Roses Are Red

James Patterson

Roses Are Red

By:

Synopsis:

The bank robber handed the phone to Betsy, but she knew the exact words the manager would hear, and who the speaker was.

"Betsy, it's Steve. There's a man here in our house. He has a gun pointed at me. He says that unless the woman in your office leaves the bank with the money by eight-ten exactly, Tommy, A

"It's eight-o-four."

The phone line suddenly went dead. Her husband's voice was gone.

A series of meticulously pla

James Patterson's new bestseller takes us from deep inside the crazy world of a psychopath's masquerade right to the heart of fiction's most brilliant detective. Alex Cross is back in an explosive tale where mind games lead to violence, and the slightest mistake will be punished with death.

ROSES ARE RED

Roses are Red is for Charles and Isabelle; Lorraine and OB; Maryellen and Andrew; Carole, Jimmy, Brigid and Meredith; Theresa and Rick; Suzie and Jack; Artie, Harriette, Richard, Nancy, Gideon and Adam all the families that inspire the Cross family.

Prologue Ashes, Ashes

Chapter I

Bria

The twenty-four-year-old woman wore khakis, a powder-blue University of Maryland windbreaker, and scuffed white Nike sneakers. None of the early-morning commuters noticed her as she walked from her dented white Acura to a thick stand of evergreen trees where she hid.

She was outside the Citibank in Silver Spring, Maryland, at a little before eight. The branch was scheduled to open in about ninety seconds. She knew from her talks with the Mastermind that it was a freestanding bank with two drive-through lanes. It was surrounded by what he called big-box stores: Target, PET sMART Home Depot, Circuit City.

At eight o'clock on the dot, Bria

A few strides from the teller, she slipped on a rubbery President Clinton mask, one of the most popular masks in America and probably the one hardest to trace. She knew the bank teller's name, and she spoke it clearly as she pulled out her gun and pressed it against the small of the woman's back.

"Inside, Ms Jea

Her short speech at the entrance to the bank was scripted, word for word, even the pauses. The Mastermind said it was crucial that a bank robbery proceed in a specific order, almost by rote.

"I don't want to kill you, Jea

Jea

"The manager's office. Now, Ms Jea

Chapter II

She liked this aura of power and she really liked the new respect she was suddenly getting at the bank. As she followed the trembling teller past two Diebold ATMs and then through the meeter-greeter area of the lobby, Bria

Minutes matter, Bria

Seconds matter, Bria

It even matters that it's Citibank we've chosen to hit today, Bria

The robbery had to be exact, precise, perfect. She got it, she got it. The Mastermind had pla

With the heel of her left hand, Bria

"You open up your safe every morning at five past eight, so open it for me!" she screamed at the manager, who was wide-eyed with surprise and fear. "Open it. Now!"

"I can't open the vault," Mrs. Buccieri protested. "The vault is automatically opened by a computer signal from the main office in Manhattan. It never happens at the same time."

The bank robber pointed to her own left ear. She signaled with her finger for Mrs. Betsy Buccieri to listen. To listen to what, though? "Five four three two …" Bria

"It's for you," Bria

President Clinton mask. "You listen carefully."

She handed the phone to Mrs. Buccieri, but she knew the exact words the bank manager would hear, and who the speaker was.

The scariest voice of all for the bank manager to hear was not that of the Mastermind making very real, but idle-sounding threats, but someone even better. Scarier.

"Betsy, it's Steve. There's a man here in our house. He has a gun pointed at me. He says that unless the woman in your office leaves the bank with the money by eight-ten exactly, Tommy, A

"It's eight-o-four."

The phone line suddenly went dead. Her husband's voice was gone.

"Steve? Steve!" Tears flowed into Betsy Buccieri's eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She stared at the masked woman and couldn't believe this was happening. "Don't hurt them. Please. I'll open the vault for you. I'll do it now. Don't hurt anyone."