Patterson, James - Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue

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JAJVIES PATTERSON

'You think he knows you're here?' I sighed, shrugged. 'Probably. Maybe tonight is his coming out party. I know one thing, he won't do what we expect. The Mastermind never does. That's the only real pattern he has.' We talked about calling in reinforcements, but Jamilla thought it would probably scare Kyle off. He wanted the two of us, right? That's what he would get. Do you want to taunt me any more, you bastard? Go for it. Bring it on, Kyle. So the two of us sat there in the dark, and it was almost cozy. Jamilla finally reached out and touched my hand. Then we moved together, leaned against one another. We waited. 'At least it's comfortable,'Jamilla whispered. As stakeouts go.' 'No place like home, right?' It was a little before four when we heard noises above us. Jamilla turned and looked at me. We raised our guns. For the first time, I confronted the idea of shooting Kyle, a man I had thought was my friend. I didn't like the feeling. I wasn't sure how I would react, and that scared me too. There were soft footsteps outside on the terrace. In a way, I was relieved. This was the showdown Kyle wanted. He was coming. I figured that the story he'd been telling for so long, his fantasy life, had finally taken over. Maybe he was psychotic now. That would give us an advantage. 'Real careful,' I whispered, and touched the back of Jamilla's hand. 'Try to look at it the way he does. Kyle thinks he has us where he wants us.' He picked the lock quickly and expertly. A minimum of effort. I realized that he had been watching her place. He knew enough to come up the back stairs, and then he'd climbed a metal ladder onto the terrace. The lock made a soft click. Then nothing happened. 'We're good, everything's cool,' Jamilla whispered. 'This time, we win.' We waited in the dark near the door. It finally opened, oh-so- slowly. Kyle came inside. He moved toward us in a low crouch. Obviously, he couldn't see where we were, but we could see him.

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I hit Kyle with all my weight, full force, every ounce of strength that I had. I slammed him hard against the living-room wall. The whole apartment shook. Books and glasses fell to the floor from open shelves. I was surprised we didn't go right through the wall. I clipped his chin with an elbow as hard as I could. Felt good. Kyle was wiry and strong, but I was pumped to take him. I hit him with a hard, short right hand. It snapped into his jaw. I hit him in the solar plexus. A real gut-wrencher. I was going to hit him again. But then Jamilla flicked on the room lights. My brain caught fire. My body shuddered. It wasn't Kyle Craig.

271

Chapter One Hundred

< ^"^ et down, get down! Get below the windows!' I yelled at Vj Jamilla. I was afraid she might be hit by rifle fire. Kyle could be out there, and I knew that he could shoot. She went down and lay facing me, and also the man I had tackled coming in the door. He looked as confused as I felt. Who the hell was he? What had just happened? And where was Kyle? Jamilla had her service revolver pointed at his chest. Her hand was amazingly steady. His nose was bleeding badly from where I'd hit him. He was well-built, probably early thirties, short-haired, a light- skinned black man. Everything was complete chaos in my brain. 'Who the hell are you? Who are you?' I yelled at the dazed, bleeding man on the floor. 'FBI,' he panted. 'I'm a Federal agent. Put down the gun. Put it down now.' Jamilla was yelling too. 'I'm San Francisco PD, and I'm definitely not putting down my gun, mister. What are you doing in my apartment?' she shouted. I could almost see her mind working and she wasn't thinking nice thoughts.'Talk to us!' He shook his head. 'I don't have to answer your questions. Wallet's in the rear left pocket. Badge and ID. I'm FBI, goddamnit!' 'Stay down,'I yelled.'There could be someone outside with a gun. Did Kyle Craig send you here?' I asked. The look on the agent's face answered the question for me, but he

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refused to confirm or deny. T told you, I don't have to answer questions.' 'You sure as hell do.'Jamilla got in the last word. I did the only thing I could under the circumstances - I called the FBI. Four agents from the San Francisco office got to the apartment at a little past five in the morning. We were wary of the windows, though I doubted that Kyle was still nearby. Or even in San Francisco. The Mastermind was a step ahead. I should have known, and in a way I had known that he wouldn't do the expected. During the next couple of hours, exasperated agents from the Bureau tried to reach Kyle Craig. They couldn't and it shook them up. They began to give some credence to my story that Kyle might be the man behind murders going back several years. Kyle had sent the agent to Jamilla's apartment and ordered him to break in. He'd told the agent that someone had murdered an SFPD Inspector and Alex Cross inside. Then things started to get really hot. I was the one who heated them up.

273

Chapter One Hundred and One

At seven-thirty in the morning I was on the receiving end of a phone call from FBI director Ronald Burns in Washington. Burns was cautious and wary, but I knew he wouldn't call me himself unless he had evidence that there were serious problems with Kyle. I was still confused, and hurt, but I recognized the emotions as appropriate and sane. Kyle Craig was the madman, not me. 'Tell me whatever you know. Director,' I said. 'I know a lot about Kyle, but you know things that I don't. Tell me what they are. It's important that I know everything.' Burns didn't answer right away. There was a long pause at his end of the line. I knew him well enough to know that he was a friend of Kyle's. At least he thought he had been. We'd all been wrong for so long. We'd been fooled, and betrayed by someone we had trusted. Finally, Burns began to speak.'We have been getting worried about Kyle recently. This could go back to the days of the “Kiss the Girls” case. Maybe even before it. We know his files suggest he had a troubled adolescence, but when he joined the FBI, his psychological profile showed he had got through all that. You know that Kyle was an undergrad at Duke University. It's now become apparent that he knew Will Rudolph - the Gentleman Caller - from his student days at Duke. During the case, Kyle may have been responsible for the death of a reporter named Beth Lieberman with the LA Times. She was closing in on Will Rudolph.' I shut my eyes and shook my head. I had helped solve the 'Kiss' case. I knew that Kyle had attended Duke, but not about his

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relationship with the Gentleman Caller, a killer who had terrorized LA. 'Why didn't you talk to me?' I asked Burns. I was trying to understand the FBI's position. So far, I couldn't. 'We didn't begin to really suspect Kyle until the murder of Betsey Cavalierre. We had no proof, even then. We weren't sure if he was a possible killer or the best agent in the Bureau.' 'Jesus, Ron, we could have talked. We should have talked. He's on the run now. You should have told me. I hope you're telling me everything now.' 'Alex, you know what we know. Maybe more. I hope you're telling us everything.' After I finished with Burns, I called Sampson in Washington. I told him the latest and it blew John's mind. He had moved Nana and the kids out of our house on Fifth Street. Only he and I knew where they were now. 'Everything okay there?' I asked. 'Everybody settled in all right?' 'Are you rucking kidding, Alex? Nana is pissed off like I've never seen her before. If Kyle Craig came after her, I'd put my money on Nana. The kids are cool, though. They don't know what's happening, but they've guessed it isn't good.' I cautioned him again. 'Don't leave them for a minute, not a second, John. I'm coming back to Washington on the next flight. I don't know how Kyle could trace you there, but don't underestimate him. He's loose. He's very dangerous. For some reason, he wants to hurt me, and maybe my family. If I can figure out why that is, maybe I can stop him.' And if not?' Sampson asked. I let the question hang.