James Patterson - I, Alex Cross

Copyright 2009 by James Patterson

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Little, Brown and Company

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First eBook Edition: November 2009

Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN: 978-0-316-07190-1

Books by James Patterson

FEATURING ALEX CROSS

I, Alex Cross

Alex Crosss Trial (with Richard DiLallo)

Cross Country

Double Cross

Cross

Mary, Mary

London Bridges

The Big Bad Wolf

Four Blind Mice

Violets Are Blue

Roses Are Red

Pop Goes the Weasel

Cat & Mouse

Jack & Jill

Kiss the Girls

Along Came a Spider

A complete list of books by James Patterson is at the back of this book. For previews of upcoming books by James Patterson and more information about the author, visit www.JamesPatterson.com.

For Judy Torres

FIRE AND WATER

HANNAH WILLIS WAS a second-year law student at Virginia, and everything that lay ahead of her seemed bright and promisingexcept, of course, that she was about to die in these dark, gloomy, dismal woods.

Go, Hannah, she told herself. Just go. Stop thinking. Whining and crying wont help you now. Running just might.

Hannah stumbled and staggered forward until her hands found another tree trunk to hold on to. She leaned her aching body into it, waiting for the strength to take another breath. And then to move another burst of steps forward.

Keep going, or youll die right here in these woods. Its that simple.

The bullet lodged somewhere in her lower back made every movement, every breath an agony, more pain than Hannah had ever known was possible. It was only the threat of a second bullet, or maybe worse, that kept her on her feet and going at all.

God, the woods were almost pitch-black back in here. A quarter moon drooping over the thick forest canopy did little to light the ground below. Trees were shadows. Thorns and brambles were invisible in the underbrush; they pierced and raked her legs bloody as she pushed through. What little shed been wearing to begin withjust an expensive black lace teddynow hung in shreds off her shoulders.

None of that mattered, though, or even registered with Hannah anymore. The only clear thought that cut through the pain, and the panic, was Go, girl. The rest was a wordless, directionless nightmare.

Finally, and very suddenlyhad it been an hour? more?the low canopy of trees opened up around her. What the Dirt turned to gravel underfoot, and Hannah stumbled to her knees with nothing to hang on to.

In the hazy moonlight, she could make out the ghost of a double line, showing the curve of a country road. It was like a miracle to her. Half of one, anyway; she knew she wasnt out of this mess yet.

When a motor sounded in the distance, Hannah leaned on her hands and pushed up off the gravel. Summoning strength she didnt know she still had, she stood again, then staggered into the middle of the road. Her world blurred through sweat and fresh tears.

Please, dear God, dont let this be them. This cant be those two bastards.

You cant be so cruel, can you?

A red truck careened around the bend then, coming at her fast. Too fast! Suddenly, she was just as blind as shed been before, in the woods, but from the trucks headlights.

Stop! Please stop! Pleee-ase! she screamed. Stop, you sonofabitch!

At the last possible second, the tires squealed on the pavement. The red pickup skidded into full view and stopped just short of flattening her right there into roadkill. She could feel heat coming off the engine through the grille.

Hey, sweetheart, nice outfit! All you had to do was stick out your thumb.

The voice was unfamiliarwhich was good, really good. Loud country music was blasting from the cab tooCharlie Daniels Band, her mind vaguely registered, just before Hannah collapsed onto the pavement.

The driver was down there on the road a second later as she regained consciousness. Oh, my God, I didnt What happened to you? Are youwhat happened to you?

Please. She barely mustered the word. If they find me here, theyll kill us both.

The mans strong hands wrapped around her, grazing the dime-sized hole in her back as he picked her up. She only exhaled, too weak to scream now. A cluster of gray and indistinct moments later, they were inside the truck and moving really fast down the two-lane highway.

Hang in there, darlin. The drivers voice was shaky now. Tell me who did this to you.

Hannah could feel her consciousness slipping away again. The men

The men? What men, sweetheart? Who are you talking about?

An answer floated vaguely through Hannahs mind, and she wasnt sure if she said it out loud or maybe just thought it before everything went away.

The men from the White House.

HIS NAME WAS Johnny Tucci, but the boys back in his South Philadelphia neighborhood all called him Johnny Twitchy, on account of the way his eyes jumped around when he was nervous, which was most of the time.

Of course, after tonight, the boys in Philly could go screw themselves. This was the night Johnny got into the game for real. This was man time. He had the package, didnt he?

It was a simple job but a real goody, because he was alone and had to take full responsibility. Hed already picked up the package. Scared him, but hed done just fine.

No one ever said so, but once you started making deliveries like this, it meant you had something on the family, and they had something on you. In other words, there was a relationship. After tonight, thered be no more running numbers for Johnny, no more scrapping for crumbs in southside neighborhoods. It was like the bumper sticker that said, Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

So naturally, he was pumpedand just a little bit nervous.

His uncle Eddies warning kept playing like a tape in his mind. Dont blow this opportunity, Twitchy, Eddie had said. Im way out on a limb here for you. Like he was doing him some kind of big favor with this job, which Johnny supposed maybe he was, but still. His own uncle didnt have to rub his face in it, did he?

He reached over and turned up the radio. Even the country music they played down here was better than listening to Eddies nagging in his head all night long. Turned out, it was an old Charlie Daniels Band tune, The Devil Went Down to Georgia. He even knew some of the words. But the familiar lyrics couldnt keep Eddies voice out of Johnnys head.

Dont blow this opportunity, Twitchy.

Im way out on a limb for you.

Oh, fuck!

Blue flashers danced off his rearview mirrorcoming out of nowhere. Two, three seconds ago, he could have sworn he had I-95 all to himself.