James Patterson - Worst Case

Published by Century, 2010

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Copyright James Patterson, 2010

James Patterson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs

and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the authors

imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,

is entirely coincidental

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,

by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out,

or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior

consent in any form of binding or cover other than that

in which it is published and without a similar condition,

including this condition, being imposed on the

subsequent purchaser

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by

Century

Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

London SW1V 2SA

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Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:

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The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

Hardback ISBN 9781846054709

Trade paperback ISBN 9781846054716

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Also by James Patterson

ALEX CROSS NOVELS

Kiss the Girls

Along Came a Spider

Cat and Mouse

Pop Goes the Weasel

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Four Blind Mice

The Big Bad Wolf

London Bridges

Mary, Mary

Cross

Double Cross

Cross Country

Alex Crosss Trial ( with Richard DiLallo )

I, Alex Cross

DETECTIVE MICHAEL BENNETT SERIES

Step on a Crack ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Run for Your Life ( with Michael Ledwidge )

STAND-ALONE THRILLERS

Sail ( with Howard Roughan )

Swimsuit ( with Maxine Paetro )

NON-FICTION

Torn Apart ( with Hal and Cory Friedman )

The Murder of King Tut ( with Martin Dugard )

ROMANCE

Sundays at Tiffanys ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )

THE WOMENS MURDER CLUB SERIES

st to Die

nd Chance ( with Andrew Gross )

rd Degree ( with Andrew Gross )

th of July ( with Maxine Paetro )

The 5

th Horseman ( with Maxine Paetro )

The 6

th Target ( with Maxine Paetro )

th Heaven ( with Maxine Paetro )

th Confession ( with Maxine Paetro )

th Judgement ( with Maxine Paetro, to be

published April 2010 )

FAMILY OF PAGE-TURNERS

MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES

The Angel Experiment

Schools Out Forever

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

The Final Warning

Max

Fang ( to be published February 2010 )

Manga Volume 1 ( with NaRae Lee )

Manga Volume 2 ( with NaRae Lee )

DANIEL X SERIES

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X ( with

Michael Ledwidge )

Daniel X: Alien Hunter Graphic Novel ( with

Leopoldo Gout )

Daniel X: Watch the Skies ( with Ned Rust )

Daniel X: Demons and Druids ( with Adam

Sadler, to be published July 2010 )

WITCH & WIZARD SERIES

Witch & Wizard ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )

WORST CASE James Patterson&Michael LedwidgeCENTURY LONDON

Prologue

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE... OR ELSE

One

THE STOCKY MAN with the salt-and-pepper hair felt light-headed as he crossed beneath the marble arch into Washington Square Park. He dropped his backpack, took off his circular glasses, and blotted the sudden tears in his eyes with the sleeve of his ancient jeans jacket.

He hadnt planned on breaking down, but My God, he thought, wiping at his rugged, lined face. Now he knew how Vietnam veterans felt when they visited their Wall down in Washington, DC. If veterans of the antiwar movement had a monumenta Wall of Tearsit was here, where it all began, Washington Square Park.

Staring out over the windy park, he remembered all the incredible things that had occurred here. The antiwar demonstrations. Bob Dylan in the 4th Street basement clubs, singing about which way the wind was blowing. The candlelit faces of his old friends as they passed bottles and smoke. The whispered promises they had made to one another to change things, to make things better.

He looked out over the Friday-afternoon crowd by the center fountain, the people hovering over the chess tables, as if he might find a familiar face. But that was impossible, wasnt it? he thought with a shrug. Theyd all moved on, like he had. Grown up. Sold out. Or were underground. Figuratively. Literally.

That time, his time, was almost completely faded now, just about dead and gone.

Just about, he thought as he knelt and removed the box of flyers from his knapsack.

But not quite.

On each of the five hundred sheets was a three-paragraph message entitled LOVE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

Who says you cant go home? he thought. A quote from Keith Richards popped into his head as he stacked the sheets.

I got news for you. Were still a bunch of tough bastards. String us up and we still wont die.

You said it, Keith, he thought, giggling to himself. Right on, brother. You and me both.

More and more over the last year, his thoughts kept coming back to his youth. It was the only time in his entire life when hed felt like he meant something, when hed felt he was making a positive difference.

Was coming back now after all this time a midlife crisis? Maybe. He didnt care. Hed decided he wanted that feeling again. Especially in light of recent events. The world now was in even more dire straits than the one he and his friends had fought to affect. It was time to do it again. Wake people up before it was too late.

Thats why he was here. It had worked once. They had, after all, stopped a war. Maybe it could happen again. Even if he was a lot older, he wasnt dead yet. Not by any means.

He licked his thumb and took the first sheet from the stack. He smiled, remembering the countless flyers hed handed out in Berkeley and Seattle, and in Chicago in 68. After all this time, here he was. Unbelievable. What a crazy life. Back in the saddle again.

Two

HI THERE, he said, offering the flyer to a young black woman pushing a toddler in a stroller.

He smiled at her, making eye contact. He was good with people, always had been. I have a message here that I think you should take a look at, if its not too much trouble. It concerns, well, everything.