38
Tom woke to find a security guard on either side of his bed. He wondered if he was in purgatory’s waiting room. He wished his mother was near and then rebuked himself. A grown man wishing for his mother? Pull yourself together, Tom, even if you are dead, he told himself.
“Mr Stiles, good to see you awake,” Harrison said.
Harrison is dead too, Tom thought.
“Sir, the president would like me to inform you that the Chechen emissary Lenik has been killed. The bomb detonated at about ten per cent; he killed himself and injured two others. Two agents. No civilians hurt.”
“No other casualties?” Tom asked.
“No other casualties.”
“The deputy secretary?”
“No other casualties.”
“How did he get inside the White House with plastic explosives? And why?”
“We have examined the security footage
