Stiletto Read Online Free PDF

would be protected and we’ve done all right so far.”
    A flying squad of police cleared the area around the car. Captain Strang stuck his head down near the window. “Okay, let’s go.”
    Baker got out first, followed by three other agents. They stood there for a moment looking around, then Baker nodded and the witness began to get out.
    A roar of recognition came up from the crowd. The agents and police crowded in around him as they started to move through the mass. Photographers and reporters were yelling questions at them but they kept moving on up the steps, entered the courthouse and moved down the corridor.
    “This way,” Strang said. “We’ve got an elevator waiting.”
    They followed the police captain into an empty elevator. The doors were promptly closed and the car started up. Intangibly the tension seemed to disappear. Baker looked at Strang. “Well, we made it,” he said, smiling.
    The policeman nodded and smiled back at him. “The worst is over. All we got to get through upstairs is the reporters.”
    Dinky looked at them. His face was white and still frightened. “I got time the rest of my life to congratulate you guys. If I live long enough.”
    The smile disappeared from Baker’s face. The detectives looked at one another and then turned seriously toward the door as it began to open.
    ***
    Cesare came out of the stairway on the third floor and turned and pushed his way quickly toward the elevators. He looked across the crowd to the courtroom doors. There were two policemen standing there. He pulled his right hand up into the sleeve of his lined car coat and felt the cold metal of the stiletto tingle against his fingers. A strange smile began to come to his lips.
    He could feel his heart beginning to thump inside his chest. It was the way he felt when he took a car into a tight curve and didn’t know whether he had enough traction to make it. He took a deep breath and the smile became fixed on his face.
    The elevator door opened and the crowd surged toward it. Cesare didn’t move. He knew they wouldn’t be on that car. His information was complete. It was just too bad that he hadn’t more time to prepare. He leaned back against the wall between the second and third elevators.
    The next door opened and the detectives came out in a phalanx around the witness. Cesare stepped in quickly behind them and let the crowd push him along. There was no chance for him here, a detective was between him and the witness. The reporters were screaming unanswered questions. Flashbulbs were going off as the photographers jumped up and down trying to get a picture of the witness. He could only hope for a break. Once the man got into the courtroom it would be too late.
    They were near the door now and the stiletto was cold in Cesare’s hand. He had stopped breathing a long time ago. His lungs were filled to bursting with oxygen that would never be needed. There was a heavy pressure in his ears and everyone seemed to be moving in a sort of slow motion.
    The group stopped for a moment before the closed door. The detective behind the witness moved slightly. The air spilled from Cesare’s lungs in a gasp. The crowd pushed against his back, thrusting him forward. Now! Now was the time!
    Cesare never even felt his hand move. It was almost as if it weren’t even a part of him. The stiletto slid into the witness’s heart as easily as a warm knife into butter. Cesare felt the blade snap back into his sleeve, pulled by the coiled wire attached to its hilt, as he opened his palm.
    The witness stumbled slightly as the two policemen moved to open the door to the courtroom. Cesare began to walk toward the stairway. A flashbulb went off almost in his face, momentarily blinding him, but then his vision cleared and he kept on walking.
    ***
    There was a hush in the courtroom. From outside in the corridor they could hear some noise growing. The sound of voices grew louder.
    Matteo looked at the other defendants. Big Dutch was