Cross Country

out the best part, the most important. We found Ian Flaherty. You lied about holding him. In fact, we have Flaherty now. He’s talking. That’s why I’m arresting you. You’re going down, Millard. You made a big mistake in judgment.”
    “What was that?” Millard finally asked.
    Now it was my turn to smile. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance. I’m very persistent. I don’t ever give up.”
    Thus spake the Dragon Slayer.
    On my way home, at around five that morning, my cell phone started to ring. I grabbed it off the seat and answered with my name.
    I heard a voice that I didn’t want to hear, not ever again, but especially not now.
    “You are so damn impressive, Alex. I’m awfully proud of you,” said Kyle Craig. “Believe it or not, I was right there in Millard’s house with you. Guess I’m kind of special myself.
And I don’t give up either
.”
    Then Kyle clicked off.
    And as always, he was scarier than anyone else.

About the Author
    JAMES PATTERSON published his first thriller in 1976 and since then has become one of the best-known and bestselling writers of all time, with more than 140 million copies of his books sold worldwide. He is the author of the two most popular detective series of the past decade, featuring Alex Cross and the Women’s Murder Club, and he has written numerous other number one bestsellers. He has won an Edgar Award — the mystery world’s highest honor — and his novels
Kiss the Girls
and
Along Came a Spider
were made into feature films starring Morgan Freeman. His charity, the James Patterson PageTurner Awards, has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to individuals and groups that promote the excitement of books and reading. He lives in Florida.

Books by James Patterson
    FEATURING ALEX CROSS
    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
    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
    THE JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS
    The Dangerous Days of Daniel X
(with Michael Ledwidge)
    The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride Novel
    Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
    Maximum Ride: School’s Out — Forever
    Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
    OTHER BOOKS
    Against Medical Advice: One Family’s Struggle with an Agonizing Medical Mystery
(with Hal Friedman)
    Sail
(with Howard Roughan)
    Sundays at Tiffany’s
(with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
    You’ve Been Warned
(with Howard Roughan)
    The Quickie
(with Michael Ledwidge)
    Step on a Crack
(with Michael Ledwidge)
    Judge & Jury
(with Andrew Gross)
    Beach Road
(with Peter de Jonge)
    Lifeguard
(with Andrew Gross)
    Honeymoon
(with Howard Roughan)
    SantaKid
    Sam’s Letters to Jennifer
    The Lake House
    The Jester
(with Andrew Gross)
    The Beach House
(with Peter de Jonge)
    Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
    Cradle and All
    When the Wind Blows
    Miracle on the 17th Green
(with Peter de Jonge)
    Hide & Seek
    The Midnight Club
    Black Friday
(originally published as
Black Market
)
    See How They Run
(originally published as
The Jericho Commandment
)
    Season of the Machete
    The Thomas Berryman Number
    For previews of upcoming books by
James Patterson and more information about the author, visit www.JamesPatterson.com .