NYPD Red 4 by James Patterson Read Free Book Online

asked me to send her a picture, so I did. That’s all. It was harmless. I can’t believe you’re accusing me of stealing.”
    “Nobody is accusing you of anything,” Kylie said. “I’m just asking a few routine questions.”
    “If you knew me, you wouldn’t ask things like that. I don’t steal. Cooking and volunteer work are my passions. My soul needs redemption, and I get that from both.”
    The tears were gone now. “I have a few questions of my own,” she said. “How am I supposed to get six dialysis machines out of the hospital? And what would I do with them if I had them? It’s not just embarrassing; it’s insane. Unless you’re planning to arrest me, please leave.”
    We left.
    “You bought her act?” Kylie said once we were back in the car.
    “How do you know it was an act? You hit her with some circumstantial evidence, and she had a plausible explanation.”
    “Oh please: pretty lady, at home in the kitchen, turns on the waterworks. Guys fall for it all the time.”
    “So all of a sudden I’m a
guy?
I thought I was a cop.”
    “I’m a cop too, and the first thing I thought of was, if I were going to send someone to case a hospital, I’d send someone who could fly under the radar. She fits the bill.”
    “Well, right now we have nothing to go on,” I said.
    “So why don’t you humor me? Let’s look at the other hospitals that were hit and see if Lynn Lyon volunteered at any of them.”
    Kylie and I have similar instincts, and we’re usually in sync when we question someone. I was pretty sure I was right on this one, but this time her anger at Spence spilled over, and she took it out on Lyon.
    “Fine with me,” I said. “You want to call the other hospitals?”
    “Absolutely. Police work is my passion, Zach, and my soul could use a little redeeming,” she said. “Also, I try to never miss out on an opportunity to prove I’m smarter than you.”

CHAPTER 12
     
    UNTIL LAST NIGHT, the most expensive thing in Teddy Ryder’s tiny two-room apartment on the Lower East Side was a JVC TV he bought for two hundred bucks on Overstock.com . It was now outshined by the emerald and diamond necklace sitting on his coffee table.
    Teddy hadn’t slept since the robbery. The guns had just been there to make a point. Nobody was supposed to get killed. His partner, Raymond Davis, had pulled the trigger, but he swore up and down that it wasn’t his fault. He blamed it all on the guy in the back of the limo who had grabbed for the gun. Then Raymond had stretched out on the bed and slept like a brick till seven that morning.
    Now Raymond was out trying to renegotiate the deal with Jeremy.
    “Fifty thousand is bullshit,” Raymond had said once they’d watched the news and found out the necklace was worth eight million. “We’re upping the price to half a mil.”
    It was late afternoon by the time Raymond finally got back from his meeting with Jeremy. One look at his face, and Teddy could tell that the negotiations had gone down the toilet.
    “Jeremy is an asshole,” Raymond said.
    “How much did you get?” Teddy asked.
    “More than the original deal, but less than I was hoping for.”
    “How much?”
    “Ninety thou.”
    “Apiece?”
    “No. Ninety for the whole enchilada.”
    “Is he crazy?” Teddy said. “We’re not asking for cigarette and beer money. We need enough so we can disappear.”
    “Don’t you think I said that already?”
    “Well, then go back and tell him we know how much the necklace is worth, and if he doesn’t give us fair market value, we’ll find a buyer who will.”
    “Yeah, I said that too. He laughed in my face. Told me the dead actress makes it too hot to handle.” Raymond took the necklace from the coffee table and held it up to the light. “He’s right. I asked around. Nobody will touch it.”
    Teddy could taste the panic welling up in his throat. His heart was racing, and he wanted to scream
“The dead actress was your fault,”
but he was having too