Stone Barrington 06-11

later, the shouting stopped.
    “What’s happening?” Holly yelled, pushing her way into the room, followed by Stone and Dino.
    “Holy shit,” somebody said.
    They were all standing around a hole about eighteen inches in diameter that had been punched through the outer wall and into the building next door. Men were stripping off their armor so they could squeeze through.
    “Put that equipment back on!” the team leader shouted. “Nobody goes in there without armor!” He held the radio to his lips. “Roof team, start down and search every apartment on the way!”
    “Hang on,” Dino said, “our warrant doesn’t cover the building next door.”
    “I want four men on the front door of the building next door,” the team leader said, pointing to men, and they ran out of the apartment.
    “I’m going through there,” Holly said, pushing her way forward.
    “You don’t want to do that, Holly,” Dino said. “You want a good bust out of this. We’ll have the building sealed in a minute, then we’ll send for another warrant.”
    “It’s hot pursuit, Dino. You don’t need a warrant to pursue.”
    “Okay,” Dino said to the team leader. “Let’s get that hole made bigger and get some men through it. We can’t search the other apartments, but we can search the one on the other side of the hole and the hallways.”
    SWAT team members went to work with tools left in the apartment, and ten minutes later, they were able to get men in armor through the hole.
    Stone and Holly followed them and emerged into an empty apartment under renovation.
    “Who was on the roof?” Holly asked.
    Two men raised their hands.

    “Did you see anybody come onto the roof from this building?”
    They looked at each other sheepishly. “We had our backs to it,” one of them said, “watching the exit from the other building.”
    “Is there a fire escape on this building?” Holly asked.
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Holly turned to the SWAT team leader. “Then let’s get going. We have to pursue.”
    “Hang on, Holly,” Dino said. “The guy’s been gone for, what, fifteen minutes? All he had to do was catch a cab. He’s gone for now. We’ve still got a city-wide APB out on him, and we’ll get his picture on the news. That’s all we can do for now, and all you can do is wait.”
    “Shit, shit, shit!” Holly said.
    “My feelings exactly,” Dino replied.
    “Let’s go home,” Stone said.

52
    H OLLY, STONE, AND Dino trooped disconsolately down the stairs and out into the street, still wearing their body armor. As they hit the sidewalk a television van pulled into the block, and a reporter sprinted toward Dino.
    “Lieutenant Bacchetti!” she was hollering. “Give us a minute?”
    Dino stopped. “What can I do for you?”
    “What just went down here?”
    “Call information services, they’ll give you a statement.”
    “Yeah, sure,” the woman said.
    “Why don’t you talk to Chief Holly Barker of the Orchid Beach Police Department?” he suggested, grabbing Holly’s arm and dragging her forward.
    “Chief Barker?” the woman said. “Who did you arrest here?”
    “I’m afraid we didn’t arrest anybody,” she said. “I’m in New York with a fugitive warrant for one Trini Rodriguez. We entered this building with the help of the NYPD, believing him to be here, but he apparently had a well-planned escape route, and we missed him.”
    “Isn’t that the man wanted for killing an FBI agent and wounding another?”
    “Yes, it is, but I want him for a dozen murders committed in the state of Florida.”
    “We interviewed Special Agent Grant Harrison from the FBI’s Miami office less than an hour ago, and he’s posted a one-hundred-thousand-dollar reward for Rodriguez. If he’s caught, who gets him?”
    “I suppose that depends on who catches him,” Holly said.
    “If you catch him, are you going to hand him over to the FBI?”
    “If I catch him, I’m going to take him back to Florida and see him tried.”
    “What about the FBI?”
    “What about them?”
    “Don’t they have precedence?”
    “Says who?”
    “Says Agent Harrison.”
    “Well, he would, wouldn’t he? Excuse me.” She went to the van where Stone was waiting and stripped off her equipment. “Let’s get out of here.”

    When they arrived at Stone’s house, he switched on the TV and saw Holly’s interview on the all-news channel.
    “You did very well,” Stone said.

    “Hang on,” Holly said, “here comes Grant.”
    “In an