London Bridges

again, square on the jaw.
    I shoved open the driver-side door. He looked at me, and his eyes were coldly intelligent, like no eyes I’d ever seen, nothing so desolate.
Inhuman.
That was what the French president had called him.
    Was he the
real
Tolya Bykov? It didn’t matter to me now. He was the Wolf—I could see it in those eyes, the confidence, arrogance, but most of all, the hatred for me and everyone else.
    “The ball,” he said. “You knew about the ball. My son gave it to me. I congratulate you.”
    He gave a strange half smile, then bit down hard on something inside his mouth. I thought I knew what had happened. I tried desperately to force open his mouth. His jaw was clamped tightly shut, and suddenly the Russian’s eyes were wide, incredibly big and full of pain. Poison. He’d bitten into poison.
    Then his mouth opened and he roared full voice. White foam and spit ran over his lips and down his chin. He roared again, and his body began to convulse. I couldn’t hold him down any longer. I pushed myself up, backed away from his flopping body.
    He began to gag and to claw at his throat. The convulsing, the dying went on for several awful minutes, and there was nothing I could do and nothing I wanted to do, except watch.
    And then it happened: the Wolf died in the front seat of the convertible, another of his expensive cars.
    When it was over, I bent and picked up the rubber handball. I put it in my pocket. It was what killers I’ve caught call a trophy.
    It was over and I was going home, wasn’t I? I had things to think about, and so much to change about my life. I had the uncomfortable thought:
I am taking trophies now, too.
    But I had another, much more important thought: Damon, Jannie, Little Alex, Nana.
    Home.
    The Wolf is dead. I saw him die.
    I kept telling myself that until I finally believed it.

About the Author
    JAMES PATTERSON is the author of the two bestselling new detective series of the past decade: the Alex Cross novels, including the #1
New York Times
bestsellers
The Big Bad Wolf, Four Blind Mice,
and
Violets Are Blue,
and the Women’s Murder Club series, including the #1 bestsellers
1st to Die, 2nd Chance,
and
3rd Degree.
He is also the author of the bestselling love stories
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
and
Sam’s Letters to Jennifer.
He lives in Florida.