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dreading. But I d made a promise. The phone rang and then I heard a man s
voice say, "Brendan Connolly.
 Hello, Judge Connolly, this is Alex Cross, I said. I heard him sigh, but he
said nothing, so I continued.  I don t have any special good news about Mrs.
Connolly yet. We have over ÿty agents active in the Atlanta area, though. I m
calling because I told you I d keep in touch and to reassure you that we re
working.
Because I made a promise.
Chapter 34
SOMETHING ABOUT THE ABDUCTIONS wasn t tracking for me. The early kidnappings
had been committed carefully, then suddenly the abductors began to get sloppy.
The pattern was inconsistent. Why? What did it mean? What had changed? If I
could figure that out, we might have a break.
The next morning, I got to Quantico about five minutes before the director
touched down in a big black Bell helicopter. The news that Burns was on the
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grounds circulated quickly. Maybe Monnie Donnelley was right about one thing,
this was the Information Age, even inside the Bureau, even at
Quantico.
Burns had ordered an emergency meeting, and I was informed that I was to
come. Maybe I was back on the case? The director acknowledged a couple of
agents when he entered the conference room in the Admin. building. His eyes
never made contact with mine, though, and once again I wondered what he was
doing here. Did he have news for us? What kind of news would warrant a visit
from him?
He sat in the first row as the Behavioral Analysis Unit chief, Dr. Bill
Thompson, walked to the front of the room. It was becoming clear that Burns
was here as an observer. But why? What did he want to observe?
An administrative assistant to Dr. Thompson passed out stapled documents. At
the same time, the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation was projected on a
wall screen.  There s been another kidnapping, Thompson announced to the
group.  It occurred Saturday night in Newport, Rhode Island. There s been a
sea change here. The victim was male. To our knowledge, he s the first male
they've taken.
Dr. Thompson gave us the details, which were also projected on the wall
screen. An honor student at Providence College, Benjamin Coffey, had been
abducted from a bar called the Halyard in Newport. It appeared that the
abductors were both males.
A team.
And they had been spotted again.
"Anyone? asked Thompson, once he had given us the basics.  Reactions?
Comments? Don t be shy. We need input. We re nowhere on this.
 Pattern s definitely different, an analyst volunteered. ½uction at a bar.
Male taken.
 How can we be so sure of that at this point? Burns asked from the front of
the room.  What is the pattern here?
Burns s questions were met with silence. Like most chief executives, he had
no idea of his own power. He turned and looked around at the group. His eyes
finally settled on mine. "Alex? What is the pattern? he asked.  You have any
ideas?
The other agents were watching me. :re we certain it was two males at the
bar? I asked.  That s the first question I have. Burns nodded in agreement.
 No, we are not sure, are we? One of them had on a sailor s cap. Could have
been the woman from King of Prussia. Do you agree with the opinion voiced
about the disconnect between this abduction and the others? Has the pattern
been broken?
I considered the question, trying to get in touch with my gut reaction to
what I d heard so far.
 No, I finally said.  There doesn t even have to be a behavioral pattern.
Not if the abduction team is working for money. I m inclined to think they
probably are. I don t see these as crimes of passion. But what bothers me are
the mistakes. Why are they making mistakes? That s the key to everything.
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Chapter 35
LIZZIE CONNOLLY HAD no sense of time anymore, except that it seemed to be
moving very slowly, and that she was pretty sure she was going to die soon.
She would never see Gwynne, Brigid, Merry, or Brendan again, and that made her
incredibly sad. She was definitely going to die.
After she was locked away in the small room/closet, she d spent no time
feeling sorry for herself or, worse, feeling panic, letting it rule her for
whatever time she had left. Certain things were obvious to her, but the most
important was the reality that this horrible monster wasn t going to let her
go. Ever. So she had spent countless hours plotting her escape. But
realistically she knew that it wasn t likely to happen. She was bound with
leather straps, and though she d tried every possible maneuver, every twist
and turn, she hadn t been able to break loose. Even if she did by some
miracle, she could never overpower him. He was probably the strongest man
she d ever seen, twice as powerful as Brendan, who had played football in
college.
So what could she do? Maybe try something during a bathroom or food break _
but he was so attentive and careful. At the very least, Lizzie Connolly wanted
to die with dignity. Would the monster let her? Or would he want her to
suffer? She thought about her past history quite a lot, and took comfort in
it. Her growing-up years in Potomac, Maryland, spending nearly every spare [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]