Cross the Line (Alex Cross 24)

When we turned to leave, Michaels said, “Alex, could I have a word with you?”

I glanced at Sampson, said, “Sure.”

When the door closed behind my partner, Michaels said, “I need a chief of detectives.”

“Who are you considering?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Who better?”

I felt all sorts of conflicting emotions roil through me.

“Well?” Michaels said.

“I’m flattered, Chief,” I said. “And humbled that you think highly enough of me to offer me the job. But I need some time to think, to talk to Bree and my family.”

“You’d have more regular hours. Be able to see them more consistently, if that matters to you.”

“It does, but I still am going to need some time to—”

“Take all the time in the world. Just give me an answer by eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Chapter

17

Nana Mama was in rare form that night. She’d seen Rachael Ray make chicken Provençal and decided to make it herself, doctoring the dish a bit by adding a little of this and a little of that until it was the kind of meal where you fought for seconds.

“Good, isn’t it?” I said.

“I’ll say,” Ali said.

“More, please,” Jannie said.

“Is that cumin?” Bree asked, smacking her lips.

“And a touch of curry powder,” Nana Mama said. “That and the way the onions and the chicken skin get so crispy? I’d pay for a meal like this.”

“Nana?” Ali said. “Did you check the lottery?”

Nana Mama had been playing numbers since I was a little kid. It was one of her few vices. Every week since I’d moved into her home all those years ago, she’d played a number.

“Already looked,” I said. “No one won Powerball. It’ll be up over fifty million the next draw.”

“No, Dad,” Ali said. “The charter-school lottery.”

My grandmother said, “Ali wants to go to Washington Latin, and I want him to go. He’ll be challenged academically in a charter, just as Jannie has been.”

“I should get in, right, Dad?” Ali said. “I scored ninety-six percent in math.”

“In the ninety-sixth percentile in math,” Nana Mama corrected him.

“And ninety-one percent, uh, tile, in reading,” Ali said.

“That will get you at least one more number in the lottery.”