Cross Fire

hands.
    Eventually, we spilled right out of the tub and onto the floor. I made a makeshift bearskin rug out of two fluffy hotel robes, and we spent the next few hours trying to get enough of each other.
    The first time I brought Bree to climax, her head tilted and her mouth opened soundlessly, while she held on to the small of my back with that amazing strength of hers.
    “Closer, Alex. Oh God, closer. Closer!”
    It was like nothing could come between us, literally or figuratively. I felt a million miles away from anything but her, and I never wanted that night to end.
    But of course it would —
and all too soon.

Chapter 18

    THE HOTEL PHONE rang at almost exactly twelve o’clock. I’d realize later that it hadn’t been a coincidence. Midnight is also the start of a new day, and the caller meant that, literally.
    “Alex Cross,” I answered.
    “All this, and romance, too? Tell me, Detective Cross, how do you manage it?”
    Kyle Craig’s voice registered like ice water — and just as fast as that, everything changed.
    “Kyle,”
I said for Bree’s benefit. “How long have you been in Washington?”
    She was already sitting up, but as soon as she heard the name, she grabbed her cell out of the nightstand and took it into the bathroom.
    “What makes you think I’m in Washington?” Kyle asked me. “You know I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. I don’t have to be there, to be there.”
    “True,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice calm. “But I’m one of your favorite subjects.”
    He laughed softly. “I’d like to say you’re flattering yourself, but I can’t. So tell me about the family. How’s Nana Mama doing? The kids?”
    They weren’t questions. They were threats, and we both knew it. Families were Kyle’s thing, maybe because his own had been so messed up. In fact, he’d killed both of his parents, on separate occasions. It was everything I could do not to rise to the bait, but I held back my temper.
    “Kyle, why are you calling? You never do anything without a good reason.”
    “I haven’t seen Damon around,” he went on. “He must still be up at Cushing Academy, yes? That’s due west of Worcester, correct? But Ali! Now there is the definition of a growing boy.”
    I gripped the edge of the mattress with my free hand. Having my kids in Kyle Craig’s thoughts was almost more than I could take.
    But if there was one thing I knew, it was that idle threats and warnings only added fuel to his fire. He’d always been insanely competitive with me, and I mean that literally. It had been nearly impossible to bring him down the first time.
    How in the hell was I going to do it again?
    “Kyle,” I said as evenly as I could manage, “I’m not going to have this conversation if I don’t know where it’s going. So if you have something to tell me —”
    “Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,” he said. “It’s no big secret, Alex.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “You asked where this is going. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust — the same place everything goes. Of course, some of us get there faster than others, isn’t that right? Your first wife, for example, but I can’t take credit for that one.”
    And then he got his wish — I snapped, lost it.
    “Listen to me, you piece of shit! Stay away from us. I swear to God, if you ever —”
    “If I
what?
” he fired back just as forcefully. “Hurt your ridiculous family? Take away your precious fiancée?” His tone had changed on a dime to pure rage. “How
dare
you talk to me about what’s been taken away. What you get to
keep!
Just how many lives have
you
taken, Alex? How many families have you shattered with that nine millimeter of yours? You don’t even know the meaning of loss — not yet,
you fucking hypocrite!
”
    I’d never heard him go on like this before. In fact, Kyle rarely even cursed. Not the Kyle I’d known.
    Was he devolving in some way? Or was this just another one of his carefully timed acts?
    “Do you want to know the real difference between us, Alex?” he went on.
    “I already know the difference,” I said. “I’m still sane and you’re not.”
    “The difference is, I’m alive because none of you people have been able to bring me down, and you’re alive because I haven’t decided to kill you yet.
Please
tell me that obvious fact hasn’t escaped you.”
    “I’m not going to kill you, Kyle.” The words were just spilling out of me now. “I’m going to make sure you rot to