State of Siege - Tom Clancy [86]
They turned a corner and approached the door to the infirmary. Enzo slipped ahead of the secretary-general and opened it for her. Chatterjee walked in. She stopped abruptly. Two EMT'S were lying on the floor in the reception area. The attending nurse was also lying on the floor, in the doctor's office. So were a pair of security guards. Enzo ran to the nearest bodies. There were spots of blood on the tile. The technicians were alive but unconscious, evidently from blows to the head. The nurse was also unconscious.
There were no tears in their clothes, no indication that there had been a struggle.
There was no trace of the handcuffs and no sign of Georgiev. As Chatterjee took a moment to process what had happened, there was only one conclusion to be drawn: that someone had been here waiting.
New York, New York Saturday, 11:57 P.m.
Hood called Bob Herbert and told him to get them Chatterjee's mobile phone number. While Hood held the line, Rodgers bound Ani Hampton to her chair. He used black electrical tape he'd found in the supply closet to tie her left wrist to the armrest. There had been packaging twine on the shelf, but using tape was a habit from field interrogations: it didn't leave marks or tear the skin, and it was tougher to work lose. Rodgers had also found several handguns and other CIA field gear in the closet. The guns were locked in a metal gun rack. After binding Ani, Rodgers took the key case from her blazer, which was hanging in the closet. CIA regulations required that whoever was in charge of a shell have access to the "selfdefense matbriel." Rodgers found the key that unlocked the rack and took a pair of Berettas for himself and another pair for August. Each handgun held a clip with a fifteen-shell capacity. He also grabbed a pair of point-to-point radios along with a brick of C-4 and detonators. He put the explosives in a foam-lined backpack and slung it over one shoulder. It wasn't the usual Striker kitnight vision glasses and Uzis would be ideal-but it would have to do. He hoped he didn't need any of these, but he wanted to be prepared for the worst.
Upon returning to the office, Rodgers looked down at Ani. "If you cooperate, I'll help you when we get out of here."
She didn't respond.
"Do you understand?" Rodgers pressed.
"I understand," she said without looking up. After handing August his guns, Rodgers took the colonel's arm. He led him to where Hood was standing, still holding the phone. "What's wrong?" August asked.
"I don't have a good feeling about our prisoner," Rodgers said quietly.
"Why?" Hood asked.
"In a few minutes, she's going to have us by the short hairs," Rodgers said. "Suppose Chatterjee calls the terrorists for us. Then this woman refuses to back up the lie. Where are we then?" "I'd say pretty much where we are now," August told him. "Not exactly," Rodgers said. "The terrorists will have been attacked and then lied to. They're going to want to hit back. Shoot a hostage as scheduled and add another as payback."
"Are you saying we shouldn't do this?" Hood asked. "No, I don't think we have a choice," Rodgers said. "Because, if nothing else, we can buy ourselves a few extra minutes."
"For what?" Hood asked.
"To take control of this situation," Rodgers said. "To launch a bottleneck operation."
August seemed pleased.
Hood shook his head. "With what kind of force?" he asked. "The pair of you?"
"It can work," Rodgers told him.
"I repeat-with just two soldiers?" Hood asked. "In theory, yes," Rodgers said.
Hood didn't seem happy with that answer.
"We've run simulations," Rodgers went on. "Brett has drilled for this."
"Mike," Hood said, "even if you can get in there, the hostages are going to be extremely vulnerable." "Like I said, what do you think is going to happen if our lady friend here turns on us?" Rodgers asked. "We've got human gunpowder in a keg, and we're applying a match. The terrorists are going to blow." Hood had to admit that Rodgers had a point. He looked at his watch. "Bob?" he said into the phone. "I'm here,"