State of Siege - Tom Clancy [65]
Harleigh used the toe of her right high-heeled shoe to slip off her left shoe. Then she slowly did the same with the right. Her fellow students were watching the struggle.
Harleigh eased the chair back. Slowly, without rising, she pivoted the chair on one leg so she could turn her body around slightly. Have a clear, straight run at the exit.
"Don't do it," Barbara said from the side of her mouth. "What?" Harleigh said.
"I know what you're thinking," Barbara said, "because I'm thinking the same thing. Don't go for it. I am. . 'ationo-[*thorn]
"I'm faster than you," Barbara murmured. "I beat you two years in a row."
"I'm two steps closer," Harleigh pointed out. Barbara shook her head slowly. Her eyes were angry and her mind was made up. Harleigh didn't know what to do. She didn't want to race Barbara for the door. They'd only trip each other up.
The girls looked over as the leader caught Laura mid-way up the stairs. He lifted her off the floor and threw her backward, down the stairs. Laura bounced and rolled and came to a stop at the bottom. She was moving her arms and head slowly, painfully. The leader hurried down to her. Barbara took a few slow, shallow breaths. She put her hands on the edge of the wooden table. She waited until she was sure that no one was looking her way. Then she pushed off from the table, rose, and ran.
Her legs were hindered by the tight gown she was wearing. Harleigh heard a rip along the side, but Barbara kept running. Her arms churned, she kept her eyes on the doorknob, and she ignored whichever of the terrorists or delegates or whoever was shouting at her to stop. Harleigh watched as she reached the door. Go! Harleigh thought.
Barbara stopped to pull it open. She heard the latch click, the door came open, and then she heard a whip-loud crack. It stayed inside her ears, filling them, like the first blast of music when her Walkman was turned too high.
The next thing Harleigh knew, Barbara was no longer standing. She was still holding the doorknob, but she was on her knees. Her hand slipped from the knob, and her arm flopped to her side. Barbara's body remained upright, but only for a moment. Then she fell to the side.
She was no longer angry.
New York, New York Saturday, 11:30
Secretary-General Chatterjee stopped when she heard the muffled gunshot. It was followed by shrill cries, and then a few moments later there was a second gunshot, closer to the corridor than the first. Almost immediately after that, the door of the Security Council chamber opened. Ambassador Contini was thrown out, and the door was quickly shut.
Colonel Mott ran over to the body at once, his foot-steps breaking the utter stillness of the corridor. He was followed by the emergency medical crew. The delegate's well-dressed body was lying on its side, Contini's dark face toward them. His expression was relaxed, his eyes shut, his lips slightly parted. The man didn't look dead, not the way Ambassador Johanson had. Then the blood started to pool beneath his soft cheek.
Mott squatted beside the body. He looked behind the head. There was a single wound, just like before.
As the medical team placed the body on a stretcher, Chatterjee walked toward the doors of the Security Council chamber. She looked away from the body as she passed. Mott rose and intercepted her. "Ma'am, there's nothing you can gain by going in there now," he said. "At least wait until we have the video." "Wait!" Chatterjee said. "I've already waited too long!" Just then, one of the security force personnel came from the Economic and Social Council chamber. Lieutenant David Mailman was assigned to a makeshift, two-person reconnaissance team. He