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“Listen for a moment, Anna,” Dino said, “and tell me, what do you hear?” He cocked the snub-nosed .38 he used for a backup.
Anna’s face froze.
“Place your handbag and both hands on the table,” Dino said.
She thought about it for a millisecond, then complied.
Dino produced a pair of handcuffs. “Cuff her,” he said to Stone.
“You’re not kidding?” Stone said.
“I kid you not.”
Stone reached over and cuffed her.
Dino opened her handbag and dumped its contents on the table. The contents included a Beretta .25 semiautomaticpistol and a spare magazine. There was a short silencer screwed into the pistol barrel.
“Anna,” Dino said, “it is a felony to possess a handgun in this city without a carry license. It is punishable by a prison term and it is another felony to possess a silencer. You are under arrest.” He showed her his badge, then handed his .38 to Stone, and took out his cell phone. “Shoot her if she moves, and she probably will.”
Stone leveled the weapon at Anna. “Then I will certainly shoot her.”
Dino pressed a button and spoke into the phone. “Come in here with a weapon drawn and ready to make an arrest,” he said.
While they waited, Dino returned her belongings to her handbag, sans weaponry, and tucked it under her arm. “You can call the number they give you when you arrive at the precinct, and they’ll send a lawyer, but you should expect to remain in jail until your trial, a few months, since you are a threat to the public safety and a flight risk.”
Anna, who had not spoken since returning from the little girls’ room, spoke. “I wish a lawyer,” she said.
Dino’s driver came in and took charge of the prisoner.
“We’ll be along in a few minutes,” Dino said to him. “Lock her down, but first, have a female detective conduct a full cavity search, and check her hair for a hatpin. Let everybody know that she is very dangerous.”
Stone spoke up. “Can I have thirty minutes alone in a cell with her, cameras off?”
“If you do that,” Dino replied, “she’ll try to kill you, and she knows how.” He shoved the check across the table. “Dinner is on you,” he said.
41
Dino and Stonegot into the rear seat of Dino’s armored GMC. “Let’s drift up to the 19th Precinct and see how our guest is doing,” he said to his driver.
“No problems getting her there,” the driver replied. He drove uptown for the few blocks. As they approached the precinct, they saw an ambulance parked out front, its blue light spinning. Two men and a woman came down the front steps with a gurney. The woman was holding an IV bag above the patient, who appeared to be another woman. They got her into the ambulance, and it drove away.
Dino hit the sidewalk running and went upstairs into the precinct, with Stone hot on his heels.
“Commissioner,” the desk sergeant said, “one flight up.”
They were met by a man in a suit and tie, minus the jacket, holding both hands up. “Commish, it’s all under control.”
“Whatis under control?” Dino shouted at the man.
“The perp had a handcuff key on her somewhere. Detective Rosie Mack took her into a holding cell for the body and cavity search, there was some noise, and the perp came out of there with her hands free and Rosie’s piece in one of them. She grabbed her handbag from my desk and made it down the stairs without shooting anybody, took an unmarked cruiser, and drove it away. I’ve issued an APB.”
“What is the extent of Rosie’s injuries?”
“She was stuck in the chest with something smaller than a knife and hit on the back of the neck. She was unconscious, and there was some blood.”
“Where’s she headed?”
“Lenox Hill ER.”
