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"It's all right with me," she announced, "so long as Goodbody's is hanging the rap on me -- somebody I can sue for a million when it flops. I've got nothing to say. Take me for my ride."

It's a part of Dashiell Hammett's novel The Assistant Murderer.

For the above case, the ride means to be in the car of police (to be arrested)? I'm not a native speaker of English, so this easy word is pretty difficult for me to translate.

Please give me advice!

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This short story's text is available as a free download, and the passage in Question is about a third of the way through (pg. 9 of 26 in PDF format).

Detective Alex Rush and Goodbody's store detective "Minnie" have tailed this young woman to her apartment, suspecting her of "boosting" (shop-lifting).

Detective Rush has brought a policeman with them, making a bit of a crowd in the young woman's "flat". She is daring them to "[t]ake me for my ride," threatening to sue Goodbody's "when it flops."

The young woman is taken to the Southwestern Police Station (and searched). She says her name is Polly Vanness, but later this turns out to be an alias.

So yes, in this context her "ride" means being taken into custody.

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I have not read the novel and do not have access to the text, but the speaker is probably saying that she is ready to ride to the police station where she will presumably be arrested and questioned. To be "taken for a ride" is also an idiomatic phrase meaning to be mislead, so a definitive answer to your question will require a greater understand of the context.

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  • Why are you reading Hammett? He can be fun, but the mix of idiom/metaphor/regionalism/anachronism is going to be challenging if you are not fluent in English. Commented Nov 19, 2013 at 1:47

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