Daylight (Atlee Pine, #3)(92)

“Just a little shot of Vitamin C.” Axilrod looked at Vincenzo. “You would have felt so good, Tony.”

“Put the syringe down, Lindsey.”

Instead, she held up the syringe like a knife. “Make me, you bitch.” She lunged at them.

Pine calmly altered her aim and shot Axilrod in the hand; the bullet passed through skin and bone before becoming lodged in the wall.

Axilrod dropped the syringe and doubled over, screaming in pain. Vincenzo tried to jerk free, but Pine’s iron grip kept him from going anywhere.

“You shot me!” screamed Axilrod.

“You seem to be the only one surprised by that. And trust me, it was all I could do not to aim at your head.”

Pine gave Vincenzo a hard shove, sending him sprawling face-first to the floor. “Stay there,” she barked.

She pushed Axilrod out of the way, gingerly picked up the syringe, carefully wrapped it in toilet paper, and stuck it in the cabinet under the sink. “Whatever is in there, I’ll leave to a biohazard disposal squad to deal with.” She glanced at Axilrod, who was squatting next to the shower, holding her bleeding hand, and quietly sobbing.

Axilrod looked up at Pine through tear-stained eyes. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with.”

Pine tossed her a towel to wrap around the wound and leaned against the sink. “So enlighten me.”

“You wish,” said Axilrod as she tied the towel around her hand.

“How’d it feel feeding fourteen-year-old girls like Jewel Blake to horny old men, Lindsey? You get a kick out of that?”

“What?” said Vincenzo, staring at Axilrod.

“Yeah, your girlfriend plays pimp, too, as another sideline.” She looked at the woman. “Girls who thought you were going to protect them? And you fed them to the wolves.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. And you have no cause to hold me. I’m outta here.”

“You move to the door, the next thing I shoot will not be your hand. But if you talk, maybe we can work a deal.”

“You will learn shit from me, okay?”

“Is this where you say you want a lawyer?”

“Go to hell.”

Pine glanced at Vincenzo. “Hey, Tony, you want a great deal? All you have to do is rat this piece of shit out.”

“You do that, Tony, and you are dead,” snapped Axilrod.

“She was going to kill you anyway, so what’s the difference?” noted Pine.

Vincenzo turned and looked up at Pine. “What do you want to know?”

“Tony!” screamed Axilrod.

Pine pulled out a pair of zip cuffs and handed them to Vincenzo. “Put these on her hands and ankles.”

“But—”

“Now!”

Vincenzo pushed a struggling Axilrod down, flipped her over, put a knee on her lower back, and managed, with difficulty, to bind her hands and ankles.

“Good boy, Tony,” said Pine.

When Axilrod started screaming a string of obscenities, Pine grabbed the scruff of the woman’s jacket, slid her into the bedroom closet, and shut the door.

She returned to the bathroom and looked at Vincenzo.

“Okay, sit on the toilet. We’re going to have a chat.” Pine took out her phone and turned on the video with the lens pointed right at him.

Vincenzo sat down and rubbed the back of his head. “I can’t believe she was going to kill me. I thought she loved me.”

“Yeah, Tony, you need to get over that. She was using you just like she used everybody else. Now I need you to talk.”

He looked at her warily. “Maybe I need to speak to a lawyer.”

“Well, I haven’t arrested you, which is why I haven’t read you your Miranda rights, so technically, you’re not entitled to a lawyer. But what the hell. You want a lawyer? Okay. I’ll cut Axilrod loose and leave you guys to it. She probably has a second syringe in her purse. I’ll go get her now and you two can work out your differences. I’m sure the murdering bitch would be willing.”

Pine pocketed her phone and moved to leave the room.

“Wait, wait!” cried out Vincenzo.

Pine turned to look at him. “Well?”

“What do you want to know?”

She settled back against the sink, took out her phone, and turned on the video function. She recited the date, time, her and Vincenzo’s names, and where they were located. Not exactly by the book, but the best she could do under the circumstances.

Pine said, “Do you want a lawyer?”

“No, I don’t want a lawyer.”

“Are you speaking to me of your own free will?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, tell me everything. Starting with how you and Axilrod hooked up.”

“She came up to me at a bar one night. She seemed to know all about me, where I worked, the petty crap I’d done.”

“Meaning dealing drugs?”

“I don’t deal, well, not technically. I just make the stuff.”

“Okay, go on.”

“She told me she worked at Fort Dix, too, in the IT department. Then says we can go big-time. She has it all planned out. She had a contact who could move a lot of product.”

“Jeff Sands.”

“Yeah, I met with him quite a few times while we were putting this together.”