Vanish: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

setback. “All right, your honor. I withdraw the question.” She turned, again, to Jane. Regarded her for a moment as she considered her next move. “You said that you and your partner, Detective Frost, were both at the scene. That you and he made a joint decision to enter apartment two-B?”
    “It wasn’t apartment two-B, ma’am. It was apartment two-
E.
”
    “Oh yes, of course. My mistake.”
    Yeah, right. As if you aren’t trying to trip me up.
    “You say you knocked at the door and announced that you were police officers,” said Quinlan.
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And this interaction had nothing to do with why you were originally in that building.”
    “No, ma’am. It was just a coincidence that we happened to be there. But when we determine that a citizen is in danger, it’s our duty to intervene.”
    “And that’s why you knocked at apartment two-B.”
    “Two-E.”
    “And when no one answered, you burst through the door.”
    “We felt a woman’s life was in jeopardy, based on the screams we heard.”
    “How did you know they were screams of distress? Couldn’t they have been the sounds of, say, passionate lovemaking?”
    Jane wanted to laugh at the question, but didn’t. “That was not what we heard.”
    “And you know that for a fact? You can tell the difference?”
    “A woman with a bloody lip is pretty good evidence.”
    “The point is, you didn’t know it
at the time.
You didn’t give my client a chance to answer the door. You made a rush to judgment and just broke in.”
    “We stopped a beating.”
    “You’re aware that the so-called victim has refused to press charges against Mr. Rollo? That they are still together as a loving couple?”
    Jane’s jaw squared. “That’s her decision.”
Dumb though it is.
“What I saw that day, in apartment two-E, was clearly abuse. There was blood.”
    “Like
my
blood doesn’t count?” said Rollo. “You pushed me down the stairs, lady! I still got the scar here, on my chin!”
    “Silence, Mr. Rollo,” the judge ordered.
    “Look! See where I hit the bottom step? I needed stitches!”
    “Mr. Rollo!”
    “
Did
you push my client down the stairs, Detective?” asked Quinlan.
    “Objection,” said Spurlock.
    “No, I did not,” said Jane. “He was plenty drunk enough to fall down the stairs all by himself.”
    “She’s lying!” said the defendant.
    The gavel banged down.
“Quiet, Mr. Rollo!”
    But Billy Wayne Rollo was just building up a head of outraged steam. “She and her partner, they dragged me into the stairwell so no one would see what they were doing. You think
she
could arrest me all by herself? That little pregnant
girl
? What a crock of shit she’s telling you!”
    “Sergeant Givens, remove the defendant.”
    “It’s a case of police brutality!” Rollo yelled as the bailiff hauled him to his feet. “Hey, you people in the jury, are you stupid? Can’t you see this is all made-up shit? These two cops kicked me down the fucking stairwell!”
    The gavel slammed down. “Let’s take a recess. Please escort the jurors out.”
    “Oh yeah! Let’s take a
recess
!” Rollo laughed and shoved away the bailiff. “Just when they’re finally hearing the truth!”
    “Get him out of here, Sergeant Givens.”
    Givens grabbed Rollo’s arm. Enraged, Rollo twisted around and charged, his head thudding into the bailiff’s belly. They both slammed to the floor and began to grapple. Victoria Quinlan stared, openmouthed, as her client and the bailiff flopped around just inches from her high-heeled Manolo Blahniks.
    Ah, Jesus. Someone’s gotta take control of this mess.
    Jane heaved herself out of the chair. Shoving aside the stunned Quinlan, Jane snatched up the bailiff’s handcuffs, which he’d dropped on the floor in the confusion.
    “Assistance!” yelled the judge, banging on his gavel. “We need another bailiff in here!”
    Sergeant Givens was lying on his back now, pinned beneath Rollo, who was just raising his right fist to deliver a blow. Jane grabbed Rollo’s raised wrist and snapped on one of the cuffs.
    “What the fuck?” Rollo said.
    Jane rammed her foot into his back, twisted his arm behind him, and shoved him down against the bailiff. Another click, and the second cuff closed around Rollo’s left wrist.
    “Get off me, you fucking cow!” Rollo screamed. “You’re breaking my back!”
    Sergeant Givens, trapped at the bottom of the pileup, looked like he was about to suffocate beneath the