Alex Cross's Trial

the crowd begins to chant, almost sing, “The One Who Is The One! The One Who Is The One!”

    Imperiously, The One raises his hand, and his hooded lackeys on the stage push us forward, at least as far as the ropes around our necks will allow.

    I see my brother, Whit, handsome and brave, looking down at the platform mechanism. Calculating if there’s any way to jam it, some way to keep it from unlatching and dropping us to our neck-snapping deaths. Wondering if there’s some last-minute way out of this.

    I see my mother crying quietly. Not for herself, of course, but for Whit and me.

    I see my father, his tall frame stooped with resignation, but smiling at me and my brother—trying to keep our spirits up, reminding us that there’s no point in being miserable in our last moments on this planet.

    But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m supposed to be providing an introduction here, not the details of our public execution.

    So let’s go back a bit.…

    One

    WHIT

    SOMETIMES YOU WAKE up and the world is just plain different.

    The noise of a circling helicopter is what made me open my eyes. A cold, blue-white light forced its way through the blinds and flooded the living room. Almost like it was day.

    But it wasn’t.

    I peered at the clock on the DVD player through blurry eyes: 2:10 a.m.

    I became aware of a steady drub, drub, drub —like the sound of a heavy heartbeat. Throbbing. Pressing in. Getting closer.

    What’s going on?

    I staggered to the window, forcing my body back to life after two hours passed out on the sofa, and peeked through the slats.

    And then I stepped back and rubbed my eyes. Hard.

    Because there’s no way I had seen what I’d seen. And there was no way I had heard what I’d heard.

    Was it really the steady, relentless footfall of hundreds of soldiers? Marching on my street in perfect unison?

    My street wasn’t close enough to the center of town to be on any holiday parade routes, much less to have armed men in combat fatigues coursing down it in the dead of night.

    I shook my head and bounced up and down a few times kind of like I do in my warm-ups. Wake up, Whit. I slapped myself a couple of times for good measure. And then I looked again.

    There they were. Soldiers marching down our street. Hundreds of them as clear as day, made visible by a half-dozen truck-mounted spotlights.

    Just one thought was running laps inside my head: This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.

    Then I remembered the elections, the new government, the ravings of my parents about the trouble the country was in, the special broadcasts on TV, the political petitions my classmates were circulating online, the heated debates between teachers at school. None of it meant anything to me until that second.

    And before I could piece it all together, the vanguard of the formation stopped in front of my house.

    Almost faster than I could comprehend, two armed squads detached themselves from the phalanx and sprinted across the lawn like commandos, one running around the back of the house, the other taking position in front.

    I jumped back from the window. I could tell they weren’t here to protect me and my family. I had to warn Mom, Dad, Wisty—

    But just as I started to yell, the front door was knocked off its hinges.

    ________________________________________________

    Witch & Wizard.
    In stores December 2009.

    Books by James Patterson
    FEATURING ALEX CROSS
    Alex Cross’s 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
    THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB
    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
    FEATURING MICHAEL BENNETT
    Run for Your Life (with Michael Ledwidge)

    Step on a Crack (with Michael Ledwidge)
    THE JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS
    Daniel X: Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust)

    MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel

    Maximun Ride: The Manga I (with NaRae Lee)

    Daniel X: Alien Hunter (graphic novel; with Leopoldo Gout)

    The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge)

    The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride Novel

    Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other