Page 83 of Alex Cross Must Die

CHAPTER 93

HELENE GREY WALKEDout of the Overlook Medical Center, about two miles from the Watchung Reservation. It was five in the morning. She was exhausted and achy. Her unmarked sedan was still parked at an angle near the emergency entrance. Addilyn Charles was stable, but they were keeping her overnight. She was sedated and sleeping.

Grey looked at her watch. It would be an hour’s drive from Jersey back to Manhattan. She figured she’d make a quick change at her apartment before heading back into the office. No time for rest.

The FBI team had finally found the huge white courier dog. No collar. No tags. They’d taken partial impressions of the motorcycle tire tracks at the edge of the park road, but that was it. Dead end.

As Grey slid into the car, her cell phone rang.

The ID saidPOE. She tapped Accept.

“Where the hell are you?” asked Grey.

Poe’s voice was clipped. “Jersey Shore University Medical Center,” he said. “Brendan shot himself.”

“What?” said Grey. “How?Where?”

“At a motel in Asbury Park. We found Zozi Turner and Eton Charles.”

“Wait. Slow down. The girl and the stepfather? They’realive?”

“They’re fine,” said Poe. “They’re under arrest. The Asbury Park cops are holding them.”

Grey’s head was spinning. “Under arrest forwhat?”

“I have to go,” said Poe.

“Auguste!”

The call ended.

Grey started her car and peeled out of the hospital parking lot, lights flashing, siren wailing.

For a second, she thought about speed-dialing Brita Stans. But she realized she had no idea what to tell her.

CHAPTER 94

GREY FLASHED HERbadge as she dashed past the hospital nurses’ station. Her adrenaline was pumping. She could see Marple and Poe sitting in plastic chairs outside a row of curtained treatment rooms. They both stood up as she got there.

“What happened?” asked Grey. “What’s his condition?”

“They’re working on him,” said Poe. “Not sure how much damage he did.”

“And the kidnapping?” she asked. “What the hell happened there?”

“Not a kidnapping,” said Marple. “A relationship.”

“Relationship?” said Grey.

“Zozi and the stepfather,” said Marple.

Grey felt a little twist in her gut.

“They were on their way to Belize,” said Marple.

“Hold on,” said Grey, pressing her hands against her temples. “Start at the beginning.”

“Not now,” said Poe, nodding over her shoulder.

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