Tom Clancy's op-center_ acts of war - Tom Clancy [130]
Azizi shuddered and moaned. "I knew--knew this would happen."
"Lie still," Hood said into his ear. "You've been injured."
"The President--" he said.
"He's dead," Hood informed him.
Azizi opened his eyes. "No!"
"I'm sorry," Hood said. Through the frustrating thickness in his ears he heard shots. It sounded as if they were coming from outside the palace. Were there more terrorists trying to get in or guards firing at fleeing accomplices? The gunfire grew louder with each new volley. Hood began to fear that the shots weren't being directed away from the palace but toward it.
Azizi squirmed with pain. "He is not--" Azizi choked. "He is not the President."
Hood continued to pull away blood-drenched pieces of the man's jacket. "What do you mean?"
"He was a double," Azizi said. "To draw his enemies out."
Hood scowled as the words sunk in. Score one for paranoia, he thought. He patted Azizi's shoulder. "Don't exert yourself," he said. "I'll see if I can stop the bleeding and then call for an ambulance."
"No!" said Azizi. "They must come here."
Hood looked at him.
"We have been waiting," Azizi said weakly. "Watching for them."
"For who?"
"Many more," Azizi replied.
Hood winced as he cleared the last remnants of shirt from Azizi's chest. Blood was pumping out in half-inch-high squirts. He didn't know what to do for the man. Sitting back on his heels, he held Azizi's hand.
"Why won't you let me call for a doctor?" Hood asked.
"They have to come in."
"They," Hood said. "You think there may be more terrorists?"
"Many," Azizi wheezed. "The bomber was Kurd. Many Kurds missing. Still in Damascus--"
Suddenly but peacefully, almost as if he were moving in slow motion, the Syrian's head rolled to the side. His breathing slowed as the spurts of blood continued. A moment later Azizi's eyes closed. There was a long exhalation and then silence.
Hood released Azizi's hand. He looked to his right as Nasr crept through the smoke. He was followed by the three ambassadors. The Russian looked stunned. Haveles was holding him by an elbow and leading him ahead. The Japanese Ambassador was walking behind him, a little unsteady. Their aides, most of them shell-shocked, walked a few paces behind.
"My God," Haveles said. "The President--"
"No," said Hood as his ears began to clear. "A look-alike. That's why the President's security forces haven't come in yet. They used this man to smoke out a mole."
"I sold the President short," Haveles said. "He was expecting to win allies by having us dead and him alive."
"He'd have gotten that too if the bomber hadn't panicked," Hood said.
"Panicked?" Haveles said. "What do you mean?"
Hood watched as the blood stopped pumping from Azizi's chest. "The infiltrator counted on the other bodyguards looking ahead and not seeing him. But he didn't count on someone inside noticing the static charge when he armed the electromagnetic fuse." Hood indicated the shattered remains of the bomber. "He must have been put in place years ago to have gotten this kind of access."
"Who was he?" Haveles asked.
"Azizi thinks--thought he was a Kurd," Hood said. "I agree. There's something going on here that's larger than sending Syria and Turkey to war."
"What?" asked Haveles.
"I honestly don't know," said Hood.
The shots from outside grew louder and closer.
"Where are our security agents?" the Russian ambassador yelled in English.
"I don't know that either," Hood said, more to himself than to the Russian. However, he feared the worst. He peered through the smoke. "Ambassador Andreyev, are all of your people all right?"
"Da," he replied.
"Ambassador Serizawa!" Hood yelled. "Are you okay?"
"We are unhurt!" a member of the Japanese contingent yelled through the smoke.