Page 77 of Alex Cross Must Die

Suddenly, she heard movement in the bushes, a few yards off the path. Her mouth went dry. She felt her chest tighten. She peered through the foliage, searching for a human shape. Maybe the woman from the phone calls. A woman would be better than a man, she thought. Maybe they could talk. Negotiate. Come to an understanding. Anything to get her daughter and husband back home alive.

“Hello?” Addilyn called out tentatively. “Who’s there?”

No answer.

The rustling came closer.

A shape moved through the underbrush. Low and lumbering.

Not human.

In a flash, the shape burst out of the bushes. Addilyn covered her mouth to stifle a scream. It was a dog. An enormous mastiff with pale white fur. Even bigger than Zozi’s black mastiff, Toby. Addilyn crawled back into the cart and slid to the other side, tucking her knees up against her chest, afraid she was about to be eaten alive.

The white dog circled the cart slowly, sniffing the air, its massive jowls shaking. On its back was a nylon harness with straps hanging down.

The huge beast moved closer. It placed both front paws on the side step of the cart, tipping it. Addilyn saw a folded piece of paper under the dog’s leather collar. She reached forward with a trembling hand and plucked it out. She unfolded the paper and read the neatly typed note:

Strap the bag onto the harness. When it’s tight, sayFIND.

Addilyn stared in disbelief. The kidnappers weren’t coming. The dog was the courier.

She dropped the paper, then moved to the other side of the cart and slid out. She inched her way slowly to the back and took hold of the straps on the ransom bag. When she turned, the giant dog was right there beside her, drool dripping from its mouth.

Addilyn pulled with everything she had and slid the bag from the cart shelf onto the dog’s back. The animal cocked his head and settled under the sudden weight. The bag was draped over its spine, threatening to tip off one side or the other. Addilyn held it in balancewith one hand as she reached down to pull the harness straps up and over. She fastened the heavy plastic clasps and tightened the slack. The dog looked like a pack mule. God knows it was almost the size of one.

Addilyn gave the bag a gentle shake. She could hear the rattle of her jewelry as it settled on either side. She backed away slowly toward the front of the cart. The dog followed. Addilyn peered into the bushes, looked up and down the path. She saw nothing. The dog was panting under the load. It looked up at Addilyn expectantly, as if it were hoping for a biscuit.

Addilyn realized that the animal was waiting for the command.

“Find,” she said softly.

The pale mastiff didn’t move. It just pawed the dirt. Addilyn took a breath and cleared her throat. This time she shouted it:

“Find!”

Immediately, the dog turned and lumbered across the path. A second later, it disappeared into the underbrush. Addilyn fell back against the side of the golf cart, and felt the world go black.

CHAPTER 86

“A DOG?” SAIDHolmes. “What kind?”

“A big white one,” said Marple. “Big enough to carry a sixty-five-pound sack.”

“How’s Addilyn?” asked Poe.

“She passed out,” said Marple. “Seems to be okay. They’re taking her in for observation.”

Marple was sitting in the back seat of Poe’s GTO, which was parked in a scenic turnoff about a quarter mile from where the transfer had happened. As soon as Addilyn had been sent off to the hospital, Marple pretended to join the search for the dog. Instead, she made a beeline to join her partners. She knew for certain that Brita Stans didn’t want Poe or Holmes anywhere near the operation. She also knew that Holmes had his own elaborate plan for tracking the ransom—and she wanted to be in on it.

Assuming it worked, of course.

Poe was tapping impatiently on the steering wheel while Holmes fiddled with an app on his cell phone. The app he’d coded that afternoon.

Marple adjusted her earbuds, listening in on the FBI frequency.The snipers near the pickup site had sighted the huge courier dog as he disappeared into the woods. Now agents were scouring the underbrush for any trace of the animal—or the kidnappers.

Suddenly, the channel crackled with new information. Marple listened carefully, then pulled her earbuds out. “They found the bag with the tracker,” she said. “But no ransom. The money and jewelry are gone.”

“They switched bags,” said Holmes with a satisfied expression. “Did I not tell you?” Marple leaned forward as his screen lit up with a detailed map of the Watchung Reservation. Their position was marked with a pulsing blue dot. Holmes tapped in a few more parameters.

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