"Clancy, Tom - Op-Center 05 - Ballance of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clancy Tom)

and the busload of commuters. After she and her friend Ana
Rivera of the Mexican attorney general's
office were cornered by a pair of drug cartel
musclemen one night, Aideen discovered that the best
way to fight off an attacker wasn't by carrying a
whistle or knife or by trying to kick them in the
groin or scratch out their eyes. It was by keeping
moist towelettes in your handbag. That's what Ana
used to clean her hands and arms after tossing around some
mierda de perro.
Dog droppings. Ana had casually scooped them
off the street and flung them at the toughs who were
following them. Then she'd rubbed some on her arms
to make sure no one grabbed them. Ana said there
wasn't an attacker she'd ever encountered who stuck
around after that. Certainly the three "street
extortionists" in Madrid had not.
Martha and Aideen walked in silence toward the towering
white columns of the Palacio de las Cortes.
Built in 1842, the palace was the seat of the
Congreso de los Diputados; along with the
Senado, the Senate, it comprised the two houses
of the Spanish parliament. Though the sun had set,
spotlights illuminated two larger-than-life
bronze lions. Each lion rested a paw atop
a cannonball. The statues had been cast using
12 OP-CENTER
guns taken from the enemies of Spain. They flanked
the stone steps that led to a high metal door, a
door used only for ceremonies. To the left of the
main entrance was a very tall iron fence, which was spiked
along the top. Beside the fence gate stood a small
guardhouse with bulletproof windows. This was where the
deputies entered the halls of parliament.
Neither woman spoke as they walked past the imposing
granite facade of the palace. Though Aideen had
only worked at Op-Center a short while, she
knew that in spirit her boss was already at the meeting.
Martha was quietly reviewing things she'd want
to say to Serrador. Aideen's own role was to draw
on her experience with Mexican
insurrectionists and her knowledge of the Spanish language
to make sure nothing was misstated or
misinterpreted.
If only we "d had a little more time to prepare,
Aideen thought as they walked around snapping
pictures, acting like tourists as they slowly made
their way to the gate. Op-Center had barely had time
to catch its breath from the hostage situation in the
Bekaa Valley when this matter had been relayed