Roses Are Red

He had stripped off her night clothes. I didn't see them anywhere in the bedroom. Her body was covered with blood. He'd used a knife this time he'd punished her. There was blood everywhere I looked, but especially between her legs. Her beautiful brown eyes were staring right up at me, but she saw nothing, and never would again.

The medical examiner turned around and saw me standing there. I knew the man, Merrill Snyder. We had successfully worked together before but nothing like this.

"She might have been raped," he whispered "At any rate, he used the knife on her. Maybe he was cutting away evidence. Who the hell knows, Alex. This is sick. You have any ideas?"

"Yes," I said in a low voice. "I want to kill him for this, and I will."

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four

The killer was right there inside Betsey Cavalierre's apartment. He was feeling sadness and hatred theirs and he thrived on it. This was the supreme thrill for him, a great, great moment in his life.

To be here with the police and FBI.

To rub elbows, chat, listen to them curse him and shed tears for their fallen compatriot, to smell their fear. They were in a rage against him.

And yet, they were powerless to do anything.

He was counting coup. He was in control.

He even revisited Betsey Cavalierre, who had believed she would one day rise to the top of the Federal Bureau.

What incredible hubris on her part.

Did she truly believe she was one of the best, the top brains in the FBI? Of course she did. They all thought they were so goddamn smart these days.

Well, she didn't look so smart right now, naked and coated with her own blood, violated in every way he could imagine.

He saw Alex Cross coming out of the bedroom. Cross looked humbled, finally. Humbled, but also self-righteous and angry.

He made certain he had his game face on, and then he walked right up to Alex Cross.

This was the moment.

"I'm so sorry about Betsey," said Kyle Craig, the Mastermind. "I'm so sorry, Alex."

James Patterson has had seven international number one bestsellers in a row ALONG

CAME A SPIDER, KISS THE GIRLS, JACK AND JILL, CAT AND MOUSE, WHEN THE

WIND BLOWS, POP GOES THE WEASEL and his most recent, CRADLE AND ALL. His Alex Cross series is off to the fastest-selling start of any featuring a continuing character. KISS THE GIRLS was filmed by Paramount Pictures and became a number one hit movie, and the film version of ALONG CAME A SPIDER is currently in production.