James Patterson - Kill Me If You Can

Cross FireI, Alex CrossAlex Crosss Trial (with Richard DiLallo) Cross CountryDouble CrossCrossMary, MaryLondon BridgesThe Big Bad WolfFour Blind MiceViolets Are BlueRoses Are RedPop Goes the WeaselCat & MouseJack & JillKiss the GirlsAlong Came a Spider

10th Anniversary (with Maxine Paetro) The 9th Judgment (with Maxine Paetro) The 8th Confession (with Maxine Paetro) 7th Heaven (with Maxine Paetro) The 6th Target (with Maxine Paetro) The 5th Horseman (with Maxine Paetro) 4th of July (with Maxine Paetro) 3rd Degree (with Andrew Gross) 2nd Chance (with Andrew Gross) 1st to Die

Tick Tock (with Michael Ledwidge) Worst Case (with Michael Ledwidge) Run for Your Life (with Michael Ledwidge) Step on a Crack (with Michael Ledwidge)

Kill Me If You Can (with Marshall Karp) Now You See Her (with Michael Ledwidge) Toys (with Neil McMahon) Dont Blink (with Howard Roughan) The Postcard Killers (with Liza Marklund) Private (with Maxine Paetro) The Murder of King Tut (with Martin Dugard) Swimsuit (with Maxine Paetro) Against Medical Advice (with Hal Friedman) Sail (with Howard Roughan) Sundays at Tiffanys (with Gabrielle Charbonnet) Youve Been Warned (with Howard Roughan) The Quickie (with Michael Ledwidge) Judge & Jury (with Andrew Gross) Beach Road (with Peter de Jonge) Lifeguard (with Andrew Gross) Honeymoon (with Howard Roughan) Sams Letters to JenniferThe Lake HouseThe Jester (with Andrew Gross) The Beach House (with Peter de Jonge) Suzannes Diary for NicholasCradle and AllWhen the Wind BlowsMiracle on the 17th Green (with Peter de Jonge) Hide & SeekThe Midnight ClubBlack Friday (originally published as Black Market) See How They Run (originally published as The Jericho Commandment) Season of the MacheteThe Thomas Berryman Number

Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 2 (with SeungHui Kye) Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park) Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 4 (with NaRae Lee) ANGEL: A Maximum Ride NovelWitch & Wizard: The Gift (with Ned Rust) Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with SeungHui Kye) Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 3 (with NaRae Lee) Daniel X: Demons and Druids (with Adam Sadler) Med Head [Against Medical Advice teen edition] (with Hal Friedman) FANG: A Maximum Ride NovelWitch & Wizard (with Gabrielle Charbonnet) Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 2 (with NaRae Lee) Daniel X: Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust) MAX: A Maximum Ride NovelMaximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 1 (with NaRae Lee) Daniel X: Alien Hunter (graphic novel; with Leopoldo Gout) The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge) Maximum Ride: The Final WarningMaximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme SportsMaximum Ride: Schools Out ForeverMaximum Ride: The Angel ExperimentsantaKid

For previews of upcoming books and more information about James Patterson, please visit JamesPatterson.com or find him on Facebook or at your app store.

Some people are harder to kill than others. The Ghost was thinking about this as he huddled in the deep, dark shadows of Grand Central Terminal. A man named Walter Zelvas would have to die tonight. But it wouldnt be easy. Nobody hired the Ghost for the easy jobs.

It was almost 11 p.m, and even though the evening rush was long over, there was still a steady stream of weary travelers.

The Ghost was wearing an efficient killing disguise. His face was lost under a tangle of matted silver-and-white hair and shaggy beard, and his arsenal was hidden under a wine-stained gray poncho. To anyone who even bothered to take notice, he was just another heap of homeless humanity seeking refuge on a quiet bench near Track 109.

He eyed his target. Walter Zelvas. A great hulk of a man with the nerves and reflexes of a snake and a soul to match. Zelvas was a contract killer himself, but unlike the Ghost, Zelvas took pleasure in watching his victims suffer before they died. For years, the ruthless Russian had been an enforcer for the Diamond Syndicate, but apparently he had outlived his usefulness to his employer, and the Ghost had been hired to terminate him.

If he doesnt kill me first, the Ghost thought. With Zelvas it was definitely a matter of kill or be killed. And this would surely be a duel to the death between them.

So the Ghost watched his opponent closely. The screen on the departures monitor refreshed and Zelvas cursed under his breath. His train was delayed another thirty minutes.

He drained his second cup of Starbucks cappuccino, stood up, and crumpling his empty cup, deposited it in the trash.

No littering, the Ghost thought. That might attract attention, and the last thing Zelvas wanted was attention.

Thats why he was leaving town by train. Train stations arent like airports. Theres no baggage check, no metal detector, no security.

Zelvas looked toward the mens room.

All that coffee will be the death of you, the Ghost thought as Zelvas walked across the marble floor to the bathroom.

A half-comatose porter, mop in hand, was sloshing water on the terminal floor like a zombie tarring a roof. He didnt see Zelvas coming.

A puddle of brown water came within inches of the big mans right foot. Zelvas stopped. You slop any of that scum on my shoes and youll be shitting teeth, he said.

The porter froze. Sorry. Sorry, sir. Sorry.

The Ghost watched it all. Another time, another place, and Zelvas might have drowned the man in his own mop water. But tonight he was on his best behavior.

Zelvas continued toward the bathroom.

The Ghost had watched the traffic in and out of the mens room for the past half hour. It was currently empty. Moment of truth, the Ghost told himself.

Zelvas got to the doorway, stopped, and turned around sharply.

He made me, the Ghost thought at first.

Zelvas looked straight at him. Then left, then right.

Hes a pro. Hes just watching his back.

Satisfied he wasnt being followed, Zelvas entered the mens room.

The Ghost stood up and surveyed the terminal. The only uniformed cop in the area was busy giving directions to a young couple fifty feet away.

The mens room had no doorjust an L-shaped opening that allowed the Ghost to enter and still remain out of sight.

From his vantage point he could see the mirrored wall over the sinks. And there was Zelvas, standing in front of a urinal, his back to the mirror.

The Ghost silently reached under his poncho and removed his equally silent Glock from its holster.

The Ghost had a mantra. Three words he said to himself just before every kill. He waited until he heard Zelvas breathe that first sigh of relief as he began to empty his bladder.

I am invincible, the Ghost said in silence.

Then, in a single fluid motion, he entered the bathroom, silently slid up behind Zelvas, aimed the Glock at the base of his skull, and squeezed the trigger.

And missed.

Some people are harder to kill than others.

Walter Zelvas never stepped up to a urinal unless the top flush pipe was made of polished chrome.