I, Alex Cross (Alex Cross 16)

“Bree, do you remember the night of my birthday?” I asked her.

“Sure,” she said, a little confused. “When everything started. All the gunk. That’s the night you first heard about Caroline.”

“And up until that phone call from Davies, it was supposed to be the night I asked you to marry me. So if we can’t have that back, I’d say right now is just about perfect. Will you marry me, Bree? I love you so much I can’t stand it.”

The wind kicked up, and she reached inside my coat to put her arms around me. Then we kissed for a long time. “I love you too,” Bree whispered.

“Then yes, Alex,” she finally said. “I do love you so much. Yes to you. Yes to your amazing family—”

“Our amazing family,” I said, and kissed her again.

She nodded, close in against me, shutting out the cold. “Yes to all of it.”

Chapter 117

WE CELEBRATED AGAIN that night, Szechuan takeout this time, and then a bottle of champagne with Sampson and Billie over at the house to hear the big news. No one could have been more excited than I was, but Sampson and Billie came pretty close. I didn’t hear a single crack about how crazy Bree was for marrying me.

Much later, we were lying in bed—just Bree and me, that is—and already talking about a summer wedding, when my cell phone rang in the nightstand.

“No, no, no.” I pulled a pillow over my head. “This is my New Year’s resolution. No more phones. Maybe ever.”

We were both due back at work the next morning—but that wasn’t for another eight hours.

“Sweetie”—Bree climbed over me to take the phone out of the drawer—“I’m marrying a cop. Cops answer their calls. Get over it.” She handed it to me with another kiss and rolled off again.

“Alex Cross,” I said.

“I wanted to be among the first to congratulate you, Alex. You and Bree. What a happy ending this is.”

I sat up. The voice wasn’t just familiar. It was a stone-cold live nightmare.

Most of the world knew Kyle Craig as the Mastermind. I knew him as an old friend who was now my worst enemy.

“Kyle, why are you really calling me?”

“I’m bored, Alex. Nobody plays with me the way you do. Nobody knows me like you do. Might be a good time for some more fun. Just the two of us.”

“I don’t think we define that word in the same way,” I said.

He laughed softly. “I’m sure you’re right. Besides, even I can see you need a little break after Zeus. Consider it my wedding present to you. Just don’t get too comfortable, my friend. Nothing lasts forever. But then, you already knew that, didn’t you? All my best wishes to Bree, to Nana, and of course the kids. And Alex—here’s to fun.”

Alex Cross gets married—and Kyle Craig is back.

For an excerpt from the next Alex Cross novel,

turn the page.

THE LEAD STORY in my life these days was Bree—Brianna Stone, known as the Rock at Metro Police. And, yes, she was all of that—solid, profound, lovely. She’d become a part of my life to the point where I couldn’t imagine it without her anymore. Things hadn’t been this sane and balanced for me in years.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Homicide at Metro was so quiet lately. As a cop, you can’t help but wonder when that next ton of bricks is going to fall, but in the meantime, Bree and I had an unheard-of two-hour lunch that Thursday afternoon. Usually the only way we see each other during the day is if we’re working the same murder case.

We sat in the back at Ben’s Chili Bowl, under all the signed celeb photos. Ben’s isn’t exactly the world capital of romance, but it is an institution in Washington. The half-smokes alone are worth the trip.

“So you know what they’re calling us around the office these days?” Bree said, halfway through a coffee milk shake. “Breelex.”

“Breelex? Like Brad and Angelina? That’s awful.”

She laughed; she couldn’t even keep a straight face at that. “I’m telling you, cops have no imagination.”