yet, and most of the law-enforcement personnel on the scene were troopers of the Maryland State Police in their starched khaki shirts. Ten of them formed a ring around SANDBOX, guarding her like a pride of lions.
Jeffers rejoined them. O'Day had never fully appreciated the way time changed in such moments as this. When he looked up, the children were being let out the side door.