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Alex said, “What’s the fastest way to get to a street where I can hail a cab?”
He pointed with his right hand and kept his left hand raised. “If you go straight down this sidewalk to the corner of the property, there is a person-size door in the fence. The gate’s never locked. There’s a busy street right there.”
She smiled at the young man and nudged him back with the barrel of the pistol so he walked backward to the two buildings close to the river. Then they kept walking through the narrow park to the edge of the river.
Alex said, “That was very informative and very smart. Now I need to make sure you can’t tell anyone for a few minutes. You know how we’re going to arrange that?” She held up the pistol.
The young security guard’s voice broke as he said, “Oh, God. No, please.”
“Can you think of an alternative?” Alex had no intention of shooting him. She just needed him quiet.
The security guard said, “I’m going to promise to sit right here and not call out to anyone?”
She reached onto his belt and pulled his radio off. “First we’re going to make sure you don’t have communications.” She chucked the radio over the seawall into the East River.
“Hey!”
“Maybe you should jump in after it.”
The young man looked over her shoulder at the seawall and river behind it. “That’s okay. I think I can explain it to my boss.”
She pointed her pistol. “Jump. Now.”
He hesitated and just stared at her.
Alex said, “What’s the matter? Can’t you swim?” It wasn’t an idle question. She didn’t want to kill another innocent bystander today.
He raised his voice and said, “That’s a stereotype. Of course I can swim.”
Alex nudged him in the chest with the barrel of the small semiautomatic pistol. He stumbled back a couple of steps, then turned, crawled onto the low seawall, and hopped into the water.
Alex peeked over to make sure he was okay. He was already floating with the current and wasn’t panicking.
Now she forced herself to walk calmly back onto the studio property, then down the pathway he had pointed out. With all the people milling around, it was as good a scenario as she could hope for. Civilians always distract law enforcement. No matter what the mission, civilians just get in the way. And Alex was happy about that.
She turned to her right at the end of the walkway and followed the fence to the corner of the property, where a six-foot chain-link door was built into the fence. She lifted the handle and stepped onto the sidewalk alongside a busy street.
Sweet.
Chapter 95
Alex walked briskly along the sidewalk and noticed two more NYPD patrol cars race past, headed for the movie studio. A smile crept across her face. She felt like she was going to make it. Now that she was away from Bennett, the police response didn’t seem like a threat. In some South American countries, the authorities might even call out the army to try to seal an area. She greatly preferred this.
A block away, the traffic was light, and no one appeared concerned with what was happening at the studio. A McDonald’s looked like a good place to lay low, but Alex needed to get out of the area. She kept walking, trying to blend in. The last thing she needed was to call attention to herself.
At the corner, she saw two cabs turn onto a side street. That’s where she needed to be. She stopped for a moment to get her bearings. She could see the Freedom Tower in the distance and the Brooklyn Bridge not far away.
She would take a cab to within a
few blocks of her hotel, then walk the rest of the way. Just in case someone put some effort into finding out where she went from here.
She didn’t intend to waste any time after that. She would catch a bus south and then a flight out of Baltimore or perhaps Reagan National. It was extra work but would give her peace of mind. No one would be able to figure out who she was or where she went.
Alex kept a steady pace down the street, her right hand just outside her purse for easy access to her weapons. No one gave her a second look. Another police car flew by, followed by a paramedic truck.
She turned the corner and saw three cabs sitting along the curb near the middle of the block. As she approached, she caught the first driver’s attention and stepped directly to the rear passenger door.
Her survival instinct told her she wasn’t quite clear yet. She grabbed the stiletto from her purse and held it in her right hand.
