Ambush

Chapter 94

As much as Alex didn’t want to admit it, she was scared. Fear is a killer in this business. It saps your strength and keeps you from thinking straight. She didn’t know anyone who wouldn’t be a little shaken after what she had just been through.

All she wanted to do now was to put some distance between herself and the shooting scene. When she turned the corner of the long building, she noticed people pouring out into the parking lot. There was no order or supervision.

The idea of someone with a gun spooked everyone. That meant no one was using common sense or paying attention to the surroundings. That was exactly what she needed: chaos.

Alex slowed to a walk and pulled her blouse straight. She spent a few seconds making her hair neat and professional. She mingled with the crowd but continued to walk in the same direction, to the opposite side of the complex. There had to be a street with taxis near there.

She heard sirens, but so far she had only seen one police car, racing directly to the main office she had just come from.

Now all she could focus on was escape. She could have no regrets about what had happened or who had been hurt. She just needed to find a way off this property, then out of Brooklyn.

She eased away from the crowd and started walking along the sidewalk at the far end of the parking lot.

Just as she thought she was clear of any interference, a man in a uniform stepped out from between two small buildings close to the river. He had a radio, and as he approached her, she heard someone giving a description. “The suspect is a female with long hair and may be posing as someone in the entertainment business.”

The man looked up when he was right in front of Alex. He was young, black, perhaps in his early twenties, and very skinny. And he immediately realized he had stumbled onto the armed woman everyone was looking for.

She drew her pistol from her purse and casually pointed it at his chest.

Alex admired the fact that he came right to the point, raising both hands and saying, “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Neither do I.” She didn’t wave the gun to make her point. She didn’t have to. “I just need information from you, and I need it fast.”

His whole body was shaking. A tear welled in his right eye. She wanted him scared. This was good.

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.